The Ferguson Home

10 free ebooks from Scholastic

2011-09-18T14:47:00.000-05:00

Check out this link on Deal Seeking Mom Blog

My friend, Kendall, sent me this link a couple of days ago. It is good thru the 20th, so you better get on it, because it takes awhile to look thru all the available ebooks. It really works - I paid nothing and now have 10 ebooks waiting to be printed :-)

learning about horses

2011-09-17T16:29:00.005-05:00

Our sweet friends, Mike and Nikki, invited us over last week to teach the kids some basics about horses. We met Jewel and Blues, two of their horses.

First item of business...to learn about horse hooves.

Second, Nikki taught them a couple of horse walking tricks. They walk when you walk. They stop when you pull the rope back. Don't ever get behind a horse. Basic stuff, but they loved it!

Then, Nikki showed them how she grooms Jewels. I think there were five different brushes and a couple of sprays that the kids got to use to help clean her up.

Finally, the part Kade had been hoping for the whole time - they got to ride on Jewels! Kade loved it, but the other three just stayed on long enough for me to snap their picture :-)

Thanks, Mike and Nikki, for the field trip fun! The kids are still talking about it :-)

i treasure these days

2011-09-15T16:04:00.004-05:00

I don't know how long God will lead us to homeschool, but I can tell you that I wouldn't want to be doing anything else right now besides teaching these boys (and Bryn - when she chooses to sit in on the lesson).

I'm not even going to lie - it is HARD for me to stay focused and to not talk on the phone or answer e-mails during our school day. I feel like I have to die to my wants a little too often and can wallow in pity for myself occasionally. But, wow, God is growing me and bonding our family in a way that I am so thankful for. I took this a couple of mornings ago to capture our patio time when I read to them while they swing. We are almost finished with Charlotte's Web and I am fighting a strong urge to pick up and take them to the State Fair of Texas sometime in October. The perk that does come with homeschooling is that I'm the only teacher, so I get to make all the field trip decisions - and this teacher thinks that the State Fair is an excellent teaching opportunity ;-) I wonder what Principal Ferguson will have to say...

labeling the cranium

2011-09-13T16:42:00.000-05:00

So, this turned out to be a big win - thanks, Tomi! We joined with the O's for some science fun last Friday. One of the learning experiences involved labeling where certain bones of the body were located.
This is what I imagined to be going thru their head as they were listening to instructions:
"Permission to write all over ourselves?! Oh, baby, this is the coolest day ever!"

It's been awhile

2011-09-07T14:59:00.003-05:00

Summer was so fun...but I'm glad it's officially over! By the end, I am always tired and desperate for a routine. We are into our third week of school (homeschooling again this year), and I'm finding our rhythm again - and love it!

So, here's a couple of pics I've taken recently that I just enjoy looking at over and over. They always make me smile and capture our "life" at the moment.

This pic was taken yesterday and Brynlee was walking in for her first day of pre-school. Isn't she supposed to look and act a little bit more nervous than she obviously is? And, for those of you who have known us for awhile - take note of Kiki. That dog has been everywhere with our family for the past six years! I feel like it's another child :-) Brynlee stole Kiki from Kamden last year and won't go anywhere without that dog.

Does she look grown-up or what?! I chuckle at this one because of her fierce independence. She didn't want me carrying her backpack or holding her hand. But, she did at least hug me tight before I left her classroom.

Kamden and Brynlee don't even know I captured this sweet shot. I was trying to get first day of school pics of the boys and walked out the door to find them holding hands and he had his arm around her. Yes, it made me teary.

I love Kam's grandpa glasses in this pic and that all of their smiles are real and not the "say cheese" smile that I so often get.
Happy blogging again. At least for today :-)

july happenings

2011-07-09T16:08:00.004-05:00

We are still swimming all the time - even the dog is hot enough to get in on the action nowadays...we are all so ready to not sweat the instant we walk out our door! I love that I got a pic of Roxy drying off on the towel after she got out of the pool. She's a crazy dog, but she is pretty smart.

We are still rocking the Rock the Rock songs at our house and in the car...I think I love them as much as the kids ;-) We enjoyed the 4th with some of our neighbors and we captured all the kids doing their RtR moves - love it!
Since we're enjoying the indoors more often to hide from the 100+ degree heat, we've been playing more games and putting puzzles together. Thanks, Cunningham family, for the Chutes and Ladders game for Bryn's birthday - it made for a great family night!

I am starting to get on the "eat local foods as much as possible" kick. We have two farmers' markets within 10 minutes of our home that visit weekly, so it's really just a matter of re-prioritizing our budget to reflect more money for food and less for stuff that will just end up breaking soon and/or our eating out money. This past week, I bought 4 dozen eggs (which, I learned can sit out on your counter top for up to 4 weeks because they don't wash them before bringing them to the market - wild!) and 2 lbs of grass-fed beef + some veggies and random Indian food that I love. I took Kale and Brynlee and they seemed to enjoy the fact that everything they were seeing had come straight from the farm to the market.

All in all, it's been a great start to July. The only downer was Brynlee being sick last week. Her ENT scheduled to have her 2nd set of tubes put in on the 22nd along with removing her adenoids. As you mamas know, it's no fun thinking of your kids having to have any kind of surgery, even when it's minor. But, I'm happy for her that she won't have to endure more double ear infections like she had last week. We would covet your prayers for the surgery to go off without a hitch and that she'll be ear infection-free from here on out!

bryn's sweet shoppe party

2011-07-01T16:52:00.001-05:00

I can't even count the times we've found Brynlee trying to sneak candy. This addiction has been evident from a very young age. So, I thought I would feed her addiction problem by throwing her a sweet shoppe party yesterday. It is so easy to prepare for because you just have to have lots of sugar available :-) Here's some of what was available during the party and for the candy buckets they got to fill up to take home....

CAKE POPS

GOLDEN BUTTER CUPCAKES WITH HOMEMADE ICING (AND A GUMDROP)

SOUR WORMS, AIR HEADS AND LOTS OF STARBURST

GIANT PIXIE STICKS, BLOW POPS, RING POPS, LEMON HEADS, AND BAZOOKA GUM

SKITTLES, GUM BALLS, LIFE SAVERS AND FRUIT SNACKS

BRYNLEE'S CANDYLAND BIRTHDAY CAKE

The best part was throwing the party at Chuck E Cheese. My friend, Laura, sent me a great tip that helped keep the cost really affordable. I did a party thru them, but only for 4 (the minimum). Then, I used all my free tokens coupons and a couple of other coupons to gather lots of tokens and a couple of pizzas to have for guests. Since I paid for the 4 person party, Bryn got to have Chuck E. sing to her and got the token crown and big balloon - just like if we had paid for the 20+ kids that were at the party. Even our hostess was saying how smart that was because usually, for the $11.99 price per kid, they only provide 20 tokens per child. She said that runs out so fast and then they don't know what to do for the rest of the 2 hours. Our way, we had tokens to hand out the whole time and still came home with probably 50 tokens that didn't get used. I'm thinking we need to do every party at Chuck E Cheese because it felt too good to leave the crumbs and the dirty plates there and come home to a clean home!!

we rocked the rock this week

2011-06-24T21:51:00.000-05:00

where's granny?

2011-06-14T20:23:00.000-05:00

She's underneath four baby dolls and three blankets, of course. Can you tell Brynlee likes to have fun with Granny when she comes to visit?

his joy stealer

2011-06-12T16:47:00.000-05:00

We have always referred to this little man as our "joy boy." He has such a cool way of making anything seem like fun. Well, things change for him when his brothers are away. Our joy boy definitely seemed to have misplaced his joy the whole time they were gone. But, oh, how quickly it returned the minute they were reunited.

Kale trying to not cry while talking to his brothers on the phone:

The moment his joy returned :-)

summer reading program

2011-06-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

We signed up for our library's summer reading program today. Local businesses donate prizes for kids as they hit certain reading markers throughout the summer. My kids always get excited because one of the first prizes is a coupon for a free Round Rock Donut :-) Here is the link if you live in the area and want to sign your kids up: Dig Up a Good Book. The book bags they are carrying took all of about 2 minutes each to make and they love having their own. Plus, the technology at our library now allows the kids to just scan their card and then set their book bag under the scanner and it will check out all the books inside the bag - is that not way cool?!

importance of godly counsel

2011-06-04T14:23:00.000-05:00

Life is hard in many ways, but one way in particular is discerning how God would have you to use your time (and all other resources). I really struggle with this one because as most of you know, I think that everything sounds fun and worthy of time spent on it. Plus, our culture is so full of good ways to use your time that it makes it really hard to pick the few best things out of all the good things. And then to know also that it might not be right for you even if it's right for your friend. Fact is that it's often harder to know the right path even though your intentions are pure and you want to honor the Lord.

I am finishing up my current ministry role after two years and have been floundering a little to know where God would have me devote my time after this role ends. I have enjoyed the peace of knowing my ministry role and always feel a little flustered if that's in question, which is the case now. I am praying, but like I said, everything sounds fun and sometimes I think it would take God speaking through a burning bush to get my attention to point me to the best out of all the options.

But, I was reminded today that God created me and knows my issues - thus why he put a godly husband and some precious women who adore the Lord around me to keep me from saying yes to something that doesn't make sense for me. A friend counseled me a couple of weeks ago that I shouldn't even consider a specific ministry because she didn't think I had the bandwidth to tackle the relational responsibilities. I listened, but kind of just played it off thinking that I had way more relational connectors than she was aware of and could handle it just fine. I did pause though and realize that I hadn't prayed about it at all nor had I given Keith time to pray about it and share his wisdom. So...long story short (ok, I know it's already long..sorry!), Keith came to me on Thursday evening and said he really didn't think it was wise for me to take on this particular ministry - basically citing the same reasons my friend did. And then, today I went to a baby shower and the lady who is head over the particular ministry stopped me to say that they had all their spots full anyways! Wow...so God didn't speak through a burning bush to me, but He did speak through the wise counsel of both Keith and Mary.

Here's the point of this posting - if you don't have godly counsel around you - get some! Proverbs 13:20 says, "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm." My husband and my friends do such a phenomenal job in pushing me to trust God and to honor Him in all that I do. I might be a pastor's wife, but I'm still a sinner who can quickly make a mess of things if I try to go the course alone and trust in my own opinions. Jada, Mary, Kendall, Laura, Tomi..these ladies get to see my messiness more than others and do such a sweet job of challenging me in different ways. Thanks, ladies!

And if you are a friend - be a wise friend. It's not healthy for us to always say what our friends want to hear or to just affirm them. The most important characteristic of a wise friend though is that they're pursuing God themselves through reading the Bible and praying. It's way too easy to fall back to our own fallible opinions if we're not constantly seeking the Lord.

These verses remind me that sometimes we need to encourage and sometimes we need to be more of a spur for our friend - and spurs don't feel good at first, but they help to keep us moving in the right direction!

Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,

1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

me + kade + gourdough's = sweet date

2011-06-03T23:19:00.001-05:00

Kade and I were near downtown for a dr's appt. yesterday and decided that it would be wise use of our time to snatch a quick one-on-one date while it was just the two of us. So, with my trusty iPhone in hand, we followed the map to the closest dessert airstream trailer - a gourmet donut place. I can't even tell you how sweet these things were - Kade took one bite and said he thought he needed to save the rest for later because he had had too much sugar - in one bite!! I don't think I'll have any desire to go back unless I'm just begging for diabetes to kick in, but it was very tasty and a fun date to try something new with my oldest. I love the uniqueness of all of the airstream food trailers and would love to try them all...there is one called Sushi A-Go-Go :-) and the one next to Gourdough's was called The Odd Duck - it had unique menu items that you usually don't see unless you're at a fancy restaurant. If you're reading this and you have any recommendations for a particular airstream food trailer - please comment so we can try it too!

i'm sorry, daddy

2011-06-02T09:28:00.000-05:00

This picture makes me laugh out loud because of the scene in which it was captured. Kamden had just asked Keith to fix his (Keith's) tape measure that Kamden had "accidentally" taken apart with Keith's screwdriver. I just think it's hilarious that Kamden used one of Keith's tools to break one of his other tools.

Keith did not get as much of a kick out of it as I did - as you can tell by the non-smile on his face as he attempts to fix his tape measure. Kamden quickly realized this too - thus why I caught him hugging his daddy's leg with a somber "Please forgive me for my childishness" look. I could be wrong, but I think it might be another year or two before Keith puts his tools in Kam's hands.

he better try now while it's cute

2011-06-01T15:09:00.002-05:00

Lincoln has been sneaking in little kisses on Brynlee for awhile now. I think he knows that due to the fact that she has three older brothers and a pastor for a dad, he better get those kisses in now while we all think it's cute. Because...that will definitely change. One day - instead of us grabbing our cameras to capture the cuteness, we'll be grabbing a bat to knock some sense into the boy. But, Lincoln's a smart one - and extremely adorable. Therefore, he gets a pass right now ;-)

summer days are here

2011-05-31T23:46:00.000-05:00

We can be found in the backyard swimming...

or in the front riding bikes...

or in the house hiding from the excessive heat!

I just love summertime, even with the 100+ temps, because it means lots of carefree moments and ice cream ;-)

7th inning stretch

2011-05-30T14:38:00.000-05:00

After fixing the refrigerator and putting together a Star Wars lego set with Kade, Keith took us to the Express game on Memorial Day. Throughout the game, the announcers had the men and women who had served in the Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force and Navy stand up. We got to both enjoy the great American past-time and focus on the people that have served so that we can afford the freedoms we enjoy, like baseball, on this holiday. Speaking of our servicemen - Kade told us this morning that he plans on being in the Air Force when he gets older. We mentioned that he wouldn't be able to see his family very often and he (a little too quickly, I might add) said, "That's o.k. - I'll be protecting ya'll."

five reasons to retire

2011-05-28T23:32:00.000-05:00

We are in Dallas this weekend celebrating that Papa is about to retire! His school had a retirement party for him and another counselor on Friday and then Keith and the boys went with Papa to the Rangers game last night. Today, we took him to see Kung Fu Panda 2 and he took us to McDonald's. Needless to say, it has been fun celebrating that he is about to be available for Papa duty 24/7 ;-)

I'm sure there are quite a lot more reasons for Dad to retire, but the youngest five in the picture are at the top of that list ;-). They're all going to benefit from having more Papa time.

Both Keith and Karen were born after Dad started working at North Garland. His faithfulness to his wife, children, and his work are such great examples he has passed down to his kids and grand kids.

I love this pic below because it captures the friendship that Keith has with his dad. I don't know...maybe because I never really had a good relationship with my father, I'm always blessed by how much Keith respects his dad and values his input on life.

The boys retreated to Papa's office to enjoy his retirement cake....

Speaking of his office, I don't know if I've ever mentioned what Papa likes to collect...see if you can guess...

I remember a couple of times while we were in high school when Dad took us to McDonald's and bought all the teenagers 2 happy meals (when they were .99¢) as long as we gave him the toys that came with it :-) The kids love going to his office to play with all the toys....I wonder what the high schoolers think when they come visit him for the first time.

They have worked together for many years and are now retiring together. For those of you who know the Ferguson's love of Rangers baseball, you'll appreciate the retirement shirts that their co-workers had made for the occasion.

Brynlee is obviously ready for Papa to retire so he'll have more free time to hold her. I got this pic as she was looking at me with the "Look, mom, I got my way," eyes.

Congrats, Papa, for all your faithful years of service - we love you and are so proud of you!

hanging at e. and papa's

2011-05-27T23:24:00.003-05:00

It's been a fun day - so thankful for the chance to hang out with family!

our happy place

2011-05-27T20:18:00.000-05:00

I'm so jealous of their garden!

I just thought this pic was hilarious of Kade sitting on the swing - nature all around him - and he's wearing dr's gloves....too funny.

Thank you, Horace and Retta, for always extending an open invitation to the farm. We so love being there and spending time with ya'll!

bryn and shoes

2011-05-21T22:49:00.003-05:00

Those two things just don't go together. I've tried. Many, many times. She is extremely picky (or if I spin it in a positive way, she already is clear on what she does and doesn't like in a shoe). And I'm slower because I'm still trying to figure out what her criteria is. As you can see in the picture, matching shoes are not one of those criteria...

