The Skow Hacienda

8 years old

2012-01-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

If I had to point to the one single moment that changed my everyday life, in the most incredible and tangible way, it would have to be the moment Caleb Wayne Skow was born. Becoming a mom for the first time was the most life-changing moment I've ever had. Having a baby somehow instantly changes you--changes you on the inside and out! I can't believe it has been 8 years since that moment!

Caleb turned 8 years old yesterday! We have been celebrating since Saturday, when he had his football party. He had a football party last year, but when I asked him what he wanted, he decidedly wanted football AGAIN! I LOVE so many things about this child, and one is that he is easily entertained!!

The party was super fun. We had all of our family in town (we have the MOST AWESOME family EVER!) and he invited over some of his closest buddies. They ate cookie cake, opened presents, practiced football drills and then played a rousing game of flag football. Caleb was in heaven!

I have really enjoyed looking back on these "birthday posts" and remembering sweet things about each of the kids. So, for this year, I'm going to do...

MY FAVORITE 8 THINGS ABOUT CALEB WAYNE....
1. I love that he already loves the Lord, and thinks of Him daily.
2. I love that he has a kind, gentle and sensitive spirit.
3. I admire the ways he is so accepting of people and friendly, no prejudices.
4. I adore the way he loves his sisters! Best Big Brother EVER!
5. I love that he loves music-- he is an awesome dancer and singer!
6. I cherish the fact that he will still snuggle with me, and give me hugs and kisses.!(please God, let that continue forever!)
7. I love that he is funny! He makes me laugh every day!
8. I love that he loves to play football and shoot nerf guns, but he also loves to read a good book and watch Tangled with his sisters!

I am so blessed to be this kid's mom. Thank you God for all the amazing blessings that you have showered upon him in his first eight years. I pray that your Grace and Mercy will continue to cover his life, with safety, good health, kind friends, and a growing faith.

He requested 'cookie cake' this year. It was super easy and super yummy!

Chowin' down and having some intellectual conversation. :)

He was blessed with awesome presents...but his best reaction was to his new iPod shuffle.

His three favorite guys...Daddy, Uncle Clint and Uncle AJ were the heroes of the day!

Seemed like all the boys loved 'warming up' this way! Too cute!

Happy as a lark!

Serious strategizing!

the birthday boy and his Pawpaw, working on Legos together. Precious!

We are so blessed to celebrate birthdays with all of our family!! Love these people!

The REAL birthday...a quick, but fun celebration at church!

Family time

2012-01-17T12:08:00.000-08:00

The Skow Fab Five have had an awesome start to our New Year. We had a really blessed, but busy Christmas time, and we are still mourning and adjusting to life without our Segners. But so far, this year has been very low key, simple and slow for us. It has felt so weird! We have had a true "holiday" from our normal, busy lives. For the most part, aside from school and work, we've just been hanging out, relaxing at the house and enjoying some wonderful family time. It has been SOOOO NICE! Things are just now amping up again...with ballet, and small groups, and MOPS and guitar lessons, and work and soon...baseball AND soccer!? (God, help us!) But because we've had this awesome break, I am honestly looking forward to getting back into the crazy swing of things and enjoying the adventures that are in store! Here are some fun pictures of the cute and silly things the kids have been up to! I love these crazy hoodlums!!

New uses for a garden box: makes an excellent battle field for army men! :) Caleb played for HOURS yesterday, building tunnels and forts in the dirt, and strategizing epic battles. So fun!

I love this dirty kid.....I love his imagination and his love of dirt!

crazy face

This was before Ellie's "date" with her Aunt Tracy. They accidentally wore matching outfits! Pretty cute!!

These girls were apparently planning on a crazy ride,
because they both wanted to wear helmets! :)

Too cute!!

the three amigos....now minus one

2012-01-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

God has been so good to me. Tonight I heard the song "Amazing Grace...His Grace flows down and covers me...." I LOVE that song. And it is so true! His amazing, beautiful, unending Grace flows down on me all the time. And one of the most awesome ways His Grace has blessed my life in the past couple of years is by giving me two friends who have become my sisters and partners in life. God brought each of these awesome women into my life through church, but my friendships with each of them grew individually first. And then, God provided opportunities for the three of us to spend time together and...Voila!! A perfect combo!

Holly and Kari are the kind of friends that build me up, challenge my faith, share my burdens and celebrate my successes. They have seen my ugliness, and they still love me anyway. And we can be SO silly together! I love it!! All three of us happen to be really awesome singers and dancers. :) Each of them is similar, yet very different from the other....and so together, they pretty much make up the perfect pair. But now....Kari is gone. She's not really gone, but she's moved 8, 507 miles away. And tonight, I miss her terribly. She, her awesome husband and her four crazy, sweet kids have gone to heal the hurting and save the lost. So, I feel like I can't pout too much about her leaving. But at the end of the day, I'm still broken hearted.

Christmas Rejects

2011-12-19T20:17:00.001-08:00

Well, it's been a month and a half since I've done anything with my blog! What a bad blogger I've been.

Oh well.

Here are our reject Christmas card pictures...love these! And I LOVE these crazy kids!!!

Here are a few from our first attempt...

The kids took turns being crazy or grumpy. We weren't giving it our best effort...so we decided to try it again another night. Caleb Wayne got in trouble right before the photography session, so it took a while for him to bounce back! :)

We eventually got a few really cute ones of them.... my best presents, in front of our tree.

My Sweet Baby Girl

2011-11-07T22:38:00.000-08:00

Today, my first baby girl turned 5 years old. I am not ready for her to be 5. Five is like the first 'big girl' age. Four still sounds like a baby, but FIVE sounds.......like she's growing up. I don't want her to grow up. I want her world to revolve around baby dolls and Barbies. I want her to sit on my lap, hold my hand, and kiss my face without any reserve or self-consciousness. I don't want her to know insecurity. I don't want her to become aware of her "body image" or the presence of boys.

God has created Ellie Faith to be an extraordinary girl. She is so sweet, and kind, and thoughtful, and sensitive to others, and musical, and bossy....whew, she is so bossy! She is just plain awesome. I am so very grateful to be her mommy. I thank God that He blessed me with her, on this day five years ago. Happy Birth Day Elena Faith!

Just some of my favorites of the past five years....

My big girl....I love you so much it hurts.

Good times in the Tent

2011-10-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we went camping with some of our favorite people. It was a camping adventure like none other!! There is a LONG, HILARIOUS blog entry coming soon about the whole, crazy weekend..... But until then, here are some pictures of me and my closest friends, acting like grown-ups in a tent.

The pictures started out pretty normal

But it was past 2am...

and everything was hilarious! :)

We tried to act serious...and get a good picture of our necks...

But things just kept getting funnier....

and it was NOT a very big tent! :)

So, we were just three "thirty-something" friends...

...acting like we were 13 again!

LOVE THESE GIRLS....

....SO MUCH!

I'm sure if Holly or Kari find these pictures posted....well, let's hope they still love me then. :) So blessed by these beauties!!

Need more fruit!!

2011-10-12T11:38:00.001-07:00

Earlier today, I told Dawson, as I was handling another glorious bathroom situation with Adelyn, that when I applied for this job, I don't remember the job description accurately depicting all of the different requirements of the position, nor clearly stating the necessary skills needed to succeed in this work environment.

Being a "Work at home, with your crazy kids and messy house, Mom" is the coolest, most rewarding job there is. But I think to be really successful at it, requires some skill sets that I am honestly lacking in. Like having an extraordinary, supernatural, mammoth-sized amount of patience!?!? Before having Adelyn Lively Skow, I never knew a person could ever require so much patience. And THEN, I still have to have some left over for Ellie and Caleb, and maybe even Dawson!! And let's be honest, anyone else beyond those four better just get out of my way OR ELSE because there ain't much left at the end of the day!

I know that patience is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. But God, if you are reading this, I need some major fertilizer or something to cultivate some more fruit on that side of the tree!!! (Although, I do seem to already have an abundant supply of BS in my life already.....couldn't resist!?! :)

Pray for me! :)

Caleb's Big Day

2011-10-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

In most circles, I know that bragging is not appropriate. But I figure our family blog is the most appropriate place for me to gush about my kiddos....

Today, I am particularly proud of our sweet Caleb Wayne. At school today, he was awarded a "Golden Gator" award. A "Golden Gator" is given for 'extraordinary citizenship'. It is only awarded to two kids in every class, every six weeks. This year, instead of the teacher choosing, the class voted for who they thought deserved the award. When his teacher presented Caleb with the award at the assembly, she gave him several sweet compliments. It was awesome! Caleb has actually received this award at the 1st six weeks ceremony every year he has been in school! Like every mom, I think Caleb is the coolest kid in the world. And I think God uses Caleb in very special ways, to love on people and point others to himself.

Then, Caleb had a football game tonight. It was a challenging one, but our team was able to play hard, and tie the game. Caleb played VERY hard, and made our only 2 touchdowns. The first one was when he caught an interception on the 10 yard line, and then ran all the way back to score. He had a great night!

Needless to say....the boy had a good day! I couldn't be prouder!!

Being called to the front by his awesome teacher, Mrs. H!

One of the most exciting parts...getting your picture with the Gator!

We are all so proud of him!! The girls don't really look like it in the picture....but they were proud of their Bubba too! :)

Our team is the 49ers this year- a great group of boys!

My sweet feet!

Beautiful weather, Beautiful Faces

2011-10-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

Mondays are Daddy's "late nights" because of band practice, so the kids and I are always on our own on Monday evenings. Tonight, the weather here was PERFECT, so we decided to go on a picnic to one of our favorite parks in town. We had a blast! My heart overflowed as I shared a simple evening with the coolest, sweetest, funniest, most beautiful kids I know.

So precious..

Super Hero pose! :)

The girls LOVE it when Bubba chases them!

EVERY TIME I ask this girl to give me a "pretty smile", this is what I get!?!

My Lil' Firecracker

2011-09-28T06:24:00.001-07:00

This crazy, little girl has a lot of energy! She was already jumping her little heart out this morning. Even though she challenges me to new parenting heights EVERY day....I am completely in love with her. She brings us so much joy and laughter. So, so blessed!

FAITH

2011-09-25T12:09:00.001-07:00

If you look up "faith" in the dictionary, it says the word is a noun. But I would like to disagree. I would like for there to be a secondary definition to show that FAITH is an action, aka- a verb. The definition says: confidence or trust in a person or thing... but with God, we know that He may appreciate the sentiment of confidence or trust in Him, but what He really wants is for His children to show their trust in Him through obedience and actions of love. It's so much easier just to say it, than it is to do it. Holy Cow. Faith is hard. But Faith will change your life. It can change who you are.

Living above and beyond our means

2011-09-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

WARNING! WARNING! This is confessional in nature.....perhaps humiliating, but once again, serving as Free therapy! :)

"Not until the pain of the same is greater than the pain of change will you embrace change." Dave Ramsey

God is performing a revolution in my life. And as with many revolutions, there has to be some casualties. Some sweet-smelling, beautiful and pleasurable things will have to die .

I, Michelle Marie Lively Skow, have been living above my financial means for many years. I have tried to mask this sin by gifting, bargaining, couponing, and justifying...but the truth is, I have lived in such a way that was not wise. It was and is not God-honoring.

I am a measure-er....a compare-er. Unfortunately, my mind automatically quantifies things as much as I can. And when stacking up the blocks, my lifestyle has always seemed pretty meager to me.....comparatively. My desires have been simple. All I ever wanted to do was to shop the Clearance racks at Target, buy myself a Sonic drink during Happy Hour, have an air-conditioned car with power locks and go out to eat every Friday night. That's not extravagant, right? I have always felt I have deserved that life. That was my American Dream (that I bitterly vented about a few weeks ago...but now realize that it's not the Dream's problem....it's mine!)

However, God is bringing me to a place where I am beginning to recognize my irresponsibility and my indulgences. And more importantly, I am realizing what all of those small, temporary pleasures have cost us. Not in money, but in opportunity to do more for God.

We are sitting on the doorstep of two INCREDIBLY HUGE movements of God. And Dawson and I want, more than anything, to be able to take part in these movements. We want to participate in God's work, and have a ring-side seat to the divine action. But the thing is....we can't afford ring-side seats. In fact, we can't afford a seat at all.

So, now what do we do?

It is NOT the time for pity-parties and regret, but it IS time for action!

The answer is.....sacrifice. Even typing it makes me uncomfortable. Yuck! We know that we have to make amends for our mismanagement in the past, and move forward in a different way. And we have to decide what KIND of SACRIFICES God wants us to make. Is it time? We work more. Is it luxuries? We trim the fat, and figure out what we really NEED. I know it is some combination of both, but right now we are trying to find the right combination. We know that it would not honor God to sacrifice our convictions, our marriage, or our family. So, we want to be diligent in protecting the time, energy and attention that needs to be devoted to these.

God led me to James 5 today, as well as Luke 12, and both of those are pretty stern warnings about how God expects us to handle our money. We are praying. We are seeking wise counsel. We know God is good. And we know God CAN change people. HE can CHANGE habits.

I praise God for a husband who has always valued relationships over money, and who is humble enough to change with me.

Alright, let's see what happens!!

GOD IS SO GOOD!

2011-09-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

Yall!!--(I know I'm not actually talking anyone) I am so excited!! God is doing MIRACLES in the lives around me. I LOVE HIM! I LOVE getting to see God work, and put puzzle pieces together. The way He intertwines lives, creates relationships, and makes peoples' paths cross at divine appointments is SO COOL! AND--He is always so many steps ahead of us! He is always working things out for His glory, and it is just so exciting, and beautiful when you get to see a glimpse of His plan. There is NOTHING on this earth like it. I'm so humbled......so in awe of Him. Just couldn't contain it!!

Love, Love, Love

2011-09-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

This month is proving to be quite a paradox. It's already been full of so many blessings, much goodness and overflowing love, but it has also had more than its fair share of discomfort, sadness and sacrifice. In this short entry, I'm going to memorialize the first half.....

