Hannah's Baptism

I'm very behind in my blogging. The month is already half over and I hadn't even blogged about any of the things that has happened this month. I'll try to make up for it by writing several catch up blogs. 

The first Sunday of this month, May 1, Hannah was baptized.  It was the most giggly baptism I've ever witnessed.  Usually Baptisms are a serious occasion but leave it to Hannah to giggle the whole time. When Scott helped her into the baptistry she grabbed ahold of his arm and giggled because the water was cold.  She was a little short to be able to see over the edge so Scott held her up so that everyone could see her.  Then he gave the explanation that Baptism is a picture of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection and that it shows that Hannah is now following Him. 

There was one moment I could have hid under the pew.  As Scott helped her up the steps out of the baptistry she announced loud enough that everyone could hear, "I feel like a wet dog!"  Okay, that part made me want to hide, everyone else thought that it was cute.   But that's our Hannah. She is our "life of the party" child, the outgoing one that likes being the center of attention. 

She told everyone she met about the day she was saved.  It didn't matter who the person was, even complete strangers she would tell, "I'm saved now!" Then when we set the date for her baptism, she told everyone that she was going to be baptized.  She was more excited about the Sunday she was to be baptized than she was of Easter Sunday.  It is great seeing your child have the joy of God's salvation. 

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:18)
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. (Psalms 51:12)
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3)

A Busy April...

Joshua and I at the concert.

 This has been an extremely busy month and I haven't blogged nearly enough during it.  I'm using this post as another catch up blog. 

Our Church's Youth Group

We started the month with belt testing on the first Saturday of the month in karate class.  Scott earned his blue belt and I earned an orange belt. We take more pictures of our kids than we do of ourselves. 




That same evening Joshua and I joined 3 other sets of mothers and sons from our homeschool group for a Mother/Son date night.  We took our sons out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant and then went to a Inspirational All Gospel Concert.  It was a really great show and everyone had a good time.

Every year on Easter Sunday we take a picture of the kids in our church. Normally I try to get the picture after the morning service but everyone had scattered so I got this picture after our evening service. Our youth group has sure grown in numbers and in size these past 3 Easters that we've been here. They grow up so fast. Makes the pictures each year fun to look at as they get bigger.



Ruth in home economics at co-op.

Another new activity we were involved in this month was a Homeschool Co-op. For those who do not know what a Homeschool Co-op is it is where a group of homeschool families get together and each parent volunteers to either teach or help out in a class. This was our groups first time to have a co-op and the kids enjoyed it a lot.



Hannah making a bead necklace in her 4-6 year old class.

We had seven classes in this co-op. They were science, home economics, art, music, and a unit study on horses, a 4-6 year old class, and a 0-3 year old "class". Technically the 0-3 year old were more in a nursery setting but we called it a class. I taught the music class and other mothers taught the other classes or helped in the classes. The kids really liked the classes they took and are looking forward to doing co-op again in the fall.

Joshua doing a science experiment at co-op.

Also this month we started a garden.  Which has been growing.  We have already been enjoying some of the herbs out of our herb garden and are looking forward to getting some fruit from our bigger garden. 
 
Last week, Scott and I got our shots in preparation for our trip this summer to Thailand.  We also bought our tickets this week. It has been amazing to watch as God helped us have the money for the tickets as well as taking care of issues that we felt completely helpless on. We have a very small view on our lives.  It's nice to know that God can see what will happen tomorrow. When things may look bleak to us, He knows what's around the corner and that everything will be okay.    

Jonathan and Elijah in their 0-3 year old "class" at co-op.

This has been an incredibly busy month and it's not over yet. We still have a family reunion to attend this week.   

I don't know what all God has in store for us in May.  I'm sure it won't be boring.  I'm just glad He is here with us each step of the way.  Through the easy times and the hard times it's good to know that God is here to help us. 

It's a blessing to be able to look back over the month and despite the hard points in the month, we can still look back at it and say, "This has been a really good month!"

Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Long Hair, Gum, Peanut Butter...

If the first thought you had when reading the title of my blog is that it sounds like a mess, you would be right. 

