Father's Day 2011

We honored the Brian on Father's Day by baking his favorite dessert with fresh "Farmer's Market" peaches baked into peach cobbler and a day at the beach ...

Patting the pie crust dough ...

Peaches ... yummmmmmy!


Teamwork.

Signing Daddy's card while the cobbler cooks.

Ahhh, sweet success!

Delicious! What a handsome guy! :) So glad he's ours!

And, now off to the beach to do some boogie boarding, beach ball and hanging as a fam!

Me and my man ... self-portrait.

I could just eat up these little baby feet.

Beautiful girl.

Soccer star!

Look at me in the water ... only cause I'm safe with my Daddy!

I can "boogie," too!

Another beautiful girl!

Mommy and Brianne ...

What to do on a HOT day!

Last Couple Months & 1,000 Gifts

Getting back in the swing of blogging and what better place to start than some random, out-of-order photo's and reaching 1000 on my list of gifts. Although, as I've been sitting here typing them, I could go on and on and on. I will continue to count gifts, but I might just list them and not blog them. But, this much I know, God's gifts are daily and innumerable and beautiful and ugly-beautiful and simply amazing ALL THE TIME!

We have been dining on these for weeks now ... so sweet and juicy just off the trees.

Oh.My.Word!

Big sister helping littlest sister. Precious!

BFF's acting silly.

Practicing on the boogie boards!

Cousins!

Grandma and the big girls ready for church.

Our Root and Herrold family ....

... and our awesome kiddo's!

Monopoly on a cool day!

A girl must have her pearls! :)

Chalk art!

Ripsticking with Daddy!

921. Dinner with our lifelong friends, the Herrold's and Root's
922. Alpha Summit.
923. Church at Gateway and the blessing of hearing John Maxwell .
924. Toddler hugs and sweet kisses.
925. Surprise compliments .
926. Belongings now in storage in the same city we are.
927. Getting my food processor back!
928. Safe travels.
929. My mother-in-love’s chicken and dumplings … yes!
930. Pearl necklaces.
931. Places to stay where we are family and not just friends visiting.
932. Giggles from little people reunited with BFF’s.
933. Friendships that are so intwined that it was just like yesterday when we are reunited.
934. Paper plates when I’m too tired to do dishes.
935. My 93 year old grannie graced us with her presence at Hoopla! God is good!
936. My cousin’s seriously wooly beard.
937. My mom’s never ending joy and optimism.
938. Ca-yuuuuute outfits on serious sale for toddler growing at Kohl’s.
939. Artist trading cards.
940. Chalk art.
941. Finishing the school year … finally.
942. Girls learning to cook and their specialty … French toast … yum.
943. Peach cobbler with fresh peaches.
944. Roadside farmers markets.
945. Great teaching and worship CD's to listen to on the road.
946. Shade trees and cool breezes.
947. Bible study with women who are becoming friends.
948. A new church family.
949. BBQ on the beach for July 4th .
950. Father’s day and an incredible husband and father.
951. Sippy cups with straws.
952. God is God and His promises are sure regardless of what my earthly eyes see.
953. Bandaids.
954. Baby girl starting to say real words.
955. Seeing my sister!
956. "Learning to Lead" Camp at Abilene Christian University.
957. The beautiful ACU campus ... a huge change from my day's there.<958. Jacob's ladder ... an amazing outdoor work of art on the ACU campus.
959. The sin of the world on Him so that we might be free!
960. Sweet camp counselors.
961. Sign language.
962. Hanging with Kimberli ... always, always awesome!
963. Dinner with Kimberli, Lisa J. and a new friend, Lex Ann.
964. Getting to see my very favorite David and his sweet daughter.
965. The incredible quiet and peace at my mother's house in the country.
966. Wind.
967. Cream cheese on toast.
968. Toby Slough guest speaking at church and the fun of catching up with the fellow who married us and baptized Brian.
969. Ice cream on hot days.
970. Sea Camp at the Univ. of Miss. Marine Education Center.
971. Meat tenderizer that miraculously takes the sting out of jellyfish.
972. Seeing dolphins.
973. Men's fishing trips ... and fun and fellowship even though no one caught dinner.
974. Italian chicken/veggie pasta.
975. Monopoly.
976. Rain.
977. Towels to dry up leaks.
978. Puddles to play in.
979. Cousins talking on FaceTime.
980. Little notes from friends I've never met that make my heart smile.
981. Text shopping.
982. Laundry baskets.
983. Angels.
984. Paper towels.
985. Quarters for machines.
986. Razor scooters.
987. Ripsticks.
988. Strong legs and coordination to maneuver scooters and ripsticks.
989. Nice, friendly neighbors, though they be transient.
990. Old men's heartfelt prayers at my mother's church.
991. An amusing Sunday service at my mom's church when the preacher was out-of-town ... made me smile alot and I could just smell the sweet aroma that God was surely pleased with.
992. Safe trip and work for my dad.
993. Golf.
994. My camera working and capturing the moments of our lives..
995. Gnarly twisted trees by the beach.
996. Dr. Pepper's "on the house."
997. Loud frogs ... never knew they made such sounds.
998. Sweet notes in my email from older daughters who now have an email addresses.
999. Basketball camp.
1000. The amazing gift of counting gifts!!!

