little arrows at play

one

2011-04-05T13:23:00.012-05:00

How can it be? Our youngest little arrow celebrates turning ONE YEAR old today! Wasn't she just born? Wow! E' is amazing! She just started crawling a couple of weeks ago, so she's in no hurry to stop being our baby. She's into soft solid foods and has 1 and half teeth (the second tooth is still on it's way out).

Her personality is all JOY just like her mommy's! She doesn't really cry or fuss unless she's hungry or needs a diaper change. She loves to discover new things -- anything really :0) -- a scrap of paper found on the floor is a major treasure to E! She loves to talk! She says, "mom mom," "daddy," "kitty cat," "Nee-my-uh" (when she's calling biggest brother), "Ju-ah" (when she wants her sister), "Nana," "Yes," and her newest words, "Hi," and "uh oh." Ha! She doesn't say B's name yet. She just points or pulls on his pant leg :0)

I love watching her sibs love on her! Eszi (ya know how I have to nickname!) is pure delight! I marvel at the way people smile when she captures their eye. I am forever handing her off to someone we meet who just wants to cuddle her for a minute. She's in ministry already, dispensing love and JOY with her adorable smile and sparkling eyes wherever she goes!

Thank you Lord for the wonder of your creation as we watch E' grow into a beautiful little girl. May she come to understand and desire a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so that her eternity might be spent glorifying You! And may that desire come to fruition soon and very soon!

Look at me being beautiful! Mommy's precious friend, Miss J', sent this super cute number as my welcome baby present! I am ooey gooey cute in it and it's soooo soft!!!

This is my brother's submarine. I LOVE it! No baby toys for me!

I am too fancy in my crazy pajamas!

this was taken one year and one day ago...
as we welcomed this little masterpiece into our world...

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ohh... and about the blog... I know I'm sooo slow and terrible about posting regularly! It's my heart intention to post at least once a month. Sorry I missed posting Christmas pics and winter pics... I have some that may appear in the next few weeks just 'cause they're cute, but I won't promise :0/ Thanks for extending grace as I endeavor to do better and be more consistent! -- all JOY, t...

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2011-02-28T19:03:00.003-06:00

girls girls girls

2010-11-30T00:36:00.012-06:00

Eszi is getting older every minute! Here are some of her super cutest recent pics!

She loves to gum carrot sticks and celery sticks! Odd, but fun.

"playing" with B.
Sweet B' LOVES to play with E beside him. He asks us to bring her over and he'll pat the spot where he wants her to sit. She just started sitting this week by the way, but I haven't taken a good pic yet.

She watches me cook and wash dishes from her high chair.

all giggles! I wish this one was a video clip so you could hear her totally contagious laugh!
N loves for her to wear this outfit because it has so many shades of blue which is currently his signature color!
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J' likes to choose her look for the day. She's bold, creative, courageous and ALL J!!! Here's a particularly bright look ;0) It did all match, so what could I say. You go girl! Work it! hee hee!

Thanks again to my sweet friend N' who shared these fun boots with J' when her little lady's feet outgrew them earlier this summer. J' LOVES them and they definitely make a statement!

I needed to trim J's ends. The split ends had taken over and were impeding growth, but with super curly hair that doesn't even straighten when wet, it was easier to flat iron it and then trim the ends. So, she was pressed and smooth-curled for a day. So cute.

The finished product. She was so pleased because she thought her bangs looked like the front of Nana's hair (she's right... yay for nana-love!)

Common J' sighting... she loves puzzles! She'll sit and solve the same one 4 or 5 times in a row.

You may have noticed a serious lack of B' pics on the blog... I really do try to take pics of B', but he rarely sits still and he has no desire to pose, so pics of him tend to look like blurs, the back of his head as he high-tails it away, him sleeping, or he's making weird faces. I'm working on it though!

and the heavens rejoiced

2010-11-30T00:00:00.005-06:00

On November 2, 2010 our precious N' asked how he could go to "God's heaven." We were completing a Bible lesson about God's faithfulness based on the story of Joseph and his brothers. He asked about how God could forgive Joseph's brothers for doing such a bad thing (selling Joseph and then lying about it). Soooo we talked again about sin (which we've discussed several times before) and about Jesus, the cross, and resurrection. He said, "that was bad" about the scourging and the cross and then said "that was pretty nice" about Jesus' willingness to suffer and die so that he could take the punishment for our sins. I explained (not for the first time) that Jesus did all that so that we could enter heaven when we die and spend forever with God.

So, N' asked how he could go to God's heaven when he dies. (I love how he kept calling it that.) So we talked it all through and he said that he loved Jesus and he was sorry for doing things that make God sad (sin) and that he wanted to ask Jesus to come into his heart. Oh I wanted to melt into a puddle of happy tears on the spot, but instead I said we should wait and talk to daddy about it when he got home from work.

So, we waited and I called PT to let him know there was an exciting conversation to have once he got home. It was a looooongggg night. N' tried to ask PT about it at dinner but it was just not a great time to doublecheck that he understood it all with the other kids interrupting every few minutes, so we just had to wait.

Finally at bedtime we put everyone down and then pulled N' out for a few minutes. PT talked with him to see where his heart was at and to make sure he understood what he was asking to do. I was there too and it was so sweet to hear him talk about it all. When PT asked him if he loved Jesus he said, "Of course I love Jesus." Hee hee! That's a good answer!

Anyway, we all talked through it all again right down to explaining again that you just need to pray and tell God that you love him, that you're sorry for making God sad by sinning, that you believe that Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins, and that He was made alive again three days later, that you want Jesus to come into your heart, and that you want to spend forever with God. Then PT told him that he could tell God those things any time and that he and mommy would be glad to help him do that.

AND THEN PT asked him if he wanted to pray that prayer. AND HE WANTED TO! So, I sat on a couch in a room in a house and listened as my beloved husband helped my precious son become a believer!!!

where oh where is autumn?

2010-11-29T19:07:00.007-06:00

We keep waiting and waiting for fall to arrive... and it just doesn't come. Well, we had a week of fall, but then it was summer again. They say it's going to be fall again at the end of this week. We'll see. :0) The leaves are falling though, and the kids LOVE to collect them and show us each and every leaf. It seems each one is more exciting than the last and then they're excited about how many they've collected. B likes to say, "We got a whole bunch of it." Hee hee!

Here are some more pics of the kids that haven't made it online yet. I'm playing catch-up on blogging today and just trying to cover the months I've missed. My goal is to put something fresh up every couple of weeks or at least once a month.

Here's E' looking cute!

N finally likes bike-riding.

While N rides, the rest of us walk along. J wanted to bring her baby doll along since I had E in the stroller.

E is sooo impressed with textures. She loves soft things, but a new texture is fun too. She loved touching the grass!

J keeps trying to hit that ball every time. B is much more consistent at it, but J doesn't give up trying. N prefers to turn the bat upside down and pretend it's a guitar :0)

Fun Photos

2010-11-29T17:34:00.010-06:00

Here are some cute pics of the kids doing kid-things late this summer :0)
Click on a pic to see a full-screen version.

E' sleeps on her back with her arms out wide or thrown over her head. Too funny!
Sometimes she sleeps on her side, but not once she's in a really good sleep. She's our first back sleeper. The others all slept on their sides or tummies.

This was E's first park-swing ride. She was way too little for the swing in this pic (just shy of 4 months old), but it was such a cute photo opp and she smiled so big every time she swung back towards me. :0)

posing

We went to a nature preserve on my mom's birthday in July. It was supposed to be a mild day (around 75-80 early in the morning), but it was sooooo hot! :0) Me and our 4 kiddos, my sister W and her 3 kiddos, and mom/nana. We did have a great time! When we reached the end of the trail and the parking lot was in sight again, the kids cheered! hee hee!
Did I mention it was HOT!!!

J looking too cute, sweaty and all!

Can you see the rabbit! (I know it's sad, but it's a city-surrounded nature preserve... it still counts as wildlife ;0) The kids were impressed!

This pic came out so precious... if only I had any idea how I did it so I could do it again.

We made salmon croquettes (okay, salmon patties, but it sounds fancy if you say "croquettes"). B was the BEST patty maker. He loved balling it all up in his hands and saying, "smack" every time he hit the top to make it flat.

The kids were doing a worship set. At church, the band sets up on platform-risers that give them a place to stand so that the wires can all run under them. It also makes it possible to set them up tier-style so that you can see each player. So... this is the kids' creative stage setup. It takes ages for them to get it all setup just the way N wants it (he's the ring-leader on all things musical here). Then... let the singing and banging begin. So precious to hear them sing about Jesus! They even hum the intro music and instrumental interludes!

This is a cake. N said he made a "giant cake" and that it had filling and frosting and everything.

J wanted to look at mommy's jewelry box (I use that term loosely to describe a container of costume jewelry I have :0) ). She decided to put on all the necklaces at once, then declared that she was fancy. Hee hee. (She loves those Fancy Nancy early reader books.)

Three of PT's sibs came to surprise him for his bday in August. It was a great surprise for him and such a blessing to see them. They stopped by the house to visit with the kids after surprising him and taking him to lunch. (B' with Nanny M' and E' with Nanny T')

N with Uncle R'

There was a birthday...

