Photo Booth Fun

Who'd have thought one simple little macbook program could be so fun?

Many, many, many pictures of faces trying to squish into the shot...
Crazy faces....
Random body parts... like hands....

...lips...
...and eyeballs!

Tough Girls

Good thing these attitudes were put on for the camera cause this scares me!

Curls!

The girls love rags in their hair cause they know Nana used to put rags in my hair all the time when I was little. And the curls the next morning are just a plus.
And I totally forgot to take an after picture of all the curls.

Sam's O-N-E

The little booger has been with us for over a year now, and it's so cool to know that the girls are all still as crazy about him as when this picture was taken!
He was so sick the entire week of his birthday which included not only turning the big O-N-E but also his first haircut.
I do believe this was his only smile the entire week. He loved the attention of everyone singing to him.

He wasn't too sure about digging in to his cake...
...but still managed to make a huge mess!
My sweet boy,
I can't believe that you're already a year old. Mommy, Daddy, and all three of your sisters are crazy about you. You're so fun and will do anything for a laugh...including making a mess or getting into trouble! You've never met a stranger and just love life. We love you so much and can't wait to see what God has planned for you crazy boy!

First Days of School

Mara Lin...six years old...First Grade
Becca Sue...three (almost four) years old...last year of preschool.
Emily Elizabeth...five years old...Kindergarten
Emily had like three "first" days of school with the Kindergarten phase-in and I totally dropped the ball and didn't get her picture holding a sign like I do every year. Oops!

Here she is with Mara on her first half day of the phase-in.
This is when she looked at me and said, "Ok Mama, now I'm really nervous."
And my big girl at her desk in her classroom.

Emily's Preschool Graduation

I'm still totally in denial that Emily is five let alone in Kindergarten. This girl has grown and matured SO much in the last year, it makes my head spin. To say that I'm proud of her just doesn't seem like enough. I'm so very proud of this little booger who always manages to push my buttons every single day!

Here she is at her preschool graduation last May...
Showing off the stone she made for the garden...
Walking in to "Pomp and Circumstance" with her characteristic head cock...
And Becca Sue singing a few songs at her end of the year program early that same day...
They're growing up so fast, but there's no rule saying that I have to admit to that fact!

Radical Faith = Radical Commitments

I have recently read the book Radical by David Platt. Our entire church read the book along with a six-week sermon and small group series. To say that it has changed my life is an understatement. It has changed they way that I look at everything in life.

Two weeks ago my family made five commitments.

1. Read through the entire Word.
This is probably the commitment that scared me the most. My four children make it difficult to spend any length of time in a 'quiet time'. I've found a couple of devotional books designed specifically for moms with small children and they were working for me...but now I've just made the commitment to read the entire bible in a year...that's about five chapters a day. Eleven days into it now, I'm loving it. My children interrupt some days more than others, but it's working.

2. Pray for the entire World.
We're doing this through Operation World. I love reading about specific things that I can pray for each country. The girls are also starting to ask each night at bedtime, "Mama, what country are we praying for today?"

3. Sacrifice our money for a specific purpose.
This is the one that we had to really brainstorm about. The word "sacrifice" kept giving me trouble. We can decide to give a certain about of money to a number of great charities, but where's the sacrifice. You know....the bills are paid for the month, this much is left over, so let's give it here. Not really a sacrifice. So we decided to first, not go grocery shopping for one week each month. It's amazing how many suppers and lunches you can make when you think you have no food in the house. We then chose a Compassion child to sponsor. As we thank Jesus for our (sometimes interesting combination) supper each night that week, we pray for Ama and her family who might be going to bed hungry. The money we would have spent on groceries goes to our sponsor child and family. This week was our first week to try this....It's Thursday now, and I can definitely say that the cupboards are getting quite bare, but none of us are hungry. And we've spent the entire week praying, talking, and thinking about a seven year old girl in Ghana.

4. Spend time in another context.
We committed to spend one week, 2% of our time in Gospel ministry outside of Middle Tennessee. I'm somewhat limited to where and when I can go since I'll be nursing a baby for the next year, but I'm really excited that my husband will get to go anywhere. He could go to Africa, or Belgium, or Mexico, or even just Mississippi or Seattle...but I'm excited to see how God is going to change the other 98% of our time because of this 2%.

5. Commit my life to a multiplying community.
We're very excited to join forces with Life Point Church to serve God and change our community.

I'm so excited to see what God teaches up through these commitments and what other commitments he shows us along the way.

So if you've not read David Platt's Radical, I highly recommend it, but just be ready for your world to be ROCKED!

Easter

You'll be excited...ok, so maybe I'm the only one who is excited...that I only have six more posts before being caught up.

Here's our Easter picture...and I do believe my favorite picture of all four of my boogers!

Mara's Kindergarten Program

Mara's Kindergarten program last spring was so very cute. There were kids dressed as pigs, sheep, cows, farmers, probably some more animals I can't think of since it's been seven months since the program, and some very cute chics.

Here's Mara doing the very cute "Cute Chics" dance.
And my cute chic after the show.
Can you see it in her eyes?...."Can I take my costume off now?...How bout now?....I really want to take it off now....Now?....PLEASE!"

Uh oh...

...we're running out of room on the swing set!

Does it happen in my house?

It drives me nuts when people ignorantly criticize large families like the Duggers. The most repeated complaint that I hear is about their "buddy system". Each older sibling is responsible for one or two younger siblings. The criticism is that "babies shouldn't be raising babies."

My family isn't exactly big enough to use a "buddy system", but we definitely talk a lot about how it's our responsibility as a family to love each other and take care of each other. That could mean helping your brother tie his shoes, or holding your sister's hand to help her feel less anxious about walking into school, or feeding the baby a bottle so mommy can go pee!

So call it what you want..."babies raising babies", or (I prefer) learning what being a family really means...it definitely happens in my house.

Lipstick?

Eyebrow-stick? What's the difference?!

Christmas Spirit

Since Christmas is 'only' 74 days away, I thought I'd get you into the Christmas spirit by sharing pictures from last year's preschool Christmas program (and desperately try to catch up on blogging!).

Emily got to carry baby Jesus.
And Becca was an angel....oh she looks so sweet and innocent here...the little booger!
Here's Em putting baby Jesus in the manger.
Emily singing....
And Becca singing...
After the program, they both got to tell Santa about the boots they wanted.
And this last picture was taken just moments before Sam realized some big scary guy in red was holding him.
Can't believe that I'll only have one doing a preschool Christmas program this year!

Random Conga Line

What? Doesn't everyone have one going through their house at any given moment?!