Cowboy A for a Day and other “stuff”

When we first moved to Texas I thought it was funny how when you think of TX you think of cowboys, etc.  You did see that some in the metroplex but there are so many people there from other areas that it is not as prevalent.  However, where we are now it is definitely the norm.  One of the men in our church is what they call a “day cowboy” meaning that his occupation is a cowboy.  He and his wife live on what they call a camp or section of a really big ranch near us.  He is responsible for 37000 acres!  He has to take care of all the cattle on his camp.  I can’t remember how many that is but a lot.  Since we have been here A has always wanted to spend the day with him to see what all he does so last week he had the opportunity to do that.  A is always interested in things he doesn’t know a lot about and the better we can understand those we minister to, the better we feel we can minister to them and it is always good to get to spend some one on one time with them in their surroundings.  SO, he headed out early.Mr. Jeff (or Cowboy Jeff!) getting his horse ready for the day.  Actually this was A’s horse for the day.Love this picture!  It is SO TEXAS!!!  He drives so far and then gets on horse to work.As “Cowboy” as my man gets!!!

He really enjoyed it and I am glad he got to do something out of the norm.

Other Stuff:

Our days are better!  We still need more structure BUT it is getting better. 

Sallie’s hair gets cuter every day!

A blow up pool has helped make our lives easier.  Well except for the fact that they are in and out, in and out and tracking in and out, in and out but it has been good.  We all get in!  Talk about redneck central!!!  I told Ell that I just closed my eyes and envisioned we were somewhere tropical!  Of course reality sets in when I open my eyes and see what appears to be more like a desert!  A flat, dry DESERT!  It is so hot that you have to be in water to be outside!  SO, we will just be rednecks!

Lizzie and Millie have their dance recital this weekend.  Have no idea how that will go.  I expect tears and no dancing but maybe not!  They are excited but we will see if it lasts when they are on the big stage and the spotlights hit them.  Lizzie is thrilled to wear a little makeup for the first time! 

11 days from today and A and Ell head to Africa.  Please pray!  I know this is not about ME and I don’t want it to be but I am being honest in saying that I dread them leaving (REALLY dread it!)  Yes it is hard work by myself here but more than that it is just lonely.  Unless you have had your spouse or child travel out of the country like that it is hard to comprehend.  It is just different than them being somewhere else.  The girls miss them like crazy too.  They do well but they still miss them.  I do not worry about them at all.  I just miss them!  Pray that our days go quickly and smoothly and we find fun ways to fill our days and the girls are at peace.  Pray that instead of me thinking about being alone I will spend that time praying for the trip.  Especially pray for A, Ell, and the rest of the team.  Pray for smooth travels.  Pray for their health.  Several of the team members have some health issues.  Pray for their safety. Pray that the Lord will use this time with each team member to draw them closer than ever to HIM!  Most of all pray for them to be sensitive to THE Spirit and do what God would have them to do, even if it is not “in the plan”.  Pray for the people of Namibia and whoever else the Lord places in their path.  Pray that they will receive what the Lord has in store for them.  Pray for the precious children who will be coming to VBS.  Pray that they will be attentive to God’s word and to the team members who are delivering His message.  Pray that the team members will be led by the Spirit in sharing the plan of salvation with everyone they come into contact with.  We never want someone to just say what we want to hear when it comes to salvation.  It must be real!  For those of you who have helped us to make it possible for A and Ell to take this trip-THANK YOU!  Thank you for not only touching our hearts but for your faithfulness and obedience to our Lord! 

Has It Only Been a Week?

I would love to tell you that we are just having a wonderful summer, etc, etc  BUT the truth is, it is a madhouse around here!  Hopefully really soon we will get used to all being together again and get into a summer routine.  Hopefully!  We are already driving each other crazy and we haven’t made it a week yet!   This week has seemed SO long!  These are just a few highlights of the week.

It is already so hot outside!  It was 113 last Saturday!  Unreal!  So, we can only take being outside a little at the time. 