Hannah had gotten some gum today at our Homeschool Co-op class.  I'm not sure how she got the whole thing in her hair.  I think she had accidently got her hair in her mouth and then got a little bit of gum in her hair and then she started chewing on it to try to get it out of her hair which in turn got the whole piece of gum in her hair. 


I reread that last sentence and couldn't think of a better way to word it than that.  I still don't know where she decided that chewing the gum in her hair would get it out, but I have found that peanut butter, although greasy and messy in its own way, at least saves a young lady from having her hair cut up to her ears.  So with a lot of peanut butter and a little silent prayer, we managed to get the gum out of her hair.  I'm sure if she had thought about it she might would have eaten the peanut butter out of her hair but I sent her to go wash her hair instead.

Two Birthdays!!!

Hannah, our daughter that just turned 6 a week ago, can now claim to have two birthdays.  She was saved tonight. She can now claim to be born again (See John 3).

She has been asking us questions about how to be saved for quite a while now.    When she asked the questions before she never seemed to care to go any further with it.  We don't believe in pressuring our children to be saved but we don't hide the good news from them either.  We make sure that they realize that they are sinners and that sin is the bad things we do.  We tell them that one day when they feel bad for those bad things they do, that God wants to forgive them.

In the earlier years when Hannah would ask about being saved, it was just something she wanted to do to be like her older siblings that were saved.   In her mind it was a club she wanted to join.  The thing she was lacking was the conviction of her sins.  She knew she did bad things but she didn't feel any guilt about it.  At that time, I told her that God knew that she wanted to be saved and would protect her until the day that she understood.

Well, today was that day.  In Sunday School she asked me about being saved.  I explained the same thing I had explained to her before.  I told her that she first had to realize that she was a sinner, and that she did bad things, such as lying, disobeying parents, etc.  She agreed.  I told her that it wasn't enough just to realize that but you have to feel bad for those things that you do wrong and realize that God isn't happy with those bad things.  I asked her if she ever felt bad when she did something wrong.  She told me that she did. 

Then I told her that what she needed to do was tell God that she was sorry and really mean it.  She said that she didn't want to pray with other people in the room. She said that it would be embarrasing.  I told her that she could pray anywhere.  Then she was confused as to when she wanted to pray to be saved.  She told me that she wanted to be saved next Saturday before karate class.  Then she changed it to Monday. 

I told her that she could be saved anytime and any place.  I told her that God could hear her anywhere.  I then read her  2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

I then asked her when was a good time to be saved.  She said, "Saturday?"  I decided she needed to hear the verse again.  Then she said, "Oh, NOW! I guess since the Bible says it, I should be saved today then!" 

I then asked her if she wanted me to show her some of the verses that tell about being saved.  She agreed and I started with Romans 3:23.  She then said, "Oh, is this what Daddy did when he talked to the other girl about how to be saved."   I told her it was, and I asked her if she would like Daddy to show her the verses about being saved.  She said an excited yes.  And we went on with our lesson about Jesus telling his disciples to let the little children come to him.  It was a fitting lesson. 

Then tonight after we prayed our bedtime prayers as a family, I asked Hannah if she wanted to talk to Daddy and she said that she did.  So Scott took her into the other room and shared with her a few verses.  He said that she understood it all completely.  In fact she told him how to be saved!  He told her about how we can't get to heaven by the things we do and and she told him, "Yes, I know that Jesus died for my sins and that the only way we can go to heaven is by asking Him, and He sees me! I don't know how He sees me but He sees everything! and He was with you when you were in Paraguay and when you were in Thailand and He was with us here!" 

Then she wanted to be alone while she prayed.  So Scott stepped out of the room and told me about their conversation.  Then she came skipping out of our room and said, "I did it!"  We asked her if she asked Jesus to save her and she said that she did.  She was going to skip right off to bed but we stopped her for a hug.  She is now a new creature.  Now we will get to enjoy watching her grow as a new child in Christ.  What a wonderful thing that is.  After a child is saved they have a new purpose in life and it's an exciting adventure to watch.  I love my children and I'll be praying for Jonathan who I'm sure will be ready in about 3 years.  It seems that is the age in our family that our children start really understanding how to be saved.  I will be praying for Jonathan and Elijah that they will be saved at an early age as well.  I couldn't ask for a better blessing than to see my children follow Him.   God is so good!

