The Weekend Surprise Revealed....

I love the fact that Carley had no idea that we were planning something special for her birthday and she was absolutely fine with no party, no cake, no big deal. I love that because you guys know how we like to do cool special things for our girls but don't want them to feel disappointed in the small stuff or ordinary days. We want them to appreciate all of it and not feel "entitled". It's a tricky balance and I was just really proud that Carley was totally happy with her birthday consisting of us surprising her for lunch at school and nothing else.

So anyway......

Saturday we went about our normal routine and dad went to work. But when he got home we surpised Carley with an "Invitation". She had to open the card and read it outloud to find out what it was all about. I loved the expressions on her face as she read about spending the rest of the day with her best friend Ava and our families to go ice skating, shopping, out to dinner and then have a sleepover!

We all had the best time together!
Especially these two awesome little birthday girls! (Ava's birthday is coming up this week.)

Pardon the iPhone pics. I didn't want to carry my big camera along with us. ;)

We absolutely couldn't skip riding on the carousel after eating in the food court.

 

These two hams had the best time at Sam Moon trying on stuff and posing for pics before settling on purchasing some long turquoise dress up gloves and sparkley jewelry with their birthday money.

They were cracking us up!



They ended the night by staying up late reading books and playing in Carley's room.

then...

Daddy made our morning by cooking chocolate chip waffles for everybody before church! Yum!!!

 

Love you sweet girls. Happy, Happy 7 Years Old to both of you!

Dear Toothfairy,

Look who lost her very first tooth the day after her 7th Birthday!

 

This girl has been waiting and waiting all summer on that little wiggly tooth.

Today after school she was telling me about her day when she happened to reach up and rub her hand across her lips and it literally just fell out into her hand.

We both laughed hysterically.

Carley was so excited she had tears come to her eyes.

Congrats kiddo!

Happy 7th Birthday Carley!

Happy Birthday to our Carley girl!

Don't grow up too fast my precious little one.
I treasure every day, every moment, every memory with you!
Love you to the moon and back a million times over!

Oh what a fun day we had @neveradullmoment.myhouse.hahaha!

We started out this morning with a Happy Birthday song from mommy and Zoe, then a surprise note that daddy left for Carley to find when she woke up. After getting dressed there was another surprise phone call and song from Nana and Papa and Carley did a little dance with her ear glued to the phone.

Then I told the girls to grab their things, we had to go.
Carley said but mom we never leave without having breakfast first!?!?

Oh, not to worry! We made a special trip to the Donut Shop for morning delights including a huge chocolate glazed donut with sprinkles on top!

All day at school Carley got to wear a special Birthday crown. She got a card from her teacher and "Happy Birthday" wishes from everyone.

Then Zoe and I surprised her by coming to eat lunch with her. We brought Sonic with a hot fudge sundae (with extra hot fudge) and a cherry on top, YUM!!!

Daddy sent a picture message on the phone to tell her he loved her and hoped her day was great!

After school we got to see grandma, got a phone call from Aunt Jodi & family and played in the back yard! Gorgeous weather, amazing clouds...possible rain storms, yay!

Wow, what a day!

And she doesn't know it yet, but there is one more surprise planned for Saturday. ;)

....... stay tuned to see.

Homework

Back to school has been a whirlwind this year. How on earth have 3 weeks already gone by!?!?

Both my girls LOVE school. Zoe loves it in the afternoons when Carley lets her sit at the little princess desk  in her closet and they play school. Carley talks just like her teacher, warning Zoe, "if you don't follow directions, you will have your color moved", ha, ha. Then Zoe will come out of the room with an oversized, stuffed backpack on her shoulders like she is headed to the bus.
When we got to church, Zoe calls her class "baby school" and after we drop Carley off for 1st Grade in the mornings Zoe asks if we can do baby school or go see other kids..... she is so social, just like her sister.

Carley has homework each night, and so much is learned in 1st grade! We spend time reading books together every evening. And this week we are working on addition flash cards. The first night she got frustrated because it was difficult. But today with some advice from her teacher we got creative and made a game of it. We used a divided plastic tray and gumballs! Carley enjoyed putting the correct number of gumballs into two of the divided trays and then combining them into a larger tray to get the answer. Yay!

Here's our other cutie pie doing an early morning watercolor lesson while mommy worked on getting some orders done to deliver to a shop in downtown McKinney.

