Nature Walk

Today the children and I went and checked out a nature preserve with various hiking trails. We were pleasantly surprised to see some bluebonnets along one of the trails. We also saw butterflies, turtles, berries, and much more! I love walking with my children and seeing them get excited about the things they observe. This place had a really neat play area too. Afterwards we went to an adjoining park and had a very nice picnic together. This was a natural preserve, so it wasn't landscaped as a botanical garden would be. It was a different kind of beauty. It made me laugh when Annagrace sweetly asked why everything she saw was rotten. There were many dead limbs, shrubs, etc. in the thick of the woods there. I am thankful for sweet times with my children!

A Portrait of Mama

Recently we took a trip to children's museum. My sweet four year old daughter painted this picture of her Mama. :)

A Trip to the Houston Zoo

"O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. - Ps 104:24







It has been sooo long since I have posted anything on this blog. Life has just been crazy busy, and I have been snowed under and a bit sick. Looking back on these pictures revives my spirit to remember the sweet memories we created with our friends at the zoo. They were so sweet to go spend the day with us while our Daddy was traveling.
I think it is wonderful to go to the zoo and see God's great creativity in all the creatures He made. Such differentiation in size, color, behaviors, etc. There are many Biblical lessons we can teach our children from the world of nature. For example we can see the sloth and talk about how God does NOT want us to be lazy, or we can look at ants and talk about how they work storing up food for winter, etc.
Well, here are some pictures from our trip to the Houston Zoo.

Zoo Pictures Continued

Lauren and Gabriel had a fabulous time in the bird cage. It was so funny to see birds swarming around them and landing on their arms and heads. They REALLY liked the birds.

The Zoo

Beatiful Flowers!

Here is a continuation of pictures from our trip to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. We had such fun seeing all the variety there. We could have spent longer, but it began to rain on us while we were on the nature trail. We must have been a sight running with two strollers and three children on foot. We made it before the down pour but I was really worried for a while. We were way out on the trail when we first felt sprinkles. Praise the Lord He helped us get back in time.

San Antonio Botanical Gardens

As I said in my last post, the Lord gave us an unexpected opportunity to create some family memories. Due to the bat invasion, we decided to evacuate our home for five days. The question was, "Where to go?" Well, Daddy was already planning on leaving for a conference in San Antonio. We decided to just go with him. All seven of us were crammed in one hotel room, but we brought sleeping bags and made it work. The children and I spent one day at the zoo and one day at the botanical gardens. The gardens were so much fun! It was beautiful, and spring had not yet arrived. I would love to go back and see the beauty in the spring time. We had fun going on a nature trail, walking through different sorts of gardens and habitats, etc. There was even a log cabin along a nature trail. It was really fun. After all the walking we had lunch in their lunch room and then visited the gift shop.
I am not one who has experience going into an unfamiliar city and driving around. The Lord took care of everything, however, as Matt had just recently discovered my GPS on my phone. I was able to type in zoo or botanical gardens and have step by step directions.
After three nights in San Antonio we drove back to our home, met the bat people so they could treat the house, and then drove to East Tx for two more nights away from home. We were up and down the road, and let me just remind you that none of this was planned for. The Lord really carried us through all of the last minute decision making, packing, and even sustaining me in health as I was still recovering from the flu. His grace is sufficient in time of need.
Yesterday Lauren even wistfully said how she was missing San Antonio. We will have sweet memories of our unplanned for vacation. :)

Never a Dull Moment

Well, as we were recovering from viruses, poison ivy, and the flu we had a visitor arrive at our house. Would you believe this scary fellow got into the house while I was out grocery shopping and Matt was watching all five children? Not only that, but Matt was in the process of bathing the little girls when Lauren and Gabriel ran upstairs screaming the announcement of our visitor. Matt, my wonderful batman, corralled all the children to safety, got the bat locked up in the schoolroom and then proceeded to do business with him. Thankfully Matt won the battle. As a result of bats inhabiting our attic, our family of seven went on a last minute unplanned trip for five days. More about that in a future post................God uses all things for our good and His glory. Even in the midst of all the stress and exhaustion we had some fun unplanned for times during our time away.

The Van

Here is an exterior picture of our new "BUS." We are LOVING the van. Our previous suburban had benches in the back, so it was hard to get everyone situated especially in the rear bench. There was no middle or side aisle for accessing the back row. The van, on the other hand, has a side row, and I can get to the back if I need to.

Today we took a family outing to the local garden centers. Daddy hitched up the trailor, and we loaded the family and took off. As we neared our destination we explained to the children how our family needs to reflect Christ by operating as a well functioning family. We explained that we would need to walk as a family unit and with cooperation through the garden center. We would be careful to not all be talking at once, and we would try to honor our Lord by our behavior. Lauren was given the task of pushing Abbie Joy, in the umbrella stroller, and I carried Lilly Faith in the sling.

We were blessed to get our purchases at eighty percent off; what a savings! The kids did super well. The lady at the check out complimented them by telling them that, "They were the best behaved children to ever come through there." We affirmed their valiant effort to be obedient and glorify the Lord.

We then went to Whataburger for lunch. We got LOTS of stares as we parked our big "BUS" which was carrying a trailer of plants, filed five kids into the Whataburger and took them all to the bathroom. We felt like EVERY EYE was upon us. We could feel the stares. :) I think we were really an unusual sight, but we had a blast. We told the children we think we might be nearing the time that we could consider a long family road trip. I think it just might be doable with the new van.

I love this sweet picture of Lauren with the plants. She LOVES nature and the great outdoors. We bought her her own Crepe Mirtle tree as she is going to have her own flower garden towards the back of our property. She is super excited, and I am looking forward to seeing her creativity.

Another Sacrifice

Well, the journey of parenting is a road of many sacrifices. God is constantly doing a sanctifying work in my life through the challenges and struggles of being a mother. This journey is full of joy and blessing, but it demands a dying to self in many areas of life. Before I had children I had NO IDEA how hard it can be sometimes. I could not fathom the depth of sacrifice and strain that parenting requires. Sometimes the level of chaos and intensity of one day is just unbelievable. I think no matter how hard you try you really cannot describe how hard parenting can sometimes be. The only way to find out is to become a parent yourself. I must say, however, that all the stretching, growing, sacrificing, etc. is soooo worth it. Nothing has ever been so hard as being a mother and yet the joy and fulfillment are beyond measure. I am thankful for the high calling of motherhood, and that the Lord has entrusted me with this beautiful privilege. I am also thankful that He is using all the fatigue, chaos, and weightiness of the responsibility to prune my character and draw me close to Himself. I KNOW I am not adequate in my own strength and am forced to run to Him for guidance and strength.

Well, all of that to share with you that Matt and I recently made another sacrifice in our parenting journey. I can say we were giddy with joy in knowing this is best for our family. You see we traded in our black leather, big rimmed tires, dvd player and remote suburban in for a white, twelve passenger plain jane van. :) The people at the dealership were laughing at us, and I can say we were really happy. We know the Lord has led us on this journey, and we embrace it with all of our hearts. We know we do not look cool, lots of people think we are crazy............, but we are too busy to care. We have a joy in wholeheartedly working with all our might to raise up our five children in the ways of the Lord. We are doing kingdom work; this is our life and our ministry. It is exhausting and yet wonderfully rewarding. One day we will not need the big, ugly, white van. One day maybe I will go back to plush leather interior, and I have a feeling I will look back on these days and miss carting around my van full of blessings. Yes, I will take ugly if it is the best functioning thing for our not so little family. :) By the way, I am LOVING the plain vanilla van. It is so roomy and so much easier to get kiddos in and out. God is so good providing just what we need.

Here we are back at home with our newly harvested tree!

Abbie Joy wanted to help her Daddy. :)

More Tree Farm Pictures

Strawberry Picking Time!

Who is that cute boy in the red cap? It is hard to believe, but our one and only son is seven years old now!!! How can seven years go by so fast?

We had the opportunity to take a family field trip to King's Orchard on Good Friday. The kids had a blast picking juicy, red strawberries.

It was fun to walk the long rows between the patches of strawberries.

Abbie Joy even joined in on the fun. We were supposed to wait until we purchased to eat any, but I must admit Abigail could not help herself. I did catch her take a bite out of one!

Here we are at the end of the row ready to go eat our picnic lunch. This was a really great family outing.