"You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give." - Eleanor Rossevelt

Our Family

A friend of mine who is a great photographer, did our family pictures a few weeks ago! I love them! KDL Images.

The clan!

Big brother. They are so cute!

My man.

A.dor.able.

Photos taken by Kevin Laws of KDL Images.

Love All Around

When we first moved to Lewisville, Tyron and I started to look for a church. Quite a few of our friends from College Station also lived near us, so naturally we started trying out their churches since we all went to church together in college. After a pretty short church search, we found The Village Church in Highland Village, TX. Most people in the DFW area know about or have heard of The Village. It's an amazing church full of loving, honest, real people who really seek and love the LORD. Tyron and I learned so much about God and really grew in knowing Him. The pastor at The Village is a very big part of how we grew during our time at The Village. We deeply miss The Village to this day.

All that to say, on Thanksgiving day Matt Chandler (Lead Pastor of the The Village Church) collapsed and had a seizure. He was taken to a nearby hospital and treated. Subsequently, a mass was found on the frontal lobe of his brain, and Matt will undergo surgery on Friday to have the mass removed. The neurologist doesn't know if the mass is malignant or benign yet, so a biopsy will be done at the time of the surgery. Talk about scary.

Please, please, please pray for Matt and his family. Matt is married with 3 young children, and he is an amazing speaker who has preached the gospel to thousands of people. He is extremely powerful, lovingly blunt, and makes you chase after Jesus. Please pray that Matt and his family have peace, the surgeons have sure and steady hands, and for perfect healing.

Even in all the adversity that comes with this, it has brought people closer to God. People all over the world are fasting and laboring in prayer for The Village and Matt Chandler. God is good all the time. Even in this time of uncertainty for The Village and Matt, people are being touched. God is pursuing people through Matt even in this. What a big and mighty God we serve!

If you want to know more about The Village Church and Matt's condition go HERE and HERE.

Thanksgiving and Such

This is my favorite time of year. I absolutely adore Thanksgiving and all that it entails. The gathering of family, tons of food, watching kids play, Christmas shopping, and the list goes on...The past week has been amazing. Here is my top 10 list from the last week:

10. Photo sessions - I've done a ton of pictures lately. It's such a blessing to share in lives of others even for just a short time. One of my favorite things about being a photographer is the fact that I get to help people by putting them in front of my camera and showing them how beautiful their family is. People don't often see themselves in a picture as a complete family unit, and I love to create the moments in which they get to see themselves. It means so much to people to preserve those moments, and I am truly blessed to be trusted to do just that. God is so loving that He gives us a family to walk through life with.

9. Editing Pictures - I love the editing process. I love to let my creative mind go crazy and let loose. It's freeing and a little scary. Freeing because I just let go. Scary because I put so much of my self into each picture that if someone doesn't like it, it hurts just a little. All in all, editing pictures makes me love God more because I get to see how big and wonderful and loving He is to bless us with the people He made and the lives He created.

8. Putting up Christmas Decorations - I love putting up the Christmas tree and setting out the Nativity Scene. I love talking to my kids about why we have Christmas. They have connected so many of the dots about Jesus lately. My heart is so full.

7. Cooking Thanksgiving food - I love cooking. I love the sounds, smells, tastes, and joy that it brings my kids to help me. Luke is becoming quite the little helper. He helps me hand wash dishes when the dishwasher is too full, he stands at the stove with me to help me stir, and he is becoming quite adept at measuring things. He's getting so big so fast.

6. Luke's Basketball Team - Luke is playing on the Kindergarten basketball team this year. It's adorable and truly amazing. He is way more athletic than any 5 year old should be. It's so fun to watch him learn how to play on a team and listen to a coach that isn't his dad. It's also fun to see what a truly sweet spirit Luke really is. He lives to encourage his teammates. It just makes me want to squish him to death with love. Luke got his uniform last Monday, and it was Friday before I could peel it off of him. Basketball is Luke's first love. I love that God made Luke such a passionate little boy. :-)

5. Big Boy Basketball Season - I love watching my husband work. If people had any idea how much Tyron loves those boys and his job as a coach, it would probably amaze people. It's so fun to watch those boys learn and mature as a team and as an individual over the course of a season. It's also fun to watch what a brilliant basketball mind my husband has. Of course it's pretty hard to forget how cute my kids are in the stands yelling for the Farmers and being cute in general.