There are the turkeys that I spend my days with....such an absolute hoot EVERY day!

Last nap in her crib....hard for me to believe my baby is getting so big

sweet, sleeping baby

My sweet mother, making one of her magical pies.

This boy holds a special place in the heart of his Pawpaw, and vice versa

First day of Mother's Day Out or "Big Girl School" as it is known at the Skow house!

He has such a sweet, sweet love for his baby sister

Best Brother EVER

Last weekend, we went back to the Kolache Festival in Caldwell. So, so yummy!

We got to see our favorite band again....The Hobo Shiner Band

We danced with the kids, and had so much fun!

Memaw treated the girls to some pony rides! So fun!

So fun, and so hot!

Caleb chose something a little more thrilling! He was so cute...Caleb told the guy in charge that this was on his bucket list!?! :)

Really important stuff....Hair update

2011-09-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

The final moments.....straightened for the cut

The sawing off...seriously, Ashley had to make three or four cuts to make it through my crazy, thick ponytail

The new, short hair

The side view....just for documentation. :)

Dumb Hair

2011-09-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

This is totally dumb. But I am scheduled to get my haircut tomorrow. This is the haircut that I've been working toward now for almost 2 years. I have been growing my hair out so I can donate it. My mom and sisters have all done this before, and I thought it was an admirable thing to do. But my hair is crazy. It is super thick, and frizzy, and huge! It's what earned me the nickname of "Chia pet" at youth camp. Ha! I had forgotten about that until just now.... Anyway, I finally decided to commit to this "project." I want to give a small part of myself, so that someone else can enjoy some "normalcy" that they might not have had otherwise.

Now that the haircut is looming, I'm feeling nervous. I'm almost sad....which is so dumb. It's only hair! And it grows back! I am almost embarrassed to admit these feelings, because they seem shallow and egotistical. But I am going to get over it. And to document, I wanted to have some "before" pictures, and then an "after"! That makes it kinda fun, right?

OK...so be nice. This is without ANY product in my hair....so it looks kinda.....yuck. But here is the back view...

The longest my hair has been since I was in 9th grade!

And it's 11pm, AND I have no make-up on...but wanted to document the front too. :/

I was feeling really stupid doing this....so I decided to make myself feel more normal.
And by the way, welcome to my bathroom!! :)

The Beauty of Generosity

2011-08-29T19:08:00.001-07:00

Generosity is of God. He is the one who came up with the concept. And there is no greater act of generosity than God's gift of salvation from sin.

I feel so privileged to know many genuinely generous people. Beautiful people who give of themselves and of their resources, freely and sacrificially.

One of the coolest side effects of letting God use you, to give to others, is the effect it has, no just on the recipient of the gift, but on those who are on the sidelines. I have had the privilege of witnessing some extraordinary acts of generosity.... and I want to write down these incredible, faith-building experiences. The guilty shall remain nameless.....because I don't intend this to be for their glory, but for God's.

At one point last Fall, a family in our small group was in need of some financial help. They had been putting their own money toward God's purposes, but didn't quite have enough for their utility bill that particular month. So, at group, we asked everyone to pray and contribute what they could. We had some people give $20 or $40, even one couple gave $100. It was awesome! But then the next day, one of my, now, real-life heroes showed up at the door. I knew this particular person was struggling financially also. In fact, she was probably in the same boat as the other family and couldn't pay her own utility bill. But she had heard this other sweet family was in need, so she showed up at my doorstep with an envelope. The envelope had $7 inside. She said, "I know it's not much, but it's all I could scrape up."

It took all I had to not burst out in tears. It was a literal translation of the woman who gave her two small copper coins to the temple treasury in Mark 12. This woman didn't have much, but she gave all she had. Amazing. Beautiful generosity!

I also know a young family who, at one point recently, were down to one car. They had three small children, in three car seats, so the backseat was not a fun place. Their one car was reliable, but pretty worn. It fit the family of five, but barely. For this family, operating with one car was at the least inconvenient, and at the most, uncomfortable. When word of this situation came to an older Christian couple, they decided to fix up a mini-van they happened to have possession of and simply GIVE the van to this family. No payments, no conditions, no strings. Just a gift out of the godly generosity in their hearts. Wow. Major God-glorifying generosity.

Who gives cars away, anyway? I didn't think things like that happened in real life. But we happen to know several people who have done this!! Not just one person, but multiple people! Outrageous, right?!

And I have so many more examples.....i think this will have to be a series of entries.

My family and I have been the blessed recipients of many gifts of generosity. There is nothing sweeter, and more humbling, than to receive a gift from God, by the hands of one of His children.

These pictures might seem random, but when I was thinking about imagery associated with generosity....this came to mind. Grace is the purest form of generosity. This was over 2 years ago, but one of the best moments of my life. :)

This was a extraordinary moment....
try not to be distracted by the "ugly cry" going on in the back ground! :)

I think God has been telling me, "Be generous!" I heard this quote today from Saint Augustine and I love it. He said, "Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others."

BIG question

2011-08-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

This one is going to be a little deep....you can choose now to bear with me, or move on. No guilt necessary for opting out. :) And let's me be clear--this entry is about ME. Not you. Not anyone but me.

First, I want to be clear that I love America. I am proud to live in such an extraordinary country.
I'm proud to be American, I'm proud to be Texan and I'm even proud to be half red-neck. And I'm very grateful for all the opportunities and privileges I've been blessed with.

But here's the big question that I've been wrestling with.... What does God think about the "American dream?"

I grew up with the expectation that I would live out the American Dream. I would go to college, marry the man of my dreams, get a good teaching job, buy a house, have a baby, buy new cars, have another baby, buy a bigger house, go out to eat, shop at Target, go on vacations, buy newer cars.....and on and on it would go. I thought this was how it was supposed to go.

But then God did something crazy in my life. He told me to quit teaching. He told me to give up my $34,000/year job and stay with my babies. Now, that's a whole story in and of itself, but the thing I'm really just now realizing, is that with that decision and the lifestyle change it brought, God started to doing something radical in my heart.

I started to see money in a different way. We became a family that was literally and directly dependent on God's provision through His church. It slowly dawned on us that every dollar we had came directly from God. We also had to start doing some yucky, grown-up things, like budgeting and re-prioritizing our money...God's money.

Now fast forward three years, to this morning, when Dawson and I are having our budget talk, and I'm crying at the dining room table. Crying about money. Again. Crying like a spoiled child, because I don't want to give up my cable, or my Sonic, or my clothing allowance to help build a church. Or to help feed and medicate orphans in Uganda.

Yep. That's what I said. Shameful, right? But that's basically what it boils down to. I thought God's plan for me included a nice brick home, a car I got to pick off a lot, trips to Target and going out to eat every Friday night. That's what He promises to good Christian girls who do their homework and pray every night, right?! Sacrificing my comforts and denying myself the joy of Target for the sake of meeting the needs of someone else!? What?!

But what if my expectations...my plan for the realization of the American Dream, was not what God ever intended for me? What if God never intended for me to have a 'nice house'? What if He never intended for me to have a new vehicle? Clothes from Gymboree? A vacation in Colorado?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that He didn't. He might have. But the newsflash is HE MIGHT NOT HAVE.

I DO KNOW that He intended for me to help the poor, the orphans and the widows. I DO KNOW that He intended me for me to help build His church. I DO KNOW that He intended for me to LOVE His people!

So, if these are the things I DO KNOW...the things He has expressly told me in His word. Then, why don't I START with these....make these my PRIORITY --BUDGET-- ITEMS. Then, I could ask Him what He wants me to do with the rest.

And as Christ-followers, why do we not teach our children to live their lives for these goals? To first seek His righteousness, and then, if there is time and opportunity, go to college. To FIRST, "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," and THEN find a job or career that you enjoy and that pleases God.

What if God never intended for me to have the American Dream? I'm not sure yet, but I'll be talking to Him a lot more about that.

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The Perfect End to a Near Perfect Summer

2011-08-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

It's a total cliche, but it's true. I can't believe it's over! This was by far the fastest summer ever. It was also the busiest summer ever! It seemed like June was busy with wedding stuff and then our week of family vacation. Then July flew by with all sorts of little things, relaxed but still full of activity. And then before we knew it, it was August, time for our big trip to Colorado, and then back, with just enough time to buy school supplies and get ready for school!! Whew!

God was so gracious to us this weekend. I mean, He always is, but He just poured a little extra on this past Saturday. In fact, it was the perfect, "Last Saturday of Summer". We were just lounging around in the morning, eating breakfast and watching some Disney, and then a commercial came on. I don't remember exactly what it was about, but it said something about "enjoying the outdoors" and "going to the forest." And as obedient media consumers, we said, "Yea. We should go to the forest!" So we did! We got dressed, packed a picnic and headed to the nearest forest....which in our case, we thought that was Huntsville state park.

We had the best time there with the kids! And it wasn't really that hot?!? We had a nice breeze from the lake, and lots of shade from the beautiful pine trees. We ate our picnic, played an awesome family game of Hide n' Seek, played on the playground, climbed on the cool stumps, played some ball, then finally headed toward home. The ride home consisted of some cheap, cold, yummy ice cream--enjoyed by all, and then some quiet time for Mommy and Daddy to talk while the munchkins all slept. Perfect!

After we got home, all 5 of us got into our kiddie pool in the backyard! So redneck, but so fun!! And then we had a nice dinner of leftovers, no cooking necessary. And then we just relaxed and hung out. It was awesome! It was a day for the record books! So many blessings!!

Then, today, the day before THE DAY, we started with church--awesome, as always. And then we invited some of our small group family to come over and join us in praying for all of our kids as they start a new year. These people really are like our family. It was so incredible, to all sit together, gathered in a circle of prayer, united in the same spirit. God is so good.

And we ended the day with our own tradition of a family prayer circle. We have done this for three years now, and I hope and pray that we will continue to do this every year, for every kid, until all three of our babies are graduated.

Caleb loves it. He loves the attention and loves the special prayers and scriptures read just for him. This year was different though. We didn't have Aunt Lisa and Aunt Tracy here with us, so it was only Daddy, Ellie and me. We missed them very much, but it was still special! I am so grateful we have a God that loves us, and is attentive to our prayers.

To Heaven and Back

2011-08-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

Don't we look so happy....

I have about 562 other things I should be doing right now....dirty dishes, piles of laundry, sweeping, mopping, cleaning my room, etc., which is EXACTLY why I am blogging instead. I am overwhelmed by the reality of my life right now, so I am going to linger in the recent memories of my glorious vacation instead! :)

Dawson and I got to spend three FABULOUS days in Estes Park, Colorado last week. We went as an early celebration of our 10 year anniversary that is coming up on August 25th. We went to Estes Park on our honeymoon, and enjoyed the town, and the beautiful surroundings. But this time, it was SO MUCH BETTER! I don't know if it is because we are older, and so much busier, so we could appreciate it so much more. Or, I don't know why? But it was the most incredible vacation from our real lives! The weather was PERFECT! Every day the High was 78 or 80 and the lows in the mornings and evenings were in the 50s! Heaven! And the mountains!!! I know that God created everything, the plains, the deserts, the oceans....even College Station, TX, but I have to say, that He must have used His brightest, most extraordinary efforts on the Rocky Mountains. They are just breath-taking!! Their majestic beauty moved me to tears more than once while we were there.

We stayed in a little cabin, originally built in 1895, named the "Bear Bottom cabin." It was perfect! It was recently renovated and redecorated, and it couldn't have been more cute and quaint! And it had an awesome HOT TUB!! So fun and relaxing!

We spent most of our two full days there in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We spent the majority of the first day doing a 2 mile hike up a mountain, to see three beautiful lakes. It was a challenging hike for me, but SO worth it! Other than my children's faces, I saw the most beautiful sights I have ever seen on that hike.

Our first lake, about 1/2 mile up...Nymph Lake. Had beautiful lily pads and yellow flowers floating on it...

All along the trail, we saw gorgeous rivers and streams....it felt like we were in a postcard

Our 2nd lake, and favorite lake, was appropriately named "Dream Lake." It was like a dream, feeling the cool breeze, looking into the clear, cold water and listening to the silence...

Another picturesque spot along the trail....and everything seemed even sweeter because I was there with my best friend

Our top lake, Emerald lake...it was awesome, and cold. Almost above the treeline, with snow around almost all sides...

The second full day, we took several shorter hikes and drove up the Fall River Road. This Fall River road is a one-way, dirt road that starts with a sign that says, "Sharp Switchbacks and Steep Drop-Offs, Beware!" So comforting, especially for an anxiety-prone freak, who is scared of heights!! There were definitely moments when I couldn't breath very well, and I was constantly gripping something...but the views were spectacular! And from the top--Wow!! We were constantly in awe of God's artwork.

Everything was just awesome! Every night we ate great food in Estes Park, and we walked around downtown. We just felt so footloose and responsibility-free!!

We ate and ate and ate...

and ate some more....

and we acted very mature the entire time!

I think I gained 10 pounds in 3 days!

not a great picture...but proof that we had a cool hot tub! :)

Ahh...if only it could've lasted a few more months..:) Honestly, I was ready to see my little hoodlums. As beautiful and wonderful as the mountains are, those sweet babies are still better!

Colorado or Bust!

2011-08-08T07:04:00.001-07:00

My boyfriend and I are getting on a plane in just a couple of hours to fly off to God's country. :) I am SO EXCITED to be going to the mountains. The weather is going to be AWESOME!! And there is just something about moutains...so completely beautiful! We are going back to the same place we went on our honeymoon 10 years ago, Estes Park. I anticipate this trip being nothing less than absolutely magical. Can't wait!! I'm sure there will be pictures to follow....

Thank you, God, for this privilege of a vacation. Please keep my children safe and healthy while we are gone. And please strenthen my sweet parents as they care for them. Also, please don't let us die on the plane! :)

Much Gratitude Monday

2011-08-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

Both of my sisters used to make so much fun of me for having a blog...and now, my baby sister has started her own blog!! And I am so glad she did. It's hard having her live away from us, in another town, with a whole new life. So, I love that I can keep up with her better through her blog. You should totally check it out. It is taylorduo.blogspot.com. So cute!