Two Birthdays in One Week

Elijah's first birthday was last Saturday.  Today is Hannah's birthday and maybe I'll manage to get all the pictures from her birthday posted by next weekend.

Last week Scott took the older kids on a hiking trip with my father.  It was Hannah's first real hike.  They had a wonderful time and from what I understand their favorite part was getting to eat their snacks along the trail. 

While they were hiking, I took Jonathan and Elijah to the park I used to play at when I was a child.  It's nice to still see some of the old toys that I remember still there.   

It was great getting to spend time with our younger two children by themselves.  They grow up so fast these days.  I wanted to just enjoy the day and let them have fun at their own pace.  Normally they spend their park time keeping up with their older siblings.  This time I just slowed down and let them lead the way for the most part.

After the park we enjoyed a good visit with my paternal grandmother.  We got to see her flowers and had a nice long visit. 

Then we returned to my maternal grandmother, Memaw's house.  My sister and her husband came and my parents were there.  Since we wouldn't be able to come back for Hannah's birthday, we went ahead and had a joint birthday party for both Hannah and Elijah.  Elijah got to eat his first chocolate cake.  We have a tradition of not letting any of our babies have chocolate cake until their first birthday.   

Hannah got a bicycle from Papa and Nana and Elijah got a walk behind/ ride-on toy.  They both got birthday money from Mema as well.  The exciting part of the night was when Elijah took two steps all by himself.   He figured out he could walk while walking behind the toy that my parents gave him and then he stood by himself and clapped his hands wanting all of us to clap with him.  Then he took two steps to Ruth who was sitting near him.  We were all so excited and he thought it was a wonderful game that made us all cheer for him. 

Then we had a cook out at our house last Sunday afternoon and invited some friends over for that.  Over all it was a really good weekend last weekend.  We had a good busy week this week too.  After having a week off for Spring Break, I put the kids back to work this week.  We added gardening to our homeschool activities.  It's been really great!  We have a bigger garden this year than we've ever had before.  I've started the kids writing Gardening Journals where they can draw pictures and take notes about the garden and some of the things they notice as they go out to water and weed the plants. 

It's been such a busy week and we had a really great day today for Hannah's birthday.  I'll try to post more pictures and tell about what we did today before the week is over.  :) 

The Best Husband

My husband fixed my washing machine tonight.  He not only fixed it but he took the opportunity to teach the kids all about washing machines and how they work.  He didn't even mind Hannah and Jonathan being his cheerleaders at the top of their voices.  They kept cheering, "You can do it! You can do it!"

It was just a few days ago that I realized the washer had a problem.  I told Scott about it and he immediately started doing the research to figure out what could be the problem with the washer.  Then this evening after he got off work he took the time out of his evening to bale the water out of the tub and took it apart and found the problem.  A sock had fallen between the tub and the plastic part and got sucked up into the hose that drains the tub.  The sock got stuck in some part and wasn't allowing the water to escape.  That is why it made the horrible noise it was making and the water wasn't draining.

He fixed it, cleaned it up, and put it all back together.   Then to top it all off, he even washed a load of clothes while I got the kids ready for bed.  Isn't he wonderful!!!  :) 

I did pray for him at one point when there were some clips that looked impossible to put back on.

He did a little bit more research and found the solution.  I really like it when the Lord answers my prayers and gives my husband a hand when something looks almost impossible.  I highly recommend wives to pray for your husbands.  God does answer those prayers.

I only had to wash a few clothes this weekend by hand and that was enough to help me really appreciate my washing machine.  It's amazing how many things we take for granted.  I'm so glad to be able to do laundry now.  :) 

Elijah's Song

Elijah was singing today and this was just too cute of a video not to share.   In this video he is singing while plucking Hannah's violin.  :)  Enjoy!

Tie Tying Lesson

My brother-in-law gave us a bag of ties.  Some of them were a little small for Scott and those he picked out to give to Joshua.   Now that Joshua has a set of "real" ties, that means that someone has to tie them.  The time had come for Joshua to learn how to tie his new ties.

