Hoelzle Family

The Tea

2011-03-21T14:37:00.003-05:00

By the way, the week of the tea was so busy that I never got around to posting about how well it went. The afternoon tea was wonderful! Lisa is so sweet and so full of a love for Jesus and her family. She had tons of great ideas and practical advice about sibling conflict, protecting the spirit's of your children, children's work, entertaining little ones while schooling older ones, etc... It was a real blessing to have her and the other ladies here.

Lisa had a great post on her blog last week about When Your Rules Are Different from others. Check out her perspective--which I agree with :) on her blog

http://thepenningtonpoint.com/blog/lisas-blog/

I think it's at the bottom (from March13th). And the part two was posted a few days ago (March 18th). Happy Reading!

Caden's 4th Birthday

2011-03-21T13:55:00.003-05:00

We had a wonderful weekend celebrating Caden's birthday with lots of family and a few neighbors. Caden wanted cake for breakfast and since it was his b-day and we weren't having it for the party I agreed. It's a delicious overnight coffee cake that I made with whole wheat pastry flour. I'll try to post the recipe later.

After breakfast we surprised Caden with a vintage (1969) Little People set that I found on Craigslist for $30. I like the old ones more than the new ones, b/c the old people are plain and you can use your imagination more. The new ones are always holding things for their "trade" which just limits them in my mind. Anyway, he absolutely loves the camper and boat and spent all morning pretending the family was going camping to Sequoia.

That afternoon we had over lots of relatives plus two families who are neighbors to celebrate Caden's birthday. The party included car racing games, an egg hunt, a birthday blessing, pizza, banana splits and a time of opening gifts.

When the neighbor asked what to get him we said he'd love a gun since he didn't own one (he's been using his imagination and just turning objects into guns). Well, imagine his delight when over half his presents were guns! Yes, Caden is now the proud owner of 7 guns!

My parents arrived a couple days before the party and they sure helped a lot with everything! As always, Mom is constantly helping cook and clean while also taking the boys on walks and reading them books.

My boys can't get enough of their Pa Pa and give him lots of exercise while he's here. Deacon begs to talk to Pa Pa on Skype every morning--it's so sweet.

Caden loves putting on Daddy's clothes. How he can walk around in size 12 shoes is a mystery to me!

Last night Braden put Deacon to bed so that I could rock Caden and put him to bed. It's a treat for the whole family--Braden loves putting Deacon down and it's such a sweet time for me to get to rock Caden since we only do so about once/month.

Me: So Caden, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Caden: A farmer. And guess how many children I want to have.

Me: How many?

Caden: 180.

Me: Wow, that's a lot. Maybe you'll be a farmer who runs an orphanage. What kind of person do you want to marry?

Caden: A RIGHTEOUS woman! (said very expressively)--not sure where he got that, but I liked his answer.

Me: That's right, Caden. A woman who loves the Lord with all her heart, mind, soul and strength.

Caden: Yep. Someone just like you, Mama.

Me: awwww :)

Caden: I love you, Mama!

Me: I love you, too!

I'll always treasure our bedtime talks!

Dad's Email

2011-03-16T13:52:00.002-05:00

My Dad sends out emails often to encourage fellow believers as we seek the Lord. Just thought I'd share his email this week:

Dear Friends,

I love the story of the woman at the well from the fourth chapter of John. From this story we can learn so much including why we should love the Lord. We may often pray, read the Word, go to worship, even share our faith with another person out of a sense of duty. We should feel that sense of duty. Yet, there is a higher motivation. Jesus said to the woman, "A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." From that passage we could focus on the fact that our Father desires a sincere and honest heart. But what I want you to note is that Jesus informs the woman that "the Father seeks." The Father yearns for an honest, sincere, loving, heart relationship with us. Islam has nothing like it. Neither does Hinduism or Buddhism or any other religion. Christianity is truly unique. The Father longs for a loving relationship with us. Four times in Scripture the Lord repeats the longing of His heart: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Another passage also records the longing of His heart: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor 6:18). The Lord, through the psalmist, said that we should "seek His face always" (Psalm 105:4). That is what the Lord wants. He wants us to love Him. He wants us to see Him as our loving Father. He wants us to talk to Him all the time. The command to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) is primarily a passage in which the Lord says, "I want a relationship with you."

We do not have to go through a priest (we are priests). We do not have to enter into His presence only after we wash, put on special clothing, create a wall of smoke, etc (required before the Jewish high priest could approach God, Hebrews 11). We can now walk into His presence freely and He longs for us to do so. Is it possible to attend church faithfully, pray regularly, study the Bible daily, share your faith with others often and still not have a personal relationship with our Father? What kind of relationship do you have with the Lord? When you fail to pray, do you think of that fact as "I didn't do what I was supposed to do today?" or do you stop and say, "Father, I'm sorry. I have been distracted. I want to love you more and more. Please draw my heart more and more. Change my heart and make it yours." He clearly wants our hearts.

Your brother,

Tim

A Man (or Woman) After God's Own Heart

2011-03-04T14:31:00.006-06:00

A Man After God's Own Heart
by Russell Kelfer

If someone were simply to ask you,
"What's the greatest thing you can do
To leave your mark for eternity
When all of your life is through?"

What would be your answer?
What tribute could there be?
What thought would honor God the most
When He your name would see?

I believe the greatest thing
God could yet impart,
Would be the words, "This child became
A man after My own heart."

"This, My son or daughter,
Found a touch of the divine,
Because within that life there beats
A heart shaped just like Mine."

"A heart that grew to stand in awe
At what His God had done;
A heart that lived for just one thing:

To glorify My Son.
"A heart that did not need acclaim,
A heart that just believed.
A heart that would but rather die

Than see My Spirit grieved.
"He may not have found greatness,
Nor heard this world's acclaim;
The greatest thing to him was just

To bear his Master's name."
Would you like to please the heart of God?
Beloved, here is where you start:
Quietly ask God to make you
A man after His own heart!

Check out http://www.dtm.org/ and click on

Mp3- Listen/Download to hear my absolute favorite Bible teacher.

His Fruit of the Spirit set is excellent! Right now he's teaching

through the Sermon on the Mount which is also very good.

Click on the lesson's number to hear it or the title to print a

manuscript. Blessings on your weekend!

Lisa's Goal of Education

2011-02-27T22:12:00.005-06:00

Here's something that was written by Lisa, the speaker who I'm hosting the tea for next week. Braden and I really liked the way she sums up their goal of education. The article is taken from the Texas Homeschool Coalition's magazine.

http://www.thsc.org/Categories.aspx?Id=Pennington

Our home schooling adventure began before we were even married, twenty-four years ago. James had the conviction to homeschool our children before we met. While we were still dating, he told me that he wanted a wife who would homeschool his children; I thought he was crazy! It took some convincing, but by the time we married and had children four years later, I was completely on board.
Now we have nine children ranging in age from twenty to two years old. Our goal has always been character over curriculum. We believe that the Bible teaches that God's wisdom is more important than knowledge.
Proverbs 4:6-7 says, “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.”
We never got involved in heavy curriculum or workbooks. We have done a lot of unit studies and “make-your-own” type of school. We discovered early that if we train the children to be disciplined and help them turn their heart to the Lord, they will thirst for wisdom and understanding. I have been constantly amazed at how much the children know that I did not teach them!
We also believe that relationships are a vital part of who we are in Christ. It is important to us that our children learn to love one another and to sacrifice for others. Therefore we spend much of our time practicing good habits and setting our own desires aside for one another. If you were a fly on the wall, you would often observe us sitting around the school table, sharing our thoughts on how to treat others or how to overcome our struggles.
Romans 12: 9-10 commands, “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
It has been a delight to watch our children treat each other with kindness and courtesy. The words, “That's not fair!” or “Me first!” are not permitted in our home. Even though children do not have the maturity to respond in a biblical way, they can still be held to those standards as they learn. They can practice serving as they learn. In our school being a servant is held in a place of honor.
Once that foundation is there, we can relax and enjoy school. We mostly use unit studies. We have learned about spiders, world geography, the “Little House on the Prairie” series, weather, and much more! Unit studies offer me, a mom of children of many ages, the opportunity to have all of the children in the same class. I simply adjust the load for each age level. Then they each do their own math individually.
While I would consider myself a very structured person, I am relaxed about where the day takes us. We may start out learning about Egyptian architecture and end up digging tunnels in the yard. We are confident that those two subjects are equally important; it depends on what the children need each day. As long as we get back to Egypt at some point, it is okay.
We make our home schooling decisions based on Scripture. It is a little like the desert island challenge. If you were stranded on a desert island with nothing but the Bible as your guide, how different would your life look? We know that we are not on an island and that our kids have to live out in the world someday. However, if we have prepared them to live with God's Word as their guide, they are better prepared than if we follow the world?or the government schools.
Our oldest graduated from our home school two years ago, and our second child graduated this spring. It has been a joy to watch them grow, learn, and become godly examples for their younger siblings. Teaching them at home has allowed us to know their strengths and weaknesses. We are right there with them through their successes and their failures. Our goal is to grow warriors for the kingdom of God. History, science, and music are all secondary to that end.
We still have many years of home schooling left to go. We delight in each year we get to spend with each child. To God be the glory!

The Lord has changed my heart from anxiety/discontentment to joy and excitement. I'm looking forward to meeting Lisa and gleaning from her years of experience and wisdom at our tea!

My Anxious Heart

2011-02-26T22:49:00.008-06:00

Next week I'm hosting a tea for a homeschool mother of 9 who will be speaking to our area homeschool Mom's group that evening. Her name is Lisa, but I've never met her. She and her husband were awarded the 2010 Leaders of the Year by the Texas Home School Coalition--quite the honor. I volunteered to host the tea only if nobody else signed up to do so.

Well, nobody else volunteered :)

I must confess that I'm just a bit intimidated. I know I shouldn't be, but I started thinking about how I don't have a "tea party" type of home. My house isn't cute or quaint. It has all white walls and very few "homey" decorations. I don't even own any pretty tea cups. Maybe you can't relate to the "everyone else's house is so much prettier/homier than mine!" syndrome. Now don't get me wrong, we LOVE having people over for dinner, and I don't have a problem with my home then, but a ladies' tea--for some reason, it's making me anxious. It probably doesn't help matters that my guest is coming to speak on "creating a peaceful home."

I'm trying to combat this spirit of discontentment and intimidation by meditating on a few Scriptures. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."-Php. 4:6-7

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it."-1 Tim. 6:6-7

I'm trying to remember that Christ has set me free from the need to have other's approval. So what if my home doesn't look like pictures out of Southern Living--is the Lord honored here? Is my home filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and with those who show self-control? Can people sense the Spirit's presence when they enter? Do I need to spend more time making my home beautiful or making my heart beautiful this week? Will I chose to be like Martha and busy myself with all the stressful preparations or will I take extra time to sit a Jesus' feet and drink deep from the Living Water? Maybe now is a good time to quit blogging so that I can do just that :)

Charlotte Mason on Parenting

2011-02-24T13:48:00.006-06:00

“It is a great thing to be a parent: there is no promotion, no
dignity, to compare with it." ~ Charlotte Mason

When it comes to homeschooling there are many different philosophies upon which to build. We really love the thoughts and ideas of Charlotte Mason, a British educator who lived from 1842-1923. My mother-in-law loaned me a book, titled Play about a year ago and it seemed like it was a modern-day book for preschool teachers based off this same philosophy. Basically the ideas is to let little ones spend LOTS of time outdoors, and let them have access to the best literature, art, music, etc. Don't just study and apple drawing--let them touch, smell, taste a REAL apple....visit a real orchard where they can see the trees growing, visit with a farmer and actually pick the fruit.

“The parents’ chief care is, that that which they supply shall be wholesome and nourishing, whether in the way of picture-books, lessons, playmates, bread and milk, or mother’s love.” ~ Charlotte Mason

Yesterday Caden attended his first orchestra (with a short ballet included), and we both really enjoyed it. The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin by Beatrix Potter & Peter and the Wolf were both performed. He loves all the works of Beatrix Potter so that was a treat, but his favorite was hearing the story and listening to the orchestra perform Peter and the Wolf. I'll try to post the video of his explanation later :)

I just started reading A Thinking Love by Sonya Shafer. It's a FREE e-book; just click the link from the title! Here's a quick excerpt from the introduction:

The chapters in this book are designed to keep you thinking, evaluating, and learning in your assignment as a mother. They are here to encourage you to have a thinking love for your child. We will laugh together, ponder together, and be challenged together by concepts that Charlotte considered important. You may encounter days when you want to quit on your job;

other days you may want to shout from the rooftops how great motherhood is! (Just don’t let your child see you on the roof; he’ll want to come up too.)

But through it all we will think and we will love. We will think about the best way to fulfill our assignment from God. And we will increase in our love for our children and for each other.

And we will remember that motherhood is the greatest profession on earth. Let’s do it to the glory of God.

This 73-page book also contains more than seventy Charlotte Mason quotes on parenting. Just visit http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/a-thinking-love/ to download a copy if you'd like to read along.

I'm Back

2011-02-23T14:19:00.005-06:00

Last weekend I went to Sally Clarkson's conference with some friends (thanks, Liz!) and was inspired to start blogging again. This time focused more on what the Lord is teaching me. I'll try and share info from great books I've read, videos we've watched or lessons I've heard. This morning in my quiet time I was in Titus. As I began chapter 2 I was again reminded that God calls older woman to "urge 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." I know I don't qualify as an "older woman" to most, but hopefully I can still encourage other woman in these pursuits. After all, we are to encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Heb. 3:13).

I know I've been so encouraged by reading many of your blogs! I love reading about your bright ideas, difficult days, mommy moments and of course seeing many of your precious littles. This calling of motherhood is so wonderful (though not always easy!) and I so desire to be a mother that is a blessing to other mama's in this worthy call. May we all embrace God's desire for our days as we seek Him wholeheartedly!

Fall in Review 2010

2010-10-20T15:58:00.012-05:00

September 2010

2010-10-20T15:40:00.006-05:00

September in Review:

Labor Day in Longview is always a blast!

Caden loved getting to wrestle with cousins...

...but I think Deacon decided to move away from the action and find a calmer "pool."

Putting up a tent inside is just so much fun!

Mom and Dad came up for my birthday, and Caden just basked in his "PaPa time!"

For our family devotion Braden decided we'd act out the story of Noah and the flood...complete with building an ark.

Deacon had fun making sure all the animals in the ark were comfortable and cared for :)

We love being part of homeschooling groups--one through our church and one through our area (which happens to also have a few of our friends from church). Field trips are just some of the fun things we can do as a group. In Sept. our church hs group took a trip to Henrietta Creek Orchard for a farm tour and apple picking.

