Too much....

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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!

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: