Avery

I'm so behind on blogging, I'm not sure where to begin. I feel like there are so many milestones I have missed.

Definitely the latest and greatest with Avery is first grade! My baby girl is in FIRST GRADE! (*gasp, gasp!) Not only that, but she has already zoomed through the first 5 weeks with flair. I thought she loved Kindergarten, but she LOVES first grade. Every day I pick her up in the car riders line and she jumps into the van exclaiming how wonderful her day was. One day she said "Mom, I had a brilliant day today!" Good news. :) I love that girl of mine.

The summer came and went fast for Miss A, since she is in year-round school, but she had so much fun! She turned the big SIX. A six year old is so much bigger than a five year old, ya know. :)

She celebrated her birthday in a shared party with Carly at a local farm and she celebrated her birthday day at the beach.

Grandma and Grandpa gave her a pair of skis for her birthday and she couldn't wait to try them out. So, she skied on the first try. She was so proud and we were too!! Next up, wake boarding. Watch out Dallas Friday!

Way back in June, Avery had her dance recital and did so great! Their theme was "Dancing for Humanity: Spreading HIS Word Through Dance." She is such a wonderful dancer and really excels in ballet. She knew all the moves and was ready to perform!

Current Stats:

tooth loss - 2 on the bottom

training wheels - off!

favorite show - Hi-5

favorite book - anything by Leo Leoni

Avery is so outgoing and energetic. So full of life! She loves Jesus with all her heart and she loves to talk about Him, sing about Him, and ask questions about Him. She's a constant reminder to me that God loves us SO much. Sometimes she will say something or get excited about something and it just makes me stop and think and pray. I'll glance at her and the light in her eye just keeps me fixed for a while and I'm amazed at all she is growing into. Avery bug, I love you so much!! You are my happy, social, loud, busy, smart, independent, go-go-go AMAZING girl! *smooch!*

3 Kids, 3 Posts in 3 Days

Can I do it? Maybe if I promise it, I will. Here we go!

[I knew I couldn't do it!!!]

God Speaking

God speaks to us everyday, if we're willing to listen to Him, and if we're willing to open our eyes to Him. I have been particularly moved recently by the words of a youth. One of my most wonderful friends on this earth, Mandy, has been on missions trips with her husband (an awesome youth pastor) and their amazing youth group. They have been blogging about their experiences and this post just couldn't get by me without bringing tears and weighing heavy on my heart:

From Wil Witters:

It's amazing how god can take what seems like a waste of $13 and turn it into an amazing story.

Our first day at Union Station, Michael W., Scott F., and I purchased our very own bff (best friends forever) necklaces. But they were not any old necklaces. These were heart shaped and each had its own word on it. Live, Laugh, and Love. We thought long and hard on who should get which necklace. Reina decided that for us. Michael got live, Scott got laugh, and I got love. I'll never forget the crazy look I got from the cashier, and how stupid we all felt. We wore them everyday of the conference.

On Tuesday night we went on a prayer walk. But this prayer walk was different than any I'd ever been on. We carried signs that asked serious questions such as: "Are you sure?" or "Ready?" or "Need Prayer?" Most felt slightly uncomfortable walking down the rough streets of Baltimore with a sign that asked "Need prayer?" So our small band of six put it at our side at first.

As we walked down the street we would greet people, but no more than a, "Hello, how are you?" But as we walked past a man sitting on his doorstep God moved. You see Donald has failing eyesight and that impairs his reading. But as we walked by, God allowed him to read our sign. We were about a block away when we heard Donald yelling for us to come back. When he reached us, he explained he saw the sign and needed some serious prayer.

Donald told us that he had been born Baptist but he did not know much about religion now. When he was seven, he was the only person in his 14 person family to survive a car accident. He lived alone under a bridge and by age 50 has never experienced a real Christmas. He also revealed that he had cancer in both lungs and the doctors gave him til Christmas, ironic huh?

The streets have been so hard on Donald. He has been stabbed 5 or 6 times and shot once. But all of the pale in comparison to what he said next. He told us that he has never been loved. He had no family, no friends, so he had no love. So, eventually after talking for a while we prayed with Donald. We prayed that God would open his eyes so he would know that God loves Donald. As we prayed I felt God speak to me in a way I have not seen in a while but it was something I'd been praying for. So when our prayer ended and everyone had hugged him, I unclasped my "love necklace" and gave it to him. As I handed him the necklace to Donald I explained to him why I was giving it to him. I want him to be reminded every time he look at it that God loves him and always will. He said thank you and we watched the tears well up in his eyes. He quickly walked away. I will never forget him. And I believe that those $13 were some of the best I've ever spent.

You can read more about God's amazing love at http://www.rbcmissions.blogspot.com/ .

Cake Pics!

