As I sit here pondering the whirlwind my life has been since college, getting married, having kids, about to have more kids, and so on... I can't help but reflect on the things I have learned and the core concepts and truths that present themselves in every day life. I can't help but notice that recognizing these truths help life make more sense, help things that happen that perhaps shouldn't or aren't pretty, be less shocking and easier to accept, though maybe not acceptable. Knowing these truths make life easier to cope with at times while at times, it just helps make sense of it, but not much else. I feel like there are many who go through life never recognizing such concepts and truths and this is why life always takes them off guard, upsets them a little too much, why they feel out of control and helpless, among other emotions and things.
1. Blood IS thicker than water. This is something my dad used to always tell me growing up. I knew it to be true, but my mom and I would always laugh at him when he would say it, because it was usually said surrounding a negative circumstance. My dad, though he calls himself a Realist, often times can across as a Pessimist. I being the eternal Optimist, always gave my dad a hard time about such comments and phrases. However, it is nonetheless a core truth and a truth that should be known for more reasons than one. Knowing this makes things sting a little less, make a little more sense, and makes certain things that happen take you a little less off guard, or more or less makes them a little more predictable.
This is not to say that there will not be some AMAZING people in your life who are not blood, or are not family, because there certainly will be. This leads me to my next point...
2. Good people know and understand how to treat their family like friends and their friends like family. Family is irreplaceable. You'll never have another family. It is so important to nurture a friendship with your family and a true friendship at that. Superficial family relationships are miserable and will not amount to much more. Treating your family like friends enhances the quality of life spent with them. Good friends are rare and also sometimes come along once in a lifetime. TREASURE them. Even if you don't see them as much as you like. Life IS busy and especially in the child bearing years. There will come a day when it is slightly less busy and scheduling time with these true friends is easier than it once was. Again, good and wise people understand the importance of treating these friends like family. I am eternally thankful for the few good friends I have made in this life.
3. It is EASY to complain and Joy is a choice. Complainers are DRAINERS. Don't spend time with those who complain every day on social media, who are quick to point out everything wrong in life, who every time you see them, something is wrong and life is bad. That is not to say that you cannot be real with one another. I am all about a couple good solid friends who you can vent to, confide in, and seek wise counsel from. However, doing this, does not involve social media, does not involve gossiping, etc. Seeking a good, wise friend's confidence and listening ear, is not gossiping. Picking up the phone and calling everyone you know or less dramatically, even a few people, and telling people's business with no intentions of getting advice or anything productive, but only to "tell", is NOT okay. Telling yourself it is okay is deceiving yourself. Again, we ALL need someone to vent to... about life, about mishaps, about hurtful people, about marriage, about kids, about family, whatever... emphasis on someone. Aside from venting and seeking wise counsel, keep things positive. It is SO important to find and see the good in life and promote that to others. Don't enable more complainers and drainers by being one yourself. Show others that despite having a crazy life, you can choose to find joy and talk about that joy. Joy is a choice. Happiness is fleeting and is an emotion. Joy is a choice.
4. "A son is a son until he takes a wife, a daughter is a daughter for life." This is something my Mamaw always tells me and I'll never forget the first time she said it to me. I had to stop and and really ponder her words. Genesis 2:24, "therefore a son shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh" and Matthew 19:5, "and said, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife: and they two shall be one flesh?" both came to my mind and I began to think more deeply about all the relationships (marriages) around me. I began to realize although how simple this phrase was that she quoted to me, how profound it was too. I began to think about how many people had never realized this or accepted this and how their lives were different because of it. It is natural for a son to leave the family he came from and start his own family. Not only is it natural, it is Biblical. Daughters do stay more involved with their families even after marriage. It truly changes the family dynamic when all the children get married, depending on the gender of the children. I look at how different parents with all adult boys who are married are compared to parents with adult girls and boys who are married or parents with all adult girls who are married. The parents with all boys seem to almost handle the life transition better than those with both genders. It's almost as if there is no other choice and so they adapt more gracefully. Those with both genders, it definitely seems to have greater effect, and likely because this concept has never fully been thought about and understood. I pray that I handle my boys getting married and starting their own families with grace. I am thankful for my daughter, but I also pray that she will also handle her brothers getting married and starting a family with that same grace. I pray she welcomes the sisters she will inherit with open arms and love. As for me as a sister, I look forward to the day my 3 sweet brothers get married and give me some nieces and nephews from them! I am so incredibly thankful for the one amazing sister that the Lord blessed me with and the closeness that we share, but I am also waiting in anticipation for the sisters the Lord will bring me when my brothers choose to marry! Sisters are sweet. Life is sweet too. The more we can share this life with, the better.
This also leads me to my next point...
5. We were not meant to do life alone. It is not good to do life alone. We were JUST talking about this in church last Sunday. Our pastor was saying how when people say to people going through a tragedy, "well you have God so that's all you need" or something more or less like it, how that is simply not true! If all we needed was God, He would never have created Eve to be with Adam. Genesis 2:18 says, " The Lord God said, 'it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'" God knew that we needed companionship. He knew we needed to do this life with people. The more fellowship we have, the happier we are. By fellowship, I mean good, life giving, life flowing, fellowship. I don't mean, the person who goes to the most parties will be the happiest, because that is not at all, life giving and life flowing fellowship. We need good, solid fellowship with other people who are trying to live this life the best they can, trying to find joy even in the mundane, trying to live life to the fullest. Find good people to do life with! If you're currently not making the most out of your relationships, change that now! It is never too late to change. It is never too late to start making things right. Relationships ALWAYS take two. Do your part and start living life with people.
6. People who talk a lot about giving grace, usually give it the least. It is easy to throw around the word "grace". It is easy to talk the talk and doing so cheapens grace. There is without a doubt a message of cheap grace floating around. I can remember a conversation with my Mam-ma about specific people once and I remember quoting to her something one of these people had said to me, "we are trying to show her grace." The situation was a mess and neither party was doing what they should or handling it as they should. Even the people that quoted that weren't handling things as they should. That was almost quoted as a scapegoat, in a way to not have to make a hard choice, to deal with the situation appropriately. My Mam-ma looked at me and said, "it is GOD who gives grace. We don't give grace. God gives grace. We should act under the grace that we have been given." This was such a moment of deep consideration and reflection for me. So many today floating around in the cheap grace movement would hear this and scoff and say, " we do to give grace!" Don't take this out of context. We are not the givers of grace, God Himself is. We should live a life evident of His grace on us and being given to us and if we do so, we will naturally treat others they way we should. In conclusion, spend less time talking about grace and more time living the message of grace. In my experience, those who talk about it the most, show it the least. Those who you rarely hear talk about it, do the best at living it out. It is a lifestyle and an attitude.
7. Parenting isn't easy, but it also isn't as hard as a lot of people make it. Think back, use your imagination if you have to, to a life without so much technology (at the very least without iPads and such), think back to times when the average American family had more than just 2.5 kids, to when there wasn't all the cool toys there are today and the average person didn't have the money to spend on them anyways. How did people do it? I don't think everyone was pulling their hair out and hating their life. For whatever reason (to be fair, there is multiple reasons), parents today make parenting out to be a lot harder than it is. Kids should be independent and play outside! Kids should find the beauty in their life, just as we should find the beauty in our lives! TV isn't bad, toys aren't bad. If you keep kids doing "kid stuff", life will be simpler, kids will be more content! The only times my kids play on an iPad is when my aunts, my mother in law, or someone else like that lets them play on it. And that is OKAY. It is actually a "treat" to them because of this. At home, they play with THEIR toys, they play outside, they play with each other, they do LOTS of drawing and coloring, they watch good, clean kid shows or kid movies... they honestly don't need much entertainment from me. I don't think "I have it all figured it out" or anything like that. I just think I was blessed and fortunate to spend A LOT of time around both of my grandmothers and all the countless weekends I spent at both of their houses with my cousins from both sides, I am able to look back and think of all the things we did to have fun. I look back and can't think of much time "we were in their hair". I think of how my Mam-ma would have 5 or more of us over at any given time and that was "normal". She never seemed stressed by it or anything of the sort. We had fun playing together and entertained ourselves. The biggest problem I see today with kids is that they simply don't know how to entertain themselves anymore (that is unless you throw an iPad at them). As parents we can fix this, but it's important to start when your kids are young. I have come to realize that the moms I encounter that complain the most about life with kids, haven't figured this out. The moms I encounter that complain the least about life with kids, have.