We read lots of books about apples and orchards before the trip. Our favorite: Apple Tree Christmas--such a sweet story!

We were only allowed to pick one apple per person for our tour which I was a little bummed about, but Caden and Deacon didn't seem to mind. There were so many other neat things to see.

Learning all about cotton.

August 2010

2010-10-20T15:10:00.009-05:00

August in Review:

Caden got creative and decided to move beyond the traditional blanket pull. Now he enjoys "tubing" or "skiing" on my cutting board.

Braden kept the boys for a day while I caught up on some planning and organization for our year. I had fun looking through books/curriculum/activities and thinking/praying over our goals for the year. Caden spent some of that 1-on-1 time at the Bass Pro Shop. He begged to wear the hat! I didn't know the BPS had so many fun activities for kiddos. Caden LOVED it!

Deacon continues to get into everything....literally!

Caden enjoyed his 1st baseball game with Daddy, Uncle Scott and Jacob. I'm not sure if he liked the game or all the special snacks I packed for him more. He was fascinated with the dug-out and kept asking Braden questions about it.

We finally got a family pass to the Dallas Zoo and it's been great!

The chimpanzees put on quite the show. The baby chimp was ADORABLE and had Caden in absolute stitches. We all just laughed and laughed!

We love the children's section with the water play area, petting zoo, craft cabin, library, etc...

Some BIG goldfish!....at least I think that's what they said.

We ran into some friends from church which was quite the treat. Our boys loved making fish faces.

Our homeschool group from church took a field trip to the Heritage Homestead in Plano. Caden had a blast learning about the life of pioneers.

Deacon was even able to join in on the fun. Both enjoyed washing clothes and hanging them to dry.

Gathering eggs...

Feeding chickens...

Washing dishes...

Churning cream into butter...

Plowing and planting...

The plow is a little heavy for you, Deacon...

On Thursdays we often go to our little library for story time and crafts. On this day the Sachse Fire Dept. was there with the whole crew.

Caden freaked out about getting on the firetruck, so one of the firemen gave us a tour around the outside of the truck, pointing out all the tools and equipment. Then, just as I got my camera out to take some pictures....

Caden started having a horrible nose bleed! I had my hands full with Deacon, camera, etc... so a fireman tried to help carry Caden to get some gauze/water. Bad move. Caden REALLY freaked out then. So he put Caden down and went by himself to get stuff to clean up Caden--and Deacon---and me (blood was on all of us at this point).

It definitely made for an exciting morning!

Raising Boys that Read

2010-10-05T17:29:00.011-05:00

Passing on an email:

The secret to raising boys who read, I submit, is pretty simple — keep electronic media, especially video games and recreational Internet, under control (that is to say, almost completely absent). Then fill your shelves with good books.
—From the September 24, 2010 edition of The Wall Street Journal ¹

Once upon a time, when adventure-loving boys throughout the civilized world read good books, G.A. Henty’s historical novels could be found on the shelves of many great leaders, including Nobel Prize winners, historians, prime ministers, generals, and preachers. The inimitable Winston Churchill himself was a G.A. Henty fan. But far too many of today’s boys have forgotten the thrill of a good book, preferring instead the easy entertainment of video and computer games, or the time-wasting distraction that the Web can so quickly become.

Now even mainstream publications likeThe Wall Street Journal are giving voice to the reality of today’s boyhood reading crisis. Either boys are not reading at all, or they are reading cheap drivel that numbs the creative mind and fosters very little, if any, aspiration to manhood and noble chivalry. And although homeschooled boys are often far ahead of their public school counterparts when it comes to literacy rates, their need for manly, God-honoring literature is no less urgent. Simply reading is not enough. Content, as the saying goes, is king.

If you want to raise boys who read good books, books that are fun, fact-filled, thought-provoking, and downright manly, then we strongly encourage you to place G.A. Henty’s exciting historical adventure novels in your sons’s hands. Let them discover men of noble courage and fierce perseverance — from ancient Carthage to Wallace and Bruce’s Scotland to the old American West. As they read these exciting tales, they will rejoice with an ancient barbarian who receives Christ, travel with Conquistadors to distant lands, watch the fall of the Temple of Jerusalem, and much, much more. _________________________________________________

Obviously Caden isn't at the point of reading Henty yet, but I thought some of you that have older children might be interested. Of course, I recommend everyone reading the full article from the Wall Street Journal. I first saw the article's link on Ann Voskamp's blog. Then someone from my homeschool support group sent it out.

May we all raise children whose lives glorify God--even in reading and "free-time" choices!

Horseshoe

2010-10-02T21:56:00.003-05:00

Horseshoe Bay was even more fun this year with all the growing boys. 7 great-grandchildren (all boys!) had a great time playing together and keeping the parents busy. Sascha turned 3 and got to have a little party with the cousins.

Why is it that spreading blue icing all over your face is so tempting?

uuummmm!

Lots of fun daddy-son bonding times!

Thankfully, a bloody nose (from the jet ski ride) was the only accident Caden had.

Deacon, on the other hand, was found SCREAMING in the bathtub covered (head to toe) with bar soap...how he managed to get to the bathroom and climb in the empty tub I don't know. The kid's quick! I'm very grateful that my grandmother is always bathing the week in prayer. There's no telling how many accidents and injuries have been prevented through her faithful intercession!

He must not have had enough swim time, b/c as soon as we got home he went straight for our dog's "water bowl" and climbed in. Oh, Deacon. He's always getting in to something :)

California Cousins

2010-10-01T21:30:00.001-05:00

We couldn't be at Grandma's without a trip to the beach. Mom and Dad have 5 grandsons, and Caden (age 3) is the oldest. We had 4 kiddos to keep up with at the beach which made it quite the adventure.

Caden and Deacon had so much fun being with their cousins!

I thought the waves might be a bit intimidating for Caden, but after they knocked him down and rolled him in the sand several times he kept returning to the water. The first time I think he was a bit shocked---those waves can be pretty strong....especially to a 3 yr old!

Deacon adores his Pa Pa....and loves to share that sweet, though often mischievous, smile.

My brother's middle son and my youngest are really similar---they both keep their mama's on their toes :)

Sweet older brothers enjoying ice cream.

Sequoia

2010-09-25T16:21:00.010-05:00

Sequoia is one of my favorite places in America. I have so many wonderful memories from camping and hiking there as a little girl, some with families from church. In high school and college when my family was in CA visiting my grandparents at Christmas we'd drive up for the day to enjoy Sequoia in the snow. I've had such wonderful times chasing bears, having snowball fights, camping with Braden and our seminary friends when we lived in California, and now taking our children. I love the smell, the crisp clean air, the sounds, and of course the incredible scenery. There are always certain Psalms I love to read while just beholding the beauty and power of our God in that special place.

Posing by the General Sherman tree. Below is the outline of the tree (true to size) paved in stone.

Sequoia is filled with beautiful Redwoods too.

Don't my boys seem tiny?

Caden surprised us by climbing all the way up Moro Rock all by himself (Over 400 steps up) ...and then all the way back down!

Camping with Deacon went pretty smoothly. He definitely kept us on our toes. I don't think I could have kept my sanity going to Sequoia with just our family, but with Mom and Dad there to lend a hand it was great. We really couldn't have done it without them.

Lovin' the hammock...and each other!

One of my favorite hikes is to Tharps Log with a view of Crescent Meadow.

Sure love our Ergo!

Pour Caden had a horrible eye infection. I thought it was "pink eye" but later we decided it wasn't. Thankfully it didn't bother him beyond the first few days.

As of the morning we were to leave Sequoia we had not yet seen any bears. The Spirit convicted me that we should pray about it. Shouldn't we bring all our desires before the Lord. Anyway, I asked the others to pray about it and about 2 minutes later a lady came up to us and told us there was a mama bear and her two tiny babies just up ahead.

Sure enough, the mama looked at us and kept on eating.

Both her babies ran up a tree, and after playing for a bit, both took naps.

Still thanking the Lord for answering our prayer for bears and for the way He gently reminded me to bring everything before Him.

Summer 2010

2010-09-14T15:04:00.014-05:00

MAY

We enjoyed lots of walks and park days in May.

We love the book, Make Way for Ducklings, so we were thrilled when we were able to watch the duck family on our walk.

JUNE

June's highlight was the fun but sobering weekend with Braden's family. We left for Albert Pike Campground on Thursday to meet all of the family there for the weekend. This is the campground the Hoelzles go to every year (and have been for about 30 years). This year, the campground was full (not even 1 site left) when we arrived---that has NEVER been the case before, especially not on a Thursday! We were all disappointed, but were able to get 5 spots next to each other at a nearby campground which was located on a lake instead of a river. Thursday night it POURED!! The Lord protected us and we stayed pretty dry inside our tents and although we didn't sleep much that night our children did well.

Friday we woke up and decided to drive to Albert Pike and spend the day there. It wasn't until we were almost there that we saw tons of emergency vehicles and discovered that the road was closed for us to enter. We drove back to our campsite on the lake and visited with the park rangers. It was then that we learned about the tragedy! 20 people were killed in the flash flood and many were carried downstream before being rescued. We are so grateful for God sparing our lives, but our hearts are heavy for all those who lost loved ones. Braden and I spent several days before leaving praying for God's protection and blessing upon the weekend. We have no doubt that it was HIS hand that saved us!

After returning home safely from the camping trip with the Hoelzle family we spent a nice day at the Dallas Arboretum with lots of friends from church.

Caden enjoyed "preaching" to his audience of friends.

Caden's loves the Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny books, so the Beatrix Potter exhibits were fun.

Both boys enjoyed the petting zoo. Who knew all the Arboretum had to offer?!

We were blessed to spend Father's Day and Deacon's 1st birthday in Victoria with Marmee and PaPa. Deacon loves climbing into suitcases (or any box).

Caden had fun helping PaPa pick corn.

Wish my garden looked like this!

Deacon loves his "Daddy time!"

We always have lots of adventures at Mom and Dads. This year we went to a friends land where there are goats, chickens, donkeys, etc...

How about a kiss?

"Gladly!"

Pucker up, Deacon!

The goats were really fun, but taking the canoe out on the pond was really a treat! Notice that Caden wanted to help, so he's carrying the oar.

While the three of us enjoyed a relaxing ride in the canoe...

Deacon decided to ride the goat!

"If a man will will not work, he shall not eat." Braden made sure he helped Dad on the land so he could enjoy all mom's delicious food...and the ice cream :) They arrived just before Deacon's party--filthy!

Happy 1st b-day, Deacon. No decorations, no cute plate, mom placed an old Sesame Street placemat and some blocks on the table so there would at least be something for the "partyish" :)

Thanks to my friend, Robin for the Tres Leches Cake recipe.

He sure loved the whipped cream...who wouldn't?!

The end of June we drove to Californa with several stops along the way. The first stop was with Nannie and Grandad.

Caden sure loves being read to! He always runs to her bookshelf and grabs Penny for a Nickle for her to read to him. Thanks, Nannie!

The ever-popular "Big Bear." Each grandchild and now great-grandchild has precious memories with this bear! Deacon loves to snuggle.

After Abilene we were off for White Sands. The night before this picture was taken we were in a hotel and Deacon woke me up about midnight with a high fever. Then he threw up all over me. Braden finally left to go buy a thermometer so I could find out exactly what his temperature was. Pour baby, it was about 104!

Braden and Caden getting ready to slide down on the disk.

"I want to do it myself."

"Hang on!!"

"Wow! Let's do that again!!!"

Fun Times!

Pour Deacon was still running a little temp and was definitely not feeling like a sand photo shoot! Pour Baby!

Enjoying the scenery on trip!

JULY

California means fresh fruit off the trees. Oh how we miss that!

Mom and Dad arrived in time for our 4th of July Celebration.

Complete with backyard fireworks.

"I'm ready for battle"

"I'm ready for mischief!"

Helping Grandma make fresh orange juice for breakfast. Homemade jam on Grandma's homemade bread, eggs and fresh OJ....breakfast at Grandma's can't be beat!

Deacon decided to help clean up his mess.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

2010-08-24T10:29:00.003-05:00

Back in 2007 when I started the blog I was so good about weekly (if not daily) updates with pictures and stories. Then when Deacon was born, and we moved, and life seemed a bit more full, the blogging started to slow down a bit. This spring I did a little posting (mostly prayer updates) and hardly any photos. This summer I didn't do any posting! Hopefully now that we're back in town and back into a routine I'll begin posting updates and pictures again.

I'll start by posting pictures from the Spring (April and May)

A hill of bluebonnets near the house.

What mother lets their 3 yr. old run around in nothing but underwear....and a hat?

Caden enjoyed helping his Daddy plant tomatoes.

The soil here in Sachse isn't very good, so we did some in pots.

Over the next few days I'll try and post updates of all our summer adventures. We experienced God's protection and power at several memorable points this summer and are in awe of his grace and guidance....more to come on that!

2010-07-11T23:44:00.003-05:00

Below is the final update I'll be posting about Eva-Camille. Thank you all SO much for bringing this precious baby and her family before the Father's throne for the past 2 months. What a journey it has been for all of us--physically, emotionally, and most of all spiritually. This sweet baby has already been such a blessing to God's people. It will be exciting to see what God has in store for the rest of her life!

I'm in Isaiah right now and these Scriptures I read the other morning seemed fitting:

"O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago....Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation." -Isaiah 25:1 &12

Wouldn't it be wonderful for us to share Eva-Camille's story with others as a testimony of God's power and faithfulness?!

Isaiah 12:4-6 "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

Thank you again for joining in prayer! Our God is SO good!

Here's the message she sent via facebook:

July 8, 2010 at 6:23pm Subject: Update from Home!

Thank you everyone for praying for her feeding! On Monday, the day we came home, she miraculously figured out how to nurse! We took the feeding tube out as a trial the next day & have never had to put it back in!! She has been feeding very well the past 3 days at home! (Which is why I haven't had time to write an update!!!) PRAISE GOD FOR HIS ABUNDANT FAITHFULNESS!!!!

We are overjoyed to finally be here with her. Her first day she hardly slept because she just kept looking at everything with wide eyes and wonder. She has been adjusting well and is very good at being a beautiful, healthy 2 month old.

She already saw her pediatrician, who said her measurements & weight were normal, which she thought was impressive for everything she's been through! We will have a follow-up appointment with the pulmonologist (lung specialist) in the next few weeks. We are believing for continued good reports!! Praise be to God, who has heard our cries!!!!

