Something new!

I started this post on Friday...then decided I didn't want to spend another minute on the computer and just left it alone! I love it!! :)

Before school, the kids and I all pile in about 2 minutes until 8:00. School starts at 8:20, but the drop-off line here is a bear. I would rather not fight it, so the kids and I get there just after 8:00. Yet, we still wait in about a 5 minute line.

Everyday we have just been sitting there...chit chatting, talking about what they are going to do...you know, kids to mom talk. Then it hit me. Why in the world am I not taking that time to pray with my kids before they start their day??

So, on Thursday we started praying in the car. The kids close their eyes and bow their heads and I pray over my babies (okay, they aren't babies anymore, but I can still say it) with my eyes open (I am driving in the drop-off lane) and it feels GREAT. Just a huge wave of relief comes over me after they got out of the car. Everyday. They know we love them and we pray with them every night before bed, but why not before they start out their day?

I have no idea why it has taken me 4 years of Grace's school career to do this, but I am so thankful that we do it now!

Friday was spirit day at the girls school. When we went to "Meet the Teacher" night, you could purchase school spirit shirts. They had already run out of Susie's size and hopefully they will be in next week. Until then, I made Susie her own, black and red spirit shirt, complete with "bling"...she was pretty proud of that shirt and I was excited that she liked it! :)


Last week was great. Sus is loving Kindergarten and Grace is thriving in 3rd grade (like we knew they would.) The GT teacher called this week and told me to get our "parent checklist" turned in quickly so that they could get her in the program ASAP....It looks like all of her test scores are great and she won't have to be re-tested!! Yes! They told us at first that she would have to come in on a Saturday and be totally re-tested because we are coming from another district. Thankfully, our old school district uses the same tests and she is good!
Parker has started to take an interest in my digital camera. He loves to take pictures...just thought I would show you some of his fine photography skills. He must take after his Papa James!


We had a great weekend. We really didn't do much, but it was nice to just be together after a crazy first week of school. Aaron and the kids were trying to make me breakfast in bed Saturday morning, but I woke up just as they were fixing my coffee, so I ate my food with them at the table. Love them! Grace and Aaron made me a David Cook CD for the car, too. They know how much I love Mr. Cook. :)

Yesterday we placed membership here at Cinco Ranch Church of Christ. We decided to quit being visitors and jump in and get busy being active members. Besides, we can only sit and do nothing for so long. It felt good to let everyone in the church know that we wanted to be a part of their family. Granted, it doesn't feel like "home" yet and I don't know when it will get to that point. It's just so hard leaving a place where you have family....I mean, a real church family. Legacy was that for us and we loved it. We hope that Cinco will be that for us and our kids. They are on their way. The kids are making friends and really love bible class. We are making friends, too. Don't get me wrong.

We had lunch with our friends, the Kleins. We are so thankful for them. They have 3 , super well behaved kids, that our children love. Honestly, I know that God sent both of our families to Cinco Ranch at the same time. It is so funny. They went to Harding the same time that I did and we didn't know each other. Yet, we know so many of the same people....Small world. We went over to their neighborhood pool and ate pizza for lunch after church. It was great. Easy, low key and great. We tried to go out to eat and the wait was going to be over an hour, so they just picked up some pizza and we just hung out by the pool.

We were leaving their house and were at the stop light outside of their neighborhood and we ran out of gas. Completely. It was so funny. We have never run out of gas. EVER. In 11 years of being married....Kyle bailed us out and I'm still laughing that we ran out of gas! :) So funny!

I just loved being able to talk to some of my friends last night on the phone. I really miss that connection, but know that we will always have it...it will just have to be through Skype and the phone. And that is fine with me!

Okay...enough jibber jabber....I'm off to play on the upstairs computer with Parker. He loves playing on Playhouse Disney. Tomorrow is his first day of pre-school here and he is sooo excited to go....The next question to answer is...what am I going to do tomorrow with a whole day to myself?? :)

10 Things Tuesday!

I'm trying to come back to the blogging world....I'll start with my 10 things Tuesday!