You know what though? I look forward to seeing how this certain sense of style develops as she gets older. I'm sure it's going to bring Keith and I lots of laughter ;-) And, I've got to admit, I was just happy she put shoes on....many times, she takes her shoes off right before getting in the car and we don't know she's barefoot until we get to our destination. Crazy cute girl.

so thankful for him

2011-05-20T14:00:00.000-05:00

When Keith and I met in middle school, he was "the man," or I guess I should say, "the boy." We were both in band together and he just always had this confidence about him - he was extremely smart and extremely talented. His confidence continued all throughout junior high and into high school as he continued to achieve everything he set out to accomplish - whether it be one of the top kids in class academically, running for class president, band president, nominations for Homecoming King, Most Likely to Succeed, Band Beau, Drum Captain, etc., etc....you get the picture, he was simply good at everything. And he knew it ;-) He was pretty cocky about all of his skills.

But then something changed. Our junior year. He realized that God was the giver of all good things, including all of his many talents. He began to love God more than himself. Now, we had dated a couple of times before this point. But...it was at this point that I fell in love. hard. and I knew I was going to marry him. We were 16 then. We finished high school and went to Baylor University together.

And, on May 20th, 2000, I got to marry the man of my dreams. He is still just as talented, actually, even more talented. He still has an amazingly high capacity to achieve anything he sets his mind to. But, he doesn't delight or find his worth in these many talents. These verses from Psalms always make me stop and thank God for my husband - because they so accurately describe him...

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers." {Ps. 1.2-3}

I am a better woman because I have a husband who loves God so much. He leads our family so well. He provides for us. He makes us laugh. He points us to God. He prays for me. He encourages and challenges me spiritually and mentally. He is such an amazing father that the kids eagerly anticipate his arrival at the end of the day because they just love to be around him. He leads our home, our church and the staff with such integrity. He is a man of his word. He can be both direct and loving at the same time. No, he's not perfect. But, I would say he's pretty close. And I love him dearly.

Thank you, Keith Patrick Ferguson, for 11 years of bliss. I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you.

love wins, by rob bell

2011-05-14T08:42:00.004-05:00

This is one of those few books that I literally have to get up and walk around to diffuse my pent-up frustration after every couple of pages.

Rob Bell is so slick with words. He is by far one of the best communicators that our generation grew up listening to...anyone remember the Nooma videos? But, being an excellent communicator doesn't equate to being the leading expert on God and His plan for redemption.

The artistic, creative part of his personality comes out strong in this book as he does extremely well in appealing to our feelings. Of course, who wouldn't want "love to win?" That so catchy and appealing to everyone with a beating heart. The way he makes you think he is addressing all the skeptic's questions ("At this point another voice enters the discussion - the reasoned, wise voice of the one who reminds us that it is, after all, a story.") gives us an idea that he is presenting the whole picture. As if Bell is the humble one in the discussion - please! He basically has me so fired up because he is pretty much appealing to every reader with this thesis....

I (Rob Bell) am so sorry that you have had to sit under a pastor who fed you the toxic idea about God being a God of wrath (because of His absolute holiness!!!) and a God of love....the wrath part just doesn't line up with my book title, "Love Wins," and it really isn't the message that people in our generation want to hear or that feels right (because we should always go with our feelings instead of truth, right?!). Don't you think it would be better if in the end, God's love conquers His wrath so that everyone ends up getting to experience heaven? Wouldn't that be a nicer, more loving story? Does is really make God glorious that people spend eternity in hell? Let me (Rob Bell) tell you that I've got it all figured out and it is just what you've been wanting to hear. "

The arrogance that he tries so hard to mask in his onslaught of "innocent" questions is unnerving to me. And don't be fooled - remember, he is a master-crafter of words - everything he says, including his innocent questions, is there for an intended purpose.

OK...I've paused my ranting and continued reading...now I'm on pg. 46 and I'm fired up again after only reading two pages by this quote...

"If you believe that you are going to leave and evacuate to somewhere else, then why do you do anything about this world?"

Again, I'm sad by this. I know he knows his history well...why didn't he talk about all the Christians (who do believe in literal heaven and hell and God's wrath/God's love and pre-destination and God's absolute holiness and sovereignty) in our history who have spent their lives trying to relieve suffering? I think about our Agape Pregnancy Center and Round Rock Serving Center, right here in Round Rock, who are Christians who believe they will one day die and go to heaven, yet they spend their everyday taking care of the people in our city who are suffering. My husband, who I watch everyday pour over the Scriptures so that he can correctly handle the word of truth (2 Tim 2.15), is one of those pastors that Bell basically apologizes for...do you understand why I'm taking this so personally? He is attacking so many men, including my husband, throughout 2,000+ years of church history, and saying basically, that they had it all wrong.

Speaking of church history, I love how he tries to make readers think that his teaching isn't radical...he wouldn't want you to put him in the category of "false teachers." So...he leads us to think that he is just simply following in the steps of orthodox, Christianity and not departing from what has literally been passed down for 2,000+ years - as he says in the preface, he's just "introducing you to the ancient, ongoing discussion surrounding the resurrected Jesus in all its vibrant, diverse, messy, multivoiced complexity." Yes, thank you Rob Bell, for keeping the ongoing discussion alive. It's because of people like you throughout history that have challenged the orthodox, Christian body of believers to clarify what we hold true and what is false teaching. I wonder why he didn't include 2 Peter 2 in his preface....

"But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who brought them-bringing swift destruction on themselves...For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment, if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood of its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness......if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment."

I'm going to stop now and send you to my husband's blog for his review...which I'm sure is holier than mine ;-) here's the link - go read it! www.gospelrenewal.com.

in love with instagram

2011-05-04T07:36:00.004-05:00

Ok, all of my iphone peeps must try this app....Instagram. It makes it so easy to take a pic a day (or two, or three, or four ;-) and grunge them up a bit. I'm not always the best photographer, but I'm telling you, this app has made me feel like a cool photographer these past couple of days. Plus, it's really quick to post to Twitter or Facebook.

And...if I'm honest. I'm lonely. I'm for the most part following random people just so that I'm not scrolling thru my own pictures...I need you. I would so much rather see pics from your life over these random people - even though some of them are amazing. Let me know if you do start using this app so I can become your "follower." Yes, Gennae, that does sound a little creepy :-)

Here are a couple of pics I've taken with this app...

favorite iphone apps

2011-05-02T09:16:00.003-05:00

I am a sucker for the free and .99¢ apps for my iphone. love, love, love trying them out. Sometimes, if I hear they're really good, I'll on occasion go wild and purchase one of the $1.99 apps. I usually get one or two iTunes gift cards for Christmas and it makes it just too easy to hit the install button :-)

Here are some of the ones I enjoy the most...

1) Twitter - This is really helping me to learn to keep my thoughts short and sweet. I've noticed that men tend to use Twitter more and ladies tend to prefer Facebook....I wonder why that is ;-) maybe because FB allows for comments and for longer postings so we can fit all our words in! I would enjoy getting to see more of your thoughts on Twitter and not just men that I know who use the app a lot - so here's my plea - JOIN me in the Twitter world!! It is such a quick way to pass on links and valuable information found on the web or to let everyone know you've updated your blog.

2) Google - I love the feature on this where you can search for something thru the voice recorder. I tend to think about random stuff when I'm driving and that's not really a good time to be typing in the search box, so the voice feature keeps me and everyone around me safe!

3) Icredibooth - I just downloaded this one this morning based on a friend's recommendation and it is so fun! You know how she convinced me it was worth it? She told me she uses it to send "special" pictures to her husband sometimes. Oh the fun I'm planning to have with this one! I'm just saying that you can "help" your husband to remember throughout the day how home with you is really the best place to be ;-) Now, I won't name names on which friend sold me on this one, but I will say that they have a sweet marriage, so you really might want to consider jumping on this one.

4) Shazam - This is so I don't go crazy trying to figure out the artist or name of song when I'm stumped with something I'm hearing on the radio. It can affect the rest of my day and take up all my brain space if I can't think of something in regards to a song, so this really helps my sanity. Warning - they limit your uses (which I found out the hard way), so only use it when you're really about to go mad if you don't know the information right then.

5) Words with Friends - This is fun as long as I'm winning :-) I'm not as motivated to play when I have a horrible set of letters. I know, not fair play. Laura and Tomi - don't give up on me. I'm a work in progress.

That's all I can write about for now...kids are all needing something at the same time and don't care that I'm not done with my list. Boo.

in honor of kate and william

2011-04-29T15:01:00.000-05:00

...I made cupcakes with homemade buttercream icing. De - lic - ious. I'm thinking that since my family doesn't need to be consuming a dozen cupcakes, we will surprise our next door neighbors tonight with a royal treat to celebrate the big day!

5 a.m. royal wedding party

2011-04-29T10:56:00.001-05:00

laying down for a nap as I post this ;-) fun memory made this morning - so thankful for girlfriends that are fun, even at 5 a.m.!

happy easter

2011-04-25T13:16:00.000-05:00

going deeper

2011-04-23T09:07:00.003-05:00

Keith and I had the opportunity to get away for a couple of days last week in order to attend the Gospel Coalition Conference in Chicago, IL. It was so refreshing - in many different ways. It's always fun to explore a city with my husband. I'm an experience junkie, so anything new (to me) is exciting :-) I need to pause and add a big THANK YOU to both my mom and Keith's mom for taking over my mama role while we were gone!

It was more than the new experiences that refreshed me though. Throughout the week, I kept sensing that God was calling me to go deeper. For those of you who are around me very much, you know I love God and His Word. My best days are days that begin with my Bible, journal and a cup of coffee. For awhile now, I have been using our church's study guide from the sermon as my main Bible study. And, it has been good. I have so enjoyed getting to reflect on the message throughout the week so that I have time to let God work in me and sometimes, out of me, those things in my life that the sermon addressed in helping to make me more Christ-like. But, I'm telling you, being around lots and lots of people who are passionately moved by God and His Word will mess you up! And that's what happened to me last week. But in a good way. There is just so much meat in God's Word. And, though I've been a Christian for almost 23 years, I still feel like I am being nourished by the most minimal amount of it.

I'm simply ready for more and just realized that though I'm very intimidated by the big commentaries and meaty theology books that my husband consumes on a regular basis to help give him insight as he studies the Bible, they are available to me too, and I don't want to shy away from being a student of God's Word anymore.

So, what's my game plan you might be asking (if you're still reading!)? Well, our church is kicking off a series on Galatians tomorrow - come join us if you live in Round Rock area and don't have a church home...Hill Country Bible Round Rock. With that in mind, I thought Galatians would be the perfect starting place in the Bible for me to experience a little bit of "going deeper." So far, I've read thru Galatians in the NIV translation and the HCSB translation. Very doable, even for a mama of four. The past couple of days, I have read through Martin Luther's Introduction to his thoughts on Galatians. OK - this has been wonderful. If you can get your hands on a copy of this, you must! His introduction really helps you to understand where Paul is coming from in writing this letter to the churches in Galatia. Now, my plan is to re-read Galatians again with Luther's introduction in mind.

I would really love for some of you ladies to join me in diving into Galatians...no formal Bible study, but wouldn't it be fun to have a community of ladies who are all soaking in a book of the Bible together? I'm thinking that we could all benefit and encourage each other as we grow in our knowledge of God together - who's with me? You know, women don't even like to go to the bathroom by themselves - it's always more fun in community :-) And, since I don't feel freedom right now in my schedule to lead an official Bible study, this is kind of my way around it!

I also wanted to give you the link to listen to the main sessions from the conference we attended. Here is the link: TGC 2011 Conference (definitely listen to Tim Keller and Matt Chandler if you have a chance!)

Post comments to let all of us know how you go about going deep into God's Word. I think that if you use Twitter at all, you can tweet @bariesue in your comments about studying Galatians and it will show up on the Twitter feed on the side of my blog so that we can all quickly see your thoughts/resources/books as we study God's Word together! Someone try it and let me know if it works or not ;-) If not, we'll figure something else out.

love ya'll and praying that all of us are moved by our love for God, especially tomorrow, as we celebrate our Risen Savior, who without Him, we would only know despair. I'm so thankful for joy that transcends my circumstances and grace-filled gospel that allows me to hold my head high even knowing I'm a sinner.

keith, aka "big bird"

2011-04-17T11:23:00.000-05:00

Our staff and elders say thank you to all of our ministry volunteers every year by putting on a fun production and dinner...just in case you can't guess from the pictures, this year's theme was, "Church Planting on Sesame Street." Keith's parents say that Keith didn't talk until he was two and that all he could say was, "big bird," so it is pretty fitting that he play that character, right?

Keith, Nick and Douglas...

all of the staff and elders...

Needless to say, we laughed a lot that evening!

our best time together

2011-04-10T16:51:00.000-05:00

Our best time together is at night...when I'm usually exhausted and ready for a little "me" time. I am tempted so often to want to ignore his pleas for me to read him a book or lay down with him for a little while. It is so easy to give a quick kiss and leave the room, anxious to get in my p.j.'s and have some uninterrupted talk time with my man.
But, the other night, I was reminded how important this time is to connect with Kamden and to know what is going on in his little heart. I started to read him a chapter from a new book and somehow, we got to talking about God. I'm sad that I've already forgotten a lot of the conversation because it was all good, but what I do remember is that Kamden had some really good questions and insights about God and His grace. All of a sudden, though, he said as serious as he could possibly be, "Mom, when I find a girl and she loves God, I'm going to keep her and make chicken with her every night." I can't wait to remind him of this quote at his wedding rehearsal dinner...and you can bet I will ;-) In his defense, we had chicken for dinner and he had reminded me (for the 100th time) how much he liked chicken, so I can see how his thought process connected God and chicken that night...I know, big stretch, but I'm going with it.
Back to our best time together...though it's at night, I need to arrange my day in such a way that sets us up to successfully get that special time together. Since I know this is true about him, I need to allow room in my schedule during the day so that I am not so drop-dead tired when we put the kids to bed. I find that when our schedule is peaceful and not chaotic, then I'm more willing to lay there and discuss life with him. But, this is hard for me because I really thrive on trying to "fit it all in." How many of you ladies are with me on that one? We try to have playdates with all of our friends + grocery shop + clean house + run errands + cook meals + shuttle kids to all their activities + date our hubbies...all in a week. And we wonder why we're ready to collapse by 8:30 p.m. I admit....I have a strong desire to fit all this in my schedule - and if I'm honest, I sometimes attempt to fit all of this in a day, not a week. God's been working on me for the past two years though and I feel like I'm getting healthier everyday in this regard. I also have to factor in the equation that God has wired me to be pretty high-capacity in the amount of "busy" I can take in a day. Some of you are wired to "go-go" like me and some of you would be best with just one "activity" planned in your day. The main thing is that you ask the Lord to show you what your capacity is and what is best for your family in terms of how much you go before it starts to hurt your family life. I often find myself going to Titus 2:4 during my morning quiet times to help give me direction and clarity for the "best" for my day. This is what it says, "Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."
When I slow down my "go-go" schedule, it helps me to love my hubby and my kids better because I have the necessary energy left at the end of the day to love on them and listen to them and I'm able to "be busy at home," spending time making our home a place of refuge for my family.

let the games begin

2011-04-02T22:41:00.000-05:00

We officially kicked off our Spring season with the first t-ball and soccer game. Kade chose to play soccer this season. I have to admit that I could get into being a "soccer mom." It is just a fun sport to watch and Kade is pretty good, which makes it even more fun. Here he is playing goalie - happy to report that no goals were scored on his watch!
He gets to play with three of his close friends - Henry, Aiden and Jake (not pictured). I love seeing so many friends when we sit at the games. It was fun this time because Kade's Sunday school teacher was actually the coach for the other team and his 1st grade school teacher was there watching someone play from the other team also. Round Rock is really not even close to a small town, but it almost feels that way when you're sitting on the YMCA sports fields.
Keith and Nick are coaching t-ball together again this year. And, I don't mean to brag, but they're a good coaching team. It should get old, but it doesn't - I hope Kamden, Kale and Leif know how special it is to have two of their favorite men coaching together. Here is a pic of Kale with his two best buddies - Landon and Leif. They have all been friends since before they could even talk.

I'm a happy mom, too, because between the two games, I get to hang out with four of my friends...I get a mouth and ear work-out while the boys get a physical work-out :-) It's a win-win, right?

it's a big day

2011-04-01T14:04:00.004-05:00

Opening season of the Texas Rangers!!

We haven't had cable since the end of last year's baseball season...trying to save money and go the old-fashioned, "bunny-ear" route. I'm wondering how long we'll make it though now that it's baseball season again ;-) Actually, as I'm working on this post, my hubby just found it on 103.3 - a Dallas radio station. He has the Spark app on his phone. This is for all of you die-hard Rangers fans who don't have cable either.