Anyway, she did a post today that inspired me. She wrote a list of 50 things that she is grateful for, and I want to follow in her example. And like she said, because of God's overwhelming goodness in my life, my list could be a lot longer than 50, but here is goes: (not necessarily in any particular order!)

I am so incredibly grateful for....

1. my God--my Father and Creator
2. His Son, Jesus, who loved me enough to save me from my sin
3. the Holy Spirit, who gets me through everyday with His peace and guidance
4. Dawson Wayne, the love of my life and my ROCK
5. Caleb Wayne, my helper and the main source of joy in my life
6. Ellie Faith, my sweet little girl, who teaches me about compassion
7. Adelyn Lively, my little firecracker who helps me laugh at the world
8. my sisters--Tracy and Lisa, who keep me grounded and love me anyway
9. Mom, my living example of selflessness
10. Dad, who taught me how to work hard and have confidence
11. air condition!!
12. a comfortable, spacious house
13. a working mini-van that has AIR CONDITION :)
14. a constant flow of food in my pantry
15. my stinky, sinky couch
16. mountains, they are magical
17. my Grandma, who taught me about unconditional love
18. my clothes, even the ones I can't fit into :)
19. chips and salsa...my favorite food group (and why I can't fit into a lot of my clothes! :)
20. my church family
21. books--I love reading books
22. Beth Shaver, my first best friend, who taught me about kindness
23. Texas, the greatest state God ever made :)
24. my college education, one of the greatest gifts my parents ever gave me
25. the smell of rain
26. Malisa Ann Schrib, more my sister than my friend
27. our back yard, so full of fun and adventure
28. our Freedom
29. sweet, thoughtful, easy-going in-laws
30. Zumba!! :)
31. God's Holy Word
32. the fact that His Holy Word is so easily available to me
33. kissing
34. Maggie, our crazy, stinky, lovey-dovey dog
35. purses and bags...I love them! the more colorful, the better!
36. Mexican food
37. my Mamaw and Pawpaw, who loved us so much they wanted to drink tea with us every day
38. my Mamaw's sweet tea
39. White Sands, New Mexico, another magical place FULL of sweet memories
40. Dawson's sexy facial hair :)
41. the most awesome small group that loves us and supports us and prays for us
42. Holly, my sunshine
43. MOPS, a meaningful ministry in my life
44. music--to worship with, to dance to, to calm my anxiety
45. ABS, where I met some of the most incredible people on the planet
46. cheerleaders--the real ones, like Krista and Janna, who lift me up
47. SONIC, my happy place
48. good sex :)
49. my children's laughter
50. our good health

And the list could go on....but that was enough to set my heart in the right place for now. All Glory to you, God!

Just FYI...

2011-07-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

I don't know why this is so awkward for me.....but for those who would like to join me at the other blog, I have to have your current email address to "invite you". Weird, I know! But for some of us, we only keep up with each other through our blogs, so please leave me a comment with your email, if you think I might not have it! Muchas Gracias, amigos!!

Things are a changin'

2011-07-26T12:32:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this here blog is multi-dimensional. I want to have a blog so I can keep a digital/indestructible (?) family album for us. I also like blogging because I love words. I think words are powerful. They connect people. They have to power to encourage and lift up. And I also blog because it is cheap therapy. It's like writing in a journal, but this way I feel like I am "really talking" to somebody, a mute, ever-listening somebody...much like I imagine a therapist to be. :)

But this is the deal....our Skow Hacienda blog is public. And I can tell by my 'stats' that people from all over have read and looked at our blog. It's actually pretty cool to know that people from Germany, Russia, Nigeria, Japan, etc. have found us. I choose to think that these people are checking out different posts to see our American-Texan life, or other cool, culturally exchangeable things. (Because "bad people" wouldn't look at our blog....I'm sure of that.) Anyway, the point is that I don't know who is reading this stuff. So for the sake of my stream-of-consciousness therapy, I think I'm going to start a new blog. A private blog. The only thing awkward about that is that I don't know who to invite to my private blog.....It seems pretty egotistical to "invite" friends to your brain-puke blog, right?! With no promise of cutesy pictures and tales of the kids?! I don't know.

I will definitely continue to post on this blog....our family's adventures and favorite pictures. So for those of you trying to keep up with those crazy little red-heads, there are no worries.

And if by some weird chance you are interested in reading my thoughts about the ups and downs of mommy craziness, attempts at being a God-follower, and all the other challenges and victories that come along with being a wife, mom, sister, daughter, friend and borderline loon...let me know and I'll invite you to the inner circle! :)

Summer Times

2011-07-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

Kids (& mama) outside + 100 degree heat = grouchy-ness all around

Kids outside + sprinkler = a great, fun time for all!

I know it might not always be this way, but I LOVE that they are each others' best friends right now! So precious!

The peacefulness of the trinity is mostly due to the loving, diplomatic older Bubba....

This girl is full of sunshine!

Although I think this boy is nearly perfect, we are still working on his humility!! :)

Somehow evening after evening, this never gets old...

absolute joy!

absolute love!

absolute peace!

my handsome porch swing partner

Life doesn't get much better than this....

Our Animal Kingdom Adventure

2011-07-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

God blessed us with a new house a little over a year ago. One things that made us fall in love with this house was the back yard. It is a LOT bigger than the yard at our old house, it has several great trees, and it has a fun little fish pond. We've had many interesting, new experiences with our fish pond in the last year.

One of the coolest started last week, when the kids and I discovered a bunch of little tadpoles swimming around in there. We knew that a frog had come to hang out with our fish for awhile...mostly due to it's ridiculous croaking at night, but we hadn't discovered the babies until Thursday. I started thinking about what would happen if all those crazy little things turned into full grown frogs!! It's would've been like an Egyptian plague in our back yard!

So that afternoon, the kids and I spent over an hour catching tadpoles with my measuring cups. It turned into a super fun activity for all of us! We also caught some nasty slugs too. Then we decided to take our captured wildlife to one of our favorite parks and set them free in the pond there. After setting our captives free, Caleb went to throw away the peanut butter/slug jar in the trash can, and he discovered a little racoon in there!

At first, I thought he was kidding, but sure enough, there was a cute, little, young racoon wrangling around in the bottom of this big trash can. The poor thing looked hot, thirty and scared. So, we began a Racoon Rescuing Mission! We broke off a branch to set down in the can, so he could climb out, but...he didn't want to climb out. Then we recruited a couple of young guys to help us lift the trash can up, and let him crawl out. All in all, it was a super FUN adventure. The kids LOVED every minute of it!

Since last Thursday, the kids have been asking to go "tadpole fishing" again in our pond. So last night after supper, they recruited Daddy to help them. But when they got around the pond, they noticed all the tadpoles were gone, and now there are a bunch of TINY little frogs hopping and swimming around. They were so cute...way cuter than the tadpoles. However, they were way harder to catch then the slow swimming tadpoles. The kids loved the challenge though! We also found "Mama Frog", hiding under a big rock, so we "rescued" her to take with her babies. We also found a lot more of the nasty slugs. Seriously, the slugs give me the creeps. I hate how slimy they are! Ewww! But the kids think they are so gross that they are cool?!

This time, we just drove down to our neighborhood park, and released the frogs and slugs down at the creek. We also saw a cute little bunny, right as we pulled up to the park.

It seems like such a little thing, but the kids had so much fun. It was such a memorable, enjoyable night as a family! Praise God for simple creatures and simple pleasures!

One of our cute, little froggies...you can still kinda see his tail!
(Normally, I'm not a big frog fan, but these little guys are really cute!)

The Senior Wildlife Rescue Ranger...showing you his favorite capturing technique

The Princess and the Frogs :)

They could do this for hours...and almost have

Very proud of their pond treasures

Adelyn was showing how she felt about the Crystal Light container of slugs she's holding!!
I felt the same way! :)

Here is our sweet, little bunny friend....

not an exciting picture, but big moment for us last night! :)

Caleb, the wildlife rescue ranger, releasing the mama frog.

It was a total family event....way cooler than watching tv together.

The Big Mama Frog...adjusting to her new home :)

This little princess aint' scared of no slugs!

Eewww, Bubba! He loved these nasty things!

Daddy was just as much a rescue ranger as the kids!

Mommy to the rescue with sanitizer and baby wipes!

Five Minute Friday--Gratitude

2011-07-08T19:58:00.000-07:00

I am stealing this from my friend, Krista. Apparently there is a really cool "famous blogger" called Gypsy Mama, who does these Five Minute Friday posts. I might be forced to start reading her blog too. Anyway, I already felt my cup overflowing this evening, so this excuse to share came at a perfect time....

I am overwhelmed with gratitude for my sweet family. We had an ordinary evening, but it was filled with several extraordinary moments. We had a free dinner at ChicFilA, played at a park, and then rented a Redbox movie....nothing exceptionally exciting. But we had the best time! I feel so blessed to have a family that I LOVE spending time with. I enjoy each of their precious personalities.

I love that my husband is my best friend. I love that he holds my hand when we walk, and leans over to kiss me when I give him the 'green light' look. :)

I love my son, and how full of life he is. He makes me laugh, a lot, and the way he loves his little sisters inspires me.

My sweet middle child has music in her soul. Her beautiful smile lightens up my most stressful moments. She is the epitome of compassion. I love her, love her, love her.

And my baby.....my crazy, happy, ornery, little baby....she is my sunshine. I love her little voice, her chubby little legs, her magical giggle. I had the sweetest time with her tonight, as I got her ready for bed. The joy she brings to my life is sometimes overwhelming.

Thank you, Father, for this family, of which I am completely undeserving. Every day is so full of love. I am so, so very grateful. My life of complete abundance is only possible by Your Grace!!

Vacation Adventures

2011-06-29T12:33:00.001-07:00

After Lisa's wedding, Dawson took a week of vacation! It was so awesome! The kids and I LOVED having him all to ourselves. We had planned to "spend some time at home and relax," but instead, we ended up touring Texas and having some fun adventures. We started the week in Hutto, then we traveled to Galveston for a quick 24 hour trip, and then spent the last couple days in Ft. Worth. We got to swim in some fun pools, stay in a hotel, play at the beach, hang out with some animals to the zoo, and go to a princess play!! It was an awesome week!! We took a lot of pictures, but here are some of the favorites....

This was our first "stop" on our vacation...a super fun pool in Hutto!

This is my super hot husband, pointing to the direction of the beach! :) Ha! I love this guy!

My Beach Beauties!

Caleb never wanted to get out of the waves...he loved every minute in that dirty water!

Daddy was a comfy place to rest...so cute!

My favorite 4 yr old in the whole wide world....

We got to rent a surrey bike...it was SO much fun! We toured the sea wall in fashion!

Best buds

She was the captain of our bike...she loved every minute of it!

We had so much fun hanging out with our family!

Daddy provided some much needed rest time for a tired, little girl!

Ellie was so cute with this big, scary snake...she talked to it like it was a puppy!

Then they got to touch this milk snake....yuck!

LOVE this sweet face!

I love this picture...it looks like we are about to feed Adelyn to this 12 ft. saltwater crocodile! :)

The rowdy crew of cousins

So cute, but tired, hungry and read for a picnic! I love Adelyn's "tough girl" stance!

Enjoying our picnic with the family!

Three little princesses, so excited to see Cinderella

Now we are broke, have mountains of laundry to do, and are ready to stay home for a while! But we were blessed with a great vacation and we made lots of fun memories!!

Lisa's Wedding

2011-06-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

It was a blessed day and a magical evening. God was there, and I think He was smiling. :) There was beauty and love abundant......

The bride and the mother

the flower girl and her Pawpaw

sisters...sharing some laughs

The Lively ladies

the Taylors and the parents

My three cuties...tired of posing for pictures

the wedding party

The Fab Five...all dressed up!

Me and the hot minister

Let the party begin!

The reception was very "Hope Floats"....romantic and country :)

Sweet love between a big brother and a little sister

The most YUMMY wedding cake EVER!

Such a sweet Daddy

Me and my little man...the best dancer at the reception

The Taylors showin' some of their moves

Just like that ol' time Rock n' Roll.....the Lively's gettin' their groove on!

Getting ready for the good, ol' Aggie War Hymn

I don't know who was more nervous, AJ or Ellie?! :)

And off they go on their honeymoon!

Only 2 more days....

2011-06-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

Until this sweet, beautiful girl...

....gets married. Somebody pass the valium.

Beginnings of Summer

2011-06-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

It's almost midnight. I should be sleeping. But I am waiting up for my boys. Dawson has a "basketball small group" on Thursday nights. He loves getting to play some b-ball, but he also truly ministers to all of the young guys that come out there. He buys them water bottles, prays with them, and basically ministers to whatever need comes up. This is one of the many, many reasons why I love my husband. However, the court they plan on is in a 'shadier' part of town, and since school has been out, he has allowed Caleb to join him. It is the highlight of Caleb's life, but it totally makes me nervous. Anyway, I am really tired, and I want to go to sleep....but I am waiting up to hug them both before going to bed. So, while I wait, I'm posting some recent favorite pictures from the past month.....

At the end of May, Ellie had her dance recital~ She was a bullfrog for once dance, and a grasshopper for another!! Ugly animals, but made for a super cute ballerina!

Pointing her sweet little toes

Ellie loves to dance, and she doesn't mind being on stage either...:)

Her ballet sponsors... they are some of her biggest fans!

We adore our little ballerina!

Now, Summer is here! I love having Caleb home with us. He is a super cool cat. And I know I am partial, but he really IS the BEST big brother I have EVER met! He is so sweet and kind to his little sisters. They both adore him, and he loves them right back. I love that he still plays with them so well! He isn't "too cool" for them....yet.

Summer Lovin' :)

We've been spending a lot of quality time with the sprinkler!

What can I say...my son is a freak!! He gets it from his Daddy! :)

So happy!