With Love,Harmoni, Antonio & Eva-Camille

2010-06-21T18:56:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't been posting updates....hopefully everyone is following the success and prayer needs via facebook.
Here's the email I received today:

Thank you to everyone who prayed this morning! When she went down for the CT scan they didn't see enough air for them to put another chest tube in or even reposition the ones she has! PLEASE PRAY THESE WILL WORK EFFECTIVELY and be able to come out soon!!! Pray that her lung tissue will completely be healed & restored! They did see a small cyst on her left lung that should resolve itself. Please pray that it would quickly & without any harm. Also, praise God because when she came back they decided to wean her completely off the oxygen & she is breathing by herself (with the powerful help of the Breath of Life)!! And she took 3-4ml of milk out of a bottle today, learning the coordination of sucking & swallowing. We will try again tomorrow & may even be able to try nursing! Pray for quick coordination & success!
Love, The Pliegos

I'm so excited about a book I just started reading by Brother Andrew (author of God Smuggler) called And God Changed His Mind. The back of the book states that it covers

Knowing what to pray for
Learning God's viewpoint and purposes
The difference between personal and intercessory prayer
How to listen as well as talk to God
What to do when God says no
Learning to wait for God to act

The chapter titles include: We Are Not Helpless!, Who Can Change God's Mind, Asking According to God's Will, Come Boldly Before the Throne, How, Then, Shall We Pray?, When It's Satan's Will, Not God's, How We Can Defeat the Enemy, and What Should We Be Asking God to Do Today?

Hopefully I'll have a chance to blog some of my thoughts as I read the book this summer.

On another note, we celebrated Deacon's 1st b-day today....pictures to follow. He's been walking for a few weeks now, but really improved over this past week, now able to walk from room to room. So fun :)

Thanks again to all who are continuing to follow the updates and pray for Eva-Camille!

40 days and Eva-Camille!

2010-06-16T04:25:00.002-05:00

PLEASE JOIN US IN PRAYING FOR TOTAL HEALING---A DAY OF DELIVERANCE and CELEBRATION!!

Here's the email that we just sent to Harmoni and Antonio.....

During our prayer time from 3-4am several things came to our mind. Braden began thinking of all the things in Scripture that took 40 days....then he said, Lord, I bet it's been about 40 days since Eva-Camille was born and it was 40 days Jesus fasted and suffered in the wilderness and it was 40 days that Moses was on the mountain, 40 days of rain when Noah was on the ark (basically in each of these accounts it was 40 days of difficulty/struggle/weariness)....He prayed that our time of waiting would come to an end NOW and that just as God sent angels to attend to Jesus that He would fulfill our prayers and hopes today. I got out a calendar and began to count the days (May 7th being the 1st full day of life.....yesterday, the 15th was her 40th day!!!!).

Braden also noted that Eva-Camille was born on May 6th, the National Day of Prayer---God is doing something MIGHTY with this little one!

I had a sense that today was going to be a day of CELEBRATION!! I know that tonight the church is gathering to celebrate Antonio, but I believe we will be celebrating more than his ministry today. Believing that today will be a day for the miraculous--a day of deliverance---a day of rejoicing and dancing! Prayed for COMPLETE and total healing of her lungs, that just as God healed Naaman's leprous skin and made it like that of a little boy, that there would be total healing of Eva-Camille's lungs---that all tissue damaged by the meconium would be miraculously made new to that of flawless, PERFECT tissue. Praying there will be lots of gasps as the do the x-ray at 4am. Praying God will show Himself MIGHTY today. Believing that He will.

P.S. Braden's looking up all the "40" passages now....very interesting! Spies searched out the land 40 days. God's law said you could not give over 40 lashes, Israelites were handing over to Philistines for 40 years (Judges 13:1), Goliath taunted the Israelites for 40 days, Elijah was without food for 40 days on his way to Mt. Horeb, .... SO many more.

2010-06-02T13:21:00.003-05:00

She made it through CPR!! We are praising you, Father! She's now on a high-frequency ventilator. Let's continue crying out for the miraculous. We are believing God is going to move mountains! This video was posted on Eva-Camille's facebook page. The words are powerful--full of Scriptures! Lord, we're counting on You. You are our shield...You are the only Hope....Be Harmoni and Antonio's strength. Be Eva's Help, Strength, Shield, Portion, STRONG DELIVERER!! Hear our cries, see our tears, and be MOVED, Lord! For Your name's sake....BREATHE LIFE!!

Off the Ventilator!!!

2010-06-01T13:59:00.003-05:00

So much has happened since I posted on Saturday (which was probably Friday's email)....

Sunday they let Eva-Camille rest and heal so that they could begin aggressively weaning her from the ventilator starting Monday morning. Monday morning she was officially taken off the ventilator!! She had just some oxygen/pressure helping her in her nose and handled it very well (at first). Then yesterday afternoon her stats dropped really low and so they had to put her on 100% oxygen (via nasal canula) and took an x-ray to find out what was going on. Ends up that the left lung was still leaking which caused air to accumulate outside the lung which caused the chest tube to shift out of place. Once they fixed the tube her stats went back to normal.

So, as of Tuesday morning, she's been off the ventilator for almost 24 hours now and has only had 2 real spells where her breathing was being challenged to the point of her O2 dropping. Please keep praying that God will strengthen her lungs. It's a lot more work than when she was on the ventilator. Pray that she will get to the point where she breathes "effortlessly" so her little body doesn't have to work so hard.

Please continue to pray for total healing from any damage in her lungs, especially the leak that keeps accumulating air outside her left lung. Let's pray that God will seal any leaks so that the chest tube can be removed and Harmoni can hold her daughter (something she hasn't been able to do yet!). Let's also pray for a quick adaptation to learning to suck and swallow, which is required to feed on her own instead of through the feeding tube in her nose. Monday Eva-Camille was blowing bubbles in her mouth instead of swallowing (a skill she hasn't used since she's had a tube in her throat since the day she was born). Let's join with others to pray that God will be her teacher and that she will be swallowing soon!

God has done wonderous things in the last 26 days since she was born and we're believing that He will be FAITHFUL TO COMPLETE IT!

On a side note, Antonio's parents from Mexico are arriving tonight for about 3 weeks. Let's pray that Eva-Camille is released from the hospital within a week so that the family can all be home together!

Thank you for your prayers! I know the Pliegos really appreciate knowing they are being lifted before the throne of grace at every hour of the day and night!

Latest News on Eva

2010-05-21T14:15:00.005-05:00

Here is the email I just received from Harmony:

Subject: Morning Praise!/Gracias Dios Padre Celestial!

Thank you so much for praying!!! Last night Eva-Camille's heart rate was finally able to be brought down & her stats stayed good throughout the night! So this morning they cut her nitric oxide in half! Pray that she continues to respond well. Their goal is to wean her off of it completely by Sunday! They are also increasing the amount of breast milk she receives every 8 hrs since she has been processing it well.

Continued prayer points:
1. Wean completely off the nitric oxide
2. Wean completely off the ventilator
3. Wean completely off of the pain & sedation meds (Drs are saying once that process begins it could take 1-2 weeks)
4. Full recovery of every part of her body/ getting off the feeding tube

Braden and I had another blessed morning in prayer. So much joy in drawing near to God--pouring our hearts out to him. When you think about it, please continue to lift up Ryleigh Grace Cox http://thecoxcorner.blogspot.com/. If you remember, she was born over three months ago and is still at the hospital, but Praise God, she's over 5 lbs, has been able to nurse, and we're excited about the day that Rod and Kam will get to bring her home! Our God is MIGHTY TO SAVE!

Here are some Scriptures to pray:

But you, O Lord, are a shield about Eva-Camille, her glory, and the lifter of her head. From you, Lord, comes deliverance. May your blessing be upon her. (Psalm 3:3,8)

We will not fear, for You are with the Pliegos; we will not be dismayed, for You are our God. You will strengthen Eva-Camille and help her; You will uphold her with Your righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

Hear, O LORD, and answer us, for we are poor and needy. Guard Eva-Camille's life, for she will be devoted to you. You are her God; save this child who trusts in you. Have mercy on her, O LORD, for we call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servants, for to you, O LORD, we lift up our souls. (Psalm 86:1-2)

Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. (Jeremiah 32:17)

I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. (Psalm 116:1-2)

You performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, both in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. (Jer. 32:20)

I’m the Lord, the God of all mankind, is anything too hard for me? (Jer 32:27)

I’ll not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. (Psalm 118:17)

For he will command his angels concerning Eva-Camille to guard her in all her ways; they will lift her up in their hands…We pray that you rescue her and protect her, for we call upon Your name. We will call upon You, and You, Lord, will answer us; You will be with Eva-Camille in trouble…We pray that with long life You will satisfy her and show her Your salvation.” (Psalm 91:12,14-16)

This is what God the LORD says— he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand…” (Isaiah 42:5-6)

O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O LORD, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit.Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. (Psalm 30:2-4)

The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. (Job 33:4)

...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:20b)

I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. (Psalm 77:12-14)

Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:23-24)

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement, give the Pliegos and City Church a spirit of unity as they/we follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth we may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.(Romans 15:5)

The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. (Psalm 145:18-19)

Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. (Psalm 145:3.9,13)

Lord, you are faithful; strengthen and protect the Pliegos from the evil one. Direct their hearts into Your love and Christ’s perseverance. (2 Thess. 3:3,5)

But we call to God, and the LORD saves Eva-Camille. Evening, morning, and noon we cry out in distress and he hears our voice. (Psalm 55:16)

In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. For you have delivered Eva from death and her feet from stumbling, that she may walk before God in the light of life. (Psalm 56: 4,13)

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. (John 15:7)

Lord, God of hope, fill Antonio and Harmony with all joy and peace as they trust in You, so that they may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

The LORD your God is in the midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over Eva-Camille with gladness; he will quiet her by his love; he will exult over her with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep…How priceless is your unfailing love! With you is the fountain of life. (Psalm 36:5-7,9)

He shall lead His flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs in His arms. And carry them in His bosom and gently lead those who are with young.(Isaiah 40:11)

For you created Eva's inmost being; you knit her together in her mother's womb. I praise you because she is fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Her frame was not hidden from you when she was made in the secret place. When she was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw her unformed body. All the days ordained for her were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16)

May you, God, give us the desire of our heart and make all our plans succeed. We will shout for joy when You are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May you, Lord, grant all our requests. Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God! (Ps. 20:4-7)

But this is what the Lord says-he who created and formed you…”Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:1-3)

O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago…Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation. (Isaiah 25:1, 9)

You, Father, will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal. (Isaiah 26:3-4)

Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. (Psalm 5:1-3)

Thurs. Afternoon Report

2010-05-21T05:07:00.001-05:00

Here's the latest prayer request from Harmoni

Subject: Afternoon Report for Thurs.

Eva-Camille's heart rate increased as she was taken off the paralysis medication so they've been giving her more pain medication to keep her calm. The Dr believes she's having a harder time coming off due to continued pulmonary hypertension so they are not going to start weaning her from the nitric oxide yet, and may possibly increase one of the other drugs they're using to release the hypertension.
Prayer points for tonight are: Complete release of any remaining pulmonary hypertension and a stable heart rate (as well as all other vitals) through the night.
Thank you again and again!!!
Antonio & Harmoni

KEEP PRAYING!!

Latest Prayer Request

2010-05-20T15:54:00.002-05:00

I just got back from the hospital about an hour ago and had a wonderful visit with Harmoni and Antonio. There is hope, joy and praise for the many miracles that have occured already. Last night went really well and this morning the doctors took her off the pralysis medication!

Update: Just received this email-

"Please pray right now for Eva’s heart rate to go down. It is going up a lot and the Dr.’s are working to bring it down. Pray that she will not need the paralysis med to keep her calm."

Keep lifting Eva-Camille up before the throne of grace! God is doing miracles and we're all having our faith strengthened as we learn to trust him for each new moment.

Please Pray!

2010-05-19T11:45:00.002-05:00

Eva-Camille was born on May 6, 2010 to Harmoni and Antonio (a couple in ministry at our church). Eva-Camille breathed in meconium which cause problems with her lungs. She has been in the NICU since the 6th. As of Sunday the doctors where she was were beginning to loose hope saying there wasn't really anything else to do besides what they were already doing and no improvement was occurring (this was after a week already).

Our church began signing up to pray around the clock so that, until there is breakthrough, Eva-Camille will be lifted up before our Mighty God. As of yesterday, she was still on full support. Yesterday many from our church were fasting and praying---our God IS hearing our cries!

Yesterday they transferred her to Dallas Children's, and it went very smoothly. Her oxygen levels went up during the transfer--Praise the Lord! This morning I got this email:

Antonio says it was a "noche perfecto", a perfect night! Her levels continue to rise and they are turning back the machines. God is moving! The nurse on duty was a Christian. When her shift was starting the other nurse said, "I hope her levels don't drop." The Christian responded, "No. They will not drop!" Continue to pray for the hypertension to be reversed! Strong lungs! Strong heart! Wisdom for the Doctors! Our God is an Awesome God! Praise the Lord of Hosts! He is Eva-Camille's strength and shield.

Then, just a few minutes ago, I got this email:

Rejoicing! They are about to change Eva's ventilator from a high frequency ventilator to a normal ventilator. They are weaning her off other medications today and want to begin giving breast milk tomorrow!!!

Here's the facebook page if you want to let them know you are praying:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=121760187842348&v=wall&ref=mf

Also, a friend set up a site on facebook (using paypal) where you can help out with their finances. If you have questions about that just Elaine at babyeva@cableone.net.

Thanks for joining with us...prayer is SO POWERFUL!

FREEDOM!

2010-05-12T21:30:00.003-05:00

Ok all you blog readers, this is about to get personal. I am so excited about the path the Lord's been bringing me down. It's a path to FREEDOM! I believe He's showing me that the abundant life is found in brokenness. HEALING through CONFESSION (James 5:16). Sharing my journal entries and thoughts is stretching my comfort level. Two weeks ago I began praying for personal freedom. Here's part of my journal entry for Monday, April 26th:

Praying for personal freedom. Freedom not only from other's expectations, but freedom from others approval--especially the approval of those I label "spiritually mature." Freedom from shallow conversations to be able to go deeper. Freedom from whatever it is that is holding me back. Freedom to hear God's voice and be led & empowered by the Spirit. Freedom to weep--not just shed a few tears. Freedom from feeling like my children hinder me from ministry. Freedom from pride. Freedom to submit. Freedom from fear of offending when truth needs to be spoken. Freedom to "be real" and to know how to be. Freedom to confess to others so that I may be healed. Freedom from guilt for past sins.