2010-11-29T15:18:00.014-06:00

We had our first big "with friends" kid's birthday party in August. We decided when N was a baby to wait until age 5 to have more than a family-only birthday party. Soooo... N turned 5 this year and he asked for a "house party." N made his guest list and almost everyone made it. We had a great time.

little party people

In lieu of a theme we just focused our party ideas on the things N likes best. He loves the drums, so we played pin-the-drumstick-on-the-drum! He lopves to play, so we had free play time and let the kids come up with their own fun. And he loves to cook, so we combined crafts and dessert by having the kids all make their own cookie. I made the dough ahead of time, spread flour all around the edge of the table, and lined up a row of bowls with different cookie mix-ins for the kids to choose from. We washed all their hands and then gave each kiddo a big ball of dough to fill up! We wrote their names on squares of foil and then baked them so we'd know which cookie belonged to which kiddo. Nope... I didn't come up with a great sugar-free plan this time. They did have raisins, cranberries, and nuts to fill with (along with two kinds of chocolate chips). As far as the dough though, it was a total sugar-fest and then they came out of the oven twice as big as I had intended! Oh well... they all loved it and it was early in the day so they had plenty of time to run it off before bedtime.

N with Grandmother and PaPa

N with Nana

The best thing for me was watching how grateful and thankful N continued to be throughout the day both in receiving each guest as they arrived and in receiving each gift with JOY and excitement. What a precious boy he is! I can't believe it's been FIVE years already!

new postings coming soon

2010-10-09T11:48:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! I'm soooo sorry I haven't posted since JULY! Oh my goodness, how sad! The blog has been a casualty of the time consumed daily by infant-care, kid-care, housekeeping, and homeschooling all at once. We're a good 6 weeks into homeschooling kindergarten/first grade and it's finally starting to balance out now. I think we're into a good, albeit flexible, daily/weekly routine. So, I will hopefully be more successful at posting more regularly. I'm shooting for once a week again -- but you know monthly is what I tend to actually manage.

I just took pics off the camera and there are so many fun and adorable kid moments to share! Please forgive me for the delay. Keep checking... new pics and updates are on the way. There are some 300 pics from the last two months. No, I don't actually plan to post 300 pictures! Though I don't know HOW I'm going to choose just a few. I love every shot! I suppose a momma would! :0)

free

2010-07-06T14:44:00.013-05:00

YAY! I'm 3 months old!

E' LOVES to talk, baby talk! I wonder what she's trying to say?

boy is it hard to take the picture you imagine you'll be able to take. They just don't cooperate and stand where ya pose them... that blanket on the floor kept moving (right?), and the sun moved just enough to cast shadows all over, and sweet E' discovered she could grab her shirt and pull it back and forth

they were all smiling for the camera... then baby E' got all excited about her hands (which she notices from time-to-time throughout the day) and she fell over in the thrill of it all... while B forgot all about me saying "smile for mommy" and stared at the neighbor walking outside the window... and i didn't notice til after I gave up and hit the camera button anyway, that the carpet was peaking out from beneath the blanket on the floor :0)

I tried to explain Independence day while dressing the kids for church Sunday morning. We had such a busy week that I somehow managed to miss the opportunity to do an independence day learning unit with them last week. So... when I laid out all red, white, and blue for them to wear and J' noticed and asked why, I found myself trying to give an abbreviated explanation, "Well, today is Independence Day and that means..."

All she caught from my brief comments was the word "free," which in her vocabulary refers to things that don't cost any money. "Why am I free?" she wanted to know - as if that's a bad thing. I loved the opportunity her confusion afforded me to explain freedom in Christ, freedom to worship in our country, and the rights and privileges of living in the USA (all on the level of a 2 to 4 year old audience).

Sadly, her statement reminded me again of the hard units I will have to cover in the future; teaching my children about slavery, civil rights, and the full meaning of freedom as black men and women in the USA. I wish their heritage and history didn't include such ugliness. When they are old enough, we will teach them about those dark and horrible parts of black-american history so they will understand the responses they will receive from some in the world later in life. It will be compounded by the persecution they encounter for their faith in Jesus Christ. But there is one difference: their faith they will choose (boldly and proudly), their skin color (or that of their parents and sibs in the case our fairer-skinned kiddos) they were simply born with.

making squinchy faces (E was DONE with picture posing for the day)

[DOUBLE-CLICK ON ANY PIC TO SEE A FULL-SCREEN SIZED VERSION]

sum sum summer time

2010-06-22T16:59:00.006-05:00

Yep. Summer is here. We're doing our best to enjoy the hot days and warm nights :0)
(Oh, how I wish I loved the heat like my younger sister P' does!)

We tried a blow up pool! That was fun (and more work than mommy thought it would be, but daddy was excited for them to have some new kind of fun and THEY DID! YAY DADDY!) We let it dry after two days of splashing fun and then brought it in the house where they played in it in the middle of the living room floor for the rest of the week. It has now been happily deflated, folded, and stored back in its box in the closet til the next time we loose our minds and think, "what fun... we'll let the kids splash a while." This will require forgetting the joy of inflating the thing (hint of sarcasm intended). :0)

We went to a wedding -- here's mommy and company all dressed up (the last wedding we went to, I posted a pic of the kids with daddy, so we'll trade this time)

Risky Business (remember that movie? all I recall is that scene where the dude was dancing around in his underwear, socks, and a dress shirt). After the wedding, B' took off his pants and ran around in his dress socks and shirt for a while. Hee hee!

We cleaned out some old files and in proper mommy fashion I saw all those paper shreds and thought... oooh FUN! SOO.... we emptied the toys on the floor and filled the toy buckets with paper shreds, pulled out toy shovels, and made a rainy day go away! Afterward I thanked the Lord countless times for the blessing of having a vacuum cleaner!
Those shreds were EVERYWHERE.

We had a painting day. We learned the difference between watercolors, and acrylic-type paint (textured). They had the best time painting and filling our art-clothes-line from one end of the twine to the other with pictures of all kinds of things. I love how what looks to me like a random mess of smeared paint colors looks just like a boat, the sky, or a house to them. I loved this activity -- all indoors -- out of the heat! Praise the Lord for air conditioning! Did I mention it's HOT outside. :0)

Pretty lady!

B' on the "rocking cow" that Auntie Pamela brought for baby E'. Since she's still too small, B' is enjoying the cow for now. :0) Notice his beloved cowboy hat is on!

HAPPY START TO SUMMER!

time flies...

2010-06-22T16:55:00.002-05:00

Wow... E' is ten weeks old! Time sure flies when you're having fun (or when you have a house full of toddlers)! Please forgive me for not posting pics more often. She's growing so fast! Here are some recent pics (double click on a pic to see a full-screen version)...

look at my long feet ;0)

excited wiggles

I'll stop crying as long as mommy keeps looking right at me

daddy gave me a bath in the kitchen sink

precious naptime sleeper
(she sleeps better if she feels cuddled by either arms, a blanket, or a couple of cuddle buddies)

E' can kick and wiggle, turn from her side to her back, and scoot towards you somehow (This happens when she's in bed with us because I don't feel like waking up to put her back in her own bed after deep-night nursing. We've never seen her do it, but she can find a heat-source fast!)

She can smile and coo (such sweet baby talk!). She's just starting to try reaching for things but she gets distracted when she sees her hand in the air and ends up just touching her face or watching her arm move around (hee hee!).

Best new thing: E' started laughing last week! Nice gurgly, drooly, smiley, giggles! PT and I will do just about anything over and over again just to delight in the sound of her little laugh. The bigs love it too. They try all sorts of antics to see if they can persuade her to giggle.

I'm so smitten! She's simply gorgeous! I might be just a bit biased though ;0)

OH the SMILES!!!

2010-05-14T16:18:00.006-05:00

Look at that smile. The last couple of days E' has mastered the knack. She's smiling in response to our smiles and our laughter. I LOVE it!!! Here are a few I actually managed to catch before her curious blank stare took over (which she gets whenever she sees the camera instead of my face).

kicking and smiling

with big brother N' in the church's red website footage chair

smiling after a diaper change -- she likes the cloth diapers -- now if she'll just get a little more thigh chunkiness so leg-hole leaks are less likely :0)

here's my best attempt at capturing her dark gray eyes with the camera

birthday boy

2010-05-11T14:07:00.010-05:00

B' turned two the last week of April! Nope, we still didn't have a big party - we just celebrated with us and Nana (my mom) after church the day before his bday. We'll save inviting friends for when he's 5 and mature enough to appreciate it for more than a half hour :0).

He's such a big boy! He's talking more and more everyday; impressing us with new phrases we didn't think he understood yet. He's already wearing 3T size clothes!!! He's tall for his 2 years and stocky too. He's not chubby though -- he's solid muscle with the strength to match. If only he knew how strong. When he runs to hug my leg, I have to brace for impact! And B' continues to be all heart. He lays on your lap, pats you (more like a smack) to make you feel better, and asks "wha's madder?" if you stop smiling. He has a serious throwing arm and can't wait for daddy to walk in the door after work so that he can grab the nearest ball and yell "daddy catch!" Apparently this game is no fun with mommy who only catches the ball 50% of the time. B' prefers a good catcher on the other end of his throws ;0) He'll say, "mommy missed. Sokay mommy," while looking oh so sad for me. (He says "sokay" instead of "it's okay.") Hee hee!

