Documented Proof

Okay, I have documented proof of exactly how things work when groups of families get together. (Of course, I didn't take pictures while the guys were holding the babies. That didn't serve my purpose. :) ) To give the guys some credit, this picture was taken before our game of Pictionary. Our small group is very excited about our newest addition, Cason Freeby! We can't wait for him to come join us on the floor!

The girls at small group

The guys at small group

Little John after small group and his bath getting in some Tiger Woods golf in the buff

You've Gotta Love Them!

Do you ever have moments where you just love your kids so much you can hardly stand it? I've been having quite a few of those lately as I try to treasure each day with my babies. I love being able to enjoy a toddler who talks and interacts with me while at the same time having a little baby to cuddle. I feel no rush for Kailey to grow into the next stage and yet I do look forward to the future with eager anticipation as I think of continuing to discover her personality just as I am able to do with John each day. Little John and I have been working together on his reading as well as all the counting, colors, shapes, animals, etc. that you find yourself discussing with a toddler each day. I love watching him learn! It makes me so excited for the years of learning we have ahead of us together!!! He is also already beginning to teach Kailey when he feels he has a bit of info she needs so I've already enlisted my biggest helper in her education. :) God is so good to me, and I feel overwhelmed with His rich blessings!

Bowling

We decided to take a little family outing last night and took Little John bowling. We went to Main Event in Grapevine which is nice because they don't allow smoking, the bumpers pop up on the lane for whoever wants bumpers, and Tuesday nights are half price. Tuesday nights are just a cheap night to go out in general with a lot of restaurants offering deals like kids eat free. As soon as we told John where we were going, he got SO excited and was dancing around making sure that we were all going to go. Lately whenever we say we're going somewhere he starts into, "Daddy going? Mommy going? Kailey going?" He had a blast and to my embarrassment actually beat me the first game. In my defense, I didn't have bumpers. :) The little man got the only strike of the night! Big John was off his game because he's usually really good. If you look closely you can see his neon orange bowling shoes in the pictures. I am a horrible bowler! I received some wise advice years ago when frustrated about my lack of bowling skills, "If you can't be good, have fun and look really cute doing it." I do my best.John's 6 lb. ball which he could handle quite well!

Watching the ball. It took a while to reach the end sometimes!

A little swagger once the pins fell down.

Of course, one of his favorite things was watching for the ball to return and lining all the balls up by color!

Encouragement

Sometimes I think that I was born a little bit needy. At this stage of life, I really do feel confident in who I am as a person and desire most for the Lord to be pleased with me. I have had a lot of practice with doing what I knew He wanted me to do when the rest of the world thought I was crazy. I have also learned that the journey with Him is the one I want to be on whether or not it includes fellow travelers walking the exact same path with me. This is one reason that I feel God called my parents to raise me the way they did. I was given constant support and approval for growing closer to God and learning about Him above all other achievements. I was encouraged to be an individual who answered to God and not to what was normal or easy to do. I truly believe that had I been in a different family or different circumstances, I would be a completely different person. I would have become whatever brought me the most approval. God, through His wisdom and my parents' obedience, gave me the perfect setting to grow out of my too-deep need for the approval of others and learn that His opinion is what truly counts. This has given me a courage I would have never thought I was capable of possessing. Now I can easily make unpopular decisions for me or my family as long as I know it is where He is leading me! I look forward with eager expectation to His results for those decisions! I have never ceased to be amazed at the far-reaching effects these decisions have had on my life so far! His ways are truly so far above mine!!!