4. Thanksgiving with the family - We went to Kara's (my sister-in-law) house for Thanksgiving. It was fun to hang out as a complete family. Papa even came for a visit. We ate until we were about to pop and played games. It was GREAT.

3. Rest - Tyron had 5 days off in a row. He hasn't had a single day off since July 17th. He has literally been working 7 days a week since then. CRAZY. To say the least, he was exhausted...as was I. We got to spend 5 days together without any interruptions. It was nice just to hang out. We played games, watched movies, shopped, talked, and just rested. It was amazing. Really it would be my #1 except for some extenuating things.

3.1 We got family pictures TAKEN - and it wasn't even me who took them! We haven't had a family picture taken since Faith was 1. Tyron and I have some amazing friends that we met at The Village, and we miss them terribly. Chaille and Kevin, were in our first ever small group and walked with us through some dark and scary times. A bond like that doesn't disappear. Kevin met us yesterday in McKinney to take some pictures of us. It was perfect. He was amazing with our kids, and we got to catch up as we walked around. He is a very talented photographer, and he has a very creative mind. I can't wait to see the pictures, and I can't wait to shoot his family! God has blessed us with so many great friends!

2. My dad is much better! - My dad has been really sick over the last month and a half, and he is much better. I am thankful that God has provided healing.

1. Luke is healthy. - We had to go in for some tests over the last week because our pediatrician had some concerns at Luke's 5 Year Well-Visit. Luke grew 9.5 inches over last 11 months, but he only gained 4 pounds. My doctor was concerned that there might be an issue, so he sent us in for testing. To make a very long story short, all the tests came back normal. So, it looks like Luke is just going to be freakishly tall like his dad...except probably even taller. We are just going to keep a closer eye on his growth patterns over the next couple of years to make sure he starts to even out a little bit. I know God has Luke in the palm of His hand.

These are not all the great moments of the past week, but just a few. We are such a blessed family. I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving week as well! Here are some pictures from the week. {Ignore the quality please!} God bless!

Thankful

I am reminded on a daily basis of how blessed I really am. {There are just some days that I don't want to pay attention to the reminder... :-)} For those of you who don't know, it's a miracle that Tyron and I have kids at all.

When I was 23, I found out that I had tumors in both of my ovaries...BIG tumors at that. I ended up having a surgery pretty much immediately, and the doctor had to remove one ovary and fallopian tube and reconstructed the other. It was a pretty crazy thing. After surgery, the doctor told Tyron and me (we were engaged at the time) that I would have a hard time carrying a baby to term. Boy, was that ever true. Obviously, Tyron married me anyway, despite the drama. :-)

I had my first miscarriage in November of 2003. I was almost 13 weeks along. It was the saddest, scariest, angriest time of my life. A month after I was done with the first miscarriage, I found out unexpectedly that I was pregnant again. Two days later, I miscarried that baby too. Talk about angry, sad, and confused. Two months after that, I found out I was pregnant AGAIN. 33.5 weeks into a complicated, yucky pregnancy, Luke was born. He is and was the most wonderful little boy. On Luke's first birthday, I found out I was pregnant again with Faith. She was early, but not as early as Luke. Then between Faith and Hannah, I had a miscarriage again, and then I found a month later that I was pregnant again. Hannah was born 9 months later.

I don't write this to express my sadness or anger about my miscarriages. I write this to remind myself and others that even when life feels bad, GOD is GOOD. He walked with Tyron and me through every step and decision. He comforted us with His Word and mercy. He surrounded us with friends and family that let us be broken and sad. Looking back, there was so much light in the midst of the darkness that I can say that even through the sadness and confusion the time was sweet. We really got to know God's mercy and love during this time. Sometimes it takes God breaking me into a million pieces just so I will let HIM be the one to put me back together.