Jeremy's teaching schedule is finally getting worked out (no more working 6:30am - 7:30pm with no break!!!) They finally hired another history teacher at the high school so he actually has a conference period......and a bit of his sanity back. ;-P 
On a lighter note, the varsity football team has been doing great with two wins in a row and looking good for another this Friday night! Go Coyotes!
P.S. Hosting the after party meal for the coaches and their families after our first home game last Friday night was a big hit! It was a bit of a crazy zoo in my house inside and in the back yard till about 1:00am, with almost 50 people (lots of kids) but it all went great, especially since we were celebrating a good game!

And my "home work" has been pretty steady and busy too. Been working on new projects for an Art Festival coming up in October, doing some photo shoots, t-shirt design/printing, working on some cool new business card designs, and creating a lot of photo transfer artworks on wood.

Getting involved in some awesome Bible study groups has been super encouraging and I'm blown away with how much I've been learning.....I was missing out on so much when I only cracked my Bible open on Sunday mornings at church!  How easily I had forgotten what being in God's word can do to the way you look at every single aspect of life, from the mundane tasks and thoughts to the really big things, and how it convicts and brings change from the inside out.

Here's a verse to ponder:

Hebrews 4:12

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹² For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Awestruck by the Transforming Love of Christ

This weekend marked a very special highlight in a series of incredible "spirit changing" events that have happened in my life this summer. God has stirred an awakening in my soul and a hunger for His word that consumes me like never before. I see how far I've been from Him, even as a Bible believing Christian, attending church and trying to "live a good life".... I have been missing out on being transformed by His word in a real way because I've neglected Him. I didn't put any importance on reading God's word because honestly I was kinda lazy about it and I was convinced it was ok and I was doing fine because hey, I've heard God's word all my life in church.... I knew it well enough, right? Oh my how wrong I had been! The Bible is truly the only book in history that brings LIFE to those who read it. I sincerely struggled when first coming to the realization that I needed to learn more of God's word. My faith was seriously tested. I questioned all kinds of things and shed a lot of tears. But God is faithful and true and He has said in His Word that "You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:13

I am overwhelmed and truly awestruck as I am learning, as if for the very first time, about my God.

Thank you Jesus for your mercy, thank you for the people you have put in my life who lovingly have been accountability partners for me, who have witnessed to me (in recent times and through the years) through the way they live and believe, for friends who have dropped everything to load up kids in their car and drive to my house and pray over me in my front yard, who have held me while I cried and encouraged me with your scriptures. Thank you for the ways they have witnessed to me without even knowing it. Thank you for my family and friends from all stages of my life. I pray each of us will know your transforming love and grace and be able to share it with our families and friends that your word will be spread throughout the earth.

This weekend started out with a Girls Trip to Ft.Worth with some awesome friends, yay!

 Ashley, Jennifer, Fawnda and I were invited by our sweet new friend Jeanne (who has been the music ministry leader for LIFE Outreach International Ministries with James and Betty Robison for over 30 years) to attend the taping of a Bible Study series taught by Beth Moore at their studio. To say we had an amazing time would be an understatement. The Bible study Friday night and Saturday morning was spot on and so relevant to our lives, and the fellowship with these sweet friends was priceless.

*So for any of you who watch "Wednesdays in the Word with Beth Moore" you may see us in the audience, right next to the stage, in her upcoming teaching series. :)

                                     Ashley, Jennifer, Beth Moore, me, Fawnda, and Jeanne

Carley's Baptism

And to top it all off, the most incredible blessing came on Sunday morning when family and friends joined us in watching our precious daughter Carley make public her profession of faith in Jesus Christ through baptism. Carley has been asking us about doing this for over a year now but we wanted to wait and give her time to gain a deeper understanding of what it meant and why she wanted to do it. When we met with the pastor to talk about her decision we were both so moved by her pure and simple faith and so proud of her.

After she came up out of the water and was wrapped in a towel, I walked with her to the bathroom to change and on the way she said, "Mom I didn't know it would feel this way. It feels so good."


This little girl inspires us with how much she loves God and how she always wants to tell people about the Bible and pray for people. She told me this morning after seeing a movie that talked about missionaries that that is what she wants to be someday. Wow! Lord prepare us (because we certainly know how imperfect and prone to wander we are). Where you lead, we want to follow.