Some pictures of Cutie Pie and Sweet Pea

After my last post, I wanted to express how much I have loved being able to be at home with my girls.  Yes, there were times that I didn't know how funny it would be to look back at pictures that I captured in the moment.

As long as I can remember, Cutie Pie has loved Sweet Pea.  She has not really been jealous of her sister since she was born a year and a half after her.  All that they ever remember is having each other.  I know that having kids spaced out has it's advantages, but so does having them close together.  Cutie Pie has always looked out for her little sister and I believe she always will.

I love this picture.  I don't think that Cutie Pie was laughing at anything that Sweet Pea was doing at the time this was taken.  Now, Sweet Pea can be trying her hardest to be serious and within seconds or minutes be making everyone laugh.  Sweet Pea has an amazing ability to make us laugh, even when her actions call for serious consequences.

I tried rotating this before I uploaded it...well, it didn't work obviously.  Just take that image in...it just makes me giggle every time I see it.  We had just moved to our new (at the time) church and we were staying in this already furnished duplex.  Cutie Pie saw Sweet Pea's walker and decided it was an excellent idea to climb in it, but she couldn't get out.  I went to the bathroom and when I came out it was still and she was out.  My very active and trying to figure a way out two year old just gave up and fell asleep.  Needless to say, I took her out and laid her down for an early nap that day.

For those of you out there who wonder if your baby eats a little something off the ground...are you a bad mom for not panicking?  I have to say that when I saw Sweet Pea in this dog food for probably the 4th or 5th time, I didn't completely panic.  Clearly, I took a picture of the event.  My parents door didn't close very securely and the dog food was easy pickings for her when she was army crawling.  The tell tell sign she was into something was that it was dead quiet and I walked by to see this.  Not a proud moment, but a little on the silly side of life.

Yes, I would be driving along and we would look in the back and see this.  Sweet Pea would be sucking her thumb or her toes.  There was a period there were she hated for me to take her picture.  She would cover her eyes before I could snap it.  Cutie Pie was a little grossed out at her sister's actions.  Every time Sweet Pea would start doing it, Cutie Pie would yell out, "STOP SUCKING YOUR TOES!"

Cutie Pie has been under the impression that she IS a princess.  This was her third and fourth birthday party themes.  This was her third party, Preacher Man and my dad made a 'castle' out of refrigerator boxes including a dungeon.  Our little princess was so impressed with it.  

Halloween 2008- these were picked by me..I had a satchel for Cutie Pie to carry to go with the theme of the outfit.  We still have these outfits in our dress up trunk that is stuffed.

December 12, 2008- A very proud day in our house.  Preacher Man graduated with his Master of Missiology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  It was an amazing victory!

Preacher Man in his element.  He went to Niger on a vision trip for our church.

He truly loves to share God's message with people.  I love that he gets out there and is unashamed of the gospel.

Some friends of ours.  Cutie Pie and the twins are only a month apart and have been friends from the time they have been a few months old.  Their uncle did these pictures with the black back drop.  Sweet Pea and the crawler on her belly are about 5 months apart.  We do have to travel a little to get together, but it is fun to go to a restuarant and ask for a table with 4 adults and (now) 7 kids.  It is pretty humorous the looks we get.

Cutie Pie was laughing, but it is a very funny face.  Sweet Pea loved Pooh more than Cutie Pie, but they had a lot of fun doing this shoot.

One of my favorites from this time together.  Sweet Pea and Cutie Pie both look pretty serious.  It was coming close to an hour of pictures and they were growing tired of smiling I think.

So we also let Cutie Pie show her inner princess and she started to twirl in her dress.  There are many more, but I will just share one.

If you are wondering why zebra became popular again...well here is your answer!  Not really, but look at these overalls my mom found at a boutique!  We all went on a family vacation to Branson, Missouri.  The girls were having lots of fun when we had to get an amazing shot of them and the country side.

Well, I hope you enjoyed some of the pictures.  They were all a bit random.  I thought this would be better than some post about random facts about myself.  I am preparing for a weekend with some wonderful ladies at a retreat.  I know that it will allow me to get away from the chaos for just a bit and take a breath and listen.

Joy is NOT just a job for Pollyanna

As I was growing up there were several movies that I loved to watch, but there was a movie my mom would pop in to the VCR to get my spirit in the right direction.  If my brother and I were fighting or aggravating each other, there was a punishment to be sure.  I also remember sitting and watching a movie called "Pollyanna".  For those of you who may have not heard of this movie.  The premise of it is that in this bitter, down trodden world there is always a little joy to be found.

I don't know if you have ever been in a situation where you are cruising along and all of a sudden you are smacked in the face with someone who is just unimpressed with everything and every attempt you make to help in whatever way you can.

