Another Look at the Kiddos

Here's Emma taking a break from reading to shoot her siblings and Daddy with a nerf dart...

She was waiting for them to come out of their rooms here...

One of the kid's and Daddy's favorite thing to do is turn on the music and dance. Here you can see Oliver having a good time dancing with Daddy. Oliver, like his siblings, love music and love to dance and love to sing :o)

Here's Oliver...one of our future theologians...he's finishing up reading God of Promise by Horton here in this picture :o)

Our poor Emma wasn't feeling well with a stomach virus and fell asleep on her floor trying to get the energy to get dressed...wasn't successful.

And our poor Oliver not feeling well with 2 ear infections, an upper respiratory infection and 4 teeth pushing up through his little gums. He just couldn't take it anymore.

The two sick kiddos reading.

He heard the camera and just had to turn around and cheese it looking more like a growl look...still cuter than ever :o)

Once again reading....this is before bedtime. I could hear them both reading out loud and it made me begin to wonder what they will become when they grow up...what will they remember from their childhood...what books will they recall that were their favorites and read to their children? will they always love to read?...I pray that the hunger for reading never leaves them.

Oliver is putting his cars down his shirt here....many of them...his Daddy taught him this, but this time he initiated it all on his own. It was quite cute to watch him.

He decided to try and walk around with them in there...

and then sit back down and try to fit more in...silly boy.

I finally became brave enough to cut Avrie's hair. I was much more successful than I thought I would be...but far from perfection that's for sure. Good enough for me and him though.

Emma girl washing the dishes...she wanted me to take a picture of her.

Having fun with the laundry baskets after having to fold laundry.

Mr. Big Stuff thinks he's cool. He likes to sit on the balcony. Here he took out his veggie chips and watched the kids play as he ate them.

You may also notice in these last two pictures that Oliver's toenails are painted...I know...but I used black (manly color)...he sat there so still and patient...so stinking cute.

Baby Shower Gift

These first two pictures have horrible lighting...so sorry for that. Anyway, my friend, Jessica and I went in together on a baby shower gift for a friend of ours that is having triplets! How exciting! We decided to fill a handmade bag with goodies...she purchased...I crafted and assembled. It was fun to share in the gift giving...two minds are much better than one. It's so cool how the Lord uses each of us in our gifts to love another. The first two pictures are the card I created using the same fabric I used on the rest of her gifts. It was quite fun to do this...I used the wonderful steam-a-seam sheets to adhere the fabric to the front of the card...adding stitching around for a little detail and then I just used a glue stick for the inside details. Now I have many ideas going through my head for fabric cards....

I made a "sword sheath" for her. We felt it would be a good tool to give a new mother to help keep the verses the Lord will use to keep her encouraged near to her throughout the day and suggested that it could be used to keep prayer cards in it too.

I love this fabric! Here is the nursing cover. She is planning to nurse her three little blessings. We think that's great.

Here is the travel diaper and wipes pouch. I decided to add a handle to it to make it easier to carry. And this time I used a magnetic snap for the closure.

Here's the bag itself. I lined it with plastic and made it nice and deep.

We filled the bag with the above items along with a bottle of water, hand sanitizer, lip balm, breath mints, travel tissues, Arm & Hammer diaper sacks with travel dispenser and the book Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian.

We decided to make the bag itself the gift bag and just fill it with tissue and attach the card to the strap using ribbon. We really liked how it turned out and prayed that it would be seen as provision from the Lord for her.

I shared this gift idea to give those reading this post another idea. Hope it inspires someone in their future gift giving and making. May the Lord alone be glorified for the gifts He gives through His people. He is the Provider of all.

Fruity Father Childhood Memories

I titled this post "Fruity Father Childhood Memories" because every time I see, smell, or taste grapefruit, I think of my father. I have very vivid memories of the many times my Daddy and I would eat grapefruit together. He would cut it perfectly down the middle, and if I wasn't eating my half right at that moment, he would turn it over in a bowl and put it in the refrigerator (like you see in the picture below). Then, I would sit and watch him prepare the grapefruit for eating by first cutting around the outside edge and on each side of each section, removing the seeds as he went. Finally, he would top it with sugar which creates a great balance of the sourness. After all that work, he would eat it and enjoy it...making sure to squeeze the juice out of it at the end and drink it down. Many times we'd enjoy them together, but if not, he'd leave the other half in the fridge for me. It's funny the memories that stick with us through the years. I enjoy remembering them.

This morning it was my turn to teach one of my children (Avrie) how to prepare the great grapefruit. He saw mine sitting next to me, ready to eat and asked if he could have the other half. So, he went to the fridge and retrieved the other half upside down in a bowl and brought it to me to learn the skill of preparing a grapefruit perfectly. As he watched with intensity, I got to tell him of my fruity memories with my Daddy. I think he enjoyed hearing them. Then he ate his perfectly prepared grapefruit and loved it...he was so into eating it that there was silence for almost five minutes. I hope he will have fruity good memories to be warmed by when he is older...and will enjoy sharing them with his children.

Strangers in the Store

    I was at Kroger today, and when I checked out, it was a peculiar event. I lined up for the self-serve kiosk when I noticed a Kroger employee cowering in the corner sniffling into a kerchief. Not sure why it caught my eye, or why it held my gaze but I was infatuated with the situation. Was she suffering from an allergy attack or having a breakdown in the middle of the store? I was further perplexed as she approached me asking, "Is that all you have?" referring to the two items in my hand. I replied, "yes" and she continued with, "I can take care of that for you." I was in the self-serve line, but she was scanning my items and taking my items on my self-serve scanner. That may be normal practice, but it was obvious that she was quite disoriented as she continued to sniffle, try to scan my items, take my money, all the while, clumsily stumbling over her own hands, nearly dropping everything she touched and trying to maintain her composure.

