Spring Break and other random things

Here we are at the Above Rubies retreat a few weeks ago. Above Rubies is a ministry to women (and families) based on Proverbs 31. It was started by Nancy Campbell (my hero) about 30 some years ago in New Zealand. I've been to several of these retreats, but this was my first time to take my precious girls. We had a wonderful time together! Here we are with my Mama (Bailey taking the pic). I am grateful that Mom has jumped in and worked so hard to support my efforts as a mother. Her encouragement and prayers are INVALUABLE!!! She is a special grandmother who prays not just for me and my brother, but for our children, and their children, and theirs... A legacy of faith. :)

Here is Nancy praying over some women at the retreat. She took the time to have individual prayer times over mothers, pregnant mamas, women who desire to be pregnant, the teen girls, etc... It was AMAZING!!!

This is a fuzzy (sorry) photo of Nancy teaching. She makes the word of God come alive! I especially appreciate her thoughts on praying for our nation, as well as the encouragement that motherhood is a woman's glory. I left feeling so "fed" and blessed.

Another rare and special treat. The homeschoolers of Wimberley got to meet with Mr. Bill Johnson in his home and hear all about his experiences in WWII. He has an amazing story to tell of faith, courage, and true heroism. He shared some inspiring thoughts to our children and I am so grateful for this experience. Taylor is a WWII history nerd and it was so fun to get to do this on his birthday.

Mr. Johnson had many saved newspaper articles from the war. Wow! It was so neat! A couple of quotes from him that I wanted to share: "Courage is not the absence of fear. We were all scared, but fought anyway." AND "There are a lot of bad people in the world. War is not the answer, but sometimes it cannot be avoided." While hearing about the war was such a treasure, it does not compare to hearing about his faith in Jesus. He shared how he came to know God, some of the things in life that's built his faith, and even admitted that he still struggles to forgive some of the things from the war. I felt thrilled that my kids got to hear this hero share his life.

Here it is... Joshua got bit by a donkey (or as my little brother used to say - a konkey). And his jerk-of-a-mom let it happen! I felt so bad. This picture is obviously just before the torrent of tears!

Bailey Jo pet sitting for friends. This was her first time to care for Farm Animals! She did a fabulous job.

Isn't she adorable?!

This was the only 10 seconds he let me set him down after the donkey incident. :0

Here's the beauty again.

Pedernales Falls State Park!

Joshua hiking with his buddy Makenna. She is soooooo good with him and he loves her!

Casey, Ethan, Colt, Taylor, Emily, Bailey, Makenna, and Autumn. A very fun day!

Doodlebug and Mama

Emily just came flying down the rapids and was holding on to Taylor for dear life! She had wrapped her arms and legs around him to stop herself when he started shouting, "get off of me you random girl! Who are you?!" It was hilarious!

These were some really good times........... lots of blessings. :)

Oh my! The big boy is 17!

Here's Tay with his Gran Ann. Seems like yesterday she carried him on her hip and called him her "sack of potatoes". He's grown a few inches since then. :)

Gran Ann and Uncle Doug came up for lunch on Tay's birthday. We had great Mexican food and lots of laughs!

Here's the crew at the birthday breakfast. Taylor let Joshua taste some of the frosting from his cupcakes... looks like he's all "sugared up"! :0
Bailey shared a Hannah Montannah candle for Tay's pancakes... He really loved it. :)

Here's the boys at Taylor's recent Texas State Homeschool Basketball Championships. Taylor's team was 3rd overall (this is no small thing since many of the teams were from San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston) and Taylor received the All tournament honor. He averaged 12 pts. a game and was an amazing leader for his team. (I'm not proud at all)

Well, what say about this boy? He's my firstborn of my womb, my son, my baby, my friend, my brother in Christ, and the reason my heart is so full and my tears pour so freely. I can't believe that he's 17 already... It does seem like yesterday we brought him home from the hospital and I was just beginning to understand how much love my heart could experience. I was trying to explain last night to my girls that no matter how much you want to be a mama, nothing prepares you for the love that explodes in your heart when you have a baby. I just remember sitting and looking at him, crying, saying, "I love him so much"... I'd always dreamt of motherhood, but, wow! I could never have imagined how amazing it was going to be. Really, the English language fails me right now to explain it. :)

The truth is not only is Taylor a beautiful blessing all in his own rite, but he is a representation of how God works in our lives. We can (and do) live lives so unworthy of his love, his grace, his salvation, and yet, he just pours it on anyway! When we got pregnant with Taylor, Troy and I were not exactly walking faithfully with the Lord. This was a season of rebellious sin for me. For months I'd just ignored God and did what I wanted to do. And then we learned of my pregnancy, married, and began a life as husband and wife. 6 months later, God revealed his grace to me... Not only had he forgiven my sin........... HE BLESSED ME WITH A BEAUTIFUL BABY!!! Isn't it just like God to go so overboard.... He didn't just offer forgiveness... he gave what is the greatest earthly blessing a person can receive - a child! :) Psalm 127:3-5 says, "Sons are a heritage of the Lord, children a reward from. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate."