We actually got to see the Rangers play this past Wednesday when they played an exhibition game against their Triple-A team, our Round Rock Express. Let's just say I'm hoping the Rangers look better today at 3 than they did at that game. The Express beat them, 4-3, I think. We left at the end of the 7th inning because it all of a sudden became winter again in Round Rock. We almost made a fire when we got home to thaw out! But it was a fun date with a fun mate ;-) I'll sit in the cold anytime to watch baseball with my honey.

how we vacation

2011-03-27T17:02:00.003-05:00

We don't attempt to "see all the sites." We utilize the "included activities" everyday - this place had a couple of nice pools that we alternated between, a putt-putt course, arcade, board games, and two nice playgrounds. We don't eat out very much. In fact, this time, we cooked every meal in our condo except for when mom came in town and bought our lunch and dinner and then one meal when we met a friend for lunch. We relax as often as we can. We play board games together. We cuddle a lot. We go to bed early and wake up early. Keith and I had long quiet times with the Lord every morning - that's unheard of during regular life - but it's what makes a good vacation great for us. We did go to an indoor water park that was on the property a couple of days with the kids this time. But, even in the water park, you could find all of us taking time to rest on the lounge chairs. We just move slow during our vacations - which is a beautiful thing. We didn't come back feeling like we needed to "recover" from vacation. We actually felt rested and ready to tackle normal life again.

How do you vacation? Or, a better question is, do you vacation at all? I'm thankful for my husband's leading in this area, which he inherited from his parents. Vacations are important. You don't have to spend lots of money. The main thing is that you get away from all the normal demands of life to focus on your immediate family. We find this especially important for our family because the kids have to share us so much of the time. And they do so with giving hearts. But, they need to be reminded that they are special to us and vacation gives us the time to speak that into their hearts without any other interruptions.

visits with the extended fam

2011-03-26T16:47:00.002-05:00

We had so much fun on this vacation spending time with some of our extended family. We started off our vacation at Nanny's house, which I blogged about earlier. Brynlee wanted Nanny to do everything with her...I think she asked Nanny to play "matches" with her at least ten times in the 24 hours we were with her.

She sat with Nanny as long as she could before bedtime and then joined her in her recliner first thing when she woke up the next morning.

I often find that life is more fun in the "unplanned" moments. We happened upon one of those unplanned moments when we got to Nanny's house. Keith's cousin, Becky, had also come to visit Nanny with her two little girls, Lily and Lucy. Usually, we only get to see each other when the whole extended family gets together which makes it a little harder to enjoy laid-back time together. We loved getting time with them - and Keith definitely needed Becky to help him with his crossword puzzle attempts :-). Both of them together still didn't hold a candle to their Nanny though.

I asked Bryn what her favorite part of vacation was when we got back home, and she quickly said, "seeing E." She so loves her E. We were glad to see her too and thankful that the Lord brought them back safe from their spring break trip to Italy.

Karen and Evan were able to come with E. to visit us. I'm really enjoying this season of our relationship. Even though we live pretty far apart, we are doing better about either Skyping or talking on the phone on a more regular basis. She is our only sister, which also means that our kids' only cousin is her son, Evan. It is so fun to see how much our kids love Evan and how much he loves them. I'm thinking his system probably goes into shock after leaving the chaos that accompanies our family to a quiet home! I sure wish they lived closer to us so that we could hang out more often than we get to now. I'm hoping that Alan will get a job at a hospital in the Austin area when he finishes his residency ;-) It is the best place to live in Texas, right?

I was thankful for a chance to visit one of my oldest (in terms of years of friendship) friends during our trip. Her husband just accepted a pastor position in Ponca City, OK, so I knew I needed to catch a couple of hours with her before her move or it might be awhile. This is her youngest son, Elijah, who I was finally able to meet. Isn't he adorable? She is such a precious wife, mom and friend. I hate that we don't get to live closer to each other, but I love that it's as if no time has passed when we are able to get together. She is like a sister to me and I know that God used her and her family during my formative teenage years to teach me what a godly family is supposed to look like.

We stopped by the farm to check-in on Horace and Retta on our way home. I can't even describe how spiritually refreshing it is to spend time with these two heroes of the faith. I'm so thankful for their example of what it looks like to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, as you age (gracefully, I might add ;-).

We also got to see Keith's Uncle Jay and Aunt Elane and his cousin, Bryan, while we were in Gladewater. Brynlee was pretty taken with Uncle Jay - she even asked to see him the next two days after we left Gladewater, so he must have left a pretty big impression.

In a perfect world, we would get to live close to all of these precious relatives and friends so that we could see them more often. They all have played a major role in shaping who Keith and I are today. But, the distance makes the times we do get to spend with them really special. We're so thankful to the Lord for last week and the opportunity to do a little "catching up" with our loved ones.

a special lady

2011-03-24T14:43:00.001-05:00

We chose to spend our vacation this year in East Texas mainly because we wanted to spend time with this special lady...

She is Keith's Nanny - his dad's mom, and the kid's only great-grandparent still living. We sure do wish we could see her more often than two or three times a year. We got to go to church with her this past Sunday. Bryn sat in her lap and Nanny doodled for her throughout the service. Needless to say, I am going to try to preserve those drawings because I didn't feel it was appropriate to whip out my camera to capture the moment during the middle of the church service :-).

valentines at chuck e cheese

2011-03-13T22:54:00.002-05:00

My dear friend, Laura, puts on a fun Valentine's party every year at Chuck E Cheese. We keep growing every year - I think there at least 15 families there from our church and neighborhood, if not more. All of the kids bring Valentine's boxes and line them on a table. Then, the chaotic part takes place. We all walk our kids around to put their valentines in each of the boxes. These valentines from their friends become treasured possessions around our home for at least a week afterward. We all print out the free 5 tokens coupons off their website and share pizzas. It ends up being a pretty cheap way to celebrate and gives us special memories with the friends that God has so graciously put in our lives.

I love this pic for two reasons: 1) It shows Bryn's fun personality as she runs over to see her friends and 2) I just think that my man looks hot in this pic ;-)

Mary and I weren't able to get a good group pic of our kids while we were at Fiesta Texas for New Year's Eve, so this was the make-up shot.

I ran into one of my college roommates while we were partying it up at Chuck E Cheese. We have only gotten to see each other a couple of times since we graduated in 2001 - our lives are definitely busier than they were 10 years ago! Misty is still just as beautiful as I remember her during our Baylor days and her kids got her pretty genes passed down to them :-)

These two are the sweetest friends. They have been friends since they were born - I don't know if they had any choice in the matter since their mom's are such close friends - but they are tight. I had to calm Bryn down today at church because another kid was moving Lincoln's backpack and she was determined to "protect" it.

These two (the older siblings) are also best buds. Kale and Landon met right before Kale's 1st birthday party and have been having playdates ever since.

Our family shots are becoming a rarity - much to my sadness. It is sooooo tiring to try to get us all to be still and look at the camera at the same time. It doesn't matter to me though that they all have funny faces in this pic - their faces just remind me of how much joy and laughter they bring to our lives daily.

This is a really late Happy Valentine's Day from our family.

sabbath rest

2011-03-09T22:47:00.003-06:00

We just finished a great Real Life Group tonight with our neighbors. We were discussing the sermon notes from this past weeks sermon at our church, found here. Not that I haven't been challenged and reminded of my need for Jesus with all of the Ten Commandments that we've studied so far, but this one has really gotten to me.

I'm just going to go ahead and be real from the get go - I struggle to rest. Sure, I sleep at night because I would be a lunatic if I didn't. But, as far as the hours during the day go, it is hard for me to ever feel the freedom to sit down and rest. I've always equated it with laziness. And, there is always more work to be done, right?

So, that gives you my mental background as I was confronted with what God has to say about Sabbath rest this past Sunday. He modeled it from the beginning (Gen 2.3). If you look back at creation, it is unbelievable how much God can accomplish so quickly. I don't want to get into whether we are talking about literal days here because honestly, I have no idea. What I do know from reading about creation, though, is that God is the Creator and He can do a lot of work quickly. So, I'm thinking it took much self control to not go ahead and put lots of buildings and city structures up on the seventh day. You know He could have knocked it out much quicker than it took man to figure it out. But instead, He rested. Six days of work, one day of rest. It seems like such a healthy pattern for our life, doesn't it? It is a gift wrapped up in a command.

What was really different about this sermon on the Sabbath is that it was taught in a way that showed how the Sabbath really is about pointing us to Christ. Jesus says in Matthew 11.28-30, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." It is only in Jesus that we find true rest for our souls. Jesus was constantly having to address the Pharisees because of their "religious" view of the Sabbath. They were so good at externally following all the "rules" of the Sabbath. But it is pretty evident that their souls weren't peaceful because they were always upset at how others, including Jesus, weren't following "the rules." Jesus tells them in Luke 6.5 that he is the Lord of the Sabbath. He's like, "Listen fellows, are you really trying to tell the Maker of the Sabbath how he should act on the Sabbath?"

So, this is my conclusion after a week of quiet times studying the Sabbath spurred on by some really great teaching at church on the subject:

1) I won't find Sabbath rest from putting strict rules on what I can/can't do on a specific day of the week.
2) The Sabbath is really about Jesus - apart from which I wouldn't ever know true rest for my soul. I could choose to do nothing on Saturday except sit on the couch and talk to my family, but if I am not at peace with my standing before God because of what Jesus did (not what I've done), then I'll still have strife and unrest in my spirit as I seek to perform better to win God and man's favor.
3) My quiet times with the Lord every morning are vital to my spiritual health. I've known this for awhile, but I've really understood more this week how they are like my daily Sabbath time. For those of you who are morning people, you know how easy and exhilarating it is to wake up and start checking "to-do's" off your to-do list. The early morning time is so peaceful with no distractions in our home because all the kids are still sleeping. Therefore, I could knock tons of to-do's off the list in a short amount of time. But, when I choose instead to use that precious time to spend time with the Lord, it is an active way I can show the Lord that I ultimately believe He is in control and that I trust Him with all of my life, including my to-do list. I am reminded of Psalm 143.8 where the psalmist says, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." That is my prayer every morning as I sit down in my comfy chair with my Bible, journal and coffee. And I can honestly say that I get more important stuff accomplished on the days that I choose to start my time off with the Lord instead of the computer, dishwasher or washer.

I'll end with this passage in Hebrews 4. 9-10: "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his."

It is a true gift wrapped up in a command. Don't we all want to have true rest for our souls? to not have to justify our worth by what we accomplish or how many rules we correctly followed? God is so good to us to give us a way to enter His rest. Through his Son, Jesus Christ, we can find true rest for our souls, which I believe what Keith said on Sunday, must precede rest for our physical bodies.

PS - I know this so isn't typical for me. I want it to be though. I would love to use the blog to share more of what God is teaching me thru His Word and not just about family life. It is just easier to post a picture and talk about the event behind the picture when you're tired at night than putting into words what God is teaching you. So, I'm not sure how regular I'll be at sharing my quiet time thoughts and you might just like the family stuff better, but I guess what I'm trying to say that I hope to change it up a little along the way. And, I would really love hearing what God is teaching all of you who are still reading this extremely long post ;-) We can spur each other on as we seek to live out a life that honors the Lord in the midst of our daily activities.

Blessings,
barie sue

new look for our buffet

2011-03-07T21:01:00.001-06:00

I have no idea why I didn't take a before photo. I took one of the buffet after it was sanded (boring) and primed (even more boring), but not what it looked like before I started messing with it. I'm going to go back and try to find an old photo of my dining room with this piece in there. The transformation is pretty drastic. All of the hardware was falling off and there were scratches and sticker residue (that would be Brynlee's doing) everywhere. I loved the function of it though and it is a very sturdy piece, so I decided to make my first attempt at refinishing a piece of furniture. Though it took me a little longer than I would have liked (I tend to get distracted and am ready to move on to another project pretty quickly), I persevered and ended up with this pretty piece that now holds all of my crafty stuff. It really is incredible what a new coat of paint and new hardware can do for an older piece of furniture.

bryn and emry: our little mini-me's

2011-03-05T21:25:00.001-06:00

I imagine this is what Jada and I would have looked like at 2 yrs old if we had been friends then...

Brynlee and I took Emry out on a date a couple of weeks ago to celebrate that Emry was potty-trained. After a grand plan to go have ice cream with another little friend that failed due to one of the main roads in Round Rock being closed, we ended up at the Wal-Mart McDonald's - that's right. Are we high class or what? They did get to end it with a little shopping in the toy section though, so I think it all still worked to their advantage.

always be ready

2011-03-03T21:05:00.001-06:00

One of the things I have loved about homeschooling is the informal conversations that take place all day long. Today tops the cake though for my favorite of those conversations because during the middle of it, Kale asked if I would pray with him to trust in Jesus as his Savior. It was obviously a much longer conversation that led up to that point, but what was really cool is that it was Kade and Kamden who walked him through what it meant to be a Christian. All I got to do was step in at the end and pray with him. I found them in their room with the music blaring shortly after, and they said they were celebrating that all three of the boys were Christians now.
This is the third time we have had to wrestle thru our thoughts on the genuine conversion of our children at an early age (thankfully!) On one hand, we want to affirm that a 4 1/2 year old can understand the gospel and believe in Jesus. The Bible explicitly tells us to let the little children come to Jesus. At the same time, we won't be crushed as parents if our kids decide as young adults that they didn't really understand what they were doing at 4 or 5 and want to personally affirm their faith at that time. From our years in youth ministry, we understand that every adolescent has to go thru a time of searching and personalizing what they believed as a child. Some teens easily reaffirm what they learned as kids while others go thru a long searching process. Either way, we're still called to teach our children the gospel at an early age and pray everyday for their love for God to grip their heart.

We scrapped all school stuff after so that we could spend the rest of the day celebrating. First line of business, going to get dad and heading to Chick-fil-a...

And onto a random side-note...I am a big fan of the new "dip and squeeze" ketchup at Chick-fil-a. I'm guessing that a mom who has spent much of her life opening ketchup packets at fast food restaurants invented these babies...look..I just had to post a picture of my favorite find of the day!

latest dessert find

2011-03-02T22:38:00.001-06:00

I saw this recipe on two different blogs before giving in and trying it out myself. Double Stuffed Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookie. I think I'm only going to make these once a year because (a) they're ridiculously good, (b) my husband has diabetes and I don't want to tempt him too much and (c) though I'm working on self-control when it comes to really good sweet treats, I'm definitely still a work in progress and these would make me give in to my cravings every time. But, you should try them because they're amazing ;-)

Here is the blog I got the recipe from: Becky Bakes

our weekend project

2011-02-23T11:32:00.003-06:00

We got the itch to give Kade his own room last week. He has been upset a couple of times recently because he keeps getting lumped in with his younger brothers for not picking toys up or cleaning their room. He does end up being the one that ends up doing a lot of the work many times when we ask them to clean up their messes, so we thought this seemed like a good time to let him have a little space of his own.

I put out a call for a twin bed/mattress once we made the decision and almost immediately had this bed and mattress donated (HUGE BLESSINGS from my friends, Alison and Heather!). Alison even sent a gallon of blue paint which worked perfectly with the lime green paint that was already on two of the walls in the room we had been using for our playroom. So - pretty much after painting two walls, putting the bed together and moving the other furniture, Kade had a new room and Kale got to officially move from the toddler mattress on the floor to the bottom bunk that Kade used to occupy. Kale looks a little too excited that Kade is out of their room now ;-).

I had to include this pic below because it was taken the morning after the first night in his own room - I love that they all end up in the same bed to start their morning off. It's a sweet bond that these four siblings have - I pray that bond remains strong all through their lives.
My project that I'm hoping to finish this next weekend: refinishing our buffet. So far, I've sanded and primed it. All that's left is the turquoise paint!

the ten commandments

2011-02-17T13:16:00.005-06:00

I don't brag about my husband near as I ought to when it comes to how he communicates God's Word. He is hand's down my favorite pastor and teacher - and I am 99.9999% sure I would say that even if he wasn't my husband. He is so passionate about people having a solid theology - not only that but his passion is contagious and makes those around him want to know God better.
He kicked off a new series at church this past Sunday called Words From the Fire. He introduced the Ten Commandments and talked about the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me." I've never been more excited about studying the Ten Commandments as I was when I left church. If you're in need of a fresh love for God's Word and His commands - click on the link above. You can also print out a study guide to go with it if you like to take notes like me.

we're going on a heart hunt

2011-02-14T22:50:00.004-06:00

OK, so as of 11 p.m. last night, I did not have one thing planned for Valentine's Day for the kids - I know, horrible mom. I've been too busy going on dates with my man ;-) We just wrapped up a four night stint of getting to go on dates every night. I have no idea how that happened, and I'm almost certain it probably won't ever happen again - or at least for the next 18 years. But, it has been so fun and refreshing to get to spend so much quality time with Keith and be reminded that he is the absolute love of my life. We just have so much fun together and even after four nights of getting to hang out, I'm already ready for our next date - just can't get enough of Ferguson!
I have also been reminded how wonderful my mom is to be available four nights in a row for us! She didn't move here until I was pregnant with #4, so I know I was able to manage without having her here, but I'm so thankful that she is here now to spoil us. We were pretty creative back then in finding ways to get our weekly date in - trading off date nights and utilizing the monthly "Family Night" at the YMCA - but I do have to admit that having mom here makes things easier and I love that the kids get to have such special memories with her.
Back to the title of my post though :-)
I came up with this idea this morning and it was so easy to quickly implement. I know that Valentine's is over, but the idea could be used for birthday's, Easter or "just because."
Now for the idea:
Write a poem.
Put each word on a separate heart.