    She recognized how she must have appeared, because she apologized. She then went on to explain that she was having trouble with her "little boy" in school. She mumbled something about him trying to tell her last night, but she didn't believe him or listen to him. I have no idea what she was saying, but pain dominated her countenance. She hurt. She made me hurt. I was speechless. Something like, "I hope everything works out for you" fell out of my mouth and I numbly swam out of the store feeling just as confused and disoriented as she appeared.

    The questions immediately began to control my thinking. Should I have said something else? Should I have asked more questions? Should I have said, "I will pray for you"? Then it hit me. Why do I say that? I will pray for you. It's not that I don't pray for them. But why do I make the statement. It's for their encouragement, right? I have found no biblical references for the idea of proclaiming to someone that you will pray for them and then doing it at another time, away from them. In fact there are only two references in the NASB 95 for the phrase "I will pray". The first is Samuel telling Israel to gather and he would pray for them, and he does right then and there. The other reference is 1 Cor 14:15, which is Paul speaking of the Spiritual gifts. So my question then is this: Is our proclaiming to others our intent to pray for them an attempt to seek glory from them? Jesus splashes water in our faces, when in John He asks, "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?" So should we trust in our glory stealing words or trust in the "God who comforts the depressed"(2 Cor. 7:6) to care for those that are weak in spirit so that He might get the glory?

Oliver's First Haircut by Momma

Let's begin with a few "before" shots.

Now here are some shots taken by our photographer A. E. Latta during the haircutting process...a very intense process I might add. I must say though, Oliver did GREAT...sat still and mostly sucked on his thumb...which helped tremendously, but none of these pictures reflect the thumb sucking...he was self conscience of it for the pictures and stopped.

Now for the "after" shots. The little booger was giving me a hard time when I was trying to get shots of him after his shower. Couldn't get great ones, but at least you get the idea. Avrie said I did a good job...let's hope Daddy does!

Okay, so we forgot to clean out the ears after the shower...

Need we say more?

Hankie Quilt Progress

My supplies are as follows:

Old Hankies - at least 58 of them

13 yards of bone colored fabric for the front

13 yards of taupe colored fabric for the back

13 yards of Warm & Natural Cotton Batting

20 yards of Wonder-Under to adhere hankies to squares for extra security during sewing

2 - spools of cream thread (1000 yards)

Handy Dandy Rag Quilt Scissors to snip the edges around each square after assembling

Here are some up close pictures of a few of the first eight squares I have finished. And then a couple more of them lined up to get an idea of what they will look like. I will need a total of 56 squares for the quilt itself, and then two extras to apply to decorative pillows. So, that means 8 squares down and 48 squares to go! Everything is fairly easy, but some things are quite time consuming...such as the large amounts of cutting, cutting the Wonder-Under for each hankies and ironing it on and applying it to the squares of fabric, and the stitching around the fancy edges of some of the hankies...extra care must be taken. I'm so glad I decided to use an adhesive to secure the hankies to each square. I believe sewing them onto the squares would have been much more difficult. I think the hankies would move without it.

I think it is going to be beautiful when it is all finished. Especially when the taupe colored fabric on the back is outlining each square. Can't wait...I'll keep y'all posted on the progress!

Preggo Update

Well, I thought maybe I could share with those that don't live near us the plans for this pregnancy. I decided to go the route of having a home-birth, but not at home. Make sense? Well, through friends at church we were informed of what they call "birthing centers" with certified nurse-midwives. We decided to go with the INANNA Birth & Women's Care (http://www.inannabirth.com/). Here is a picture of the place itself.

I've really enjoyed the experience so far and am looking forward to delivering the baby under their care. I chose to have the baby at the birthing center because we currently live in an apartment and we just don't think that would be such a good idea :o) I am a little concerned that since Oliver came so quickly that time could be an issue when the pain begins. If Travis is at work, he has an 45 minute to 1 hour drive home, then we'd have to drop the kids off at our friends and drive another 25 minutes to the birthing center in Denton. The total time from first pain to Oliver's arrival was less than 2 hours. So, as you can figure, it could be a time challenge if it's a similar experience. We could have the baby in the van on the way...van birth...not what I'd prefer :o) The Lord is sovereign or He's not...right? I trust He's got everything under control and will prepare us for whatever is to come. We're trusting in Him and future grace.

As far as baby updates, my last appointment was this past Thursday. Had a good report. I did lose half a pound in two weeks, but she was not concerned. That makes for a total weight gain so far of 12 pounds. Wednesday I will be 33 weeks. Not much time left! I'm still exercising at least five days a week and watching my calorie intake which I think both disciplines have helped me avoid gaining unnecessary weight. I feel fit and see definite toning and definition of my muscles...not so much in the abdominal area, but most definitely other places :o) I'm so glad I decided to get back into exercising and eating healthier!

My mom will be flying in on April 13th to be here for the delivery...unless the little punkin decides to come earlier, but for momma's sake my prayer is that he waits for her arrival...especially since his due date isn't till the 21st. She is planning on staying with us until April 30th. I'm so excited and can't wait to see her. The kids are looking forward to her coming too. I sure wish my Daddy could be here, but who knows...maybe that will change.

We are so blessed and excited to meet this little guy. We are so blessed with the support of friends and family. Just think, Ira will be our first Texan baby!