Some Birthday Gymnastics....Jumping....Running...Falling...Celebrating!

Making cakes


Zach, JJ, and Jonah Bear



Yukhari and Makenna



Carley



Todd-o



Maddy



Tega rules



Kayla



Wesley and Zach



Meredith and Calyn



Makenna and Lynsey



Tracen is 5!



Makenna is 8!



Party



Presents!



Pop and one tired out baby Mailey!



Mak and Momma



Tracen as Spiderman...when we told him that it had built-in muscles, he said, "No, those are just for comfy."



RyRy came! We miss that boy so much! Notice the huge meatball that fell from the sky onto my shirt. Lovely.



Ashley, Erica, Makenna, and Tracen all have B-days together...not to mention Peyton, Stacie, Trevor, and Meryl, too! Whew!

Oh, there's more...

Mom: Tracen, we can go outside when I'm done feeding Mailey.
(as I'm switching sides...too much info for some of you, sorry)

Tracen: So she just ate her dinner?

Mom: Yes.

Tracen: Her food comed out of that side...

Mom: Her food did.

Tracen: Yes, she just got to eat a hamburger.
(we had leftover hamburgers for dinner)

Mom: Well...

Tracen: And now this other side is her dessert.

Mom: Ummmm...

Tracen: So can we go outside after she's done eating her brownie?

A Verse A Week: Week 6

Makenna has been begging me to do John 3:16...probably just because she already knows it, but here it is!

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not die, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

We are really going to talk about God's love for EVERYONE, not just the "good" people. Because Tracen has already asked so many questions about heaven, we are going to also go into the fact that our bodies will die here on earth, but then we will immediately be in heaven with Jesus, alive!

This verse can become so rote, but I have been reading a blog about a little boy who just went to see Jesus a month ago. Giving His one and only son seems to have new meaning to me now, along with the hope of the everlasting instead of death here. If you want to gain a new perspective from someone who has experienced this firsthand, here is the link to Lindsay's blog.


Have a great week with the Word and your kiddos.

5 & 8, Ain't it Great!?

Monday was Makenna's 8th birthday, and Tuesday was Tracen's 5th. Their party is not until Saturday, but here are some pics of some mini-celebrations we had this week.


Eight years old is such a huge birthday in my eyes. I vividly remember being 8. Scott was born that year and I became a little mommy for the first time...much to his dismay, I'm sure. I remember where I sat in Mrs. Dulak's class (most often beside my first boyfriend, Grant Williams) and praying at the door in the line to go to lunch every day as a class. I also rememeber not being able to wait to get home so I could see Scott Brian! Marc was already stealing my toys, sneaking into my room and hitting me, so he isn't such a great 8 year old memory...hahaha...yet I already had that very protective big sis thing for him. He got lost a lot(due to his sneakiness and complete one-track mind when anything else more interesting was going on somewhere we were), and he choked constantly. I remember worrying about him and if he was going to choke or get stolen by some bad man. I wonder what my kids will remember about being 8 and 5? There is another baby here for them to love, and Makenna made a huge statement the other day. Some of you recall her declaration as a 3 year old while running away from home..."I will never ever have a baby so you can never ever be a grandma, Mom!!!" Lovely. But the other day she was talking to and loving on Mailey and said that she did want to have her own baby one day. Yay God! I'm ok if she doesn't want kids one day, I think, but I sure don't want her to decide that out of spite, either. A breakthrough has occurred and motherly instinct has arrived.


Tracen had fun on his day, too. I really look at him so differently anyway since Mailey arrived...just my big man now. He is so smart and thinks in very creative and intuitive ways that I would never even think about. The other day he was singing his left and right song for me. I was sitting across from him at the table and asked which one was his left hand. He has always been really good at that, and he showed me. Then I asked which one was my left hand. He just pointed diagonally across the table to my left hand. I asked him why it wasn't on the same side as his left was. He goes, "Hello, you are not sitting on the same side of the table as me. If you were beside me it would be on the same side as me, but you are over there and it is on the other side." He thought I was an idiot! My brain would not have ever gone there at age 5!


I love these two kiddos so much and am cherishing these years. I know they will be gone before I know it, and this blog will become all about nothing! Wait...maybe it already is?? And wait...Mailey will be here forever, so I guess it will be all about her, which I'm sure she will just looooooove. :) Happy Birthday to you two turkeys!!!

Review Week

This week we are reviewing our 4 verses, one a night. In our family doing the verse Monday through Thursday nights has worked best. I hope your kids are growing in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord!

Somebody is 3 Months Old!