Then as I was doing my daily Bible reading the following verse stood out to me from Ps. 36:2 "For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin." Ouch! I believe the Lord was reminding me exactly where pride could take me.

I had about a week to ponder/pray over all these thoughts. Then on Sunday, May 2nd Paul and Jenny Speed were speaking at church, finishing up a Freedom Seminar that they had been conducting all weekend. During their message I believe the Lord kept showing me that pride was holding me in bondage. Then, at the very end of the service our pastor said something that really struck a nerve. Something to the effect of "it doesn't take much humility to confess our sins/struggles to God b/c He already knows our flaws. It takes humility to be willing to confess our sins to each other."

Sunday night I spent several hours in prayer asking God to really show me areas that I may be in bondage. I was then blessed to be able to meet with my pastor's wife to share with her the things the Lord brought to my mind after sharing everything with Braden. I cannot express what a "weight" was lifted off me just to be able to confess my struggles. I was then able to call my brother and apologize to him and share my heart with him....something I would not have done two weeks ago. I feel like the Lord has restored to me the years that the locust had eaten (Joel 2:25). Praise God...and thank you, Christopher--what an amazing brother!

In an effort to embrace brokenness and tear off the garment of pride I'm going to post some of the areas of "bondage" I believe the Lord impressed upon my heart after a time of focused prayer. Here it goes (many are repeats from the previous week's journal time):

-Wanting approval from the "spiritually mature"

-Guilt from seeing bad habits in Caden that I've allowed

-Often feeling overwhelmed with nutrition(trying to fix healthy meals for family while staying up with the ever growing amount of "good nutrition" information), daily schedule, house cleaning, child-training, budget-keeping, blogging, email, ministry,...

-Unrealistic expectations on Braden

-Not able to cry in front of others

-Baggage from JH, HS, and College

-Constantly comparing myself with others instead of Christ

-Bondage to portraying a "this is what a Christian home looks like" image--why do I feel like I need to share only the good and not the bad (ie. real life)

So I'll take this opportunity to ask for your forgiveness for any pride/arrogance that is in my heart, words, actions,.... or blogging :) I'm going to try to seek to be more honest through not just portraying the good and glorious moments of motherhood, but the humbling "I'm a total sinner and my kids are too" moments. Is now a good time to share how I can't figure out a way to keep Caden from making it a whole day (or should I make that "hour") without picking on, pushing, grabbing, tackling, sitting on, or trying to suffocate his brother....And how in those moments I often become angry and scold him in frustration instead of speaking with self-control and gentleness?

What is so amazing about the path the Lord has me on is that I'm finding such Freedom in confession and brokenness. God's grace is so much more beautiful when I can more clearly see my own sin. So often in my life I've dealt with the "fruit"...trying to correct it, instead of addressing the "root". Nancy Leigh DeMoss has a great 41 Evidences of Pride list that the Lord led me to a few days ago. It lists lots of "fruit" that all have their "root" in pride. It was quite convicting!

Psalm 139

¹ O LORD, you have searched me

and you know me.

² You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

³ You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

⁴ Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O LORD.

⁵ You hem me in—behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

April Activites

2010-04-27T21:52:00.008-05:00

Caden really enjoys all the My First Little House on the Prairie books. At least since 2 yrs. old, we've checked them out at the library over and over and over. Around the time Deacon was born (2 yrs. 4 mo) he had several of the books memorized word for word. I'd like to order a set someday, but for now, the library's copies will have to do. One of the things I love about these books (besides the fact that they are written about real events that took place in Laura's life) is that home-life is exalted, the family works together, the children (Laura, Mary, Almanzo, Royal, Eliza Jane, Alice....) all have chores that must be completed, Pa is the leader & provider, and the family gets along and actually enjoys being together. These are all values I want to pass on to my children and it's wonderful to have a set of books that can reinforce these things in a subtle way.

Several of the books mention making butter (here Mary takes a turn churning the cream...Laura is too little for this job). Since we had some cream in the fridge we decided to make butter by just putting a little in a baby food jar and shaking it (with lid tightly screwed on) for several minutes. Caden had a lot of fun doing the shaking part (as you can imagine!).

Just in case you're wondering if the books are too girly for a little boy, I don't think so. It's nice that there are several books about Almanzo in the series ...and Caden doesn't seem to be showing any signs of loosing all his "boyness". After spreading his butter on his bread he began eating and then proudly showed me his latest creation, "Look Mama, I made a gun." He proceeded to make firing noises like Pa would make when he goes hunting for a deer in one of the books.

Three weeks ago Caden poked himself in the eye with the fireplace poker while I was cooking breakfast. He was bleeding so badly out of his eye that I couldn't tell what part of the eye was injured. Quite scary for me and Caden. Braden had already gone in to work, so I called our physician and then quickly (no shoes on Caden and Deacon still in his pajamas) loaded the kids in the car and drove to our doctor. By the time we arrived at our doctor, his eye had stopped bleeding and our doctor was able to tell that it would probably heal without needing to do anything. I'm so thankful that several family members (my Nannie especially) are daily lifting up my family in prayer. I have no doubt God's hand was watching over Caden, and there's no telling how many accidents have been prevented due to Caden's praying great-grandmothers.

You can see some bruising beneath his eye, but the cut across his eyelid healed so quickly. Praise God! We are having lots of fun with Caden's new memory verse pack(he's holding it in the pic above). Caden asks to do them at least once a day and it's become part of our morning routine after Braden reads from the Word. Click Here to order a set (called Foundation Verse Pack for $5). One of the verses he's memorized is Ps. 1:6 "The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." Caden has said several times since his accident, "We need to thank God b/c he was protecting me. Just like how the Lord watches over the way of the righteous...and he continues the verse." What better way to spend our time/resources than to hide God's Word in our heart...and in the hearts of the precious children God has entrusted to us?!

Easter in Longview

2010-04-27T20:51:00.005-05:00

As I mentioned in my Passover Celebration post, we really want to have a spiritual focus around the week/weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday. While some families choose to have fun with the Easter Bunny, etc., we haven't felt at peace with doing that in our family since we've sensed these things often compete....kind of like Santa competes with celebrating Christ's birth at Christmas. I'm totally not trying to preach to anyone, just sharing our thoughts.

Last year since Caden had just turned two, we kept it fairly simple. We read the story from the Read and Grow Picture Bible and made the Empty Tomb Cookies (really neat!). This year I picked up a box of Resurrection Eggs from Mardel (on sale for $10) and ordered Benjamin's Box off Amazon. The week leading up to Resurrection Sunday we opened one or two eggs each night and read the booklet that goes with them. Then during the day I would read the corresponding story from Benjamin's Box. Caden LOVED it. He would beg all day long to open another egg, and practically memorized the book and the pamphlet. Definitely a great way to have a "hands on" experience that really impresses the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection in a way a child can understand.

Here, Braden reads to Caden and his cousins as they get ready to open a resurrection egg.

I made my mother-in-law's famous dough cookies with Caden and Mabry in three shapes: cross (Jesus died), a circle (buried in a tomb & stone was rolled in front to seal it), a crown (Jesus rose from the dead and is now King of Kings in Heaven). I picked up the cross and crown cookie cutters at Hobby Lobby for 50 cents.

Here's the Eggless Buttermilk Cookies recipe:

1 ½ c. sugar (I just use 1 c.) 1 c. shortening (I’ve used butter) ¼ tsp. salt 1 tsp. soda 1 tsp. vanilla 1 c. buttermilk (1 c. milk + 1 T. vinegar) 5 ¼ c. flour (may not need it all)

Blend together sugar and shortening. Add salt, soda and vanilla. Mix well. Then add milk to mixture. Add flour a little at a time and keep mixing until it is like dough. Roll out dough, and cut out cookies. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 min.

I think they had a good time making the cookies--and a great time eating some of the dough!

Mimi boiled tons of eggs for the kids to dye--so much fun!

Saturday we were able to help Chandler celebrate her 1st b-day, and then that afternoon the cousins all enjoyed hunting for eggs--what a great yard for an egg hunt! Thanks Mimi and Papi for such a great time!

Caden sure loves being in Longview with his cousins! So do we!

Passover Celebration

2010-04-27T16:58:00.010-05:00

This was our family's first year to celebrate Passover. I ended up throwing it together very last minute (the day of), but I'd say that for our first attempt it was great! Caden is at the age now where he seemed to actually "get it"--most of it at least :) We really want a spiritual focus to surround Resurrection Sunday (aka Easter to most people), and celebrating Passover is one way to apply the Deut. 6:7 mandate. I think there's a real blessing in getting to celebrate the Jewish holidays--emphasizing how Jesus, the Messiah, brings new meaning to these times. Next year we'll hopefully get to have some other families join us for this special evening.

Caden loved getting to paint the "blood" above our doorpost. Caden retold the story of the Israelites in Egypt and what God commanded them to do before the last plague.

Ex. 12: ⁴ You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 24"Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. ²⁵ When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. ²⁶ And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' ²⁷ then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.'

Instead of "roasting it over an open fire" as the Israelites had to do, I used a crockpot and an easy recipe from a friend:

Here's the recipe which makes 4-6 servings:
1 med. Onion, thinly sliced
2 small carrots, cut in thin strips
1 rib celery, chopped
3 lamb shanks, cracked (oops, I just now read that part-I don't think I've
ever done that)
1-2 cloves garlic, split (I just crush mine)
11/2 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 bay leaves, crumbled
½ cup dry white wine
8-oz. can tomato sauce

1. Place onions, carrots, and celery in slow cooker.
2. Rub lamb with garlic and season with salt and pepper. Add to slow cooker.
3. Mix remaining ingredients together in separate bowl and add to meat and vegetables.
4. Cover. Cook on Low 8-10 hours, or high 4-6 hours.

I was a bit intimidated as it was my first time buying lamb, but it was a very quick/easy dish. The big "turkey leg" looking things are the lamb shanks.

We had raw horseradish (awful!), raw parsley which we dipped in the salt water, charoset (mine was a mixture of oats, honey, apples, cinnamon, raisins), unleavened bread (it was DELICIOUS!!), the lamb with veggies dish and grape juice for Caden--Sparkling for us.

Here's the Unleavened Bread Recipe:

4 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. white flour

2 c. water

1/4 c. honey

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 c. oil

Go to the recipezaar link for instructions.

We pretty much drink just water in our home (occasionally tea) so Caden's favorite part was definitely the grape juice. The only challenging part was getting Caden to wait before trying each item so that daddy could read the appropriate passage and discuss the symbolism of each food. It was fun hearing Braden read sections in Hebrew and neat listening to Caden ask his Daddy the Maggid (4 questions about the meal). We enjoyed listening to our Marty Goetz Messianic Jewish CD that my Aunt gave me during our evening. All in all it was a memorable night.

The next morning Caden came to the breakfast table and said, "Mama, I LOVE drinking blood!"

"Um, Caden, God doesn't want us to drink blood. In fact, He specifically states that in the Old and New Testament," I replied. I then went on to lecture on how many cultures throughout the world still do drink blood and view this as a delicacy, but how those people don't know the True God and aren't following Jesus. I then went on to add how we can pray that those people will come to know Jesus and told Caden that he might even grow up to be a missionary to one of these groups of people. After my educational/teaching moment Caden looked at me and said, "But Mama, we all drank blood last night and it was GOOD!" I then had to instruct on what the word represents means :)

Deacon Weeks 40-44

2010-04-27T15:35:00.003-05:00

Caden and Deacon love Daddy taking them on blanket rides throughout the house.

While the older kids enjoyed an egg hunt in Mimi's backyard...Deacon kept himself occupied gnawing on what was left of a pine cone. Everything becomes a teether!

Well, no 42 or 43 week pics for Deacon. Once again, my expectations of are higher than the weekly reality. My future children will be lucky if I have time to take monthly pics :) Here are a few of Caden's library "favorites" from last month. Of course, this month he has a new set (which hopefully I'll share before summer). Notice that I've lowered my expectations to that which I might actually accomplish--if I can get both kiddos to nap at the same time :)

Deacon is now 10 months old and into EVERYTHING! He's standing on his own longer and longer each day. He's able to get into a standing position from the middle of the room, squat down and then stand back up without support now. He's tried taking one step but hasn't quit got the hang of it. But believe me, I can hardly keep up with him now, so I'm in no hurry to have him walk. All I can say is thank goodness for my Ergo!! Since our exersaucer broke during the move I don't have any place to "stick" Deacon while I cook dinner, so I rely on wearing him on my back while cooking if I don't want to have to run out of the kitchen every 30 seconds to keep him from _________ (you name it!).

He's so very different from Caden at this age. I'm trying to really appreciate his inquisitive nature and fast moves, but I must admit that by supper time I'm often worn out! I've partially dismissed my former "don't child-proof the house, house-proof your child" ideas that worked so well with Caden. Maybe it's that I have to keep my eye on 2 now, maybe it's just that Caden was an exceptionally easy/submissive baby (notice I said baby, not toddler), maybe it's just that each child is so different, and maybe a combo of all 3--whatever the case, the fireplace tools are now in the garage, the basket of magazines is now on our desk and all bathroom doors must be shut at all times. This is just a partial list :)

One of Deacon's favorite adventures is playing in the toilet...which I always discover has been used by Caden but not flushed...so disgusting. Now I'm having to remind Caden to shut the bathroom door, b/c Deacon is still able to lift the toilet lid.

Deacon is sleeping better at night. He goes to bed about 7pm (being nursed), then wakes about 11pm to nurse again (before I go to sleep), then awakes about 5:45 (nurses again and I'm up for the day) and sleeps until about 8. Of course, it varies slightly, but that seems to be his basic routine he's fallen into. Many days now he just takes one afternoon nap instead of the morning and afternoon. I think it depends on when he gets up for the day. If after 8:30 then it's usually a one napper day, but on days like today where he's up at 7 then he has two good naps (1 1/2-2 hrs each). Today is thankfully a two napper day (hence I'm able to do some catch up blogging). Of course, give it a month and I'm sure it'll change some more.

0-3 months (slept lots...no real routine)

3-6 months (D took 3 naps; morning, afternoon, and another about 5pm)

6-9 months (D took 2 naps; morning and afternoon)

9-10 months (takes 1-2)

FYI: the schedule stuff is mainly for my own memory.

With Deacon it's always an adventure, but what a delightful adventure. He's all smiles and rarely ever fusses...unless I'm prying some forbidden object from his mouth. His cheerful nature adds so much joy to our home. So even though most days end with an absolutely exhausted mother, there nothing I'd rather be doing. I'm shaping Kingdom Investors--Soldiers for the Lord. What could be better?!