So, I am THANKFUL for the hurt, the grace, the growth, the love, the strength, and the 6 pregnancies that I have experienced. I am thankful that God gave me a blessed marriage and 3 wonderful, beautiful, and healthy kids. I. AM. THANKFUL.

Just One of Those Days...That a Girl Goes Through...

Someone please tell me that I am not the only one that has days like this:

Tuesday started out innocent enough. The kids and I went to the park to feed the ducks before grocery shopping. We had a great time! Kids fed the ducks and played on the playground. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! Then we headed to Wal-Mart in McKinney. As we were getting out, I saw some sparkles which means that I was going to have a migraine within the next 24 hours. I usually have plenty of time after I start having visual symptoms to prepare myself and my kids for the coming of the headache. I figured I would just get through my grocery shopping as fast as possible...after all, I usually don't actually get the pain part of a migraine for around 12-18 hours after seeing the sparkles. While I was pushing the giant cart around the store, my kids starting driving each other crazy. Hannah reached into the grocery cart to pull out a cereal box, and she smacked Faith right under her eye with the corner of the box. Blood and screaming ensued...as did my impending migraine. They just kept irritating each other from that moment on! I literally thought that my brain was going to explode. I made myself push through the grocery shopping because I already had a basket full of groceries, and the drive takes me about 25 minutes to get to the nearest Wal-Mart. I was determined not going to waste my effort at the store. I made it through the store...barely. My kids were fighting. I was near tears, and it just kept getting worse! I had to stand in the check out line with the fluorescent lights blaring at me for 15 minutes. I made it though. I got kids and groceries in Tahoe and drove home. I could barely hold my head up by then. Did I mention that all of this is going on while my dad is in the hospital 6 hours away extremely sick? I made it home, fixed lunch for the kids, and barfed for the next 3.5 hours. I got my headache under control just in time to get ready so I could go to class that night. My wonderful and loving babysitter Haley came. (Y'all I am so thankful for her! My whole family just adores her. My life would be super nuts without her.) I was driving to class and the highway to school was shut down due to a massive wreck, so I had to detour WAY out of the way to get to class. My bestie Rachel got me through it though with her mad navigating skills! I was only 20 minutes late to class. I still had a glimmer of the headache from earlier in the day, but I did make it through class and home. I was so ready for bed that I could barely make the walk through our tiny house to my bed. Blech. Migraine hangovers are almost as bad as the actual migraine to me.

I don't have truly bad days very often. When it's bad though, it's bad. I like to go down in a blaze of glory. Thank goodness for this:

Lamentations 3:22-23

22The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

Halloween

We had such a fun Hallween! Tyron didn't have to work on Saturday night, so he got to go do Halloween stuff with us for the first time in a few years. The kids had a blast, and we did too! Farmersville does Halloween right. You could hardly drive down any of the residential streets because they were so congested with kids in costumes. There were Haunted Houses on every street, bounce houses galore, and the town square had games, hay rides, and trick or treating at all the downtown businesses. I think just about every house was decorated to the 9's. Small towns know how to do Holidays! Here are just a few pictures that I took. Tyron made me put my camera up after a little while so I could just be part of the family. I hope everyone had as good a Halloween as we did!

Luke was a Gladiator, Faith was Princess Belle, and Hannah was Thumbelina.

Riding Bikes & Playing on the Playground

Playing hide and seek!

Handsome husband!

Loving the swing!

Luke swinging by himself!

Hannah swinging.

Hannah and Daddy...she looks so little!


Me and my big boy!

Sweet baby.

Luke and his hero.

Climbing...as always!

Best Daddy Ever.

Hannah.

Speed Racer!

Super cute.

Luke and Faith playing "follow the leader."