Sunday afternoon the lessons commenced.  Of course, Joshua isn't the only one that benefited from this lesson.  Scott got out ties for each of the older four children to try tying. 

 The first try wasn't necessarily the prettiest job, but these are the pictures I took of each of them with their ties.   I thought they did pretty good.  Joshua kept on practicing and was finally starting to get a handle on the length. 

 Jonathan, I just thought was too cute.  He tied his tie himself.  Scott showed them all step by step and well, this was Jonathan's final result.  I think he did pretty good with his modifications.  :) 

 Now you may wonder why a girl would need to learn to tie a tie.  I told them that it might come in handy for them to one day.  They may decide to get married and have a dream that they have to tie their husbands tie before church. 

Yes, that happened to me once.  I learned to tie a tie from my Dad a long time ago.  One day after I was married to Scott we were driving to a preaching appointment and I fell asleep in the car.  Scott usually waited until he got to the church before tying his tie but for some reason I had a dream that we were late and he needed his tie tied.  I immediately woke up and started tying his tie.  He thought it was rather strange but he was sweet and wore it anyway.  Even though I didn't tie it quite as pretty as he would have. 

 Hannah never did tie one.  I think she was determined that it was too hard.  And I guess at almost 6, I would have thought it too hard as well.  So Scott tied one for her but the whole point of tying a tie in her mind is so that you can pull it apart.  So I didn't get a picture of her with her tie. 

Instead I thought I would put this picture of Hannah and Ruth matching.  They asked me to take this picture of them.  They both had a pink shirt and blue skirt and red shoes.  They love to dress alike when they get a chance.









And I don't want to leave Elijah out so I wanted to show this picture of Elijah riding behind Jonathan on a bull dozer toy at our church.  He is growing up fast. He now has 6 teeth and knows how to use them. 

The challenge I am now having with Elijah is weaning.  Scott was fixing sandwiches in the car after karate class the other day and Elijah stopped nursing and wanted the sandwich.  I take that as a sign that we're on the right track.

I never did get a video of Hannah and Jonathan singing.  Maybe I'll be able to catch a really cute video soon.  Hope you don't mind these pictures instead.  :)

Tea Party

Ruth and Hannah had a friend over for a tea party last Saturday.  I pulled out our fancy tea set and baked a strawberry cake.  The girls chose Blueberry tea.  I also made some pudding for the party.

While Jonathan and I prepared the tea and cake in the kitchen the girls painted their fingernails.  Then they watched a Princess movie. 

After the movie was over we gathered around the table and had tea.  This was Amelia's first tea party.  We have had tea parties before but this was our first time to entertain a guest for tea. 


We discussed the fact that the girls were princesses. And I mentioned that Jonathan could be a Prince.  He exclaimed, "No! I'm a boy!"

I tried to explain that a princess was a girl and that a prince was a boy.  He was still emphatically declaring himself just a boy.  So I told the girls, "Okay, y'all can be princesses and we'll let Jonathan be just a boy for our tea party."

The the evening ended with a grand ball.  The girls and Jonathan went into the hallway and entered into the livingroom with their names announced. 

Then they sat in chairs and then got up and danced to Baroque music. 

They danced all the way to the time Amelia's parents came to pick her up and drop off Joshua who was visiting with Amelia's brother.

Over all they had a wonderful time. 

We'll need to do that again sometime.

Saturday morning, Joshua and Ruth earned their orange belts and Hannah has earned her yellow belt in karate class.

Scott and I will be testing in two months.  I enjoy participating in karate as a family.  It's really neat to help each other reach our goals.

This coming Saturday will be the belt ceremony when the kids will actually receive their belts.  I'll try to post pictures of that when the time comes.

Tuesday, we enjoyed karate class and ordered the kids sparring gear.  They have now reached a level where they are able to spar.

Wednesday, we had our Wednesday night Bible Study at our house.  I baked a loaf of raisin bread in our bread machine and we pulled out our tea set again.  This time we had Mixed Berry Zinger tea. 

