"god's girls"

since kindergarten, my children have attended a small private school that they just love.

in our search for the "right" school, it became pretty clear that there are no perfect schools.

we did, however, find the right school for our children and family for now.

there are things i would like to change about the school, but there are also many things we love.

one of those things we love is a high percentage of parent involvement. i know all the teachers and faculty pretty well and they know my children. it is a christian school and values and character are held high. if my child is having a rough day, their teacher will pray for them. i can always get a personal explanation of anything that happened that day, whether it is good news or bad. our school experience ends up feeling like we are all apart of a big family. the smaller classrooms allow for those personal touches.

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my oldest daughter, cami, entered the 3rd/4th grade classroom this year. before the start of the school year, i felt god put those girls in that class on my heart. i have watched cami and her friends become a little more ruthless to one another over the years and i didn't like what i was seeing.

cami's new teacher won the "teacher of the year award" last year. she is wonderful in every way! she was open to the idea of me starting a girl's club and maybe meeting with the girls every quarter to encourage them and teach them things about friendship.

in september, we met for the first time. i learned all 12 of their names and they got to learn a little bit about me as well. i brought them little treats and gave each one a special friendship bracelet to wear. they promised to value each other and treat everyone with respect. i taught a quick lesson and we discussed some things about respect. we even came up with a name for our club.

since then, the girls have been really excited to meet again. so much so, that the teacher has suggested that we meet each month now. there seems to be a unity between them and their excitement has run off on me. i think something like this is very important. girls need to learn early on to encourage and uplift one another. friendships should be valued and we all need tips on working things out.

i can't wait to meet with them next week! maybe i will start to share with you our lessons :)

let us praise him with music and song

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come, let us sing with joy to the LORD. let us give a 

loud shout to the Rock who saves us.

let us come to him and give him thanks. let us praise

him with music and song.

the LORD is the great GOD. he is the greatest

KING. he rules over all of the gods.

Psalm 95:1-3

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my daughters attend a private christian school and part of their requirement each month is to learn and memorize an assigned scripture. this was the scripture for the month of november for my first-grader. i thought is was so beautiful and relevant for this season.

i'm so glad that we can praise him with music and song because our family is very musical. 

my husband plays the drums for our church and has been playing them since i met him at the ripe old age of 12. he can play the piano, bass, guitar, and can sing a mean harmony as well. 

his love for music is just one of the many reasons why i love him so.

i too have a love for music and learned to play the piano at a young age. 

i'm no musical talent like my husband. i have to practice a lot and 

i don't play by ear, but i love worshiping God with music.

i also get the privilege to play and sing with our praise & worship band.

my daughters both love music (as if they have a choice). 

my oldest is learning piano, while my youngest aspires to be like dad and play the drums.

on occasion, we all four get together and write and play a songs as a family for fun.

does anyone else out there have a love for music or play an instrument?

thanksgiving count down!!!

well, october came and went!

 

and now we are counting down the days until thanksgiving...my favorite holiday!

 we got this adorable thanksgiving advent calender from pottery barn a few years ago and it has been a wonderful tradition that we look forward to every year!

 

a few years ago, all four of us wrote down several things that we are thankful for on the back of paper "turkey" feathers and we pull one out everyday leading up to thanksgiving and read it together.

 

once pulled, the feathers then go on tom the turkey!

he is not the prettiest turkey in the world, but my girls love him dearly :)

 it is fun to rediscover each year what we all wrote.

this was one of our latest feathers. 

my husband wrote this one referring to our cat.

 here he is laying in our new window seat.

family traditions are very special to us!

these guys are what i feel so grateful for everyday!