He's really gifted in the area of hand-eye coordination. He has a great arm for throwing the softball, kicks the soccer ball hard and straight, and is working on mastering a nice football toss. So far basketballs and golf balls (they have some wiffle balls to play with) are mostly used for playing catch. He naturally keeps his elbow up and uses his whole arm to throw; follow-through and all. Not bad for what comes naturally - we haven't taught him.

basketball goal bday gift from nana-- a great alternative to playing catch 24/7 AND he's learning how to dunk and how to shoot :0)

B' is wonderful. It doesn't seem like two years have passed already! In honor of his love for sports balls, I made him a sport ball cake :0) Fun! It was super easy. I skipped being artistic with frosting this time and just printed some clip art onto white cardstock on the printer, taped toothpicks to them like signs, and stuck them in the 8" round layer cake which was small enough to fit on a regular plate. YAY! Benjamin named them all for us: "soccuh ball," "football," "bay ball," "badket ball." I love what they come up with when they're still acquiring language!

Thank you Lord for blessing us with this soft hearted, strong handed, amazing little boy!

one month old

2010-05-10T18:11:00.010-05:00

tiny toes!!! long, skinny feet!

I've been having so much fun watching E' change and grow, that I've neglected to stop and post some pics so you could share the JOY!

She's almost 5 weeks old as I post these pics. What's new:

E' weighs about 9 lbs now! Wow!
She can hold her head up and look around
She has started to smile (yes, social smiling, not gas)
She started cooing last week. She concentrates really hard and gets her lips pursed into an "oo" shape, then she'll finally get a tiny "ooh" or "aaah" out. So CUTE!!!

E' on her first stroller walk

meeting my Uncle Joey!

Uncle Joey was "stuck" in town when his connecting flight to a business meeting was delayed. E' thought Uncle Joey was the BEST! She smiled and cooed and stared and finally... fell sweetly asleep in his arms :0) What a fun, unexpected, wonderful time. The kids all thought Uncle Joey was fabulous. I love him too! Thanks Lord for such a great blessing!

Booties my sister Wendy crocheted for E'.

Wendy crochets a lot: blankets, granny squares, bun covers (she has girls in ballet), doilies, scarves, purses, grocery bags (as if I'd ever put groceries in it 'cause it's gorgeous). Anyway, she said she just thought she'd try a pair of booties! Talk about a FABULOUS first try! They are sooo adorable and they don't fall off either! I wish you could see the tiny green crocheted rosettes that button the straps on. I couldn't get a good in-focus pic of that detail. TOOOOOO CUTE! She also made a lemon-yellow pair for her.

wide eyed (with some baby acne)

I can't seem to capture it in a picture, but E's eyes are still dark gray, with lighter gray edges on the borders of her irises. All our kiddos have had some unique eye color for the first few weeks of life and then at some point their eyes have shifted to brown. N's eyes were the most fabulous dark, forest green color for the first few weeks of his life. J's were light brown. B's were gray. And in all three cases, we woke one morning to find their eyes were suddenly plain old brown ;0). I'm hoping E's eyes stay gray -- just for fun. But, if they turn brown she'll be just as beautiful!

pretty in pink

I love all the ruffly edges on this outfit! Pink is not my favorite color, but E' looks super sweet in pink, so I'm thankful for the zillion pink things that we have in the baby buckets from when J' was a baby. Of course, if you let me tell it, she looks good in EVERY color :0) What can I say, it's momma love!

two weeks

2010-04-19T17:06:00.008-05:00

Wow -- two weeks went by REALLY fast! I intended to post pictures every few days since I certainly had the camera close at hand... but there are so many little cuties to spend time with and I'd have to take five or six seconds to turn the computer on in order to post something ;0) .

Look at all that hair. It curls up on the ends when it's wet, but goes straight again as it dries.

itty bitty E' and a 4 lb bag of sugar... just for scale :0)

E' is such a sweet little lady! We're having tons of fun watching her grow and watching the kids love on her! They all think she's fabulous! She's starting to get a baby double chin -- too cute!!! B' wants to hold her every time someone picks her up. He says, "Look at her?" and "hol' her? hol' her?" which gets louder and more insistent if no one hands her over fast enough. He jumps up on the couch, puts a throw pillow across his lap, and waits for you to lay her in his arms (which is really laying her on the pillow, but we won't tell B' that).

E' has such delicate understated features. She reminds me of a china doll. It'll be such fun to watch her grow and see if she stays dainty and slight or if she changes completely. What a wonder.

Here are some more pics of our youngest... what a JOY!

snoozing in mommy and daddy's bed

sunbather

(we always have a little jaundice to feed and sunbathe away)

they love to gather around the swing and talk to E' the minute I put her down

baby esther

2010-04-08T18:45:00.015-05:00

Sweet babynew number 4 arrived on Monday, April 5, 2010 at 2:10pm.
We named our little lady Esther Amariah.

In scripture, Esther is a godly woman who demonstrates courage, faith, and humility. "Esther" means "star." Amariah (pronounced "am-uh-rye-uh") is a Hebrew name that appears in the book of Chronicles, meaning "promised by God."

Esther (just a few hours old)
6 lbs 11 oz // 18 inches long

This was our longest pregnancy: 40 weeks and 5 days! I was so glad for labor to start! We praise God for granting our prayers for a healthy baby and a natural, drug-free, vaginal delivery without any complications. We were able to labor at home and arrived at the hospital fully dialated. She was born about ten minutes after we arrived. It was whirlwind fast! :0)

They make these hats for the baby girls in the infant nursery at the hospital by cutting two slits in a little infant cap and pulling an accordion folded infant hat into the slits to create a big bow. :0)

Daddy and daughter (1 day old)

Esther has a sweet disposition. She already tracks and follows voices, especially her daddy's voice! She spends long stretches of time awake looking into our eyes, wiggling, and making faces. I love watching her stick her tongue out and move her lips open and closed as if she wants to say something.

tiny sleeper at home (3 days old)

"I see you mommy."

Isn't she fabulous??!!! What a beautiful little lady!
What an amazing blessing!

King Jesus

2010-03-28T22:23:00.003-05:00

This is the week leading up to Easter Sunday: our celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Some refer to it as Passion Week. What a wonderful opportunity to reflect on each of the days that led up to the ultimate sacrifice, the cross; and that awesome miracle, the resurrection.

Jesus willingly left the perfection of heaven, to come to earth as a baby, taking on flesh. He lived here without committing a single sin for 33 years and spent the last 3 of those years ministering to those who would hear the Truth. He knew the whole time that he would have to suffer a terrible death in order to pay the penalty for each of our sins so that those who accept Him as Lord and Savior may have eternal life with God the Father! An old hymn I love says it best; " What wondrous love is this, O my soul!"

Here are the main events of Jesus' week of passion (see Mark 11-16):
Sunday: Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem
Monday: Jesus cleansed the temple of immoral practices and cursed the fig tree
Tuesday: Jesus taught on several subjects pertaining to godly living
Wednesday: a woman named Mary anointed Jesus' head with oil and Judas Iscariot agreed to betray Jesus
Thursday: Jesus shared the last supper with the disciples, Jesus prayed in the garden at Gethsemane, He was betrayed and arrested
Friday: Jesus stood on trial before the Sanhedrin, before Pilate, and before the people; the people called for Him to be crucified, Jesus was tortured, Jesus walked to Golgotha carrying the cross, Jesus was crucified, died, was laid in a heavily guarded tomb, and it was sealed shut. Then it was quiet.
Saturday: (still quiet)
Sunday: Jesus rose from the grave! He's Alive! Praise the Lord!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."
John 3:16

from the mission field

2010-03-27T16:28:00.007-05:00

(the kids with our friend Kokeh)

Our dear friend Kokeh came to visit Thursday morning. He, his wife Nancy, and their four kids live in Monrovia, Liberia where Kokeh ministers to several hundred pastors, teaching and directing them in theology, pastoral care, and evangelism. Kokeh is in town for a few weeks to visit the churches and ministries that support their ministry in Liberia, giving updates and explaining current needs.

PT and I first met Kokeh while we were attending Dallas Seminary. He and PT were good friends during that time. It was wonderful just to see his smiling face and spend a little time catching up on family and ministry details. The last time Kokeh saw any of the kids in person, there was only N and he was a baby. All three thought he was wonderful! :0) They showed him their favorite things, gave high-5's, climbed on his lap, B played catch with him, and they all talked non-stop about whatever they could think to tell him. When he left, they recounted the whole visit while we ate lunch, "Uncle Kokeh said..." "Uncle Kokeh did..." It was a special time.

Please join us in ongoing prayer for Kokeh and Nancy Kotee. They are just one of several missionary families our church helps to support. They are also dear friends. Pray for their ministry to the people of Liberia, Africa. Pray for the pastors Kokeh teaches, many of whom walk or ride bikes for days to attend the seminars he leads so that they can be better equipped as pastors in remote areas. Pray for the Kotee's children as the oldest nears college and will have to decide whether to leave home in order to attend. Pray for their ministry to continue to be blessed and for financial provision for both their personal and ministry needs as they equip these pastors and touch the lives of so many Africans with the life saving, life changing message of Jesus Christ.

wedding fancy

2010-03-27T15:54:00.003-05:00

We went to a wedding last Saturday. The kids were welcome, so we all dressed up and headed to the 10am wedding service. It was a beautiful wedding and the bride and groom had such evident love and JOY coming from every pore! I love that! It's so exciting to watch a couple unite in marriage, when they intend to keep God at the center of their life together!

We typically ask someone to watch the kids when we attend weddings so that we don't have to worry about loudly whispered questions throughout the ceremony or quiet, but paper rattly, disputes over the Bibles and hymnals in the backs of pews (which wouldn't be nearly so exciting if we had them at our church, but we don't). But, no one was really available and the bride and groom had made it very clear that they'd love for the kids to attend too, so we complied. Since it was a breezy day, we dressed everyone up! The boys looked sooooo adorable in their suits! J' looked lovely in her velvety lavender dress. N' called it his tuxedo even though we explained several times that it's called a suit. He finally said, "I want to call my suit, my tuxedo." He was tickled to dress up "just like daddy!"