1. I'm thankful that it is Tuesday!!

2. I'm thankful that Grace is feeling better. She woke up at 2:30 this morning, had some tummy issues, but hasn't had any action in the restroom since about 6:30. That means that she can go on her field trip tomorrow, if she is up to going!

3. I'm thankful for friends that can keep my little ones so that I can go on a Wednesday morning field trip.

4. I'm thankful that the school carnival is over and was a fun day for everyone. I really think that our PTA is clicking along and we have a great mix of officers and volunteers. We had a good time on Saturday, but I'm glad that today is Tuesday! Did I say that already?

5. I'm so very thankful that the "Fall for Fortress" 1st Annual Charity Event went so well. There were so many generous donors and bidders. The last I heard, the total was over $15, 000 raised for Fortress Youth Development Center! It was a wonderful and fun night. We got to sit at a table with the host for the evening, Doug Dunbar, a local celebrity news anchor. He did an absolutely wonderful job as the Master of Ceremonies for the night and he and his wife were fun to sit with at the table. Thanks to everyone who put the evening together. It was a smashing success in my eyes!

6. I'm thankful for fun trips to see loved ones from far away! This weekend we are going to Searcy for Reagan and Nate's wedding!! I love Reagan so much and we are so excited for the two of them as they build their new life together. We also get to go trick-or-treating at Nana and Papa's house so that is a great bonus to the weekend. The kids can't wait to see everyone, but they especially want to see Aunt Jess and Uncle Cliff...of course!

7. I'm thankful for fun trips that we are planning! At the Fortress Auction, we had some friends that bid and won a trip to somewhere tropical and we are going, too! We all ordered our plane tickets last night while we were talking on the phone and I can't wait for our fun times in February!

8. I'm thankful for friends from Graham that keep coming back to see us. The Bozemans came in Friday night and we took the kids to Fright Night at Six Flags. Aaron had a softball game so he and Parker had a boys night in town and I took the girls to Arlington to meet the crew from Graham. Susie loved being with her best little buddy McKynna and Grace had a great time with Bryce and Gage. We saw several families from church there and there wasn't one thing "frightful" about the whole night.

The kids were pretending to be scared in the pictures....these blow up things were as about as scary as the place got. Of course, we left BEFORE the parade of the zombies at 11:00, too. Don't want to see TOO much in one night!

9. I'm thankful for a hubby that sees when I'm pushed to the limit and steps in and helps me out. This weekend was busy and there were so many things going on...Sunday night he started cleaning the office and living room. Love him...so much!

10. I'm thankful for a church family that loves us. We had truck or treat Sunday night and it was a blast. Aaron was the man in the yellow hat and Parker was Curious George. Of course, you can't tell very good in the pictures because the wind was so crazy...it kept blowing his hat in all directions. Grace was Wonder Woman and Susie was Little Bo Peep. We all stayed warm, for the most part and had a great time with the kids and our friends. It was a fun night for all.

Now, go over to X-Box wife and share YOUR Ten Things Tuesday!

Family Reading

My friend, Lorie, took these pictures a few weeks ago of our family. Our church family read through the entire bible in 3 days, with each person signing up taking their turn to read in 15 minute slots. Our family just shared a 15 minute section the day that we read...we figured, we have to keep up with 2 other kids that don't read so we had better take what we could get! It was amazing! You sat up on the stage and they were videoing (is that a real word?) and putting the video up on the big screens to your left and right, while your voice was going through the sound system. I read for about 5 minutes and then Grace started. Oh. My. Word. That little one read with such expression and meaning, I was about to cry. She missed one word and she read for 8 minutes straight! I think she would have kept on reading, but we needed to give Aaron a chance, too! It was a neat family experience. When we were done, we let Parker say, "Jesus" in the microphone so that he could be recorded saying something, too. Susie didn't want to say anything, but she was so excited to see herself up on the big screens!