Elijah hasn't been feeling very well. I'm pretty sure it's because of his teeth again. He now has 6 teeth and working on his 7th tooth. He's been real drooly and running a slight fever. It's never fun when their teething. He wanted to be held all day yesterday. He seems to be feeling a little bit better now.


It's nice when you get a break between teething spells.  Elijah has sure been growing quick. 

Jonathan and Hannah have been working on a special for Sunday this week.  I tried to get a video of them but Jonathan quit singing as soon as I got the camera.  We'll be practicing it again tomorrow and maybe I'll have my camera out and ready a lot sooner.  He was really getting into the song he was singing.  He even had his eyes squinting like he was really concentrating on the song.    

That catches me up for this week.  We enjoyed visiting my parents last week, while Scott was at a Tech Conference.  It is nice to be home again though and back into a routine.  Hopefully I'll be able to post a video of them singing in my next blog.  If not I'll pull out one of my other cute random videos of the kids.  :) 

Mema and Daddy Jim: A Legacy of Commitment

I have learned so many lessons over the years and the one thing that I have truly learned from my grandparents is that " 'til death do us part" is a standing commitment.

My Grandfather came home on furlough 64 years ago and asked if there were any girls left and I am so thankful that his friends mentioned my grandmother, Charlcye Taylor.   

After they were married, my grandfather started going to church with my grandmother and gave his life to Christ soon accepting the call to the ministry.   My grandmother followed him with their three daughters to whatever church the Lord called them to.  She stayed with him and loved him "for richer or poorer..."

 I know they must have had some pretty hard times.  Who doesn't have the difficult days to go through.  I'm sure they even had rocky moments, what marriage doesn't?  But they stayed together through "good times and bad..."

They were committed in their marriage.  Then my grandmother had health problems.  She had to retire from her job at Texas Baptist Institute.  Then after a time of being in and out of the hospital she was able to be home to care for Daddy Jim, who also began having major health problems.  They were committed to each other "in sickness and in health."  

Have you noticed that they are still holding hands in these pictures?  Even when Daddy Jim was in the hospital bed they are still together.  Mema would stay with him in the hospital.  I know it wasn't comfortable for her to be there but she wanted to be there.  That's true commitment.

Then came the day, a little over a week ago, that Daddy Jim went home to be with the Lord.  And they kept their commitment for "as long as we both shall live."

This last picture is Mema and Daddy Jim's hands held over an open Bible.  Just like you would see in a wedding picture. 

I actually requested this picture to be taken a few years ago.  Because as a writer, I wanted a perfect illustration of marriage and how it's suppose to be. 

This is how marriage should look.  I love my Mema and Daddy Jim.  Thanks for the legacy of commitment.

For my Mom.

It's been too long since I've blogged last and my dear mom checks my blog every day.  So I'm just going to post a couple of pictures of the kids here.  I have a lot to tell about that we've done this past month and I need to tell about what we plan to do this year.  But that will be in another blog.  I know I'm short changing y'all tonight but this blog is for my Mom. 

This first picture of the kids in between Big Kids and Adult Karate class.  We have an hour to spend waiting for the Adult class and we sometimes go into what the kids and I call the padded room to wait.

This second picture is of the kids all piled in the chair.  They called out, "Hey, Mom come take a picture of us!"  So here it is. 

Well, that is all I'm going to write for now.  I'm going to go spend some quality time with my husband.  I'll write more about the month in my next blog.

I love you, Mom! 

Happy New Year



Elijah's First Christmas

  2010 was a very good year and I'm anticipating an even better 2011 with God right by our side as he was last year. 

We enjoyed Christmas with my parents.  We started off Christmas morning with Joshua reading Luke 2 and Ruth reading Matthew 2.

Then we passed out and opened presents.  The kids had fun playing some of their new games with their Papa and Nana.

Elijah enjoyed playing with the wrapping and boxes more than anything I believe. 
We headed home Christmas night to be back in time for Sunday's services.

New Year's Eve Game Night

 Then Friday, New Year's Eve, we had game night at the church.  The kids (including some Big Kids) had fun shooting Nerf guns at each other for at least an hour.   Several of us ladies started a game of Uno.  While Scott started a game of Chess with another father after the Nerf gun fight ended. 