8. Life IS what you make of it. This sounds cliche, but I have learned over the past couple of years especially, just how true this is. It is your choice to keep negativity around in your life, whether that be in the form of people, circumstances, etc. This kind of goes back to #3- joy is a choice and you can choose to center your life around joy or you can choose to center it around negativity. There have been times in my life where I have been so discouraged and felt so defeated. This has been for different reasons at different times. When I lost my Mam-ma to a ruthless lung disease called Focal Pulmonary Fibrosis, it just so happened that my discouragement and defeat stemmed from living spiritually vicariously through her. When she was gone, I felt so empty. It was that moment that I realized that I needed my Savior. There have been other times in my life where circumstances or people have left me feeling discouraged or defeated, it is in those moments that I have to stop and make a conscious decision to "rid" (my one word from 2014) my life of these forms of negativity. Depending on who the people are, what the circumstances are, this can look different, but nonetheless, you always have the choice. Choose LIFE and choose to live life to the FULLEST. Life IS ALWAYS what YOU make of it.
9. Problems do not disappear on their own. Different personalities make up different people and some people like to live their live under the assumption that problems will disappear on their own, but this is simply not the case. Problems will always be problems until you deal with them. If you have a problem with someone, spend less time talking to others about it (unless it is seeking wise counsel, like we talked about in #3) and more time talking to the person you have the problem with. It is absolutely amazing the things you can fix with someone if you are just willing to talk to them honestly about how you are feeling and if they are willing to open up and talk to you too. When only one person is willing to talk, problems cannot be fixed. Don't be the reason a problem cannot be fixed. Be the reason it CAN be fixed. Be approachable. It is one of the best qualities you can have. The best people I have known and the people I look up to the most in this life, are the ones who are approachable. The best relationships I have, aren't ones void of all problems- they are the ones that we talk about our problems that arise in a timely manner. Don't live your life accepting problems and not liking the way things are with someone or with multiple people. TALK about them! FIX them! Anything can be fixed. It is so refreshing to just sit down and be real with someone. Don't worry about being uncomfortable or awkward, when two people are sitting down being real with one another and both are willing to air everything out with the end goal of resolution, it is not uncomfortable or awkward, it is refreshing! It's only awkward sitting down with someone who you know won't be real with you, won't open up to you, won't really hold resolution as their end goal no matter what the cost. You can't change others, but you can check yourself and be an inspiration for others to then do the same. If those people who have a mental block up about talking about things with the one they have the problem with, see others letting go and loosening up and talking things out with people, they are more likely to see the wisdom and health that comes from handling life this way and make that change too!
10. There are people who will not like you just because someone else doesn't like you. I can't tell you how many times I have met someone, only for a group of people to announce to me later that they don't like them because of something that person supposedly did to their friend, sister, etc. Judging someone's character and writing off someone's character is a serious thing. Don't do it on behalf of someone else's opinion of that person. Make your own decisions about people. Get to know people for yourself. Even if your very best friend doesn't like someone, decide for yourself. I cannot tell you how many people I am friends with and think are awesome people that someone in my family may not like, one of my other good friends may not like, etc. Get to know people yourself! Decide for yourself!
In conclusion...
It is harder to see the good in people sometimes and easier to see the bad, but choosing to see the good, makes YOU a better person and you will live a more fulfilled life because of it. Some of the hardest people to love and show love to, need it the most. Be kind, for your never know what someone else is going through. Your words of kindness can make a difference you never imagined in someone's day. However, be sincerely kind, as superficial kindness can do more harm than good. People can sense when you are being real with them, when you are truly being kind to them and reaching out to them. Don't do it out of obligation or superficially, but because you are really trying to be a better person and show kindness. It's a process for some of us, but a process worth starting.
Audrey Hepburn once said, "For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others. For beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness, and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Friday, September 18, 2015
Our tribe is increasing// The news many of you have been waiting for//We are blessed beyond measure!
Well, the Hayes' family is so incredibly elated to share the news that many of you, my Facebook followers, my blog followers, etc. have been waiting for.... some playfully and others seriously...
That's right! Our tribe is increasing and we couldn't be more ecstatic! After a huge scare shortly after we found out we were pregnant, and after many tears and cries out to my Lord later, we were assured that our baby was fine and that my HCG levels were going through the roof! I have thanked Him profusely day in and day out for His faithfulness and protection over our baby. The words, "You are a good, good Father. It's who You are, it's who You are. And I am loved by You. It's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am. You are perfect in all of Your ways, You are perfect in all of Your ways, You are perfect in all of Your ways, to us." keeps playing over and over in my head. This truth was what I was proclaiming over myself and my baby not just after I found out things were indeed okay, but during the agonizing waiting period of 6 days as well. Faithful He has been, and faithful He will be.
That's right! Our tribe is increasing and we couldn't be more ecstatic! After a huge scare shortly after we found out we were pregnant, and after many tears and cries out to my Lord later, we were assured that our baby was fine and that my HCG levels were going through the roof! I have thanked Him profusely day in and day out for His faithfulness and protection over our baby. The words, "You are a good, good Father. It's who You are, it's who You are. And I am loved by You. It's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am. You are perfect in all of Your ways, You are perfect in all of Your ways, You are perfect in all of Your ways, to us." keeps playing over and over in my head. This truth was what I was proclaiming over myself and my baby not just after I found out things were indeed okay, but during the agonizing waiting period of 6 days as well. Faithful He has been, and faithful He will be.
"Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you." Jeremiah 29:12
"Children are a heritage from The Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hands of a mighty warrior, are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full."
Psalms 127:3-5
Zach and I can honestly say we are overwhelmed in the best of ways by our Lord's goodness. We have seen a shower of blessings as of late and are just so grateful. From finding out we were pregnant again, to finding out our baby was okay after a huge scare, finding out I had been elected and appointed to the City of Allen board of Parks & Recreation, Dallas Aeration getting sought out multiple times for business in just a few short days, the list just keeps going... Our God is so good.
What a wondrous thing, I can stand and sing! Because when I fall to me knees, You're the one who pulls me up again.
What a mystery, that You notice me! And in a crowd of ten thousand, You don't miss a thing!
Because You see everything!
I am seen and I am known, by the King of kings and Lord of lords.
When You sigh, the wind becomes a sonnet. When You laugh, the storm around me ceases. You whisper and all my enemies are scattered. You surround me with angels on assignment.
There's no place I could go that Your love wouldn't find me; no place I could hide that You won't see. Because You see it all.
You don't miss a thing- Bethel
Our baby is due May 7th and we have an appointment coming up in October with my midwives here in Allen. We should find out what we are having mid November and cannot wait! Savannah and Mason have already told me they know it is a baby sister and that Gavin told them he wants a baby sister too! LOL I told them that is great, but we will take whatever Jesus wants us to have!! We seriously are so excited and honestly do not care either way, one way or the other. We are just so happy we get the blessing of raising another baby and pointing him or her to Jesus.
My faithful and predictable morning sickness or actually, all day sickness, has crept in slightly earlier this time around and I can already tell it is here to stay for a while. For those of you who don't know, with all of my past pregnancies, I have wretched all day sickness that consists of throwing up multiple times a day (realistically, just all day in general) until well into my second trimester. With Savannah, I was sick from 6 weeks to 17 weeks; with Mason, I was sick from 8 weeks until 14 weeks; and with Gavin, I was sick from 9 weeks to 19 weeks. This time I started getting sick at 6 weeks (I am 7 weeks now) just like with Savannah and it is TBD how long it will last ;) It's okay though, I honestly cannot complain knowing far too well how worth it my babies are. I long to hold, nurse, kiss, and nurture this sweet little baby and I will gladly go through whatever I have to go through to get to that point! I'm grateful for the independence my kids have even more so during this time. It is such a breath of fresh air that they will go and play independently and let Mommy work in the office and take breaks to deal with nausea and everything that comes along with it. ;) Love my kiddos! They really do bring so much to the table and I am so thankful for each of them and that I get to be their Mommy.
My faithful and predictable morning sickness or actually, all day sickness, has crept in slightly earlier this time around and I can already tell it is here to stay for a while. For those of you who don't know, with all of my past pregnancies, I have wretched all day sickness that consists of throwing up multiple times a day (realistically, just all day in general) until well into my second trimester. With Savannah, I was sick from 6 weeks to 17 weeks; with Mason, I was sick from 8 weeks until 14 weeks; and with Gavin, I was sick from 9 weeks to 19 weeks. This time I started getting sick at 6 weeks (I am 7 weeks now) just like with Savannah and it is TBD how long it will last ;) It's okay though, I honestly cannot complain knowing far too well how worth it my babies are. I long to hold, nurse, kiss, and nurture this sweet little baby and I will gladly go through whatever I have to go through to get to that point! I'm grateful for the independence my kids have even more so during this time. It is such a breath of fresh air that they will go and play independently and let Mommy work in the office and take breaks to deal with nausea and everything that comes along with it. ;) Love my kiddos! They really do bring so much to the table and I am so thankful for each of them and that I get to be their Mommy.