The little girls do love gathering the veggies from the garden!  Yes, Lizzie has on a cheerleader uniform in the garden.  If you know Lizzie, no further explanation is needed.  If you don’t, well, that’s just Lizzie!

This picture is very indicative of our days!  The wind here blows hard all the time but lately it has been worse.  This day you could hardly stand up and you can tell it on the girl’s faces!A has worked so hard in the garden.  Thank you!I love getting fresh veggies from our garden!  Delicious!Sat nt Sallie decided she needed bangs and a MANY layers!  She was supposed to be asleep and she got up and did this…  Pictures simply cannot show how bad it was.  She cut chunks all on the sides….  Yes, you can imagine my reaction!  I know, I know I need to work on not being so vain (especially when it comes to my girls!)  Elleigh said it looked mulletish!  I am not sure what you call it!We already had an appt for today to get haircuts so we waited until then to see what our stylist could do.  I am not a bangs fan but what can you do?  I think it does look better.  The only cure is TIME!!! Thankfully her hair grows fast. Told you it has been crazy around here!

On a good note, our sweet friend from AL, Mrs. Abbey had her baby this week!  How cute is he?  Mrs. Abbey is one of the most thoughtful, caring people on this earth and has spoiled our girls like crazy and we are thrilled that she is Cooper’s mommy!   Oh how I would love to hold him!

There has to be more to our week than that!  Maybe it is not healthy for me to be able to recall it ALL!!! 

Hall Happenings

I had to look at my memory card to remember what all has been happening lately!  The last few weeks feel like a blur! 

Last week we finished Awana for the school year.  We had our awards ceremony/family night.  Since this is our first yr there was lots to do to get it together.  There will be every yr but just figuring out how it all should go took more time.  We were supposed to have a bounce house and big water slide and the wind was terrible that day so for safety reasons the guy who does them would not put them up.  SO, you can imagine the disappointment of the kids.  It was a crazy day!  But, we made it through and we have a little break.  Of course, I am already planning for next yr.  I teased A that I was resigning as Commander at the Awards Ceremony.  He told me NO!  It has been hectic and at times very frustrating but above all it has been wonderful to watch God work! 

Lizzie and Millie were both Cubbies this year.  They learned 27 verses of scripture and they recited one each aloud during the Awards Ceremony.  Next yr Lizzie will move up to Sparks and Millie will still be a Cubbie!  Once again, another transition for them.Sallie and Hanna!  They will move up to Truth & Training next yr.  Not looking forward to that either!Elleigh and her friend Alexis.  I only got a few pics.  I always have to rely on others for church pics because I never have time to make any.  Thankfully there are a couple of people who take a lot and are always good to give them to me.Sallie’s homeroom teacher is having a baby in Sept.  so we thought it would be fun for her class to give her a Baby Shower before they got out of school.

I made the cupcakes and normally I am such a perfectionist that I am always finding something wrong with whatever I do but I was actually pleased with them!  A’s mom gave us the pampered chef decorator for Christmas and I love it.  I have my icing recipe down, now I just need to work on a good cake recipe.  Mrs. Davis and I.  This is their first baby and they are so excited.  Her husband is a PE teacher at the Elem School and football coach at the HS. This is their first yr here so she and I have figured out a lot about how they do things here together.  She is a precious Christian young lady and I praise God for allowing Sallie to have her as a teacher this year!  I get very emotional thinking about how HE worked it all out.  She is her general ed teacher but she has a huge heart and special way with special needs children.  She is fabulous!!!Opening her gift from SallieThe kids had a great time!  I had them to bring her gift to her one at a time and they felt so special!Several years ago A began going on a Father/Daughter campout with some friends from our church in Fort Worth.  The last time he went Lizzie and Millie were babies.  He is always looking for ways to build relationships with those from church in a setting outside of church.  So he decided to do the Father/Daughter campout this year here.  We were unsure about the response but 7 men and 13 girls ended up going and they had a good time. Ell said she really realized how her Daddy is always the pastor no matter where they are.  She said it was “Bro. Aaron can we do…., Bro. Aaron can we do….?”  I think sometimes she just wants him to be her Daddy!  I understand!  Sometimes I just want him to be my husband!The state park they went to has a lake so they loved that.  BTW, I am impressed with the # of pics they took!  I send them with the camera and always accuse them of not taking any pics for me to see so good job!Lizzie and Millie have plenty of older girls who LOVE them and see about them like they are babies!