God has granted me a gift to be able to wake up each morning with a fresh start.  As a child, I would wake up from a restful night and whatever was said or done by my brother.  It was all forgiven and forgotten.(sometimes I would remember, but usually something jogged my memory.)  It has been an amazing gift to have.  When I accepted Christ's grace and love into my heart, it become easier and easier to forgive and forget the things that hurt my feelings.

This week I have been having a hard time letting go of this issue of bitterness or griping about things to gripe about. I think all too often we find it easier to focus on all the bad (or sin) that is in the world.  I know that I have struggled with joy or grace when there is goo on the carpet, the girls are bickering, the air condition breaks and it is 100+ degrees outside, we are running late for church or an appointment, etc.  There is just too many things to list that are bad.  If we are challenged to can we make a list of things we are thankful or joyful for in this world.

I read an article that a friend posted on facebook.  It was entitled, How to Find the Holy Grail of Joy, with a name like this.  I was definitely going to read it.  It talked about the struggle that we, as sinful fallen human beings, have to find things to be grateful for.  Augustine wrote, "without exception...all try their hardest to reach the same goal, that is joy."  This quote struck me back to my childhood.  I remember each day wanting to badly to have fun and look for the little things, even in the saddest and worst situations, that could bring a little joy.  I wanted to be a Pollyanna for my parents and brother, but as I grew older and more of the world's responsibilities took over my life.  I started to care less about bringing joy to anyones life because no one was doing that for me.  I am incredibly selfish...there I said it.

I also have the opinion we all get stuck in our routine and our 'dirt'.  We can't see out of the our own lives to see the joy that children can bring.  Yes, even unruly wild crazy behavin' children can bring joy, the mundane chores can bring joy (fresh dry fluffy laundry=joy...I am trying here.), the people that surround us who are down and out, in different situations, have different stories than our own can bring joy (even when griping about us or others).  You have to persevere through all the muck and myor that Satan tries to put on us to rip our joy and peace away from us.  I want to encourage you to try to find things each day to brings a smile to your face or joy in your heart.  If it helps to write them down, feel free to do that.  I just urge to find a notebook and play the glad game.

A Whole Lotta SNOW!

Yes, Preacher Man had snow up to his knees today! We have enjoyed living in an area where it usually snows a little, but this snow was really memorable.  The total snow fall was 11'' and snow drift of 3 to 4 feet.  Preacher Man (along with our pastor, and two youth boys) spent all day clearing driveways for some of the elderly folks in our church.  

There was no way I was getting out in that unless I needed to.  At the time this picture was taken, it was 1 degree outside.  It was so crazy that Texas would experience this kind of weather.

Please, Mom, can I go outside?  She kept scooping  up the snow and trying to eat it.  Sweet Pea's hands were freezing after about five minutes of standing there watching Preacher Man.

Cutie Pie and Sweet Pea getting ready to sled down a big hill.  This was their first time to go sledding.  Usually we would just make a snow man, we will be doing that tomorrow because the snow is sticking around for a few days.

Oh, dad...oh, dad...whoa DAD!!  -Cutie Pie

Hurry up, dad...hurry up, mom, take the picture...hurry up, dad...aaaAAAHHH! -Sweet Pea

ok, mom...are we going fast?!..we are going fast...YAY! - Cutie Pie

Yep, that is me, Blue Jean Queen laid out in the snow.  This was after several times of trucking up a hill that was terribly difficult to get up.  I was up in no time, but it was very nice to just stare at the sky and take in the cool air.  Life was good at that moment.  Side note: I think the little boy in this picture thought something happened to me because I laid there for a few minutes.  

Cutie Pie's face is all red because she borrowed another person snowboard and she went super fast down the hill.  She actually did a full flip and landed with her face in the snow.  I was so proud. She didn't meltdown.  Nope, she pulled herself up by her tennis shoe strings and went down a few more times.  Until suddenly, she said, "my fingers are frozen! Take me home!"  At that point she went to the car and sat with Honey Bear and myself.  Preacher Man and Sweet Pea soon followed and we made our way home to warm up.

