We have had lots going on around here over the past few months. Here's an attempt to do a little catching up!
--Jack turned FOUR in January. We had fun celebrating with his Mimi and Poppy, cousins (Scout and Ryder) and sisters (minus Mallory who was much happier at home taking a nap) at Incredible Pizza. The highlight for me was watching Poppy and Scout race daddy and Jack in the race cars. Not sure which generation enjoyed it more! : ) They also had a lot of fun bowling and riding rides and shooting basketball hoops. I love that boy more than I can put into words.
--We took the older 3 to the Rodeo and had fun watching them at the petting zoo especially. My kids all LOVE animals. Tra took Hayley and Jack last year one night right after I had Mallory, so I had fun getting to go with them this year! Riley experienced cotton candy for the first time. That was worth the price of admission!
--Tra and I got to go to Washington DC for a couple of days in February...by ourselves!! My mom braved it and watched all 4 of our kiddos for us. She's a superstar. Everything went great and everyone slept all night every night, thankfully! We got to attend the National Prayer Breakfast and it was a really neat experience. It was very strange to sit just a few rows back from the President and Michelle, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton (the main speaker). I felt like I was in an episode of 24 watching the secret service guys scanning the room. We spent the rest of the day sightseeing and I LOVED every second. It was my first trip to DC and I can't wait to go back! We spent a couple of hours at the Holocaust Museum and could have spent an entire day there. It was extremely impactful. We sat with a congressman from North Carolina at breakfast and he had us come to his office and one of his staff members gave us a tour of the Capitol. That is the way to do it, people. We went on the speed-walking tour and it was a perfect speed for us. (Anyone can call your congressman/woman and ask if you can have a tour if you ever want a "private tour" which I think a lot of people already know, but I had no idea.) Being there made me want to be more involved in my community and made me realize that I'm not as insignificant as I feel like I am when it comes to governmental decisions, etc. I have a voice and I can choose whether or not to use it. I came home wanting to read some American history books! I haven't... yet. : ) The day we left to come home was the day the huge blizzard hit the east coast. The airport shut down 3 hours after our plane took off. Can we say close call?
--We had a surprise 60th birthday brunch for my mom the weekend we got home. She has several "friends for a lifetime" friends that live in the D/FW area, along with lots of family and it was so much fun celebrating HER!
--The day we got home was the day after Jenny Bizaillion went into the hospital. I spent the rest of the month, like many of you, praying more fervantly for her and her family and friends than I have ever prayed for any situation in my life. I knew Jenny in college but haven't talked to her since. I don't really even know how to put into words what that whole situation did to my spirit, but it changed me. My faith was strengthened---as we prayed for certain aspects of her health, they were answered. I know in my head that prayer is powerful, but this made it take more root in my heart. I think about Jenny's family and friends every day and continue praying for the Lord's peace to comfort them as they grieve her earthly loss for the rest of their lives. Especially her precious daughter.
--The day Jenny died was the day we buried Tra's sweet granddaddy. We all know our grandparents won't live forever, but man it is hard to let them go. It was a sweet day of remembering a wonderful, godly man who I had the privilege of calling "Granddaddy" for 9 short years. I will miss his dry wit and the way he always made me feel like I had always belonged to him, and just hearing his cheery voice. I don't know that I've had another day in my life that I was more aware of my own mortality. It made me think---really think. What am I DOING here? It's all going to be over one day. It made me want to re-think why I do what I do in every area of my life. More than ever, I want to live my life more purposefully and literally seek first the Kingdom of God. It is ALL that matters! Relationships with my family and friends----they are the only thing going with me! It also makes me long for Jesus to return---QUICKLY!!!
--Hayley has lost her 2 bottom teeth and learned to tie her shoes. She makes her own breakfast some mornings and makes her own bed. She has really taken off with reading. She told me last night that she loves Jesus and she is going to teach a lot of people about him. I told her I believe she will too!
--At night when I put Riley to bed, lately she points up to a corner in her room and says, "There's a angel!" Tra and I were in there last night and I asked her if she saw the angel and she said, "No, I find him.." and proceeded to look behind her curtains and said she couldn't find him. After prayers and reading her favorite Bible story about the shepherds (Jesus' birth)she looked up at the corner and said, "Oh! There's the angel! There he is!" Ohhh, to see what these little ones see.
--Hayley and Jack have totally gotten into Little House on the Prairie. I can't tell you what this does for my heart. : ) Angie and I watched this show every day for years and rarely missed an episode. To see them love it as much as we did is so much fun! The musical is coming to Bass Hall this summer---we can't WAIT!
--I'll end with my favorite event of 2010 so far. On Tra's birthday (Mar. 20) Hayley told us that night that she asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior. She was at church listening to the Bible story that night of Jesus dying on the cross and she said she asked Him "quietly" during the Bible story. I asked her how she felt when she asked him and she said, "Ready." There is nothing sweeter than seeing the Holy Spirit getting a hold of my babies' hearts. In some ways 5 1/2 seems so early to really understand what she is doing, but I have to remind myself that we in no way pushed her to do this. HE, the Creator of the Universe, has been drawing her to Himself from the moment she was a little life in my womb. She is HIS! Just as they all are. As many crazy, hard days as there are with little ones it is moments like these that make every little (and big) mess and sleepless nights WORTH IT ALL!!
Pictures soon to follow..
**I just realized I started this entry on March 12, but finished it and finally published it today, April 6. Not that anyone but me would probably pay much attention to that. : )