PT did a lovely job marrying the couple, and the kids and I sat in the back row of the small, but gorgeous, wedding chapel so that we wouldn't risk being a distraction. The only challenge I had was right at the beginning of the ceremony, when B' called out "Daddy! Daddy talking!" It sounded soooo loud to me, but no one seemed to hear him except the lady sitting directly in front of us :0)

What a fun day! J' and PT danced at the wedding reception -- I wish I had a pic of that to show you, but I didn't have the camera with me. These are a few shots we took when we arrived back at home.

and week 38...

2010-03-18T01:08:00.007-05:00

We've begun week 38 of this pregnancy. I've never had this much baby belly! :0)

My hips are all out-of-whack, uninterrupted sleep is a distant memory, and I have no lap when I sit down but PRAISE THE LORD there's an end -- sweet baby will surely decide to come out and meet us any day now.

Thursday night my mom came by and gave me a much needed haircut! YAY! I hadn't felt that pretty in a couple of months! It was sad to say goodbye to three inches of hair, but since it was only growing that fast in two places, it was much nicer to welcome a style with some shape.

Here are a few little arrow updates:

The kids ask daily when babynew will be out of mommy's tummy and we just keep saying, "soon."

N' is all about spelling right now. He really wants to be able to read. He's constantly asking us what some set of letters spells when he spots something on a box, book, flier, etc. He loves spelling words on the fridge with the magnetic alphabet and proudly announcing that he's spelled a word. I'm so excited for him. I LOVE to read -- we're talking serious addiction here -- so it's fabulous to watch N' grow more and more interested in making sense out of letters and words on a page.

J' is in a pouty phase the last couple of weeks that will prayerfully end super fast. Everything is worth wailing over: she brushed her elbow against the wall, B' looked at her and she didn't like it, there's a bird in the yard that she doesn't like (usually a crow), someone took the red block she wanted (even though there are 9 more red blocks exactly like it in the set of blocks)... You get the idea. We're working on talking her through it and helping her understand that the drama and false-cry are not effective. More important, they are not pleasing to God as they exhibit a lack of self-control. I can say she's at least trying: if you call her out when she starts faking a cry, she'll just stop and move on (provided that she isn't too far into her dramatic presentation to step out of it quickly) ;0) On the positive side, she's a great conversationalist. She'll come and sit down and just chat about whatever she can think of. We can't wait to see God's purposes in gifting her with such eloquence at such a young age. She loves to watch my belly for signs of action and then point out, "that baby is wiggling in your tummy mommy!" So sweet!

B' surprises us with new words and phrases everyday! We've also discovered that he's great at playing memory. We've been playing board games instead of doing more physical activities since mommy is sort of unable right now. I really didn't think he'd be able to play successfully at all, but he gets a huge kick out of matching up the pictures on the cards and telling you what they are. He's my best helper. If I declare it's time to clean up and say I need helpers, he comes right behind me saying, "I help." Now if only his attention span lasted as long as the average clean up at the end of the day requires :0)

36 weeks and counting

2010-03-02T12:07:00.009-06:00

Here's a fresh pic. This is biggest pregnant belly I've ever had!

I know, yet another sad ponytail day... but the kids are all clean and dressed and the house is clean... there's only so much available energy these days ;0) This week marks 36 weeks so ANY DAY NOW! Please continue to join with us in prayer for a healthy baby and a smooth, natural delivery. We can't wait to post pics of babynew 4!

It's such a privilege and a blessing to be a mommy and have the opportunity to help teach our children about the wonderful love of our Savior Jesus Christ! I'm so excited about meeting this newest addition to our family, face-to-face. We're praising the Lord in advance!

she's 3

2010-03-02T11:41:00.015-06:00

(THREE!)

J' turned three a couple of weeks ago. Sorry I'm just now posting pics of her special day. Her bday fell on a Sunday, so we celebrated right after church when we arrived home for lunch. We made a decision when N' was born that we didn't want to get into the expense and effort of party throwing until the kids were old enough to understand what was happening and that it was for them. We've attended so many parties where the honored guest was asleep and the grownups were entertaining one another. We decided that at age 5 they would clearly understand the concept of birthdays and celebrating AND be able to enjoy sharing it with some friends. Soooo, it was just a family party: our fam, my sister's 3 girls, and Nana (my mom).

(The cousins gave J a "flower hat" and sunglasses, among other fun things, in her bday bag!)

(B tried on J's new flower hat.)

(J opening gifts: she loves puzzles! This one was from Nana.)

We've been to a few kiddo bday parties lately and J asked if she could have a cake with a picture on it for her birthday -- it was the only thing she asked for. So, we skipped our normal muffin-cake, cornbread, or other healthy substitute and went for the standard sugar-rich cake.

I haven't decorated a cake since before we were married (that means over 8 years ago!). I dusted off my decorating supplies, covered the blender in a cloud of confectioner's sugar while making a mountain of buttercream frosting, and baked a box mix lemon supreme cake. J wanted a dinosaur cake and I wanted a girlie cake, so I tried to combine the two. It didnt' turn out quite like I pictured it, but at three, J is easily pleased so she was happy with it. The dinosaur is a pteranodon -- J's current favorite dinosaur.

(What? You can't hear everyone singing "Happy Birthday dear...")

We don't typically allow the kids to have sugar, so this was a special treat! When we cut the cake after singing happy birthday, she asked if she could eat the frosting too. She had tasted the frosting the night before while I was decorating, but that was just a tiny lick off the tip of one finger. About a fourth of the way through her piece of cake she said, "Mommy this frosting is yummy and then it's yucky. Can you take it off my cake part?" I was a proud, pleased, happy mommy. She had sugar available and didn't even want it all! YAY! No such luck with N, he ate every bite. I still took B's frosting off -- I felt scandalous enough giving him the cake! :0) Go ahead and call me crazy... I can take it!

I can't believe she's actually 3! Wow! Time flies when you're having fun and Miss J definitely brings us great JOY! Thank you Lord for another year of life for our precious little lady.

just like daddy's

2010-03-02T11:33:00.008-06:00

N needed a haircut, so we asked him which he wanted this time: curly hair or short hair? He said he wanted it short like daddy's. Soooo, PT pulled out the clippers and in moments, our little boy looked like a bigger boy :0) So sweet! It's amazing how fast they grow up. N says it's not exactly like daddy's hair though. Something about the smooth space at the edge of PT's hairline :0) Now N says B wants his hair cut short too... but I want to hang on to B's baby-ness for a while longer even if it is more work to comb those curls out every morning.

bat guitar

2010-02-16T13:54:00.006-06:00

(click the play button to watch the video clip)

Here's N enjoying some time outside back in early December. It's too cute not to share! Originally he set up the T-ball set and hit a couple of balls with B', but then he decided to put on a concert instead. :0)

it's about time...

2010-02-05T16:04:00.008-06:00

Somewhere between family time, caring for the kids, being a wife, ministry work, and the energy drain of pregnancy; I've managed to neglect updating the blog since the end of November. Sad, sad, sad. So, today I set aside some time between other things to fill in the last two months of life in our family! Here are some pics just for fun and by way of updating you on our cuties' latest looks, ideas, and antics.

J' said she was helping PT work the other day. She was definitely making it harder for him to type, but her happy giggles were bound to make it worth the awkward reach :0)

J' has recently developed an interest in all things "beautiful." She likes dresses, bows and flowers in her hair, and comments on anything she thinks is "just beautiful." Yesterday as I was sipping some herbal tea she said, "Mommy, your tea cup is just beautiful." It is a pretty tea cup with pink roses set on a yellow background. Don't go overboard with girly ideas about her though, her other current favorites are puzzles and dinosaurs! My little lady loves to roar with her claws up and her nose crinkled!
Isn't this sweater dress the CUTEST! A sweet friend at church passed this one down when her little lady outgrew it recently. Adorable!

Here ya go... a recent pregnant pic. We're 8 months along as of this week, but I took this a couple of weeks ago. I've never been this big, this soon, EVER! I understand that I carry pretty small, but I still don't know where that belly is going to expand to in the next few weeks???!!! Praise the Lord for His sweetness in that the vomiting is over finally and I'm only nauseous on the occasional day now. (No, I didn't suddenly whack all my hair off. It's all natural and curly in this pic and piled on top of my head in an afro-puff. I didn't feel like pressing it straight that day... lots of days lately.)

N' and J' said they were building a fort. It looked more like the contents of the playroom being dumped out onto the family room floor, but they were happy and working so industriously that I just joined in the fun!
The next day they built a truck out of the kitchen table chairs. N' was the driver (he used the chair in front of him for a steering wheel). All three made engine noises while they made their way down the road.

Here are N' and J' after a wedding we attended two weeks ago. They were looking too cute not to snap a pic! B' refused to stand still for the picture and kept coming out as a little boy blur, so I gave up and just captured the bigs. It was a casual wedding with a cowboy theme, hence the choice of N's western wear shirt for that day.