Hide the hearts.

Let the kids find them.

Make the kids figure out the order of the words to make the poem - SO THAT - they can find a little something special for them.

I had random things waiting for them: tennis balls, fruit snacks, one can of play-doh and a couple of books (one of the books was "Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl." Kamden thinks the Fly Guy books are the funniest - don't know about that, but I love that he enjoys reading them.)

This involved team work, reading and puzzle-solving skills, so I totally counted it as school-time too ;-) They really liked that part!

mail from mama e.

2011-02-12T16:34:00.005-06:00

Keith's mom, or Mama E., as the kids know her, is so good about sending mail addressed to each child on a regular basis. I'm hoping that by the time I have grandkids, I have developed the skill of mailing cards to people on regular basis - so far, it has proved to be a skill I'm definitely lacking in my life.

We stopped by the mailbox on the way home from our Valentine's Chuck E. Cheese party and found Valentine's cards for each of the kids and for Keith and I. I think we get just as excited as they do to find one of her cards in the mail!

Thanks, E., for being so thoughtful! You made our day :-)

school time

2011-02-10T20:23:00.004-06:00

We decided to homeschool Kade, Kamden, and Kale this semester. We are finishing up Week 6 tomorrow and I can still say that I am loving it. I had my doubts because it definitely keeps me inside more than what is normal for me. But...that is actually a beautiful thing. Because I am very social and because the nature of Keith's profession keeps us going all the time, it has been wonderful to have an "excuse" to totally focus on the kids. Plus, I have always had a hidden desire to teach, so the lesson prep stuff actually energizes me instead of being draining. Our home seems more peaceful because we're not loading and unloading in and out of the car all the time - which for those of you with large families, you know that is a BEAST and can make the most pleasant day go bad very quickly. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure we'll be back in the public schools at some point. We've been blessed to have had an awesome experience with our elementary school. We just simply wanted more time with the kids and wanted to be able to engage them in their educational process more than we were finding the opportunity to while they were at public school. Today was such a good day where they all stayed on task that I had to capture a couple of pictures.

Keith has been taking the boys through this book the past couple of weeks. Don't be fooled by the fact that Kale is asleep and Kamden is very close to being asleep - they really do love the book and the special time with their daddy.

daddy's girl

2011-02-08T22:12:00.003-06:00

Here are pics from Bryn's first Daddy/Daughter Dance. She sang "I'm going on a date with dada, I'm going on a date with dada...," the whole way to the salon to get her hair done. She is pretty smitten with her daddy and I'm noticing that her daddy is pretty smitten with her too.

Jada and I, along with Mary and Tomi, spent the evening looking at Shock photo albums while our hubbies were away with our daughters. All I can say is this pic of Nick and Keith below is much better than a couple of the photos we unearthed from ten years ago - before these girls had joined our families :-) It was so fun to be reminded of the precious friendship our two families have enjoyed for almost 12 years now.

Now, Keith might be smitten with his daughter, but I still have his heart ;-)

what she does while we're sick...

2011-02-06T21:06:00.004-06:00

I talk a lot about how Brynlee likes to keep busy and how many times that leads to messes in our home. Well, she got to enjoy two days this past week of unfiltered fun because neither Keith nor I felt like going to find her everytime she disappeared - but I did manage to grab a picture or two of her "busywork."

First, she took every cup from the kid shelf in the kitchen and moved them to our bathtub.

Next, she got the cornbread muffins that I was saving for a friend to pick up later that day and stuck a sour gummy worm right in the center of each one....I struggled to get upset with her for this though because it was so creative. And, I have modeled this for her. The kids love for me to hide a gummy worm somewhere on their plates - they think it's the best thing ever. So, I guess she was just wanting to provide the same fun for the Magee kids :-)

It's been so long since I've blogged...I feel like I need to introduce myself again. I can't promise that I'm going to ever be regular, but it does feel good to blog again!

Special Night

2010-04-14T22:16:00.003-05:00

Kamden trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior tonight after our Real Life Group was over. He has been telling us for over a week now that he wanted to become a Christian and we kept saying that we would continue to dialog about it. Well, tonight after baths, he basically came into the room and told Keith and I that he had prayed to God and told Him he was sorry for all the bad things he and his brothers had done today. That led us into how God forgives us when we ask because of the cross. He said "I know Jesus died on the cross for bad people." We asked who the bad people are and he said me and Kale and you and daddy and everybody. The more that we discussed it and listened to Kamden explain what he believed, the more we understood that he was really ready to pray. He prayed first and then Keith got to lead him in a prayer that conveyed everything that Kam had already told us. It was so cool to hear him communicate the gospel thru the gospel fuzzies that our teachers sing to our kids faithfully every week at church. He was already trying to evangelize to Kale, but Kale's response was, "Kamden, did you know when you eat a lot of food that you get a headache?" Seriously, though, I hope that Kamden does have the chance to lead his younger brother and/or sister to the Lord - that would be so awesome! Well, I know I hardly ever blog anymore, but I thought this was definitely worth journaling about :)

Trip Full of Adventures

2010-01-31T22:51:00.002-06:00

We've had an incredible time in Estes Park, CO with our three boys. This was definitely a trip of firsts for them - airplane ride, ice skating, tubing and sledding, driving a snowmobile, hiking up a mountain trail, being 20 feet from an elk, climbing up a frozen waterfall, hiking around a frozen lake while it was snowing and roller skating. It has been a little boys' dream vacation - full of adventure and firsts. I will say that I have been hit hard on this trip with the reality that my boys enjoy being with their daddy over their mommy. I know that is a good thing and I want them to be attracted to masculinity, but I am having to process how my role as the nurturer in the family needs to change now that they are all out of the toddler stage. Though part of me has wanted to mourn the loss of the "mama's boy" stage they have all gone thru, the other part of me rejoices that my boys have such a strong desire to be associated with all things manly. I asked Keith to take a picture of me with the boys one day and Kade laughed at Keith calling him a "lady because only ladies take pictures." You can tell that he is sorting out in his brain constantly which activities are associated with men/women.
Speaking of taking pictures, he has it right that it is the lady in our family that loves taking pictures - here is the link that will take you to our Picassa album of the trip. And I know, this is record speed for me. I just told Keith that usually the process to get my pictures from my camera to our blog takes at least a month - maybe I've gotten better in my old age :)

Colorado Trip

Ringing In The New Year

2010-01-02T23:54:00.006-06:00

We had such a blast ringing in the new year. We started off with dinner at Hudson's On The Bend. Thanks to Aaron and Laura Murray, our sweet friends who treated us to dinner, we now know that an expensive wine really does taste better than a cheap wine and we will always remember what foie gras is - goose liver, not a sweet cream sauce! Not only was the food simply amazing, but the company was even better. Keith and I have been so blessed by the friendships that God has put in our lives. It was a sweet time of fellowship with the Murray's and Shock's.

Then, we all headed over to one of our mutual friends' 30th birthday party. It was at a little shop/cafe on the Georgetown square. There was karaoke and dancing - what more do you need to ring in the new year? I never knew how much Laura enjoyed karaoke - I so know what we're going to do on her next birthday :) The whole night was special and just reminded Keith and I what a sweet year 2009 was and how much we have to look forward to in 2010. Thank you, Lord, for blessing us beyond anything we could have imagined. And, thank you mom for allowing us to go out on New Year's Eve - that was a special treat!

From New Years Eve Fun

Family Pics Time Again :)

2009-10-29T06:41:00.002-05:00

This is one of the most anticipated events of the year for me. Picture time with Rachel. Once a year. I am always excited and anxious at the same time. For those of you who have tried to get four kids under the age of six to smile on cue and all at the same time over and over again know what I mean...I'm excited to get good shots of my family but anxious/frustrated/resolved (in that order) knowing deep down that the "perfect" family shot is just not going to happen at this stage of life. But you know what I always realize afterwards? That for us, it wouldn't be perfect unless it included at least one child looking away and maybe one crying. Because that's our life, and in my book, it is perfect and I want to capture it just the way we are in real life - imperfect but blessed beyond measure.

I know...some of you have forgotten what the Ferguson family looks like since I have been on a blogging sabbatical. Here are some pics to jog your memory :) I think you just click on the link for the photo album.

Family Pics 09 Rachel

Refreshed

2009-07-10T22:47:00.005-05:00

I didn't get to post much last month, but only because I could barely keep up with life, much less recording life. We had so much fun during the month of June - we celebrated my birthday all month, went on vacation, went on a study break (without the kids), finished the triathlon, enjoyed our typical summer playdates at the pool and the free movies, traveled to Dallas for a friend's baby shower and had Brynlee's 1st birthday party. Not to mention all the normal routine stuff that keeps us busy anyways like church, real life group, date nights, changing diapers, reading stories and studying God's Word. I so love that our life is full, but at the same time I struggle because deep down I know that I will never catch up on recording all these memories.

One of my friends got me wanting to try my hand again at digital scrapbooking - so here was my first project...a reflection on the three days in June when we were totally refreshed - of course, we were by ourselves at a bed and breakfast in the hill country. And the refreshment only lasted thru day two of being back in the chaos of our life. But...it was awesome :)

I got this quick page from jessicasprague.com. She has a free tutorial on how to get into digital scrapbooking with Photoshop Elements - you should check it out if you're into scrapbooking.

Lifelong Friends

2009-07-05T22:36:00.001-05:00

There's just something sweet about celebrating the upcoming birth of one of your closest friends from high school's baby girl. She's going to be the greatest mommy. It was so much fun to get to spend time with a couple of girl friends that I know are friends for life. Due to us all living in different cities, our time together is pretty sparse these days, but I know that I can always count on these ladies to be there when I need them. Here's to lifelong friends that accept you on your good days and bad :)

She swims...she bikes...she runs...sheRox!!

2009-06-09T17:20:00.007-05:00

I did it - completed my first ever sprint triathlon! I say first ever because I definitely think that I'm a glutton for punishment and will be talked into doing it again next year with my crazy friends. My goal was to finish in under 2 1/2 hours and my final time was 2 hours 19 minutes. Not only did I achieve that goal, but I also got back to the weight I wanted to get to and feel so much healthier than I did when I started training. Plus, I trained with some awesome ladies that I am just so blessed to be friends with. They challenged me to do something that was very BIG in my book and I am so thankful to them for that. Here are some pics from the event...beginning with my favorite moment of the day, my family (minus Bryn who was at home with granny) running with me across the finish line - priceless.

We ended family vacation by going to the Danskin Expo, where we put our bikes in the transition area, got our timing chip and colored swim cap and found out what wave we were going to start with. This year, we went with the Buddy group so that we could all start together. I think next year we'll go with our age group so that we don't have to wait until the very end to take off, but it was such a memorable experience standing in the water with my friends as we waited for the go signal to start our swim.

Here is a back shot of me about to cross the line to complete the 12 mile biking portion of the event. If only you could see my face, you would know how much I hate biking. I'm going to have to really practice in this area to improve my time for next year.

Laura, looking like it was no thing at all to just have biked 12 miles. I say it's because of the clips and camel pack :)
Here is Alison coming out of the transition area to begin the 3 mile run. She made an incredible time - finishing somewhere around 600 out of almost 2000 ladies - pretty impressive!

I wish we had a picture of the beginning, when the four of us were standing with our wave (all the purple caps) by the lake waiting for it to be our turn to begin the swim. I can't even describe the adrenaline as we got into place and put our goggles on. And then we were off...swimming with a mass of women all trying to get to the same place. What makes us want to swim in dirty water and get kicked in the side and face to boot? I don't know, but I do know that I have grown the most in my swimming ability. I couldn't do two laps without being totally out of breath when we began training and now, I can swim a mile without stopping to rest. That's a miracle and a testimony that it is possible for anyone to take up swimming.

Here's me coming out of the transition area. My smile is because I am 2/3's of the way done!

Yes, I feel like I look in this picture - ready to drop. But what a neat feeling to be on the other side wearing the medal. Pretty cool.
Alison Robert, Alison Ryan, me and Laura Murray - we make a fun fitness team.

Anyone want to join us for next year? Women came from all over Texas to participate. And trust me, if I can do it, anyone can!

I have to end by giving a special thanks to my mother-in-law, E., as most of you know her. She should really get mother-in-law of the year award because she had to walk (pushing a stroller) at least 1.5 miles to get to the event and 1.5 miles back (up two hills each time). And Keith couldn't have made it with the boys without her. It was special to have you there mom. Thanks. And thanks to my mom who got up to bring us breakfast at 5:30 a.m. and then watched Brynlee for the event.
And I can't close without thanking my sweet husband - who has run many miles with me to help me prepare, stayed up with me a lot of the night before the event and has encouraged me so much with his confidence in me. You're simply amazing and I am totally in love with you.

Kade's Baptism Pics

2009-06-01T23:35:00.003-05:00

Babe, You're Amazing

2009-05-20T23:11:00.002-05:00

Today, Keith and I celebrated being married nine years. I want to take a moment to publicly tell my husband how truly incredible I think he is...bear with me, it will get mushy :)

Baby,

You have enriched my life so much. You make me so much better than I would be by myself. The Lord has used you in my life to give me a tangible picture of what His love is like. I thank God all the time that I get to walk thru this life with you. He blessed me with so much more than I deserve when he put us together.
You make me feel loved all the time - that gives me a confidence that I can't even explain. I have never once doubted in our marriage if you loved me because you show me love daily in your words and in your actions. You provide for me and our family so well. You encourage me in my mommy role by placing such a high value on it that you choose to sacrifice in other areas so that I can stay home with our children. Thank you for having so much confidence in me.
You are still the one that I enjoy being with the most. I can't get enough time with you. I so love just sitting and talking with you about anything (even theology :)...I know I tease you that God put me here to help keep you humble, but seriously, I think you're the smartest person I've ever met. I just won't tell you that too often because I don't want it to go to your head ;)
I love how you love the Lord. I am so thankful that you lead our home spiritually - that makes my role as your wife so much easier. You gently point me to God everytime I start looking somewhere else. Your walk with God, your conviction in the gospel, and your commitment to see those around you become Christ followers inspire me.
I am so blessed to be your wife. Did I mention that I think you're HOT? You are..very much..and I'm so glad that God gave you to me.

love you,
barie sue

2009-05-20T17:16:00.002-05:00

You know how there are those things that you just don't realize you need until someone introduces you to it...well, I was just visiting my sweet friend's blog (check it out...At Home in Austin) when I discovered this:

Is this not the coolest ride ever?!!! I could have so much fun taking our four little ones around the neighborhood with this. I wonder if Keith would think this was a need also? Probably not, but a girl can dream :)

A Sad Week

2009-05-13T21:57:00.007-05:00

Yesterday we got a call from Keith's mom that his Mimi (E.'s mom) had passed away. She was 92 and up until about a year and a half ago, she was in extremely good health, both mentally and physically. She lived past her husband, one son and most of her friends and had a fascinating perspective on life because she had lived thru so much, including the Great Depression. Keith and I got to spend time with one of her nieces last summer and gained a whole new appreciation for Mimi as we listened to Delight Marie talk about her with an awe and reverence for the tough woman she was. She said that all the nieces were inspired by how Mimi could tackle anything that life threw at her with a "Deal with it and move on" mentality. I've seen that same spirit in E. and also in Keith. I remember being in awe of her when I first went to Gladewater to visit her with Keith because she had e-mail and knew how to use the Internet. She was in her 80's then - you've got to admit that it is very rare to find someone that age who is in to surfing the Internet and keeping up with people by e-mail :) She seemed to be a woman with few words but with so much wisdom.