That being said, I LOVE a good piece of encouragement from someone else, as I'm sure we all do! I was thinking about that this weekend because I had found myself at a place where I needed a pick-me-up. Nothing terrible or difficult was going on, just a lot of work and time and wondering if it was worth it. Star Time has taken a large time commitment from me and the numbers have been dropping pretty low. I'm not a big fan of determining success in numbers, but instead feel that sometimes God does big work in small things. However, on top of the drop, I had been getting a lot of feedback on what could be done better with very little said about how hard we were working! Shannon and Mike are pouring so much into their ministry to families, and we just want to bless those who are wanting to spend this time attending this service with their kids! Anyway, just as I was feeling all of this, Saturday night several small things were said that made such a big difference for me! The people who said them probably thought very little of it but it put a little boost in my tank to keep us going in this work! What sweet timing when I needed it most! This made me wonder how often I think something about others like how wonderful they are, how well they do something, how pretty they look, how much I enjoy spending time with them, but keep those thoughts to myself. All those nice thoughts aren't doing anyone any good sitting in my head! So, I've determined to say all of those things when I think them. I am trying to do a better job of expressing those things to others in order to encourage them. John and I spend time with a couple weekly who we feel does the most tremendous job of this exact thing. They are very honest with their praise and make others feel wonderful with what they say. Dwight is John's favorite golfing buddy because he's like having a personal cheerleader in your cart who laughs at all your jokes, and Tara is always sure to notice if you've worked on something or look good or even if your house smells nice! I love those little things! So John and I have been challenged to be more like Dwight and Tara in this area and we are working on it. So, to the Goodwins, thanks for showing us how it's done! I want God to be able to use me to encourage others and I don't think I can do that very well unless I take the time to open my mouth or pick up my pen and let you know!

Marriages: From New to Tried and True

Whew! It was a busy weekend! I hosted Carli's church bridal shower, and we had a lot of fun. She had a great turnout and was given so many beautiful gifts! One of my favorite things someone gave her was a new Bible with her married name on it! She loved it, and I thought it was such a sweet idea!

On the same day that Carli and Cameron had a party as they begin their new marriage, John's parents had their 40th wedding anniversary! Tonight we are having John's family over for a family celebration. It's amazing to think about having been married for twice as long as you were unmarried! It certainly makes our five years seem pretty short. I cannot possibly express my gratitude for the wonderful example of my in-laws. They are incredible people who have done a great job of modeling love, commitment, and family for their children. I am so blessed to have married into a family with so much love for each other and now for me and our children. I pray that on my 40th anniversary I can say that I have been the kind of wife to John that my mother-in-law has been to her husband. She is selfless, encouraging, loving, and always his biggest cheerleader. I love that about her! I also deeply appreciate the desire that John received from watching his dad to be a devoted family man. I know that I owe much of his commitment to us to the way he was raised and I constantly thank God for the security that his faithfulness brings to our little family! John and I have four sets of grandparents who all passed their 50th anniversary. This year our parents celebrate their 40th and 35th anniversaries. None of us will probably ever understand the impact those six marriages have had on us and the generations to come. Martin and Sandy, I love you dearly! Thank you for all you mean to our family!

Sweet Nappers

Yes, I know I am always talking about and posting pictures of my kids sleeping. To a stay-at-home mommy of a three-year-old and an infant, sleep is a beautiful thing. Sleeping children are especially endearing! I was cleaning today getting ready to host a shower on Sunday. I put both of my kids down for naps and when I went to check on them, this is what I found. For those of you horrified that my baby sleeps on her stomach, she can be put into her bed in any position and this is how she situates herself before going to sleep. Both of my kids have been very partial to their tummies and both have rolled over very early so it's pretty much up to them! I figure if they're strong enough to roll over, they must be pretty safe!A sweet girl with her teddy blankie!

I guess John was watching me as I cleaned and just fell asleep because he got still and quiet!

Apparently it wears a boy out to organize his trains in a perfect line!

Little John's Playlist

A few of John's favorite things to listen to at bedtime, playtime, car time, or dancing time!

• Psalty - John and I both grew up on this one. Full of fun stories and great praise and worship songs you're probably familiar with ("I Love You Lord," "Be Glorified," "Arky, Arky")
• Veggie Tales - anything Bob and Larry is welcome around these parts! He especially likes the Sunday Morning Songs CD and the Toddler Songs CD.
• Jordan's Songs - my brother-in-law is an extremely gifted musician, singer, songwriter, and producer. John is always asking to listen to his music. He has a great instrumental CD.
• Star Time Music - since we are constantly listening to and practicing the songs for Star Time, we get to spend lots of time in the car listening to these songs!
  