The Raising of a Cross...

This morning at 6:15, our family woke up, got dressed, brushed our teeth and piled in the car. Along the way, we all crammed down a pop-tart or two swallowed by a swig of coffee or milk. Oh, did I mention that Parker was still in his jammies? Where in the world were we going at this crazy time of the morning? Our church. We met with our church family this morning at 6:45 AM to watch the working crew lift the final touch of our new worship center....the cross. It was such a neat little devotional to be a part of...the sun was coming up, the cross was being lifted, and we were all singing, "The Old Rugged Cross." Oh, I love being with our church family.

After the short devo, the bible reading began from inside of the new worship center. For the next 72 hours, the bible will be read, cover to cover, aloud and on video from our new place of worship. Night and day, men, women and children will read from the word of God for everyone to hear. Grace is so very excited (and so are we) to get to read and be a part of all of this new opening of the building. Our family, along with our small group, will read late Saturday afternoon from 4:15-5:45 PM. And then Sunday morning at 8:45 AM, the whole church family will gather to read the last few verses of Revelation together and then have class and worship in the new worship center. It will be a very exciting day and we have all been anticipating this day for over 14 months while we broke the ground and watched the construction of the place for us to all worship together as one body in Christ. This week, I really can't wait for Sunday!!! Oh and did I mention that Babe's Chicken is catering our Sunday lunch, again?? We love Babe's chicken!!

Ten Things Tuesday!

Now that it is officially summer vacation, things are off and running with activities and our family. It's GREAT! Now I'm going to stop and list my 10 things! You go and make your list and link back to my good friend at X-Box wife...it will make your day!

1. I'm thankful that we live in a town where there are great parks in almost every neighborhood. We have a really nice park right down the street from our house and we love it. Our playgroup from church has been going to a different park every Wednesday and it's been so neat to find new and different parks for the kids to play.2. I'm thankful for friends who help me raise my kids. Last night we went to Harding Night at Ranger Field. It was so great! There were over 1000 people there representing Harding, either alumni or future students or just family. We took 60 people from our church and we all sat together. We had 3 full rows and the kids had a BLAST. I am convinced though, that I wouldn't have had near as much fun if 2 families hadn't have gone with us to help us with the kids. Aaron was playing in a golf tournament and met us at the game (much later than he expected) but I was totally fine with that because we had 2 super families there to help us. REALLY, if the Brightwells and the Flemings had not have been there, I would have taken the kids home in the 2nd inning. We all met up at church and carpooled with the Mallory family as well. It was such a blessing. Parker loved being with Paul and Steve. The bigger girls loved being with Jenna and Bethany. And I enjoyed the conversation and support of Andrea and Renee. It was a fun and enjoyable evening. Parker just ran up and down the isle and played with all of his friends from church. He made a new buddy with Collin that he will have to fight Kendall for, but other than that...we all had a great time.

Parker with Paul and Steve (he woke up this morning and said,"Paul? Steve?" )

3. I'm thankful for Daddy's that get to have their time. Aaron loves to play golf. But he hardly ever gets to play because he would rather be at home with the kids (and me, I hope!) When company tournaments come around he gets to play and loves it. Yesterday he won 2 $100 gift cards because he made the shot closest to the pin and the other card because he won a drawing. But, he wouldn't have won either if he hadn't have gone. So, I'm thankful that he has a sport that he enjoys playing and is good at, even though he doesn't play that often.

4. I'm thankful for my sweet sister. She sent me 3 big bags of clothing a few weeks ago with most of them being very nice dresses for our summer trip that we are taking in a few weeks to share with my friends. We've all had fun going through them and trying them all on....I love my little sister so much! She is always thinking of others (and us all the way over here in Texas!) She and her sweet hubby get to move into their new house this next week and I can't wait to go and visit and see them and the new house!!!