I cannot believe 3 months has flown by! Mailey is just getting so much personality lately. Here are some things she does now:
-Rolls over from her front to back. This is really just her attempt to avoid tummy time at all costs. She is not a fan.
***Mailey just learned how to roll over to her tummy today! I found her on her stomach 5 minutes ago!***
-Holds on to her dress or outfit.
-Shakes a rattle.
-Sucks her right thumb on our lucky days.
-Tries to sit up by curling into a ball.
-Looks like she still has her diaper on, even when it is off due to some rolly legs.
-Laughs only with this screeching/gargling sound when she gets too excited.
-Loves her bath. She waits for me to put the shampoo on her hair and scrunches her shoulders up because she knows it is coming and will be cold on her head.
-Will only stay swaddled in her kidappotomus thing. Blankets are out.
-Screams like a banshee when she has to get some poop or tooties out.
-Eats at 9:30 and sleeps until 6:30 most every night.
-Likes to sleep in her swing if she can cock her head backwards.
-Loves that baby in the mirror.

I still am so sad she is getting so big, but I love all the new things she notices and learns each day. It is so fun!

I love to sit up anywhere!


It is sooo fun!


But then I get a little tired...


Laying down is much easier!


Scrunched up smiles!

A Verse A Week: Week 4

Sorry this is just now getting up! This week we are doing:

Luke 3:21
"When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened."

We might just do the first part, but older children could really have a lot of questions about heaven being opened and what that means, so all of it is great as well. Tracen has already been asking tons of questions about Jesus coming back for us, where he is right now, etc. Makenna has prayed to ask Jesus into her heart awhile, like years, ago. She is really stuck on this baptism thing. She understands all about it...it is all about obeying God, it does not make you saved, it is just a picture to show that you are ready to walk with Jesus your whole life...but the part about doing it in front of anyone at all really gets her. She refuses to play any sport because people watch, to dance because there is a recital, to sing because there might be a program, or to even read for anyone if they are listening. She had a wonderful idea last summer to be baptized in the ocean by her Bubba while we were on vacation. At first I thought it was a great plan, but as I prayed and thought about it, it wasn't right. It would not be a true act of obedience for her if her one hang up is being in front of people. It was her (albeit very clever) way of getting out of it. Once I probed deeper and found this to be true, I was convinced that the Holy Spirit was really working on her little heart, and that she was going to have to do this to truly give all of herself to Jesus. We have been having discussions over the past year. I just thought this verse would be a great way to further talk about how the people were obeying God and even His son, Jesus, did, too. Have fun! Next week will be review for the four we have done so far.

Also.............................
Please pray for Beth! She was supposed to have a c-section on Thursday, but her water broke and now she is having #4 baby Grant today at 5pm!!

Fight Raiders Fight

We Realized They Were Gone

I haven't posted about a major event that took place about a month ago here. Grandma and Grandad decided that God was calling them to leave the flatlands. Now why would anyone want to move to a place where trees grew and flowers bloomed?? They up and left us for Del Webb's Sun City in Georgetown, Texas. The land of golf carts, bridge, and pottery classes was calling their name. Well, that and a much higher calling to minister to the people there. This lazy weekend made it really hit home that they no longer lived here. We have spent so many relaxing Sunday afternoons hanging out at their house, swimming, watching movies, eating Grandma's gourmet food, and playing games. We missed that over the holiday! Here are some pictures of saying good-bye. We Miss You!

A Verse A Week: Week 3

This week we are doing
Proverbs 3:5
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
We are going to focus on trusting God...how we can trust Him because he is the most trustworthy person in the whole world. We will talk about some specific examples that show his trustworthiness...he says he will never leave you, he always keeps his promises, he is the God of truth. Then I wanted to talk about how they can become trustworthy by keeping their promises and speaking truth. We also will discuss leaning on what we think is right over what God thinks is right.

How are your kiddos doing?

I have been printing the verses off and have taped them to Makenna's wall over her bed so she can review them. That has helped a lot as a reminder to both of us!

101, Fun, Thumb

Such a creative title...

1. This is my 101st post! Only taken me over a year to get here folks.

2. We started off the year with a ministry fair after nine30. Here are our fun class helpers that we love!


3. I have found someone sucking her thumb a lot lately. Except for the fact that the length of her thumb gags her 80% of the time causing her to spit out her lunch, it is great when it works after that pacifier has fallen out!

Morning Conversations

Tracen: "Oh, oh, oh...she's talkin' to me. Are you talking Mailey?"

Mom: "Yes, she's talking a lot."

Tracen: "Mom?"

Mom: "Yep?"

Tracen: "You know, if her neck would ever show up, she would be this(showing me space with his hands) much taller!"

Mom: "Bud, she has a neck, you know that right?"

Tracen: "Yeah, she has a neck already, but nobody's ever seen it yet."

All Smiles!

Tracen was so ready for school to start this year. He still says he will never go to Kindergarten, or college for that matter, but this year he was dying to go! Kim is his teacher. I am so incredibly grateful to and blessed by her. She is an amazing friend and teacher. Also, Beth is his music teacher. She is wonderful at what she does...truly teaching them the fundamentals of music instead of just singing songs and clapping hands. We are so excited! Here is the big man ready to go!





Here are Zach...or should I now call him Zachary?, and Calyn. Yay for friends in our class!