A New Season

This is outside the building where we meet on Sunday evenings.
During worship...
Just hanging out...

Recently Kenny was hired as the part-time pastor of a new church. The church that we have been members of for the past 2 or 3 years, Northwest Baptist, is sponsoring this new church, which is called Campus Church. It is a church specifically geared towards reaching the college community of Oklahoma City and the surrounding cities. We are very excited about this new endeavor for many reasons. One of which is that we are eager for young people to see the power and hope a life with Jesus Christ can offer them. Also, there is a large number of international students that are very interested in Jesus and His teachings- which is a blessing to us because we want to be missionaries when we grow up :o), so this is a great oppurtunity for us to get to know people from many different cultures. Another reason that we are excited about this new oppurtunity is that Kenny and I have been involved in ministry together for the nearly 12 years that we have been married and it is something that we absolutely love and are committed to. This just helps us, especially Kenny, to be able to spend more time doing what we are passionate about. We also have quite a number of great people (which are also great friends of ours) that are just as excited about this new work, that are also working together with us at Campus Church. This will eventually be full time work for Kenny, though we are not certain when that will be exactly. In the mean time, we would value your prayers to manage family, work, ministry, etc., as well as your continued prayers as we continue in what God has asked us to do.

Yesterday morning around 8 o'clock I found out that it was $1 day at our state fair. So, by 9:30 the kids and I were there.
Forest was excited about the insect exhibit. He's been collecting bugs for some time now. His most prized find is the robber fly. It amazes me how much he actually knows about different bugs and their behavior.
Phoebe discovered these huge pumpkins. And all the kids had fun at the petting zoo. We also enjoyed a funnel cake-'cause you have to get funnel cake at the fair- and a yummy cinnamon roll.

Funny Face and Sammy the Sad Snail

School is in full swing for the year. For Pre-K, Phoebe and I have had lots of fun playing different games- all while she is learning to count and learning more colors and shapes. We have these great toys from Lauri that are made from a soft foam. I bought about 4 or 5 different sets, but they can all work together. There are several pieces that can be laced together or put together like a puzzle and there are pegs that can be stacked or the shapes can be stacked on the pegs. They've been great for counting, learning patterns and just for having fun. I was surprised to find that Phoebe can already count to 26 before getting off track. I hadn't worked with her with numbers higher than 10, so I asked her how she learned to count that high, and she said, "I practice in bed every night." I think her big sisters have been working behind the scenes and I didn't realize it. :D

Today we are playing with play dough. Forest joined in and made this sad snail. I'm not really sure what inspired it but its cute. Forest is in 1st grade this year and is continuing to learn to read- something he has definitely approached differently than his sisters. He learned all the letter sounds from last year and can sound words out but doesn't take any initiative to try to read on his own- only if I ask him too. Yet, he still remembers the letter sounds from last year. As far as I can tell, he is right on track for his age, so I think he will still pick up reading by the end of this year; it's just interesting to see how different he is learning from how the girls learned. I'm no expert, but I am convinced boys, in general, learn differently than girls. I am using curriculum from My Father's World for all the kids. This year Forest will learn about different Jewish customs and practices from the Old Testament. His reader for the year is full of Bible stories that he can read himself and he will have drawing lessons, as well as learning about God's creation in science and learning Bible verses. I expect it to be a fun year.

I'll post soon about what my big girls are learning along with some pictures of them hard at work.

Feelin' good 'bout the way I am...

I think I may finally be out of the clearing concerning morning sickness. Thank you Jesus! This time around, I have been a lot more uncomfortable- hopefully not a sign of things to come further in the pregnancy, but possibly a sign of my escalating age. I've tried to keep the promise of I Timothy 2:15 in front of me- a promise that if I will be faithful during this time of discomfort and continue to pursue holiness and love and self-control then God will use the time of affliction( light as it may be) to refine me. I'm not so sure I've done well so far, but I do have 6 more months to keep trying. But for now, I am grateful today that I have found some level of settling in my tummy!

A Prayer of Phoebe

Jesus, you are the most wonderful man in the world. And I am not as pretty as you because you are the handsomest man in world.

I should have known when I started drinking pickle juice...

Without fail, every time that I have been pregnant, one of the things I crave most is pickle juice (along with soy sauce- yes, to drink, and Italian salad dressing-yes, also to drink). So when I looked at the pickle jar about a month ago and thought,"Yumm, that pickle juice looks tasty," then found myself downing some of it, I certainly should have known I was newly expecting. Yes, we have been hoping for another little one, but it really never crossed my mind at the time that I might be pregnant. I am now 9 weeks along and am pretty much living off of ramen noodles and saltine crackers- hold the pickle juice please. But, regardless of how my tummy feels these days, I and my family are very excited to be expecting the arrival of another little one into the family. So, come next March we will again be stretching out our tent stakes and making room for a sweet new baby.

Summer Fun

We have had a lot of adventures this summer. Phoebe has been taking care of her own flowers in the flower garden. She got the seeds for her birthday from a friend and has done a great job growing them. Our library has this big chair in the children's section and I couldn't resist getting a picture of the kids in it. The last picture is of the kids at a soda fountain that is just down the street from our house. We took Kenny for ice cream on Father's Day and the clerk gave us all these hats, though the kids were the only ones brave enough to wear them. Abbiyah didn't like them at all.

