New pics!

I have new pics and I am sooo pleased with them! A friend (that is only 16) took them. It was quick and painless, and not tears were shed!

Sick Day = Productive Day

I had the opportunity to stay home with Lilly yesterday. She had strep, which is usually bad, but that girl never napped or stopped talking, other than a really red, sore throat, you would have never known that she was sick.

Soooo, I was able to get caught up on teacher and class Christmas gifts. Yeah!!! 45 s'more kits, 4 initial frames, and 6 picture frames. I even had time to enjoy myself. There is nothing better than VERY easy crafty gift ideas! I did steal the s'more kit from southernplate.com . That is a really great blog!

Raising girls....

Raising girls for most usually means hairbows, pink tutus, and sugar and spice. We do have a little of the hairbows and pink. And, we have a LOT of sugar and spice.

But... They are definitely Daddy's girls and he takes much joy in spending time with them...



Macey got her first deer and Haley got a really "pretty" fox. Both are having a blast and Dad is loving every minute of it! And I am tickled to have our freezer stash replenished.

There is more to do...

I have read a ccouple of books lately and read several scriptures again with a better understanding, that have confirmed that there is sooo much more that we as a family can do to serve God. Sure, we have a great responsibility to raise Godly girls, we donate a little time during the holidays, and we give monetarily. But, yet God calls us to be different, to not get caught up in worldy things, and that this is all temporary stuff. I hate to admit that there are many days that I am not real sure that I would give up my STUFF to truly follow God. Also, I have come to understand that being like Christ is not just simply being nice. Christ came to earth to serve. We are commanded to serve. Yet, there is so much more to do and that I am perfectly capable of doing.

The family pic above was taken during our wonderful Thanksgiving spent in Arkansas. It is kind of significant because we have all decided as a family that we can do more. I am so thankful to God for this family that he has blessed me with and it is the precious girls that have opened mine and Jay's eye to things that can be done with very little resources. They serve in various ways almost daily. I have been entrusted to raise them to follow Christ, but yet I justify keeping them from serving in a bigger capacity as a way of protecting them. That sounds awfully familiar to the man that buried his talents...doesn't it???

This is not like riding a bicycle!

I can't seem to remember HOW to post and I can't remember where I put the cord to transfer pictures from my camera to my computer. Maybe once I get this blog back up and running I will have new incentive to keep at it!

I was able to find a few recent pics just to let you know what we have been up to...

Macey is still loving goat showing! I am so proud of her dedication and commitment.


Haley has become our family baker. She has had 3 "real" orders for cupcakes and the zebra design was all her own creation! I am in awe (especially for saomeone that has never seen fondant before)


Emily is our little clown. She has a very good sense of humor and is very good at making us laugh...even when we are trying to punish her!



Lilly is our cheerleader. She is on a great special needs team and will have 2 competitions, one is only 2 weeks away! She is sooo excited and we can't wait to cheer her on!



This is one of my favorite pics because it is from one of my favorite times. We went camping in Red River, in a tent, in the mountains, in the cold for the first time and we LOVED it. I am even ready to go again!!!

...to be continued

I finally decided to read blogs and to check mine at the same time. When I signed onto my blog...It was gone! Not the gadgets, not the text, but my cute background and theme.

Sooo...I decided it was time to update. It will happen slowly and sporatically, but I will get it done. I need to! I had forgotten how therapeutic it is to record my family's activities and especially to read the uplifting blogs of others.