For those of you that faithfully request baby bump pictures each pregnancy, here you go:
I just popped out, out of no where, this past week! These were taken at 6 weeks 3 days.
I will update my blogs periodically with baby updates and if anyone would like to know more, just message me and I am always happy to share!
I find that "In over my head" by Bethel has been like my life song these days and it brings me such peace just singing it out to The Lord. I wanted to share it here:
I have come to this place in my life,
I’m full but I’ve not satisfied,
This longing to have more of You.
I can feel it, my heart is convinced.
I’m thirsty, my soul can’t be quenched.
You already know this but still,
Come and do whatever You want to.
I’m standing knee deep but I’m out where I've never been.
I feel You coming and I hear Your voice on the wind.
Would you come and tear down the boxes that I have tried to put You in?
Let love come teach me who You are again.
Take me back to the place where my heart was only about You,
And all I wanted was just to be with You.
Come and do whatever You want to.
Further and further my heart moves away from the shore.
Whatever it looks like, whatever may come I am Yours.
Then You crash over me and I’ve lost control but I’m free.
I’m going under, I’m in over my head.
Whether I sink, whether I swim,
It makes no difference when I’m beautifully in over my head.
Monday, September 7, 2015
The End of Summer & Start of a New Season of Exciting Things
Well, summer was great here in Texas for our family! I cannot believe it has come to an end, but we are excited to have started the new school year, all the sports that have come along with it, along with all the other activities that have started back up again!
A recap of our summer before moving on to current events:
Some trips we took....
We went to Arkansas in May to see my sister graduate college and also got to spend the day with Zach's grandparents, his aunt and uncle, and cousin. The kids and I went to the beach with Zach's family in June, although Zach sadly stayed behind in Texas. All of us went to Oklahoma the following weekend for a family reunion and had an amazing time reconnecting with people. Zach and I got to take a trip to San Marcos and Austin in August and had an amazing time getting away! I think this covers all the "trips" :)
Savannah and Mason both got to go to 2 different Vacation Bible Schools together over the summer in the evenings and they had such a good time. They actually were asking me what the next one they could go to was, ha! I wish there was more that I could send them to that they both could go. Unfortunately, the two they went to (our church and a church down the road from us) were the only two that Mason was able to go to as well, not just Savannah. I'm thankful for those two they got to go to as they learned so much and really were just like sponges absorbing everything around them while they were there.
The kids had a blast playing in the freshly sodded backyard over the summer, particularly playing in all their water toys. Zach and I had ordered them something that hooks up to the water hose, both of my aunts here in Texas bought them something similar, and then Zach's parents sent them something as well. They loved interchanging the water toys and deciding which one to play with each day! The boys' hair got even blonder and all 3 of them had some tan lines going on! It was good, simple fun.
Both Savannah and Mason did the summer reading club at the library. Savannah read over 80 hours by herself and to Mason (she's such a good big sister!) and Mason was read to over 56 hours collectively from Savannah, Papa, Zach, my aunt, and myself. Savannah is blowing through chapter books and making her Mommy so proud! Chapter books she was reading at the beginning of summer and finishing in 2-3 days, she is now finishing in a couple hours. Seriously, we went to the library yesterday and she read 2 chapter books in one evening. Zach and I both were like, "it's time to move up to even bigger chapter books now!" Mason enjoys picking out all kinds of different books and actually picked out some really neat ones. One in particular that we all enjoyed reading to him (literally Savannah, Papa, Zach, and I all read this one to him while we had it checked out because it was SO good and interesting.), was called Otto and was about a teddy bear during WWII that was passed around from a Jewish boy to his German childhood friend, then ending up in the hands of a US soldier, in an antique shop, and back in the hands of its original Jewish owner years later!
Savannah had cheer camp in August and loved it! She has her first game coming up and has been practicing weekly since July.
Both kids are now in soccer full swing and have both had games! Zach is assistant coaching Mason's team. Savannah is back on her old team the Fireflies and Mason's team is the Jets. Mason LOVES his time to shine. He wants to play t-ball too!
Awana's just started back tonight and both kids were SO excited! I am thrilled that they get to go and get to learn all they learn in Awana's. It is such an amazing thing. They both finished their books last year and memorized so many verses and Savannah also memorized all the books of the NT. I am so excited for them to do the next book this year.
We just got done doing some rearranging at Papa's house this past week and Savannah now has her own room again and the boys have their own room. Savannah took the room that she was sharing with the boys and the boys new room is so awesome. Zach says it is the coolest and perfect boys' room. They love it and Savannah loves her room. She was such a trooper sharing with her brothers up until this point, literally never once complaining or anything. I was so happy to be able to tell her she was getting her own room because she was just so sweet. We love the change too and think to ourselves, "now why didn't we do this sooner?" The only bad thing is when we went to get Savannah's bed and nightstand out of storage (we already had her dressers here at the house), we realized that ALL her bedding and room decor didn't make it on the trailer load here to storage, which means it is still in NC at Zach's old work. Again, Savannah was so understanding about it and hasn't complained at all. I told her we would find a way to get it down here as soon as we could and she was just so complacent and collected. This Mommy is proud of her girl if you can't tell :)
School started back for Savannah on August 24th and she absolutely loves first grade and her teacher! She has told me that her teacher is the best teacher ever! I am so happy she loves her teacher! I got to go to curriculum night at her school this last week and I am even more pleased than I already was with her school. We are so blessed to live in such a great school district (#8 in the state of Texas).
Mason's preschool starts back this coming Tuesday (day after Labor Day) and we got to go to meet the teacher this past week also. He is THRILLED that he gets his same teachers again! They loved their particular class they had last year for the 2's that they requested they move up to the 3's to get that same class again! Mason was on cloud nine when he found out and even more so when he got to go see them! It was so sweet! Mason learned so much last year in their class and I cannot wait for him to start this school year and see how much he grows.
I got to drive Papa about an hour to Kaufman this last week to see all of his siblings (he is one of twelve) and eat lunch with them! It was so nice to be able to get to see all of my great aunts and uncles again and spend some time with them. The boys just loved it too. Gavin went to all of Papa's sisters and was just letting them take turns holding him! Papa loved showing them off too ;)
Speaking of Gavin, he has been talking up a storm!!! He can basically say anything you tell him to say now. We multiple times a day will just roll off a list to him to repeat and he'll say 99% of it. Today he said, Mason, bath, juice, milk, among other first time words nonchalantly and easily. He's also getting even more of a personality than he already had- it's just so cute! He is just in a big developmental overflow stage and we are eating it up!
Business has been growing and we are so thankful. We gained several more private resident customers over the summer, along with a couple new golf course customers, and a community customer. God is certainly blessing and enlarging Dallas Aeration's territory and keeping His hand on Dallas Aeration, so we will be free from pain. (Prayer of Jabez) He is such a good Father and we are so continuously amazed to watch His faithfulness even in ways we didn't foresee or imagine. There are so many things that have happened since we have been in Texas that there is nothing we can say about it other than "God did it."
"I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." -Psalms 32:8
Stay tuned for more updates soon ;)
A recap of our summer before moving on to current events:
Some trips we took....
We went to Arkansas in May to see my sister graduate college and also got to spend the day with Zach's grandparents, his aunt and uncle, and cousin. The kids and I went to the beach with Zach's family in June, although Zach sadly stayed behind in Texas. All of us went to Oklahoma the following weekend for a family reunion and had an amazing time reconnecting with people. Zach and I got to take a trip to San Marcos and Austin in August and had an amazing time getting away! I think this covers all the "trips" :)
Savannah and Mason both got to go to 2 different Vacation Bible Schools together over the summer in the evenings and they had such a good time. They actually were asking me what the next one they could go to was, ha! I wish there was more that I could send them to that they both could go. Unfortunately, the two they went to (our church and a church down the road from us) were the only two that Mason was able to go to as well, not just Savannah. I'm thankful for those two they got to go to as they learned so much and really were just like sponges absorbing everything around them while they were there.