Luke is 5!!!

I can't believe it, but Luke turned 5 last week! I would have blogged about it sooner, but we were in San Antonio all week and just got back today, so I'm a little behind. However, I can honestly say that 5 years has FLOWN by. That old saying "The days are long, but the years are short." is definitely true!

I remember being pregnant with Luke like it was yesterday. I was so SCARED. After 2 miscarriages, you just don't take anything for granted. My pregnancy was complicated and peppered with many hospital stays. It was probably the scariest time in my life. The Lord took care of us though, and Luke was born at 33.5 weeks. He was TINY! I had never been so thankful and relieved to see someone in my whole life! When I finally got to hold him for the first time (10 hours after he was born.) I was completely changed as a person.

Luke was a difficult baby for the first 6 months or so, but he was precious at the same time. He has brought us more joy that any family has any right to have. Luke has grown into a sweet, brilliant, curious, loving, caring, responsible, and fun little boy!

Luke's favorite things are:

Basketball (hands down), Nintendo Wii, golf, holding me, dogs, playing with his sisters, Coburn, his new basketball shoes he got from Scotty, laughing, holding me, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pizza, apples, cheese, Phineus and Ferb, and going to his Sunday School class.

We are beyond blessed. God is so good! He has given me way, way more than I will ever deserve. Luke is such a ray of sunshine and love. I can't wait to see how he will grow and change over the next year. It just keeps getting better!

Book Series Review: The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries

The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries by Charlaine Harris

Click to go Charlaine Harris' website.

Charlaine Harris is most famous for the Sookie Stackhouse Novels that the HBO series Trueblood is based on.

Book 1: Real Murders

Though a small town at heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side-and crime buffs. One of whom is librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It's a harmless pastime-until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss. And as other brutal "copycat" killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real Murders, herself included, as prime suspects-or potential victims.

This was a book series that I loved. For a million reasons. I'll try to keep it to a reasonable synopsis though. The above synopsis is only for Book 1: Real Murders because it would take forever to write a synopsis and review for each of the 8 books.

Aurora Teagarden, daughter of a very wealthy real estate tycoon mother, is a librarian. Aurora is complex and a little misunderstood by her family and friends. She loves books and lives what looks like a very nondescript life until she meets 10 or so other people from her hometown who share a "True Crime" fascination with her. Aurora and these 10 other people found a club called Real Murders where the members get together and discuss old murder cases. After a while, members of Real Murders start being murdered one by one, and each member of Real Murders is at some point a suspect in the nasty murders of it's members.

The series has 8 books. In each book you learn a little more about Aurora Teagarden as a character, and you also get plenty of suspense and mystery. She goes through a lot of triumph, trials, near death, and tragedy. Harris makes Roe Teagarden as real as any character can get. Roe doesn't always get what she wants and it changes her view on the world and the town she lives in. The books in this series don't always wrap up in a neat little package which will just bring you back for more. As people, we want our happy ending, but these books tend to be based on a character that actually has to really live a life. The series is wrapped up nicely (but not perfectly) in the end, but Harris makes sure that Roe Teagarden does some living, growing, and maturing in the process.

All in all, these books are quick, easy, and suspenseful reads that aren't easy to figure out. Each book has an undercurrent of romance in them as well, but it's not overwhelming. You find yourself wanting her to find a boyfriend, but it's not the main story of each book. If you want a fast read that has major plot and character development, these are a great start. Aurora Teagarden is a protagonist that I think many women can relate to on some level, and each antagonist in each book is different but challenging to Roe. These books all have great rising action and conflict that make you keep turning pages. The plot climax is also strong in each book. While the resolution/falling action will bring each book to a close, it will also open up a whole new can of worms that makes a great segue into the next book.

On a sidenote, I've read pretty much everything Charlaine Harris has written. You can't go wrong with her books. Happy reading!