Back to Blogging

2010-03-26T22:20:00.017-05:00

Braden took Caden on another camping trip today, this time with a father/son from church. This has given me a wonderful opportunity to try and get caught up on some blogging. It's a long post, so if you get bogged down then at least check out the pictures & see the snow we got on Sunday.

Blogging definitely hasn't been a priority this year (hence only a few posts for 2010). It seems so much harder to find a time to blog with two boys who don't always nap at the same time and a husband who needs the computer in the evenings to work on school stuff. Life is definitely busy, not in a "life is so hectic" sense, but in a "mama with her hands full" sense--- Days are filled with books to read, errands to run, prayers to say, rockings and nursings, grocery shopping to do, walks to take, Scripture to repeat, parks to explore, picnics to enjoy, songs to sing, discipline to give, stories to tell (again and again and again), stories to act out (another of Caden's favorite activities at present), meals to cook, mouths to feed, dishes to clean, laundry to wash, games to play, bathes to give, etc.... and somehow blogging just hasn't been one of the items I've felt like adding to the list lately.

I'm still trying to take pictures of Deacon each week, but even that doesn't always happen. Here are some pics from the last month to update those who are interested.

Deacon is even more of a climber than I remember Caden being. A few weeks ago I was at the sink washing dishes when I turned around to discover that Deacon (in a matter of seconds) had managed to crawl over to the dishwasher and climb on up--the kid is fast!

Here Deacon enjoys holding on to Caden's birthday gift. I'm sure he'd climb up on it too if it wasn't so big.

Sweet Deacon always has a smile to give--I love it!

We celebrated Caden's birthday a week early with family at the house. He had another dirt cake (like his 1st b-day "cake") only this time it had a tractor on top carrying a load of three ice cream hay stacks with candles. With both Braden's brothers living so close it was nice having their families come celebrate along with my in-laws, parents and my grandparents.

He found the worms hidden in the dirt.

I think he liked it--what a sugar kick!

We now go everyday and ride his trike around the block or to the park.

The first weekend of March I went to an Above Rubies retreat with Deacon while Braden took Caden on his first Father-Son camping trip--just the two of them! Caden had a blast with his daddy! Braden was able to get the trike (which we found on Craig's List) from a family that happened to live on the way to the camping spot, so he was able to pick it up and then hide it from Caden until the party.

I can't believe Caden's three! I know mother's are always saying how quickly the time goes by, but it is just so true. Lord, help me to redeem the time that I have with Caden. Help me to faithfully disciple him while trusting in your grace and not in my own effort.

At Caden's birthday celebration Braden shared with Caden three things that he is encouraged by:

Caden's love for God's Word (Caden has memorized several verses/passages this past year and is ready to learn more. He LOVES for us to tell him Bible stories and often requests to then act them out. He loves hearing about God's movement throughout Scripture!)
Caden's heart for prayer (Caden loves to pray! He prays for the poor, the orphans, those that don't know Jesus, for Obama "that God will change his heart to goodness and faithfulness", for Pharaoh, "that God will change his heart to goodness" :) , and whenever he hears of someone that needs help--like the man that had run out of gas--he says, "Mama, lets pray for that person" or the man that shot the people at Fort Hood, "Mama, let's pray for him to know Jesus.")
Caden's desire be a helper/servant (Caden is always helping do chores. He is an expert with the car vacuum, helps take out the trash, unloads the silverware tray, loads/unloads laundry, folds washcloths, and when it comes to grocery shopping, I couldn't do it without him! He helps remind me of things on the list, he pushes the shopping cart--Kroger has little ones, he loads the items into the cart, and now that he knows where the bar codes are he scans all the items at the self-checkout counter so that all I have to do is bag them and pay! I love being in the middle of a task only to hear Caden say "Mama, can I help?"

We could have gone on and on with the "positives."

Braden then shared three areas in which we feel like the Lord wants Caden to keep growing in during this coming year: Kindness (especially towards Deacon), Self-control ("slow to anger"), and Obedience (done quickly/cheerfully). We'll look forward to seeing how the Lord works in his life over this next year to bring about growth in these areas. Caden is such a blessing to our family and we are so grateful for the 3 precious years we've had with him!

We love you, Caden!!

It snowed AGAIN!!!

About 10 or 11 pm Sat. March 20th it began to snow in Sachse, AGAIN! By Sunday morning we had another Winter Wonderland in our backyard!

Of course, as soon as Caden saw it he begged!!! to go outside and play.

Even Deacon joined the fun.

This was Deacon's first wagon ride and he was delighted!

Caden discovered that though his John Deere trike is tough, it doesn't do snow!

I can't believe the winter weather we've had this year. So many fun snow days!

Library Favorites

2010-02-22T14:58:00.001-06:00

Trips to the library are always one of our favorite weekly events. I thought I'd include a list of Caden's favorites in case you'd like to check out a few at your next library visit. When I say "favorites" I mean the ones he requests over and over. We usually check out about 20 books and about half are definite "read agains"...and again and again! I really like that our library has several books with the tapes included. He likes listening to the stories as he drifts off to sleep at nap time. Here are our favorite from this past month:

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom
Better Not Get Wet, Jesse Bear by Nancy White Carlstrom
Corduroy by Don Freeman
A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel (Caden loved going around the house saying, Tiki tiki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo)

We'll be off to the library after nap time today so I'll try and include another list next week.

Thanks for all the prayers for the Cox family! Keep lifting Ryleigh Grace up before our Father's throne, and feel free to let Rod and Kamara know they are in your prayers by leaving a comment on their blog (You don't have to have an account to comment...just click on the anonymous link and then you can leave them your name at the end of your note).

Praying for Baby Cox

2010-02-18T10:10:00.004-06:00

Please be lifting up our friends, Kamara and Rod, whose precious baby girl was just born at 24 weeks. Join us in bringing their family before our Father's throne. We've been asked to pray specifically for the family's strength physically, mentally and spiritually. Pray that God will show Himself in a mighty way within this situation and will keep the baby's vitals strong.

Caden and I have been acting out the story of Elijah raising the widow's son back to life over the past few weeks (he REALLY loves that story!). We're praying that just as "The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived."- 1 Kings 17:22 that God will hear our prayers of faith and sustain the life of this precious baby girl causing her to thrive!

Here's a link to their blog for updates http://thecoxcorner.blogspot.com/ Thanks for praying!

Hitting the Slopes

2010-02-15T16:06:00.003-06:00

Yes folks, this is in Texas, not Colorado! And yes, those are skis she's carrying!

Here's our "mountain" that we took turns sledding down on the air mattress.

Here goes Braden...

The air mattress worked, but the best "sled" was a piece of underlayment (like what you put down under laminant flooring).

Caden loved eating the snow--quite a treat!

And finally.....

Enjoying the snow fall :)

Snow Play

2010-02-15T16:03:00.001-06:00

Deacon looked on while the rest of us played.

Taking turns "sledding" down the driveway on the air mattress.

Even Angel enjoyed the snow play!

Several yards in the neighborhood have a nice incline. We shared our mattress with the kids at this house. So neat how the snow brought the whole neighborhood together.

Friday Morning Winter Wonderland

2010-02-15T15:56:00.002-06:00

The snow was forcasted to stop falling around 8 pm but it continued well into the night. By morning we had a beautiful scene in our backyard!

The pool was frozen on top but not enough to go ice skating on--wouldn't that have been fun?!

Isn't it lovely?!

Thurs. Night Snow

2010-02-15T15:52:00.001-06:00

I spent the week in Victoria and drove back to Sachse Thursday with the boys and Mykaela. The Lord gave us a safe trip on the snowy roads (we had lots of people praying) and, although we drove by lots of other cars that had slid off the road, we were fine. The trip took a lot longer since at times we were only going about 25 mph on I-35 due to road conditions. When we arrived home there was a nice layer of snow waiting for us. We all ate a quick dinner before I put Deacon to bed so that we could head outside to play in the snow.

It was just beautiful!

We had fun making snow angels and having snowball fights. The snow packed really well!

33 Weeks

2010-02-15T15:45:00.001-06:00

What glorious snow!

32 Weeks

2010-02-15T15:40:00.000-06:00

We finally began the infant potty training with Deacon. He's done really well and it has amazed me just as much this time as it did with Caden. How they know to go when you put them on the little potty is so interesting. I don't take Deacon nearly as often as I did Caden, but we still use it several times each day with great success :)

I love seeing the creativity in what Caden builds. Braden helped him with the long ramp, but everything else was his idea and doing. Later he brought out bowls of water, uncooked rice, and all sorts of other odds and ends to "experiment" with.

We finally got our fruit trees planted! We have two different varieties of plums and one pear. We might not live here long enough to enjoy the harvest, but at least we'll get some practice caring for fruit trees in the meantime. I'm so blessed to have a hard worker for a husband!

Above Rubies Retreat

2010-02-05T21:15:00.004-06:00

In case any of you gals are interested, the Above Rubies retreat is just south of Dallas this year. Nancy Campbell and her daughters will be speaking. You can check out the Texas Rubies page for registration info. The deadline to register is Sun. Feb. 7th so you still have a couple days to decide. I'm going just on Saturday this year(I thought sleeping in the bunks might be challenging with Deacon). I'd love to have others join me!

Scripture Memory

2010-01-21T14:18:00.004-06:00

Revive Our Hearts is challenging us to memorize Scripture this year. Each month they will suggest a different Scripture to memorize. January is the first chapter of 2 Peter. Braden and I have accepted the challenge, and it's been great! We're doing the Voyager track this month (2 Peter 1:3-11), but next month we'll start at the beginning of the month so that we can plan on the Master track. If memorizing God's Word isn't something you're in the habit of doing I REALLY encourage you to start! If you just don't think you can, listen to these broadcasts on Revive Our Hearts.

What I've found to be AWESOME about memorizing Scripture is that throughout my day the words just pop into my head....just like a song you can't seem to get out of your head. Talk about making a difference in my day! I can then turn the Scriptures into prayers while I'm nursing Deacon, taking a shower or doing the dishes.

I've noticed this with Caden too. As he's playing with his blocks or coloring I'll hear him repeating different Scriptures he knows---just like you catch your children singing their ABCs or saying a nursery rhyme. Children seem to be able to memorize Scripture far more easily than adults! Caden memorized all of Psalm 23 in just a few days--their minds are amazing! Now, although we talk with him about each of the Scriptures we choose for him to memorize, does he fully understand them all? Of course not! However, right now my goal is for him to have them in his mind with the hope of them working on his heart. As he grows older I'll trust the Holy Spirit to help him grow in the knowledge of what they mean and then bring them into his mind when he needs them. I'll post our favorite Bible memory verse CDs later.

Deacon Weeks 25-30

2010-01-21T13:36:00.004-06:00

Back to the world of blogging. I must admit that not blogging for a whole month has been pretty nice, and it allowed me to have more time for getting my home/life back in order. January is one of my favorite months b/c I have a chance to reorganize for the next year and get back "on-top" of everything. Here are Deacon's weekly pictures. You'll notice that over the Christmas break I gave up on # items= # weeks and decided to just type how old he was on the picture...not nearly as creative but less stressful for the holiday season!

As Deacon celebrated 25 weeks Caden enjoyed his last day with his pacifier! On December 15th we had a "cutting ceremony" and chopped off the end of Caden's pacifiers. Braden set up the tent in the living room for a "Big Boy" campout for just the two of them. Caden did great with it! He asked for it a few times over the next week but never got upset that he didn't have one anymore (I was absolute shocked!). The only negative (for me) was that my little boy who used to BEG to take his nap (b/c that's when he was allowed to have the paci) has NEVER asked to go take a nap since that day...and it's been over 5 weeks now. Thankfully, he still does take a wonderful afternoon nap (2-3 hrs) but it's just not at his request anymore.

At 26 Weeks Deacon could finally sit up unassisted (though still a little wobbly). He'd been "scootching" across the floor for a little while, but the carpet in Abilene sure helped...our laminate floors and fleece pants make "scootching" much more challenging!

No 27 week Picture...we were in Longview and I guess I depend too much on others taking pictures of the kiddos when we're there...or maybe those pictures are on our laptop. So fun to be with all Braden's family!

We arrived back in Sachse from Victoria where I had the privilege of assisting at a friend's birth. We miss all our friends in Victoria so much and it was great getting to be with them all again! At 28 weeks, Deacon now will army-crawl across the room, find something he wants and then put himself into the sitting position and start chewing away on his find. Here Caden and Deacon have fun playing with their new Christmas toys in their room.

Deacon got his first tooth while in Victoria, and so after his well-child check-up at 29 weeks we decided to try starting solids. Here Deacon enjoys "teething" on a frozen banana. This morning he ate a whole slice of mashed avocado(mixed with mama's milk). At his exam he weighed in at 20.4 lbs (83%) and measured 28 in. in length (85%). I suppose this means he's a bit bigger than most, but Caden was over 20 lbs. at his 4 month check-up--quite a difference!

Since last weekend Deacon has been pulling himself up into a standing position. I'll look over and he's standing up next to the couch when only moments before I put him on the center of the rug in our living room...the kid's fast...and strong!

If you can make it to Houston...

2010-01-12T21:11:00.004-06:00

http://thecall.com/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000049932

http://bound4life.com/ Check out these website for more info.

Let's all FAST & PRAY!

24 Weeks & Flour Play

2009-12-10T07:55:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we started our Christmas baking--sugar cookies and gingerbread men for starters. We'll finish it up with a few of mom's specialties this afternoon. Tomorrow we're taking up the goodies to Braden's classmates as they have their statistics final in the morning.

Braden finishes the semester next week!

Ok, my mother-in-law inspired me with a book I'm borrowing titled Play. I'll talk more about the book later but for now here are two pictures of Caden playing in flour in the kitchen. I placed a shower curtain under him so that cleaning up wouldn't be too difficult.

He LOVED it and has begged to "play in the flour" everyday since. He'll spend about 30 min. uninterrupted. I'm going to get brave soon and let him start mixing in water and get out more ingredients (I think she includes a few "recipes" in the book). Anyway, we had lots of fun with it!

Snowing in Sachse!

2009-12-02T20:29:00.002-06:00

Braden's brother Todd called us this morning to let us know it was snowing outside. Caden loved sliding on the deck and making little snowballs to throw at his Daddy. We had quite a memorable morning watching Caden experience his first snow!

Even Deacon didn't mind the cold. By an hour later all the snow had melted, but we sure had fun while it lasted.

We're trying to spend time each day between now and Christmas making memories--some fun, some faith-building. Today Caden and I used play-dough to create a nativity scene and he pretended to be the different characters as I told the Christmas Story. When Daddy came home he had to show him our creation of Baby Jesus in the manger. Tonight before our Advent reading we played pin-the-nose-on-the-snowman.

