Feed Your Brain

This wonderful program starts tomorrow. The kids participated in this program from Half Price Books last year and it was such a blessing! We read to our kids (as per usual) and we got free books just for doing what we normally do!

Taylor Joy thought it was great fun to be able to pick out a new book every week and now Beckett will be able to as well.

I highly recommend doing this with your kids this summer.

You can download the reading chart from the website and print it off and then just bring it in weekly to redeem your $3 towards a book (MANY are $3 and under).

Have fun investing in your kids as you read together! It is such a privilege and honor to teach these children and finding great books is half the fun.

http://www.halfpricebooks.com/feed_your_brain.html

Fabric Bulletin Board

For awhile now I had been wanting to make one of these, but just couldn't justify spending $30 on a frame to put it in. And THEN, on one glorious day, I found this wooden frame (unpainted) at Hobby Lobby for $2 on clearance. I was ecstatic!

It makes a wonderful practical addition in our hallway and I just LOVE practical when it matches my decor.

Here are the steps if you want to craft one of these of your own:

1. Purchase a frame in the size that you want. Paint the frame if you'd like. You could make a mini bulletin board for your kids' rooms or for wherever really. It would be a cute gift too.

2. Purchase a plain corkboard (no frame) from Hobby Lobby and use your 40 % off coupons, ladies. Never forget about those. Mine ended up around $8.

3. Use one piece of beautiful fabric to cover the board or sew up a little patchwork piece like I did if you would like to incorporate more than one fabric. These were fabrics I had on hand.

4. Get a nice big brush and brush Modge Podge or some other kind of liquid glue onto the corkboard and slowly (as in small segments of a time) press the fabric to the corkboard and ensure that there are no wrinkles. You'll do this to make sure the fabric doesn't get bubbly and lays flat. If you fail to do this step your fabric may look a little sloppy if you don't staple it tight enough in the next step.

5. Have hubby staple gun the cork board with the fabric covering it taut to the frame all the way around.

All in all, mine cost around $10 total because I already had some materials on hand.

Voila! A beautiful, practical, cheap way to display artwork, pictures, chore charts, daily agenda or whatever your heart desires!

5 Incredible Years

5 years ago we were preparing for a wedding and a marriage and we had no idea what that would entail.

I can tell you right now it’s been more amazing, more joyous and more maturing than I could have ever imagined. I’m so thankful for every year with Allen…I’m so thankful for everyday with Allen.

I love you, baby!

Make a Smilebox photobook

A Guy's Guide to Marrying Well

Allen came across this wonderful resource yesterday and we read through it last night.

It was AWESOME!

We were thrilled to see a resource like this that goes through so many of the struggles that guys have with friendship, courtship and dating that lead to marriage.

It's a series of articles about specific topics and is attributed to writers such as Al Mohler, Joshua Harris, and Gary Thomas, among others. It's around 50 pages but you can skim some articles and delve into others, it's such an easy read.

Some of my favorite articles were: Don't Stay Stuck in a Friendship, Don't Wait for a Burning Bush and Should You Settle? I think all of them are ever-so-helpful especially in our church culture where guys want specific instructions regarding how to pursue girls and quite honestly, need help because the biblical way of going about it is far different than the world's way.

I hope you find this resource as helpful as we did. We can't wait to pass it on to the single guys in our life.


http://www.boundless.org/guys/flash2.html

Taylor Joy's 3rd Birthday Party

We had a great time at her pool party...what a sweet girl with such sweet friends.

Here are the pictures:

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Vacation/Anniversary Trip

These past 2 weeks have been ah-mazing.

We normally take a summer vacation in July and we won't be able to this year since baby #3 will be due that month, so we decided to take it this month in conjunction with our 5 year anniversary.

We stopped through Dallas so that we could drop the kids off with the grandparents (they switched off) and we headed straight for Charlotte, NC with our frequent flier miles. Woo hoo for those!

I haven't been away from both of my children ever and certainly not for a week, but it happened to be THE magical summer when I wasn't nursing a child so we took the grandparents up on their offer and headed out for some refreshment in the mountains.

Once we got to NC, our dear friends Will and Janette Bridenstine picked us up and we headed out on a road trip to the mountains in northern GA. I don't think we could go 12 months without seeing these precious people. We try to see them as often as we can but it is usually about once a year.

We arrived at our beautiful lodge and began the most relaxing, wonderful week I could have asked for.

We slept in. Yes, you read that right. Me and Allen. The two of us.

WE SLEPT IN.

We didn't have to listen for cries.

We weren't in fear of little ones waking up.