Attention Book Readers

In case you didn't know, I am a major bookworm. I love books. I love the way they smell. I love when you crack open a new book and the bindings are super tight. I love getting into a plot and trying to figure out what will happen next. Books may be my absolute favorite luxury in life. I love the silence. I love books stores, new or second-hand.

I spend a lot of time reading. Probably more than 90% of the population of the United States. In the past month I have read 7, 184 pages. That is the literal number. Yes, I ready very, very fast, and I read every single word. My husband makes the remark that I should teach a speed reading class, but I am not a true speed reader. I just have a lot of focus...

Those things being said, I will preface with these things:

1. My children are not neglected. I mainly read while they are asleep. They are however instilled with a knowledge that reading is good for you and your soul. My almost 5 year old knows that if we don't know what a word means, we look it up in a Dictionary. All 3 of my kids love reading. I think that seeing me read has something to do with that.
2. Yes, sometimes reading is more important than sleeping. I have insomnia a lot of the time anyway, so who cares, right?
3. No, everything I read is not what you would call wholesome. It's also not the provocative romance trash either. I tend to really like dark, sort of violent, books...hopefully that doesn't say something about my personality. That being said I also really like Christian fiction...especially if it's written by Francine Rivers. If you've never read "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rives, I HIGHLY recommend it. It may be the best book I've ever read.

Those things being said, I'll tell you what kind of books I read. My favorite? Mystery. Without a doubt. If it's not dark and intense with some humor thrown in for good measure, I will not read it. I also love books about the unknown. I've been on a vampire kick the last 6 months or so, but I am not reading exclusively vampires either. I love books who have very strong, decisive, yet vulnerable female leads. I like when the lead is confident in herself, yet knows that she is not a man. Does that even make sense? I hate with a passion fluffy romance novels. I have met my Prince Charming, married him, and have a very happy marriage, so I don't feel like I need to supplement that relationship with the men written into romance novels. I do like when there is a hint of a romantic subplot that adds to the tension in a book though.

If I find an author that I like, I tend to read everything that author has ever written before I move on to someone else. Here are just a few of my favorite authors that I have recently read: Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse Novels -aka- Trueblood, The Aurora Teagarden Series, The Harper Connelly Series, and the Shakespeare's Landlord Series: All of them are FANTASTIC.), Elaine Viets (The Dead End Job Series), Stephanie Meyer (Twilight Saga and The Host.), Mary Higgins-Clark (too many to list), and P.C. Cast (House of Night Series - I love everything I have read by P.C. even though sometimes she is a little more provocative in her books.).

So, here I am spilling my nerdy guts to say this: Internet, I am going to start a book review on this blog. Every once in a while I will sit down and give my thoughts on books I have recently read. I am also working on being a librarian. For real. Have I said that I am too old to be sitting in a classroom yet? I digress, another post for another time. It's about time someone put the "cool" back into being a reader and librarian, so I took the challenge. Doing a book review will give me a chance to practice recommending books and stuff. :-)

So my first book review will come later this week. Be there, or be square! ;-)

Rebel Without A Cause...

So, my kids had the swine flu, and I had been cooped up in the house for 7 days. I seriously thought that I might lose my mind if I didn't get out, so after Tyron got home, I left by myself to go to McKinney. I had no real idea what I was going to do, so I ended up at Starbucks because really, there is no bad time for good coffee.

Once I had said coffee, I decided that I was going to the movies. I know that most people don't like to go to the movies by themselves, but I LOVE it. I like that I get to watch whatever I want to watch. I can laugh/cry like the retard I am without having to worry that I am making the person I am at the movie with look like a fool for going with me.

I went to see The Time Traveler's Wife. It was actually pretty good. After it was over, I wasn't really ready to go home yet, so I snuck into another movie. I know, I know! Not exactly stand-up-citizen behavior, I know! It was so much fun though! I've wondered if it was possible to walk out of one movie and right into another one before. Last night I did. I totally enjoyed both movies. Try not to judge people. I was not ready to go home and hadn't been out of the house to do anything adult in a long, long time. I was a rebel without a cause last night, but don't fret. I have transformed from rebel back into mommy over night. No more movie sneaking for me...