There's nothing thrilling to report. Church continues to be a blessing and we love serving in ministry! Family life is so sweet (though it would be neat if all three kids would sleep all night, in their own beds, every night). Now, just a few tasks and projects I need to complete before babynew #4 arrives. One such task: now I've caught up on the missing time according to the blog. Sorry so very slow with postings... it really was about time :0)

Christmas

2010-02-05T11:14:00.009-06:00

One of our favorite times of year -- the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ! It's such a great blessing and privilege to share our faith with our children. We spent this Christmas at home to save money we would have spent in travel and to start to establish our own family traditions for celebrating on Christmas day.

My mom came over on Christmas Eve along with my grandmother who was in town for the holiday. The kids had a grand time eating a special late night (well, it was late for them) snack of popcorn with Nana and getting cuddles and play time with Shirley-the-Great! (Somehow I didn't manage to get a good pic of my mom all evening.)

My mom brought them a pop-up storybook nativity scene with little figurines the first of December, and they re-enacted the Christmas story for her - again! They were pretty good at the story by Christmas Eve. N' loves the angel Gabriel figurine! He mostly enjoyed flying Gabriel all around the family room and skipping the rest of the story. What can I say, he's only 4 :0)

It snowed late on Christmas Eve and continued intermittently into the morning of Christmas Day. We knew from the weather report that it wasn't likely to last long, so before we even ate breakfast, we bundled everyone up and headed for the yard to play in the snow. J' thought it was GREAT! She would have played as long as we allowed.

B', who loves all things athletic, especially throwing and kicking softballs, footballs, and soccer balls; was in love with snowballs! He liked throwing them in the air until he noticed that they broke into a powdery pile when they land so you can't throw them again. Then he took to crushing them between his palms and watching it snow on his shoes. Only hitch, mommy had to make the snowballs for everyone. They didn't catch on and daddy was snapping pics and blocking them from the icy driveway.

N' was the most eager to get out the door to see the snow, but after about fifteen minutes he announced, "This snow is cold and wet. I want to go back inside." With that, he went straight for the door, stepped inside, and waited patiently for the rest of us to follow a few minutes later. They were ready for breakfast after a half hour or so anyway :0).

When the sun's rays reached the backyard around 10am and the snow melted, N said he was glad his grass was back. Hee hee! O well, they can't all be snow lovers like their mommy. PT has some company in N' for preferring to spend wet, chilly winter days indoors.

We had a lovely, quiet, sweet Christmas day. We snacked on fresh pineapple! (That pineapple also helped to glaze the ham.) I made a sour cream pound cake with a brown sugar struesel top for Jesus' birthday cake and we sang Happy Birthday to our precious Lord and Savior!

company came...

2010-02-05T09:18:00.005-06:00

My cousin Joe and his wife Michelle were in town the weekend after Thanksgiving to attend a wedding. It was so much fun to have them visit our church service and then come over for dinner at our house.
Here are B' and Michelle after a diaper change. (B loves to run free in his cloth diaper after a change before he puts his pants back on.) He and Michelle were fast friends! There's nothing better than cuddles!

New Mexico is a long way away! What a blessing to see them and spend some time! We had a great day!

giving thanks

2009-11-27T15:52:00.011-06:00

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. Psalm 100:4

We worked on a Thanksgiving unit the past two weeks. We learned about the Mayflower, the Wampanoag Natives, the Pilgrims; and the thanksgiving event of 1621. The bigs didn't like the idea of eating muscles or duck and N' was really concerned about why the native men didn't wear shirts everyday :0) The best part of our studies was learning about giving thanks to God for all of the wonderful blessings He bestows upon us, for who He is, and for His daily care of us.

The kids LOVE collecting fallen leaves in the backyard. They'll move them into piles, sort them into buckets and baskets, gather them in their plastic shopping cart... and then pour them out and do it all over again. So, we made a pile of leaves out of construction paper and wrote whatever they wanted to thank God for. Then we took out the tape (wow do they love tape) and hung them on the back window so they would look like the falling leaves outside. So many precious ways to complete the sentence: Dear Lord, thank you for...

Both N' and J' thanked God for our family, for "leaves that fall down from the trees" and for "mommy and daddy's friends" (which is what they call the praise team singers and band at church).

..........

N' thanked God for "corn that grows" and "[his] toy computer with the counting game on it."
J' was thankful for "[our] crayons." :0) B' enjoyed sticking blank paper leaves to the window, pulling them off, and sticking them on again.

PT and I have a long list of thanks this autumn season, not the least of which includes little B' getting in a good long nap today. He's teething again - two merciless molars on the top - and the discomfort is interrupting his overnight sleep. Is there anything sweeter than watching babies sleep?

Thank you Lord for fall. It's beautiful outside and we're so beautifully blessed in the wonder of Your love for us and the warmth of our love for one another.

above all that we could ask or think

2009-11-09T23:58:00.015-06:00

Welcome to our new home-sweet-home. Please join us in praising the Lord for His provision. It is such a blessing to have a little more space to move around in! The Lord really worked things out for us in amazing ways throughout the whole process. It doesn't seem real yet, but we really get to live here ;0) What a sweet and humble privilege. All honor and praise unto the Lord for His willingness to show us favor. My heart is heavy for the previous owner's having to go through foreclosure, but the pricing miracle we needed was a result of that situation -- so even in that we are thankful.

The bigs love their new bunkbeds! (Another sweet pricing miracle from the Lord!) N' normally sleeps on the top, but he and J' wanted to trade tonight. B' is doing a great job learning to sleep in the toddler bed. This is his second week and we're so very proud of him. When we announce it's bedtime, he typically climbs in, pops a thumb in his mouth, and waits to be covered up :0) Now if we can just get him to stay in there instead of tiptoeing into our room when he wakes up at 4 or 5 am and realizes everyone's asleep.

They really like having a dedicated play space! (So does mommy -- I don't absolutely have to reorganize the toys at day's end if I don't want to. It's so different from having the family room and the play space in the same spot!)

There's just one room upstairs - the grown-up's office space - but the kids think the stairs themselves are a blast to climb up and down. We are so grateful unto God for the joy of moving into this space for however long He has us here. It's a beautiful answer to prayer and a manifestation of so many of our heart's desires for a living space... an exceeding abundant blessing.

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

baby belly 4

2009-11-09T22:55:00.005-06:00

Here's a pic I took this morning for those who have asked to see our baby bump ;0)
This week we'll reach 20 weeks pregnant with sweet babynew number 4! Praise report: today is the fourth day in a row without vomiting or waves of nausea! Praise the Lord! Please pray with us that this means the daily, ongoing vomiting and nausea are over for this pregnancy. Please join us in prayer for a healthy baby and a smooth, speedy, natural delivery also!

we made a sunny day

2009-11-09T22:26:00.004-06:00

The three weeks before we moved went on endlessly, rainy day after rainy, muddy, overcast day. The kids were soooo tired of the rain and they were stir-crazy from being trapped in the house for so many days in a row. One morning N' said that we needed a sunshine in the window. I explained that I couldn't make it sunny out, but suggested that we make our own sunny day inside. N' and J' thought it was a fabulous idea and a few minutes later the floor was covered in construction paper, the scotch tape was out, and mommy was in serious demand cutting whatever shape they thought to add next. We spent a fun-filled hour cutting out shapes and taping them in the window in various spots until N' and J' were pleased with the result. They couldn't wait to show daddy their very own sunny day when he returned home from work that day! "Look Daddy, we made a sunny day!"

We spent the next week (yes, it kept raining) of overcast, rainy days pulling the blinds up every morning instead of just turning them open so that they could smile at their sunny day. We didn't take it down until a couple of days before we moved. I thought about keeping it, but thought it would be more fun to start over fresh and see what they come up with the next time!

Isn't it amazing how creative you can be at only 4 and 2 years old! N' was particularly pleased with his lake and sailboat idea. J' loved the three birds flying under the clouds (she loves birds -- they're hard to see in the pics). B' was happy to tear-up and attempt to eat the scraps of construction paper that littered the floor while we worked :0)

our hat lover

2009-11-09T22:06:00.006-06:00

N', J', and B' all enjoy any opportunity to toss on a hat. But, B' is especially crazy about hats! It's rare for a whole day to go by without him putting on a hat... any hat! Here are some sweet pics of him in his current favorite, N's cowboy hat. We took these about a month ago, but he's still running around in this one. Isn't he sweet! I wish you could hear him say "hat?" when he's looking for it! I love it!

skipping it

2009-10-22T16:54:00.023-05:00

I try not to air controversial opinions often, but I have such a heart for this every October. So, please indulge me as I share my heart about halloween. I know many of my Christian friends choose to enjoy celebrating the day in full or in alternative celebrations of various kinds. You certainly have liberty to make your own decision for you and your family. However, I contend that as followers of the Most High God, it is important that we flee anything that is rooted in our enemy, Satan.

There are several who argue that our children are missing out on something by not participating in dressing up and candy collecting from door-to-door. However, I don't see my children missing anything. There is nothing wrong with playing dress-up or holding a fun costume party. If you are ok with sugar consumption in young children, there is nothing wrong with the occasional candy munch either. Both of these activities can be enjoyed any time of year. There is no reason why we need to participate in a halloween event in order to allow the kids to put on a hero costume or taste M&M's. We can save this fun for a sunny afternoon with the dress-up box out or for a themed birthday party.

There are also those who hold that it's an important community opportunity to greet neighborhood trick-or-treaters at our doors on what may be the only day that they actually knock. But, it has been my experience that this actually creates confusion for non-believers who assume, rightly, that Christians would not want a part in celebrating a holiday that originated in pagan practices and ideas. We are called as Christians to stand as light in darkness, not to walk alongside darkness and allow ignorance to be bliss for our children. With a little effort, we can establish healthy relationships with those neighbors who are willing, without the risk of putting our witness and walk with the Lord into question.

"Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them." Ephesians 5:11

"You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons."
1 Corinthians 10:21

So forgive me those who disagree, as I turn out the porch light and wait until November 1st to celebrate the fall with whole pumpkins and gourds on my porch. Autumn is my favorite season and I can't wait to jump knee deep into leaves and brush and wrap myself in fabulous fall jewel tones... but first, I have a day to spend in warfare-prayer for the hearts of those lost in occult practices. They will be celebrating in horrifying ways in secret places halloween night while innocent children blindly walk the streets thinking of nothing more than candy and the greatness of this year's costume. It is my prayer that as my children grow, they will join me in prayer and spend halloween thinking of the greatness of walking in relationship with King Jesus -- there is nothing better than that. No costume, no amount of candy, no number of halloween games could ever compare to the greatness of His love.

If you are interested in more information, the best objective, concise read I've found this year is on the History.com website (http://www.history.com/content/halloween). Be warned: their site is secular in nature and may have images along the side page that you would prefer not to see (i.e. skull and crossbones artwork). The purely fact-based information is useful for understanding the origins of today's halloween celebrations in the United States without any addition of opinions on the matter.

1. origins of halloween http://www.history.com/content/halloween/real-story-of-halloween
2. origins of pumpkin carving http://www.history.com/content/halloween/the-jack-o-lantern/history-of-the-jack-o-lantern
3. origins of trick-or-treating http://www.history.com/content/halloween/real-story-of-halloween/today-s-traditions

You could also refer to an article I agree with from christiananswers.net. (I don't agree with everything this site puts out but I liked this article. Again, be warned in advance as they have pics along the side page that you may prefer not to see (i.e. a woman with a bloody bandage across her face).) http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/halloween.html#harvestparties

There are many books and sites with clear, objective information. If you are unaware of the origins of halloween or if you're on the fence about whether or not your family should participate; I encourage you to do some research. Don't take my word for it, seek information, seek out scripture, and make your own informed decision.

bum genius contest

2009-09-24T15:14:00.006-05:00

After much deliberation and way too much hesitation, I've finally decided to enter the wonderful world of cloth diapering. Some of you will say I've lost my mind, but there are honestly so many pros as compared to disposables. It's better for the environment, saves money over time, eliminates exposing your baby to the chemicals in disposables, helps potty training to happen faster (as babies feel natural wetness when they potty), and they are CUTE! These are just a few of the pros.

The hardest part of this decision is to decide which brand, style, and type of cloth diapering to go with. I am really interested in two options: "bum genius one-size" cloth diapers and "bummis" cotton prefold diapers with "super whisper wrap" covers. These represent two TOTALLY different types of cloth diapering: prefolds (updated version of what our moms had before the disposable was invented - lots of flexibility in fit since you choose the fold that works best for your baby) and all-in-ones (AOI's) which are a newer take on cloth diapering and combine the style and ease of a disposable (they go right on with no folding, pinning, etc.) and all the wonderful benefits of cloth. A decision must be made ;0)

To this end, I've been researching endlessly online and found a contest offering 6 free bum genius one-size diapers to the winner! Well I couldn't pass that up!

To learn more about bum genius diapers, cloth diapering in general, and to enter the contest, follow the link below to clothdiapertips.com!

http://clothdiapertips.com/contest-six-bumgenius-3-0-one-size-cloth-diapers/

Oh yes... some of you may wonder why I'm researching cloth diapering when B is 16 months old and almost ready to potty train. So, here's to sharing fun news for those of you we haven't had a chance to tell yet: we're expecting baby number 4! Another sweet surprise from the Lord and a promise of much more diapering to come!

summer in review

2009-08-31T10:55:00.020-05:00

Welcome to our summer in review! Tomorrow is the first day of September and we are soooo anxious for the summer's heat to end that my heart is moving on to fall! Big apologies are due for the incredibly LONG absence of blog updates. You'd think we went on an extended vacation or something... we didn't. I've just been running as usual and trying to keep the kids entertained indoors as much as possible. Ten minutes in this southern heat and cheeks are all pink, clothes are all sweaty, and everyone smells like wet puppies. Here's a list of pics and details, caption style, to show some of our summer highlights. Hope you enjoy!

B and "Shirley the Great" (my grandmother) at a church concert in Waco.

N pretending he's a painter. (I love that plastic bowl "painter's hat"!) His paint palette is the plastic lid from an empty cardboard oatmeal container.

J in a new dress! It was handed down from a dear friend of mine who has two girls and a baby boy. I wish you could see all the sweet little lady clothes she gifted to us when she visited! It was such a blessing to recieve, but an even greater blessing to spend a few precious hours with an out-of-town friend while our little ones played. Doesn't she look absolutely adorable?! Of course, I may be slightly biased ;0).

B trying to put himself down for a nap in N's toddler bed with the padded letter "T" for company.
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In June we went to the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science for a friend's 3rd birthday party. The kids had never been before. They have a children's museum there with small versions of places in the world for them to explore. Our three loved the firetruck, kiddie kitchen, and farm best.

J driving the firetruck with friends from church, Eliana and Gideon.

N, J, and B riding rocking horses at the miniature farm.

Posing with the life-size mammoth statue outside the animal and dinosaur building of the museum of nature and science.
J was not impressed with the dinosaur bones, but she LOVED the taxidermy animal displays. Sadly, the two pics of her with the black bears refused to upload. N thought it was all fabulous! Sweet B had fallen asleep in the stroller by the time we reached the animal building. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fun at home with daddy. The kids LOVE to pile on PT's lap when he sits down in this chair. It's hilarious because they barely fit all together, but they are determined even if they have to sit on each other's arms and legs to make it work.

N and J morning fresh and looking cute! B refused to stay in the picture. He prefers to try his best to get a closer look at the camera when I try to get a cute, posed group shot.
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Friends invited us to their parents' cabin in east Texas for Independence Day weekend. We left early Friday morning and followed them there and drove back just in time for sound check before service Sunday morning. We had the best time getting to know their family better and spending the weekend in a gorgeous place away from the city! We rode four wheelers (kids too! - they rode in front of us, one kid with one adult, slow, but they thought it was great). We shared meals. We played ping pong. We walked along the trail. We looked at the stars without city lights in the way. It was wonderful! We loved getting away!

The view of the "piney woods" from the upstairs deck of the cabin on the top of the hill.

J and Daddy laughing.

Sparklers!
On Saturday night we went to the pond for sparklers and fireworks (a set of 9 canister fireworks that our host was brave enough to light the fuse for out on the edge of the dock and then run so we could all enjoy!) Most of the time the grownups helped the kids hold the sparklers steady, but N and friends Ethan and Adelaide went solo when the sticks were first lit (and nice and long) which made for good pics. You can't see N's friend Ethan, but that's his sparkler on the left. J and B were too short and too unpredictable to handle sparklers.
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"Now I'm number 4?"

N turned four early in August. When did four years go by??? He was so tickled to actually have a cake. It was the only thing he asked to have for his birthday. We don't do complex sugar very often, so cake is pretty rare at our house. It was a strawberry cake with brown sugar and butter drizzle on top. He thought it was fabulous! Funny birthday moment: N asked, "so will I be number 5 tomorrow?" ;0) He was sad to learn that he has to wait a whole year to turn 5.
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Well, that's our summer in review. Hope your summer has been filled with moments of great JOY and many reminders of God's greatness!

"The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives."
Psalm 37:23 NLT

lye soap love

2009-07-08T13:36:00.004-05:00

My mom brought me a bar of Grandma's Lye Soap about a month ago. I use basic bar soap as a stain remover (works really well on biological stains like food and poops) and she thought a bar of lye soap would work even better than my random bar of zest soap. So, I opened the bar of lye soap and promptly fell in love! The ingredients include lard, water, and lye. That's it! I started out just using it to help remove poop stains from all these training pants. (Oh how I lament the decision not to try elimination communication in lieu of traditional potty training -- the extra effort when they were tiny would have been WELL worth the effort!) The lye soap not only removes the discoloration quickly, but zaps the not-so-sweet smell of fresh toddler poo in seconds! YAY!

Well, I didn't stop there. I had some onions to slice one day and wondered if it would remove the onion smell from my fingers faster than lemon juice and baking soda. It does!

Next I tried peeling a little into the wash with a cheese grater, some white vinegar, and a little Borax (simple, homemade laundry detergent). That worked too. The clothes were clean, fresh smelling, and soft without fabric softner; but it does take two rinse cycles to get the soap all out.

All of this was great! But the best happened when I decided to try it in the bathtub. Our kiddos all have excema (patches of severe dry skin) that comes and goes based on their allergies (ah the joys of living in the pollen-rich south!). As I researched lye soap I read a few threads on some sites that declared the wonder of lye soap as body wash, especially for sensitive skin and excema. The results: the two stubborn patches of excema on J's sweet little cheeks are almost clear! N's sandpaper back is becoming smoother and softer! And they all smell fabulous without any fragrance added!

Hooray for old-fashioned lye soap!

triplets

2009-06-27T10:04:00.004-05:00

I know it's kind-of corny, but we found these matching shirts in an 18 mo., a 2T, and a 4T all on SALE and couldn't pass them up! Aren't they super duper cute!