We got up at our leisure. We read, we prayed, we sat on the patio and looked at the beautiful surroundings, we sipped coffee, we journalled (oh how I miss this lost art in my life!), we listened to and watched the hummingbirds, we spent sweet fellowship together and pretty much did whatever we wanted.

Now that's what I call a vacation.

No plans. No schedule. (can you believe it? If you know my husband, I know you are having a hard time)

The second day we went on a hike to Ravencraft waterfalls that was a 5 mile round trip. It was beautiful and well worth it, but perhaps not the greatest decision I have ever made at 7 months pregnant. My doctor would probably keel over if she knew I did that. I had sore ankles and calves the rest of the week. But, like I said, it was worth it. Such a beautiful hike.

The next day we went to a little German town by the name of Helen. It was a cute little area and we ate lunch by the river and had a great time with our eccentric waiter, Johnny C. It was providential in that Allen was able to share with him the Gospel and answer some questions he had about the Trinity. Praise the Lord for random opportunities that He has planned!

We also stopped in at Babyland Hospital which was the birthplace of the Cabbage Patch Kids. Now, I must stop and say, we knew it would be cheesy. We knew it would be hokey. I still wanted to go. I had a Cabbage Patch doll named Joyce growing up and I absolutely loved her! I wanted to get some for the kids, especially for when the new baby comes. I think they will love them.
But, back to the story...this place was a bit odd. Walking through the place was a little bit cute with all the dolls doing their thing...in cribs, at school, on the playground...but then there was the funny part.

A baby was going to be born while we were there! How exciting! We were to gather around the "Crystal Tree" to see it being born. Okay...out came a nurse and she checked the cabbage's leaves. Yep, dilated to 10 leaves. The baby was about to be born. And out came a healthy little cabbage patch boy FROM the cabbage leaves. A pale white baby boy I might add. So when she held up the boy and asked the diverse audience what the boy should be named, someone yelled out "CARLOS!" The nurse very calmly said, "Okay, Carlos. What will his middle name be?" After what seemed like minutes of silence a young boy yelled out, "DELEON!"

So this little white baby boy from the cabbage patch will be called Carlos Deleon. Will and Allen had to leave they were laughing so hard.

We headed over to the gift shop to purchase our babies and when we checked out the man was sure to let us know that in a hushed tone that we could go online and change the names of our babies, which were Dean and Maryam. Such a funny experience.

The next day we headed out on a canoeing trip down the river. At first I was a bit leery since my husband ran me right into the bank after we had been in the water for a whole 2 minutes and I was SURE that we were going to tip over before our trip ended. And it didn't help that the guide had mentioned that there were lots of snakes in the water. (shiver. gag.) It also didn't help that the other guide had asked me what trimester I was in and then when I told him 3rd, he said, "Great! You just made it!" Like, I had made the cut and 2nd trimester ladies weren't allowed to take this trip. I laughed because it was funny but then I pondered it in my heart. Hmmm...

Well, once I loosened up and let Allen take us through the tiny rapids instead of around them, I started to have fun. It was such a nice day and I felt like I was in that scene from the Notebook. It did rain a little on us, but not much. Just sprinkles. And I wasn't wearing a dress and pearls, so we were good. ;)

After that we headed out to the outlet malls for some shopping and the next few days were history. We went to a little church on Sunday, grilled out, enjoyed the nothingness that the day afforded and began to miss my little ones.

On Monday we went back to Charlotte and went to the Billy Graham museum because Allen had to get some history in there somewhere. It was really neat! Such a nice facility and they had transported the house that he grew up in to that property. It was really neat to see. Allen thoroughly enjoyed it.

We got back to Dallas late Tuesday night and went in and woke up Taylor Joy because we missed her so much. It was such a sweet reunion with that little girl and then with Beckett the next morning. Sometimes I feel like a better mom when I've been away from my kids for awhile. All I wanted to do was play with them, hug them, kiss them and tell them how much they meant to me. They had plenty of fun stories of their own. Staying with the grandparents was a far greater vacation than they could ever ask for! Thank you so much, Mom, Dad, B, Mima, Lizzie and Cathy for taking care of our precious ones. We love you so much!

If you made it this far, here is the slideshow! Enjoy!



Make a Smilebox slideshow

Birthday Girl

Today is my darling Taylor Joy's 3rd birthday.

Have I mentioned lately how precious she is?

I mean, everyone who knows her already knows this, but for those of you who don't know her, she's adorable in every way.

The things that she says leave us in stitches of laughter.

The way that she says everything in that raspy voice is beyond cute.

The enthusiasm with which everything is said makes life so exciting...even the smallest tasks or toys are brought to life by her excitement.