Just a Little Shout Out

I just wanted to give a little shout out to all my favorite ladies. You guys are my best friends, and I couldn't imagine my life without you! Each one of you is so different from each other. When we had our girls weekend in April, I was laughing to myself as I watched you all interact and love each other. It was so much fun to watch you all have so much fun and bond. Is it too early to start planning our next get-a-way?

Truly the Lord has blessed me beyone belief. You are all funny, clever, honest, loving, sexy, sweet, kind, caring, empathetic, smart, God-loving women. Your husbands are lucky to have you!

Thank you guys for putting up with me in the good and in the bad. My cup runneth over...truly. Thanks for being my family.

Just a little shout out to: Lori, Betsey, Rachel J., Brittany, Kathleen, Kara, Lacey, of course my Mom. God knows I am a handful, so he gave me lots of friends to share the burden! I love you guys!

Ode to Summer...

I know, it's been forever since I actually wrote anything on my blog. To be perfectly honest, for the past month or so it's been way, way down on my list of "Things To Do." After all, it's been a busy summer.

This summer has actually been extremely nice. Tyron only worked a couple of camps, so we got to see him a lot. It was so nice just being in the same room with him. I just wish that it hadn't gone so fast! I feel like summer just started. Tyron has been back to work for almost a month already because he gets to coach football. I don't think I have to elaborate here...football is not exactly our dream job, but it is a necessary thing right now. I just wish it wasn't so hot! I feel so bad for them being out there when it's 100 degrees outside.

I have actually been pretty busy myself over the past month. I am working on my teaching certificate, so that I can go back to work next fall. I love being a photographer, and I plan to continue doing that, but we are ready to be a dual income family. I am also ready for a change. I am so excited. I love being home with my kids, but to be honest, I am ready to be doing something besides babies. I figure next fall will be just about perfect because Luke will start Kindergarten, Faith will start preschool, and Hannah will be 2 1/2 years old. She will go to the babysitter for 1 year and then go to preschool with her big sister. I will still get home pretty early in the day, and I will get summers off to be with them. I think it's going to be great!

The kids have had a busy summer too. Luke got to go to Basketball Camp this year. He is still talking about it. He had the best time, and he got a hustle award. He was so proud. If you want to see pictures from a previous post, click HERE. Luke has also gotten in lots of play time with his Daddy, so it's been pretty much picture perfect in his mind. Luke is also on the verge of reading. We've been working on so many things. Luke can write his letters, do simple addition and subtraction, knows the sounds that each letter makes, and knows a lot of sight words. He can also sound just about any word out that has less than 7 letters. I am so proud of him! He is such a bright kid!

Faith has had a big summer too. She turned 3 in June, which we celebrated at the spray park. We had a great time. Faith also got to go to gymnastics this year. She loved it, and her teacher actually put her with some older kids because she could already do some stuff. Faith has also finally started pooping in the potty every day. I was just about to start thinking that she was going to get married in a pull up when she started taking care of business on her own. I am so proud of her. It's crazy how you can have a kid fully potty trained, and then move cities and find that they pretty much regressed back to not being potty trained. I am just happy that she feels like she can control her life a little bit and isn't hanging on to that little piece of control anymore. Faith is definitely becoming a very big girl!

Hannah is just growing and growing and growing. She can climb anything, and she can keep up with Luke and Faith. It's so fun to watch them all play together. Hannah's vocabulary is getting bigger by the day, and she can walk, run, and jump. She is super lovey, but she is also very independent. Wonder where she gets that from?

So, as you can see, we haven't been gone much, but we have been busy just being a family. It's been the best summer I've had in a long time. I can't believe it's just about over! I am looking forward to fall though. I am ready for cooler temperatures, the Pumpkin Patch, different clothes, different food, and basketball games.

This Is For Real!!

This is how you know you've made it big...you have your very own Chia Pet!