Crazy Creatures

We have had several animal friends around the house this summer. Forest has some sort of inch worm on his arm. These things look crazy when they crawl. Very cool. Abbigail and Abbiyah tormented our dog by dressing him up in their own dress up clothes. Baxter was not impressed....Forest found this frog (or is it a toad?) at Will Rogers park. It was so fun watching him trying to catch it. He chased it for awhile before he was able to get a hold of it. We had a lot of fun that day walking on trails and crossing bridges("How romantic" as my Abbigail would say) and walking through flower gardens... Phoebe is holding a jar with a caterpillar that we had hoped would turn into a butterfly...sadly we found Catti on the floor one morning half mutilated. Maybe next year...

Birthdays

Here are some pictures from the kids birthdays. Forest turned 6 in April. We went to Lake Hefner to fly kites. It got to windy and then started raining so we went for pizza instead.

Abbigail and Phoebe share a birthday. Theirs was back in May. Abbigail turned 9 and Phoebe turned 4. As you can see, Abbigail was more than a little excited to get an mp3 player.

The Wisdom of Forest...

We are finishing up our last few days of school this week. Forest has a new subject every week that all his lessons for that week are based on. This week it is "Colors". We were discussing how God made the world so colorful and I asked him, "Why do you think that God made the world such a colorful place?" Forest's answer came quickly... "So that we wouldn't be like, "Uhh, I just want to die 'cause its so ugly here." Should I worry? :/

Also, tonight, my big girls went bowling with the kids from church. Forest and I were waiting for them to get off the bus and Forest took off running down the hall as soon as all the kids came in the building. When I caught up with him I asked him why he ran away like that. He answered, "'Cause there was a girl there that always hugs me when she sees me and I HATE it!" I know it wasn't anything personal against the girl but there's no doubt that boys are different than girls!

A Very Special Day

This past Sunday, on May 4th, our sweet Abbiyah was baptized. She made a decision to become Jesus' disciple about 3 weeks ago. The morning of her baptism, we spent some time praying for her. I shared with her that, as a disciple of Jesus, He will reveal to her the secrets of His kingdom. After the service we went to lunch with friends to celebrate. I am so excited to see Jesus continue His work in her life. And to see Him grow her in the gifts that He has given her. One of the things that I have seen in her for some time now is an honest heart- I've never really had to deal with her about lying, for which I am greatful. She also has such an interest in what is happening in people's lives. Thank you Father for calling her to your side and inclining her ears to hear you calling to her, "Come to me and I will give you good things!"

Here's another one...

Forest: I'll be right back. Phoebe, don't touch my toy.
Phoebe: O.K.
Forest:(as he is returning back to Phoebe and the toy, and sees that Phoebe is indeed touching it) Phoebe, Do you know what it means to not touch my toy?
Phoebe: Nope.

Another great contemplation from Forest...

Forest: I don't think I'm ever going to get married.
Me: Why? Because you don't want to?
Forest: Yes, 'cause most likely you'll have to have a lot of girly stuff in your house.

It's All in the Clothes, Mom!

A recent conversation between Forest and I...
Forest: Mom, if the power Rangers were real, would they be powerful?
Me: Forest, the power Rangers aren't real.
Forest: But, if they were real, would they be powerful?
Me: But Forest, they're not real, so...
Forest: I'm just saying, if they were, would they be powerful?
Me: Yes.
Forest: No, they aren't powerful, Mom. Their clothes are.
Me: *sigh*

Our trip to Europe...

This year in school we have been "traveling" around the globe. The past few weeks we have been traveling through Europe. So far we have visited France and Britain. While in France we went to a fashion show and visited the Eiffel tower. (OK, so we made an Eiffel Tower out of graham crackers and frosting and we WERE the fashion show, but it was still a great experience!)

While in Britain, we visited the orphanage at Ashley Downs, ran by George Muller. If you don't know the story of George Muller, READ THIS. It is well worth reading, though I recommend reading a full biography. We actually read it from the series of Christian Heroes: Then and Now. I am constantly amazed at how God will use the life of someone who is willing. George Muller is a great example a self-seeking, destructive young man who, when God got a hold of him, became a man of sacrifice and faithfulness.

Phoebe says...

Yesterday, during a thunder storm, Phoebe was speaking of the lightning outside when she said, "There is frightening out there!"

I'm finally getting my Christmas pics posted. We had a great Christmas. Most of the day our family was home by ourselves, enjoying the day. In the afternoon, my sister and her family came over. Then my mom and my dad. My aunt and uncle came as well with their grand daughter. We had a great meal together and had fun opening gifts. The first pic is of my girls with their cousins and the second is of Kenny and the kids Christmas morning. The best part of the day was just before we opened our gifts. Forest shared with everyone that the night before while he had been laying in bed, he started to pray and was asking Jesus to be a part of his life and then started thanking Him for different things and also prayed for different people. There is nothing like seeing your children begin to fall in love with Jesus!