So here I sit at 10:00 pm and all of the rest of my family has been in bed for a couple hours.  I am preparing for a few more house guests for a little while.  When I was younger my parents always opened their house to friends who needed a little help or place to stay.  Yes, at times their kindness was taken advantage, but I love that we had company around.  It was something to shake things up a little.  This also modeled how we as Christians should help out people around us.  No matter the sacrifice.  We don't have an over abundance of space or finances, but whatever God has blessed us with.  I want to go as far as I can to share it with anyone God puts in our path.  Lately, God has been convicting me about how wasteful I have been: in my time, in my grocery bill, in my journey of chasing the 'American Dream'.  After reading and studying Proverbs 31 for our True Love Waits series, I realized some of the things that I didn't think would ever apply to my life.  God showed me anew somethings that I had been lacking in. When I woke up to our major snow drifts, I saw our neighbor out in a hoodie shoveling her neighbor and our driveways.  Here was this lady that we kind of knew helping us out in extreme weather.  I made a little hot coco for her, but I was humbled at her gesture toward us.  Tonight, I am looking forward to the days ahead as I may have some youth girls over for a Spa night and Preacher Man preparing for True Love Waits commitment ceremony and service.  It will be a fun few days.

Pictures of Super Bowl Blowout!

Well, I can honestly say that I loved this Super Bowl party the best so far.  Many years in the past, I might have played cards or cleaned up to stay busy when the game was slow.  This year we had almost doubled last year!

It was tough to get a good picture on just how crowded my little house was on this day.  All three rooms were full and everyone was having fun.  I think was about the time they did kick off.  The pizza and pop were filling all their bellies.

The girls wanted to do some crafts this year.  I was working on leg warmers, flowers, and bows, but the youth girls were working on tulle tutus.  There was lots of tulle moving around that room.  In the background you can see all the younger boys playing XBox and GameCube.  Those games were very competitive.

Here are the finished products of the tutus.  All of them had a different twist on their craft.  I loved spending time with these beautiful girls.  I can't wait to spend another Super Bowl with them.

Prepping for Super Bowl Blowout!

Yes, it is that time of year that all the men in the house get control of the TV!  I know that in our house we rarely catch a football game all the way through whether it be because I had something recording on the DVR, out busy doing something, or the girls need some attention.  The Super Bowl has been a BIG youth party tradition for the past 5 years.

My memories as follows:
1st: I was in my first trimester with Cutie Pie and nothing with meat was sitting well with me.  I crashed immediately when I got home.
2nd: Cutie Pie was 5 months old.  She was passed around quite a bit among the girls in the youth group, but close to the end we needed to leave to put her in bed.
3rd: I was in the last trimester of pregnancy with Sweet Pea.  I was so exhausted from chasing Cutie Pie that I opted out around halftime to put myself to bed.
4th: Preacher Man got the local movie theater to show the game on one of the screens and had pizza delivered.  I didn't make it to this one because the girls would have been into so much.  I was also into my first trimester with Honey Bear. We watched at home till we all fell asleep.
5th: AmericInn event center, it was very nice and large.  We all hung out up there, but the weather was a little sketchy.

This year, we are opening our home to the youth.  I haven't had many youth over in quite some time.  I am not anxious.  I am really looking forward to it.  I have started prepping some dips because boys are bringing chips and girls are bringing pop.  Preacher Man ordered pizza.  I am hoping that some girls will show up because I like to watch the game, but I don't sit glued to it.  I never have.  Cutie Pie and Sweet Pea were full of questions today.  "Is there going to be cake?" "Why isn't there going to be cake?" I told them that we will have something sweet, but probably not cake.  One thing that never changes when I go to these parties is that the youth are all hyped up about seeing the game and friends and chowing on some food.  I will be posting pictures another day to show you the craziness at our house.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your day of worship and football.

Unknown Companion

To be perfectly honest, I don't know how to start on this particular subject.  I did kind of touch on this before...when Preacher Man and I got married, nine years ago, we never thought that we would have any issue with having kiddos.  Sure enough about nine months into our journey together, Preacher Man was working at a private school as a music teacher for Pre-K through 8th grade.  I was working at a day care taking care of eight one year olds.  I had this very strange dream that I had a baby boy and within days we found out that we were expecting!  I was extremely sick with this pregnancy.  Everything would upset my stomach.  I could barely keep water and my prenatal pills down.  When I went in for my sixteen week check up, they never found a heartbeat.  I felt numb going home and knowing that my baby had died.  It was 100% percent out of my control.  The months ahead were difficult to say the least.  Preacher Man came to me and said he was feeling God calling him into the ministry and also to go to seminary.  We moved in with my parents to prepare for this move.  We found a job taking care of 8 preteen girls at a children's home that was close to seminary and because of our schedule Preacher Man couldn't take too many classes.