The kids had a blast playing in the freshly sodded backyard over the summer, particularly playing in all their water toys. Zach and I had ordered them something that hooks up to the water hose, both of my aunts here in Texas bought them something similar, and then Zach's parents sent them something as well. They loved interchanging the water toys and deciding which one to play with each day! The boys' hair got even blonder and all 3 of them had some tan lines going on! It was good, simple fun.
Both Savannah and Mason did the summer reading club at the library. Savannah read over 80 hours by herself and to Mason (she's such a good big sister!) and Mason was read to over 56 hours collectively from Savannah, Papa, Zach, my aunt, and myself. Savannah is blowing through chapter books and making her Mommy so proud! Chapter books she was reading at the beginning of summer and finishing in 2-3 days, she is now finishing in a couple hours. Seriously, we went to the library yesterday and she read 2 chapter books in one evening. Zach and I both were like, "it's time to move up to even bigger chapter books now!" Mason enjoys picking out all kinds of different books and actually picked out some really neat ones. One in particular that we all enjoyed reading to him (literally Savannah, Papa, Zach, and I all read this one to him while we had it checked out because it was SO good and interesting.), was called Otto and was about a teddy bear during WWII that was passed around from a Jewish boy to his German childhood friend, then ending up in the hands of a US soldier, in an antique shop, and back in the hands of its original Jewish owner years later!
Savannah had cheer camp in August and loved it! She has her first game coming up and has been practicing weekly since July.
Both kids are now in soccer full swing and have both had games! Zach is assistant coaching Mason's team. Savannah is back on her old team the Fireflies and Mason's team is the Jets. Mason LOVES his time to shine. He wants to play t-ball too!
Awana's just started back tonight and both kids were SO excited! I am thrilled that they get to go and get to learn all they learn in Awana's. It is such an amazing thing. They both finished their books last year and memorized so many verses and Savannah also memorized all the books of the NT. I am so excited for them to do the next book this year.
We just got done doing some rearranging at Papa's house this past week and Savannah now has her own room again and the boys have their own room. Savannah took the room that she was sharing with the boys and the boys new room is so awesome. Zach says it is the coolest and perfect boys' room. They love it and Savannah loves her room. She was such a trooper sharing with her brothers up until this point, literally never once complaining or anything. I was so happy to be able to tell her she was getting her own room because she was just so sweet. We love the change too and think to ourselves, "now why didn't we do this sooner?" The only bad thing is when we went to get Savannah's bed and nightstand out of storage (we already had her dressers here at the house), we realized that ALL her bedding and room decor didn't make it on the trailer load here to storage, which means it is still in NC at Zach's old work. Again, Savannah was so understanding about it and hasn't complained at all. I told her we would find a way to get it down here as soon as we could and she was just so complacent and collected. This Mommy is proud of her girl if you can't tell :)
School started back for Savannah on August 24th and she absolutely loves first grade and her teacher! She has told me that her teacher is the best teacher ever! I am so happy she loves her teacher! I got to go to curriculum night at her school this last week and I am even more pleased than I already was with her school. We are so blessed to live in such a great school district (#8 in the state of Texas).
Mason's preschool starts back this coming Tuesday (day after Labor Day) and we got to go to meet the teacher this past week also. He is THRILLED that he gets his same teachers again! They loved their particular class they had last year for the 2's that they requested they move up to the 3's to get that same class again! Mason was on cloud nine when he found out and even more so when he got to go see them! It was so sweet! Mason learned so much last year in their class and I cannot wait for him to start this school year and see how much he grows.
I got to drive Papa about an hour to Kaufman this last week to see all of his siblings (he is one of twelve) and eat lunch with them! It was so nice to be able to get to see all of my great aunts and uncles again and spend some time with them. The boys just loved it too. Gavin went to all of Papa's sisters and was just letting them take turns holding him! Papa loved showing them off too ;)
Speaking of Gavin, he has been talking up a storm!!! He can basically say anything you tell him to say now. We multiple times a day will just roll off a list to him to repeat and he'll say 99% of it. Today he said, Mason, bath, juice, milk, among other first time words nonchalantly and easily. He's also getting even more of a personality than he already had- it's just so cute! He is just in a big developmental overflow stage and we are eating it up!
Business has been growing and we are so thankful. We gained several more private resident customers over the summer, along with a couple new golf course customers, and a community customer. God is certainly blessing and enlarging Dallas Aeration's territory and keeping His hand on Dallas Aeration, so we will be free from pain. (Prayer of Jabez) He is such a good Father and we are so continuously amazed to watch His faithfulness even in ways we didn't foresee or imagine. There are so many things that have happened since we have been in Texas that there is nothing we can say about it other than "God did it."
"I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." -Psalms 32:8
Stay tuned for more updates soon ;)
Friday, July 10, 2015
UPDATES... BIG BUSINESS UPDATES!!
Wow, it has been 3 months since I last updated my blog. I knew it had been a long time, but wasn't aware it had been quite that long. Our lives have been SO busy... so SO busy... but in the best of ways (mostly).
Recap of the end of the school year before I move on to current exciting things happening in our lives...
Savannah ended her first soccer season with 2 goals scored! They won all but every game! They had a great fun party at Chuck E Cheese and received their trophies, etc. She made some great friends and had a good time. It was so neat to watch her progress through the season from being virtually clueless to actually scoring a couple goals!
She ended her kindergarten year with a bam, reading on a 3rd grade reading level! She's one of the top readers in her class! I always knew she was a good reader, but I didn't fully realize how ahead she was until I started having some other moms ask me what our secret was, etc. (By the way, to which I always answered.... "Ummm she just loves to read!!" and "she went to a great preschool!")
(Shout out to First Presbyterian Preschool back in Asheboro! They truly loved the kids and were very thorough with them! Savannah flourished there in all her time there! I am truly thankful for their influence! I know some parents would be bragging about the things they did at home with their kids, etc. and how they had the hand in their kids being so smart, etc. but honestly, First Presbyterian Preschool was such a valuable resource to us and our children! They helped prepare Savannah so much for kindergarten and I know that is largely why she flourished so prominently along with her natural love for reading as well!)
Mason ended his preschool year with a bam also! He progressed SO much this year and learned an incredible amount. He has amazed me with little things he has said here and there, where I'm just like, "how did you know that??" One of the things that stands out in my head the most is at the beach where he told me that he knew our cousin and his girlfriend weren't married. When I agreed that they weren't but asked how he knew that, he replied, "they not have rings on!" My jaw literally hit the floor. Smart boy. Mason is a big time observer. He watches, listens, and learns all the time. Mommy is proud of him! And as if being smart isn't good enough, he is seriously so sweet! I love how loving he is, gentle, and just all around sweet.
Both kids finished their Awana's year strong, both finishing their books and memorizing all the verses therein. They got all their patches (Mason)/jewels (Savannah). Next year (starts in September) they'll be ready to get their next book. I can't wait!
Well, when I had written down some notes back several months ago for my next blog update, I wasn't expecting it to take me so long, ha. So some of this is old news. But at the time...
Gavin was saying: this, bird, Bella, dink (drink), ball, o there (over there), pup, (in addition to his already long time saying of Mama, Dada, Bubba, Papa, (sorry Savannah!) )
Now he also says tons of other random words he learns daily, like, rock that he learned a couple days ago, cup, Siss (what he calls Savannah- sounds more like "sss" ;) ), there it is (he learned this while playing the hiding game!), that, nose, and more that I just can't think of right now... He's a sponge... a cute little sweet squishy sponge!
Zach has been playing drums for one of our churches every 3 weeks or so. It is so awesome to watch him play and see/hear all the positive feedback he gets! (I take his compliments way better than he does ;) He doesn't know how to take his compliments! This is one area, he's far too humble in! He's a great drummer and I love to watch him play!)
Savannah is now enrolled in cheerleading for the fall and has had her first meeting and uniform fitting. She'll have her first practice here in a little over a week, although Mommy has already been practicing with her at home a ton! I cannot wait to see her cheer! She's had so much prep with gymnastics for 4 years, I know she'll do great. She has already learned all the motions at home with me and we have been working on her back-walkover and back-handspring.
She's also enrolled in soccer for the fall again and will be returning to her same team!
She'll be starting first grade the last week of August and we should find out who her teacher is the end of this month. (This summer is FLYING by!)
Mason is enrolled for soccer in the fall also and he CANNOT wait! We also told him we would enroll him in t-ball, but the registration has not opened for that yet. It should open any day now and then we can get him signed up! He is even more excited about t-ball than he is soccer. I am curious which he'll take to more, which he'll have more natural ability at, etc.