Please pray for E. and the rest of Mimi's family as they say goodbye to someone they love so much. And pray for Keith as he prepares to preach at his Mimi's funeral on his 30th birthday. That will be a bittersweet day. Pray for Karen, my sister-in-law, who will be struggling with wanting to celebrate her husband's graduation from medical school this weekend while also mourning the loss of her grandmother. Not to mention that she has a new baby boy that is keeping her up at night...speaking of Evan, I don't think I've posted a picture yet of him. He is a cutie...here he is with Alan, the proud daddy:

Here are a couple of pics of Mimi:

with Kade...

with Kamden...

with Kale...
with Brynlee, taken a couple of months ago...When we asked the boys what they wanted to pray for tonight at dinner, both Kade and Kamden wanted to pray that Mimi would have fun in heaven. And Kale just wants E. to not be sad anymore. Kids keep things sweet.

A Formal and Blue Hair :)

2009-05-11T10:19:00.003-05:00

Keith and I got to have fun getting dressed up in formal attire for a Gala event last weekend (thanks, John!). We had a blast even though the virus was beginning to make me feel sick towards the end of the night. What really made the evening memorable was coming home and getting changed just in time for our two oldest boys to throw up all over their room. There's nothing like lots of throw-up to get you back to reality :) Here we are pre-sickness:

I am married to one HOT man and I'm so thankful that he is the absolute love of my life. I know many of you are going to get a chuckle out of this: we had to stop by the store and pick up dog food on the way home and we actually heard a couple of comments that we must have just come back from prom. If only they knew that we were on our way home to take care of our FOUR kids and that we were about to turn the big 3-0!

Speaking of the big 3-0, we are one week away from kicking off our month long celebration. That's right, I figure that with all that Keith went thru with his health last year that we need to really celebrate life and turning 30 is a good reason to have fun :)

I actually began prepping for turning 30 a couple of weeks ago when I had my hair done - can you see my blue streaks in this picture ;) The boys think I'm the coolest mom ever because I have blue hair. Kamden came up to me this morning with a red marker and asked me to bend down so that he could give me red hair. I'm a little afraid to go to sleep while they are awake now!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

2009-05-10T22:23:00.000-05:00

Mom,
So I know that I give you grief 95% of the time. I am known for teasing you even while you are in the midst of serving me or my family. I am sure that I take you for granted a lot. But I love you. Lots. And I think that you are a wonderful mom and granny. You're fun and I enjoy having you close by to be a part of our daily life. Sorry I don't tell you that as often as I should.

Good Friday

2009-05-09T23:05:00.010-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated Easter, beginning with Good Friday. It is always a fun-filled day for us, but this year we really wanted to make sure that, as a family, we spent time reflecting on the seriousness of that day for Christ so long ago. It was such a God-thing that the day before Good Friday, I met with Kathy and Kendall for our regular mentoring time and this topic came up. They reminded me about the service their church (HCBC - Pflugerville) was having for Good Friday. So, Keith and I decided to take the boys so that it would give us another opportunity to reflect with our kids on the cross and the incredible sacrifice that Jesus made for us. As we sat there and watched the pictures flash on the screen, I saw the boys, especially Kade, watch with an intensity and seriousness that usually does not characterize them. They asked a lot of questions that night. Before bed, we did the Resurrection Eggs with them.

When Kade trusted Christ as his Savior a couple of weeks ago, he brought up the Good Friday service and the eggs. He said, "Remember mom and dad when we saw those pictures Jesus on the cross - I know he did that for me." You just never know the moment when your children will grasp the gospel for themselves. That's why it is so important to not get weary in pouring the truth of God's Word into our children. I honestly do find myself struggling sometimes to see the importance of talking about the gospel with my children when I'm in my daily parenting mode. I know it is so important, but I struggle because it just doesn't seem as urgent as the other 15 tasks that are staring me in the face. As I sit here reflecting on the incredible role of "mom," I am reminded that my most important task is to shepherd their hearts towards the One who created them and sacrificed his very life so that they could be free and live life with a peace that is only available thru Christ.

Like I said earlier, Good Friday was filled with fun. It is a tradition for our family to visit the local feed store on Good Friday to see the Easter bunny and colored chicks. The boys love to play on the tractors and other ride-ons while we snap as many pictures as we can. E. and Papa met us there and then we headed over to a park for lunch with some friends. We spent the afternoon dying Easter eggs.

I don't think I can do a short post.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you reading this!

Kade trusted Christ as His Savior!!

2009-04-24T22:33:00.002-05:00

So, I don't even know where to begin. This past week I have had two conversations about children accepting Christ at a young age and then getting baptized. And let me just tell you that I was the one saying that I want my children to be old enough to really remember the decision so that they won't doubt their salvation later on in life. In fact, just this afternoon I was telling a friend that Keith and I would lean toward having our children wait to get baptized until they were old enough to really believe for themselves and not just believe because mom and dad said that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true.
Well, I think the Lord put the smack down on me. Around five o'clock, Keith sent me an e-mail with a link to a video he wanted me to watch. The boys were sitting here with me and so I pressed play for us all to watch. It was the baptism promo video that we are showing at church this Sunday to let people know about our next baptism coming up next month. To my surprise, Kade sat still the whole time (like 8 minutes) watching and listening with his mouth wide open (which means he was focused :). So, at the end of it he turns to me and says, "So I'm getting baptized, right?" I said (a little shocked), "Sure, at some point, when you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and that He rose again. And that you trust that it is thru Jesus that you can have a relationship with God." He looked at me like he was offended and said, "Mom, I do believe that. Remember the pictures that we saw of Jesus on the cross? I know he died for my sins, that he died for all of us because we're all sinners. " I quickly excused myself for a moment and called Keith. We affirmed each other on the phone that it was awesome that Kade seemed to be getting it, but that we would still wait to let him get baptized because he is so young.
Keith arrived home and Kade immediately told him the same thing. We all talked some more and both Keith and I realized that for Kade, this was very real and that he truly was serious about where his trust was/is. So Keith and I told him to pray with us and just tell God what was on his heart. He held our hands and prayed the sweetest prayer saying that he believed that he sinned and that he believed that Jesus died for his sin and everyone's sin and that he rose again and thank you God for all the people and that he's a Christian. Amen.
It still seemed so surreal to Keith and I. We asked if he wanted to tell anyone and thus began almost an hour of him calling people and walking down our street telling our neighbors. He was just so clear each time and Keith and I didn't help him with words at all. We wanted him to be able to articulate his belief. Retta said that it sounded like he was preaching to her :)
So, where are we now on the whole age thing for baptism? Well, Kade will be getting baptized like he asked to do. He just watched a video of his dad telling our church body that Jesus modeled it, commanded it and the early church did it. His dad also explained it by saying that it helped identify to others what Christ had done on the inside. So, to ask Kade to wait to obey after sincerely placing his trust in Christ would keep him from fully obeying the Lord. I will just pray that the Lord will allow him to remember today and his baptism so that as he grows, he won't doubt that he is redeemed and a new creation in Christ.
I just got back from taking him to Chile's with Tomi and Henry (our close friends) to celebrate. It was so cute because Henry has also trusted Christ recently and is planning on getting baptized. We hadn't told the boys about the other's decision because we didn't want that to sway them. So it was funny when Kade got in the car and told Henry, "Guess what, I trusted in Jesus tonight and believe he died for my sins and rose again." Henry cut him off to tell him, " I believe in Jesus too. And you know what? I'm getting baptized." Kade looked at him and laughed, "I'm going to get baptized too!"
Such a precious day. Thank you Lord for forgiveness and salvation. I just thank you so much and pray that you will continue to move in all our children's lives that they may all know you as their Lord and Savior.

Crawling!!

2009-04-19T22:34:00.003-05:00

Bryn's been getting around for the past couple of weeks by either crawling backward or rolling to her destination. But no more! She has officially found a way to make her knees and hands work to her advantage :) The boys and I were playing with her on Wednesday morning when she just began taking off like it was an old skill. The best part is that once she made it to where she wanted to go, she sat up and started clapping for herself. Even she knew that she had just achieved something big! This video was taken a little later in the day after she had had a couple of practice rounds.

Leap of Doubt - Current Series at Church

2009-04-13T22:19:00.003-05:00

Easter Sunday kicked off an awesome series at our church called Leap of Doubt. Here is the preview for this coming Sunday, the 19th. If you do not have a church home and are just plain skeptical about the church (global) and/or Christianity, please consider joining us for the next five weeks.

The Church is responsible for Injustice from Douglas Hallam on Vimeo.

You can get on www.leapofdoubt.com to see more videos - they should have the message from this past Sunday up in the next day or two. Something that we are trying in this series is texting questions to the church during the message. Then, at the end, the very hot pastor (I'm allowed to say that - I'm his wife :), will do a Q & A session and answer as many of the questions as he has time for - how is that for quick response time to your burning questions about faith?

Bryn and Addie

2009-04-09T23:34:00.005-05:00

OK, I have laughed so hard at these pics that Kendall and I took today of our babies that I just had to share them with my take on their "conversation."

Here goes:

Addie: "Brynlee, what happened to your big toe?"
Brynlee: "What!? I don't know...let me have a look at that!"

Brynlee: "Addie, look at that band-aid - my big toe is starting to hurt actually."

Addie: "What do you want to do? Should we sit here a little longer or start crying so that we can be carried around a little while?"
Brynlee: "I don't know. Let me think about that one."

Brynlee: "Let's just have fun and pose some more for our photo shoot!"
Addie: "I'm confused. Weren't you just saying that your big toe hurt?"

Addie: "Ah, what the heck? Life's too short to be serious for very long. Let's strike a pose."

I know, I know. What's wrong with me that I'm coming up with conversation for my baby and her sweet friend? Well, this is what I do to wind down at midnight. Isn't that normal? :) Goodnight. I hope you have laughed a little.

She's 9 months and so much fun!

2009-04-07T23:30:00.008-05:00

Brynlee turned 9 mo. on April 2nd. She could not get any easier - I mean seriously, she smiles 95% of her day. And oh, how she can already flirt with her eyes. I so look forward to going into her room every morning to see her beautiful smile and hear her "talk" to me. The best thing is how she hugs me. She'll really squeeze my left arm and nuzzle up against me when I hug her. Here are a couple of more fun things she is doing now that she's a big 9 mo's:

clapping
waving bye-bye
pursing her lips together and blowing
eating pretty much any solid food I give her
crawling backwards
rolling everywhere
talking with her hands (no joke, just like I do!)
saying Gracie, patty-cake, Kade, mama and dada
she says the same thing when she's waving bye but I can't make out what it is yet
taking baths with her brothers
she loves to pat everything from the Bible (Pat the Bible) to books to my shoulder
she has pulled up a couple of times
pulling all bows out of her hair (to her mother's chagrin)
smiling and laughing a lot!
sings her abc's (hehe, just kidding - she won't start that until next month :)

I do think she's pretty bright - and I'm not biased at all! I would love to post pics with this posting, but my 'Upload Image' icon is not working right so I'll try again tomorrow.

March madness...

2009-04-05T21:22:00.005-05:00

So, I am pretty bummed that March passed by so fast without me posting once on our family blog. It was a very fun month...

a new dog,
a romantic weekend trip to San Antonio for Keith and I
Brynlee turning 8 mo.,
Kamden celebrating his 4th birthday,
a trip to the strawberry patch,
Keith getting to go with his dad to spring training in Arizona,
a one day trip to Dallas for Karen's (Keith's sister) baby shower and
a picture with an Olympic gold medalist to finish off the month.

With all that we still enjoyed the constant chaos of our home and the full time ministry the Lord allows us to be a part of in reaching every man, woman and child with the life-changing reality of Jesus Christ. I will say that there were quite a few times during last month where we felt exhausted and overwhelmed (the most often used word in my vocabulary right now) - so for that I am glad to be reflecting on the month and not living it again. This month has given us a couple of hours to process what we need to do to slow down our pace a little and so far, we have been willing to make the adjustments.

Here's what I am going to do to make this post shorter. I am going to back-date the next couple of postings to the day in which the event occurred. That way, I don't end up with a book for this posting. I am going to attempt to link the posts to this one so that you can pick and choose which one's you are interested in reading. And it will make me feel better to have a couple of postings in March :)

He's growing up

2009-03-23T23:58:00.000-05:00

You can tell how many 4+ year olds we have in our home by the # of beds made in the morning. This is one of the big responsibilities that our children get to assume when they turn four. It's like a rite of passage. Kamden came out of his room when the alarm went off the next morning after his birthday saying, "Mom, I made my bed this morning because I'm four now." How awesome is that?!! I think he did an awesome job for his first time. I did have to fight my desire to go straighten it up throughout the day though, but I didn't want him to think he didn't do good himself. I have found that it is much easier to add responsibilities to our kids on their birthdays because they actually get excited that the extra chores mean they are bigger. Now, I'm sure they'll catch on in the next couple of years, but I am not going to stop the momentum now :)

At first Kamden just wanted a small party in our backyard, but somehow it morphed into a Spiderman pizza shindig at the local park. We had a great time though - the best part I thought was that his party was very laid back like Kamden. His favorite birthday presents were his Leapster and Bakugans. I have now joined the group of moms who are walking billboards for the Leapsters. They are awesome - very educational and very entertaining at the same time. They keep the boys occupied when they are needing to sit still somewhere - like the car - for long periods of time. I don't know who is enjoying the Leapster more - the boys or mom? :)

Much needed getaway

2009-03-09T22:53:00.000-05:00

We have some precious friends, Trenton and Franki Haizlip, who blessed us with a two-night stay at a hotel on the River Walk this past weekend. In order to make this happen, I had to supplement formula for Brynlee to go along with her normal mama milk. I was a little nervous thinking that she would refuse a bottle because she hadn't had one in so long and had never had formula. Well, she didn't mind at all, so we quickly dropped the boys off with E. and Papa and Granny stayed at our house with Brynlee and Gracie. Keith and I were SOOO needing some time together just to reconnect and have fun after a couple of intense weeks.

We had a blast. I love that we have been married for close to nine years, yet we still love every moment we get to spend together. We still look so young that I think some people thought we were newlyweds - ha - if only they knew we had four kids already! This was our perfect Saturday: sleep late, grab breakfast and have a long quiet time, work-out together, get ready and have a really long lunch on the River Walk, go see a movie, shop a little, eat dinner and ride the boat on the river.

Thank you Trenton and Franki for blessing us with this hotel stay!

Gracie

2009-03-01T21:45:00.000-06:00

We brought home Gracie on February 28th. She has since grown to twice her size! She is beautiful and very playful. Though we had thoughts of wanting to get rid of her the first couple of weeks, we are now enjoying this newest member of our family. She is crazy excited for half the day, but we can already tell that she is going to be an awesome family dog. She has dug out of our backyard a couple of times already, but she just hangs out in our front yard until we return home. So, it looks like she's getting pretty attached to us like we are to her. Here are some cute pics we've taken as she's bonded with the kids.

Keith and I have gained a little wisdom thru the process of getting a dog that I would like to share with all of you. It is this: NEVER make a big decision like whether or not to get a family dog after your whole family has had the flu for two and a half weeks. You see, we had all passed around the flu for that amount of time and were just really craving some fun. So like any rational people, we thought that a dog would help with that "fun" we were so desperately wanting. Well, let's just say I now know that I don't think rationally AT ALL after dealing with sickness for an extended period of time. She is truly a lot of fun though :) - as an outside dog!

What I'm Reading

2009-02-27T17:38:00.007-06:00

For those of you who know me well, you know that pretty much everything interests me. That can be a huge problem in my life because I start a lot of stuff and try to learn about a lot at once. Then, I get very overwhelmed when I realize how much I've started and need to finish. My current book reads will give you a glimpse of what I'm talking about:

always reading: my Bible, I was reminded today in our theology class that we are meant to delight in this Book. It is amazing to me how I honestly do delight in it when I'm reading it, but as soon as I get busy with life, I can so quickly forget how wonderful and truly life-changing God's Word to us really is.
Keith is taking the staff and elder wives thru a theology class right now. We are using Grudem's Bible Doctrine (it's supposed to be the concise version of his longer Systematic Theology :). I am eating this class up. I have been so challenged to want to really know the doctrines that I claim to hold on to. I love having a husband who constantly challenges me to study God's Word and to know what I believe.

The class has gotten me so fired up to help women understand our faith better. In searching for a way to teach other ladies what I'm learning, but at an easier pace, I had a friend show me this next book that I'm reading: Practical Theology for Women by Wendy Alsup. So far, I am loving this concise book of theology. I have already been reminded of the tremendous impact that studying God has on our day to day life. The way I parent, treat people, how I choose to spend my time, talents, treasures, etc., all are affected by what I believe to be true. The Bible says that the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." I so want to be wise in all the areas of my life and it seems that to be wise I must fear the Lord and in order to fear the Lord, I must study His character.