The kids' all picked out different games to play as well.  It was a really good night.  As midnight rolled around we cleaned up and before we came home we gathered together and discussed some of our Memories of the Old Year and our hopes and goals for our church and ourselves for the year we're entering.  Then we had prayer and everyone headed home.   We managed to get our kids' to bed and get a few hours sleep before we headed to our karate class that morning.

Elijah Helping Daddy Kick.

Every year on New Year's day our Karate class gets together at 10:00 a.m. to bring in the New Year with a thousand kicks. 

I asked our Sensei if the kicks we did while holding the Baby made up for any we might have missed.  For a part of the time Scott and I took turns holding Elijah while kicking. 

After the class, we enjoyed good food and fellowship with the other students in our karate class.  I really like the Christian atmosphere of our class.  You don't find very many karate instructors that will use the Bible as they teach karate. 

I've been trying to work on some of my goals for this year.  Some of the things I've planned for this year are harder than others but I'm working at it.  Hopefully by the end of the year, I can look back and see how much I've grown.  God is so good!   

I remember in my younger years worrying over the future.  I used to worry that I would say or do something embarrassing.  I would worry about what bad things might happen.  It was a miserable state to be in, not knowing what was going to happen and worrying about it all.

It's wonderful being able to start this New Year knowing that God is with us and no matter what we face this year it will still be good, because of Him.  I'm sure there will be hard times, and disappointing times ahead but I know that God will see us through it all.  I'm not worried a bit. 

  Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? (26) Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (27) Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? (28) And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: (29) And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (30) Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? (31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (32) (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (34) Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."



I pray that you have a happy, worry free New Year as well! 

Birthday Cake for Jesus

A Birthday Cake for Jesus

 I mentioned in my previous post about the Birthday cake for Jesus that I made and presented.  I thought I would share with you how I make this special cake.

It is a four layer cake.  I make the bottom layer chocolate (I use a Devils food cake).  The layer on top of the chocolate is Red (I use a Red Velvet
cake mix).  The layer above that is green (I mix green food coloring in a yellow cake mix.)  Then the top layer is yellow (I use the other have of the yellow cake mix for the top layer.)  It is iced with white icing and has a star of David on the top. With a red candle on top of that.

The children at church are waiting patiently for me to
cut the cake. 

I start off by asking the children if they can tell what is inside the cake by the outside.  The answer is no.  We can't see what's inside because of the icing.  Only God knows what is inside our hearts.  Then I go into what each color represents. 

The Bottom layer represents our sins and how filthy we are on the inside.  On our own we cannot get ourselves clean enough to be worthy of God's mercy.  The second layer from the bottom represents how that Christ died on the cross for our sins.  It is only through Jesus sacrifice that we are able to be forgiven of our sins.  Then once we are saved, we are covered by Christ's blood and we are washed white as snow (the icing).  After we are saved we are able to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.



Elijah enjoying a small piece of yellow cake.





Then one day when Christ calls us home we will be able to live eternally with Him in Heaven which is represented by the yellow layer.   The light on the top of the cake represents the fact that Jesus is the light of the world. 

It was a good cake and we had a good number of people present.  The skit had gone well and we were able to share the gospel which each one that visited. 

It's been a good week.  I will try to post more as the week progresses. 

Have a Merry Christmas!

A Happy Birthday



Scott and I eating out for our 14th anniversary
at the Olive Garden.


 We had such a busy weekend.  Friday night, we went Christmas Caroling.  Saturday morning, we had karate class.  Saturday afternoon, we sang at two nursing homes followed by dress rehearsal for the skit our youth were putting on for our church. 
Then Saturday night I stayed up late baking and decorating a birthday cake for Jesus. 

Sunday everything went well.  The kids did well with their skit.  Scott presented a short sermon after skit and then I presented the Birthday cake for Jesus. 

Monday was my birthday and I had scheduled to take Elijah to his Doctor's appointment and we planned to leave straight from his Doctor's appointment to go visit my parents.  It was so busy and it's easy to have my birthday forgotten.  Scott had taken the van into town that morning to fill it with gas and to get the van registered.