He has been doing swim lessons (just started this Monday-Thursday and will go back next Monday-Thursday too- just a 2 week session) and he absolutely loves it!! He is doing so well and not scared at all. I'm hoping that after this 2 week session that he can swim a little more with Savannah and me not have to worry as much. Right now prior to these lessons, he was just so brave... He didn't want to wear floaties, but wanted to follow her in the deep end. I'm like, "um NO!" and of course Mason is like, "why Mommy???"
Mason will be returning to his same preschool this year in the 3 year old class and we are so excited to watch him flourish for another year. They are really great with the kids up there and they even have Spanish once a week and computer once a week as well. It's amazing how much Mason has learned to do on the desktop computer just from this past semester there!!
As a family we have been enjoying summer nights (stays light here till 9/9:15) and walking to the park in our neighborhood, letting the kids play at the playground while we play soccer in the big wide open field beside it, going to free outdoor concerts on the weekends at the shopping center right across the street from us and again, letting the kids play on the playground while we listen to the music (this past weekend they had a Dave Matthew's cover band that literally sounded just like them! it was so good!), and of course, going to the library!
We are so thankful that we live in such an active community. We are blessed to be able to do all these fun things in our community. For Fourth of July, we took the kids up to the same place where the concerts are and they were able to make free festive crafts and then after the concert, we watched a firework show right down the road. It was a fun filled holiday day and all it cost us was some ice cream that we chose to get! Seriously, we are blessed to be a part of such a great community that cares about its members! I'm so thankful.
As I mentioned earlier, we go to 2 churches now, Cornerstone on Sunday mornings/nights and Wednesday nights with my Papa and then Gateway on Saturday nights and then once a month special Sunday night service (Habitation) and we just discovered a once a month special Monday night service they do that we just went to and loved and plan to start going to. It was a more intimate setting (only about 80 people or so), but had a full worship set. The teaching this week was on spiritual gifts and it was truly a great service and we walked out so full and learned so much. What I love about Gateway is you can be there HOURS and it only feel like you were there for less than one hour. This past Monday, we were there over 2 hours and it literally didn't feel like it at all. The Sunday night habitation services last nearly 3 hours, but you walk away thinking, "it's over already???" Oh, it is SO good. I'm getting all excited as I write thinking about habitation coming up this Sunday night. As I said, it's only once a month, so whenever we go and then leave, we just cannot wait for the next one. It is an extended period of worship as a body completely consumed by Holy Spirit, then there's a brief message, and then an extended time of prayer over the people. For my Texas people... Come to Habitation THIS SUNDAY at Gateway church at 6pm! Gateway has lots of different campuses... go to any, whichever is closest for you, or message me if you want to go with us! We are bringing my sister with us this Sunday (she has been going to Saturday night services at Gateway with us, but this is her first Habitation) and I'm hoping to have some other people come with us too!
BIG NEWS on the BUSINESS front:
Dallas Aeration, Inc. is now proud to announce that we are a majority woman-owned business!! We are undergoing certification from NCTRCA as minority/woman owned business and we are excited about what the future holds for Dallas Aeration, Inc. We know God has great things in store and has opened a door wide for us. We are trusting Him and His hand on our business and can't wait to see what Holy Spirit does next and where He leads us next!
Zach had the opportunity to speak at a big board meeting for my parents' neighborhood's HOA a couple months ago about aeration and biological approaches to their ponds' needs. It was a big deal that they asked him to come and we are excited to hopefully work with them in the future.
There will be more later... hopefully sooner rather than later I can update! We are anticipating some more exciting things to unravel here very soon! Please pray for us and please pray the prayer of Jabez with us over our business. We appreciate it!
Recap of the end of the school year before I move on to current exciting things happening in our lives...
Savannah ended her first soccer season with 2 goals scored! They won all but every game! They had a great fun party at Chuck E Cheese and received their trophies, etc. She made some great friends and had a good time. It was so neat to watch her progress through the season from being virtually clueless to actually scoring a couple goals!
She ended her kindergarten year with a bam, reading on a 3rd grade reading level! She's one of the top readers in her class! I always knew she was a good reader, but I didn't fully realize how ahead she was until I started having some other moms ask me what our secret was, etc. (By the way, to which I always answered.... "Ummm she just loves to read!!" and "she went to a great preschool!")
(Shout out to First Presbyterian Preschool back in Asheboro! They truly loved the kids and were very thorough with them! Savannah flourished there in all her time there! I am truly thankful for their influence! I know some parents would be bragging about the things they did at home with their kids, etc. and how they had the hand in their kids being so smart, etc. but honestly, First Presbyterian Preschool was such a valuable resource to us and our children! They helped prepare Savannah so much for kindergarten and I know that is largely why she flourished so prominently along with her natural love for reading as well!)
Mason ended his preschool year with a bam also! He progressed SO much this year and learned an incredible amount. He has amazed me with little things he has said here and there, where I'm just like, "how did you know that??" One of the things that stands out in my head the most is at the beach where he told me that he knew our cousin and his girlfriend weren't married. When I agreed that they weren't but asked how he knew that, he replied, "they not have rings on!" My jaw literally hit the floor. Smart boy. Mason is a big time observer. He watches, listens, and learns all the time. Mommy is proud of him! And as if being smart isn't good enough, he is seriously so sweet! I love how loving he is, gentle, and just all around sweet.
Both kids finished their Awana's year strong, both finishing their books and memorizing all the verses therein. They got all their patches (Mason)/jewels (Savannah). Next year (starts in September) they'll be ready to get their next book. I can't wait!
Well, when I had written down some notes back several months ago for my next blog update, I wasn't expecting it to take me so long, ha. So some of this is old news. But at the time...
Gavin was saying: this, bird, Bella, dink (drink), ball, o there (over there), pup, (in addition to his already long time saying of Mama, Dada, Bubba, Papa, (sorry Savannah!) )
Now he also says tons of other random words he learns daily, like, rock that he learned a couple days ago, cup, Siss (what he calls Savannah- sounds more like "sss" ;) ), there it is (he learned this while playing the hiding game!), that, nose, and more that I just can't think of right now... He's a sponge... a cute little sweet squishy sponge!
Zach has been playing drums for one of our churches every 3 weeks or so. It is so awesome to watch him play and see/hear all the positive feedback he gets! (I take his compliments way better than he does ;) He doesn't know how to take his compliments! This is one area, he's far too humble in! He's a great drummer and I love to watch him play!)
Savannah is now enrolled in cheerleading for the fall and has had her first meeting and uniform fitting. She'll have her first practice here in a little over a week, although Mommy has already been practicing with her at home a ton! I cannot wait to see her cheer! She's had so much prep with gymnastics for 4 years, I know she'll do great. She has already learned all the motions at home with me and we have been working on her back-walkover and back-handspring.
She's also enrolled in soccer for the fall again and will be returning to her same team!
She'll be starting first grade the last week of August and we should find out who her teacher is the end of this month. (This summer is FLYING by!)
Mason is enrolled for soccer in the fall also and he CANNOT wait! We also told him we would enroll him in t-ball, but the registration has not opened for that yet. It should open any day now and then we can get him signed up! He is even more excited about t-ball than he is soccer. I am curious which he'll take to more, which he'll have more natural ability at, etc.
He has been doing swim lessons (just started this Monday-Thursday and will go back next Monday-Thursday too- just a 2 week session) and he absolutely loves it!! He is doing so well and not scared at all. I'm hoping that after this 2 week session that he can swim a little more with Savannah and me not have to worry as much. Right now prior to these lessons, he was just so brave... He didn't want to wear floaties, but wanted to follow her in the deep end. I'm like, "um NO!" and of course Mason is like, "why Mommy???"
Mason will be returning to his same preschool this year in the 3 year old class and we are so excited to watch him flourish for another year. They are really great with the kids up there and they even have Spanish once a week and computer once a week as well. It's amazing how much Mason has learned to do on the desktop computer just from this past semester there!!
As a family we have been enjoying summer nights (stays light here till 9/9:15) and walking to the park in our neighborhood, letting the kids play at the playground while we play soccer in the big wide open field beside it, going to free outdoor concerts on the weekends at the shopping center right across the street from us and again, letting the kids play on the playground while we listen to the music (this past weekend they had a Dave Matthew's cover band that literally sounded just like them! it was so good!), and of course, going to the library!
We are so thankful that we live in such an active community. We are blessed to be able to do all these fun things in our community. For Fourth of July, we took the kids up to the same place where the concerts are and they were able to make free festive crafts and then after the concert, we watched a firework show right down the road. It was a fun filled holiday day and all it cost us was some ice cream that we chose to get! Seriously, we are blessed to be a part of such a great community that cares about its members! I'm so thankful.