We took these pics to update the framed picture of the kids that PT keeps on his office desk for Father's Day. Of course, after the fact, it occurred to me that he has the kids pics on his work computer wallpaper and it rotates through different pics and everything... so we could have skipped the 30 minutes of begging to try to get a good shot ;0) Oh well, he'll add the shot to the rotation! Now if I can just get B' to understand that they only sat on the table to take a cute picture and it's not a chair :0)

our superstar

2009-06-22T17:19:00.007-05:00

"Mommy, are you soooo proud?"

"Yes, I am soooo proud!"

We keep having this conversation over and over again - every time N' finishes using the potty. Yes, N' is successfully using the potty. He's great at "tinkles" and even wakes in the night to potty. He's been dry overnight since he was 18 months old, but since potty training he occasionally needs to go around 4 am. That's fine though, he finishes and goes right back to sleep! What a fun blessing!

We're still working on consistently releasing poops into the potty. The first poop in the potty happened at church, just after service. Once a month we have a meet-the-leadership lunch right after church called the BBQ&A. The BBQ&A was just getting started and Patrick had just gone into the room when N' had his first poop-success and he REALLY wanted to tell daddy. Since N'always whispers when a lot of people are around I walked him down the hall, opened the door a crack, and let him slip in so he could share his news with Patrick. Well, that's the end of "always" with N'. He flew through the door, spotted his daddy, turned up a huge smile and announced full volume, "Daddy, I made a poop in the potty. It was a big snakey, stinky poop!" Yep. Mommy was soooooo embarrassed, but thankfully daddy didn't miss a beat he stuck his hand up for a high five and gave huge congratulations to our little pooper then looked at the folks gathered in the room and said simply, "we're potty training." Everyone laughed and then they applauded and shouted "good job" and "alright" -- talk about great reinforcement. Nehemiah was a superstar for a moment! Or at least you'd have thought so from the sound of things! ;0)

He chose these underwear himself. He chose from a whole display of underwear in the store and decided based on the fact that this package was all green-based and there was a dinosaur pair AND an alligator pair in the package. Our boy couldn't resist such a fabulous combination. Even red undies with puppies and firetrucks lost out. He's very excited about using the potty, but much more excited about the coolness of underwear! (He's making muscles in this pic... mmm hmm... well, at least he said he was making "really strong muscles." hee hee!)

outside

2009-06-22T16:57:00.004-05:00

The kids all love to be outside. Here are some pics from a recent morning outside. It's too hot to go out in the afternoons now, but the mornings are bearable if we get out early. N' pretended to mow the lawn with a push-ride toy, B' pushed the shopping cart around, and J' practiced on the tricycle. We played outside for almost two hours before we had to go in for lunch. Ah such simple fun!

A Dress-up Day

2009-06-08T13:53:00.006-05:00

My Aunt Necia and Uncle Joey sent this gorgeous, lemon-yellow, fluffy wonder for Judah's birthday. When we tried it on her the other day, the only way I could get her to take it off was to promise that she could wear it on "church day." She said, "I want to put it on my body." Hee hee! It's a 2T and she turned two in February, so you'd think it would fit just right by now, but it's still a smidgen big for our petite little lady.

Still, I promised, so I pulled out the sewing machine and made a quick pair of capri-style pantaloons for her to wear under it. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm all about pantaloons, long patty-pants, and knee-bloomers. It's ladylike and sweet and we want to teach her appropriate modesty at an early age. I am so tickled with how they came out. This is my first attempt at making capri pants for Judah. Her Nana (my mom) bought her a pair of summer sandals that she found on sale and they were a great match. This will be a favorite outfit all summer!

We took a couple of pics after church before we changed into play clothes. The standing pic is her idea of posing for the camera-- hee hee! She said, "Mommy, Judah is pretty." And I quite agree!

(click on the pics to enlarge for a close-up view!)

happy helpers

2009-06-03T11:34:00.004-05:00

READY, SET, GO!

The "bigs" love to help! We bought a giant package of toilet paper at Sam's Wholesale Club. Nehemiah asked what we were going to do with it. I explained that I needed to move the individual rolls into the hall closet and my happy helpers launched into action.

Nehemiah announced that he would bring the rolls to the closet and Judah said, "I want to help too!" Suddenly a race was on! Judah only dared to hold one roll at a time as she ran down the hall. Nehemiah tried two and three rolls at a time, even though several attempts at three resulted in dropping all of them and having to start over. It was hilarious and oddly, actually helpful. If you look closely at each pic, you'll see in the background that "the competition" is working hard to pull more rolls out of the package at the end of the hall as the kiddo in the forefront of the pic is running. I couldn't have finished any faster by bringing the package to the closet and unloading the rolls into stacks on the shelf by myself. Besides, they had the best time with their invented toilet paper race!

I love how everything has the potential to be fun and exciting to a child! YAY! Left up to me, that giant package of toilet paper may well have sat on the floor behind the couch til the end of the day, but my cuties made it a great game to put it away as soon as we got home. I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pics to share -- even though Nehemiah shouted for me to hurry so I could "catch" those two rolls he was racing down the hallway with!

We Love to EAT

2009-05-26T00:32:00.008-05:00

Sorry it's been so long between blogs. My camera is full of cute pics of things to tell everyone about :0) Here's one fun happening: B' enjoyed his very first peanut butter sandwich this week. Look at that smile! He thought it was great. I'm not sure which pleased him more, the brand new flavor and texture of peanut butter and pureed strawberries, or the fact that he could eat his whole lunch unassisted just like "the bigs." I had the best time watching him grab, giggle, and stuff bite after bite.

Since I was sharing about food I thought I'd include a handy spaghetti-night help: the "bib shirt."

The bigs LOVE spaghetti (which they both pronounce "spagebsie"). I'm a stain-chaser: the kind who can't stand to let a stain linger on those sweet kid clothes. To get tomato-based stains out of fabric completely without chemical assistance, even if you strip it off and toss it in the wash minutes after they eat, can be a real challenge.

Now, N' doesn't like to wear a napkin draped under his chin, a bib, or a towel because he says, "I'm a big boy. A bib is for Benjamin because he's a baby boy." That means J' won't wear a bib either. So, I invented the "bib shirt." When we eat spaghetti we grab two of daddy's plain white undershirt-tees, pull them on, and clip them in the back with clothes pins (to hold the t-shirt collars close enough to protect even the collars on their little shirts beneath). The fun of wearing daddy's shirts works every time and the clothes pins release with a gentle pull so there's no risk of stangulation. Best of all, the t-shirts are long enough to cover them to the ankles so shirts, bottoms and all stay nice and clean! When we're done I just toss the two t-shirts in the wash with some bleach. Simple, easy, and no stain removal parties in my kitchen sink!

(Bib shirts are great for arts and crafts coverage too!)

Laundry Baskets

2009-05-09T00:24:00.004-05:00

"The Bigs," a.k.a. the big brother and big sister in our house, love to play in their toy-storage baskets. We have two laundry baskets that hold the kids' toys: one in the kids' room and one in the living room. These two laundry baskets are more popular than bikes in our house! Sometimes they use them as cars, sometimes as boats, pretend bathtubs, as caves to hide in; I'm so impressed by their imaginations at 2 and 3 years old! In this picture, they had just announced that they were getting ready for bed and proceeded to pretend to sleep; making snore noises and laughing the whole time!

It puts the neat-nik in me to the test to smile and say nothing when they jump up and dump the baskets out. But, their sweet little giggles make it well worth overlooking the messy pile of toys on the floor... at least for a little while :0)

One in Houston

2009-04-29T18:38:00.011-05:00

(B' with PaPa) (B with Grandmother)

We went to Houston this past weekend for a celebration. PT's parents' 48th wedding anniversary and his Aunt Larrie's 74th birthday are on the same day each year and the family hosted a banquet to honor them. Patrick has a big family and it was great to see everyone.

Sunday was B's first birthday! I can't believe a whole year has gone by already! He is such a little wonder! He can walk, wave hello and goodbye, laugh infectiously, and does his best to mimic everything "the bigs" do! And he loves to talk... lots of babytalk accompanied by a few "real" words: daddy, mama, kitty cat, bye, and "cheeyoh" (cheerio). AND he just learned to shake his head "no" and nod "yes" though he uses them interchangably :0)

N' and J' think he's wonderful and all theirs. They try to drag him everywhere they go so he's learning to run fast! The three of them look for one another constantly. They do NOT like to be separated! I love their love for one another!

Happy Birthday little beloved!

Measuring Cups

2009-04-15T20:08:00.004-05:00

When we married we received 4 sets of measuring cups as parts of wedding gifts. I thought to return three sets; who needs more than one? But at two and three dollars apiece and with no gift receipts, the hassle of returning them far outweighed the need. Almost seven years later, I am so glad we kept them all. The kids love measuring cups!

The last thing PT and I do before bed is make a sweep of the house to pick up toys, books, random shoes; anything that's not where it belongs. At least when we go to bed and wake up, the house is all neat and tidy - with most everything in its place. The last couple of weeks this sweep has resulted in a sink full of measuring cups to wash. Our cuties keep asking for them during the day and I keep handing them out. I love the creative ideas they have for them!