More and more every day I praise God for this hard-headed, driven, compassionate, tender-hearted, hilarious, fun-loving boy who is so quickly becoming a man. Oh God, that you would keep pouring out your grace so that I can be the mama he needs.

It's All A Matter Of Perspective

This morning has already been so much fun! Here are the boys at the breakfast table having some laughs together.

I gave Joshua some paper and a pen so that he could do school too! He's really smart! :)

Here's the young scholar writing his "paper" in his highchair.

The Lord spoke to me this morning and told me that my focus could be on the fact that I still have a nasty cold, the baby's kept me up at night a lot lately because he has a cold too, the sink is full of dirty dishes, the laundry still isn't fisnished, I miss my husband, etc, and so on......... OR I could focus on the fact that there are four beautiful children in my home this morning and their laughter fills the house, I watched Bailey Jo take Joshua out to feed the deer, Joshua was so silly in the highchair that I laughed til I cried, I prayed with all of them for a friend to be healed, my husband called and said he loves all of us, we found out we have a new baby boy cousin coming in July, etc... so on............. So it's really all about perspective today. The Lord has richly blessed me, and that's how I'm choosing to see things. Hope you feel the same way.

So, I know that I haven't blogged in forever (guilt, guilt,guilt) and it's not that I don't want to. To be honest I do not know how people with 8 or more children do all the beautiful REGULAR blogging that they do... but I know they do because I love to read them. I just can't seem to get it all done sometimes. Ugh. Well, I would love to spend hours here on the computer and tell you all the things that have gone on in the last several months... and believe me, there's a bunch. But, obviously I can't. Here's just a few of the major events: A good friend went to be with Jesus after her fight with cancer, a grandmother joined her in Heaven with almost 99 years on this earth, Taylor made 2nd team All State in football, my baby brother got married, Joshua turned 1, Taylor got his driver's license (yikes!) and tons of other stuff.

Birthday Boy!

Well, I can't believe a whole year has gone by, but Joshua turned one on January 4th this year! :)

Here's he and Aunt Allison hamming it up! She is pregnant with Joshua's new baby cousin! Hurray!!!!!!!!!!

Both of the grandmothers at Joshua's party... How blessed are we that we have the treasure of these two beautiful godly women in our lives?

The day after Joshua's party, my precious friend Caroline and her husband Jon visited us from New Zealand. What a treat to get to have them in our home. Can you tell that Joshua doesn't like the flash?

Finally back!

Yes, I'm finally back........ I think. You cannot even imagine how techno-challenged I am. I tried to get all fancy and make my page look kind of "fallish" and then, bam! I Messed up the whole blog! I've been working on this for weeks and now hopefully, I can at least write some and post some photos. We'll see...........

Bailey's Big Birthday Bash! (#12)

Can you believe that my Bailey Jo is 12?! Oh my, where has the time gone? We had a wonderful celebration on Saturday with a house full of friends and laughter. Bailey planned this party all by herself. She was crazy about the idea of having a Hawaiian Luau by the pool, but after days and days of rain we weren't sure if it would work out. The girls did swim for a little bit though and then played games, ate cake, and watched the Hannah Montana movie. (Troy and Taylor loved this part!) The original plan was for Troy to project the movie outside on the side of the house, but because of the weather we just did it in the living room. He hung a quilt and made it into a HUGE big screen. Daddy saved the day and made it very fun!!! He also sent Bai some beautiful flowers in all of her favorite colors (blue, lime green, and orange).

Here are friends Emily, Saida, Meg, and of course Joshua all gathered around to play "spoons".

Here are all the beauties with exception of our Emily (the photographer) and another very special friend named Taylor Campbell who is actually in college at TX State. Bailey just loves her and wanted to include her. Taylor was very sweet and VERY mature to not be "too cool" to go to a younger girl's party.

You know in hindsight, we are feeling so blessed that God has provided for us in so many ways. I mean, it's been less than a year since we've moved here, and already Bailey has several very special friends. Wow! :)

I am feeling very overwhelmed at the thought that my baby is 12. It feels like yesterday that we propped her up in Taylor and Emily's 4 and 3 year old arms. Bailey has been and continues to be a great source of joy and laughter for all of us. She's also very deep spiritually, always hungry for worship and bible teaching. One of Bailey's greatest gifts is her love for animals. I marvel at her responsibility and willingness to sacrifice for our pets. She's always taking money that she's earned and spending it on toys for the dog, as well as getting up early just to spend time with them. I know that God has plans for her to some day work with animals as an adult, but all of these character traits in her also remind me of what an amazing mother she'll be. She shows that every day with how well she takes care of not just the pets, but also baby Joshua.

The bottom line is - I am so blessed to have her as my girl. She is a spectacular treasure to our whole family and I praise God for the gift of her!