Countdown 1 year {That's one small step...}

on his way to toddlerhood.

Four steps on Thanksgiving night.

Wasn't he just a newborn?

Swaddled in a blanket?

Rocking in a swing?

I need to excuse myself now...

Thankful

and grateful.

For mercy & grace.

For love that abounds.

For gifts & blessings.

For His constant presence & reminders of love.

For all that we have.

Come into my home :)

We're project people.

I'd never really thought about how often we have a project going until here recently.

I discovered...we ALWAYS have a project going, or in the works.

I used to think that once I got a room JUST the way I liked it, I'd never change it again.

I was wrong.

I change my mind....a lot.

But thanks to the many blogs I am hooked on, we've discovered the fun, joy, & budget friendly way of "re-purposing."

SO fun.

That brings me to our new entryway...

Some of you have been in our home once or twice, or many times before.

You may not have ever noticed anything about our entryway.

But I noticed it everyday.

There aren't any windows. It's dark.

I wanted it to be bright & friendly.

After all it's the first & last room people see.

Sorry, these first few pictures are really terrible.

Super blurry.

Oh well.

This is our old bench/shelf unit. We loved this thing when we bought it from Target.

Then I started to be not so crazy about it...so we tweaked it a bit.

Now I LOVE it again...only it's 2 pieces now.

In 2 different rooms:).

And a different color...

Our new entry.

See how dark it is?

But with the yellow & white it feels sunny to me.

To me...that's what matters, right?:)

The once black frames befriended a fresh coat of spray paint.

And so did a few more frames.

The shelf, table, lamp, & chairs are all repainted.

The chair cushions are also recovered.

Did you know IKEA has really cool fabric?

We made the print on the wall, too.

It was way easy...except, be sure you have the CORRECT words before painting them on.

Grr. GRANT should be GIVE.

I'm just...you know...changing up the Word of GOD.

Hmm.

Alright. Have Christmas decorations, a baby birthday, Thanksgiving food, & stuff with my kids to plan.

I love the holidays. :)

Samaritan's Purse {OCC}

Samaritan's Purse is so cool.

They make you feel like you can really help people in need.

And the Christmas boxes are awesome.

They have a list on their website of great ideas of what to give.

And it makes little 3 year old girls begin to understand there's a world out there that's not like hers.

And she can serve them.

We made cards, wrote notes, & sent a family picture with our gifts.

She watched the videos on the website about where these boxes go & got excited to see kids like her, receiving special boxes like the ones we packed.

She noticed they were dirty. She noticed it made me cry.

She noticed.

And...maybe in the next few years, he'll notice too.

And...maybe they'll grow up knowing that serving others & showing Jesus' love however they can, is what our life is all about.

Thanks Samaritan's Purse. You bless so many, especially the ones who get to give.

Several churches in our area are collecting boxes THIS week!

You have until the 22nd (next Monday-the day after Mitchel's birthday!) to get them dropped off.

If you want to that is:)...

Countdown 1 year {11 months}

My baby, you are eleven months.

One more & you'll be a toddler....technically.

Only, you'll still be my baby.

You are one busy boy.

You can't stand to have your diaper changed...too much down time.

At nap time, we lay you down & you immediately stand back up to play until you finally crash.

You crawl so fast now.

It really drives you crazy when someone walks by you, you follow them, then they turn around & pass you up.

You want to be where the action is & you're good at getting there.

You cruise around anything you can hold on to.

You're getting very close to taking your first step. Each day you get a little braver.

You put everything in sight & reach in your mouth.

You love being outside.

Seeing Lilly through the back door makes you point your finger wildly, while saying, "na, na, na..." (no, no, no)

You can say hello & dad.

You are one smart baby boy.

You think the house phone is yours.

Anything that lights up or makes noise should, in your personal opinion, instantly be in your possession.

And, I only give in most of the time:)...

And you are, oh so precious.

I squish you a lot.

You've been losing a lot of squish lately, Mr. Skinny.

Way too busy to keep weight on...I should take some lessons from you.

Did I mention you're busy?

No time for picture posing...

especially with a sister distraction,

or a piano to play,

or a box to pull over on yourself,

because after all...

you do like to keep yourself occupied.

Happy 11 months Tucker B.

Now, let's pause this month for a while.

You must stay little for a while longer...just for my heart's sake.

The Great State Fair of Texas

October 6, 2010, we came, we saw, & we went:).

We love the fair.

So many memories from growing up going, from hearing our parents' stories of the same, & of taking our kids now.

It's just a plain fun place.

We hit the Pee Wee Stampede first.

For some rodeo fun.

Yeehaw!

Stick horses, cowboy hats, chaps, stick bulls.

So fun. So funny.

Got us a calf wrangler on our hands now...

Then we headed to our usual stops:

watching the dog show,

(with Grammy & Poppy- we went with them, my Aunt Sha, Uncle Barry, & Aunt Tina)

a snack:),

(thanks to Grammy & Poppy...hmm)

& a little rest,

in the sun...poor baby.

Smart girl.

Happy guy.

Petting zoo.

Pig races.

Dinner time.

Goodbye "Big Texas" (aka- Big Tex).

Until next year...can't wait to see your outfit.

embrace the camera

Ok. So, I love blogs.

It's part of my daily routine.

Wake up. Nurse a baby. Make breakfast. Clean the kitchen & read blogs at the same time;).

Or...if I'm being really honest...

forget that you were cleaning the kitchen & get lost in the land of blog.

Then come back into reality & finish chores & play with some cute kids.

Well. One of the fun blogs I wander over to every now & then:) hosts "embrace the camera" every Thursday (like the button says).

She started the fun to get us parents (mainly us moms) out from behind the camera & in to the front of it.

I really like that.

So...here's my most recent favorite dad picture. (I know, it's of Mitchel & not me, but I LOVE this picture...)

Taking encouragement from another favorite blogger, I've been trying really hard lately to change my angles & get pictures I wouldn't ordinarily get, shooting a typical picture of Parker & her daddy.

I loved how this one came out. They were looking at giraffes at the zoo.

But what I see is a sweet little girl, with her arm wrapped around her daddy's neck without a care in the world.

She has a daddy she knows loves her, that she can trust, that is strong, & can do anything.

I love that.

And I love that this picture, to me anyway, portrays that.

:)

That was fun...