Next on the list, Waking Up Dry...this one is for one of our sons who has got to be the deepest sleeper ever. He just doesn't wake up for anything, including when he needs to go pee. So, I am reading about the many causes of bedwetting and how to fix the problem. I'll keep you posted on this one :)

We are still in the prayer process of determining where Kade will experience Kindergarten next year. To understand the homeschooling option, I chose the biggest homeschooling book on the market, I think. What is wrong with me? But, it is loaded with every piece of information I could possibly want to know. Now it's just a matter of getting thru the whole book.

Also, I am reading a book about a certain nutrition plan that could eliminate Keith's need for oral medication for his diabetes. It's a book by Dr. Pompa. I have a friend who has been on the plan for one month and has seen a dramatic difference in her health. It would require major changes for us, so please pray that we will have wisdom and discipline if this is a route we should take.

And to top it off, I have Southern Living, Creating Keepsakes, and Labrador Retriever magazines on my bedside table.

How many of ya'll are as scattered as I am in your reading and other areas of life? Do you have the same problem that I do - where everything interests you and you want to do it all right then? And advice as to how to cope with this crazy character trait :) ?

Guess what? We brought home Gracie today - nope, not a baby like we usually bring home, but a chocolate lab puppy. I'll hopefully be able to post pics soon.

God bless!

Sacrificial Love

2009-02-23T22:17:00.004-06:00

So, my mom is simply amazing and I hate that I don't tell her that more often. She and I can bicker back and forth with the best of them and I know I can be pretty ruthless with her about certain issues, but deep down, I am so very thankful to the Lord that she's my mom. I'm not just saying that to make her cry, though I know she will, but I truly think she is a gift from God and I just feel the need to acknowledge this truth tonight.

She retired last March from a job she had held for most of my life to be able to move near us so that she could be available to help when we needed her. Just in time, because I was a couple months away from expecting Brynlee, our fourth! It's just a God-thing that she was even able to retire when she did, really a gift from my late father, who would so not be happy knowing that he is the one who blessed her with the gift of being able to enjoy retirement!

Anyways, since she has retired, she has served our family soooo many times. This past week has been an extra special week of service for mom. She has worked overtime to take care of us as we've all struggled with the flu. I am sitting in a clean home with clean clothes, and I have pretty much been strapped to my chair all week. My kids have been fed every meal and been entertained and loved on. My hubby has had clean sheets put on the bed twice so that he wouldn't be sleeping with flu germs. I'm telling you, she has hardly had a chance to sit down. And I basically have had to make her stop to take a rest break. Otherwise, she would just keep serving. I teased her tonight that now I really know her full potential with how much she can get done in a day and I'm impressed :) She has modeled so many things to me through the years, but this past week will forever stick out in my mind as what sacrificial love looks like. Thanks mom, for loving us so well. You have made a bad week seem not so bad after all.

Love, your daughter.

Cute stuff going on

2009-02-19T20:17:00.008-06:00

So, as most of you know, the flu bug has decided to take up permanent residence at our home. Kade and Brynlee had it last week and then Kamden and I have endured it this week. Between the flu and ear infections, we have been dealing with sickness for almost one month now. Now, I could choose to get down, but instead, I want to remember the good from the past couple of weeks.

Funny Kaleisms:
Put my juice in the Refrigerade so it will get cold.

Dad-gum-it and What the heck? - very cute when coming out of the mouth of a 2 1/2 year old, but we'll have to teach him pretty soon that everything granny says doesn't have to be copied.

What's up with that? (hand motions included) - He says this randomly when we're playing Candyland and he doesn't draw the icecream.

Tonight, he told Keith that "We need to pray for mom, daddy, that she'll be all better." Oh, he knows how to melt my heart.

And lately, we've been hearing the wonderful words, "Mommy, I just pooped in the potty!" from Kale. As of Valentine's Day, he has been wearing big boy underwear during the day. He has had a couple of slip-ups today, but for the most part, he has done an amazing job and made the whole training process really easy for Keith and me.

Something else that Kale has been doing lately that cracks us up is working really hard to be able to hop on one foot around the trampoline. He's actually good at it, but seriously, what made him even come up with that goal? He's so proud of it, he is constantly wanting us to watch him perform his trick.
I just love this picture of him jumping up high on the trampoline and looking towards the sky. We call him our "Joy" boy and with good reason. He is our happy, easy-going child that is full of energy and always looking to make someone laugh.

Kamden said something today that I have got to blog about so that I'll always remember it. I was telling him that we could pick up his friends Eli and Kasey for a Chuck E Cheese lunch to celebrate his birthday next month and he quickly interuppted me to say, "but mom, I have another friend, his name is Kade, and he's my best friend." He almost started tearing up thinking I was leaving this "friend" out. I said, "Kamden, are you talking about your brother?" and he said "Yes, I want him to be with me." He is such a loyal, sincere friend and brother.

As I have had extra time the past couple of days to just look thru pictures, I have been really taken by pictures of Kamden. He has the most sincere, precious face - I really am mesmerized by him.

Kade is really into learning sight words and doing phonics related activities right now. I love seeing him get excited every time he reads something. All of the boys are addicted to www.starfall.com right now. If you have young children, you've got to check out this site if you haven't already. It's awesome and keeps them educationally entertained for long periods of time. His logic continues to impress Keith and I. Tonight, after Kamden got the flu causing us to cancel the boys' trip to E. and Papa's, Kade came out of his bedroom with this thought:

Kade: "Mom, just one thing...since I feel good and Kale feels good, what about if we go to E. and Papas and Kamden stays here with you and daddy?"
Me: "Kade, how would you feel if you were the one sick and had to stay here by yourself while your brothers got to go to E. and Papa's house?"
Kade: "Well, I would like it because I would get to special time alone with mom and dad and I just thought that Kamden would like to have special time with you and dad since he is sick."

I'm telling you, he can be so quick to make a good argument and make it sound so sweet and logical. I have been amazed by his ability to do this from a very young age.

Here's a fun video of the boys dancing one night while we were at dinner together. If anyone knows the singer/title of song that is playing in the background, please comment and let me know. I would love to purchase it to have for the boys at home.

Ahi Tuna on a Bed of Spinach

2009-02-13T23:06:00.002-06:00

Yes, that's what my man endured for love tonight. Here's the story...Keith and I head out for date night. We start off with a massage given to us by a sweet friend at Salon Ciao Bella. The massages were awesome - a perfect start. Then, we get in the car and begin the discussion of where do we want to eat dinner. Keith says, "I am craving mexican food...let's go to Pasado's." I say, "That sounds good, but why don't we head downtown and try something new?" You see, I love to try new things, whether that be a new adventure or new food. Keith, on the other hand, isn't so much into the new foods thing. But, for the sake of romance, he rolls with my idea. So, off we head towards downtown Austin and end up at The Belmont, on the recommendation of a good friend. Everything is going well until the waitress comes to take our order. Keith is just about to order a burger, but he, being such a gentleman, let's me go first. I ask her about a particular item and she says it's not the best, then goes on about the special of the night, Ahi Tuna on a Bed of Spinach with Pomegranate and Oranges. Now, I've never had any tuna except that in a can and NEVER with pomegranates, so I immediately say that we'll try it and just split it. Oh, the look on Keith's face as he tries to be a team player and still go along with my craziness, even though he has just lost out on a good Mexican dinner and now a good, juicy burger.

Then it arrives. And Keith tries a bite. And he gags. And he tries again. And he still gags.

I'm thinking I just tried my last "new" food for awhile, at least until the taste of raw fish leaves his memory.

The atmosphere was awesome though. And the service was incredible. They have live music there and you can sit outside on a patio in the middle of downtown...how cool is that? Afterwards, we walked up 6th to Congress and then all the way up to the Capitol building. What fun times. I so enjoy the downtown atmosphere. Being there makes me want to sell our home in the suburbs and move into an apartment in the center of the city.

Project 365 and Triathlon Training

2009-01-31T01:26:00.003-06:00

I have been introduced to two new hobbies this month - taking a picture a day for Project 365 and training to participate in my first triathlon. I know, as if I need one more thing to do on top of loving the Lord, loving my hubby, loving (and training, correcting, rebuking...) my children, and loving the people the Lord puts in my life. This is a little tangent, but on the topic of loving those around you, I was reminded in my quiet time this morning how the Bible displays love as an action, not a feeling, most of the time - "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son.." - extreme action. To love is really hard, exhausting work. For me, love for my family fleshes itself out in doing the dishes, washing clothes, mopping floors, changing diapers, playing Candyland for the 100th time, studying God's Word, cooking meals, scratching backs, listening to lots of stories, teaching God's Word to my kids, did I mention changing diapers :), etc. How silly of me to get frustrated by those mundane tasks. Those are the ways God has allowed me to show my love for my family. I hope I can remember this tomorrow when I wake up and face the dirty dishes from breakfast.

Anyways, back to my new hobbies. Project 365 is where you take one picture a day and journal about it. You compile all of your pics and journaling in an album and that's it for your scrapbook for the year. Amazingly simple, yet I'm already playing catch up! What's wrong with me? But, I'm having a lot of fun thinking of what my picture will be each day to capture our family for that particular day. You can check out the concept on the Creating Keepsakes website, under Kit of the Month, Project 365.

My other hobby is exercise. My link for this new hobby is www.mapmyrun.com. It will keep track of how far each of your runs is and count all of those calories burned while you're exercising. Keith and I have been pretty consistent for the past three weeks with our running, usually around 2.25 miles each time. Also, the other day I biked 6 miles and then swam a total of 600 meters (26 laps). That liked to have done me in - is that the phrase? I seriously wanted to quit after the "warm-up" laps - they were not warm up in my book. The only reason I didn't is because I'm pretty competitive against myself and didn't want to be the only one in our little group of four ladies to quit. But, I have to tell you that I'm more than a little nervous about the swimming phase of the triathlon. And, to top it off, I hear that we're swimming in a dirty lake. I have no idea what is motivating me to do this.

My friend, Rachel, came to the house this week to take 6 mo. pics of Brynlee. Here are a couple of the pics...she does an amazing job.

It's 2:00 a.m. I better go to bed! Goodnight.

Splashin' Around with Friends

2009-01-21T20:41:00.003-06:00

Brynlee had the fun opportunity to take her first big girl (in a real bathtub) bath with two of her sweet friends this past weekend at my bi-annual scrapbooking retreat. Here are a couple of pics that are sure to make you smile...

Needless to say, she totally enjoyed the new experience and so did us moms :)

I hope everyone had the opportunity to watch all of the inauguration events yesterday. What a moment in history to remember - I hope I remember to pray for Obama more than I remembered to pray for Bush. I was reminded yesterday of the tremendous responsibility the President has and how much prayer they need. It is fun for our kids to see young kids in the White House. I am hoping it will make my boys and Brynlee more interested in what is going on in politics.

Big Moments

2009-01-17T22:49:00.003-06:00

A couple of milestones last week:

Brynlee cut her first tooth. (I don't have a pic of this yet because she is not big into showing it off just yet.)

I dealt with five poopies all before 10 a.m. - and yes, I only have four children, so this is a new record for such a short time. (obviously no pic of this :)

I began training for my first triathlon. Keith and I ran a little over 2 miles two different times this week and I ran at the gym one day for a total of 6 miles this week. That's huge for me because usually I tap out at 1 mile per workout. Here is a pic of Keith and I after we finished our first two mile jog.

The boys entered the Bakugan craze officially. Keith and I hid a starter pack for each of the boys in the backyard Monday night and made the boys go on a flashlight hunt. I gave each of them a riddle and they had to figure out where their surprise was located. We could hardly get them to go to bed that night because they just wanted to play with their Bakugan's.

I am doing this photo project called Project 365. It's where you are supposed to take a photo a day for the whole year and turn it into a book. One of the pics that Becky Higgins posted on her blog was one of herself taken thru the rearview mirror. It looked really cool and I was curious what I looked like while driving. Only thing is that Becky made it sound so easy to get the picture...wasn't so easy for me. It took me about 15 shots to get this one o.k. shot. And no, I was not driving while I took this picture.

I have been at my bi-annual scrapbooking retreat this weekend. The whole scrapbooking thing is a love/hate relationship in my life. I love the concept, but I don't get much done at all. This was the first time in a long time that I even attempted to scrapbook, and I am already dissapointed with what I didn't get done. But I am trying to be positive and enjoy the process. The one thing I do enjoy is the extended time I get with some really precious friends. Laura, Tomi and I put all of our babies (Lincoln, Truly and Brynlee) in a tub tonight for bathtime. The babies had a blast and we just enjoyed them already getting to bond with each other. We have laughed a lot, ate a lot, pulled a couple of practical jokes and gone for a walk - and scrapbooked a little :) I'll hopefully get to post pictures from this weekend sometime before the end of the month.

A Very Late 2008 Post

2008-12-31T21:54:00.000-06:00

So, I know that it is really the 9th of January, but I am so dating this one the 31st just so that I can print a Blurb book that is nice and tidy and goes 1/1 thru 12/31. I have made a resolution to not stress myself out about anything to do with photos. It's so funny - I love taking pics and love looking at pictures, but I've found that everything that goes along with displaying the pictures that I take and love can easily add stress to my life. And that just doesn't make sense at all, so I'm putting an end to it. So what that I say I'm a scrapbooker but don't actually scrapbook. I really enjoy the thought of scrapbooking as much as I do actually scrapbooking. So what if I am just now finishing the "what our Christmas looked like" post - I should just be thankful that I am sitting here now trying to finish it and enjoying my first homemade iced coffee (thanks, Tomi!) I am so grateful that my life is so full of joyful, picture-taking moments that I just can't keep up with all of them!

Speaking of picture-taking moments, like all of you, we had tons of these moments in the month of December. I would say that I am going to try to be brief, but I would be setting myself up for failure. This is more for my scattered brain...so that I can remember all our fun times. Otherwise, I'll forget too quickly.

First off, here are a couple of pics from our Ministry Appreciation Event that was actually held right before Thanksgiving. The staff had such a good time putting together a skit that included Keith as Jeff Foxworthy, Nick as Howie Mandel, and Douglas as Ryan Seacrest. They were hilarious! The wives even got to get into the fun by being Howie's lovely ladies - keep scrolling to see our sexy outfits :)

Kade kicked off his fun times by helping daddy put up the Christmas lights outside.

Then, we kicked off December with our 2nd Annual Women's Christmas Event. We had to move it to a local hotel this year because we had maxed out at the YMCA last year. We had such a good time. We had over 225 women attend to enjoy a catered dinner and a comedian who wove the gospel thruout her skit. One of the coolest traditions at our ladies event is that the men serve us. Here is a pic of some of the men lined up at the door to escort the ladies to their chairs as they arrived.
Each host/cohost is responsible for decorating their table and providing the dinnerware. Here is the table that my friend, Dawn and I did together.
Then, the next weekend, we went to our city's Christmas night. It is crazy how many people can fit on our main street in downtown Round Rock. We did manage to sneak in a family picture in between losing one of our kids here and there. Our church put on a drama at the main stage two times during the evening and we had one of our favorite photographers taking pictures of families throughout the night. It was definitely a cool way to get into our community.
Some of my friends and I continued something that we started last year - we take our kids to one of the local nursing homes to sing songs for them and say their current memory verse that they're learning. We also have all of the kids take bookmarks that they pass out to the residents after their program is finished. I can't tell you the joy it brings to the residents to see these little ones performing and then to get a bookmark from them. Kale insisted on bringing his guitar and playing for them during the program. Needless to say, he was a big hit!

Brynlee with two of her closest friends, Lincoln and Truly. It's awesome to be babies...they made the residents smile just by being there.

Two of my favorite, familiar sites throughout the holidays...a fire going in our fireplace, and...
my family all snuggled together watching a Christmas movie. Could life get any better than this?We invited our neighbors over one night for a friendly gingerbread house family competition. We had family cheers and everything...so much fun.

Needless to say, this piece of art didn't win. Let's just say that I'm glad I got this picture when I did because I think the roof caved in within two minutes of this shot.

Thanks to my precious friend, Kendall, I finally found a sugar cookie and frosting recipe that made for awesome frosted sugar cookies! I truly enjoyed getting to cook with Kade a couple of different times throughout the month as we baked goodies for the kids' Sunday School teachers, Mother's Day Out classes and neighbors.

E. and Papa arrived with lots of gifts two days before Christmas. All the boys were eager to help them unload all the packages :)

The boys and I took some baked goodies around to our neighbors with an invitation to join us for our Christmas Eve service. I savored every moment of watching them go up to each door and knock on the doors. You'll notice that Kamden has on his favorite piece of clothing, a cape.
I had to intervene when Kale tried to take off with our neighbors plastic reindeer - we might have a little budding thief among us.