Such a mess!

This past weekend was my little sister's Bachelorette party. It was a twilight zone experience in some ways. But so much fun! Tracy planned it all. We stayed at a super cool resort in Montgomery, TX in an awesome little villa. We had some relaxing pool time, went out for a fun dinner, played some super silly games, and then enjoyed a lot of girl talk time. It was the perfect weekend! And proof that you can get a bunch of Jesus girls together and have a lot of silly fun, without regret!

Can you believe this is my baby....the first one I helped raise, before I had my own children....can't believe she's about to get married....

She was a Rhinestone Cowgirl for the night!!

We had a SUPER yummy dinner at Chuys. It was so fun!

This is after Leah and I played a fun game. We competed, and I won, of course!! I wish I could tell you more of the details, but I would probably end up shot! I LOVE my sister-in-law!!

The next morning, of all the Lively girls! Love these girls so much it hurts!

That's all for now...until the next therapy session....and I think there might be need for quite a few in the next 8 days leading up to the wedding?!?!

Multiple Personality Disorder

2011-06-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

I think I may have multiple personality disorder (MPD--for those of us familiar). In my life, days go by, and I feel so privileged! So extremely blessed by all of the goodness in my life. I can clearly recognize all of the comforts and luxuries I enjoy, as a 'middle-class American'. My cup overflows with gratitude for all of the big and little blessings in my life. And I easily praise God for His abundant Grace in my life.

Then the very next day, it feels like another personality shows up. Maybe her name is Belinda?! The peaceful gratitude is gone, and I feel completely jilted and frustrated. I am ashamed to admit this, but it's true. I will look around and see how old and tired my couch looks. I will notice all of the super cute clothes that my friends are wearing, while I begrudge my Target clearance. I will walk around in HEB, wishing I could buy shrimp and steak for dinner, instead of just plain 'ol chicken again. It almost comes down to a grown-up pout and pity party.

It's absolutely ridiculous! How is this possible? How can these same thoughts come from the very same person?!

And it's not just about "things"....I have this same bi-polar way of thinking about myself. I will be chugging along, feeling pretty good about myself...my purpose in life, my self-image, my inherent value as God's child, and then BAM! I start looking at myself in the mirror at Zumba class, and I start to loathe the person looking back at me. All of the sudden, I am worthless and ridiculous. I am without significance and completely void of any beauty.

Crazy, huh?

But at least, by God's grace, I am learning. I have started to identify these seeming personality changes as attacks on my spirit. I'm not sure if I can 100% credit these perspective fluctuations to Satan. Maybe. Or maybe it is just a surge in the battle between my own human flesh and my God-given spirit. Either way, I am trying to see it for what it is....an attack on the joy and peace that God offers me everyday. These attacks are ones that I can choose to fight, and claim the victory that Jesus has already given me again and again. Or I can choose to surrender to them....and suffer the emotional and mental anguish that comes with feigned defeat.

God is always the victor. I just have to remember that I am already on the winning side! So, maybe instead of multiple personality disorder, I have dementia instead?? :/

Psalm 20:6-7
⁶ Now this I know:
The LORD gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.
⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses, (or in bank accounts or skinny bodies)
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

1 John 5:1-5
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. ² We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. ³ Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. ⁵ And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

God's Word is always good therapy! :)

Defeated or Determined

2011-05-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

I'm going to list a bunch of random thoughts.....mainly to clear my head of them, and for today, this is my therapy....

I feel like God is trying to tell me something. He is trying to show me a way I should go....but I haven't figured out exactly which direction it is yet....

Being a full-time "stay-at-home" mom is hard.

I feel like I'm gaining weight by the minute. Even if I just smell something, I seem to absorb the calories. Why is that?

I really like Zumba. Dancing is so fun!

Adelyn's kisses are one of my favorite things in the world.

I know that managing money is a learning process, with many spiritual implications, but I wish God would choose to just wipe our debt away, plant a small, but respectable amount of money in our savings account and then let us just move forward with trying to be a good steward of our monthly budget.

I wish I had a therapist/counselor. There are many days that I feel like I need a paid friend, who can just listen to me talk for an hour or two, and then offer some godly encouragement. But who has the time or money for therapy?? :/

I am so happy for summer to be here. It's so nice to take a break from regular life, and for things to slow down a bit.

My baby sister is getting married in less than a month.....I'm not sure I'm ready for that. I am truly excited for her to be marrying AJ, but I am not happy about him taking her to San Antonio. Well, I guess he's not really "taking her", more like she is willingly and happily going with him.....still, I don't like it.

God has been speaking to me about surrendering daily to Him. Praying or even reading my Bible, doesn't necessarily mean I am submitting my life to His will. I have to surrender to Him EVERY DAY, and then do it again, the next day. Jesus tells me in Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."

I have to pick up my cross daily. (who has to do it? only I can do it)

I have to pick up my cross daily. (there has to be action...I have to actually do something)

I have to pick up my cross daily. (it is MY cross....not anyone else's. and that cross symbolizes what for me? )

I have to pick up my cross daily. (not a few times a week, not just when everything is good and easy or when I'm desperate for help......every day)

Gosh, Jesus. That doesn't sound easy. In fact, it sounds hard. But I don't have to do it on my own....

Psalme 59:17
You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.

Psalm 73:26
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Isaiah 40:29
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Philippians 4:13
I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

So, I'm going to start asking God for His strength. When things seem hard, the stress is mounting or the day seems overwhelming... i want to ask Him for help, to carry my cross.

Love these words from Paul, at the end of Ephesians 3....

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

More Good Times

2011-05-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

As always, a lot has been going on in the Skow house. We've been busy with school, work, tutoring, MDO, dance class, baseball games, small groups, MOPS, wedding showers, etc. The calendar has been overflowing. And as always, the trick to it all is keeping perspective and letting the blessings be blessings, not letting them become burdens.

God is so good. He is our Rock and our Peace in the middle of all of our craziness. I am so humbled by His generosity in our lives. Sometimes it's so hard to believe that He loves me....even when I'm dumb, and I whine, and I take His gifts for granted. He loves me through it all. Amazing.

I wanted to make sure I added some of our recent pictures, before too much time went by and I forgot.

Here are some recent favorites....

Some Easter pictures

Our Skow family

The motley crew celebrating Leah's birthday with the Spazmatics

Our favorite Uncle Clint, and his fan club! :)

A happy girl and her Poppy!

These girls will be forever friends! Sweet cousin love!!

Dawson and his sweet Granny, celebrating her 86th birthday!

The Fab Five

Hunting the eggs that afternoon with Daddy

My three greatest gifts

A huge part of our lives right now is getting Lisa ready to get MARRIED! Her wedding is June 18th, and it has been a whirlwind of showers and preparation these past couple of months. Here are some highlights.....

the bride-to-be with the parents

Sisters, Sisters....there were never such devoted sisters :)

One of her favorite presents! I can't remember who gave her this fabulous bag ...;)

Our true selves!

Two of my favorite girls

Shower #3 with family and hometown friends

Some beautiful Lively girls

a sweet baby and her MeMe

Until next time.....

Needing it & Sharing it

2011-04-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away (totally stressed, feeling fat, completely exhausted....fill in whatever else is ailing us today), yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (He promises His mercies are new every morning) For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, (my inability to deal with my crazy life, my seemingly vast incompetency, my overall lack of awesomeness...), so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

"But you, woman of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. "
1 Timothy 6:11-12

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
1 Peter 5:6-7

"For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you, through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline!"
2 Timothy 1:6-7

Can I get an AMEN?

Healthy and Happy

2011-04-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

I should be working on the material I'm presenting this weekend, but instead I am posting pictures. Oh well!! The blog needed to move past the puke. The Fab Five have all been healthy for more than a week now. Hallelujah! So we've been out and about; enjoying the beautiful Spring weather we've been blessed with. Caleb has started baseball, so we are busy with two games a week. And the girls and I have been shopping for wedding-related clothes and Easter dresses. So fun!

That's the cutest "Muckdog" I've ever seen.

Part of the cheer squad at his first game of the season!

Enjoying the well-earned slush

Are these girls "Hollywood" or what?! They came up with this pose all by themselves....they're like miniature Charlie's Angels or something?! :)

She is my heart.

She is my sunshine.

Ellie put this ensemble together herself, while Mom, Tracy, Lisa and I were trying on flip-flops! She has good taste! :)

God bless this sweet girl! She is full of drama :)

The Puke Journal....purely therapeautic. Not intended for public entertainment.

2011-04-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, March 3rd we took Adelyn into the doctor, because she had been coughing terribly for several days. The night before, she had puked in her car seat twice on the way back from church because she was coughing so hard. The doctor sent us to get x-rays, which were traumatic for Adelyn and for me. They had to strap her down, and she didn't like that.

Then on Thursday night, Ellie and I both started puking--first dance with the stomach virus.

Ellie and I were sick through Saturday.

Then, Adelyn started puking on Sunday....couldn't keep down her medicine for her pneumonia. Went back to doctor on Monday.

Monday, Dawson felt bad too. I was over the puking, but still felt like crap. I went to doctor and found out I had a sinus infection.

Tuesday, Caleb's cough got crazy, so he went to the doctor. He got antibiotics because he had a throat infection and bronchitis.

By then, 4 out of the 5 of us were on prescriptions, three of us on antibiotics. Our recoveries went on, as slowly our symptoms faded for almost a week. After all 5 of us had the stomach yuck, we had accumulated the hugest mountain of dirty laundry you have EVER seen. Ridiculous!

We enjoyed two or three days of good health

Then, Sunday, March 13th, while I was on the road to Lisa's wedding shower, Caleb started puking at my parents house. The next morning, Caleb and Dawson both felt terrible. Hurried back to College Station to suffer at home.

We all felt good for Wednesday and Thursday. Then, while we were camping in Fairfield, Ellie started puking AGAIN.....a lot! I had one of the craziest road trips of my life, as I tried to get Ellie back home to College Station. We had to pull over three times (twice on the side of I45) for her to puke. It was stressful.

She recovered quickly, thankfully. We actually enjoyed 8 or 9 days of relatively good health after this episode.

Then, Wednesday, March 30th, Adelyn came down with a 103+ fever. She didn't have any other symptoms, but she felt terrible. That evening, Ellie started puking AGAIN. She puked, and puked, and then puked some more. We took Ellie to the doctor because we thought 3 puking episodes in 30 days was unusual. The doctor ordered her to have x-rays done of her stomach and intestines. She suspected an intestinal obstruction. But no. The x-rays were inconclusive.

Then, by Friday night, Ellie and Adelyn traded. Adelyn started puking, and Ellie got a fever. That is how we spent Saturday.

Sunday, April 3rd, brought a whole new level of excitement. Completely out of the blue, Ellie started screaming and crying and grabbing her crotch. She said her private parts were hurting. She went on screaming and crying frantically for like 5 minutes. I called the nurse on call for our pediatrician, and she told me to take her to the ER. I did. It was crazy. God bless Holly and Tracy, without whom I wouldn't have survived (since Dawson was busy serving the Lord!). But, the doctor sucked, and they didn't find anything wrong with her. No answers. Still worried about this.

Then, on Monday, Dawson felt sick. Never puked, but couldn't eat. Felt like crud.

Now, on Tuesday, April 5th, Caleb is puking AGAIN. And the poor baby has a fever.

It's simply been ridiculous.

However, this sick season has not been without lessons. Good health is precious and fragile. We always take it for granted until we don't have it. The admiration and awe I have for parents of children who are really sick, who would love to trade me for my silly puke-a-licious life, has definitely increased exponentially. And, I have realized yet again how much we ARE NOT in control of our own lives. We aren't. And those of us, who feel like we need to feel 'in control' of our circumstances, and therefore micro-manage everything we possibly can....well, we are really just kidding ourselves. The control we feel is just a facade....because God's control is ultimate.

So, here is the summary: In the last 35 days, we have had.....
8 rounds of puke
6 fevers
5 trips to the doctor
2 sets of x-rays
1 pneumonia
1 sinus infection
1 bronchitis
1 trip to the ER

Holy Cow.

I would like to end this therapy session with the scripture that God lifted me up with this morning......God is good, and His word is the truth. I've got to remember this....even in times of puke.

Lamentations 3:19-26
"I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD. "

The Happier Moments of Spring Break

2011-04-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I am sick n' tired of being sick and tired. We have been passing around yuck since before Spring Break, and we are STILL battling sickness around our house. Anyway, our Spring Break plans did not work out the way we had hoped, but we still had some awesome times too.

My little sister had her very first wedding shower! It was totally twilight zone going to a wedding shower for my baby sister, but it was very nice. We got to meet my soon-to-be brother-in-law's (how to do like those hyphens?! :) family. They were all very nice. It's just so weird to me that Lisa is going to have another family. I love her so much. It's going to be a little hard to share her?! :)

The cute couple

The 4 Lively women

Mom and the Bride-to-Be

The sisterhood

Later that week, we went camping with the Skow side of our family at a state park in Fairfield, TX. It was cut short, because Ellie started puking.....but for the almost 24 hours we were there before that, it was fun!

One of the best parts of camping....roasting marshmallows!

There is an art to roasting these....not sure Dawson has mastered it. :)

But eating them is fun too!! :) What a cutie pie!

We spent some time chillin' at the playground there

Look at this cute, little, blue-eyed, red-head.....she is getting too big!

More of the campin' crew...I'm so blessed with awesome in-laws!

The campground also had a super cool place to ride bikes....I'm not sure what you would call it.....like a off-road, hills n' thrills kinda thing....the boys LOVED it!

Caleb had no fear...which caused me to have fear!

Even the "big boys" had to try it out...while riding my girlie bike! :)

After Ellie recovered, we got to go out for a grown-up dinner (without ANY kids?!) to the Icehouse on Lake Bryan. We celebrated Dawson's birthday with our family and had a blast!