5. I'm thankful for bible class teachers. Young and Old!! I was reminded this week of a special bible class teacher in my own life. Miss Latina Dykes was my 2 year old bible class teacher and was still teaching 2 year olds until her death this past week. She had Grace and Susie in her classes when we would go and visit Mom and Dad's church in Arkansas and was going to start having Parker this summer. She taught the 2 year old class for over 30 years on Sunday mornings. What a great lady that will be missed by many in the Searcy community.

6. I'm thankful for my kids bible class teachers at our church. Grace has a really special set of teachers this year in second grade that we all just love and respect so much for their commitment to that grade. We had promotion on Sunday and Grace was so excited to get to move up to that class!! Of course, we are so excited that she gets to be in the Swafford's class, too!! All of the wonderful people that teach are children are a blessing in our lives!

7. I'm thankful that school is out for the summer for Grace. She has been home for almost a full week and things are running smooth, so far. She goes in her room to read every day during Parker and Susie's naptime for family quiet time and she has been a good help around the house about keeping her things picked up. Of course, we are all thankful for that!! Aside from her fit last night coming home from the Ranger's game at 10:30, things have been great. But don't ask her about the Wii, she is grounded from it for the next 24 hours and is not happy about that!! :) We will see how the rest of today goes with that!!!

8. I'm thankful that we get to sleep in a little later now that it is summer vacation!! This morning we slept until about 8:45!! That is way over our normal time and it was so refreshing to not have the alarm going off at 7 am!!

9. I'm thankful for Curious George on PBS kids. Really, I am. Parker doesn't watch TV, but he will sit still (well, kinda) to watch Curious George every morning while I get to drink my coffee and have a few minutes at the computer. If you see him, ask him to say it (Curious George) it is sooo funny. Cute kid!!

This is Parker hitting the ball in the "kids area" at the Ranger's game. Make the picture bigger by clicking on it and look at his face...he LOVED this part of the ballgame!!

10. I'm thankful for my husband. He works a great job (that he loves!) so that we can live in this super city that gives us so many opportunities with church and friends. I get to stay at home with our kids and we have a church family that supports and loves us. We went out Saturday night with a big group of friends to dinner and had a great time. I love our life here in Texas!!

I'm sooo pumped!

Okay, if you know me, you would know that it doesn't take much for me to get excited about things. But today, I am really excited. First off, my friend Jill, did this beautiful blog design for me. I realized that I have been staring at the same template almost 3 years on my blog! WOW! So, Jill did this great make-over and I just love it. She did it just like I wanted it and better!! You have to check out her other stuff and if you have something else in mind, I know she can do it....she is a talented friend!

This is what I'm REALLY pumped about. Not that I'm not about my new blog design, but I just came from the church building and I'm sooo excited! We have just been up to our ears in the nursery at church the past few months. Parker's bible class (18-24 months) had 17 kids in there on Sunday! That is a LOT of kids!! What a great problem!! I love it, a growing church! A whole new generation of children that we can teach about Jesus. So, we are splitting up that class in 2 weeks. That solves that problem in bible class, but the nursery is still just crazy. So, I just went up to church this morning and talked to our children's minister, Kipi, and she made it happen. Poof! She made some calls, talked to some people and starting THIS coming Sunday, we will have 2 nurserys. One for the older babies (the walkers, 18-36 months) and then one for the babies. So, now we just have to find people who are willing to serve. I'm excited about all the growth that we are having. I'm so thankful that we have a staff at our church that can help us problem solve and do it quickly!!

And some more...

I took a long nap this afternoon. It's Sunday, I'm allowed a good restful nap while my children are all napping, but today I took too long of a nap. So, now I type. I think this whole small groups discussion has just got me thinking. I know, me think, who would have ever thought that would happen this much in one short week?

