A Time For Every Season....

Snow! Swords! Motorcycle & Helicopter with Remote! We had a  wonderful Christmas!

2009 will go down in our family history as the year of overwhelming blessing. It was the year that after much hard work, prayer, patience, & petitioning some family goals were finally brought to fruition - like John being hired as a full time teacher! John is enjoying his middle school, special education students immensely and could not imagine a better job. He is also mentoring low-income students before school and will be an assistant football coach next year. Yes, laugh, John as a football coach, I laughed for days! John truly loves teaching and engaging the students minds with fun and creative insights. In celebration of God’s gracious blessing, this summer John will be going with a team from our church to Mexico (July) on a construction project. John spent the month of October getting ready for the 3 rd annual Home Makeover and had so much fun; he thought he would take his God gifted skills international. John also continues his small carpentry/handym...

It isn't news to those that live with me, but I've finally come to realize that this pregnancy has brought impatience and a total grouch like behavior. I'm not sure what comes over me, but simple little things like not being able to find the kids shoes set me off. I find myself always thinking, "If only they would....." "... do what I say." "... listen the first time." "... remember to put their things away." "... stop playing Rudolf over and over again." "... remember what I told them." "...stop whining." So, last night as I was sitting totally frustrated with Drew because he wasn't working very hard on learning his memory verse; God hit me over the head with an epiphany on how short tempered I really was becoming. Little silly things that I'd never even worry about were setting me off. I had traded the unimportant for battles and frustration that weren't necessary. My mostly kind w...

I had my doctor's appointment today, it went much better than I expected. Little Abby is nice and snug, I haven't dropped yet and when the doc checked me she said I "wasn't yet a centimeter dilated," which means all those nasty contractions aren't doing much to progress labor. My blood pressure was high (135/94), but I'm not spilling protein which is really good. My BP has been running around those numbers the past few days, so I wasn't shocked, plus the pressure went down once I laid on my side. They did run more blood work, just to make sure my body isn't reacting too much to the high pressures. I didn't gain anything these past two weeks; which is actually a good thing. I cut out as much salt as I could, so I didn't expect much weight gain. It also means I'm not retaining much water - which is shocking since I'm drinking a small pond each day. In total I've gained 20 pounds! That is a nice record, since I gained 65 with Drew ...

Drew and I went on a mommy date last Saturday, Drew insisted that I had to wear a dress since you can't dance in pants! I braved a dress, boots, and pantyhose just for him! I'll forget about the rash all over my legs and how cold I was most of the night, it was all worth it! First we went out for icecream and then into FortWorth for a special date with the Nutcracker Ballet. Drew loved it, he sat very still, asked questions quietly, and was quite concerned with the nasty rats who were picking on poor Clara. He smiled from ear to ear all evening! What a lot of fun we had together!

 

So much has gone on the last few weeks, it seems like Christmas has arrived early - in more ways that one! First, John woke me this morning with a kiss and the news that our yard was a winter wonderland. When the boys woke, they went out and explored the white backyard. Then came in for some cocoa and oatmeal. It was a wonderful morning - I love snow and was very sad that we didn't get any last year. Drew loved the snow, Gabe loved it only until he fell in the snow and got wet - that was the end of his great adventure. Other fun, exciting, Christmas like news is that we hired a wonderful lady as a sitter/nanny to come play with the boys on Wednesday's while I work. John and I have been praying for months about the various characteristics that we wanted for a nanny/sitter. Honestly, I thought we'd have to settle for something less, but we kept on praying and God provided a wonderful woman that was everything we'd prayed for - - plus more! Merry Christmas to me! M...

"You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, To the end that my tongue and my heart and everything glorious within me may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever." ( Psalm 30:11-12, AMP )   We are so thankful this year! There are just too many blessings; it is hard to record them all! Our biggest praise for 2009 is the blessing of John's hard-earned Teaching job! What began as an aid position, soon led to him taking a very difficult exam, which we just found out John passed – with an 84%! John has found favor with many teachers and the principal at the middle school where he works, with his present position and credentials there are a few job opportunities being discussed. We're excited to find out which one God will bring to fruition. I'm also thankful that for the first time since marriage, my husband has a normal job with set hour...

The Thanksgiving CD is playing, the sweet potatoes are boiling, the pumpkin pie is going to be made, and the little peanut is kicking away at my rib cage. It is a glorious per-Thanksgiving day! Drew and Daddy are wrestling out front, Gabe is deep into slumber, John built a fun hopscotch course in our kitchen, the house is clean, soupo is in the crock-pot, and thankfulness is in the air. Wow, God is the master planner of blessings! This past year has been quiet, reflective - preparation for the changes ahead. Changes of jobs, changes of family dynamics, changes in finances, & hopefully it all leads to changes within our hearts. We are a thankful family, there is nothing I could possible be ungrateful for - it was all pre-ordained by God and those few things in my life which I like to grumble about are also the things that grow me and raise me up to handle a God filled life. I am truly grateful today, more so than ever before. We have health, a roof over our heads, a great marriag...

I'm so sorry your sick with pneumonia, but I'm so happy your feeling better and that nasty cough is going away! Your such a little trooper, always happy and running around. You actually remind me when its time for a breathing treatment and love the fact that you get to watch 10 minutes of Dinosaur Train while your treatment is running. I'm so glad your feeling better!

We had such a wonderful week, it was quiet, relaxed, and full of fun. The leaves finally dropped in our yard, the sun was out, and we enjoyed time playing together as a family. I baked some yummy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and we drank tons of cocoa - thanks to John and my Birthday gift! The boys and I have had cough's for weeks, I'd hoped staying home relaxing could get rid of them, alas no such luck. I'm beginning to wonder if we're just suffering from allergies? Gabe and I have it the worst and we're both prone to allergy issues. Drew must be at the top of his learning curve, he has been asking tons of questions like, "How big is my brain?" and "How do you spell reptile?." He has also been doing tons of math problems in his head and talking all about our frogs being nocturnal and making "hypothesis" about various topics. Wow, I can't keep up with his creative mind, Drew talks non stop all day and is always asking tons of ...