That big smile and precious dimples light up the room wherever she goes.

That sweet red hair and blue eyes have people talking everywhere we go.

The way that she helps me around the house and with Beckett really blesses my socks off. I couldn't do it without her. Her spiritual gift is definitely to be a helper.


And for 3 short years this little blessing has been a part of our lives. I can barely remember life before her.

Here are some shots of the birthday girl (a post later to come on the actual birthday party!):


The day we brought Taylor Joy home from the hospital



1st Birthday



2nd Birthday

Happy 3rd Birthday, Princess!
We love you!

Our Little Phrase-Maker

Lately Beckett has surprised us by stringing words together. At my parent's house the phrases just started spewing out...

Until now, he's said few words in general, so to hear them strung together was just about the cutest thing ever.

Here are some examples:

Git da bah! (get the ball)
Git da phone! (get the phone)
Bounce da bah! (bounce the ball)
Want da bah, mama! (Want the ball, mama)
It's da bubba! (it's the bubbles)
I did it!

At 17 months (today actually, Happy 17 Months, Buddy!), he has no idea that he is about to be a big brother. He's completely oblivious and I am quite sure it's going to rock his world. He loves his mama but he and Sissy (Taylor Joy) have been playing together wonderfully and I am encouraged by that.

It's so funny that I have gotten all kinds of different stories...some women say the transition from 2 to 3 is the hardest and others say the transition from 1 to 2 was harder. Since the transition from 1 to 2 children took me about 8 months, I'm praying this will be a bit easier and quicker for me. Since Taylor Joy and Beckett can keep each other entertained, it may be a bit easier in that aspect, but I can see going ANYWHERE out of the house to be a complete campaign to get out the door. In that aspect, it MUST be harder.

We have 11 more weeks and I am looking forward to each and every one of them. I know first time moms think I'm crazy...I need all the time I can get to prep around this house, cook and freeze meals, spend lots of quality time with my kids and just be ready emotionally for another newborn.

Until then, if have any tips for this soon to be momma of three, pass them along my way!

Funny...

We have been laughing with this video all week. Especially since we've been flying and been in airports for several days.

Snap it SHUT! That's my favorite part.

Enjoy!

HOPE group fun

Last week we did a Mission Night to help our dear Rivers and send her off to Africa with some fun stuff for the kids she will be ministering to.

We made t-shirts, painted crosses and crafted a few cards as well as buying supplies for her to take. We had so much fun. Who knew these people could get so crafty? Check out the pics!


The t-shirt crew...



The baby-holding crew...



The painting crew...



What an attractive hope group we have! We'll miss ya'll this summer! Love you!

Swimsuit Season

Much to my dismay, swimsuit season is upon us. I walked through Target the other day and saw racks and racks of bikinis on display. Anything modest in the bunch? Nope.

Sad to say, it is difficult to find a swimsuit that covers adequately if you are a girl. I even have a hard time finding one piece swimsuits for Taylor. Crazy how young you can be and have our culture permeate your clothing choices. It's not even easy to find a shirt for Taylor Joy that isn't spaghetti straps these days.

There's an awesome link on the right side of this blog, called Modesty Survey under "Promote Modesty" in the Things I Do. It's a project of the REBELution, which was started by Brett and Alex Harris (Josh Harris' brothers...of Sovereign Grace...what an amazing family!). Anyway, this is a study that surveyed 1600+ guys about modesty and specific articles of clothing that women wear, including comments about those articles of clothing.

I went there before I purchased my swimsuit and browsed through what these men had to say about swimsuits in particular. I highly recommend reading the results of these before you head out to purchase your new swimsuit so that we can be mindful of the opposite sex this summer. They will appreciate our thoughtfulness too!

In case you are having a hard time finding a modest swimsuit like I was, check out these websites:

Lime Ricki
Shade Clothing
Academy (has lots of skirts you can wear as bottoms. I think the one I bought is actually a tennis skirt. I would recommend going there.)

Also, here's a series of great articles by C.J. Mahaney about modesty and what it says about the attitude of our hearts. I highly recommend reading these articles or listening to this sermon.

Anyway, I thought it might be a nice reminder to some of you to consider our brothers when we are making our summer clothing choices, especially swimsuits. Happy shopping and swimming! We are so excited about heading out to the pool!

Girly Lapdesks

I made these sweet little lapdesks for Taylor Joy and one of her friends. They were completely simple and easy to make.