We finished the week out by Dawson preaching his first sermon at church! He taught a lesson about making wise decisions and living a life without regret. He studied the story of David in 1 Samuel 24. He did an INCREDIBLE job. He allowed God to speak through him, and therefore, said some really awesome things. If you want, you can watch the video at www.brazosfellowship.com. Look under "Living w/out Regrets: week 2"...it's worth sitting down to watch.

Even with all the puking, etc. , it really was a good Spring Break!

another chance

2011-04-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

Christ's courage. Spirit's truth. Father's hope.

http://shespeaksconference.com/

a "hand-me-down" life

2011-04-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

I am the oldest of three girls. Growing up, I never had to wear hand-me-downs. I don't know if my parents taught me this directly, or whether I just perceived this for myself, but as a child and as a young person, I always looked down on 'hand-me-downs.' The idea just had a negative connotation to me for some reason. Something brand new was much more exciting, so much better than something 'used.'

Oh how my life has changed! I now have a life full of hand-me-downs. Our home is full of hand-me-downs. Our family wears a lot of hand-me-down clothes, Dawson and myself included. Both of our vehicles, the Green monster (mini-van) and Red Hot Fire Fred (D's truck) are hand-me-downs. Our dining room table is a hand-me-down.....so is our washer and our dryer, and the list goes on. So much of what we now have was given to us by someone else, who no longer had use for whatever it is. Some might say this is a little sad....maybe even a little shameful.

But God is teaching me a lot about my little hand-me-down life.

First, He gently reminds me that absolutely everything I am and everything I have is a hand-me-down. From Him.

And these other hand-me-downs......these gifts from others, are just that. Gifts. Gifts of generosity from friends and family members, who are literally and physically extending God's love to us by providing for a need, or making an offer of help.

I just recently realized that I am so much more appreciative and grateful for the things we have that are hand-me-downs. More so than I am for the things that we have bought for ourselves in times of prosperity.

For instance, in my life, I have only owned one brand new vehicle. It was a beautiful, powerful, black, 4-door Dodge truck. I bought it shortly after I started teaching. It was pretty much my dream vehicle. I loved, loved that truck. When we had to sell it, because gas prices got so high, and I got pregnant with Ellie, I literally cried as we drove away from it. Pathetic, I know. But as much as i loved that truck, I didn't really appreciate it.

I now drive a 10+ years old Chevy mini-van. It is certainly not a junker, but it has seen better days. Even still, this mini-van was a gift to us, from some of our precious family. And almost every time I get it in it, my heart fills with gladness. I pray and thank God for this van ALL the time! I pray for the family members that gave it to us, I thank God for giving it to us, I praise God for the important function it has in our family.....my cup literally overflows with gratitude and appreciation for this vehicle. And this is true, mainly due to the fact, that it is a hand-me-down. And the same is true for my dryer, that my friend Sam gave me...etc., etc.

What God is revealing to me, is that every breath I take......every healthy moment my children enjoy.....every new morning I wake-up.....is a hand-me-down. His to give, mine only to receive.

Humility. Gratitude. Appreciation.

There can be no other appropriate response to a hand-me-down.

God, you are so good to me.

Unmerited Favor

2011-03-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

Each of us is a minister. If you are a Christian, a Christ-follower, you have a ministry. You may not be labeled a minister by profession, or you may not be paid for your ministry work, but every person that has the Holy Spirit residing in their heart is acting as an agent or instrument of Christ, which by definition, makes you a minister.

I feel like God has called me to many ministries. First and foremost, God has called me to minister to my incredible husband and my three precious children. In fact, it's nice to see what I do in my home, for my family, as a ministry. It gives me a better perspective on the mountains of endless laundry. And it helps me find more joy in playing Barbies or Babies for the 562nd time. :) What I do at home...is definitely my most important ministry.

I also know that God has called me to ministries outside my home. I am called to ministries within my church, my community, my job- wherever I may be. Be that as it may, within the last few years, God has started to reveal a focus point for me.

Looking back on my life, I now recognize that I have always been drawn to teaching and caring for girls and women. I didn't identify it as an "official ministry" or "calling," I just became passionate about God and His purposes, and then I created ways to share this with others. I think my first 'women's biblestudy' to teach was when I was 18 or 19 years old. I had read a book called, "Lady in Waiting," by Debby Jones and Jackie Kendall. That book changed my perspective on God's love for me, specifically as a woman. Those authors taught me how to value myself, as God's beloved creation, and value my purity. These beautiful, biblical concepts were life-changing for me, and I knew they could change the lives of others, hence, my first group to lead in study. Teaching those younger girls in that group about God's love, and caring for them as they learned and grew was a life-changing experience.

When we are in the middle of God's will for our lives, and we fulfill the purposes He has marked for us, it is intensely gratifying.

Thankfully, in the 14 years since then, God has given me many more opportunities to teach and encourage. As He continually unveils more of His life-changing truth to me, He continually gives me a deep desire to share it. I've had the privilege of leading groups of women in study and discussion. I've had the honor of speaking to groups of women about Him. And perhaps most importantly, He has placed specific women in my life for me to act as iron on iron and lift up as we walk this journey together.

He has given me a "women's ministry."

Proverbs 31 is an organized, international minstry that God uses to reach women in many different ways. One of the ways Proverbs 31 spiritually equips women is through an annual conference called "She Speaks." It is a conference for women who want to maximize the effectiveness of their ministries. For this reason, I want to go to this conference. I want to learn practical ways to fulfill this calling God has put on my life. To learn about this conference you can go to: http:shespeaksconference.com/

I am writing this entry in hopes of receiving a scholarship to attend this awesome conference. http://reneeswope.blogspot.com/2011/03/she-speaks-womens-ministry-leadership.html I know there are many worthy women. And we all could use help in learning how to minister to God's people better. So, I understand that I am asking for unmerited favor. But if it is God's plan for me to receive this privilege, I will be incredibly grateful.

Super Hero

2011-03-05T19:05:00.000-08:00

For the past four days, we have had sickness in our house. It started with Adelyn on Wednesday. She coughed, and coughed, and coughed. Then came fever and throwing up, etc. Her diagnosis was pneumonia. Then, Ellie and I got sick on Thursday night with a stomach virus. So there were three down, and only two left standing. Thankfully, one of those was Dawson Wayne.

He is always a wonderful, caring husband and father, but in times if stress and sickness, he truly shines. He had to act as Super Dad, and as Super nurse for over 48 hours. And he did it...without complaint. Thankfully for us, he has inherited his mother's incredible bedside manner. He was so sweet, and thoughtful, and caring. He handled the whole situation with a calm gentleness and never-ending patience.

Right now, he is on the couch with the two older ones, rubbing their backs while he tells them stories. He amazes me. He is my super hero!

My Psalm today

2011-02-27T13:25:00.000-08:00

I am weak.

I am a mess.

But God is strong.

God is Beautiful.

God is so very merciful.

I went jogging for the first time in about three months today. And God used that time of running and worshipping to cleanse my soul. I had forgotten how good it feels to let God cleanse your soul. I have found that there are a few conduits that God uses to cleanse my soul. Nature. Sustained Quiet. Worship. Running. Laughter. Crying. Awesomely enough, He used a combination of all of those today.

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life
Could really
Change at all

All this earth
Could all that is lost
Ever be found
Could a garden come up from this
Ground at all

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things
Out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around
Hope is springing up
From this old ground
Out of chaos life is being
Found in  You

You make me new. You are making me new.

You make beautiful things.
*

Two years ago today...

2011-02-24T11:28:00.001-08:00

There aren't words in our language strong enough to describe the feelings of days like this....
It was magical, scary, wonderful, stressful, exciting, painful, happy, exhausting, full of anticipation, FULL of joy....it was awesome. Thank you God for giving me this beautiful baby girl. She is your unique and wonderful creation. And I don't deserve to be her mommy, but I feel so honored that you picked me. I celebrate her precious life today!

Two too soon!

2011-02-21T19:28:00.001-08:00

This past weekend was Adelyn's birthday party. It was another Elmo party. We had a lot of fun spending time with our family and closest friends. Thankfully this party was more relaxed than some other kid parties I've tried to pull off. The only stressful part was the cake pops...but they turned out o.k. Not nearly as cool as "Bakerella's" but good enough!

Our sweet baby girl doesn't officially turn two until this Thursday. And I have to admit, I am dreading the day! I'm not ready for my little baby to be 2 years old!!! I want her to stay my sweet, squeezable, loveable little baby forever! Is that wrong? At times, it has been hard to watch all three of my babies grow up and change, but since she is the last one, I feel like I'm losing a part of my motherhood that I will never get back. I know that the days are numbered of when I can rock her and sing to her before she sleeps. Or when she will cry out for me from her crib and raise her hands up to me to rescue her. Or times I will carry her around on my hip, because she wants, "me up!" Oh my goodness, I am starting to cry right now just thinking about it. Holy Cow....I'm not ready for her to grow up.

A girl and her candle....

I think she liked the Elmo pops!

These two have such a sweet relationship...much love for each other!

Having fun in her cute Elmo dress!

The "Gran Girls" and their Granny!

Addie loves her Nonny very much!

She was blessed with many fun presents!

Getting wet and dirty with her buddies and Poppy!

God blessed us with perfect weather for back yard fun!

Two of our favorite girls....Aunt Leah and "Saw-Saw" :)

Some swing time with her Aunt Sissy (Lisa:) !

Mmmmm, that cake was good!
My precious little ragamuffin

oxyMoron

2011-02-20T22:10:00.000-08:00

I think I could be losing my mind. I am blogging this just in case it really does happen and someone needs to someday analyze 'when it all began...' or just in case any of my friends or family come to visit me, and they find that I am not home.....now, you will know to check with the local looney-bin. :)

Seriously, I do feel like I have been through a mental battle these last couple of months. And I am still hesitant to even admit it to anyone. But that is the catch-22 of blogs....they can serve as good "journaling therapy," but then it is out there for whomever to read?!? However, I am compelled to share a little bit of it, especially after a good friend reminded me at a bible study this past week that we can sometimes squelch Satan's strategies by sharing our struggles and getting them out into the light. The enemy does love to make us feel isolated. He also loves to use guilt to way us down and steal our joy.

The crazy thing is that this season of my life is filled with so many blessings and very few burdens. In the past year or two, I have been through much harder and more stressful seasons than this one. Again, I am reminded of something else another friend said in a small group when comparing her 'small potatoes' to others' woes. She said, " My biggest problem is that I have 3 kids....and that's not even a problem!" :)

Anyway, I have just let Satan or maybe just my sinful nature have way too much control over my thoughts....and my perception of myself. I have focused so much on my failures and my weaknesses, that I could barely think of anything else. Again, another one of Satan's tricks. Whenever we take time to have a pity party, or just hate ourselves for all the stupid things we do, we are rendered useless for God's work. We (I keep saying "we" because it's much more comfortable to be universal here, rather than personal?!)...can become self absorbed and not even realize it.

Our women's group is reading through Purpose Driven Life, and in one of the daily devotionals, Warren says something like, when we get to Heaven, what if we have to look back on our life and realize all the time and energy we wasted worrying about meaningless things? I don't want to waste anymore time or energy worrying about or focusing on things that don't matter. I want to focus on my "big rocks"; I want to have an eternal perspective every day. Besides, I barely have enough time and energy for everything that is meaningful. I can't afford to waste.

I am acutely aware of my shortcomings. I am pretty sure I could be the reason why God had to create Grace. Alone, I am useless and worthless. But because I have been saved by His Grace. And I have the extreme privilege of having His Holy Spirit abide in me. I am capable of accomplishing God's will for my life. I have access to His power, His purposes, and His perspective. I just have to claim them.

So, I would like to end this self therapy session with a list of blessings....to remind me of my millions of reasons to choose joy over sadness, peace over anxiety, victory over defeat....
A-Adelyn Lively
B- my Bible, a source of Truth and peace
C- Caleb Wayne
D- Dawson Wayne, my best friend and my rock
E- Ellie Faith
F- the fellowship we have with our precious church family
G- God's good Grace!
H- Holly and Kari...God's favors to me
I- increasing ministry opportunities
J- Joy
K- kinds words
L- Lisa Kathryn
M- my Mom and my MOPS girls...sweet souls
N- our Nation of freedom and abundance
O- our small groups
P- a plentiful pantry
Q- quiet mornings with Him
R- rest
S- sweet sounds of our happy, healthy children
T- Tracy Jannette
U- underwear...glad to have some!
V- Valiant people in my life who inspire me
W- worship that refreshes my soul
X- x-citing possibilities ?! :)
Y- the yearning to draw closer to Him
Z- a zealous God who desires me to be zealous too

The end.

The Firstborn

2011-02-16T12:33:00.000-08:00

This is super late, but my blog motto is always Better Late than Never! I'm sure years from now, I'll just be grateful I chronicled the milestones at all.....right?!

At the end of January, Caleb Wayne turned 7 years old! It was also my 7th Mom-iversary! I can't believe my baby is already 7. My Mamaw was so right when she used to tell me that the years go by faster as you get older. She was a wise woman.

One of Caleb's few passions is football. He loves playing it with his Daddy and his friends. He even already likes watching it on TV. He already knows more about the sport than I do. So, needless to say, he wanted a "Football party!" God blessed us with beautiful weather that day, so we had a great time watching/playing football.

A little "Ode to Caleb".....
God definitely gave me my easiest child first. Caleb has been a total delight ever since the day he came into our lives. He is my sweet, sweet boy with a heart of gold. He is the best big brother I could have ever dreamed of for his sisters. He is a champion for any underdog. And the white boy thinks he's a gangsta!?! :) He loves to rap, beat box, and break dance. When he goes outside to play with his friends on our street, he always puts his cap on sideways, walks outside with his deuces held up, saying, "What up?!" He's funny, he's smart, he's sweet. For better or worse, he got his mama's looks and his Daddy's gentle spirit. He's a hoot!

Presents are always easier to open with the help of a sister and a cousin!

Some of Caleb's best little buddies

Caleb Wayne, You are my sunshine!