As I mentioned earlier, we go to 2 churches now, Cornerstone on Sunday mornings/nights and Wednesday nights with my Papa and then Gateway on Saturday nights and then once a month special Sunday night service (Habitation) and we just discovered a once a month special Monday night service they do that we just went to and loved and plan to start going to. It was a more intimate setting (only about 80 people or so), but had a full worship set. The teaching this week was on spiritual gifts and it was truly a great service and we walked out so full and learned so much. What I love about Gateway is you can be there HOURS and it only feel like you were there for less than one hour. This past Monday, we were there over 2 hours and it literally didn't feel like it at all. The Sunday night habitation services last nearly 3 hours, but you walk away thinking, "it's over already???" Oh, it is SO good. I'm getting all excited as I write thinking about habitation coming up this Sunday night. As I said, it's only once a month, so whenever we go and then leave, we just cannot wait for the next one. It is an extended period of worship as a body completely consumed by Holy Spirit, then there's a brief message, and then an extended time of prayer over the people. For my Texas people... Come to Habitation THIS SUNDAY at Gateway church at 6pm! Gateway has lots of different campuses... go to any, whichever is closest for you, or message me if you want to go with us! We are bringing my sister with us this Sunday (she has been going to Saturday night services at Gateway with us, but this is her first Habitation) and I'm hoping to have some other people come with us too!
BIG NEWS on the BUSINESS front:
Dallas Aeration, Inc. is now proud to announce that we are a majority woman-owned business!! We are undergoing certification from NCTRCA as minority/woman owned business and we are excited about what the future holds for Dallas Aeration, Inc. We know God has great things in store and has opened a door wide for us. We are trusting Him and His hand on our business and can't wait to see what Holy Spirit does next and where He leads us next!
Zach had the opportunity to speak at a big board meeting for my parents' neighborhood's HOA a couple months ago about aeration and biological approaches to their ponds' needs. It was a big deal that they asked him to come and we are excited to hopefully work with them in the future.
There will be more later... hopefully sooner rather than later I can update! We are anticipating some more exciting things to unravel here very soon! Please pray for us and please pray the prayer of Jabez with us over our business. We appreciate it!
Friday, April 10, 2015
SO many Updates//Easter
Now for some updates... We have a ton this time!
Savannah:
Savannah was on the announcements at school this past week leading the Texas pledge. She was so excited about this!
We got her first progress report sent home this last week also. She was considered "at grade level" for everything, except reading, which she was way ABOVE grade level! I was surprised at her level and SO immensely proud of her! She really is so smart and has such a love of books. I'm so grateful.
Soccer is going great! She is adjusting to participating in a team sport, having done gymnastics for 4 years. They won their first game 6-1 and their second game 11-0! The team is really good and I'm glad she's getting the experience!
Mason:
Mason had his bikeathon at school this week and did 3 laps around the track! They said he did absolutely amazing! He is still loving preschool!
Savannah & Mason:
The kids had a Pinewood Derby race at Awana's! Zach made them both some really sleek cars and they were on cloud nine! Can you say, best daddy ever??
Gavin:
Gavin had his 15 month doctor check up last week and is doing great! He weighs 21 lbs exactly and is 32 inches long! He's in the 20% for weight, 75% for height, and 75% also for his head (thanks Daddy!!) :)
Gavin has had a bump on the size of his eyebrow that I've been concerned about for a while. I finally asked his pediatrician here in TX (who was Savannah's when we lived here before and also was my little brothers' and who literally saved my life at the age of 10 when I had appendicitis (already ruptured) and had been misdiagnosed by 2 major and reputable hospitals.) at this appointment. It turns out it is a dermoid cyst, which is dead skin cells entrapped under his skin (something that likely happened in pregnancy) and he will have to have surgery most likely the end of this year (possibly very beginning of next year). A great and reputable plastic surgeon in Dallas will be doing the surgery and thankfully, it will just be day surgery, although he will have to be put under. Although I absolutely hate the idea of my sweet baby having any surgery, I'm incredibly thankful for the overwhelming evidence yet again of God's hand on Gavin. This bump could have been a lot worse things, yet it is this, something very fixable with no lasting repercussions or effects. Hallelujah to The Great Physcian, my King, my Jesus!
Gavin is loving outside and tries to ride Mason's bike. He's just so cute and sweet.
Bella:
Bella had her puppies 2 weeks ago. The first one was the biggest one and was her color. He unfortunately was stillborn. He was stuck in her birth canal for roughly 36 hours. He was literally nearly twice the size of all the others and was a beautiful puppy.
The second one was a black and white girl who looks identical to her border collie dad! She was the runt of the litter, although you would never know that now! She came out squeaking and squeaking loud (although she doesn't anymore surprisingly) and so we call her Squeaky Wheel! Her eyes just opened yesterday and she's now walking!
The third was a blonde boy who we called Butterball. He was my favorite! He sadly died when he was 6 days old. We were told that when mutts breed, it's not uncommon for several of the puppies to be born with genetic defects (weak hearts, weak livers, etc.) and therefore die at just a few days old. We were still sad though.
The fourth puppy was a beautiful gray girl who we called Little Lady. She died 36 hours after birth. She was very very weak from the start. Again, we were so sad. She would have been a beautiful delicate little pup!
So now we have Bella and her lone survivor, Squeaky! They enjoy each other and Squeaky has more than doubled in size since birth. Bella gets jealous when we give Squeaky more attention than her too. It's quite humorous!
Bella's third pup. He was way lighter after he got cleaned up.
Family updates:
Our new favorite thing is the Allen Public Library! It is seriously so awesome! It's 2 story with everything you could imagine... Books galore... DVD's and BlueRays for both adults and kids galore... Audio books galore... They even have an app for members that you can download books and audiobooks for free to your iPhone or iPad! We have been almost every day since we got our cards (a little over a week ago) and the kids just love turning their old books in and getting a new book. I checked them out The Flinstones DVD so they could watch a cartoon Mommy and Daddy used to watch! (I plan to find the Jetson's next ;) )
Zach found some great business books; I haven't gotten anything yet, but plan to check out Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers just as quick as I can!
All in all, GREAT free entertainment! And that is always a good thing!
We also went to Gateway Church's Saturday night service last Saturday and took my Papa. We were still going to our church Sunday morning/night and Wednesday night, but had really been wanting to visit this church on a Saturday night. We all (including Papa) loved it! The worship had me literally in tears and we were all so overwhelmed by the presence of The Holy Spirit during worship! My Papa just had a huge smile on his face the whole time and you could tell, just thoroughly enjoyed it! We plan to start going there Saturday nights, primarily for the worship, in addition to our regular church services. It is a satellite church, so the campus we went to had a live band, but the pastor wasn't physically on that campus. It was very good though! We would like to one Saturday night also visit Matt Chandler's church, The Village, as it is very close to us!
After we went to that service, we went by the mall to see the Easter bunny! Papa really enjoyed watching the kids and told them after, "you know I met the Easter bunny a long long time ago, before your Mommy was even born, when my kids were little!" The kids thought that was SO COOL! :) It was a really special time for all of us!
I think I mentioned in the last post, but Zach is going to start playing drums for our church! He's very excited!!
We got to see my cousins from Tennessee last night and were so happy about that. They are going back Saturday and it's always so good to see them. They have a big church in Tennessee and are actually the ones who recommended Gateway to us because they attend there whenever they are here. Very thankful for the recommendation! Fun fact they shared with us last night: Kari Jobe actually came from Gateway church and was leading the band live at the main campus the night we went! How neat, huh?
Stay tuned for more next time... It seems to be never ending here :)
Saturday, March 21, 2015
UPDATES//mostly for family&friends out of state
It's hard keeping everyone updated on our life... Especially when we continue to be busier and busier by the day, it seems like. I wanted to post a blog with all of our updates that our family & friends out of state (and some of our instate who make not know all these things yet, because we have, in fact, been so busy) can read and be filled in. Enjoy!!
Savannah:
Savannah had her first soccer practice this week! She should have already had several practices plus a game, but because of the weather, they were just now able to have one. She was a little shy, but loved it! She just so happened to know two of her teammates from her school too! Her team is an established team that has been together for a couple seasons. She and one other little girl are the newbies.