We all took turns being blindfolded. Later, Braden used the game to reinforce how Jesus is the Light and how we don't have to live in darkness because of Him. Simple game with a simple message--Caden had fun with it.

23 Weeks & Advent

2009-12-01T23:09:00.002-06:00

Pour Deacon has a horrible cough and lots of congestion in his lungs. Pray he gets well soon and can breathe more easily throughout the night.

I made peanut butter blossoms for the first time today--don't know why I'd never made these cookies before. I was planning on using the recipe on the back of the Hershey Kisses bag but changed my recipe last minute to one from allrecipe.com that only used three ingredients--1 c. peanut butter, 1 c. sugar, and 1 egg.

I thought they turned out ok....

Caden loved them(hence the messy hands)!

Sunday was officially the first day of Advent, but since we had just returned home from being out of town, we didn't get our advent wreath made until today. It's our first year to ever do an advent wreath. We're using a book called Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration for our nightly readings.

Traditionally you use 3 purple candles, 1 rose/pink candle and a white center candle. We decided to change it up and use colors that seemed more symbolic to us:

Week 1-Hope: Blue

Weeks 2- Preparation: Purple

Week 3-Joy: Yellow

Week 4-Love: Red

Christmas Eve-Jesus: White

Here's a link to explain the advent wreath.

Focus on the Family also has some Advent ideas in case you're interested.

We're praying this Christmas season we'll PREPARE our hearts with HOPE, JOY and LOVE as we celebrate the birth of JESUS.

22 Weeks...Gobble Gobble!

2009-12-01T22:01:00.001-06:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Longview. This year I experimented with two new recipes: a cajun cornbread dressing--yum yum and a cranberry sauce made with orange juice--loved it! We enjoyed spending time with all Braden's family, and Caden keeps saying that he misses playing with his cousins. We were even able to celebrate Grandma Verna's 90th birthday with a quick celebration Thanksgiving afternoon.

I find that it can get kinda crazy on Thanksgiving preparing all the food and getting everything ready so it was nice to have Hilliard help us refocus by discussing the end of Psalm 118--pointing everything back to Jesus. God has given us so much, especially here in America, but if all we had was Jesus we'd still be incredibly blessed!

I hope you each had a memorable Thanksgiving enjoying food and family and praising the Giver of all good things.

Caden's Funny Faces

2009-12-01T22:00:00.000-06:00

Caden is LOVING the party favor that Jacob gave him!

21 Weeks

2009-11-19T13:24:00.000-06:00

I've been in Victoria since Monday since Braden is working overtime this week trying to finish a paper before the Thanksgiving break. I was a little nervous making the trip by myself, but after the successful trip to Abilene I figured I'd give it a shot. The boys did AWESOME! Deacon fussed (not really crying) just before we got to Victoria for about 15 minutes--not bad for a whole day in the car! We left at 10 am and arrived about 5 pm. We stopped in Waco to have lunch at Chick-fil-A and let Caden play. The employees there were SO helpful! I just love that chain.
It's been quite a treat being back in town. We've loved getting to see many of our friends and spend time with Marmie and Pa Pa. As for the picture...
Yes, those are perm rollers. I got brave (or crazy) and decided to have mom give me a perm yesterday. I like it, and thankfully, it doesn't look anything like the last perm I had in third grade :)

As for an update on Deacon's sleeping and pacifier use...we gave him back the paci after we weaned him from it for a week. Now he'll go to sleep with or without it--sometimes he wants it, sometimes he doesn't. It comes in really handy at church and on long car trips. We did the Ferber thing for a little over a week and it went ok but then we went out of town, then back home, then out of town etc. During this time I put Deacon back in bed with us and we'd do a mixture each night of him in a bassinet or pack-n-play in our room and him in bed with us. The problem is that he has a mama that can't decide what she wants to do: co-sleep, in our room, sharing a room with Caden, or in his own room. We've done it all at this point (which is probably part of the problem!). I don't sleep nearly as well when he's in bed with us (although it sure is nice for nursing) or even when he's in the same room really. However, as I'm out of town again this week he once again is in bed with me (for at least half the night). So as for sleeping, I still haven't figured out what I want to stick to. I've read Ferber and I've read Sears and I just don't know. I do know that I don't want him to give up all his nightly feedings as I believe this is one of God's ways of providing natural child-spacing (for me at least). At least now I'm at the point where I don't feel sleep deprived when I get up in the morning, and really, that's all I'm hoping for. If you have any suggestions or advice I'd love to hear your different views.

I'm reading a book right now by the author of Grace-based Parenting that my sis-in-law mailed me called Why Christian Kids Rebel (or something like that). I'll try to post more on it latter. He makes some great points (not sure if I agree with everything, but definitely with most at this point). I'm hoping to read Grace-based Parenting later this year to give me another perspective from some of my favorite parenting books. I'm glad God pours grace upon all parents that are trying to faithfully fulfill that role even though the methods/ideologies we all embrace might differ. It's good to know I can put my hope in Him and not in my efforts. After all, there are no perfect parents, but we serve a PERFECT God who makes up for our failures! Thank you, Father!!

20 Weeks

2009-11-11T13:42:00.001-06:00

I had to download the I-20 sign from google images since I wasn't able to actually take a pic of Deacon in front of the sign on the way to Abilene, but had I not been by myself with the boys on the trip this is what I would have taken :)

My grandmother started a Motherly Love program in Abilene about 20 yrs ago--basically a mentoring program where godly/experienced moms mentor mothers of young children. They are covering different aspects of Child Training this year and mom and I were asked to come speak on training young children to be honoring, responsible/hard-workers who demonstrate self-control. Whew! Mom started with laying the Biblical foundation for everything and I ended with a bunch of practical ideas.

Last week after I recovered from the flu I busily made last-minute revisions on my part of the talk while trying to take care of both boys who had come down with 103 fevers and lovely coughs--oh what a week it was! I needed to be in Abilene by Thursday but on Wed. I wasn't exactly sure how that was going to happen. Thankfully Nannie and her prayer group offered up lots of petitions on my behalf and Thurs. morning both boys were doing MUCH better and the trip to Abilene (my first "long" car trip by myself with the boys) went miraculously smooth!

We enjoyed a nice weekend with Nannie and Grandad and Marmie and Pa Pa before heading home Saturday night. Sunday both boys were sick again and on Monday Caden was asleep for his nap (which he normally takes about 1 pm) by 10:30 and then went to bed for good at 5 pm and didn't wake up until after 7 am Tues. morning! I'm just grateful that God managed to give me sick children on either side of the trip and not during our time in Abilene-what a blessing in the midst of a trying week!

Caden fell asleep today by 11 am and it's now almost 2:30 and he's still not awake, so I'm thinking he hasn't quite recovered fully! Poor thing. Despite sick children we're having a wonderful week and are enjoying focusing on all the blessings God's given us as we prepare for this Thanksgiving!

19 Weeks & Oklahoma

2009-11-10T15:55:00.003-06:00

Well, Deacon wasn't quite 19 weeks (two days short) when we spent the weekend in Oklahoma, but when we got home I got a bad cold (or 24 hr. flu) complete with body aches, chills, fever, sore throat, cough, headache, etc... so this random pic will have to count :)

Thankfully I felt much better by Monday in time for Deacon's well child check-up. At 19 weeks he weighed in at 18 lbs. (91%) and is 27 in. long (95%). I guess that explains why he's in 6-9 month sizes right now.

The weather was perfect and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit with our good friends! N was in seminary with Braden in California and now he, R, and their two precious children are preparing to head to the mission field. It was so good to have a nice weekend away to reconnect and watch our little ones play together.

We thought the kids would really enjoy helping make faces in a pumpkin and cleaning out all the yucky mess--boy were we wrong. It ended up being the adults who cleaned and carved while Caden and A played chase/soccer/baseball with the pumpkin top. It was quite the sight.

What cute 2 yr olds!

18 Week Video

2009-11-10T15:12:00.000-06:00

18 Weeks Old

2009-10-29T20:47:00.001-05:00

Life's pretty crazy right now. I think Deacon must be teething as he's been up EVERY hour (yes, that's right) for the past three nights now! I'm barely functioning so I'm heading to bed now. No 18 week picture, but we did do an 18 week video a few days ago. Will post soon.

Week 17

2009-10-22T17:29:00.001-05:00

I'm trying to hang on (even though our leaves aren't). Deacon's finally settling into a predictable nap schedule which makes life run so much more smoothly! As for Caden--we're really working on various character issues right now...more to come on that latter :) I'm really trying to focus on creating an atmosphere of JOY in our home--lots of laughter and smiles and praises to God. This trait doesn't come as naturally to me as to some (but then, I guess that's why it's a fruit of the SPIRIT....I have to allow the Spirit to produce this in/through me).

I re-listened to the CD Twenty-four Hours Is All You Get by Susan Bradrick. It (once again) inspired me to make better use of my time and the time of my little ones. Therefore, this blog entry didn't get posted when I wanted to do it on Monday b/c "blogging" fell into category 3 (or 4). If you've don't own the CD, I HIGHLY recommend it as it's one of those you'll want to listen to several times each year. You can order it from http://graceandtruthbooks.com/listdetails.asp?ID=1915 or from http://www.visionforum.com/search/productdetail.aspx?search=24+hours&productid=37952.

The CD comes with some PDF downloads, so I've been working on the Priority Planning Sheet. She suggests prioritizing every activity (from sleeping/eating to recovering upholstery or taking a vacation) your family ever does into one of four categories:

Priority #1-Essential Must Do's: Activities that are essential to Godly healthy (spiritually or physically) human existence.

Priority #2-Very Important Should Do's: Activities that are very important for God-pleasing human existence, and which are dependent upon regular performance of #1 priorities. Beware: any of these can be taken to extremes and take up time which should be given to other high-priority activities thus becoming a detriment to Godly living.

Priority #3-Could Do's: Activities that are non-essential in most cases but which can be edifying and God-honoring if time remains after #1 & #2 Priorities are faithfully performed in your home on a daily basis. Beware: we often rationalize these into a higher priority category!

Priority #4-Would Like to Do's: Activities that are fun, relaxing, enjoyable, exciting, pleasant, etc. but which are really unnecessary for God-honoring living. In many cases, these activities dominate one's life and can actually interfere with observing the essential and important priorities. Beware: we often rationalize these into a higher priority category, too!

She has a whole list of all her family's activities categorized under each priority to show as an example--not as a list to follow. Anyway, I thought I'd list her #1 Priority items to give an example of what the Lord led her family to consider as "Essential Must Do's."

Frequent time in personal, intimate fellowship with God through prayer and quality time in His Word.
Getting adequate sleep most nights (normally 7-8 hrs/adults; 9-14 hrs/children; 14-18 hrs./infants)
Eating and drinking sufficient, nourishing food and liquid
Sharing intimate thoughts often with spouse & children regarding God and the work He is doing in your lives and world, in general
Reading, discussing, and memorizing God's Word with your spouse and children
Daily time to teach and train your children in cheerful, Godly obedience
Providing the basics of life: adequate food, shelter, clothing

Obviously what goes under priorities 1-4 will differ for each family but maybe the above list will help get you thinking as it did for our family.

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time for the days are evil. So then, do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:15-17

The leaves have fallen and the cold weather is here...Oh how I love Autumn!

16 Weeks & Victoria

2009-10-14T12:12:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful extended weekend in Victoria--our first time back since our move two months ago. We left Thursday night after Braden's class and got home last night. It was SO good to see all our friends and I'm already missing everyone. We were able to time our visit to celebrate Dad's b-day (which is actually today).

Over the weekend we attended Lilly's first b-day party, recovered all of mom's dining room chairs, turned 55 lbs of apples into applesauce, apple pies, and other apple treats, visited with our old neighbors and lots of friends, and enjoyed worshiping with our church family on Sunday. What a blessed weekend! Now our friends the Fojts are here and we're loving their company too--Caden sure loves to play with Brandon and Britney!

As for other exciting news, we found out my brother and sis-in-law are expecting ANOTHER boy...YAY!!! That means mom and dad will have five grandsons under 3 by the beginning of March--WOW! God is so good and we are excited about this addition to our family.

Still Baking & 15 weeks

2009-10-07T14:46:00.004-05:00

Caden has been busy in the kitchen helping me use our new grain mill. Yesterday we made tortillas and used them to make individual pizzas for dinner--delicious! If I'm in the kitchen he wants to be on the counter helping with whatever it is I'm making.

Sometimes this can be such an inconvenience --especially when he accidentally spills ingredients or makes messes but I'm constantly trying to remind myself that motherhood is not about what's convenient for me. Sometimes I struggle with patiently taking Caden under my wing, using these everyday moments for training him, talking to him of God's goodness, singing and memorizing Scriptures together. I really want to focus on making the most of each moment with him this week--not pushing him off to play when I have things that need to get done, but trying to include him and talk with him while we accomplish the days tasks. I also want to strive for times where we put the "to do" list behind us and just have moments of play and fun together.

As Deacon turned 15 weeks old I broke out my Solving Your Child's Sleep Problems by Ferber. This time I started with chapter one and actually read what he had to say instead of just reading the few paragraphs that seemed to apply. Our problem--a son who was just as addicted to the pacifier as Caden so that every time it fell out at night he'd wake up until we replaced it. He also wanted to nurse lots during the night (not that I'm opposed to middle of the night nursing)... I just was having trouble functioning the next day when I was up every hour of the night either replacing a pacifier or nursing my sweet baby. We decided to try and get him to where he could fall asleep with out the pacifier. Hence the picture of him with the timer.

Just for the record...I absolutely HATE allowing my baby to cry but I was beginning to hate "survival mode" during the day even more. I felt like I was becoming a bad mother for Caden who had a half-sleeping mama all day. There's no way I would have/could have "stuck with the program" if I had a baby that didn't (thankfully) fall asleep after his brief crying episodes. The longest was 26 minutes of crying and I was about in tears too. Now he is going to sleep with a couple minutes of brief fussing or no fussing at all (not the screaming he started with 3 days ago). He hasn't used a pacifier (night or day) since Sunday and I'm getting a good nights rest again. He still wakes up once in the middle of the night when I nurse him, but other than that he's a much better sleeper and a happier baby.

I might end up using the pacifier for church or other "quiet places" after this paci-weaning week is over since that is really nice. And if the Ferber method ends up not working in a few weeks I'll probably go back to using the pacifier all over again just so I don't have to go through those awful baby crying episodes all over again.
I know lots of you are big advocates of this method and others are strongly opposed to it--I'm still not exactly sure where I stand and have really been praying about it lots all week. I'm just glad it seemed to have worked and that awful first day is over!

