Getting Involved!

Ben has made several new acquaintances who are in Cubscouts.  So...here we are!  He seemed very uninterested in joining until the day of the first informational meeting.  Steve rushed home in time to take him and I've been to the scary scout store several times, purchased the shirt, patches, neckerchief, neckerchief thing-to-hold-it-on, belt, belt buckle, & scout guide book.  It seems as if this will not be the last trip as there are LOTS of things at this store.  Oh, and we've purchased a tent.  Oh, MY!!!  

Sunday was his first Cubscout meeting.  I must say, the sweaty boy that came home with a huge smile and rumpled uniform made it all worth the trouble!

Dad and I love you, Ben!  We hope you have some good memories and make some good friends.

Band Camp

Ben started band camp this week. He is taking up the trumpet this year and he seems pretty excited about it! We are hoping for a duet by Christmastime with Uncle Eric!

Finally!!!!!

The Hulen Heights pool is open!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There was a lot of hooting and hollering and scrambling for suits, sunscreen, & towels this afternoon at our house.

I've not seen them walk this fast since last Summer!

Uh-Oh!

These boys are ready for Summer! It was the tiniest bit warm today, but we've busted out the swimsuits and water hose at our house! Beware!

Christmas Vacation: Day 13

Love is patient and kind. I Corinthians 13:4

Today was full of the after Christmas-puttinguptoys&laundry-blahs. My children are cranky & tired from being off-schedule & I'm a little cranky myself.

Love is patient and kind.

Christmas Vacation: Day 9 - 12

Sunday we had a small Commons Church breakfast and church service. It was just perfect. Afterwards, we drove to Rowlett to have "Christmas Eve" and "Christmas" with the Leatherwood family. We were able to spend several days with Eric, Allison & Baby Kate (who is not a baby anymore) before they headed back to Mississippi. We celebrated birthdays & Christmas and ate lots of yummy food. So glad we got to see all of you!

Lots of fun & presents.

So much fun it made you tired!

Christmas Vacation: Day 8

Merry Christmas!

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

We had a wonderful Christmas! We spent the morning at home and then headed to Gainesville to spend the day with Mimi, Paw Paw & the family. We enjoyed stockings, presents & food, but the highlight was a reenactment of the Christmas story produced by Mimi starring all the grandchildren.

Christmas Vacation: Day 5

We had a really fun day today! They boys played, Steve worked, and I wrapped a truckload of presents while watching: Elf, The 12 Dogs of Christmas, A Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, The Santa Clause 2 & The Santa Clause. That's a LOT of wrapping!

We also made some Christmas cookies and counted down (several times) until Jesus' birthday.






This one looks particularly good!



Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests! Luke 2: 14

Christmas Vacation: Day 4

Santa was busy today! Lots of traffic and lots of people. Whew! Glad to be home with the family. Christmas movies and the couch! YES!

Christmas Vacation: Day 3

Day 3 was full of fun for me! I was able to meet up with some of my favorite Kaufman teacher friends. Thank you Raleen, Karina & Julie for making the drive to meet me. You made my vacation! Charming Charlie's will be a favorite stop for me from now on. The boys got to play lots of video games due to my outing and they have had a blast. I made Kimberly's pumpkin cake recipe when I got home in order to host a Commons meeting. Yum! So glad she shared!

Christmas Vacation: Day 2

Today was Sunday and it was also Ben's 10th birthday. We celebrated with donuts in the morning followed by a great Christmas Sunday at Commons Church.

Directly after church we drove to Lindsay, TX to celebrate Bezner Christmas.

Afterwards, we stopped for some gas at the Runnin' Red in Gainesville.

Next stop...Movie Tavern in Denton, TX with Mimi. Ben opened some gifts.

We loaded up on junk food and watched Narnia.

The boys were on the edge of their seats. A good time was had by all!

Prayer

The boys and I have several people on our prayer list these days with serious health concerns. It's so fun to pray with them and see God answer and provide.

Please join us in praying for Beth. She helped us counsel and lead both of our boys to Christ.

We are excited to see God work!

School Days

Well, we are officially back in school. We are getting our routine down again and we seem to be doing well so far this year. We were very excited to have a day off today though!


Showing off our backpacks.


Ben's first day of 3rd grade.


Drew's first day of kindergarten.


My back to school flowers from Steve.

Summer Vacation

Vacation this year was amazing! We had no intentions of getting to go back to Disney anytime soon, but a family in our church gave us a week in a timeshare in Orlando. So, off to Disney we did go! We took my niece and sister-in-law with us and we absolutely had a blast. We spent a week in Orlando and then visited family for a week after that. It was so nice to get to rest and visit with family. We had a great time. Thank you, Ferrells, for making our vacation possible!

While we were on vacation, our kittens disappeared. I am none too sad about that, but I did help the boys make a LOST KITTEN flyer on the computer. They sweated heartily as they passed them out to the houses in our neighborhood. Still no sign of them, but I must admit, I'm not sad about not sticking my hand in stinky cat food and changing dirty cat water and sweeping the back porch twice a day. Please, no one give us any more. We have gotten over it!

Speaking of sweating, it is incredibly HOT this summer. Unless we are swimming, we are holed up in our house with blinds shut and lights off. UGH. It is too hot to do anything! I'm ready for Fall weather with Summer agenda! Is that possible?

Father's Day 2009

We had a big day on Sunday. Not only was it Father's Day, but it also happened to be the day that Steve got to baptize Ben.

Ben has been asking questions about becoming a Christian for many months, so Steve enrolled him in our church's Now That I'm a Christian class. We had workbook work to do every night for about a month. A week or two into the class he assured us that he knew what he was doing and he was ready to become a Christian. So, on May 1, 2009, a freshly showered Ben sat in his PJs in between Steve and I on the couch and asked Jesus to come into his life. It was an answer to a prayer we have been praying for 8 years. We had several weeks where we were super busy and it wasn't "convenient" for Ben to go down front (petting zoos, meetings, etc) but finally the big Sunday came and Ben went down to talk to Pastor Brent and tell him that he was ready to be baptized. It turned out that Father's Day was the next available Sunday that baptisms were happening and all the grandparents could attend. It was a perfect day. Ben smiled from ear to ear all day. We had ham and all the fixings for a big Sunday lunch and lots of family came to share this special day.

Thank you all for making the trip to Kaufman. It is a day that we will always remember!

Fun in the Sun in January

Put a Face on Your Pumpkin!

Something to Blog About!!!

Ben lost his first tooth! We've been wiggling and wiggling and Dad finally finished the job. There is already a permanant tooth in place. Ben was quite excited. The tooth fairy had no change, so he left $5.00. YIKES!!! Did he forget that we have a mouthful to lose yet?

Things You Get to do if you Live in the Country

Kaufman is definitely in the country. We have cows that come up to our back fence; coyotes that howl and keep us up at night; snakes, frogs, and mice around the house; and rabid skunks on the school playground that kept the kinder students inside for weeks. However, there is a big bonus in that you also have friends that own horses. Ben is getting to ride a little with his friend Blain and he LOVES it. Thanks, Murreys, for taking him along.