She is still loving school and amazing me with the things she is learning. Her school is very advanced and high tech and frankly, I'm very impressed with the things they are teaching even the kindergarteners. Savannah asked me 2 weeks ago at lunch, why there was a QR code on the Dickey's BBQ cup. I was so taken aback that she even knew what a QR code was. Those who know me, know that I rarely let my kids see my iPad and can almost safely say that I never let them see my phone. They have also never used our computers. I tell you this only to reiterate how shocked I was to hear the words QR code come out of her mouth! Nonetheless, after asking her how she knew what a QR code was, she nonchalantly told me because they use the iPads at school to scan the QR codes on their books.
We went to her open house at her school last night and got to see all her work, her journals, her book cubby, etc. Back to the topic of QR codes... We were given a handout with a list of all the things Savannah would show us. One of the things said, "scan the QR code on your book so your parents can hear you read your book." She went over to her table, grabbed the iPad, opened it, pulled open some app, scanned the QR code on her book and alas, a website came up with a recording of her reading this book that she illustrated and wrote all by herself! Can I just say, I was very impressed with the whole deal! She also showed us all around the school, where she goes for all her special classes, the library and computer lab, etc. In the computer lab, again, I was very impressed watching her control+alt+delete to log on, then enter her username and password, then navigate the computer. I just kept saying, "Zach, can you believe she knows all of this??" LOL
Savannah is currently getting over a double ear infection! Her allergies got the best of her and after a high fever and complaints of both ears hurting, I took her up to the urgent care and it was confirmed. She is on antibiotics now and feeling much better, thankfully!
She is in Awana's and doing very well! In addition to memorizing quite a few verses, she has also memorized the books of the New Testament. She has gotten four jewels so far on her vest. I am so proud of her!
Mason:
Mason is still just as hilarious as ever. He is seriously getting funnier by the day. His new thing is calling everyone, "sugar". He tells me, "Mother, you will always be my sugar!" daily and makes me melt. It sounds more like, "Mudder. You. Weel. Always. Be. My. Sugger." I tell you, I can't get enough of him!
He is still loving school and still complaining that he cannot go every day. (That's a good sign that he is going to be studious like his Mommy, right? ;) ) He is in Awana's and loving it also. He has memorized a ton of verses already and has gotten 6 patches so far! I am SO pleased that he loves Awana's!
He, for the past several months, has been on a monster kick... As in, he thinks there is monsters everywhere!! I am ready for this to pass, but it is kind of cute!
Oh, this is a big one! Beginning about two weeks after we moved here, Mason asked me if he could sleep in his underwear, not pull ups. He has been potty trained for over a year now (since a month after he turned 2), but has still been sleeping in pull ups. He had been waking up dry in the mornings, out of no where, for about two weeks before he asked me this. He was so cute; he said, "Mommy, I no need pull ups anymore! I no pee pee anymore!" I sat there taken off guard, running it over in my head, and said, "well, you really don't pee pee your pull ups anymore, so I guess you can sleep in your underwear now!" He immediately started clapping and saying, "yay!!" The rest is history! I was pleasantly surprised about this as I had assumed with him being a boy, that he would be a little bit older before mastering nighttime. Nonetheless, I'll take it and am thankful! Now I have all the pull-ups that I had stocked up on stashed away for when Gavin gets day potty trained and needs them to sleep in!
Gavin:
Gavin started walking at exactly 13.5 months, a few days before Zach got here. The rest is history! He now runs and does a pretty good job keeping up with his siblings, loves playing outside, and so much more. He is still the sweetest baby ever! He points to things and says, "this!", gives lots of big open mouth kisses (the best kinds), and is overall very sweet, affectionate, and sensitive. He is irresistible to his Momma and has his Daddy wrapped around his finger too. And let us not forget about Papa... He has Papa wrapped around his finger!! Gavin is getting increasingly more independent and just started feeding himself with a spoon/fork last week.
His little curls are getting more curly, yet frizzy when he first awakens or has been in the car seat.
He is also getting great at following directions like, "take this to Daddy" or "throw this away" or "go get your ball". I just love it!
Zach:
Zach is working his tail off and making lots of great contacts and connections. He is getting involved with the band at our church. I am sure there is more to update on Zach, but I am drawing a blank right now :) Oh, he loves all the food choices here in Texas and particularly loves Bahama Bucks (shaved ice). His cravings may or may not be a little out of control :)
Britt:
The most exciting thing I have to share as of right now is that last week, I got the amazing privilege of being able to assist my dear cousin, Katy, in labor with her sweet baby, Jack. I served as her doula and I was truly honored to do so! It was by far a very special time for me watching her bring precious life into this world. Baby Jack is just adorable and loved by Auntie Britt so much!! **Side note, this was the longest that Gavin had ever been away from me and he was a champ! He and Daddy had so much fun! I didn't get home that night until 1:15am, so technically the next day, and they were both sound asleep! That was the first time Gavin had ever gone to sleep without nursing. Needless to say, Mommy woke him up immediately to nurse!! (That was the longest I had ever gone without nursing him, ha!) The big kids spent two nights with their Aunt Heather and Grandpa Chuck and had a blast!! Seriously, they were on cloud 9 when they came home! I am so thankful for them taking care of them for those two days and providing them with some fun on their Spring Break!
Savannah is currently getting over a double ear infection! Her allergies got the best of her and after a high fever and complaints of both ears hurting, I took her up to the urgent care and it was confirmed. She is on antibiotics now and feeling much better, thankfully!
She is in Awana's and doing very well! In addition to memorizing quite a few verses, she has also memorized the books of the New Testament. She has gotten four jewels so far on her vest. I am so proud of her!
Mason:
Mason is still just as hilarious as ever. He is seriously getting funnier by the day. His new thing is calling everyone, "sugar". He tells me, "Mother, you will always be my sugar!" daily and makes me melt. It sounds more like, "Mudder. You. Weel. Always. Be. My. Sugger." I tell you, I can't get enough of him!
He is still loving school and still complaining that he cannot go every day. (That's a good sign that he is going to be studious like his Mommy, right? ;) ) He is in Awana's and loving it also. He has memorized a ton of verses already and has gotten 6 patches so far! I am SO pleased that he loves Awana's!
He, for the past several months, has been on a monster kick... As in, he thinks there is monsters everywhere!! I am ready for this to pass, but it is kind of cute!
Oh, this is a big one! Beginning about two weeks after we moved here, Mason asked me if he could sleep in his underwear, not pull ups. He has been potty trained for over a year now (since a month after he turned 2), but has still been sleeping in pull ups. He had been waking up dry in the mornings, out of no where, for about two weeks before he asked me this. He was so cute; he said, "Mommy, I no need pull ups anymore! I no pee pee anymore!" I sat there taken off guard, running it over in my head, and said, "well, you really don't pee pee your pull ups anymore, so I guess you can sleep in your underwear now!" He immediately started clapping and saying, "yay!!" The rest is history! I was pleasantly surprised about this as I had assumed with him being a boy, that he would be a little bit older before mastering nighttime. Nonetheless, I'll take it and am thankful! Now I have all the pull-ups that I had stocked up on stashed away for when Gavin gets day potty trained and needs them to sleep in!
Gavin:
Gavin started walking at exactly 13.5 months, a few days before Zach got here. The rest is history! He now runs and does a pretty good job keeping up with his siblings, loves playing outside, and so much more. He is still the sweetest baby ever! He points to things and says, "this!", gives lots of big open mouth kisses (the best kinds), and is overall very sweet, affectionate, and sensitive. He is irresistible to his Momma and has his Daddy wrapped around his finger too. And let us not forget about Papa... He has Papa wrapped around his finger!! Gavin is getting increasingly more independent and just started feeding himself with a spoon/fork last week.
His little curls are getting more curly, yet frizzy when he first awakens or has been in the car seat.
He is also getting great at following directions like, "take this to Daddy" or "throw this away" or "go get your ball". I just love it!
Zach:
Zach is working his tail off and making lots of great contacts and connections. He is getting involved with the band at our church. I am sure there is more to update on Zach, but I am drawing a blank right now :) Oh, he loves all the food choices here in Texas and particularly loves Bahama Bucks (shaved ice). His cravings may or may not be a little out of control :)
Britt:
The most exciting thing I have to share as of right now is that last week, I got the amazing privilege of being able to assist my dear cousin, Katy, in labor with her sweet baby, Jack. I served as her doula and I was truly honored to do so! It was by far a very special time for me watching her bring precious life into this world. Baby Jack is just adorable and loved by Auntie Britt so much!! **Side note, this was the longest that Gavin had ever been away from me and he was a champ! He and Daddy had so much fun! I didn't get home that night until 1:15am, so technically the next day, and they were both sound asleep! That was the first time Gavin had ever gone to sleep without nursing. Needless to say, Mommy woke him up immediately to nurse!! (That was the longest I had ever gone without nursing him, ha!) The big kids spent two nights with their Aunt Heather and Grandpa Chuck and had a blast!! Seriously, they were on cloud 9 when they came home! I am so thankful for them taking care of them for those two days and providing them with some fun on their Spring Break!