Only a month late, as usual. But here they are! They boy loves cake! :)

And also as usual...Carly, "take a picture of me!"

Who needs presents when you can have tissue paper???

One Year Ago Today

At 1:57 pm a precious baby boy was born into this world and into our lives.

We have been forever changed and eternally blessed by Mr. Brandon Aaron. I'm in awe of how much he has grown and how much he has taught our family over the past year. I'm in love with his smile and his sweet disposition. I'm forever thankful to Jesus for the miracle of our baby boy.

Happy First Birthday Brandon!! We love you!

She's lost it!

Heh, heh....Avery lost her first tooth!!

She pulled it out all by herself with a little help from an apple and a piece of ice. It happened in the evening and she promptly called Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa, Grandma and Gigi, Aunt Kelly, Cousin Lauren, and Aunt Sarah. She wanted to call her teacher and most of her best friends, but by this time it was post 9:00 and she had to wait until she saw them the next week at school.

The tooth fairy was good to her! :)

Happy Easter!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ~ 1 Peter 1:3

My Wednesday Morning

Where do I begin? Carly has been having bad dreams lately, so I have been tired. Today started at 5:45am with Carly screaming and I run to her rescue only to find her saying "Avery took my cookies!" Ok, I convince her that Avery is not stealing her cookies and lay down with Carly and get her back to sleep.

The screaming woke Avery, so I lay there listening to Avery over in her room talking amongst herself...and trying to whistle. Who whistles at 5:45am anyway? :) My girl.

On with my day. It's Wednesday Morning Bible Study day, so I hop in the shower. Then Brandon wakes up so I make a sippy cup and put him in his chair with some cheerios. I finish getting ready while he tries to divert my attention to everything he's getting into. It's my turn to bring snack today, so to the kitchen to make muffins. Sure, I could have made them last night, but they're so much better fresh! Pack Brandon's bag for nursery, pack Carly's bag for nursery, pack Avery's bag to keep her occupied during Bible study with me since she's on 3 week break.

Fast forward to 8:30. Carly's still asleep...of course, since she was up throughout the night and at 5:45am. Wake up sleeping beauty and quickly get her dressed for church. Bag of Lucky Charms for the car ride for Avery and Carly and a Diet Pepsi for me. Healthy, I know. Must have caffeine! 8:45am, time to get everyone on the potty and then into the van. 9:07, we're finally pulling out of the garage. We're LATE. Up at 5:45am and we're still LATE. How can it possibly take nearly 30 minutes to get in the van??

Carly drinks her entire nursery sippy cup on the ride. No drink left for nursery now. She has to go potty. But you just went potty, Carly!? Walking into church, she had an accident. Did I mention we were LATE? Get Brandon in his room...(they are so sweet to him). Change Carly and get her into her room...(they are so sweet to her)! Race Avery down the hall to our small group...LATE with our LATE muffins for snack. Get Avery set up at a table with coloring books, a Leapster, and a sticker book. Sink into my chair. LATE.

Then, peace with Ephesians. We finished up our study today and it was so great. All of the buzz it takes to get the four of us there is so worth it. Grace and Peace. It starts Ephesians. It ends Ephesians. It directs my day away from the chaos and toward Him. All of it...the early mornings, the challenges, and the beauty that parenting brings - Praise God! Life is busy and God is good! He's never LATE. He's always right on time. He never lets me down!

Covenant Baby Boy

This morning at church we witnessed the baptism of a beautiful baby boy. It reminded me that I have not blogged about our own sweet Covenant baby boy. (I haven't blogged about a lot of things actually, so here's rewind number one):

Brandon was Baptized on January 11, 2009. It doesn't matter how many times we've been up to the front of that church and heard our Pastors speak about the sacrament of Baptism. Each child and baptism is so special and miraculous and makes me a little teary each time. I loved hearing those words, "Brandon Aaron, child of the covenant, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

For this covenant baby boy was sent to us from God the Father. He was planned for us before he was ever a thought in our minds and he is perfect. My prayer is that we will be a holy example for his little eyes, growing mind, and open heart. He is God's child. Given to us only by HIS grace and mercy. Father, we are so thankful for your blessing of Brandon Aaron.

That's How We Roll

(the shopping cart, that is)...

I'd say it's the four of us shopping together 9 times out of 10. Sometimes we get almost nothing on our list before it's time to hurry out the door. Most times, I'd say we get about half.

But on this very historical moment in history, we got everything on our list and then some! Score!

I'd like to thank Brandon for holding the bananas, Carly for holding the special pack of Dora the Explorer Yogurt, and Avery for reading my list and checking everything off for me! And a very, very special thanks to Santa for bringing me a tiny camera for Christmas to keep in my bag and document these very historical (or hysterical) moments in history.

Snow Days!

(hooray!)