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! :)
Monday, August 8, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Much Gratitude Monday
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!
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!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Just FYI...
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!!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Things are a changin'
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! :)
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! :)
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Summer Times
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....Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Our Animal Kingdom Adventure
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....
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!
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!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Five Minute Friday--Gratitude
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!!
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!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)