 

do you have any fun thanksgiving traditions leading up to the big day?

it's been awhile...

i have been occupying my time with "catch up" projects around the house and organizing...organizing...organizing!!!

i love organization!!! however, the process is painful!

i will update everyone very soon on the current projects that stole my time from blogging.

but...

like any normal person...i finish up my projects in the house and then i question if i really like it :)

i drive my husband CRAZY!!! and rightfully so...

our last major project around the house, before the holidays, is taking place in my backyard right now.

it's a small project, but i am really excited for it

and i love checking things off my "wish" to-do-list :)

pictures to come, people...i promise!

speaking of pictures....

i finally made it on pinterest and i'm hooked!

follow me here!

this is my favorite pic right now-i love globes, kids, and rooms that are inviting
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my next "project" will be to update this blog account!

 

never stand under a window washer!!!

my arrival to work this morning was very ordinary; however, entering the building was anything but ordinary.

as i turn the corner, i see a window washer up on the fourth floor right above the entry door.

i stop right in my tracks and watch in amazement at how someone could actually have the nerve to do that for a living. it looks terrifing to me!

he notices me and then immediately apoligizes for the inconvience. then he insists that i enter the building as he tries to stop the rain of soapy water from showering down below.

i hesitate at first, but then i decide to try my best and hurry despite the fact that my badge is always super slow at unlocking the door.

as a child ducking the cold water under a sprinkler, i approach the door and start swipping the stupid badge like a crazy person. staring at the red light in hopes of it changing to green soon, i realize that this water is not going to stop dripping!

just then, i hear him say, "oh man!" then...CRASH!!!

he dropped his squegee and he didn't even give me a proper heads up! needless to say, i jumped back, screeched a little, and then began double-time on my badge! it scared me to death!

i then began imagining him daggling on an unraveling rope overhead like a cartoon anvil. i had seen this scene a thousand times in my childhood and i know how it ends. i had real fear that i could die in a matter of seconds!

i started thinking he could have planned this whole thing in an attempt to kill the next sucker that walked by when, "click" the door finally opened and i was safe from the window washer murderer!

after feeling like i had just starred in some quirky sitcom, i thanked God that i survived that tramatic experience. i was a little irritated with that man and hoped he had to climb down and get his stupid squegee.

but, in a matter of seconds, i heard him at our windows wiping away. he must keep a spare.

sweet berry farm in the fall

 for the past 3 years, we have come back to this charming family owned farm.

 we love taking different pictures of the girls with all the harvest!

 this was a beautiful display of guards growing on vines.

this was my first time seeing something like this.

 the zinnias were beautiful as usual!

 the girls got to make sand art this trip, which they enjoyed mixing up later.

 fall isn't the same without plenty of pictures with pumpkins.

 it's tradition that everyone gets to pick out their own mini pumpkin for our table.

 off to the right you can see my mother-in-law taking a break on the ground. 

(needless to say we wore them out ;)

i think this was the kid's favorite shot! they love their candy corn!

cari is holding some yummy ice cream. 

they even have pumpkin ice cream which was my favorite.

do you visit a farm or pumpkin patch during the fall too?

october 16, 1999

this past sunday, october 16th, marks a special day for me.

it was the day when my high-school sweetheart proposed to me.

it is hard to believe that happened 12 years ago, 

but i remember the special moment like it was yesterday.

during a church outreach event at longer park in luling texas, a very nervous 20-year-old grabbed the microphone from his father and asked for me to come up on stage with him. grinning ear to ear, i met him on stage knowing very well that he was about to ask me something very important. he read aloud the famous proverb found in chapter 31 of the bible. it describes the virtuous woman and he spoke it to me. he then placed his bible on the ground and knelt on it while presenting me with my engagement ring. he promised that the word of god would be the foundation of our marriage, and he has kept his promise all these years.

of course, i said yes.

this goes on record as one of the biggest surprises of my life 

(right next to finding out i was pregnant for the first time).

my family was there, friends were there, and even strangers including a group of motorcyclists that just happened to be passing by.

he did this not because he enjoys to speak in front of people. he hates it, actually. he did it for me. 

he did it to prove how much he loves me. 

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thank you chad for choosing me and for loving me despite the fact that i haven't come close to becoming the virtuous woman that you deserve. i'll keep working at it! love you with all my heart and always will!