Gracie Claire's School Picture

School pictures were always so fun to look at when I was teaching. The pose, the background, the smiles on the kids faces, I loved it all. They always made me smile, but usually made me laugh. Little did we know that when GC started YCW, she would be getting her first "school" picture taken. Notice the pose, which I love. Her hand is cupped and placed ever so carefully on her leg and her elbow is resting in just the right position. The background is a lovely marble finish and it looks as if she is sitting on a perfectly sized staircase. Her precious little face and sweet little smile are my favorite part of the picture of course.

I'm a little late in posting this, since they were taken a couple of months ago. But, I had to share anyway!

You Go Girl...I Mean Your Honor!

Blog Recommendation, Book Recommendation, & Bible Study

Blog Recommendation

If you haven't read about it on Betsy's blog or looked at it for yourself, I would definitely recommend checking in on Tricia, Gwyneth Rose, and Nate on Nate's blog. He updates quite a bit and every time I read about their powerful story I am reminded of how powerful God is. The faith that this family has is amazing! Nate's faith especially tugs at your heart as he has said that no matter what happens to his girls, he knows God will be glorified through it. No matter what! That is a faith that I can definitely learn from. Click here to check it out! Pray for them! They can use all of the prayers that they can get!

Book Recommendation

I think that I am definitely behind the times in finding this author, but I am SO excited that I did. I know that some of you have been reading her books for a long time, but if you haven't, go get this one: "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. SO GOOD! It's a retelling of the book of Hosea and can I tell you that I could not put it down. READ IT!!

Bible Study

This morning marked the first day of the spring semester of Ladies' Bible Class. I really like the group I'm in and can't wait to get started discussing our first chapter next week. We're doing "Bad Girls of the Bible," and I'm anxious to see what I learn from this study. Should be fun!

Rayna

I was so excited to be at church on Sunday morning as one of my former 1st graders (who is now a 4th grader) was baptized!! I can't even explain the pride and joy I had as I watched her make the most important choice that she will ever make. The tears definitely welled up as I heard her say "YES" to Jesus!! It made me even more anxious to one day watch my own babies make that most important decision. I am so proud of you Rayna! I will love watching as you continue to grow in and love the Lord!

(Side-Note: Other than being a wife and mommy, I have to say that being a teacher was the best career choice I could have ever made! It's still rewarding, even though I haven't been in the classroom in 3 years!!)

AARRGGHH Matey!!!

Dear Friends at YCW,

Thank you for sending home the treasure chest that contained many lovely little pirate themed goodies! We especially enjoyed the pirate patch. It brought much joy to our family!

Love,

Our Easily Entertained Pirate Family

Gracie Claire Quotes I Want To Remember

I think I need to start doing this more often, because she says things everyday that make me laugh or amaze me.

• After asking her to stop talking for a couple of minutes she says in a matter of fact voice, "But Mommy, I WANT to talk!"
• "Hi Mommy, it's ME, Gracie Claire!"
• "Sydney's so SFWEET!" (spelling intentional)
• "YOU leave ME alone!!" "YOU go AWAY!" -- There are usually consequences when she says these two phrases, but sometimes it's hard to stifle a smile because of look on her face and the tone in her voice.
• "I a pwincess! I so boofiful!"
• When calling, "Gracie Claire, where are you?" She answers as she walks in the room, "Here my am!"
• Sometimes when you ask, "What are you doing?" she answers, "Just chillin'!"
• "WIKI, WIKI!" -- If you want to know more about this one, just ask.
• "Jesus likes me!"
• When I leave her room at night, she says, "I love you bunches!"
• "That makes me so FWUFWATED!"

I sure do love that girl!

The Lake

The weekend after Christmas, my family, all of us minus Nkere, took a trip out to east Texas to spend some time together. We stayed at a timeshare that my Grandma owns at Sam Rayburn Lake. It turned out to be really nice and we spent lots of time watching movies, playing games, eating, laughing, and just having lots of fun together. Here are some of the pictures from the trip.

Right before Daddy went fishing with the guys, (he had to wear the camo you know,) Sydney posed in his stocking cap and gloves.

She doesn't have much hair, but my mom found a new way to style the hair she does have! :o)

Just chillin' in the Bumbo. (Yes, she can sit up on her own and yes, I know the Bumbos are recalled...but, I'm not one of those parents who left their child alone on a counter hoping the chair would keep them in place. Just my thoughts. :o)

Hangin' out on BigPa's shoulders.

Aunt Sandra put make-up on Gracie Claire for the first time. She LOVED it! This is her serious pose. Don't her eyes look "fierce?!" (For those of you who watch "Top Model") :o)

My mom, Gracie, Gracie Claire, and I took a trip to the lake. GC had a great time throwing rocks in the water and exploring.

Gracie Claire and Mommy

SO Excited!

She's a Ham!!!

Plugs

One bad thing that Gracie Claire has inherited from Paul is his allergies. She has certain days where her nose is like a faucet and she is constantly sneezing. Our doctor finally put her on some medicine that she only has to take on the days she needs it that really gives her relief. But, until the medicine kicks in, she has decided to use one of her Daddy's tactics to relieving the discomfort. Paul calls them "plugs." Tissue wrapped and twisted tight enough to absorb the snot flow. He has used these for as long as I've known him. Many times he will go to sleep with them in. Now he has passed his tradition along to Gracie Claire. Makes for a good laugh and a good picture.