1. First, Michael's carries these and often puts them on sale. I think I got these for $5 each.

2. Then, grab some cute coordinating scrapbook paper and stickers that are flat (no 3D) and some Sharpies.

3. Get creative writing the name and placing all your decorations on the lapdesk.

4. Go to town with Modge Podge. I used matte and sponged it on so it wouldn't get that streaky look to it.

Makes a great gift for someone else or for your own children. Taylor loves to use it around the house and it keeps her from having to sit at the table to color or use her markers. Beckett is actually past the point of eating crayons and is beginning to enjoy coloring so I may have to make one for him next.

Having your kids decorate their own isn't a bad idea if they are older. Then, they can take pride in what they have made and get to creating more fun stuff on it!

Preggo Update

It's been awhile and this little baby has decided to have a growth spurt and to become wildly active. Just at 26 weeks and I am enjoying the pregnancy and have been for the past few weeks.

A little more energy, a possibility that I won't have to take a nap is a wonderful thing. I've been crafting, redecorating, painting and thinking of all sorts of home improvement and decor projects that I want to undertake. Maybe this extra energy splurge is a nesting instinct that has taken over my body. I don't know.

I have also been thinking about stocking my freezer with meals like the Money-Saving Mom once I get a little closer to my due date. I'm hoping that I will only have to go to the store every 2 weeks after the baby is born. I can always send Allen if we need bananas (a staple in our home) or milk in between.

So, here's a question: Do you have an amazing meal that translates well in the freezer? If so, please let me know! Post a comment or email it to me. I want to make sure it will freeze and cook well.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Picture Update

Here are lots of pictures from the past few weeks that I have been meaning to post, including: a circus outing, hanging with Uncle Ryan and Aunt Cate when they came into town, Easter festivities, among others like bath time.

Taylor Joy has become quite the photographer these days and she LOVES doing it. She took all the pictures in the Ryan/Cate segment. It's actually nice that she can take them for us! Anyway, enjoy! I'm working on a preggo update as well.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Easter Reflections/Ideas

I know this is late coming and it's because Easter caught me a bit off guard this year. Just as we took the month of December to do our Advent activities and reflected on the birth of Jesus and what His coming into the world means for us, I wanted to spend a good part of this week reflecting on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us as believers.

I have recommended it before, but will do so again, Noel Piper's Treasuring God in Our Traditions has some great ideas for making Easter meaningful for both you and your children. For the past two years we have used her idea for the Easter Mountain and Taylor seemed to understand it more this year.

I wasn't able to implement this idea this year, but will definitely do it next year...Lent candles. It is the same idea that's behind the Advent candles but you snuff out a candle each week during Lent. Since we have very young children I would probably condense the time period and make it shorter. On Easter Sunday, all the candles are lit to represent the resurrection of our Lord, the Light of the world! I think this is a great idea as well.

Tomorrow we will be making the traditional Resurrection Buns. This will be a first for me, so I hope they turn out. Taylor Joy and I will be making them in the morning with me explaining each step to her and how it symbolizes the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And then we get to eat the yummy goodness! So fun!

Also, though we've never really participated in Easter egg hunts, a few families from our church decided to do one this year that would be particularly meaningful. In addition to hiding candy-filled eggs, Resurrection Eggs will also be hidden. After the hunt is over, we will go through each egg in order and explain the real story of Easter to our children. We plan to paint crosses and have a picnic lunch as well. I am excited to share the day with other precious families in our body. I just pray it doesn't rain!

I'll leave you with a meditation from my hubby:


In preparation for this weekend’s worship service, I would encourage you to consider the gravity of the event we remember today and the significance it holds for you and me. Listen to Matthew’s description:

“Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?’ For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up…So, when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’ And all the people answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’ Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified” (Matt. 27:15-18, 24-26).

What a beautiful, terrible, irony. The sinless Son of God traded for the sinful Barabbas, accused of rebellion and murder. Instead of desiring justice for a known criminal, the crowd persuaded Pilate to cater to their rebellion against God and murder Jesus.

This event takes on further signifance when you understand that in Hebrew, “Barabbas” means, “son of daddy.” On Good Friday, Jesus, the sinless Son of God was crucified instead of you and me - sinful sons and daughters of sinful daddies. Truly did Isaiah prophesy: “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Is. 53:5-6).

Consider the Great Exchange tonight and praise God for sending his Son to assume your guilt and your punishment.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

This is too funny...

Oh, Beckett...

Oh, do I have a story to tell. For those who are mothers of boys this kind of stuff probably happens everyday, and although I have had many incidents, this was probably the most frightening. It opened my eyes to the kinds of things that may be happening in my life for the next 17 years or so.

