Monday, July 21, 2008

Happy 1st Birthday Ella

Adding Ella to our family was one of the best decisions we have made in awhile. The kids absolutely adore her and she adds so much fun to our family. She absolutely loves being outside, which is the best thing for me, I love her being outside too! Every night she has to be put back out so that she can stalk the bunnies and whatever else she thinks has snuck into her space while she was snuggling with us on the couch. She loves to run, having made a track in the grass in our back yard with her continuous circling, and she loves to chase the kids, birds, our neighbor Gene, whoever, or whatever's around is fair game to her. Jason laughs at me for all the prayers I said out loud for her to stay small and not get big, and we are pleased it worked. She's a quarter the size of our friends German short haired, and she still fits perfectly in the car, on the couch, and her rare trips into the bed. . .

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Adiah's Two!

Happy Birthday Princess Adiah!
We traveled out to Midlothian today to celebrate Adiah's 2nd Birthday and it was so much fun! Jason had some great one on one time with Addie in the pool, her absolute favorite place to be. The rest of us enjoyed watching her go crazy over her Elmo toys and other gifts! She is adjusting so beautifully and we are so blessed by her zest and joy!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Splashing Around

NRH2O with Dad


Jason took the day off of work and it was all the excuse we needed to head out to the water park. We have season tickets to the NRH2O, and the kids love going out for the day with their friends, but it's a super special treat when Dad joins the party! Corban still isn't a big fan of the water slides, but he loves The Accelerator, or as he calls it, "The Mattress slide." The boys prefer to ride in the lane next to me because they love the huge tidelwave of water I create as I come down, joy joy, but on this day, they raced each other alone and Nathan won.

It was a beautiful day, they shared their love of the lazy river and the wave pool with dad, and I enjoyed having someone else stand in line with Brooklyn for the Green slide. It's the longest line on the planet because "The world's largest uphill water rollercoaster," breaks down often. The had a blast on it nonetheless!

Once the kids had their fill of the heat, we headed to Dallas to enjoy the DCI Marching Competition. Our brother in law Kevin was on staff for the Blue Knights this summer, and his wife was anxious to see him. It was fun watching the kids develop a love for marching band, their parents fell in love on the marching field ya know. The show was hot, on the field, and in the stands!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Strike Two! They're Out!

He's been wiggling, and jiggling, and pushing, and pulling for weeks, and FINALLY they both broke loose! The tooth fairy has worn a path into their bedrooms the last couple of weeks, Brooklyn lost two and now Nathan's lost his two front teeth. I hope Dave Ramsey has her set up on a good budget, because this run on teeth could really do some damage to ones blow budget!

I was really quite thrilled to finally have the second one fall! He lost the left one on Wednesday, which was apparently holding the right one straight. When it fell out the right one immediately went crooked and Corban said he looked like Nanny McPhee with a scraggly tooth hanging! Every time he would talk to me it took all I had not to laugh at him and stare at his dangling tooth. Another milestone of childhood has now come and gone. So, Nathan? What are you going to invest your new found fortune in? Taffy or Gumballs?

Friday, July 4, 2008

My Little Firecrackers

J-L Ranch
July 4, 2008

Dad & Linda with Leah, Uncle Wes, and Becky

We drove out to my dad's for the 4th of July evening and had a wonderful dinner. Afterwards the kids had a blast, including Jason especially, lighting and shooting off fireworks. Of course the kids favorite were the sparklers, they do love their independence! Enjoy the pics!

Hey Jason, isn't alcohol flamable?

God Bless the USA!



Kaboom Town in Addison, Texas
July 3, 2008





Kaboom Town was a bit different this year, so many of our usuals stayed home or were out of town. Many friends attempted to join us and lost themselves in the maze of the madness, and all in all it was still a wonderful time. The kids were thrilled that Aunt Emily, Alan, and Jack were able to find us in the throng. They love them some Jack!
Proclaim Liberty throughout the Land to all its inhabitants! Leviticus 25:10

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Have you ever Wondered. . .?

What's making that noise when you move the furniture? Well, apparently the boys wondered. They used my scissors to cut the bottom out of my leather chairs and were thrilled with all the money and toys the discovered.
Cheerios, raisins, pistachios, markers, water bottle (how do you stuff that between the cushions), n.i.p. fruit roll ups, batteries, spoons (Oh! Thank you Jesus!), scissors, half eaten peanut butter & jelly sandwhiches (gross!), candy wrappers galore, bibles, Capri Suns, full package of Nerds (which they tried to eat), money, keys, and Gameboy games. It took 4 full dust pan trips to clean it up. Now that's disgusting! And I thought they were doing so well on the no food or drink leaves the kitchen rule! Busted!

Use me, show me, I want MORE!

Today is just one of those reflective moments where I'm standing in awe of God. He is so amazing, and cool, and real, and close, and OBVIOUS!
I love belonging to a God who can take tragedy, heartache, and disappointment, and use it to edify, uplift, and encourage us. My friend Emily has a cousin that has had difficult pregnancies over and over. She suffered difficult miscarriages, and then I knew of her and began praying for her during her pregnancy with her daughter Grace two years ago that was burdened by difficulty, and now pregnant with twins, one lost fluid and flew home to be with Jesus. And can I say I love blogging. I logged onto her blog to keep up with the latest details as she's laid up in a hospital on absolute bedrest, and God moved in me. Immediately I was told to create a blog header for her, which I did with absolute joy. That's what talent is given to us for people, to uplift and edify others. But it wasn't a one way street. Laurie's strength and wisdom as she's going through this uplifts and edify's me. God is so obviously near to her right now and it's pouring out in her words and views. That encourages us and edify's us. Should you or I ever fear walking through a valley such that Laurie's walking through, we should have no doubt that He will be right there with us, filling us with extra Grace, and helping us understand and see things through His eyes. Here's a link to her blog News From the Nest and a picture of the header God gaver her through me.
So, you know how many of us have our thing, the way God shows us through Creation that He's there for us. For some it's seeing feathers lying in critical spots, for Brian and Amy it's the number 55, etc. All day yesterday outside my office window as I was working on this header I heard the loudest baby birds you've ever heard! What's weird is in all the years we've lived in this house we've never had birds close, I think the trees were too small to provide safety for nests. Anyway, yesterday, Jason and I both separately noticed the loud chirping coming from a nest outside our window. And it didn't stop all day as I worked, and when I got out of bed at 1 in the morning with insomina and came down here to work more, they started up chirping again as soon as I was in the hallway! This morning as I sat down it was so quiet, and as soon as I opened an email from Laurie they started chirping again. So of course I mentioned this to Laurie, and turns out birds are her thing, the way God lets her know He's near. I know that God put them near me, so that I could tell her, so that in her isolated hospital room, she could "hear" them and know He's watching over her nest. God is so cool. That's why we live in relationship, with Him and with others. We're all part of the same Spirit, meant to live to build each other up and bring and receive the gifts of the Spirit to each other.
The more we acknowledge God in our lives, the more we see. The more we ask, the more He gives. I want to notice it all, to be filled with joy each time I notice a bird and my Spirit lifts letting me know, it's not just a random bird chirping, God ordained my tree to grow and for the first nest built in it to burst forth with life the day it would lift the spirit of someone far away in a hospital bed.
The message puts it this way in Matthew 6
"Look at the birds, free and unfettered, careless in the care of God, if He tends to all of these things you don't even see, how much more will He take care of you, for you are far more valuable to Him than birds."
Careless in the Care of God, that's how I want to live!