I am officially all TX now! Yesterday, I went and got my car inspected, registered in Texas, got Texas license plates, and got my Texas driver's license. This was a relief to get this all knocked out in a day and I must say, my sweet little Gavin was a trooper! I was so thankful to get it all done in time to pick up Mason by 2pm too!
I took Savannah to see Cinderella the night it came out for some Mommy/Daughter time. It was truly an excellent movie and we had a fabulous time! She said her favorite part of the movie was when they got married! (Awwww, Mommy's too!!)
My Papa and I made a trip with the boys (Savannah was in school) to Kaufman, TX two days ago to see my cousin and Papa's oldest brother (he is one of 12) who is also my great uncle, and pick up the shirts that my sweet cousin embroidered for Zach with his business logo on them. They look fantastic and I have to again, tell any of my local readers, if you ever need embroidery... check out her Facebook page! GoBoothe Embroidery, LLC https://www.facebook.com/goboothembroidery
Bella:
Bella, our dog, is having puppies! This was unplanned of course and she will be getting fixed after she delivers!! However, nonetheless, next week, we will have puppies!! ***Local friends, contact me if interested in a puppy!! Stay tuned to Facebook for photos!!
I took Savannah to see Cinderella the night it came out for some Mommy/Daughter time. It was truly an excellent movie and we had a fabulous time! She said her favorite part of the movie was when they got married! (Awwww, Mommy's too!!)
My Papa and I made a trip with the boys (Savannah was in school) to Kaufman, TX two days ago to see my cousin and Papa's oldest brother (he is one of 12) who is also my great uncle, and pick up the shirts that my sweet cousin embroidered for Zach with his business logo on them. They look fantastic and I have to again, tell any of my local readers, if you ever need embroidery... check out her Facebook page! GoBoothe Embroidery, LLC https://www.facebook.com/goboothembroidery
Bella:
Bella, our dog, is having puppies! This was unplanned of course and she will be getting fixed after she delivers!! However, nonetheless, next week, we will have puppies!! ***Local friends, contact me if interested in a puppy!! Stay tuned to Facebook for photos!!
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says The Lord.//Keeping heavenly thoughts in an 'ISIS filled news' world
For it is written, "Vengeance is Mine. I will repay." says the Lord. Romans 12:19b
The Lord is a Man of War: The Lord is His name! -Exodus 15:3
The Lord is a Man of War: The Lord is His name! -Exodus 15:3
At this point in time, it is safe to say that no one in America has not heard about the rise of ISIS. Thoughts about how we should be handling this particular extreme degree of evil, what action we should take, etc. may vary amongst people, but one thing is for sure, everyone is aware that they do in fact exist and that they are persecuting our brothers and sisters in the Middle East and some from the West as well at an alarming rate.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night. Nor by the arrow that flies by day. -Psalms 91:5
While it is easy to let our thoughts go towards all the awful things we would like to repay them with and how much we want to obliterate them, what is Heaven calling us to do?
**To be clear, I'm not saying we shouldn't stand up for ourselves and I am very pro "our military going over there and taking them out". I just don't think that alone is the answer. Our world has so many problems and they have been getting increasingly worse over time. We treat the symptoms, not the disease.**
America's problem is we have become numb to reality, numb to the world, and very self absorbed. The phrase, "first world probs", made me laugh at first, but now my husband and I talk about how true and sad it is! We worry about such little and meaningless things, while our fellow sisters and brothers overseas are losing their lives. We take our freedom for granted and whether we are aware of it or not, we do nothing about it.
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. -Romans 8:34
As Christians, we need to be bombarding heaven's gates right now with prayers. God wants us to intercede on behalf of the Middle East! Jesus LIVES to make intercession for us; why won't we intercede like we should for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted day by day? For an evil like ISIS to fall on their face before a Holy God and turn from their wicked ways? For our government to stop trying to be politically correct and get spiritually correct?
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. -Hebrews 7:25
Billy Graham's wife once said, "If God doesn't punish America, then he'll have to apologize to Sodom & Gomarrah." As much as I don't want to see His wrath poured out on us, what choice are we leaving Him? It's easy to think, "I'm living my life the way I should; there's nothing else I can do." That is a lie from the pits of hell.
...For we are not naive to Satan's schemes. -2 Corinthians 2:11b
We can always do more. We can always pray more. Every last one of us. Even the most fervent prayer warriors can always increase in Him. Satan wants us to believe that there is nothing we can do. He wants us to keep our heads buried in the sand. But again, we are not ignorant of his devices. We need to be flooding heaven with prayers.
I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing. -1 Timothy 2:8
What should we be praying for specifically you ask? How do we pray for such evil? As hard as it may be, pray for ISIS. Pray that they will have such a revelation and encounter with The One true God, The Holy One of Israel. Pray that they will fall on their face before Him, the holiest of holiest, and will repent and turn from their wicked ways. This isn't always an easy thing to pray for, but even ISIS isn't beyond redemption or saving.
Bless them that curse you and pray for them that persecute you. -Luke 6:28
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:32
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. -1 Timothy 1:15b
Pray for our government. Pray for our pastors and our churches. Change has to come from the inside out.
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. -1 Timothy 2:1-4
Pray for the Holy Spirit to fall on the Middle East! Pray for our brothers and sisters: for peace that can only come from The Prince of Peace, for comfort that can only come from The Holy Spirit, for endurance and strength to keep fighting the fight that can only come from our Redeemer, and for a shield of protection that can only come from The Lord Almighty.
My Redeemer, THE LORD ALMIGHTY is His name, is The Holy One of Israel. -Isaiah 47:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. -Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. -Matthew 5:4
Pray the blood of the Lamb over your family by name and over your house. Satan and his demons cannot go where the blood of the Lamb is!
For they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. -Revelation 12:11
Pray, pray, pray! He desires this of us! He WILL answer us! We must pray with confidence that He will be faithful and answer us when we ask in the name of Jesus!
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. -James 1:6-7
I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. -John 14:13-14
For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. -Isaiah 56:7b
This awful state of our world doesn't mean we just give up and throw in the towel. We keep the fight until Jesus comes back for us! In the meantime, we pray for as many souls to be saved, as many hearts to come to know Him as possible.
The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self controlled, so that you can pray. -1 Peter 4:7
The Lord your God is in your midst, The Mighty One WILL save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. -Zephaniah 3:17
There is coming a day very soon where they will be no more war, no more sadness, no more pain. Regardless whether they acknowledge His deity now, one thing is for sure, they WILL bow then. Let us pray for them to recognize Jesus' deity here, so their souls can be saved.
For it is written, as I live, says The Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue will confess to God. -Revelation 14:11
That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth. -Philippians 2:10
He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. -Isaiah 2:4
Put your faith in the God who has always been! It is by His will that we were created, that everyone on this earth was created, and He is in control. Let us do our part now!
Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of The Lord has risen upon you. Deep darkness covers the peoples. -Isaiah 60:1-2a
And they do not rest day or night saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!" -Revelation 4:8b
You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things and by Your will they exist and were created. -Revelation 4:11
"To Our God" by Bethel
Up from the ashes Your love has brought us
Out of the darkness into the light
Lifting our sorrows
Bearing our burdens healing our hearts
To our God we lift up one voice
To our God we lift up one song
To our God we lift up one voice
Singing Hallelujah
Chains have been broken eyes have been opened
An army of dry bones is starting to rise
Death is defeated
We are victorious for You are alive
Hallelujah Hallelujah
We'll make His praise glorious glorious, glorious
For His name is glorious, glorious, glorious
Make His praise glorious, glorious, glorious
Shout His name Glorious, Glorious, Glorious
Out of the darkness into the light
Lifting our sorrows
Bearing our burdens healing our hearts
To our God we lift up one voice
To our God we lift up one song
To our God we lift up one voice
Singing Hallelujah
Chains have been broken eyes have been opened
An army of dry bones is starting to rise
Death is defeated
We are victorious for You are alive
Hallelujah Hallelujah
We'll make His praise glorious glorious, glorious
For His name is glorious, glorious, glorious
Make His praise glorious, glorious, glorious
Shout His name Glorious, Glorious, Glorious
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzZmE5Ngeqo
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