Sallie’s Field Day/Water Day was this week and she had a blast!  Here she is getting off the water slide (same one we were supposed to have at church last week!)I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!  Her face makes my day!  I love to see her having fun!Looks like they are letting Layni (in front of Sallie) do all the work!Coming out of the obstacle courseSallie and Hanna doing the 3 legged race

AND Sallie’s last day of 2nd Grade…AND Elleigh’s last day of Junior High…  I refuse to let it sink in right now that she is going to High School! 

SO, here we are!  Our first day of Summer “Break”!  Sallie and Lizzie were up at 6:30 with the TV blaring and fighting!  The high temp today was 104 and it is not even June!  HAPPY SUMMER!!!

The Last Days

NO, this is NOT a post about THE Last Days!  There is enough hype about that.  I will say concerning that, we never know when it is going to be so we better be ready.  One thing is for sure, it is getting closer every day.  I think we forget that even if we know our eternal destination we will still face judgement for what we have done here…  Are we doing what He has called us to do?  Do we live like today may be the last and we might not have another opportunity to live for him? 

Now, the real reason for this post!  I currently have 3.5 days left (just the three of us) with Lizzie and Millie…  I REALLY can not believe we are in our last days!  Our lives are about to change drastically and NO, I am NOT ready!  Of course the real question is, Is Millie ready?  I don’t think so.  She cried the day we registered Lizzie for Kindergarten so that is not a good sign!  She kept saying, “I don’t want her to go to Kindergarten”  Me either baby girl, me either!  They have been together every step and it breaks my heart that they are in their last days of spending nearly every minute together.  I know that new friends are about to enter the picture for Lizzie and I know the sadness and confusion that may bring to Millie.  I am beyond thankful for being called to stay home with them.  It has been a wonderful experience!  As much as I worried about it to begin with, I am so grateful that they are only 1 year apart.  It has been great to watch the bond between them.  SO, I am grateful and sad, very grateful and very sad…

Their first meeting!  Neither look very impressed at this point!

BUT, they slowly warmed up to each other!

And soon, they were inseparable!

Lizzie, still a baby herself took on the role of big sister very quickly.  The Lord knew she needed someone to take care of (and to BOSS!)And to LOVE!!!Millie has followed her every step!They have gotten into A LOT together!They have PLAYED!  Gone to pre-school togetherAnd PLAYED!Gone to dance togetherBeen silly togetherI will for sure miss our mornings together.  We get Ell and Sall off to school and the first hour of our morning is pretty lazy.  Lizzie and Millie plan out their day during this time.They’ve done “school” togetherThey’ve come up with a lot of plans together!They’ve carried out A LOT of plans together!  They are quite the team!Somedays look A LOT like this!Playing beauty shop with a can opener and scrap material!But now the time has come and with paperwork in hand we registered for Kindergarten…She buckled herself in her booster seat and I took her to do what I have dreaded for 4 plus years…

We will miss our days with OUR PRINCESS!

I do look very forward to my days with this little girl-so full of energy and just pure delight!!!  I have never been alone with her so I am anxious for that one on one time with her before welllll…..  I just can’t talk about that right now!  She is mine for another year!

I realize there is a special bond between them and I know they will still remain close and still have lots to share together over the years but this is a strange time in our lives.  I have been home with Lizzie since she was 10 months and obviously they have been together always so it will be a change.  I appreciate your prayers for all 3 of us as we prepare for this change.