January Joys 2011

2011-02-08T14:35:00.000-08:00

We had the best New Year's Eve this year...maybe of all time!
We spent it with some of our favorite friends, and these were our outfits!

The coolest cats in town....sorry, dawgs in town! :)

My beautiful sunshine

One of the only fun ways to do the dishes....with a partner :)

Caleb, getting ready to take the plunge....so much braver than his mama!

Love this picture of Ellie and Tracy....what a pose!

My little ragamuffin! I think she loves our new trampoline more than anyone else!

Time to Rally

2011-02-05T14:39:00.001-08:00

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Too much....

2010-12-23T12:53:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Christmas time. I love everything about it. I love the fact that the whole world (or almost the whole world) takes notice of our God and His son. I love the intentional time with family. I love the bright lights, the Christmas trees, the get-togethers, the food, the shopping, the wrapping, the decorating...... I love it all!

But there can be too much of a good thing. And right now, I feel like we've shopped, and baked, and decorated, and celebrated so much that we are starting to wear out before Christmas day actually gets here. Basically, the Fab Five is pooped!

Don't worry. There is no Bah Humbug here. I just need a little quiet time with God, and maybe a nap, and then I'll be ready to hit the group running again. Christmas really is magical, in so many ways. And I mean, God's kind of magic. (not the Harry Potter kind :)

Here are some of our recent pictures..... with more to come soon!

My three sweeties on our tree swing!

The Fab Five + Maggie
(try to ignore the crap in the back ground :/)

I love living in a house with these people and with yellow walls....it's just fun.

With our penguins out front... Our lives are filled with JOY!

November: A Month of Milestones

2010-11-28T20:59:00.000-08:00

Wow! I can't believe November is almost over. I'm still trying to catch up with October. This month has been monumental in many ways. There is so much to blog about.... i would love to do a separate blog entry for each of these....but here goes the mammoth montage....

First, there was THE RACE! Tracy and I did the "couch to 5K" training program for 9 weeks. We picked a 5k in Brenham, TX on November 6th. It was a race to raise funds for Lung cancer, which is near and dear to our hearts since that is how we lost our Pawpaw over 11 years ago. When we first started, I couldn't jog a block without gasping for air and getting a side cramp. Now, I actually enjoy jogging. It is incredible "God time" for me. We had trained to run a 5K, or 3.1 miles. But thanks to the ding dong who marked out this race, we actually ran over 4.6 miles! Who knew we could run so far? And not just run, but run over crazy HUGE hills! It was an incredible, life-changing experience! Tracy and I are now preparing to run a 10K in the Spring! Wow.

Tracy proudly displaying our team shirt and her 1st racing number!

Before the race....ready to run!

Almost there....so tired!

We had the BEST cheering squad for us when we crossed the finish line!

After the race.....exhausted, but so happy!

Then, the day after the big race, my sweet, baby girl turned 4!! We had a family celebration on her 'real' birthday, complete with some quality time at Chuck-E-Cheese. God bless that crazy place! And then, we celebrated with our extended family and a few special friends the next weekend! Ellie had requested ANOTHER princess party!! She had so much fun! Her sweet aunts decorated another "Princess Dress-Up room" that all the little girls loved. And then we decorated princess cookies...crowns and princess wands! It really was a lot of fun, therefore, it was a huge success! :)

Our crew....played and pizza-ed out!

So excited about her "Princess room"! I love this kid so much it hurts.

Everyone was excited to play dress-up!

Princesses on Parade!!

Then it was time to decorate cookies....so much sugar!!

Addie loved hers! :)

Ellie couldn't have been happier!

Then, the presents!

We are so blessed that our family comes to celebrate with us!

Another significant event this month was our Uniquely Beautiful event at church. But I already blogged about that one....thanks to Rachel Driskell's readily available pics!

Then there was Thanksgiving in Hutto! We had a fun time with our family, including my sweet aunt from New Mexico and a few others from the Lively crew. But the Turkey festivities were not the highlight of the holiday break. The day after Thanksgiving, we went WEDDING DRESS SHOPPING for my BABY SISTER! Wow. Even typing that sounds weird!?! Lisa is so beautiful and thin, which created a problem because she looked awesome in every dress! Of course, I won't reveal the absolutely gorgeous, and perfect dress that she decided on....but here are a couple of the "no's"

She really did look amazing in every dress! It was a day we will never forget.....so much fun!!

With the proud, emotional Mama looking on. Needless to say, we all cried quite a bit.....I don't have any idea how we are going to make it through the actual wedding?!?

And somewhere in there, Caleb finished up his flag football season and had a little Thanksgiving shin-dig at school. He looked so cute! He memorized his lines perfectly and loved "performing" for all the parents and grandparents. He is such a cool kid!

Whew!! And that was just the highlights...... What an awesome, God-praising month! Thank you Lord for all of the incredible goodness you poured on us in November. I am so thankful. Now, we are looking forward to December!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-28T12:31:00.001-08:00

Soooo behind....but oh well! Better late than never!!

A couple of cuties at the pumpkin patch

We found THE ONE! ( i love Caleb's flair for drama... :)

So begins the carving....very serious stuff! :)

Digging in the goop--fun!

Pretending to eat the goop.....Adelyn thought this was fascinating!! So freakin' cute!

My three Halloween Cuties! And it looks like we color-coordinated our costumes this year!?

The prettiest Bat Girl EVER~

The sweetest BumbleBee EVER~

Getting treats from Aunt Tracy

Our first time to do a pair of pumpkins....mine is the girl with the big lips! :)

Uniquely Beautiful Event

2010-11-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

I LOVE ministering to women. It is not just a passion of mine, but a calling that God has put on my life. So, it was an honor and privilege to be able to help in planning and organizing our church's first ever "women's event." It was like a 'mini-conference' for women of our community. Our theme was Uniquely Beautiful. Our team wanted to remind women how beautiful and valuable we all are in Christ. We started planning in May and it all culminated last Friday night. It was a labor of love! And I must admit: it was a HUGE success. God blessed our efforts and then showed up in a BIG way that night to touch many hearts. We had over 250+ women there! And everything was perfect...the music, the message, the decorations, the food....everything! (well, except one letter "A" that I glued on crooked on one of the banners :)

I hope that God chooses to bless me with more opportunities to involve myself in these kinds of events for the rest of my life. So fun and so meaningful! Here are just a few pictures from the night:

Fun colors and goodie bags for everyone.....and can you see the crooked A in the background?! Grrr

Amazing worship...and yes, look at that Hottie on the stage... :) Love that musical man.

Fun door prizes....all presented in cute 31 bags! Joy did an awesome job with all the fun stuff!

God blessed us through Leslie, our fearless leader for the event (and pastor's wife) and my sweet friend, Dawn, who had some incredible things to share about her 'larger than life' life!

This is my dear friend, Kristen and I doing our 'comedy routine'/announcements at the end! Man, I love it when someone gives me a microphone! :)

Crazymaker!

2010-11-10T11:06:00.000-08:00

This week is a crazymaker! It feels like a lot of the energies and efforts of the last six months of my life have culminated into a 2 week period! Craziness! But I'm trying to enjoy the ride and not let the stress steal all of the joy from these blessed weeks. Our church, Brazos Fellowship, is hosting our FIRST EVER women's event this Friday! We are calling it "Uniquely Beautiful" and I can't wait to see what God does with it. We are planning on anywhere from 100 to 300 women attending. And then, on Saturday, Ellie is having her 4th birthday party!! Another princess party! I tried to scale down a bit this year, so I could manage it after the big event the night before. We'll see! (somehow an exclamation point ! is the only punctuation that seems appropriate for this entry! :)

God is so good to me. And I don't deserve one bit of it. Praise Him for giving me the most awesome husband and partner in the world. I could not handle my life without Dawson Wayne Skow. And He continues to bless me with peace, hope, excitement and abundant joy in the midst of the insanity.

Pictures coming soon of my big 4 year old.....and of my baby sister's engagement story.....and of flag football season......etc., etc., etc.

p.s. Just have to say--running and music are both awesome, cheap therapies! Last night, I cleaned my bathroom (for maybe the first time in the 4 months we've lived in this house?!?) until 12:45am, and loved every minute of it! Mostly thanks to my good friends, Kanye, Justin, Snoop, Salt N' Peppa, and few other goodies. :)

(a late) Thankful Thursday

2010-11-05T12:45:00.001-07:00

I've decided I want to do Thankful Thursdays too on my blog this month.....and maybe continue it beyond that. But I'm a little late with this first one. Oh well!

God continues to bless my socks off. But "blog time" is short today with a full to-do list left, so I'm going to start with a quick list:

1- Without God, I am nothing. He is the ONLY reason I have any good thing. I am so....there honestly are not words to describe how grateful I am to God.

2- I'm so grateful for my incredible husband. He is my rock. I could not be the mother, the minister, the friend, the sister that I am without him. He loves me like no one else can or ever could. He is the best person I have ever known.

3- My three beautiful children are the sunshine of my life. I am so thankful to be their mommy.

4- I love my two sisters. They are my ultimate accountability. They help me to be a better person. I am so thankful for Tracy and Lisa.

5- I am so thankful to God for getting me to this day. Thank you God, for blessing me and help me to pour out these blessings on others.

Alright....now Mr. 5K, I will see you in the morning! :)

Breathing Deeply

2010-10-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of my sweet friends who have sent encouraging words my way. They have been much appreciated. God held me together, and I made it til the end of last week in one piece.

This is a new week. And I am counting my many blessings. I feel like I am soaking the moments in with a renewed sense of gratitude. Amidst the continued busy schedule of football games, small group, 5K training, birthday parties, mounting laundry, and dwindling bank accounts, my heart feels lighter. I just hope that my dear Kristen can eventually feel God lightening her heart again as well.

As I've been thinking more about my kiddos, I have tried to notice the little things about each of them. The big things, and the silly things. Like Ellie loves to sing, and she is proud of her 'singing ability'. She also doesn't like macaroni n' cheese.....i don't know what is wrong with her! :) And Adelyn has started saying a lot more words lately, like 'light' 'yeah' and 'sonic'. Well, maybe she doesn't say Sonic quite yet, but she definitely knows to say "juice" every time she sees one! Caleb is so sweet and kind-spirited, but he is also a little self-righteous and scared of spiders.

I used to secretly wish that Ellie and Adelyn were more like Caleb. He has been a pretty easy kid to parent. And parenting would be so much easier if you could apply the same strategies you learned with the first kid to all of the other proceeding kids. However, it doesn't seem to work like that.

But I've decided that I like the variety of my children. I love the little things about them that make each of them different and unique. Even though it makes my job as their mommmy a little harder, it also makes it more adventuresome and fun.

Ellie enjoying her spaghetti lunch.....you gotta love this kid!

Caleb proudly showing the loss of his 1st tooth!

This is how I found Adelyn during her "nap" the other day.....is she related to her mama or what?! :)

Some sweet sister love

My three favorite people, at our new favorite getaway in Marble Falls.....more to come on that soon!

Life right now

2010-10-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

I'm needing a little therapy right now. 98% of those of you reading this should probably move on to the next blog. This entry will not be cute, nor will it contain fun pictures. I should be going to bed. I'm exhausted. I have strep throat. I'm supposed to be getting up early, and the odds of me getting a good night's sleep tonight are slim to none. But I need a little therapy.

This week has been....not sure what word to use. I over use the word crazy. And I probably over use the word insane too. 'Busy' doesn't capture it. So, I'm not sure what word to use.

I have been grieving. I've probably grieved more than what is 'appropriate' for my relationship to the situation. But who decides that kind of thing? It doesn't matter really. The point is, I've been terribly sad. And grieving is very draining--emotionally and physically.

And then I had my women's small group, Potter's Clay this week. Blessing + Responsibility #1. Then I had a MOPS trip to Houston to see Beth Moore. I am a MOPS table leader this year, which is awesome, but another Blessing + Responsibility #2. This trip was a great point of renewal this week though. It was stressful organizing it, but I enjoyed it.

Then I got strep throat. Total bummer, but mild compared to life's ailments. It's just been frustrating to not be 100% while trying to take care of so many other things. Basically, I just don't have time to be sick. (that sounds so arrogant and pretentious....i don't mean it that way)

Then I had a MOPS meeting this morning, which I, of course, had to bring baked goods to. And then we had dance class. And then another flag football game. And now I am REALLY behind on preparing for mine and Dawson's 2nd Pre-marital Class tomorrow night (Blessing + Responsibility #3).

Of course, while this is all being juggled, I'm also training for a 5K. Yes, that's right....me.....running a 5K. Crazy, right?? NEVER did I imagine I could do something like this. But I haven't done it yet....still 2 more weeks of training to go. Another entry will be done solely about this adventure, I'm sure.

Plus, Adelyn is not sleeping well these days. And Ellie ends up in our bed most nights too. And our finances are a wreck, which of course, is so, so stressful. I HATE MONEY! Puke. Yuck. Gag me with a spoon.

Oh--and we are having a garage sale on Saturday. So, that'll be ridiculous....trying to get ready for that tomorrow, after we are done teaching our class! And then after the garage sale, we are supposed to drive out to Somerville to meet my parents and put on our happy faces to celebrate my Dad's birthday with them. AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!! Oddly, typing that does make me feel a little better. :)

Truthfully, instead of whining, I should be making a list of blessings. I have leaned on God hard this week. And He has been speaking some wonderful things to my heart. He keeps reminding me that our contentment and joy is mostly a matter of perspective. And even though I feel tired and overwhelmed by my life right now, I wouldn't have it any other way. My blessings don't just overflow my cup. They flood my life.

I am chin deep in a pool of blessings. I just need to stop frantically doggy-paddling, and just float. And breathe. Thank you God. Good therapy.

Heaven

2010-10-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

I've cried more than a dozen times today. My heart hurts very deeply. It is because a precious, beautiful baby girl left this earth yesterday. Her name is Jordan. This is her.