This morning before worship services began, I took Parkerman to the nursery and there was no one there to work. So, I went in, turned on the lights and got everything out so that other people could leave their little ones and go on out to worship. No big. I love working in the nursery. The kids are cute, they love to be held, and it's only for an hour. More and more babies started piling in and finally some other sweet moms joined me and we all together worked in the nursery. We also had company here this morning from Duncan, OK (where we lived for our first 3 years of married life and Grace was born there!) and that was so fun to see them and their sweet kids. So, after worship was over, we went with them and their family to lunch. Great company and sweet kids.

Tonight after church we went out to eat at Rosa's and filled up the patio with hungry kids and adults. It was a great evening for food and fellowship and the weather was beautiful. While we are sitting there, Whitney Stanglin says to me, "Where were you this morning? I missed seeing you." I went on to tell her the nursery story and how we had company...yadda yadda yadda...and she says, "Just was wondering, I just missed seeing you." That made my night. Really, it did. That Whitney, from her little corner of the table, was paying enough attention this morning to notice that I wasn't there....she is a sweetie.

For me, that is what having small groups is all about. EVERYONE, I don't care who you are, likes to feel loved and missed when they are gone. When we don't have a "connection" with someone in our church family, who is going to miss us and encourage us when we are gone? Then, when we don't have that connection, what is going to make us want to go to a place where people didn't even notice that we were gone or have come back? There are many reasons why meeting in a small group with other believers is a great idea, but this is just one from my corner of the blogsphere. I am so very thankful for our life group at church. I know I can call, any hour of the night, and all of them or any one of them will be there in just a minute. Man, I have WONDERFUL friends! And just think, we have only lived here for 10 months....I know, I can't believe it either. God blesses our friendships when we bring Him into them and pray for them.

Thanks, Whitney. You made me feel encouraged about our small groups even more, just with your concern. What a sweet girl. Keep her in your prayers today, too. She has an MRI to figure out what is going on with her eyesight.

Small Groups?

I am so excited, actually, I am completely pumped. Our church is soon going to be a "small groups church" and I think it is going to be great. Why? Because we are going to have our own little "group way" of inviting new people to our church and get them to know Christ. Will it be great for everyone? No, and I am not being naive in thinking that it will be just honky dory for my group all the time either. But, Aaron and I are committed to having a group and giving it a great try to make it work. We had the sign-ups on Sunday after worship and there were quite a few families that have signed up to be leaders, us included. I only hope that everyone goes in with a positive attitude, knowing that God will bless our wiliness to find Him in everything that we do. I would love it if we could have even more young couples from our class sign up to be leaders. There isn't one family that I can think of that wouldn't be a great group to be with in this new type of assembly that we are trying.

We right now, meet once a month. We are so blessed that we got pulled into the most awesome small group, right from the very beginning. There are couples our ages and their kids are our kids ages. Most importantly, we want to help each other (and our kids) get to Heaven. I love that. I also love that I could call any of these families at any hour of the evening or morning and they would be at my house, no questions asked in a quick minute. That is what small groups are all about. Starting in January, we are going to go to small groups on Sunday nights, every week. We did this when we lived in Graham and it was such a blessing. I still miss those people that were in our group. Small groups are not ideal for everyone, as I have heard. But, you know, I don't believe that one bit. I think that if you are willing to jump in and try it, it might just surprise you. I hope that I hear of more couples deciding to just jump in and be leaders. I know, not everyone can lead. Who cares what your house looks like, who cares if we have pizza every Sunday night. Show up, open up and learn from your friends and most importantly, the word. I hope the ones that can't lead, find a group that will help them in their life and walk with God. I know I want people in our group that want that, too. Come on in, everyone is welcome! I already have in my mind people that aren't members of our congregation, that don't have a church...I want them to come to our small group and have a family and learn of God's love for us. That is what small groups are about....bringing in others that wouldn't just normally walk into a church building. I can't wait to get started. Bring it on!

Have you been in a church that has tried small groups? How did it work for you? I would love to hear your comments and suggestions!