Things our measuring cups have recently been:

boats, airplanes, beds, and cars for toy animals and little people figurines
pots and pans (J' and N' both like to pretend to cook with me. The 1 cup measuring cups apparently make great pots and the 1 tbsp. measuring spoons become "cooking spoons.")
telephones and microphones (if you talk into the cup, it has an amplified effect)
a magnifying glass (N' uses the round hook holes on the end of the green plastic set as a magnifying glass)
percussion instruments (bang them together, use them like drumsticks, slide them on different surfaces for a scratchy sound)
chew toys (B' always makes sure he gets in on the action)
rain makers (In the bathtub, the "bigs" like to stand up and pour water on each other declaring that "it's raining on you," while the other laughs like crazy! Funny how they love this but have fits about having shampoo rinsed out of their hair.)
hats (for various toys)
oh, and every once in a while they loan me one to measure something as I cook ;0)

Easter Best

2009-04-15T19:41:00.011-05:00

We had a fabulous Resurrection Day celebration this year. PT organized and directed a choir again this year and we had a blast praising the Lord together. The message included a live lamb! He was soooo cute and tiny. The kids were in for service today (no children's church pull-out mid service) so they were all there to see the little lambie -- oh their faces! Our pastor used him as an illustration right at the start of the service. The best part was the closing song: "He's Alive" (by DeAndre Patterson). The band, the praise team, the choir, a Christian rapper who is a member of our church wrote a rap to go in one of the instrumental breaks, AND the children; we all performed together. The kids were in the front and had choreography, the lights were just right, it was a HUGE work and came together beautifully to the glory of God!

N' should have been on stage, but he heard some feedback at a church building we went to for a service last summer and since then he refuses, terror stricken, to go on the stage at all. So, even though he knows the whole song, had his drumsticks in hand, and danced like crazy in rehearsals; he simply would not calm down enough to go on stage with the other 3 year olds. Oh well, maybe next year.

Everyone was pressed and pretty for the day... sadly I didn't think to try to snap any pics til after church and after lunch. They just weren't interested in standing together and looking cute. J' insisted on making her "sqwunchie" face (above) and singing "He's Alive" loudly for the camera (below), N' had an accident by then which required trading his khakis for jeans, and B' just came running for cuddles every time we tried to get a pic. We "shopped" in the backs of our closets and drawers this year and created some adorable outfits -- if I do say so myself ;0)! Here's as close as I could get to sharing their Easter Best in pictures.

Jesus Paid it ALL

2009-04-07T01:36:00.010-05:00

Those who know me best know that I eagerly await Heaven! I love to sing about heaven, teach about heaven, I just can't wait to spend forever at home with God the Father! This week is resurrection week. Passion Week. The week leading up to Easter Sunday: our celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What a wonderful opportunity to reflect on each of the days that led up to the ultimate sacrifice, the cross; and that awesome miracle, the resurrection.

Jesus willingly came to earth as a baby, taking on flesh. He lived here without committing a single sin for 33 years, and spent the last 3 of those years ministering to those who would hear the Truth. He knew the whole time that he would have to suffer a terrible death in order to pay the penalty for each of our sins so that those who accept Him as Lord and Savior may have eternal life with God the Father! The hymn says it best; " What wondrous love is this, O my soul!"

Here are the main events of Jesus' week of passion (see Mark 11-16):
Sunday: Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem
Monday: Jesus cleansed the temple of immoral practices and cursed the fig tree
Tuesday: Jesus taught on several subjects.
Wednesday: a woman named Mary anointed Jesus' head with oil and Judas agreed to betray Jesus
Thursday: Jesus shared the last supper with the disciples, Jesus prayed in the garden at Gethsemane, He was betrayed and arrested
Friday: Jesus stood on trial before the Sanhedrin, before Pilate, and before the people; the people called for Him to be crucified, Jesus was tortured, Jesus walked to Golgotha carrying the cross, Jesus was crucified, died, was laid in a heavily guarded tomb, and it was sealed shut.
Saturday: (quiet)
Sunday: Jesus rose from the grave! He's Alive! Praise the Lord!

I so love Jesus, in whom my great JOY is found!
He is my Savior, my peace, my comforter, my provider, my King... He is everything to me!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."
John 3:16

Benjamin in Action

2009-04-06T18:19:00.003-05:00

Now what could be more fun than those first sure steps! 11 month old, B' has been pulling up and "cruising" along furniture since 9 months. Then he spent a while taking 2 or 3 timid steps and then going down on all four... but a few nights ago he took to the floor with a big smile on two legs! I grabbed the camera after the first run and PT grabbed two O's out of the pantry (no doubt he'd chase down a piece of cereal!). It was just before bedtime, hence the crazy pajama look, and he had just finished a practice run with his sippy cup (which explains the water down his front - he likes to fill up his mouth and watch the water dribble out). So, here's our precious little Benj taking his second-ever long stroll - in hot pursuit of an O!

flowers flowers

2009-03-28T12:15:00.028-05:00

The Dallas Arboretum hosts their Dallas Blooms event every March. The whole botanical garden is decked out in tulips and the "springiest" of flowers. My sister, Wendy, and I gathered our cuties and headed out to enjoy the flowers. She has a 6 y/o and 4 y/o twins - all girls. Then we had our two boys and miss ma'am. It was a gorgeous day and everyone slipped on a fresh, shiny, good mood for this outing! Praise the Lord! I put B' and J' in the stroller and let N' try walking for an entire outing for the first time. He did a really great job on foot - what a big boy! We had a fabulous time.

This year's theme is "Storybook Houses." Different design firms in the city volunteered to create a concept house based on a child's story book. They are constructed throughout the grounds. Our kiddos haven't read or heard some of the stories they had houses for, but they still had a blast in each structure. N's favorite was the Peter Pan House which was a full-out pirate ship with masts and everything. We haven't let them see or read Peter Pan, but he was thrilled about "driving" the ship!

J' loved the Alice in Wonderland House the best. We haven't read or seen that one either, but she was intrigued because it had several doorways in various sizes. We spent a WHILE at that house, letting the kids try out all the different doorways. B' mostly enjoyed the grass :0)

Naturally, we all loved the flowers best. We saw several varieties of spring-blooming flowers, countless colors, and even met a couple of friendly lady bugs and a leaf crawler :0)

(If you want to see any of the pics larger, just click on them and you'll get a full screen view!)

playtime

2009-03-10T15:15:00.012-05:00

Here are some pics of our little arrows at play! I never do seem to manage a really good shot of all three of them together, but here are a few good attempts! :0)

N. and J. love playing in the tent in the living room. It was sunny but cold outside that day, so the closest they could get to a run in the sun was to open the blinds nice and wide and bring out the play-tent for some extra fun. B. was on the floor, just in front of their feet, but he wouldn't cooperate for the shot (kept turning his bottom toward the camera to watch "the bigs" say "cheese").

Here we are outside on a warmer day in February. We had just come in from church and the kiddos were playing in the backyard while I finished getting some lunch together. They like the "crunchy" winter grass just as much as the soft summer grass... mostly because it flies through the air so well! :0) B. likes to eat it.

B. has three teeth already and a fourth one coming in now. That's a blessing for him since he is all about eating!
Grass, paper, leaves, crayons, anything he can get his hands on when I'm not looking will be happily munched until mommy comes along to do the finger swipe and take it away :0) Oh - food too! J. loves to give him things from her plate, so we have to keep a close eye when they're eating, lest she share something that he can't handle just yet. She frequently reports that, "Benjamin wants some too."

Ah sweet Judah! What a cutie she is! I love this super loud outfit! In the summer, we'll roll those pant legs into capris and wear a tee under the pinafore-style top. :0) J. is ALL personality with really great diction and enunciation! Yesterday she said "No, I don't want that one either." Who knew she could use the word "either?" YAY little miss ma'am!

This is mommy and Judah on her 2nd b-day. I made a blueberry muffin cake (muffin recipe baked in a loaf pan) and we sang happy birthday over lunch at home. It was a sweet time; just the 5 of us. I put this pic in here for those who say they never get to see me when I email photos - I'm usually doing all the picture snapping!

oatmeal and chicken???

2009-03-06T23:58:00.005-06:00

Normally, PT gets up with the kids, gets them to the table and makes their breakfast while I finish my ever- interrupted attempt at a full night's sleep. But today's schedule was a little different and I made their breakfast - our usual fare - oatmeal "seasoned" with a little Brown Cow Yogurt! Super yummy. Now, we had lime and herb baked chicken last night and much to my surprise, N. was very aware that there were leftovers. So, he asked if we could have chicken with our oatmeal and proceeded to take the leftover chicken out of the fridge and set it on the table for me.

I started to explain that we don't eat baked chicken for breakfast, but stopped when I couldn't think of a compelling reason why not. So, N. and J. clapped their hands as I pulled out two saucers, cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, and served baked chicken along with bowls of oatmeal for breakfast today! Are we rule breakers or what!??? :0) hee hee!

(No, the chicken isn't in the picture...this is actually a pic from a couple of months ago, but it was so cute and she is eating oatmeal. Besides, it went with today's story!)

getting started

2009-03-04T23:31:00.002-06:00

Call me a "joiner" if you will, but it's a great idea so I'm joining the ranks of bloggers out there. We have lots of out-of-town family who would be blessed by hearing regular updates and seeing some of the zillion pictures we snap of the kids. I don't know how well it will work for me, but my goal is just to update at least weekly so that everyone can watch our little wonders grow!

So what's the latest funny around here? The cicadas have started chirping. Not surprising for spring in Texas, but they are especially LOUD this year. They are soooo loud that N. and J. keep asking us at twilight, "what's that sound?" I explained and explained about the cicadas making sounds like crickets, but N. wasn't satisfied 'til I told him that cicadas love to get together and go out at night; so when the sun starts going down they start making their plans for the evening. I know, totally made up... but he went for it and now he's satisfied that the incredibly shrill din they're making is all about dinner and party plans for the evening - cicada style!