This was a sight I enjoyed seeing, a little girl stocking for Brynlee.
E. helped Kade and I make our birthday cake for Jesus. That is one of my favorite traditions we have so far as a family. Christmas day is the only day that the boys are allowed to eat birthday cake for breakfast - in honor of the One who has made our lives worth living.
We were able to get a couple of good family shots on Christmas Eve night. My sweet friend from high school, Megan, began last year sending the boys matching Christmas p.j.'s. She sent them to us early this year so they could get good wear out of them, but this is the first shot of them wearing them that I have been able to get. First off, the kids with their E. and Papa. We were so blessed to have them with us this year. It was different not being at their house, but it was a blessing to not have to travel with four little ones.

Our kids enjoying their Christmas gifts...

Celebrating the birth of our Savior...

We enjoyed a nice, relaxing day with granny and E. and Papa before they headed back to the Dallas area after our dinner. Our good friends, Bret and Tomi, joined us for dinner and stayed to hang out on Christmas evening. We tried to play a game with them, but Kale stood right next to us singing as loud as he could...he is definitely going to be our entertainer. Brynlee and Truly are only seven weeks apart in age, so Tomi and I are hoping they will be the best of friends. Here they are in their matching p.j.'s.

Our church closed down for the 28th since we did such a big Christmas Eve service. So, instead of visiting another church, our family went to Mt. Bonnel in Austin and had our own worship time and hiked together. We had such a nice time and the boys thought they could see the whole world from the top of the Mt.

Karen and Alan, who just found out they are having a little boy this year, came to visit us on the 29th (Mom E.'s birthday!) to do Christmas with them. They got the boys Batman and Superman p.j's with capes. If you know my boys at all, you know those went over very well...so well in fact that I can barely get them washed before they're asking for them again...thanks, Alan and Karen!We ended 2008 with our good friends, Adam and Kendall Brunson. Adam is the Small Groups Pastor at HCBC Pflugerville. He and Keith went to DTS around the same time. We so treasure their friendship and enjoy any time we get to hang out with them. They treated us to homemade pizzas, a party popper with confetti for the kids and smores! Addie is not in these pics, but she is Brynlee's other BFF who was born just a couple of days before Brynlee. Adam and Kendall have three girls now, so we are hoping that at least one of our boys marries one of their girls. Too bad we don't do arranged marriages in our culture...

And that's it....100,000 words later. 2008 over. And 2009 going full swing already. Whew...I just want to enjoy every minute God gives. I hope you had as many picure-taking moments with your family this past Christmas and had time to ponder the miracle of this baby Jesus we all celebrate. Happy New Year!

Our best ever...

2008-12-29T23:25:00.004-06:00

Hands down, this Christmas will go down as one of our favorites. This was the first year that I can truly say we focused on the two things I always want to focus on but seem to lose sight of each Christmas season - Jesus and family. Yes, I still have Christmas cards that still need to be put in the mail. But I see that as evidence that I am actually starting to figure out what is truly important vs. what is urgent. Usually, I would be so stressed out because I didn't get all my cards out before Christmas, but this year, I'm just thankful that my card says "Merry Christmas AND Happy New Year because they will for sure be getting them in the new year. :) Actually, I did almost stress about this and a couple of other "to do" list items as Christmas got closer, but the Lord was so good to remind me at just the right time that the world would not stop if those things weren't done. Now I feel like I might be taking advantage of that truth a little - when does it just become plain procrastination?

Cool news...we had at least 16 people put their trust in Christ for the first time at our Christmas Eve services at church. What a way to kick off the Christmas celebrations! Keith and I are just so thankful that God gives us a front row seat to see Him at work. That was way better than any present we could have received. But, speaking of presents, I am writing this blog on my new Mac computer. Keith and I were planning on only giving each other our free upgrade phones for Christmas, but he surprised me and ordered a refurbed Mac. I am loving it!

Here are some pics from the past couple of weeks...

Our 2008 Family Christmas Letter

2008-12-16T21:49:00.003-06:00

What a wild ride the Ferguson family has enjoyed in 2008. We've experienced new life, new lessons learned, new highs and new lows, and new appreciation for all God has given us...

Of course, the big news of 2008 was the birth of our first daughter, Brynlee Sage, in July. She is a beautiful baby girl as she now approaches the six-month mark. She has a wonderful smile and laugh that fills our house with joy, and her engaging blue eyes will grab you from across the room. She has been spoiled already from the amount of time that mom holds her and the amount of attention that the boys pay to her. Thankfully, she has been a good sleeper and a good eater. She has truly been an awesome addition to our family.

Kale continues to be the ham of the family, making everyone laugh every day. We have all decided that he is the one most likely to be a musician when he gets older. His favorite toy (right after his stuffed animal Buzz) is his guitar - not a day goes by that he isn't playing that guitar while he watches the Wiggles and sings along. He's not crazy about the new guy on the Wiggles, but when we find old videos with Greg, Kale will sing and dance right along with him. It is hilarious to watch. Kale, even though he is only two, talks like he is eight. He can articulate what he wants so well that we sometimes forget that he is only two. He has had a great year growing up into a little boy with more personality than he knows what to do with.

Kamden is the compassionate one in our family, who always wants to make sure that we do things "together." He desires that no one be left out during any activity, and this expands to include his friends at school (Mother's Day Out) and his friends from church. He is the thinnest of the boys, but he can put away some breakfast, usually eating more of daddy's pancakes than anyone else. Kamden is a night-owl like his dad, which leads to some funny moments when Mom can't get him moving in the morning and can't get him to quit talking in the evening. It is very common for mom and dad to find Kamden sneaking into their bed around 10:00pm in order to share a detailed story that he thinks we need to hear about. Kamden turned three in 2008, and he is truly a joy to all who know him.

Kade is the leader of the crew, and having turned five in 2008, he believes he has now reached the age where he officially knows what is best in every situation. And not only will he tell you what he believes the right decision is, he will give you his list of 14 reasons why his thinking makes the most sense. Kade's personality is so strong that he can sometimes clash with his parents and his teachers, but he can also lead others to do what is right when his heart is in the right place. Kade continues to amaze everyone with his sharp intellect and quick wit, and he is going to constantly push mom and dad to make sure they are teaching him something new. Kade's passions this year include the transformers and his friend down the street, Madeline. Everything else stops when he is watching the former or playing with the latter.

Barie continues to request prayers for her daily sanity and patience as she supervises the craziness that is four small, growing kids at home. She is continuing to learn how to multitask at every increasing levels - whether it is helping the kids with arts and crafts, getting them dressed, making meals, cleaning up after them, playing games with them, or just enjoying a quiet moment reading them a book. Barie continued to expand her social network in 2008 as God opened doors for her to meet and connect with even more women in our neighborhood and in our community. With the small amount of time that she has left after shepherding four kids, spending time with her husband, and connecting with other ladies, she enjoys blogging, photography (especially of her kids), scrapbooking, and falling asleep during movies.

Keith continues to pastor Hill Country Bible Church Round Rock, which started in September of 2007. We celebrated our church's one-year anniversary this September with lots of great memories shared and cupcakes for everyone. The church has continued to grow throughout 2008, and our elders have decided to plant our first church in 2009 (by the date of our second anniversary). We are so thankful for a great church family, and the many lives that have been impacted in 2008. Keith was able to travel to central Asia in April with two other church leaders to teach spiritual leadership to first-generation pastors from one of the closed countries in the region - what a powerful experience. Keith's strangest experience of 2008 was his week-long stay in the hospital in October after he suffered a seizure as a result of a sinus-infection gone wild. He is continuing to see the doctors in follow-up visits, but so far everything has gone well.

2008 has been a year on incredible growth, both in the size of our family and the size of our faith. God has reminded us continually that He is in control and that our primary challenge is to trust Him as He leads us along. May this Christmas season bring you greater faith in the God who loved you enough to send His Son on your behalf. Merry Christmas!

Wonderful Traditions

2008-12-01T23:45:00.000-06:00

I am so excited to be officially in the Christmas season! Keith and I spent a good amount of time at our Getting Away To Get It Together discussing and planning for this year's activities. We have realized that it takes planning to protect our family from the busyness that can rob us of the beauty and meaning of this season. We are really trying to teach the boys this year that Jesus was God's most precious gift to us and we want to be reminded of that gift everyday by being givers ourselves. Whether it's taking cookies to their friends, making goody bags for our neighbors, random gift drive-by's, buying gifts thru Samaritan's Purse, etc..., we want to remember God's greatest gift to us and honor Him by being open-handed with the things God has entrusted to us.

Our first tradition to kick off the Christmas season every year is to put together boxes for Operation Christmas Child. This year, we let the boys pick out everything that would go in their boxes for a boy that was near the same age as them. I loved hearing Kade refer to the recipient of his box as, "my friend in another country." I still don't think that the boys could comprehend that there are children who only get what's in the box for their Christmas present. I can understand why though...I mean, their world right now consists of only what they can see around them and from their viewpoint, "stuff" abounds and no one is lacking. This is a question that is always on my mind - what actions can I take now to keep my children from being so attached to "stuff?" It's funny how your perspective can change so fast...I was a happy teenager growing up in a one bedroom apt with my mom. We drove a car that was given to us, didn't have air conditioning in that car for a while (in Texas heat, mind you :), wore hand me down clothes most of the time, and were the beneficiaries of our church family often - yet, I still only remember those times with a smile on my face and thankfulness in my heart to the Lord for taking care of our needs. Yet, now, 13 years later, I can't imagine living like that again. I expect more. I want my air conditioning to work when I get in the car in the summer. I like living in a house so that my kids can have a backyard and ride their bikes. I like to have new clothes. I feel like my needs/wants are all blurry now. I pray that the Lord will help me keep an eternal perspective and not a temporary focus. Enough with the rambling...here are some pics of the Operation Christmas Child tradition from this year...

We have also started Advent with our family. We lit the first candle last night. Kamden caught us off guard when we first sat down and got ready for Keith to read to us from the Bible. He said, "Are there scarecrows in it, daddy?"....what? Where in the world did he pull that question from? I don't know, but it sure made us laugh. And then, after we lit the candle, Keith said, "Let's pray." and Kale immediately began belting out, "Thank you, Fauder (Father), thank you Fauder, for our food, for our food, and our many blessings, and our many blessings, a-amen, a-amen." If only we were about to eat, Kale :)

Better Than A Boob Job!

2008-11-15T21:47:00.003-06:00

Ladies - if you are looking for a way to be more attractive to your husband, I mean REALLY attractive - try this: Get in the Word! I am serious, it is better than a boob job (and just for the record, this title came from my husband when I was discussing with him my desire for ladies to really know the impact that being in God's Word makes.) Here was my experience from this past weekend (and there are tons more stories I could tell you):

I have been struggling with thinking that we needed to move into a bigger home. You know, the constant desire for more, more, more. I found a home in our neighborhood that I had decided would be perfect for our family and would give us extra room as our children got bigger. I found myself all of a sudden not being content with the home God had blessed us with and the home that my hubby works so hard so that we can live in it. Not attractive.

Then, on Saturday morning, as I had my extended time in the Word, God totally set my heart back to reflect His heart again. And what does that look like - being thankful for the many blessings He has given me, wanting to affirm my husband that he does so well in providing for our family and taking care of us, wanting to save money instead of spend money on temporary things, smiling more and not being so grumpy, etc. - all attractive traits to my hubby.

I challenge you this week to really pursue the heart of our Lord. And then please post comments about how spending time with the Lord made you more attractive to your spouse. Also, post the passage of Scripture you were in this week.

My attractive moment came from Proverbs 1. 20 - 33. This passage then made me want to look at more verses that address God's view on money and I went to the Dave Ramsey site. Scroll down and look for the little Bible symbol - can you believe over 800 Bible references to finances/stewardship?

I'm tired.

2008-11-12T22:03:00.003-06:00

Well, I would like to tell everyone that I have it all together all the time. But everyone who knows me well knows I'm a horrible liar, so I won't try to convince you of that first statement. I would like to say tell you that I'm a changed (for the better) woman since Keith's health scare. But I can't say that yet. I feel like I still have a lot to process, but I haven't found the solitude to do that yet. I have struggled with how fast life has gone since Keith being in the hospital. I've had a difficult time finding my groove again as a wife and mom with four young children. I used to just laugh when people would make comments about how hard it must be with four children 5 and under. Now I want to affirm them in their assumption. I'm frustrated with myself because I hate it when I'm overwhelmed. My heart would like to be happy and look at the positive 100% of the time, and it is really aggravating to me when I get too tired to smile. But that's exactly the spot I have found myself in many times lately.

So, this next exercise is really just for me...to remind me of God's sweet faithfulness and graciousness to me.

Thankful for...
1. the peace that I have in walking with the Lord on a daily basis. He is not just someone I sing to on Sundays. He guides my every step and puts joy in my heart. He sustains me...even now in my tiredness.

2. my husband. Did you know that he took me on a date last night and surprised me with diamond stud earrings and a cross necklace? Just because. I can't express in words how much I love this man and thank God for him.

3. my children. Yes, they are mostly the reason why I am so tired, but they are also the reason why I laugh all throughout the day. They have my heart. God uses them all the time to make me more into the woman He wants me to be.

4. my mom and in-laws. Can I just say that we are so blessed to have the parents that we do? I have learned so much about sacrificial love from our parents. They always put family first and that has blessed Keith and I so much. I could not have lived thru the past couple of weeks without their love and support.

5. our church family...could just be the best group of people out there. They have ministered to our family and shown us God's love time and time again. I promise, if you come to our church, you will not want to leave. There is something so special about the people God has put together at our church.

6. friends and neighbors...just wonderful, I tell you. They have also blessed our family so much. We are better people because of the influence you have made on our lives.

Do you see what I'm seeing...none of my material possessions come to mind when I ponder on what I am thankful for. It's all about relationships. Don't get me wrong. I am thankful for the things God has given to us, but I also understand how temporary those things are.

OK, I can go to bed tonight reflecting on God's goodness and not on my weariness :) I told you this exercise was for me. And please don't think of this as "the power of positive thinking." Think of it as seeking to honor God with my thoughts and my attitude. Goodnight.

Here are some long overdue pics of our kids with their family...first off, Brynlee with her Mama E.

...the boys with their granny
the boys with their papa
Brynlee meeting her nanny for the first time (Papa's mom)
Brynlee meeting her mimi for the first time (Mama E.'s mom - 91 years old...I know, she looks incredible for her age)

New Tradition in our home

2008-11-10T21:55:00.004-06:00

We started an awesome (maybe a little nerdy) tradition on Election night last week. We took a large wipe-off board that we had purchased at Home Depot and took it up to the office to project an electoral map onto the board. Then, I traced the map in permanent marker, with the state name and number of electoral votes listed on each state. We bought a brand new pack of dry erase markers (I know, you didn't really need to know that) and listed all of the important races to watch throughout the night. We had an Obama column (blue, of course) and a McCain column (red) and kept a running total of the electoral votes they had. We let the kids color in each of the states as they were called. I know our kids are only 5, 3, 2 and 4 mo., but our oldest two really got into it. It drove them crazy that they had to go to bed before all the states had been colored in. And it got them interested in the historic event. We made a fun night of it and let them stay up until they basically asked to go to bed because they were so tired. Now they are excited that there are going to be two kids living in the White House.

We plan on pulling out our nerdy white board for every presidential election in the future :)

Part of obedience is serving...

2008-11-08T09:14:00.002-06:00

My mom (aka "granny") has blessed me so much my whole life - but especially since she moved here in May. She has made having four children 5 and under a lot easier than it should be for Keith and I. One of the ways she has blessed us is by having a "sleepover at granny's" on most Friday nights for our boys. They get to stay up late watching movies and Keith and I get to sleep in a little longer and have a sweet time with the Lord where we actually get to be still for more than 5 minutes at a time. So, I am blogging this after I've had one of those precious mornings.

My heart has really been burdened over teaching members of the body of Christ that it is vital to their Christian walk to serve the body. I think our culture is so used to being consumers that we can easily forget that church is not a consumer driven establishment. The church does not exist to make Christians feel better about themselves because they've gone to church one day a week and sang a couple of songs that makes them feel closer to God. It makes my heart sad that we, left alone, all tend to feel like that's good enough for our spiritual life. I think that this is one reason that non-Christians don't see a real need for Christ in their lives. Because for so many believers, having Christ just seems to make a nominal difference in your life. They don't see evidence of the transforming work of Christ in the lives of most Christians they know. They see it as vanity on our part - just trying to do whatever necessary to feel better about ourselves - and going to church really does move us up on the ladder of being better than our neighbor, right ? Please read the sarcasm in that last sentence.

One of the basics that God had in mind when he put the church together was that we learn how to serve each other and that we could see how each part of the body is extremely vital to the functioning of the church. It seems like such an easy command to obey - to serve the body.

Let's look at Eph 4. 11 - 16: "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we ll reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitfulful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."

It is obvious from this passage that God's people are to serve so that the body of Christ may be built up. When you don't serve, you are keeping others from becoming mature in Christ. And I love the last verse, that the whole body is held together by every supporting ligament, and that we grow as each part does its work.

If you are reading this and you are not serving in your church body, I pray that you will be challenged to step out and obey the Lord's will for you in this area. We always wonder what the Lord's will for us is in certain areas...well this is a clear directive that you don't have to keep pondering...You are called to serve.

And along with this challenge - remember, that serving in Children's ministry is not baby-sitting! And it is very manly. And the excuse "I am not gifted with children," is really only true for a very select few in our society. Most of the time, that is just used because you think of it as baby-sitting and you're right, that is really not a gifting that many of us do have. But if you see Children's ministry as a way to show Christ to our young ones and a way to model for them what being a godly man/woman looks like, then you really have no good excuse for not giving CM a try. I am overwhelmed by the impact that the CM at our church has on all my kids.

Because our church is a church plant, we still only have a select few ministries to be apart of on Sunday mornings. So, that's why I had to include the previous paragraph. Our main ministry focus on Sunday mornings is pouring into our kids and many of our people seem to think it's an easy out for not serving - but remember, you are needed so that our chuch body functions like God intended and so that we may all become mature.

Usually, my postings are all warm and fuzzy, so I'm really curious as to ya'lls thoughts on this posting after you read...

Welcome Home!

2008-11-05T20:13:00.005-06:00

Hopefully, most of you know not to wait on me to post news - like an update on Keith's health. I am slow at this blogging thing, that's all there is to it. I have no excuses - except for four children who require A LOT of attention - does that count :)

Keith is doing wonderful. And because he is doing wonderful, I am doing wonderful. I just can't thank the Lord enough for restoring Keith's health. He went for his sleep-deprived EEG yesterday morning and then we met with his neurologist. She took him off the seizure medication because all the tests have officially come back looking good. I wanted to ask her more about the workings of his brain - always been a little curious...but I refrained. I've already teased him so much about what he did when he was in his crazy unconscious state that I thought it bests to leave him alone this time. The neurologist said that though rare, they think he had the grand mal seizure because of the sinus infection. Needless to say, we are going to be seeing an allergist and ENT doctor on a regular basis from now on.

Here are some pics of my awesome hubby at home.

We got home from the hospital around 6:00 on Halloween evening. Our neighbors and our RLG kept up our tradition of providing hot dogs to all our neighbors and trick-or-treaters. So, almost as soon as we arrived home, we had around 50 adults and kids on our front lawn getting ready for the night. One of our sweet neighbors, Judy, made cupcakes for Kade's birthday, assuming that we weren't going to have time to make him a cake - she was right! Kade wouldn't blow out his candles until his daddy came out to watch him.

We have the most awesome neighbors. Our parents and the kids woke up one morning to find this banner hanging on our fence in the backyard. What a fun treat in the midst of trying times. A lot of the kids from the two streets around us painted their handprints on the sign and the adults signed it. It is still hanging up just because it makes us smile. This is the only pic from the week that I took. I couldn't bring myself to take any pics in the hospital. I love this banner because instead of reminding me of the difficulties, it reminds me to be thankful for all the precious people God has richly blessed our lives with. That's what I want to scrapbook about - when I do get a chance to scrapbook :)

Check back on the blog soon. A new tradition was born in our family last night and I can't wait to share it with all of you. Maybe some of you will want to be a family of nerds like us...I'll try to post it tomorrow. But you know how that goes...

The blessing of life

2008-10-28T17:55:00.003-05:00

I don't have long to make a posting. But I just want to say thank you to all of you who have prayed for us and loved on us during this time. God has been so good to give us peace in the midst of confusing times. I have seen His hand on the whole situation since the seizure occurred early Sunday morning. I know that God, in His sovereignty, could have chosen things to go much different, but I just thank Him with all of my heart that He has brought Keith through this so that I get to enjoy more of this life with my wonderful husband. I have wrestled with Him a lot during the past couple of days knowing that I would still have to praise Him even if Keith didn't come out of his unconscious state or if there had been permanent damage to his brain.
But, as of today, it seems that He has graciously chosen to give us the Keith we all know and love back. He is still not all with it, but we are seeing HUGE improvements hour by hour. He doesn't understand why I cry when he says my name or lets me curl up beside him in the bed. He doesn't know that just this time yesterday I was begging God to give me those things again.
Keep praying for us as we still have a lot to process and Keith has a lot of healing to do. We are waiting right now for him to get out of surgery to relieve the sinus pressure on his brain that may have caused the seizure in the first place. Pray that we do not lose sight of how God is growing us thru this valley and that we grow in our faith as we remember His faithfulness to us. I have to admit that I have felt very lonely these past couple of days not having my husband to talk to even though the Lord has been so kind to surround me with not only His presence but the presence of many precious family and friends.
Remember to enjoy every minute that God gives you with your family. I want to close by posting some recent pics of moments to savor - like Steven Curtis Chapman's song says, they are "moments made for worshipping."

I love you all and thank God for you!

Brynlee three month photo shoot...

2008-10-20T23:42:00.005-05:00

So, I am a little behind in posting these. Brynlee turned three months on October 2nd. We have a sweet friend, Rachel Parkhurst, who is a wonderful photographer. I have tried my hardest to narrow down the pics to my absolute favorites, but there are still quite a few that I want to post.

I did not think that having a daughter would be a big deal to me. I mean, I have loved being a mom to three boys and thought that having another boy would have been awesome. I am the mom that wants to poke people in the eye when they say things like, "Are you hoping for a girl?" or, "Three boys, wow, I'm so sorry!" I have seriously had so many comments like these made to me - with my boys right there listening!! I can't even recount how many times I said during my pregnancy, "I love having boys and would be thrilled if this one is a boy too." But then she arrived. Her first two months were a little rough - her brothers definitely beat her at being easier babies. It doesn't matter though because she's my daughter. Something inside me wants to shout "thank you" to God so many times throughout the day when I look at her or hold her. She adds just the right amount of feminity to our very boyish home. I love the mix of three boys and one girl. I couldn't have planned it better if I had tried - I'm so glad that God's plan always prevails over what I think is best.

Thank you Lord for the gifts of family and life. Thank you for a home that is filled with laughter and sweet memories always in the making. Keith and I just pray that we will be good stewards with the incredible gifts we've been given.

Family Bowling Night

2008-10-19T16:46:00.005-05:00

I am trying to figure out how to make a collage of pics for the blog when all the pics are of one event. I am so behind in posting pics from the past couple of weeks - I have pics from when we went to see the grandmothers at the end of last month, recent family pics, family bowling night, trip to Atlanta for the Catalyst conference, Brynlee's three month pictures, pumpkin patch play date and t-ball pics that I so want to share with our friends and family, but I can't seem to find the time to post about them. Plus, I still would like to make use of the Flip video that I recently purchased to be able to provide videos of the kids for the blog. If anyone has a step-by-step process that they use to take pics from Photoshop Elements to their blog in a collage format - PLEASE SHARE! I have to go now to get the kids up for Leadership Community at church tonight or else I would try to figure out how to make my first collage attempt bigger so that you wouldn't have to squint your eyes to see the pics. Sorry!! Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather today!

Brynlee's Baby Dedication

2008-10-07T00:11:00.008-05:00

So, I mentioned in my last post about Brynlee having friends and not even knowing how many yet. Here are some pics from her baby dedication yesterday...

There were thirteen babies dedicated on Sunday...is that not awesome???!! All of the staff couples were represented at the dedication...yes, we now have ten kids between the Shocks, Hallams, and ourselves. We are definitely doing our part to grow the church :) Here are a couple of pics from Keirah's 4th birthday that show all ten kids. We are so incredibly blessed!

Our precious neighbors and friends, Mike and Dawn, dedicated both of their sons and Truly, Brynlee's inutero friend, was also dedicated.

After the dedication service, we took Brynlee and Truly to celebrate at Fuddruckers...I don't know if they liked it, but their brothers sure did!

Mike surprised us by showing up at church for Bryn's dedication. We had really been missing him, so it was a treat to get to spend time with him.

Another fun surprise of the day was that our awesome neighbors, Jose and Keri, came to our church. We were so excited to have them at worship with us and then they joined us for the Fuddrucker fun...

Every dad had the opportunity to pray over their child being dedicated. Keith prayed Psalm 139 over Brynlee, that she would always know that she is fearfully and wonderfully made. He also prayed Proverbs 31.30 over her; that she would truly believe that "Charm is deceiving and beauty is fleeting, but the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." I so pray that I will live out these Scriptures for her. It is so different having a girl and knowing that I am modeling how to respond to life and to God for this precious little girl. I don't just want to tell her to love God and seek to please Him only...I want to model that for her. I could use all of your prayers in being a godly example for Brynlee.

It was a wonderful day and now we are living out another fast-paced week!

God bless...

Randomness

2008-10-02T21:55:00.003-05:00

Brynlee turned three months old today! She has captivated Keith and I. Her smile always starts in her eyes. She looks at you like she has a lot to say to you or either it's the look that says, "you're strange." Either way, it's really cute. She is starting to roll from her tummy to her back - and she gets so mad when she gets stuck on her back. Her smile goes like this: her eyes twinkle, then she gives a little side smile and then a full blown open mouth smile that just lights up the world. She is a drooling machine - you would think she was already teething. She is sleeping 12.5 hours at night and eating 5 times a day. She has found her thumb and uses it to go to sleep every night - following in the footsteps of her brothers, Kamden and Kale. She already has some really good friends and she doesn't even know it yet. We are dedicating her at church on Sunday and I'll post pics afterwards to show you all of her sweet friends that are also being dedicated. She loves her brothers. She is really getting spoiled to their attention. She coos and sighs after she eats - I love it! She is still very dainty and her eyes are still blue. So far, they are looking pretty big, like mine. I am so excited to have a daughter and thank the Lord that Brynlee is a part of our family.

Kade is about to be five at the end of this month. I have to post this so I'll remember - he threw a rock at a car this past Monday at t-ball practice. If only you could have seen mine and Keith's face when we heard the hit...very humbling. After we told the man what had happened and gave him our information, Kade told me that he remembered what color the car was and that he could go buy the paint color at the store and paint the spot he scratched. Oh, thru the eyes of a child. He had no clue why Keith and I were so upset - he just thought it would be a chance to perfect his painting skills. We just had a sweet friend, Rachel Parkhurst, come take some pictures of him to capture this precious age. I've had a couple of friends tell me that this is the perfect time to have portraits done of your children - captures the preschool stage before they start losing their teeth :)

We were all inside yesterday when Kamden just got up and walked out the front door. I went after him to see what was going on and he was by the bushes pulling up his pants. I asked what he was doing and he said, "I had to go pee." ???? Did he forget that we had a room in our house just for that? I mean, I could understand if we were already outside and no bathroom was nearby, but to walk past the bathroom to go find a bush? Yet another humbling parenting moment.

I have more random thoughts that are filling my brain tonight about my precious family and our life, but I'm sure this posting is already a little too long. But I will be so thankful when I get around to scrapbooking these moments to have journaled about them!

They're getting it!!

2008-09-30T22:30:00.006-05:00

I just wanted to post these videos for all of the precious adults at our church who pour into our children week after week, all the time wondering if the kids are getting any of it...they are! All three of my boys know their memory verse for the month and our family worship time at night (and really all day too) many times takes the form of Kale leading us on his guitar singing all the songs he has learned at church. Thank you so much for teaching my children about God and Jesus - I praise the Lord for putting you in my kids' lives.

Here is Kale and Landon reciting their memory verse and then Kale performing for us before bedtime...

Have a blessed day!

"The Girl"

2008-09-18T22:48:00.006-05:00

The girl in our home is gaining personality fast. She is beautiful and I just can't get enough of her smiles. She chuckled for the first time yesterday - and that was after her first round of immunizations. So her stats at her two month check-up are as follows: 11.5 lbs (50%) and 24" tall (90%). Did you catch that - my daughter is in the 90% for height!!! She's gaining on me fast :)

Kale is usually at Brynlee's side within a minute of her starting to cry. Here he is trying to kiss her sadness away. I think he is doing an incredible job in his new big brother role.
I also wanted to post some of my favorite captured moments from this past week. First off is the boys playing on the trampoline first thing in the morning before I even get them dressed.
Next is Keith reading to the boys before bedtime. I just happened to catch Kale joining in on the reading. Usually, he only lasts about two minutes before he leaves to find me and have some alone time with his mama. I love it.
And last, I had to capture Kade with two of his most recent favorite wardrobe items - his Sketchers and his Hot Wheels sunglasses. I can't believe that Kade is about to be 5 years old. He has grown up so much but I love the fact that he still loves to cuddle with his mama and ride bikes with his daddy.

Recent Events in the Ferguson Household

2008-09-15T15:02:00.005-05:00

On August 11th, Kale turned TWO! I already see that God has given him the gift of joy. It is easier for him to laugh than to cry. His greatest fulfillment comes from making those around him laugh. He is our performer, as you will see in one of the pics below. He's never far from his guitar. He loves to sing - some of his favorites are "Mighty to Save," "The B-I-B-L-E," "Zaccheus," and "ABC's." He has been talking in complete sentences since he was 19 mo's. Here are just some of the things he says on a daily basis:

1. Give me that car back, RIGHT NOW!
2. I just farted - out of my bottom! (followed by a lot of laughter)
3. Get me some apple juice, please mom.
4. Turn the air off mom.
5. Let's go to the baseball game in two minutes, mom.
6. Stop it right now, Kade (or Kamden.)
7. I want to hold Brynlee on the couch.
8. Where'd Buzz go, mom?
9. Daddy go to work, mom?
10. See you later lalligator.
11. Did you take da boys (Kade and Kamden) to school, mom?

He does not take too well to being pushed around or bullied by his older brothers. Let's just say that he usually comes out the winner :) He loves to jump on the trampoline and he is way into the Wiggles right now. He could eat sausage and cheese for every meal. Can you tell that I love this kid? He is so special and a joy to parent. But I do see the two year old tantrums coming quickly...I'm sure I'll be blogging about those shortly.

Kamden started his first year at Mother's Day Out and Kade started his last year at Mother's Day Out. Here they are all ready to head to school on the first day.

I could hardly get Kade to stop for me to take a picture at the door because he was so eager to go in. I love that he is always confident wherever he is. He just went in his classroom and acted as if he had known everyone for years. And Keith and I just laughed when we got his daily report sheet and it said that he had been the line leader for the first day - that's so his personality, to lead and be first.

Big brother reassuring little brother with a big hug that they'll have fun at their school - no need to be scared. And Kamden did awesome. He had a glowing report on his little take home sheet and had a huge smile on his face when I picked him up. It has made him feel so grown up to get to go to school. He's getting ready on his own in the mornings and even trying to make his bed like Kade does. He's become very helpful with Kale too since he started school. It's funny, but Kamden is moving on past the whiny stage as Kale is entering into the whiny stage.

Did anyone see the Saturday Night Live opening skit this past weekend? If not, check it out on their site... http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/ - it is hilarious! Tina Fey did an amazing job impersonating Sarah Palin.

Also, Keith and I have been taking a parenting class at church. It has been such a good reminder of the awesome responsibility we have with shepherding our children well for the short amount of time we have them. I have heard our Family Pastor say this many times, but it challenges me every time..."We teach what we know, but we reproduce who we are." That's my little parenting thought for the day.

Blessings!

Cooking with Kade

2008-09-10T21:20:00.004-05:00

Kade usually stays up with me now while his brothers and sister take naps. So, we try to use that time to spend special time together. On one of these occasions recently, we decided to cook a fruit pizza for dinner dessert. He told me that he needed to wear the chef hat in order to cook. I thought that made very good sense :) Kade has been well prepared for this chef role - the two of us used to watch Paula Deen (a.k.a. "the cooking lady") on the Food Network during nap time. That's the only way I could get him to fall asleep when he was transitioning to not taking naps. So...here's some pics of my sweet little chef-in-the-making.

My main help was placing the flour on his cheek to make him look like a real chef. And didn't the pizza turn out good? I do have to admit that I struggle with constantly wanting to take over whatever step he's working on, but I love seeing his pride when I let him do it himself.