God Bless My Little Sleeper

Tonight it is very late and I am tired. All I can think about is how extremely glad I am that Kailey is a good sleeper! John was not and trying to get him to sleep through the night was a 6-month battle. Kailey, on the other hand, is already giving me at least a six or seven hour sleeping stretch at night before a quick feeding and another four hours or so. She also naps really well! I think God knew I needed the sleep with a super energetic three-year-old boy on my hands. So bless the baby girl who is lying peacefully in her bed after I sang her one song and put her there awake, and now will stay there until I've been asleep for several hours!

Prayers for my Sweet Friends

For those of you who don't know, my precious, courageous friend is struggling right now through a very difficult pregnancy where she has been extremely sick! That is actually an understatement. It makes my 36 weeks of pregnancy nausea seem like a walk in the park. She has a long history of some difficult hospital stays, etc. but right now seems especially hard! Just to give you a picture, she is in the hospital, her husband is working and taking care of things at home, they just closed on a house and have some remodeling to do before they move (yes, move) in a few weeks, both of their families are taking care of them as much as they possibly can as well as helping with their two-year-old son, who I'm sure is very confused about this whole situation! And I don't think any of them care about much of anything except Mommy and Baby being safe and well! My heart hurts for all of them, the kind of ache where I can only stop thinking about it for a few minutes before I feel the need to continue my ongoing prayer for healing for this sweet family! Please join me in this prayer!!! To read more about Christine you can click here to read her mom's blog. Her mom, Mindy, is my other sweet friend and my mommy heart breaks for her as she watches her baby hurt! I know that they are all exhausted beyond description. Please pray for Christine's complete healing, for supernatural strength for her and her family, for peace and comfort for their aching hearts (especially little Jack's), and also that we, their friends, will not miss one single opportunity where we could have made things a little easier for them!

Bedtime Prayers

Little John has recently decided that he wants both Mom and Dad to pray each night before he goes to sleep. It is so precious because he doesn't want to go to sleep unless he has both. He'll say, "Mom, you want to pray?" Are there two ways to answer that question? I didn't think so. Last night I bathed and put him to bed while John was talking to my brother after the rest of our small group had left. We read for a little while as the yawns got bigger and bigger and then I prayed. He said, "Daddy want to pray?" I went and got John and he went upstairs. Little John pulled him down, wrapped his hands around his arm and said, "Pray, Daddy." As John was praying, our little man went to sleep, content that both Mommy and Daddy had prayed. I love this! John and I both remember the very secure feeling of dozing off as our parents prayed. In my family, we would gather in the living room and each take a turn praying. You can imagine that by the time we got through all the siblings and to Mom and Dad, we were ready to doze off! :) It was such a peaceful feeling. One thing I am really looking forward to is hearing what Little John has to say to our Heavenly Father as he begins to pray his own thoughts. I'm not sure many parts of parenthood will get better than that!

Three Little Words

For some reason I recently began thinking about how often the words, "I love you" are said around here. I think because John and I both grew up in households where it was said to and by us constantly, that has rolled over into our family. I'm pretty sure I easily say that to my husband 10 times a day, Little John 15-20 and since Kailey's in that little baby stage where I feel it necessary to tell her every time I pick her up and she gives me that big grin, she probably hears it from me 50 times a day. : ) While this may seem slightly excessive, it is extremely important to me to say and hear these words as often as possible. I love that my husband tells me he loves me every time he leaves the house or hangs up the phone. I love that my parents have told me they loved me more times than I could possibly count. I love that my grown brothers and teenage sisters still tell me they love me on a regular basis. I love that my in-laws (and my husband's in-laws) tell me, my husband, and my babies that they love us all the time. I love that I have friends who tell me they love me often. I know that this may not be as important to my children as it is to me, but at least I will know that I have told them as much as I possibly could so that when those little doubts start to creep in, those thousands of "I love yous" might be replayed in their minds and hearts. I am determined for the times I've said those words to far outweigh the times I have to discipline or correct and at this stage of the game with a two-year-old, that's going to take a lot of talking!!! I want my children to understand a little bit of how much their Heavenly Father loves them even when He disciplines, corrects, and allows hardship for them to grow. Maybe that's even when He (and us as parents) are actually loving them the most. I pray that I will have a son and daughter who are quick to share their love for other people, even as teenagers and adults. We all hear enough other things from many places, we need constant reminders that we are loved! So, if you haven't heard this yet today, my friends and family, I love you!

