Too many things to mention......

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

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......

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

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

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!

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 :)

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!)