Yes, that says 15 minutes--week 15, remember?

14 Weeks & Two Jobs

2009-10-01T14:16:00.002-05:00

Ok, I really did take this picture on Monday but it's taken me this long to post--sorry.

I found a great deal on apples last week at Sprouts (.49/lb) so we bought 10 lbs and made lots of applesauce and apple pies. Yesterday was the last day for the sale price so I went back and bought another, lets see, 55 lbs of apples. 15 lbs are for mom and dad so that leaves me with 40 lbs. to put up for the winter. I'm so excited about the thought of more apple pies, applesauce, apple muffins, apple pancakes, etc. If you have a favorite apple recipe that you'd like to share I'd love to have it!

I'm still struggling to figure out how life can run smoothly with two boys. I'm beginning to think "smoothly" is an unrealistic expectation right now and am trying to remain thankful and joyful throughout my "bumpy" days. It's not that every day is difficult--we'll have several good days but the difficult ones are sprinkled in there. It always seems harder when I've had little sleep the night before. I become easily frustrated (something I'm trying to work on) and have moments when I just want to stop and cry--but I don't b/c I'm sure Caden would really think I'd lost it.

I'm encouraged by all the other moms I see that are faithfully carrying out the noble task of motherhood and by the Scriptures which remind me that God will supply me with everything I need for life and godliness--including the ability to joyfully embrace this wonderful (although challenging) task as mother/homemaker.

Here's my friend Rachel's post regarding this that really encouraged me:

Working a job and a half

May 21, 2009

Today I'm wondering how mothers through the ages have done it. Somehow they have managed across the majority of cultures and times to successfully navigate two jobs, both nearly full-time in their scope.

The full-time, decade-long, without-a-vacation task of childcare, goes something like this...
The baby needs a new diaper at least 10 times a day, and often manages to get the contents of that diaper onto his clothes and whatever he is laying on, so his burp rag, his blanket, his clothes, and/or your shirt must be changed. The toddler needs a snack or meal every two-three hours and cries that it does not appear in front of her at the instant that she requests it. She then cries that it is not the snack she did not ask for but now thinks she wants. The toddler's nose always seems to need wiped when she's got a cold and when she proudly wipes it herself a smear of mucus across her upper lip, cheek, and forehead are worse than the alternative. The toddler's face and hands ALWAYS need to be wiped/washed. The toddler needs to go outside, needs to be taken to see her grandparents, friends, and aunts/uncles, needs to be cuddled and read to and prayed with and talked to and played with and is able to tell you so in very immature, insistent, and honest ways. The infant needs to be talked and sung to when he's awake, burped, mopped up from violent spit-up incidents, and cuddled/comforted to sleep when he's worked up. He also needs to nurse... while your toddler is also hungry, while your toddler thinks she needs 12 books read to her or a special toy off her top shelf that she quickly abandons once acquired, while your toddler goes pee all over the bathroom floor while she was supposed to be sitting on the potty chair and you are getting her a clean diaper, while your toddler takes her nap, and while your toddler_________ (fill in the blank). In fact, almost invariably, each of the above tasks are urgently needing to be done in the exact same moments and your day consists of an unending motherly triage in discerning which of your two children's many needs are most urgent.

The other job, housekeeping, should go something like this...

You make the bed, you make breakfast and then you do the dishes, you do some laundry from your reasonably sized pile of dirty clothes and then fold and put them away in their proper places, you clean the mirror in the bathroom or polish the furniture or mop the floors, you think up a tasty dinner with all 5 food groups in right proportions and you get started on it early, you weed the garden and water the plants that have not been rained on in several days, you straighten the almost tidy living room, you wash the dinner dishes and call it an orderly, well-done day. You know this is how it should go because in your better moments as a wife when you weren't working outside the home or when you had a calm unbooked Saturday this is how it did look. And it was good.

In fact it looks a lot more like this...

Your living room is hidden under mounds of half-folded laundry that the toddler keeps shaking out after it's folded because she's "helping", mountains of children's books that have been read and stacked in a pile to indicate that they are "finished", heaps of toys that have migrated from their rightful places in the children's room and not found their way back, & random papers and other things that you realize don't really have a place in your house so they get stacked together or placed in corners to be found a home for later. Your kitchen counters indicate that dishes have not been done in at least a week although the reality is that it has just been day after day of getting "almost finished" followed by a normal day when you didn't get a chance. Your bathroom has mold growing on the shower walls that you noticed last week and countless times since, promptly being interrupted each time by a more pressing need than bleaching it. Your laundry hampers look like you haven't begun the week's load, when really you've already done 4 loads, the normal quota in the pre-2nd child era of your life. Your trash can is overflowing and your home smells like the fish you made for supper the night before. This is status-quo for the last 5 weeks of your life. You try not to stop and think about it because then you get the sinking feeling that makes you want to go do something mindless--usually sitting down with the baby in front of a wall or computer screen or book and telling the toddler you're too "busy" to play or read right now. Then something happens that jolts you to attention to your surroundings. An as-yet child-less couple from Sunday School drops by unexpectedly to pick up a borrowed tool. And it hits you...your living place has in all your 27 years of life never looked like such a total wreck. You smile sheepishly, mumble an apology about the mess, and rationalize in your mind, "this is okay because they are seeing you at your most real, and it is okay that people know you are not perfect." "But really," another little voice in your head argues, "you don't want to be perfect, you just want some level of competency at your second job so your friends and your husband don't enter the threshold of your home and wonder what in heavens name you've been doing with your day."

Mothers through the ages have been doing a job and a half. They have been competent and hardworking housekeepers and successful, patient, & kind mothers, right? If so, how come I can't be one of those normal ladies? Or do I have history pegged all wrong and could nearly all mothers with young children identify with these thoughts? And if so, how do I cheerfully resign myself to and make it through this brand of life for a season, however short?

Can anyone else relate with this? May God give us all grace as we seek to accomplish what HE places on our plate--and don't forget to stop and enjoy some apple pie every once in a while :)

13 Weeks

2009-09-23T13:54:00.000-05:00

Our sweet Deacon is 13 weeks and his mama started back into cloth diapering. It seems to take me about 3 months before life settles down enough for me to add in this extra task. I still have to put him in a disposable at night b/c no matter how great the insert I can't seem to keep him from soaking through at night. I think it's due to sleeping on his tummy. Caden had this same problem when he slept on his tummy as a baby (of course, Caden would soak through disposables at night too--combo of tummy sleeping and nursing a zillion times each night).

We love the doctor we found! If you're near McKinney and wanting a great holistic doctor here's his site: http://www.harmonyfamilyhealth.com/index.html I had to take Deacon in yesterday b/c the thrush had returned--what a battle it's been. Each time I treated him with gentian violet or grapefruit seed extract it would quickly go away, but b/c it kept returning I decided to make an appt. Our doctor said he always recommends starting with gentian violet but recommended Deacon start Nystatin since it's now his fourth episode. He also told me to treat myself with apple cider vinegar & 5 min. of sunlight and then to apply an acidophilous paste to the inside of Deacon's cheeks a few times each day. Hopefully this will kill it all off for good!

We've also been blessed with a wonderful church! You can check out the churches site http://citychurchintl.org/ We prayed and prayed before moving here that the Lord would provide a good church home and He quickly answered that prayer. The church meets near Braden's school so its location is great for inviting other students, but it also has a small group that meets right near Sachse! We went to our community group for the first time last night and came away so blessed. The church is very passionate about the Lord, evangelistic and prayer centered. They really encourage holiness and transformed lives and encourage each family to minister/serve together. We found out about it through the family-integrated church website. It's a 30 min. drive on Sundays but well worth it! We are praising God for answering our prayer so quickly.

Wonderful Weekend!

2009-09-23T13:30:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful weekend we had! Mom and Dad arrived last Thursday to help celebrate my b-day and to spend time with the boys. Caden was entertained non-stop the whole time and loved every moment. He and PaPa worked on the car together, made salsa, built a tower of books/blocks, and played lots of games while Marmie read him TONS of books (and he couldn't get enough!!). Caden's top picks from Marmie's shelf are Make Way for Ducklings, Last One Home is a Green Pig and Blueberries for Sal. It was fun to hear her reading him all the books that I remember being read as a child--and that my Nannie read to my mom for that matter.

As fun as it is to build a tower the best part is always knocking it down in Caden's opinion :)

Mom is such a servant (Dad is too!!). She helped me sew more curtains and pillowcases while she was here along with cooking some FABULOUS meals--her famous cinnamon rolls and the homemade Schlotskys were an absolute treat! They had to leave on Saturday and I just about cried again as they drove away. I sure am praying the Lord puts us back in the same town someday (the same street would sure be nice!).

Last week I was blessed beyond measure with lots of out-of-town company. Tom and Katie Olson visited us last Monday, Mom and Dad were here Thurs-Sat. Darrell Klimitchek came and had dinner with us on Fri. night, and Sat. night Nathan and Jackelynn came and spent the night here and then went to church with us on Sunday. It was the most WONDERFUL weekend and I was sure sorry to see it end. I'm just thankful we've had so many visits from all our Victoria friends considering we've just been gone a little over a month. How blessed we've been!

12 Weeks Old

2009-09-16T17:27:00.000-05:00

Well, you can't really tell that there are 12 candles in the photo but there are. We celebrated my 27th b-day yesterday, and Braden made a FABULOUS shortcake topped with strawberries and a whipped cream sauce---it was DELICIOUS!!! As far as birthdays go, I'd have to say yesterdays was the worst (until Braden got home--it was wonderful from there!)

I only got three hours of sleep the night before (a two hour stretch followed by a 1 hr stretch later on), so I was exhausted all day. Caden was on a roll yesterday morning. Half the time he was being directly defiant but the other half the time it was just one little thing after another. The morning started when he called me into the bathroom at 6:15. I walked in to find Caden standing on the counter next to the sink in a puddle of pee. After sticking him in the tub I scrubbed down the counters, cabinets and floor which had all received his shower. Later that morning he stuck a handful of coins into the car CD player, and I only managed to get one quarter out...the rest are still in there and now it won't work - obviously; he dumped flour all over the floor, kept sticking lids/tops in his mouth--top to the milk, the vanilla, etc..., dumped water all over the floor (yes, "dumped" not "spilled"), and to top it all off he spit in Deacon's eye b/c Deacon was fussing and according to Caden he was "just trying to help"--I guess that's what we get for reading him the story of Jesus healing the blind man :)

By naptime I was in ultra survival mode and instead of fixing the dinner I had planned I decided to use the boys naptime to take a nap myself--I was desperate for some sleep. I put Caden down at 12:45 but Deacon didn't go to sleep until 1:15. Then Deacon woke at 1:45 for some reason so my "nice long nap" turned into a 20 min. cat-nap. Deacon fell back asleep about 2:15 and I fell back asleep only to be awoken by Caden at 2:30. I was ready to cry and both Caden and Deacon were crying. Needless to say, when Braden walked through the door at 4:45 with flowers and a big hug I was more than relieved! He helped make tacos and enchiladas, gave Caden some Daddy time, made a wonderful dessert, and to top it all off, he took Deacon (& the bottle I had pumped into) to sleep in the living room with him so that I could get a full nights sleep. Deacon slept from 9pm-4:30am, his longest stretch ever! I got up and nursed him at 5 and then went back to sleep. I got to sleep from 9:45 until 7:15 (minus the quick nursing)--and today I felt like a new woman!
What a beautiful gift sleep is!!

Today has been great and the boys have done so much better (thank you Lord). Now I'm ready to go enjoy the roast & potatoes I postponed from yesterday.

Caden & Tyler

2009-09-09T14:01:00.001-05:00

We enjoyed a visit from Caden's best friend, Tyler on Friday. We have a WONDERFUL park just a few minutes from our home. It has a really nice covered playground, and we enjoyed getting to take Tyler along. We left our babies sleeping with the daddies while we watched our boys play, wrestle, and give sweet hugs :)

We miss you, Tyler!!!

11 Weeks Old

2009-09-09T13:37:00.003-05:00

Poor Deacon began the week with his first cold. He's been a little more fussy than normal but still has plenty of smiles to share. He's awoken a little more during the night, but thankfully he's been able to go back to sleep fairly quickly, and so I've managed to still function the next day. He's got another round of thrush so this time I'm treating him with grapefruit seed extract to see if we can knock this out....I'd prefer to stay away from Nystatin if possible. Dr. Gordon has a good article on his website about treatment options http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/bf/thrush.asp, and I love his DVD on vaccines for those who are curious.

Now for the weekend...
Our good friends from Victoria came to stay with us Friday and we had a wonderful time getting to visit and letting our boys play(I'll post those pics in a minute). Caden cried and cried when the Pauls drove away and kept begging to have them come back. We miss y'all!!
We then drove to Longview to spend the weekend with Braden's family. We had a wonderful time watching all the grandkids play together. Jacob helped Braden keep on eye on the three toddlers outside while the three babies were inside...it's quite a busy place.

Sunday after church we got a picture of 7 (out of 10) grands, but only Addie had her camera so I'll have to wait for a copy from her.

10 Weeks Old

2009-09-01T15:31:00.000-05:00

To celebrate 10 weeks we got a picture of Deacon with Caden's 10 "friends". Deacon is much more "smiley" than Caden was as a baby and is getting to be quite the charmer. We are really enjoying him and all those smiles.

Now, you might not be able to see my labels on the picture, but Caden has named all his little toys and it is so fun to watch him play with them in the living room. Caden plays the most with "Uncle Andy" and "Mae Mae"--taking them fishing, to play soccer, to go potty, etc. He likes taking "Mykaela" and "Bridget" on walks to "Papa's" land. Then everyone goes to "Marmie's" house for lunch. I should have taken some video of him playing this morning as it really was hysterical to see (and hear) his imagination at work. Later this morning he realized he didn't have a character for Lily so he used a lion puzzle piece for her. When I asked him to clean up before lunch I told him he'd forgot to put the lion puzzle piece away, to which he explained, "Mama, that's not a lion...it's Lily!" How we miss all our friends in Victoria!!

Daddy Duty...is my man great or what?! The semester officially started last week but Braden always has plenty of time for the boys before he hits the books. He is such an amazing daddy and I just love watching him interact with our sons.