Isn't she absolutely beautiful? I never had the privilege of physically meeting Jordan. But her sweet mother, Kristen, and I grew up together. She was a very good friend of mine. And still is. Even though I never got to hug her, or spend time with her, I feel like I knew Jordan from Kristen's emails, blog entries and facebook posts about her. I got to see her grow and change through all of her beautiful pictures, and keep up with her little life.

Jordan fought a form of cancer called Neuroblastoma for about a year. She braved many chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and endured a lot of trials. This sweet child was prayed for by probably thousands of people. And throughout the whole process, I was sure God was going to cure her, if for no other reason but that His glory could be known to so many. But... He didn't.

I know God well enough to know that He can handle my doubts and my anger. And I've been angry with Him over Jordan several times. I've asked Him lots of questions too......like why did she have to get cancer? Why a sweet, innocent baby? Why her? And why does Kristen have to lose the one precious child she's been given, and I still get to keep all three of mine? I know that it's not God's perfect will that anyone should suffer, but that the sin of this world manifests itself in many different terrible ways. And we also know God does intervene and provide miracles sometimes.....why not this time???

He hasn't answered all of my questions. But yesterday, He granted me some peace and perspective. He reminded me of something very important to the issue...... that this life...this painful world is not our destination. Even though, as humans, we value this lifetime so much and try to squeeze out every last minute we can, as believers, we have to remember that this earth is not our home. Our lives and souls are eternal. And our time on earth, whether 20 months or 92 years, is only a speck on the time line; a blip on the radar screen. Maybe not even that....

Jordan has simply beat us to the finish line. Her race was short, but no less meaningful. God used her in so many wonderful ways, and now she is enjoying her prize. I'm sure it was quite a celebration when the angels welcomed her home. And ultimately, Kristen will not just have these 20 short months with her, but she will get to spend an eternity with her, in the most perfect place.

Please pray alongside me for Kristen and Craig Plauschinat. May God be their comfort and strength....until the day when they are reunited with their their beautiful daughter.

Golden Gator....x 2!

2010-10-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

A friend and I were talking a couple weeks ago about the blessing of thinking your husband and your kids are the very best. I have always thought Dawson, Caleb, Ellie and Adelyn are the best of the best....the absolute cream of the crop! And I've hoped that all of my friends and loved ones think the very same thing about their husbands and kids. I think that is the way God intended for us to feel....incredibly proud of and grateful for the ones He's given us.

Specifically, Caleb Wayne Skow is a pretty awesome kid. He is kind, thoughtful, funny, affectionate, intelligent, caring and just an all-around cool guy. I'm not sure any one on earth thinks as highly of him as I do, but it's nice to know that others see a glimpse of what I do. On Wednesday, Caleb was honored with the "Golden Gator award" from his 1st grade teacher. The award is only given to two children in each class for each six-weeks. This is the second year in a row that Caleb has been chosen as a Golden Gator by his teachers during the first six weeks of the year. Apparently, he makes a good 1st impression!! :)

All in all, God gets the glory. He is the one who designed Caleb's little heart and personality. Dawson and I are just trying to keep from messing him up! :) Our prayer for Caleb has always been that God would mold his heart to be like Jesus's heart. Thank you, Father, for allowing me to be his mother and for the blessing he is to all of us!

Here are pictures from the proud day:

First Day of Mother's Day Out

2010-09-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

I know that I haven't posted & memorialized Caleb's first day of FIRST GRADE yet (still can't believe my baby is in 1st grade?!) But those pictures were accidentally taken on the 'internal memory' of our camera, and I haven't quite figured out how to get them from there to here!

Ellie's first day of Mother's Day Out was last week. She is going only one day per week from 9:30-1:30pm. And I have to admit that I've had some issues reconciling sending her there. I mean, didn't I quit my job so I could stay at home with my children?! But while this is true, I'm realizing all the benefits to letting Ellie go to "school" for a few hours a week. 1-She LOVES it...mainly because it makes her feel like a big kid, like her Bubba. 2-I'm hoping for it to help her with obeying authority figures other than her parents....she struggles with this quite a bit :) 3-I think it'll be good for her socially as well. She is not a total extrovert, like her aforementioned brother. She tends to be more of a loner at times. Basically, she might just need a little more practice interacting with 'friends' and last, but not least 4- It does help me help her to be a little more exposed to the academic side of life....like numbers, letters, etc.

So, now that I feel better about justifying this new venture of ours...... :) Here are some picture of my MDO cutie!!

Love that face expression!

Loving her new lunchbox

Getting ready to go!
The motley crew in the morning...

Fun Questions

2010-09-10T22:52:00.000-07:00

I stole this from another blog I sometimes read.....you are supposed to answer 8 questions, and then "tag" eight people to post the same questions and answer them. I know this is incredibly silly, but it's really late, so my 'mature' filter is barely working...if at all. So, just for fun.....

1. What brand of toilet paper do you use?
Whatever is on sale....

2. Who is the celebrity that you are most embarrassed to admit you have a crush on?
Taylor Lautner (had to google just to find out his name....but he's pretty hot....for a teenage werewolf! :)

3. What is your all time favorite movie?
White Christmas (with Annie and Parent Trap as a tie for 2nd!)

4. What store do you spend most of your paycheck?
The Mortgage/Bills store :/ But also Kroger or Wal-mart (used to be Target!)

5. What is your favorite restaurant?
Springhill Catfish Restaurant!!

6. What is your most favorite thing to do in the town you live in?
Other than hanging out with my family, it is going to a country dance hall....but I don't get to that very often anymore

7. Where is the best place you have been on vacation?
Estes Park on my honeymoon!

8. What is the most distant place you have visited?
San Francisco, CA for a teacher's conference

Now I'm supposed to tag 8 people.....Hmmm, who is going to read this?!....
Here it goes:
1. Missy Schrib
2. Katy Garner
3. Melissa Saunders
4. Becky Wilds
5. Kristen Plauschinat
6. Krista Burdine
7. Mandy Benedix
8. Sam Shields
Honorary 9th & 10th: Dani & Chris :)
(Jen, if you ever updated your crazy blog...I would've tagged you!?! :)

Have fun with it! Good night!

Things that I love (9-6-10 edition)

2010-09-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

1. Having one-on-one time with my kids....getting to enjoy their personalities and have priceless, uninterrupted conversation
2. a clean house....and the peace that comes with it.
3. Sonic drinks....forever and ever, Amen.
4. Cooler weather...to be able to play outside and enjoy it
5. Seeing my parents love on my children...especially my Dad
6. Good books....right now, "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan
7. unbelievably awesome *** :)
8. working cars and phones!?!...ridiculous how dependent we are on these two things
9. listening to Adelyn "pray"....always wants her turn, but all I can make out is "amen"--absolutely precious!
10. when Dawson has the day off....love having him home with us!

The other day, Ellie and Dawson went on a "picnic date" and she just happened to perfectly match her 31 lunch tote. What great advertising!! :)

Back in Action

2010-08-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

Incredibly abbreviated Summer 2010 review:

Visit to the Houston Aquarium with Memaw and Aunt Nette.....so Fun!

Camping at Lake Somerville!

Children's Museum in Ft. Worth...one of the coolest places I've ever been! Seriously!

Random Adventure to Huntsville on a day that we were bored! :)

And in between all these "adventures" , there's been lots of cuteness and fun just around the house....

More updates to come soon.....
about life in the new 'hood
and the beginning of 1st Grade!!

Medifast Journey

2010-07-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

I was going to try and NOT blog about this......mainly because I am a little embarrassed. I don't like talking about my weight, nor do I ever want to do anything that would draw someone's attention to it. However, i am needing a little therapy here.....and some mental/emotional processing, so the answer: a blog entry.

I started a new diet program called "Medifast." I heard about it a couple of times in my 31 parties, and then I did a party for the sister-in-law and mother-in-law of my now Medifast health coach. The SIL, Katie, was already signed up and started telling me the details of the program. From the eating side of it, it's kind of a cross between SlimFast and Nutrisytem. But the program is designed to give you a lot more support, and really quick results. She told me enough to get me interested.

I've never been a plan of these "get rich quick" kind of diets, but I needed to make a change. I had tried working out with a personal trainer, I had tried Weight watchers, I had tried 'eating healthier' on my own.....and NOTHING was working for me. Eating/Dieting is such a personal thing, so I know that different things or programs work for different people. So, I prayed, and prayed about this option. It's not cheap, and I didn't want to waste more money. And I didn't want to be "taking the easy way out." But I did feel a peace about this when I was praying to God for direction. I know this program won't last forever....in fact, I don't know if I can last through the rest of this week, but if it can help me change my relationship with food.....help me to treat food as food, and God as God, then I'm willing and able to try.

I officially started on Friday, July9th. I'm only 2 1/2 days into it, and it has been hard. One of the hardest parts has been cooking and feeding my children lasagna and cinnamon rolls, but having to eat my prepackaged shakes and bars. :( But I'm praying that God teaches me, and changes me through this process. We'll see!

The Story of our House

2010-07-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

The house is quiet. All three of my sweet babies are napping. I am surrounded by boxes, waiting to be unpacked and organized. But I want to take a little while to write down a testimony to God's greatness.

Ever since I quit teaching, two years ago, we have "struggled" financially. Our income was literally cut by almost 60%. At first, we were just taking a huge leap of faith, relying on God and our savings account to help us adjust. Well, the savings account was pretty much drained after the first six months of our single income life. Then, like any other normal Americans, we started using our credit cards to make it through the end of the months. It wasn't like God's wasn't providing enough money for our shelter, food and basic clothing needs. But He just wasn't providing enough for McDonald's, trips to Target, and other "fun" stuff.

So, after a year of charging the "extras", we finally allowed God to really convict us about our finances. We weren't honoring Him by our haphazard spending and rising credit card balances. I can still remember the rainy road trip back from Ft. Worth when Dawson and I argued, talked, cried, and prayed about our financial mess. This was May of 2009. We started weighing options. We wanted to open our hearts to whatever God wanted us to do. We wanted to be willing to go in any direction, or sacrifice any material possession. After much praying and wise counsel, we sold cars and started living on a REAL cash budget. Neither of these were easy, but they made a huge difference. We had prayed about selling our house, but we just didn't feel God leading us in that direction.

A year went by, and we learned A LOT about our money and our stewardship of that money. We started to simplify, and tried to be satisfied with the basics. God performed MANY miracles, by providing for us in ways we could've never imagined! Like after getting down to one small car, God prompted a beautiful family to GIVE us a mini-van! And by anonymous donations to our family at Christmas time! Incredible acts of God's love that we could never deserve. But I think God was encouraging us to keep relying on Him for EVERYTHING, and that He would provide above and beyond every time.

But even after all of that, we still didn't have enough monthly income to be paying down our previous debt or to be putting money away for savings. So, at the beginning of May 2010, almost exactly a year after our first money revolution, I told Dawson that I felt God telling us to pray about selling our house. I really, really didn't want to, but I was willing to pray about it for a couple of weeks.

After those couple of weeks, Dawson felt like God was directing us to sell, but I did not feel that same peace. I was still hanging on to our home. I didn't want to give up the place where I had brought all three of my babies home from the hospital. I didn't want to leave our walls that we had lovingly painted in our favorite colors. I didn't want to leave our sweet neighbors who included close friends and family. But we knew God wouldn't be contradicting Himself by sending us two different messages, so we began to pray together.

It was on a Monday, while Dawson was at worship practice. And I was praying in the bath tub....I think the tub/shower seems to turn into a mother's prayer sanctuary sometimes, since it's one of the only places we are alone! Anyway, I was crying and praying about our money, and our debt and our house, feeling so burdened and stressed. And then i literally felt a lightness in my chest, and God speaking to my heart about letting go of our house. He told me that the sweetness of our home was not about the house.....it was about Him and our family. It was during this same prayer time that God, as crazy as this sounds, impressed upon my heart and mind, a certain price for selling our house. A price of $142,000. I wasn't sure why, but it was clear that this specific number was sticking in my mind. So when Dawson got home around 11:30pm, we talked and prayed and decided to sell our house!

The next morning, we contacted a realtor friend who goes to church with us, and she agreed to meet with us the next day. Linda came over to our house Wednesday night, after the kids' went to bed. At first, she sat down with us and tried to talk us out of selling the house. We had a good interest rate, a very reasonable mortgage payment and a perfect family-friendly cul-de-sac. Moving did not seem logical. However, we explained to her that we felt God leading us to do this, so she went to work. At first, she started crunching numbers, based on a long list of comparable houses on the market, and other realtor stuff that I didn't really understand. After she had burned up her calculator for a few minutes, she looked at us and said, "It looks like the magic number is going to be $142,000." Dawson and I both started laughing and we knew without a shadow of a doubt that God's Hand was at work.

We were leaving out of town the next day for a long weekend in Ft. Worth with family. Linda told us that she normally would never have a client list their house and open it for viewings until it was prepped and "show ready," but since we were going to be gone for several days, and it was prime time for house-shopping, she didn't want to waste the opportunity. She gave me a list of things to do to get the house as ready as possible in the next 14 hours before we left town!! Dawson and I stayed up very late that night, taking down all of our family pictures, taking kids' stuff to the garage, cleaning and rearranging. It was CRAZY and EXHAUSTING!

We finally set off for Ft. Worth around 2:00pm, and were actually pulling out the driveway when Linda's assistant came pulling up to take pictures of our house to post on their website. We apologized to her for the house still looking less than perfect, but she told us that they actually already had someone coming to look at the house that evening. We couldn't believe it! It was actually another Century 21 agent who had heard Linda talking about our house in the office.

That night, after hosting a 31 party for my sis-in-law, I checked my phone. I saw that I had a missed call from our realtor. I called her right away, and she said, "Have you talked to Dawson?" and I said no. Then she said, "Well, I should let him tell you, but I can't wait to tell you the good news. We have an offer and a contract on your house!" I couldn't believe it!! The couple that had come to look at our house that evening had loved it so much that they made a full price offer, and signed a contract on it that evening!!! Dawson and I were shocked! But what was even more amazing was the story Linda told us about the buyers.