Blessings

Happy New Year to everyone! 2007 was a year full of blessings, trials, fun, and especially God's never-ending healing and grace! Here is my list of 2007's Top Ten Blessings...in no particular order.

• Gracie Claire turned 2 on Valentine's Day and continued to fill our over pouring hearts with complete joy. She has grown in so many areas and we love seeing all of the little ways that God is using her already! She is the best and we couldn't ask for more!
• Sydney Hope was born on February 15th and showed us just how possible it is to have enough love for two. She is a little light in the darkness and we have loved getting to know her throughout this first year. She is also the best and, again, we couldn't ask for more.
• Paul and I celebrated our 6th anniversary in May. We've been together for almost 9 years now and the time has flown by. 2007 has shown me what a gift Paul is in my life! He is the perfect one for me and lifts me up daily. He is our spiritual leader and the best husband and Daddy to our girls that I could've ever imagined!
• Paul started a new job with Fidelity Investments this year and it has been the perfect fit. Another example of God's perfect provision!
• My parents celebrated their 32nd year together in October. Through all of their ups and downs, they have always stayed faithful to the Lord and He has blessed them. Their marriage is a true example to all of us!
• Caleb and Sandra were given Samuel Luke in June. He is the sweetest little boy who has blessed their lives tremendously. We are so proud to have him as a part of our family!
• Nkere and Gracie will celebrate their 2nd anniversary in February. Gracie continues to bless the lives of the little ones that she works with. She loves what she does with those kids and they love her for it! Nkere was blessed with a teaching/coaching position this year and he is also blessing many young lives.
• Our nephew, Parker, turned 3 in April and is a sweet, growing boy who is full of energy! We are so proud to have him in our family!
• Our friends and family have continued to be true strength and Godly examples for us in 2007. We have been so blessed to have been given the people that we are closest to. It would be a lot harder without them.
• God has shown his tremendous healing power in our lives this year! He is SO faithful and can truly work miracles. (I know I'm being vague, just go with it!) :o)

We hope that your 2008 is full of God's many blessings, healing, miracles, and faithfulness.

Christmas

We had a wonderful time with family this Christmas celebrating the birth of our Saviour! This time of year is my total favorite. How can you not love being with family and giving to each other?! Watching my girls bask in the glow of the fun part of this holiday completely fills my heart! This year was especially fun as Gracie Claire understood what was going on and it was also Sydney's first Christmas. We spent our first Christmas morning at home this year with just the four of us. Starting this tradition was extra special too! We started the morning by each thanking the Lord for our most precious gift...Jesus! Then, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. I wish you could have heard Gracie Claire belt it out! It was one of the sweetest sounds ever! We hope everyone had a blessed Christmas this year full of the joy of Jesus' love!!!

Christmas Candlelight Service

Two posts in one day. No explanation here, just pictures from the Candlelight Service.

Random Picture Blog

To catch up on my blogging without having to do several different posts about several different topics, I thought I would just post pictures with captions. Some of these things might not be very interesting, but what can you do?!

This is the family photo my parents used in their Christmas cards this year. What you can't see is that this is 2 different photos edited together. Long story short, my brother entertained the babies to get them to look forward and wasn't in one of the pictures which turned out to be the one where all of the babies were looking forward. In his photo editing genius, he was able to place himself into the picture that he was not in. Too long of an explanation, I know...but the picture turned out great!

Sydney has been making this silly face, which we think is hilarious. Sometimes she'll do it on command, which is even better. We think she started doing it when her top tooth broke through. She's feeling that tooth with her lip. Cracks me up!

I just loved this picture because of how serious Gracie Claire looked while she was "reading" the Sunday ads.

This is Gracie Claire in her new skates. She is, of course, dressed in a helmet and pads for added protection when she reaches high speeds. :o) The skates cracked me up because they're seriously the size of boats, but yet she can scoot around in them fairly easily.

OK--so there wasn't that many new things to talk about, but fun for me, nonetheless. ;o)

My Little Drummer Girls

One of the favorite toys around our house is a little percussion table. When Gracie Claire pulls it out, both girls go wild pounding on that thing. There is only one prerequisite to being a drummer at our house. You MUST wear the drumming hat. This rule was set in place by our oldest little drummer girl.

Sugar Cookies

One of the fun traditions that we always had around Christmastime when we were growing up was making sugar cookies with my mom. The recipe she uses is one that she got from my great-grandma who got it from her great-grandma. So, it's fun that we're carrying on the tradition after so many generations. This year, my mom came over to our house to make them with Gracie Claire. We waited until Sydney was asleep and then the fun began. It was so fun to watch Gracie Claire! She loved every minute of it!

HO! HO! HO!

The girls did great meeting Santa. Gracie Claire was excited and Sydney did not scream like I anticipated. He was an awesome Santa...the real beard, super sweet to the girls, and when he asked Gracie Claire what she wanted for Christmas, she said, "A snowman!"

I wish you could see their shirts! They say, "Best Present Ever!" on them. So Fun!!

Buried

Gracie Claire came into our bathroom while we were getting ready one morning not too long ago and announced proudly, "I shared the toys with Sydney!" Seeing that Sydney was still asleep, we decided to check in on her, and this is what we found:

She slept through the whole thing!

Elf Fun

Click here to enjoy some elf fun!