Who says a two year old and a two month old can't play together? Caden usually listens to Deacon's heart with the stethoscope but I guess when the heart is covered by a stuffed animal you have to settle for the hand instead :)

9 Weeks Old

2009-08-24T13:00:00.000-05:00

As Deacon turns nine weeks old I'm busy trying to find place for all the pictures and decor that we brought. I'm not known for my decorating abilities (and must confess that I greatly envy those who have that gift!), so finding the right place to hang everything is quite the challenge. I'm thankful that all the boxes are finally packed and that making our house feel more like home is all that's left now.

Deacon currently has a purple mouth, lips, etc... due to another case of thrush. He got his first case when we moved here and I treated it with gentian violet and the next day it had cleared up. This past weekend he got another bout with it, but I waited to treat him until Sunday afternoon as I didn't want to deal with all the funny looks and questions we might receive had I brought him to church that way :) I'm hoping that by the time the purple has gone away the thrush will be gone.

He smiles more and more and is finally getting past his fussy, "can't get comfortable" times. He's also sleeping MUCH better at night. In fact, the past couple nights he's gone to bed a 9pm, woken to nurse at 2:15, woken at 4:45 with burps/gas (back to sleep quickly), and nursed again about 6. Braden is such a wonderful daddy!! He gets up at the 4:45 wakings to burp Deacon and get him back to sleep, so basically it's meant I'm only getting up once a night---WOW---what a difference from my "up-10-times-a-night-Caden"!!! I'm praying this lasts, but only the Lord knows. I know He'll give me the grace to function the next day, but getting a good night sleep sure makes it easier!
The boys are sleeping in the same room now (for the past 3 days at least) and it has actually worked remarkably well. I moved Deacon out of our room b/c all his little grunts and movements were keeping me up all night. At first he was in our closet but then I decided to go ahead and try to see if putting them in the same room would work (it worked well for my sis-in-law). Sure enough, Deacon's managed to take his long nap in the afternoon at the same time Caden takes his and so far they aren't waking each other up (that was my fear).

Caden loves to "play" with Deacon and is so excited that they now share a room. His favorite new activity is pushing Deacon around the living room in the bumbo...what fun!

And finally, my handsome hubby with our two precious sons (one with crooked bangs and the other with a purple mouth...what a pair).

8 Weeks Old

2009-08-18T22:57:00.000-05:00

No, Deacon didn't get a haircut, but since Caden did we thought the scissors would still be appropriate. When I took Deacon in at 7 weeks for a weight check he was 12 lb 8 oz. I'm not sure how much he weighs this week but he's definitely getting bigger. He's in 3-6 month sizes now. I forgot how quickly they outgrow the 0-3 month stuff!

We decided Caden needed a slight trim :) and so we decided to go out on the back porch last night and save some $ by doing it ourselves. I was just going to trim his bangs to get them out of his eyes and then trim the back just a bit (trying to save the curls). We'll, Caden wanted nothing to do with it and since he was moving so much Braden said he would take over and do the job....well, Caden moved, Braden cut, and the next thing you know we had a kid with much shorter (and very crooked) hair (not Braden's fault of course!). By the end of our hair cutting session we had both taken a few turns and the result was pretty bad.

Anyway, this morning I got on the phone and found a place in town that agreed to cut his hair for $5. It definitely helped, but we both prefer our sweet boy with the longer hair look. Oh well, hair grows and so it isn't the end of the world.
When we got home it was nap time and Caden picked out the Teach Them To Your Children book and opened it to the story about a haircut....I guess he felt he could identify with the doll in the story :)

I'll try to post before and after pictures later.

Love those Grandparents!

2009-08-18T22:41:00.000-05:00

Thank you Mimi and Pappy & Marmee and Pa Pa for all your help!

So thankful for the time we had with y'all this past weekend!

7 Weeks Old & Moving

2009-08-18T22:32:00.000-05:00

I'm a week late posting Deacon's 7 week picture, but here he is at 7 wks just before we left town. He was a trooper throughout the moving process and was *usually* content to be in the swing while we loaded boxes. I say *usually* b/c he definitely had his fussy times when he had to be held. Thankfully we had lots of ladies from church willing to help with that role :)

Caden wanted to be a helper and load some boxes on the truck too. He did quite well on the moving trip also and is really enjoying his new home...especially the pool!

Mom and Dad stayed for about 5 days helping us get settled. The first item for the men was to put up a fence around the pool. I must say they did a fabulous job....thanks Dad and Braden (and Harry & Scott!!)

Well, when mom and dad were driving away I'll admit that I shed a few tears before coming in and having a good cry while I rocked Caden and put him down for his nap. I sure am going to miss them! I'm glad we're only 51/2 hours away. Caden will miss them too. I'm looking forward to setting up Skype so that we can visit over the computer.

6 Weeks Old

2009-08-04T21:08:00.001-05:00

Well, we're finally getting smiles out of our little guy. Amazing how a little turn of the lips just makes your heart melt. Last night was a major milestone as Deacon only nursed once all night!! He went 5 hrs. on either side of nursing....WOW! Of course, I guess I shouldn't call it a milestone as it was probably a one-and-only occurrence. We'll see hoe he does tonight.
On our way home from Horseshoe Bay we were able to stop in San Antonio and see Addie, Andy, Mabry and our newest niece, Allie! What a treat. Caden loved getting to play with Mabry for a few hours and it was fun to see our two babies sleeping next to each other while their older siblings played.
Sunday night we enjoyed a wonderful going-away party from our church family. Our church feels just like family to us and we will miss them all SO much! After unpacking from our trip we're now busy packing up boxes for our move...what a summer!

Isn't he adorable?!

Horseshoe Bay

2009-08-04T21:00:00.001-05:00

Caden LOVED his time in the pool....especially jumping off the diving board to Daddy. He finally started jumping off without someone there to catch him and would swim to the steps.

We took a quick family outing on the seadoo while Deacon slept. Caden kept asking, "Some more?!"

Caden loves to be read to, and his new favorite books over the week were The Noisy Books by Margaret Wise Brown. Here Uncle Chris does the honors....thanks bro!

Sascha celebrated his 2nd birthday while at Horseshoe. He is absolutely adorable and is the smartest little guy...he's reading very well now and knows all his states and their capitals (thanks to a puzzle that he plays with). It was so good to spend time with Sascha and Sebastian as we don't get to see them nearly as often as we'd like.

5 Weeks Old

2009-07-28T15:11:00.002-05:00

We've spent this past week enjoying our annual family get-together at Horseshoe Bay with all my mom's family. Caden has enjoyed spending time with all the relatives (especially his cousins!). The first two days after we arrived Deacon was fussy, but now he's back to doing well at nighttime and he's much less fussy during the day. He still gets the hick-ups multiple times each day, and he can't be laid down after a feeding without a good burping or he spits up. He smiled a few times this week which I LOVED.... a wonderful glimpse of what's to come.

Caden still has to be reminded that he must kiss GENTLY and that he's not allowed to squeeze Deacon. At times I think he's genuinely trying to be sweet but other times I'm pretty sure he knows he's hurting his little brother. If anyone has any tips on encouraging Caden to be kind and gentle towards Deacon I'm definitely open to suggestions! I'm fine with Caden wrestling with Daddy...just not the baby!
More pictures of Caden in the pool to come....we've got a little fish on our hands!
Off to see if I can catch a little nap before the boys wake up.

"FOR" Weeks Old

2009-07-21T21:47:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been a month since our Deacon was born! He's four weeks old now and doing great. He tends to have a fussy time in the evenings, but I'm hoping that won't last long. We introduced him to a pacifier on our Dallas trip and that tends to help during those times.
This past week has been a week of selling. We found a buyer for our house (Thank you, Lord!). We've also listed lots of other items for sale on Craig's List. Yesterday we sold Braden's radial arm saw. Tonight we sold the washing machine...I guess I'll have to take our laundry to mom's until we move. We plan on having a garage sale before moving unless we can sell all our big/bulky items via Craig's list before then.
It's been hard accomplishing everything on the "to do" list with both boys but one of the girls from church came home with us Sunday, spent the night and then helped with the boys and household tasks on Monday also. What a blessing!!! Thank you, Bridget. I look forward to the day when I can "shoot out" my children like arrows to help serve those who have needs. Caden will miss his babysitters Bridget and Mykaela so much when we move and we will too!

3 Weeks Old

2009-07-15T09:00:00.001-05:00

It's hard to see, but the three green squares are Monopoly houses.

We spent the past week at Braden's brother's home in Sachse as we looked for housing each day with the real estate agent. Our first trip two weeks ago we looked at Richardson and Plano. This trip we looked in Garland, Rowlett, and Sachse. We liked Sachse more than all the other towns plus the housing there is VERY reasonable.

Last Friday Braden's parents drove in to help with Caden while we looked at housing. We actually ended up only needing to look at three houses once they arrived (all in Sachse) and they were able to go with us to see the houses. We decided to make an offer on the next to last house we saw (it was just what we had been looking/praying for!) and the couple made a counter-offer which we accepted. We stayed in the area in order to be present for the inspection (which was yesterday). All has gone well and we are closing at the end of July.

Now you can pray that we sell our house here in Victoria quickly. A potential buyer came to look at the house again today (her third visit). Pray that she will be able to buy it if that is what is best. We know the Lord will provide a buyer at exactly the right time.

The children did very well on the trip. We had a few melt-down moments but all-in-all I'd say they handled our crazy week pretty well. Deacon is growing longer and most his newborn onsies don't fit anymore (I forgot how quickly they grow out of those!).

I'll have to post some pictures of our new house soon. God was very good to us and we saw His hand at work numerous times over this past week.

Mountain...Valley...Mountain

2009-07-07T22:41:00.003-05:00

There are a lot of blogs out there that I love but I must say Ann Voskamp's blog http://www.aholyexperience.com/ brings me to the feet of Jesus like no other. I love the encouragement and conviction that I come away with when I find the time to read it. Her prayer at the end of today's post inspired me, " Lord God, cause me to embrace the terrain of a life: mountain... valley... mountain. We'll be weak and we'll be brave and Your heart will lead us Home."
It got me thinking about all the joy I've had today with my boys amidst the brief moments of frustration at trying to meet the needs of two souls who both need me at the same time. The house is now quiet. Braden was gone tonight helping a friend work on his car and for the second night I was able to manage putting Caden to bed by myself while trying to nurse Deacon and keep him from fussing.

Caden comes to me, wrapping his arms around me and our eyes meet as he says, "I love mama." Then later he plants kisses on my cheek and exclaims, "I love mama SO much!" Do you ever feel your heart will just burst with the love you have for your child? I treasure the times we play with his train set, make forts out of the couch cushions, read books, give back massages, and sing together. MOUNTAINS.
Caden responds disrespectfully, interrupts, fusses when he is told no to his want, tries to hit Deacon and must be again reminded of what our rules are, must again be disciplined, must again be prayed for/with. Deacon fusses and wakes multiple times at night. VALLEYS.
Caden is learning to respond respectfully, learning to wait to speak until we are through, learning to respond politely when denied his request, kisses Deacon and genuinely apologizes for "not showing self-control" and hitting. Deacon finally calms, nurses well, makes sweet baby sounds and is fast asleep. MOUNTAINS.

Even in the valleys God is teaching me, teaching Caden-- and we're growing together.

MOUNTAIN: Sneaking in to stand over Caden while he sleeps, brushing my fingers through his hair, kissing his forehead, and whispering prayers over him. Precious time! Rocking Deacon in the middle of the night, nursing, and pondering how quickly this season flies. Treasure it.

2 Weeks Old

2009-07-06T20:27:00.005-05:00

I can't believe it was two weeks ago that Deacon entered the world! I have to say that the first 13 days were almost too easy....then day 14 hit :)

Deacon now fusses more during wake hours and is just more restless. His wake hours are growing (the first 1 1/2 weeks he pretty much slept all day and most the night) and with that his fussy hours are growing too. Don't get me wrong, he's still an easy baby but it's just harder now to juggle him and Caden at the same time.

Yesterday was my first day to have the two children all by myself. It was definitely a challenge! I'm praying to be a joyful mother despite the sleep deprivation and the need to discipline Caden throughout the day. It's so much easier to be joyful when Caden obeys and has a cheerful disposition. I just don't want to make it harder on him to be sweet, cheerful and obedient by being a mother that's irritable when tired. I keep having to remind myself to keep smiling and to speak in a sweet tone (after all, I can't expect to train him if I'm not living up to the standard either).

Caden has had really good days since Deacon's arrival and some really bad days too. Last Thurs. morning he had a complete meltdown in the morning. He had spent the night at mom and dad's and I didn't know that he had stayed up 'till 10 pm and then was up by 5:30 am. I'll put it nicely to say it was awful!! By the time I was rocking him for his nap we were both in tears. Thankfully when he awoke he was back to being the sweetest 2 yr. old. Isn't it amazing the effect a lack of sleep can have?!

I'm more grateful now to my dear husband than ever! I knew it was nice having him here to help during the day but I didn't give him the credit he deserved! His help is hard to do without. He really is such a good daddy to our boys and an exemplary husband.

Keep me in your prayers as I learn how to balance being the mother of two now that the "the baby just sleeps all day" stage looks like it's past. I know women have been balancing the role as wife, mother, and housekeeper for thousands of years but I'm not sure how they did it well without the grace of God and Him living through them. I'll have to see about posting the thoughts of my good friend Rachel regarding this. She encouraged me so much through her post.

Caden

2009-06-29T20:44:00.000-05:00

The first few days for Caden were a bit of an adjustment. He would wake up fussy from nap time and just be whinny. Thankfully he seems to be doing great now. He's only supposed to use a pacifier when sleeping but one of his favorite things to do these days is stick a whole bunch in his mouth (how you're able to suck on three pacies at once I'm not sure) and be tickled until he takes them out....a little game his PaPa started with him.

Caden LOVES having his Daddy home! They've been busy building with blocks, playing with cars and hiding in the tent that dances (due to the fan).

Caden still loves being read to although I must confess that since my child isn't interested in videos on the tv I decided to try something on the computer instead. It worked and now our son begs to watch little clips off youtube (Goldilocks and the 3 bears, Susie the car, and Dr. Seuss' green eggs and ham). I can definitely see how parents like to stick their kids in front of the tube...it gives you a few minutes to make sure they're occupied while you are able to tend to something. Hopefully this will be a treat instead of a habit (very tempting at times!).

1 Week Old

2009-06-29T17:13:00.000-05:00

Time to begin the weekly picture tradition for Deacon! Here's our ONE week old Deacon with his ONE big brother, Caden.

Our Boys @ 3 days

2009-06-29T17:03:00.000-05:00

The top picture is of Caden at 3 days old and the bottom picture is of Deacon at 3 days old. Pretty similar...Deacon weighs about a pound more.