Multitude Mondays

I have recently joined the Gratitude Community at @ Holy Experience and am excited about counting my blessings on Multitude Mondays!  God has been so faithful to me and I want to give Him praise for all the big and small gifts he gives me daily.  My goal....One Thousand Gifts!!  Have you counted your blessings lately?

1.   His salvation
2.   faithful husband (to the Lord and to me)
3.   healthy children
4.   roof over my head
5.   daughter's sensitive heart
6.   son's sweet giggles
7.   loving church family
8.   the sound of my parent's voice on the phone
9.   Friday night visit with my BFF and her family
10. rainbows on the way to PTO meeting

 my daughter took this pic while I was driving

 11. cooler temps
12.  azaleas in the late summer

 taken on 9/4/2010

 13.  hummingbirds filling up for winter

14.  Quiet time
15.  Long weekend
16.  fields of snow white cotton

What a day!

This past Saturday, we set out on an adventure with our family and a group of college students and leaders from our church.  We packed up and headed out at 6 am for DFW and arrived at our destination at 10:15 am....a water park called NRH20.  It is a very nice family water park and we had a blast!!  We didn't take too many photos because we spent most of our time in the wave pool with the kids.

After spending about 5 hours at the water park, we cleaned up, put on dry clothes and drove to our next destination....The Ballpark at Arlington.  At 5 pm, Mercy Me was putting on a concert on the lawn outside the ballpark.  We found our spot under a shade tree and sang praises to our God with thousands of others.  Josh Hamilton, a Texas Ranger's player, is an outspoken Christian and he gave a few minutes of his time to encourage us in our Christian walk.  When the concert ended, we ventured up to the third level on the third base side and baked in the sun until it hid behind the stadium.  The game began at 7 pm and we made it to the top of the 5th inning before departing for home!  Thinking ahead, we had the kids PJ's ready and waiting for the ride back to Louisiana.  My sweet husband drove us safely home while we all snoozed and he had to get up and preach his heart out the next morning.  Once upon a time, we would have LOVED this kind of adventure, but in our "older" age we began to wonder what we were thinking.  Needless to say, our kids bounced right back into a routine and loved every minute of our adventurous (but long) day!

What a Day!

A New Smile

Today marked another milestone for one of our children....you know...crawling, walking, first tooth, first words, first day of school, first lost tooth, FIRST PHASE OF BRACES.  Matt and I knew this day was coming b/c our children have inherited our teeth.  Both of us wore braces for many years and it looks like the children will follow in our footsteps.  They do things a little different now and a little earlier than when we were children.  Claire is in Phase 1 of braces.  She has four brackets on her front four teeth and the orthodontist thinks they should straighten up in 4 to 6 months...we shall see.  She already has a beautiful smile....now it will be a little straighter!

 Before

 During

 After

Wow!  Is it just me or does Claire look about 10 years older??  Don't know if I like this braces thing or not!

Scrambled Eggs

Don't worry....I've heard all about the egg recall and I checked the numbers on our carton!  Thank goodness ours were not tainted with salmonella because my kids love scrambled eggs and were begging to cook some Saturday morning.  They put their aprons on and got ready to cook.  They love when I let them help cook and I should do that more often!  I'm not an expert chef...but they sure do love momma's scrambled eggs!

First Day of School

 Our first day back to school was successful!  Claire and Levi both awoke with ease and gulped their coffee milk down (they get coffee milk in bed every morning) before hopping out of bed to get dressed.  After eating breakfast, we all got into our van to head to school.  There was a little excitement in the air with Levi starting a new school and being at the same school as his sister for the first time.  He was also a little nervous but I think that subsided after getting to the right location.  We took the traditional first day of school pics, Matt and I left and then I waited patiently all day to see how their first day went.    Upon picking them up, Levi remarked,  "It was awesome."  "School is fun."  Claire gladly informed me that I was the one who had homework tonight...and I did.  Claire and Levi both have wonderful Christian teachers and for that...we are very thankful.  We are anticipating a fantastic school year!

 All Smiles!

Levi and his sweet teacher

Claire and her sweet teacher

We are so happy to be a part of such a great school.  We are the only 4 star school in our Parish and # 20 in our state.  Way to go, Mustangs.

Worth Celebrating

I'm a little late in posting this, but we celebrated Claire's 1 year spiritual birthday on Sunday!

  August 9, 2009 is a day I will never forget.  Claire grabbed my hand during the Sunday morning invitation and with a trembling hand and shaky voice she said, "Mom, I need to go talk to daddy."  We reached daddy in about 5 steps (we sit on the second row) and she told him that she needed to ask Jesus into her heart.  Kneeling at the altar, she confessed her sins and asked Jesus to be her Lord (boss) and Savior.  We were rejoicing with the angels in heaven!  There is just something about knowing that your children are secure in their relationship with the Lord.  It has been exciting watching her grow in the Lord this past year and we pray daily that He will use her in a mighty way.

She followed the Lord in baptism about a month later and her daddy had the 

privilege of baptizing her just like my daddy baptized me. 

It is a sweet memory I will cherish forever.

But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such

is the kingdom of heaven."  Matthew 19:14

Summer Fun

Summer is quickly coming to and end!  Not sure how I feel about this.  I look forward to having our routine back, but I'm not looking forward to early mornings and the trip to and from school (we have to drive about 30 minutes...but it's worth it!)  We have had a very busy and fun summer.  Here's a glimpse of what the kid's enjoyed during the Summer of 2010.

 Swimming with friends

 Playing in the sand pile at Papa and Nana's

Fishing at the pond