A Verse A Week

I know for most of us, this is week 2 of life beginning again, so I am just starting here. Since Makenna was very young...about 20 months old...I have taught her verses from the Bible. That was when she began struggling with anxiety, and I knew hiding the Word in her heart was so important for fighting it. I also did not stick to "kid" verses. The first verse she memorized was Ephesians 1:6, "Children obey your parents, for it is right in the Lord." The next one has become the cry of her little heart many times over the last 5+ years. 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God did not give me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline." I have done various devotional books with her, and I have not been impressed with the quality. So I have decided to work on a verse a week with her and Tracen. Some verses might take longer than a week, of course, but we will see as we go. I also want to have every fifth week to review one verse a night that we have covered. Last week we began with 2 Timothy 1:7 as a refresher. This week we are starting John 8:32. "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (we struggle with truth here...so i thought it was appropriate) I would love for all of you to do this with us! What we do is introduce the verse Monday night by looking it up and saying it many times. We also discuss the meaning of the verse. The next nights we practice it by repetition, address, verse, address, and then take small parts of the verse to discuss. For example, last week we reviewed then focused on what fear was, how God gives us power one night, love, then self-discipline. I just do this Monday through Friday, sometimes Thursday if we are out and about later than normal on a Friday. It does not take long at all and is such a great bedtime routine thing. I just really want to equip my kids the best I can. The Word is more than enough for them, beyond what any devotional book can bring. So, I challenge all of us to start Monday night with:
John 8:32
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:32
Some extra verses to look up during the week with your older kids are:
John 1:14-17-Jesus was filled with grace and truth, so we should be, too
Proverbs 3:3, 8:7, and 12:17

I would love for you all to comment about if you are going to start this with us! I will most likely post the verse for the coming week on Sunday night or sometime Monday, then we can all work together. It will also help us as parents soooo much.

Yay for being free and knowing the truth. We are the best example of that to our children...conviction is knocking at my door. :)
Hugs!

Ending the Same Way We Began

These last day of summer pictures almost match my first day of summer post, but now we have another little lady added to the fun!

And she seems to be missing it all...

Happy School's Back to Everyone!...boo.

And the Sleeping Saga Continues

Once again, Tracen has found a very creative place to conk out...
These pictures don't even show the fact that he had on his hoodie all zipped up...because "his legs were cold." wow.

A 2nd Grader in the House!

Today was great for Makenna! What a joy to know how it feels to be at the same place, seeing familiar faces, and not dealing with anxiety for once! Here are her pics from last year to this year...

Mary Ann Barrett no more!

Mary Ann Eaton sounds oh so good! My best friend since we were 4 got married on August 8, and it was wonderful. I was so honored to be a part of her day. We have looked forward to this day our whole lives and it was perfect. I love this girl so much...she is like a sister to me. Her daddy even calls me "daughter" and has for as long as I can remember. It has been so amazing to talk about EVERYTHING together, cry together, crack up together, and to just sit together. Being around her for the entire week also made me miss her even more. I am sure we all have certain friends we can just "be" with. No limitations or expectations...just "be." I have been blessed immensely in my life to know Mary Ann. I can still see her face in our 4 year old Sunday School class only wanting to sit by me, and now I've seen her face walking down the aisle to meet her groom. I am so glad God put us together. He knew exactly what both of us needed! I love you Mary Lee! ;)

HUGE news

#1...
Makenna has been approved as a transfer to North Ridge. We just told God to do what he wanted to do, and he has kept her at the school she went to last year. We are very grateful that she will not have to move schools again. There were some tears about not being able to go to Bennett, but we went today to get her teacher assignment and she got to see many friendly faces at NR that really made her feel good. HUGE. Enough said.

#2...
Somebody was HUGE at her 2 month well-check.


Somebody was 23.9" long and in the 97th percentile in length.


Somebody was in the 70th percentile in weight at 11 lbs. and 3 oz.


Somebody had a head that measured in the 75th percentile.


Somebody had a doctor that could not believe any of these percentages because that somebody's mama never has anything but elf baby girls.


Somebody had 3 shots and one oral vaccine and passed out all day.


Somebody is 2 months old!!!!

Look who got to hold this baby!

It was so great to see our sweet friends John and Wanda Strappazon again. I missed Wanda being here when I had Tracen, and felt the same way all over again with Mailey. I love this woman so much! She is one of the most godly women I have ever encountered. Her knowledge of the scriptures is phenomenal, and she constantly challenges me when I am around her. She knows exactly what to say and when to say it. Her humility is breathtaking. She is just beautiful inside and out. Wanda has had many health related things to deal with in her life, and even in pain she has a smile on her lips. I am blessed to be her friend, and so happy she and Mailey got to meet each other. I miss you, friend!

Some Red Riverness

Mel and Mak

Tyson and Tracen

Mailey really was there...I promise

Riding together

Not too excited about riding Minnie

Ready to hike up Wheeler Peak...yay for George and Pat coming up!

Frozen bananas in Taos

A little hike by the river

Tracen and Makenna loving on Scott Carlson's dog..an amazing artist in Arroyo Seco

Ready for some bumpy jeep riding

I'll smile, but I sure won't touch that thing

One of their favorite things...carnival ride you can do anywhere

The true fisherwoman. One of the 15 or so she caught!

Happy to be...

8 Weeks Old!

Ignore my silly talking, and it takes the entire video for her to talk back, so it takes a little patience, but it is pretty dang cute when she does it. :)

Drumroll, please

We have a winner of the "How Many Miles" contest!

The official number was

2856.6 miles

The winner is Regina with 2863! She was also the first one to comment!

So let me know what you want your Skinny minis to say and I will get them to you!

On this sweltering day, I wanted to show you how "coooooool" our God is! These pictures were taken on our Red River Vacation. Pics with people coming soon to this blog near you, but isn't God amazing???

How many miles?!?

My kiddos have been troopers throughout the summer. No pool because of Mailey being so little, Ashley moving, Grandma and Grandad about to move, missing movie Wednesdays most of the time...just a lot of changes going on in their lives that lead to sitting at home A LOT. (Can't you tell by my last post?) Mim and Pop decided to take them on a mini-vacation and they loved it! Can anyone figure out, as close as possible, how many miles my kids have travelled in the last month? The first to do so will get some skinny mini Mabel's Labels on me!! I am having a contest...for the 2 of you who read this! Aren't you excited??

Lubbock to San Antonio
San Antonio to Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi to Waco
Waco to Lubbock
Lubbock to Red River, NM
Red River to Taos and back 2 times (this is the tricky part..haha,right.)
Red River to Lubbock
Lubbock to Waco
Waco to Lubbock

Ok, start! I will have to figure it out so I can see who is right first.

Here are some pics of their Mim and Pop adventure!

Swimming on the roof of the Hyatt


Alamo


Ocean waves


Lexington


Aquarium