Do you think it even looks like President Obama? I don't! I actually find this hilarious!

I found out about the Obama Chia one night while I was flipping through the channels. Guess what channel it was on? Comedy Central. Tyron and I actually thought that it was a rerun of Saturday Night Live until Blue Collar Comedy came back on! We got a really good laugh!

According to Chia, buying an Obama Chia is one way to commemorate history! Please, please tell me if you buy on so that I can make fun of you for at least the next 3 years!

2nd in Command

"We miscalculated how bad the economy actually is." Joe Biden

Really? Not so easy to be in charge of the country is it "Mr. Yes We Can #2?"

Okay, enough politics. :-)

A fitness program? I think not..

A few nights ago Tyron and I were watching a movie on TBS. During a commercial break, this (see video) came on. We seriously thought that it was a joke or something! We were literally laughing hysterically by the end of the advertisement. They call it a "fitness program." However, I call it a "stripper training program." Check it out, you'll get a good laugh! For $1 you can try out the "Flirty Girl Fitness Pole" in your own home...now that is a deal if I've ever heard one!!

Luke - Our Big Boy.

This may not be news to many, but it's amazing news to us! Luke is now officially taking a shower by himself without any outside help. He washes his own hair, and he even turns the shower off and rinses out the tub when he is finished.

It's the little things like this that can make an entire day! I can't believe that he has turned into such a little man! Kids get big so fast! I am so thankful that God has blessed me with such beautiful, sweet, and amazing kids. There are no words. Literally. Thanks God!

Luke has gone from this:

He is about 2 months old here...poor little guy. He was so little when he was born...not to mention bald! According to my notes Luke weighed in at 8 lbs and was 20.5 inches long at 2 months.

TO THIS:

Luke is 49.5 inches tall, weighs 51.5 pounds, and is very bright and athletic. So much fun! My favorite little boy! Not to mention, he got hair was not destined to be bald after all!

Pictures Of The Kids

One of these days I am actually going to sit down and write something, but for now, pictures will have to suffice. I took these pictures last week. Most of the pictures I took were of Faith because she needed her 3 year pictures done. I think they turned out really sweet. Storyboards are the easiest way to post pictures, so I apologize if you get sick of looking a them all together like this. If you want to see more of Faith's 3 year pictures, just look at the post following this one. Enjoy!

PS - Blogger is being weird, so I will post the rest of the pictures tomorrow...

Faith's 3 Year Pictures

Basketball Camp Part II - A Million Picture Tribute

Luke finished up camp on Friday, June 12th. He says that it was pretty much the single greatest experience of his life...those are pretty much his exact words. He did a great job following directions and keeping up with the big kids. Luke is a natural basketball player...that is the simple truth. I wish all the picture that I took were perfect but the fact is, I had Hannah on my hip a lot of the time I was shooting, so there is some camera shake in some of these. Here are some highlights from his last day at camp:

Luke wrote his name on his award ball. I think he did a great job!

Luke and Daddy. Bet you can't guess who Luke's favorite coach is...

Luke, Scott Straley (alt. sp. Stray-Lee), Faith, and Hannah.

Scott was Luke's camp coach, and we have known him since he was an 8th grader. Tyron was his coach from 8th - 12th grade, and Scott now plays basketball for Austin College in Sherman, TX. We joke all the time that we are going to change his name to be spelled Stray-Lee. Our kids LOVE him, and wish that he was still staying with us. He is definitely part of our family!

Luke got the "Hustle Award." He was so proud of it!

Luke showing off his "Hustle Award."

Luke's team at camp: NCAA

Luke getting his shoe bag for attending camp.

SPEED DRIBBLE CONTEST:

HOT SHOT CONTEST:

Clearly it was a nail biter...

Anyone else wondering why the coach's kid is the only one NOT doing push-ups?

Watching her big brother like a hawk.

Seriously, Mommy...

Do you think her patience was getting thin? :-)

Changes the meaning of "baby in a basket."