Little Bits from the Last Few Months

This evening I sat down and downloaded TONS of pics from our camera and felt inspired to blog a bit. Here are some random shots from the last few months:

Cute shot of Jake in the old house

3 sweet boys

moving day - we wanted to let them experience the giant truck, but they both were afraid of the loud engine, amazingly

Max loves to help me take clothes out of the washer into the dryer

Jake's 1st day of school - he's LOVING his class this year and doing so well

Max's first day of school - also loves his school

when Papa Clay was here he took a family shot on our front porch

we made it to the fair this year - fun times except we had to leave a bit early because of rain

Bumblebee!

Max was a wiggle worm on the DART ride home - Daddy practically had to restrain him

I (NOT Andy! so proud of myself) pulled all the weeds that were here and planted several (21!) plants and some pansies. The previous homeowners really made it easy by creating these beds and putting in great soil...easy canvas.

We've let the boys sleep together on Friday nights sometimes (Robin, thinking of you and Scott! ;)) and it's so cute when they whisper and giggle - who knows what's going on in there. Might get bunk beds and have them share a room someday.

Andy - I mean the kids - had fun carving a pumpkin this year. Check out the individually carved teeth - he amazes me! And Jake's into crazy faces for the camera. :D

A dessert storm army guy and a dinosaur - 2 fall festivals and LOTS of trick or treat activity in our neighborhood - fun.

Water Guns and Sprinklers Last Night

"hold still, Daddy, so I can squirt up your nostrils"

love this



fun...

All Praise, Glory and Thanks to God!

Just want to share how good God is. He's such a blesser and good-gift-giver! Long story short, we found a house (it was a HUD so you have to blindly bid online, hoping you're the highest - we were the 9th bid and won by a really small margin!!) and as I reflect on it all, God's fingerprints are just so evident throughout this whole process. We praise you Lord!

For about a week, I've been really focusing on Proverbs 3:5-6 (and NOT coincidentally, Andy's Sunday school lesson covered this verse after I had been thinking about it):

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Since high school, this has been my life verse. I really cling to this and God always fulfills this promise (imagine that!) in different ways. With home selling/shopping I had plenty of different worries and what-if thoughts, but when I could get my head on straight I would remember this and have peace. He owns every property on the planet! And He's not bound by time. ("will we find something before ours closes?" "will we have to buy one contingent on the sale of our house?") Looking at this past week (that's how much time it's taken to get a contract on our house and put a contract on a new one - praise God!), our paths have been so straight! God blesses us all the time, and sometimes the blessings are crystal-clear and HUGE - that's how I feel this week.

I've also been focusing on Matthew 6, when Jesus tells us not to worry about what we'll eat, drink or wear (or where we'll live!),

^32"For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

So I want to seek Him first and trust that God will arrange it how He sees best - because He loves us and owns the cattle on a thousand hills!

Also, one that I continually have to remind myself of is:

¹⁹"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I DON'T want my treasure to be on earth. I want my heart to be sold out for the Lord and seeking His kingdom, and just thankful for material blessings without my heart being focused on them. Is that a balancing act for anyone but me? I can so easily get wrapped up in decorating, furniture choices (not that we're buying any yet, but), appliances - my thinking gets so worldly so quickly. Want to be wrapped up in His work...change me Lord.

Anyway, I feel so blessed the way things worked out on selling and buying. Of course closing on both isn't for a few weeks and things could fall through, so we'll see. Our new house (as far as we know now) is in Wylie:


It's NOT a fixer-upper like we had set out for, but definitely was a great price. Every little thing I had hoped for (can't tell you how excited I am about a jetted garden tub - NEVER had that! and the kitchen over-looking the living room). Andy has such amazing home renovating skills, but we agree that it will be so nice to have more family weekend time. Even on a new house there's always a project anyway, right? So we're beyond thankful.

¹ We give thanks to you, O God,
we give thanks, for your Name is near;
men tell of your wonderful deeds.
Ps. 75:1

Paul Harrington Band

Friday night we went to hear my dad and brother play at the Shops at Legacy. It was fun to see my kiddos appreciate the music more. Max kept saying, "grandpa...songs" and was snapping his fingers (flicking his fingers). And Jake couldn't get enough.




So proud of my dad and brother. Listen on his myspace page...(no clue he was on myspace! Jim must have helped...;))

DADDY'S HOME!!!

My Harmonica Dad & Son

A big part of who I am has to do with my amazing dad (I love you Dad!), who happens also to be an incredible harmonica player. I loved growing up seeing and learning what I did because of my dad and his music. Jim (my brother) and I grew up with Dad always playing (practicing) while driving down the road, amplifiers throughout our house, travelling to cool places for gigs (sometimes getting backstage star treatment), and lots of education about musicians like Toots Thielemans and Muddy Waters.

Even though I was used to my dad's playing, I've always had an appreciation for what he could/can do. There are several songs he plays (one of them below, "Use Me Up") that I love. I remember being a little girl walking with him in the woods in Tennessee (right, Dad?) LOVING hearing him play "Mercy, Mercy." I've heard it so many times, but never get sick of it. It's a good song, but it's more because of my dad playing it. It sounds cheesy, but my heart swells with pride every time I hear him play on stage.

Unfortunately, I never got interested in any instrument, although my brother is - he's an amazing guitar/bass/whatever-he-wants-to-play player...

And I didn't even know this was out there (shouldn't be surprised), but I found a few videos of my dad and his buddy Smokey Logg on YouTube:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK2ue1kc9Mo (couldn't embed this one)

Needless to say, we have a few used harmonicas laying around the house. My sweet Max has taken it up a bit:

Can you hear the loud in and out blowing? He loves it...

Blowing through the side - doesn't work as well.

Hands-free...

Thank you, Dad, for your many gifts to me. I love you.

Fireworks

Mesmerized...

3-D glasses from VBS :)

"Da!"
"that one was BIG!"
He LOVES him some paci and blankie. We never leave home without it.

After some loud booms Max was a little scared and I was happy to cuddle.
the finale

Time for bed!

Last few weeks

Just recent little boy pictures:

Jake's swim lessons

Kinda neat - this is how she moved the group from one end of the pool to the other.A favorite lately - "bionicles" - happy meal toys from months ago

The slip and slide is the best invention for a little boy who loves sliding down the hall in his socks. Only $9!
Hat from his b-day party. More for me, though - he yanks it off immediately.
Off Mama!
My phone

"Yeah, just sittin' here with Mom..."
Little turkey...