Still here ...

I'm still here with my beauties finishing school and getting ready to dive into summer. Looking forward to a little less busy and hoping to do a little more blogging, too! :)

Soul Sculptors!

** I remembered where this quote is from. It was Ann Voskamp at www.aholyexperience.com. She rocks. What a great mommy mentor! Thank you Ann!

Today, while I was re-reading my journals from a couple years ago, I ran across this amazing paragragh. I have no idea where I found it, so I cannot quote the author, but I find it to be terrific! Here goes ...

"You are not a STAY at home anything. You are a woman on the move, a woman on journey. You are in perpetual Spiritual pilgrimage. You are following your Master, your children traipsing behind. Everyday, you are packing up and leaving behind one spiritual, emotional, physical time and space ... you are growing, your children are growing, your role in the Kingdom is growing ... and at day's end, you are somewhere very different. In a different heart space, in a different time space, in a different spiritual space. Take it seriously. You are not stagnantly staying anywhere. You are leading your children toward the Promised Land. Don't get side-tracked, don't laze about, don't linger behind ... God is moving before you, the Cloud is guiding you - pack up and follow!"

We are Soul Sculptors for the King of the Universe!

Now, I know that everyone is not a stay-at-home mom. It is not every woman's calling or bent. I am thankful that the Lord has blessed us with the ability for me to stay-at-home with our children and homeschool. It is a blessing we do not take for granted or take lightly. However, I believe this title applies to all Mom's (and Dad's for that matter), working or not, and to embrace it is to realize just how big our job as mothers is and just how BIG the God who is leading us is. Lean into Him, stay close and see what amazing things God will do with and in our children through us. Now, that is exciting!

A few places I have been reading ...

• "Redefining Radical" ... living life in deep communion with God.
• "Student Driver" ... focusing on who and Whose we were created to be.
• "Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers" ... thought this was fun and true about parents, both in public school and homeschoolers.
• Praying for Kirill and the impact his appeal will have on precious children with Down's Syndrome waiting to be adopted overseas.
• "Dear Editor" ... made me think about how I might be "mollycoddling."
• "I am Beautiful" ... God's definition!
• Beautiful Project ... thinking I'm joining and taking my girls with me.

And, lastly, this verse that is so on my mind ...

"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12 (not sure what version this is)

"Don’t excuse yourself by saying, 'Look, we didn’t know.' For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve." (Proverbs 24:12 NLT)

Me, too!

Not to be left out, the wee one has decided she LOVES the beach, too!

Such fun!