Taking Care of Baby Sister

The other day I was in my bathroom getting ready when Little John came in upset because he couldn't find Kailey. I told her she was in my bed and he ran to check on her. He came back to tell me she was awake and this picture is what I saw when I walked in the room. He had brought Kailey her blanket, a toy, a book, and put her play gym next to the bed. She was set. Then he proceeded to read her Goodnight Moon. I got it on video and it was priceless. It did have this one part that I didn't remember. It had some yelling and macho noises and overall excitement in what I remembered as a very calm book. So, it was Goodnight Moon translated by John into what he thought it should be. Just a little more adventurous. Kailey will never be bored in this household!

Silly Sleeper

Here are two pictures of what I found when checking on John this week during his nap. He hasn't napped a lot lately, instead just having a quiet time in his room, but these two days he actually went to sleep for a while. He's a funny little man! He asked me last night if he could go to sleep with a basket on his head again. Apparently he put it there because he couldn't go downstairs. Go figure.

Two's Company

Well, here are the last pictures from our fun weekend. The bottom one of them playing the piano makes me laugh every time I see it. They just look so serious and like they're playing some concerto with plenty of feeling. John was asking me today where Emmitt was after sadly looking into the empty guest room. I guess it will be Emmitt's room until he comes back to see us. It is very special to me that now my son will be looking forward to their visits as much as I do. That's something that Katelyn and I dreamed about and now it's come true. We even have husbands who enjoy being together! So much fun. We miss you guys! I'm ready to start planning a visit that includes our husbands for next year!

Train Ride

On Sunday Katelyn and I left Kailey with Marmee and took the boys on a train ride from Grapevine to the Fort Worth Stockyards. They were very excited and had a wonderful time. They kept saying, "All aboard!" Of course the horses and cowboys were a big hit and having some peanut M&M's on the train was certainly not John's least favorite part of the outing. Yes, he's related to me. Emmitt took a nap on the train and John and I worked on a train sticker book that Marmee had found and sent with us.Making sure he doesn't miss anything going on outside the window.

It's not very often that my energetic boy has time to just sit in my lap. It was a treat!

I think the boys enjoyed the quarter rides as much as anything we did with them all weekend!

Emmitt got to pet the horses and went home with a Texan cowboy hat and pretend six-shooter.

Zoo Trip

We had a blast this weekend with Katelyn and Emmitt! It was certainly different than our old trips full of eating, shopping, and painting our nails. This visit had a lot more refereeing, strollers, chicken nuggets, and golf balls. The first day they were here we went to the zoo. It was fun and exhausting! : ) It was Kailey's first trip. The male lion was roaring at the top of his lungs, upset about something. I had never heard that before in all my trips to the FW zoo! Here are some of the pictures we managed to catch of the kiddos!A wagon for two silly boys

Kailey liked the flamingos

This elephant was playing with balls in the water!

Emmitt & Katelyn feeding the birds

The train ride was a big hit

Visitors

Little John and I have company this weekend. We have been so excited waiting for this! One of my best friends is here from California with her son who will be three on Wednesday. They arrived last night and yesterday was a super busy day getting ready, stocking the house with groceries, cleaning, etc. Here is my question for you. Why do we wait to do things until they have to be done and then run out of time? I thought of twenty things I would like to have done around the house over the last few days that I could have done any other time and not been in a crunch. Things like hanging pictures in the guest room, organizing a few things in John's closet, and cleaning off the patio. At the same time John has worked fifty hours in three days finishing the launch of their updated website that they have been trying to get done for a few weeks. They are leaving for a conference today and wanted the site finished before they went since it will be advertised there. Again, why have to pull all-nighters right before they leave instead of doing that last week or the week before? Human nature is so funny that way. It seems like we have to have a serious deadline in order to get things finished.