As I was driving to H-E-B to do some grocery shopping, ironically, I was talking to my friend Janette (who lives in NC) and giving her all the necessary updates on my life, including our dear Beckett and what he has been up to. I told her that he has changed from this sweet, cuddly, content baby into a WILD man lately. He is as curious as ever, loud, angry if he doesn't get what he wants, he babbles constantly, he never sits still...and I thought he would be my easy child! He is still VERY sweet and may even cuddle you, but you would have to catch him sitting still, which is rare.

Anyway, we get off the phone and I go in to do my shopping, with both kids in tow. I am pretty much done with no major breakdowns and I head for the checkout. I begin to unload my items, pleased with the how pleasant this trip has been...no one needed to potty right in the middle of shopping, no one threw a fit when there weren't any tortillas for sampling and the chips didn't even get crushed by one of my kids. Success! Right? Wrong!

I turn around to grab some more items and I see Beckett with the Jet-Dry tipped back as he is busy "sampling" it. I pretty much freaked out. I don't know if I made any loud noises but if I did it was one of absolute horror. I grabbed the bottle from him, after which he began licking his lips to get the last of it, I suppose. I quickly turned it over and it said to drink water if ingested.

Coaching myself to begin thinking clearly, I walked straight over to the aisle where there were some sippy cups and grabbed one and then back to the register where there were cold drinks and grabbed a bottle of water. I poured the water into the sippy cup and intently watched as my little boy drank it. He seemed okay. I breathed. The lady behind the counter breathed.

My sister called at the very moment all this was happening and I told her (probably very frantically) to look up Cascade Clean Rinse and see what I need to do. She called back right after that and said I did the right thing. If he was nauseated to take him to the doctor.

Hours later I was still watching him and he was fine. He was laughing, playing, fussing, getting into everything just like normal.

So...the moral of this story is: Boys are dangerous. Beckett is one of these. I CANNOT take my eyes off this baby because he is into EVERYTHING. And that Cascade needs to get protective seals for their products. So not cool.

First Service

March 29th, 2009 || Posted by Allen Duty

We had our very first worship service last night, and it was an amazing time. I’m so thankful for the way that God has brought such a diverse and committed group of people together to achieve his own purposes. As I stood back and watched everyone working to get the building ready for worship, I was grateful for all the different passions and talents that were represented in our group. New Life has everything from great cooks to great administrators, and I’m thankful to God for bringing each person to our church.

I was also blessed by the support we received from those who are members of Living Hope and Living Hope - Bryan. Some came last night just to encourage and bless us, such as our longtime friends, the VandeVanters. It meant so much to me to be able to look out and see people who are praying for us and who want to see God do great things.

Ladies, I certainly hope you were both challenged and encouraged by the message last night. I have gotten to know so many of you during my years in College Station, and Kendra and I have benefitted tremendously from knowing you. I pray that God would continue to teach you to cultivate a gentle and quiet spirit, and that you would renew your commitment to being an amazing example to your husband (if you are married) and the younger women around you. Men, encourage your wives and the younger women around you by considering them in view of God’s standards. Praise the “imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” instead of only praising external beauty, and help us raise the standard to biblical womanhood.

Next week, we’ll consider 1 Peter 3:7. Men, let’s be ready to hear how God would speak to us about living with our wives in an understanding way.

Launching New Life

March 24th, 2009 || Posted by Allen Duty

After months of praying, fasting, hoping, and planning, New Life will have its first worship service Saturday night at 5 p.m. For those who have been a part of the core group for some time now, excitement is mixed with reservation.

Did we make the right decisions? Did we hear clearly from God? Are we prepared to faithfully care for those God brings to us?

To all those questions, I would simply answer that God has proven, once again, that he is sovereign and that he is faithful. Proverbs 16:9 reminds us, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps,” and Psalm 100:5 declares, “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

It is greatly encouraging to know we serve a God whose plans we cannot spoil and who is faithful to his perfect will. New Life would have looked entirely different if it would have been planted in August or September or December. But God has determined to use those he has brought and those he will bring this March, along with all of our different callings, gifts, and passions, to shape New Life into the local church he desires.

Are we ready for Saturday? Of course not. We are still in the process of determining how God desires us to be the tangible expression of his body in College Station, Texas. What we do know is that God has made it clear through what he has done that he desires to do great things in and through New Life. We hope that God will move in your heart to join him and us where he is at work.

*Check out our new website: New Life* (more functionality to follow...)

Submission to Masters

Allen's second part of submission in 1 Peter. This part is about submission to masters, such as a boss or a professor, depending on what stage of life you're in. Next week, wives! Submission to our husbands!

Listen here.

1 Peter 2:18-25

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (ESV)