My Birthday Cake shows a true Texas Snow.
All it needs is some brown leaves mixed in with the snow.

He never told me, "Happy Birthday." I thought maybe he just forgot and would remember later on.  He finally got back home barely in time for me to load Elijah in the van and get to his Doctor's appointment.  He told me to go on and that he and the kids would finish packing and we could leave sometime after I got back with Elijah.   Elijah appointment went well.  I had to hold him while they drew a little blood to check his iron.  He did very well and the nurse seemed to be impressed that he did as well as he did. 

I then called Scott to let him know I was coming home.  He still never mentioned my birthday and sounded like he was in the middle of getting things together.  I felt a little sad driving home and thought how easy it would be to just forget my birthday myself. I had tried to pass it off thinking how I'm a grown up and don't have to do anything special but I thought it would be nice to at least be noticed on my birthday. 

I arrived home and saw Jonathan's face looking through the window.  As soon as I opened my car door he was yelling, "Hi, Mommy!"   I went up to the window and spoke with him and Hannah through the closed window.  Then I got Elijah and walked up the steps to our front door.  I opened the door and suddenly the kids and Scott hollerd, "SURPRISE!"    They had a Birthday cake and presents on my clean desk. (My desk is rarely clean.)  They had cleaned up the kitchen and the livingroom while I was gone.  I was speechless.  All I could say was, "Ah!  How sweet!"  

Scott said, "I bet you thought I forgot."  And he was right, I did.   I think this was the biggest time I've been surprised on my Birthday.  Anyone with a late December birthday can probably relate to how easy it is to get so busy that your Birthday gets hidden in the holiday rush.  I had resigned myself to another uneventful birthday, only to find it to be one of the best.  The kids all made cards for me. I'll post pictures of those cards at a later time.  

God has truly blessed me with a sweet, loving family. 

My Best Friend



My Husband, Scott, holding Elijah

  It's been almost a month since I've posted.  So much happend in November that I just never took time to post.  But one of the biggest things my dear husband, Scott and I celebrated this Thanksgiving was our 14th anniversary.

We were married Thanksgiving day November 28, 1996.  He has been one of the best gifts God has given me. 

He is a wonderful, kind, patient, loving, and supportive husband and father.  He loves our children.  He is an excellent teacher and pastor. He's a hard worker. He's my best friend!

I am so blessed to have him.  

So many people mention to me how that every time they see me, I'm always smiling.  That's because I have so much to smile about.  I am very happy. 

But you know what?  I don't have to be the only happy person out there.  You can be happy, too.  It does take a little work, but it is well worth the effort. 

Here is a passage from the best marriage manual available:

Eph 5:22-33 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. (23) For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. (24) Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. (25) Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (26) That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (27) That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (28) So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. (29) For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: (30) For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (31) For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. (32) This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (33) Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

We need to be willing to give up our way of doing things and do it God's way.  It really does work. 

Catching Up, Again

 It's been a week since I've blogged.  Which means I have a lot of catching up to do.   I've been needing to post this picture of Jonathan with his "pup cakes" he had for his birthday at the beginning of this month. 

One of these days, I will have to make cupcakes that look like pups. 

The last time I blogged I posted pictures of an 18 wheeler accident.  It took two or three days for it to be cleaned up and there is still an orange plastic border around the area.  I have no idea how long they will leave that up.

The same day that happened, I took the kids to the park for our homeschool group's park day.  Elijah liked going down the slide.  He also wanted to eat the slide but I didn't quite let him go that far. 

 Speaking of which, he now has his third tooth.  We're now getting a little break from teething until that fourth tooth starts making it's appearance.  He isn't fussy right now but he sure wants to chew on everything.

This last picture was of Elijah crawling at our church.  He doesn't go very far yet but he will crawl a few steps for something he wants.  He does get a little upset with us expecting him to crawl when we're sitting right there able to hand it to him.  But I'm sure once he realizes  the joys of mobility he'll thank us for it. 

Well...at least maybe he'll think to thank me when he's in his thirties.  (Thanks, Mom, for encouraging me to crawl when I was a baby!  Love, Stacie)