This sweet couple had been looking for a house for almost 9 months! They had already given up their rental property and had been living with friends from their church. They had seen dozens of houses, but just had not found the perfect one. Well, Sarah, the wife (who is also expecting their first baby girl in August) had been praying diligently about God's will for their house. And when she pulled up to our house that Thursday evening, she started laughing. The realtor agent asked her why she was laughing, and she told him it was because she had had a dream about our house!! She knew that God had showed her which house He had for them, and our house was that house!! They then asked, "Where do we sign?"

We couldn't believe it was happening so fast. God had obviously prepared the way, and He was blessing us beyond belief. By the next morning, we were faxing contracts back n' forth to be signed, and had settled on a closing date. And our realtor, Linda, told us later that God was receiving so much glory from the selling of our house, even just in the Century 21 office, because of the stories of how God had orchestrated everything.

Now, only July 3rd, we are settling into our new house. But now, we are debt-free, except for our mortgage. Praise God for that!! Moving was definitely a crazy, brutal ordeal, but the hardest part is over, and now we can just enjoy setting up our new home.

I can't express how grateful I am to God, and how in-awe I am of Him and His plans.

Some pictures of our memories in that house.....

Last week in our Home

2010-06-21T21:25:00.001-07:00

I don't have the emotional stamina to actually blog about this yet....but we are starting our last week in this house....our home. I've cried many tears already, and I know there are many more to come. But we had a photographer friend come over and take some pictures of us in our sweet house before we move.....here are some of my favorites

Spoiled....

2010-06-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

We are staying at the Holiday Inn tonight. Not because we are out-of -town.....not because we are on vacation.....but because our STUPID air conditioner is broken!! How do people live without AC??

We are just blessed to be able to stay here tonight. Thank you God for providing a cool, comfortable place to lay our heads tonight.

A little bit of gratitude

2010-06-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

God, I write this prayer to you, and for your glory. Tonight I have been once again overwhelmed by your grace and mercies....overwhelmed by your love. A love so tangible, but not material. My life is not full of riches and things of great earthly value. We have next to nothing in the bank. My family wears clearance clothes, and hand-me-downs. We eat hamburger meat at the beginning of the month, and rice and noodles at the end. But when we lay down at night, we all fall asleep full of peace and contentment....not worry or want. We wake up in the mornings full of hope and love.....not fear and regret. And that is worth more than any big house or any fancy car.

Many days, our lives are so full of joy that I sometimes laugh or cry for no reason other than that continual joy that only comes from YOU.......and overflows from my cup.

I don't know why you've chosen to bless me the way you have. So many others suffer. So many others hurt. And obviously I have my own set of insecurities, broken relationships, and other sadnesses, but they are so very minor compared to the possibilities.

I just want to tell you that I am so very grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you for loving me this much, and for some reason, blessing me and giving me this great life that I so often take for granted. Please forgive me for the times that I lust for more, or the times where we take credit for what you have done. I know we are blessed so that we may bless others. I pray that we do that. I ask that you use me and our family to love on and encourage those around us.

Sweet singing

2010-06-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

Ellie...a few days ago....

"Jesus loves me, this I know. FORTY bibles tell me so. Yes, Jesus loves me, the bibles tell me so"

Too many things to mention......

2010-05-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

So, for now, just some pictures......

My sweet little gardener.....

Watering her rose named "Rachel"!

Having fun in our birthday-mobile......good times!

Having a tea party with Ellie's sweet little dance class......

So sweet, and so cute!!

Speaking of cute.....

The new Mo-hawk.....thinks he's quite the STUD! :)

And quite the Rock Star.... I love this kid!

And my sweet little baby....getting so big! Already 15 months!

The sign in our yard! Crazy times.....constructing a LONG blog entry about all of that!!

Only You

2010-05-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

Take my heart
I lay it down
At the feet of you who's crowned

Take my life
I'm letting go
I lift it up to you who's throned

And I will worship, you Lord,
only you Lord
And I will bow down, before you,
only you Lord

Take my fret
Take my fears
All I have....I'm leaving here

Be all my hopes
Be all my dreams
Be all my delights.....Be my everything

I will worship you, Lord
only you, Lord
I will bow down, before you,
only you Lord

It's just you and me here now......
Only you and me here now.....

This is the prayer of my heart right now.

Thank you, David Crowder for the words.

Still no pictures......

2010-05-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

I HATE my computer. (and even as I type that I am reminded that I should be grateful to have a computer at all.......) But it still really sucks! Hence, the reason I haven't been blogging lately, because my computer won't let me upload any of my photos. Anyway, I still wanted to write down a few cute quotes of late....

Some of my favorite things in the world are my children's prayers, and Ellie has been cranking out some funny ones lately.....

Like a few days ago, she prayed at the dinner table, "Thank you God for the food, and thank you for our family, and thank you for saving me from the rats. Amen" I have no idea where this came from!! We don't have rats, and I'm pretty sure she hasn't been around any rats anywhere else....who knows? Hilarious!

She also prayed a day or two later, "Thank you God for Daddy, Thank you for Mommy, Thank you for Bubba and Addie. And thank you for the family I never had. Amen" I don't know if this is some alternative family that she's hoping to trade us in for one day or what?! But so cute!

I really do have some great pictures of Ellie's first dance recital, the kids' gardening, Adelyn dancing, etc. Hopefully, one day.....I'll be able to upload and post some.

Until then, God is great. And it seems like lately, He is allowing us to struggle in several ways and therefore, make us so dependent on Him. Challenging and hard, but His grace and provision continue to blow me away. Until next time......

My sweet, silly children

2010-04-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

Two stories worth remembering.....

On Sunday, Caleb and Ellie were already in the car, and when I jumped in, Caleb immediately says to me, "Mommy, you need to tell Ellie to love aliens!" And I was confused, and asked for clarification. Then Caleb explains, "Ellie said she didn't like aliens, but God tells us to love everyone. So, she needs to love aliens." During the rest of the hurried ride to church, we had a very interesting conversation about aliens, God's creations and loving your enemies. :)

Then this morning, Ellie came in my room, while I was working on the computer (on this crazy consignment project!?!) and she is wearing her pajamas, boots, and a headband, and she says, "Mommy, come help me pack." I asked her where she was going, and she said, "I'm going on a vacation in the mountains at Canada." :) I don't know where she comes up with this stuff!! But I want to go with her!

Pictures coming tomorrow of fun new garden and the cutest little gardener coming tomorrow.

Easter

2010-04-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

Easter is the perfect example of a paradox. "Good" Friday is the anniversary of my Savior's voluntary death for my sin. What a tragic day....a day of mourning. But then Resurrection Sunday is the celebration of my Savior conquering death, and offering me eternal life with Him. Wow. In all honesty, it's almost too much to take in and comprehend, so I don't really dwell on it too much. What a "holiday"!?!?

We did have a great Easter holiday this year. It was a great celebration with our family in Hutto. We continue to carry on the Lively Egg Hunt tradition....one that my Mamaw and Pawpaw started over 20 years ago for my cousins, sisters and me. And now, my parents do it for my children. It's awesome! And after enjoying great weather, good company and delicious food with my family, we came back home on Saturday night to be at church on Sunday morning. And it was an incredible Easter Sunday at Brazos Fellowship. We had over 1,000 in attendance and 16 decisions for Christ! Twelve more souls saved for eternity?!?! Isn't that awesome! That beats hunting eggs any day!

The little-est hunter.....my beautiful baby girl!

Another proud egg hunter......another beautiful baby girl!

Getting a helping hand from the best big brother in the world!

Pawpaw keeping an eye on the little hunter. :)

Memaw watching Adelyn dump out her eggs.....again!

The big kids...love these people!!

Cheesin' it up on Easter morning!

My three biggest blessings....blessings that can NOT look at the camera all at the same time?!?

sisterly love

The Fab Five

Looking at these pictures.....wow. Sometimes I am almost embarrassed to be so abundantly blessed. And I don't mean that in a prideful way, but in an overwhelmingly humbled and grateful way . My life overflows with love, joy and laughter. Thank you God.

What a week!

2010-03-31T21:38:00.000-07:00

Our Spring Break this year was ACTION PACKED! It was so much fun.

After church on Sunday, we left to go up to Ft. Worth to spend a few days with Leah, Clint and the kids. We had such a fun time. We played at the biggest indoor playscape ever, went to the super cool Ft. Worth library, had an awesome date night with Leah & Clint, and also celebrated Dawson's birthday. Fun, Fun, Fun!

The library had a super cool kids' section....complete with lots of character costumes! :) What a good lookin' crew of cousins!

Isn't she the prettiest princess you've ever seen?

Always time for storytime with Daddy!

The family fiesta for Dawson Wayne's birthday!!

Then we got home on Wednesday afternoon, packed up the camper and camping gear and set off for Somerville. The boys left literally less than two hours after we got home!! The girls and I stayed behind to buy groceries, re-pack and gather some additional gear. We joined them the next morning! Plus, this was Adelyn's first camping adventure....so we thought we'd start with just a one nighter for her. And thank God we did. NO ONE on our side of the pop-up camper slept well that night!! But we had an absolute BLAST! The weather could not have been more perfect, and we all love being outside and enjoying God's creation!

Our awesome camper.....sure beats sleeping in a tent!

Our view for our stay!

The lollipops Aunt Tracy brought for the kids! So fun!

Having some quality time with my favorite boy.....too bad the fish weren't bitin'

Some beautiful girls enjoying lakeside seats

Chillin' by the campfire....wearing his sister's beanie. :) So cute!

Then we finished up our week by going to Hutto to see my parents! We got home Friday around noon, unpacked, repacked and set off for Hutto by 3 or 4pm! It was a whirlwind!! But we had a great time there. I always love going home to the country, and Mom and Dad can't get enough of their grandbabies. Plus, we got to spend some time with Lisa's sweet boyfriend. He fits in pretty well with our crew.

Overall, a week overflowing with blessings....and dirty laundry. We were exhausted by the end of it, but so happy that we got to have the adventures.

A misunderstanding....or just redneck drawl :)

2010-03-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

Today as we were walking home after getting Caleb from school, Caleb wanted to play the "don't step on the line" game. So, while I pushed the stroller down the sidewalk and he walked beside me, we tried not to step on any cracks or lines, or we were "out." Ellie caught on to the fact that we were playing this game, and she said that she wanted to play. So, I told her not to step on any of the lines. Then almost immediately she stepped on the next sidewalk crack. Caleb yelled, "She's out!" And Ellie got upset. So, we stop and Caleb points down to the line in the sidewalk, and we both try to explain to her that the point of the game is to avoid stepping on the lines. We start walking again....and she keeps stepping on the lines! We repeated this process about 3 or 4 times, but for some reason, it seemed like Ellie wasn't getting the point. Then finally, as were walking along, still playing, I heard her say, "Owe, one got my toe!" And i couldn't figure out what she was talking about. Then a moment later she said, "O.K. Now let's play, 'Don't step on the tigers!" :) Apparently, the whole time, my sweet daughter had thought we were playing a game about not stepping on imaginary lions.....not lines! So cute!!

(Sorry no pictures.....still trying to fix the dumb computer!)

My darling Ellie

2010-03-01T21:00:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to write down a few interesting conversations/words from Ellie recently....

Yesterday, as she was sitting in time out on her bed....for the 53rd time in just a couple of days. She was crying and screaming, and yelling out some phrase over and over. So, I went to check on her, and I asked her what she was saying. She slowly and loudly said, "Dis is widikwius! Dis is widikwius!" (this is ridiculous!) :)

A few days ago, she was talking to me about her fake set of grandparents again. She has two real sets, Nonny and Poppy, and Meemaw and Pawpaw. But after reading a library book a few months ago, she also wanted a "Grandma" and a "Grandpa"...so she just made them up. And they intervene in our lives at very convenient times. Like sometimes I'll ask her why she is doing something she knows is wrong, and she'll tell me, "Because my grandpa said I could." Well, this time, she told me that her fake grandparents and her went on a trip to heaven. I thought this was interesting. So, I asked her what is was like and what did they do there. She said, "It was very bootiful, and I got a butterfly necklace, and fairy wings." ?!? No real mention of Jesus...just butterfly necklaces! :)

She is such a fireball. I love it! And I love her!!
Her natural pose! :)

Her "sweet face" :)

Adelyn Lively Skow

2010-02-24T21:41:00.000-08:00

Wow--I can't believe she is already one year old! I am in awe at how fast the year has gone. But of course, there have been days and NIGHTS during this past year that seemed like they lasted for eternity! It really has been the most amazing, challenging, rewarding and life-changing experience to be able to stay home with Adelyn every day of this last year. For both of my other babies, I had to return to work after just a couple of short months, but thanks to God's provision, I have been able to relish every month of Adelyn's life. It has been such a privilege to see her grow, and learn, and change. I have gotten to know her and everything about her. I have fallen deeper and deeper in love with her every day. She is my sunshine! I can't imagine our family without her. She completes the Fab Five! Thank you, God, for unexpected miracles. She is such a blessing to us, and to everyone who knows her.

Happy Birthday, my sweet angel. I love you more than words can express.

Love, Sweet Love

2010-02-24T21:21:00.000-08:00

These pictures deserve their own entry! A couple of weeks ago, we had a really cold day, and it just happened to be the day our car had to be in the shop. So, the girls and I had to walk to Caleb's school to pick him up. We just about froze to death! But when we got home, we enjoyed some hot cider. Adelyn fell in love! You can see the love in these pictures......

I really can't get enough of this kid! She is just so precious.....and boy, does she love cider!! :)

Picture perfect!

2010-02-09T19:40:00.000-08:00

My sweet, precious baby girl will be turning one in two weeks. I can't believe it! And with this being our last baby, I'm wanting to make her 1st birthday celebration extra special. So, I bought her this cute little dress, ultimately for her party, but also to take pictures for her super cute invitations. Well, as pictures usually go with the little children, the photo shoot was a little crazy. Here are some of the more entertaining pictures....

I love her so much it hurts.