When at the children's home, I was able to learn a lot about myself.  Those girls taught me some amazing things.  I never imagined that I could care so much for kids that hated me at first.  All of them have graduated high school now, but I would still open my home to any of them.  During my time there, I had days that I felt that we may be able to start again with having children.  There were many growing families there, but Preacher Man and I were never able to conceive.  People around us were praying, I was praying...I began to study women in the bible that had difficulty conceiving.  When I studied, Hannah and how she gave her womb over to God and gave Samuel back to God at a young age.  I prayed that God would use me and that I wouldn't plan or control when God wanted me to be a mom.  When we felt God calling us into full time ministry, I had put having a family in the back of my mind even though Isaiah was NEVER far from my thoughts. Within weeks of moving to our first church, we found out that we were pregnant.  Things started moving so quickly in ministry.  Before I knew it, I was eight months pregnant going to Juarez Mexico on a mission trip and going to my brothers wedding in Florida.  I was so blessed to have Cutie Pie come into my life, then in no time at all, we had Sweet Pea.  My life was full of pink, hair bows, and princesses.  And still there was this longing for a boy.

Sunday at church they talked about the sanctity of life.  Our pastor talked about the life of his oldest son and how many lives he has touched.  It made me think about Isaiah.  Just the thought of Preacher Man as a dad to his little boy.  All the tender times he has had with his girls and thinking about that with his son. When we lost Isaiah he had written a song for him.  It is a song that helps me to celebrate not the loss of my son, but the gain of life he has with Jesus.  God give and takes away all in his timing.  I am learning this more and more.  When each of the girls were born I tried to remember the sacrifice that Hannah made in giving Samuel back to God.  I do struggle at times with trying to be in control of them and my life with them.  When we were at Ignite this weekend, God was working on me with my control issues with my girls.  There was a moment that God allowed me to feel peace that surpasses my understanding.  In that moment know one else knew it but God and myself.  I fully believe that God is helping me to continue to heal.  My unknown companion for years has been a burden to me and sometimes a joy, believe it or not.  I look at that first year after losing Isaiah as a trial that I asked God, "why?".  I had someone tell me that I was going through this with Isaiah to one day be able to help someone going through a similar situation and give glory to God.

Preacher Man and I don't honestly know if we will have any more children at this point in our lives.  I would love one more child down the road a bit.  I have no plans.  I want to walk the path that God has planned for me.

Christ is Risen

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling over death by death, Come awake, Come awake, Come and rise up from the grave.

Christ is risen from the dead, we are one with Him again, Come awake, Come awake, Come and rise up from the grave.

Oh, death, where is your sting?

Oh, hell, where is your victory?

Oh, church, come stand in the light.

The glory for God has defeated the night.

Our God is not dead, He's alive, He's alive.

-Matt Maher, Christ is Risen

Well, it was about time for us to have an adventure with our youth.  We went to the Ignite Student Conference last night and this morning.  At this event, the speaker was Afshin Ziafat, Drew Worsham, and Jeff Johnson Band.  As with any event that Preacher Man and I are involved with we have to think about childcare.  We were so incredibly blessed to have a sweet friend watch over our girls while we were with our youth.  She was one of the first people I left Gabby with.  We are so blessed to still have her in our lives! Once that was all set and planned, I started to pray about this weekend and God moving and blessing our youth.

Last night, Afshin talked about in Philippians 1:1, there is a greeting from Paul and Timothy.  They call themselves slaves of Christ.  We are all slaves to something, but when we are slaves in Christ we are set free from the slavery of sin.  Death and sin has spread to all of us.  Life is through Christ.  God will exalt the humble, and humbles the proud.  You must lose everything to gain Christ.  After this message, Afshin did a time of invitation and there was a large amount of students that made a decision to make Christ first in their life.  We sang Christ is Risen after the invitation.  Afterward, we made our way to a church that opened their doors for us to rest in.  I was a little tired for an IHOP run, but we did it anyway.  After we were there for a bit, all the youth were exhausted and begging to go back to the church and rest.  I haven't seen that happen before on a youth trip.  Thankfully, they weren't joking our crew was ready for bed in no time.  Unfortunately, this youth sponsor didn't know this building (or where the thermostats for our room were. OOPS!) and our high school girls froze a little bit last night.

Today, Afshin talked about a Day In Day Out relationship, not an event spark relationship with God.  At the wedding day, the mission is NOT accomplished, it is NOT the ultimate goal.  It is to be at the starting line and to continue through the years (50+ years down the road) and feel the mission is accomplished.  The relationship with God is NOT a sprint, but a marathon to follow Christ.  We, as Christians, need to fast from sin and feed on the word of Jesus. Preacher Man talked with me and we both were able to see God showing and revealing things to us.  We saw our youth worship God unashamed and freely.  It blesses my hear to see their passion rise up for God.

So, I am a bit tired and needing to rest, but my spirit is no longer weak and weary.  When you see God work in anyone's life it reminds you of your awakening.  Now we are spending a little time as a family.  Preacher Man and I are hoping to put all the girls in bed a bit early and get some physical rest for tomorrow.  Thank you for reading and sharing in our experience from this weekend.