Well, we are trying to head to the zoo. You can imagine how quickly we are going to get anywhere this weekend with two three-year-olds and a baby. : ) I'll post some pictures soon of our big fun!!!

Playing Around

Most of the time my kids play separately. Obviously, the things that a two year old boy and three month old girl can do together are fairly limited. However, the other day they found a toy that they both liked. John was telling Kailey what the colors and animals were and making the balls spin around for her to look at. It was precious. It made me think of my brothers and the countless hours we spent playing together. They have so much fun in store.Later that day Kailey was playing in her crib. When I went to check on her, this picture is what I found. She was ready to go shopping! It made me laugh because you could almost hear her saying, "'Gymboree' or 'Janie & Jack' anyone?" I think she may be one of those kids who's up for socializing of any kind, any time. Hmm, I wonder where she would have gotten that? : )

Blogging Lessons

I've learned a few things from blogging almost every day for quite a while now.

1. When you really want to do something every day, you can find the time to do it. I tend to be a procrastinator at times so this is a good reminder to me to stop making excuses and make time for what it is I want or need to do. It's also a convicting reminder that I absolutely can find those minutes for a quiet time each day if it's one of my top priorities.
2. Sometimes being a stay at home mom can feel like days filled with the same activities which seem to revolve around meals and nap times. When coming up with something to journal or share each day, I realize anew how full this life is of the sweet, funny, unexpected, and treasured moments that come with raising kids.
   
3. People who have really funny stories about their kids often have them, not because their children are funnier, but because they know how to tell a really good story. Sometimes we get used to things our kids do all the time which are hilarious to other people.
4. It really helps me to get some thoughts out where I do not feel that I constantly have all these things going around in my mind with nowhere to go! Writing is extremely therapeutic for me.
5. I love it when people comment on my blogs. Then it feels like a conversation instead of me talking into thin air. Thanks for our little "talks," girls!
   

Housework

I have suspected something for some time and today I think I have confirmed that it is true. I like to do housework. I like cleaning, laundry, ironing, and even cooking! Now before you decide I am totally insane, I'm not saying that I don't have other things I would rather do or that I sit around longing to break out the Windex. I do, however, love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with most of the jobs around the house. I know they have to be done over and over again, but for a few minutes you have visible results for your hard work. I like to put on a good movie and get some ironing done where I can have fun and accomplish something at the same time. I like it when our drawers and hangers are full of clean clothes, the windows are sparkling, and my husband sits down to my dinner at the table. And I want to do it myself. It just isn't the same for me when someone else does it. It certainly has nothing to do with me being some kind of domestic goddess (far from it), I am just admitting that it isn't that hard for me to do because I enjoy the process. So, that's my admission for the day. I think I will probably also enjoy watching my children do housework. : ) Get ready, kiddos!

New Pictures

Kailey's pictures are up on Kristin's site for anyone interested in seeing them. On the page that comes up you click "Client" at the bottom of the screen and the password is "kailey." Kristin and I have some pretty funny stories after trying to get the two of them in the same picture. As you'll see, we did much better when they were separate, but there are a few good ones with everyone. She got some wonderful pictures of each of them, and now I have the difficulty of choosing!!! I have to pace myself. We are doing this every three months this year. Let me know if there is one that has your vote as the best.

The Saturday Marathon

I completely forgot to post yesterday. I just got busy doing several things and never thought about it! Tonight I feel a little brain frozen. Saturday is quite a long day for us. We are at the church from 2:45 until after service, and that's a long time with two small children! We are continuing to experiment with the best way to do things with Little John. We are enjoying doing Star Time, though, even though weekly preparation is a lot of work! We have had a difficult time with some technical issues with the sound, etc. and are continuing to pray that God will smooth the bugs out where nothing will distract from the message of worship and His character that we want to share with these families. It's amazing how God gives you the strength and stamina to do something like this when it's His timing for you to be involved in a ministry. I can always tell when I'm working on things where He wants me because I feel like I have extra time and energy in other areas to make up for the time spent for Him. Lately I have felt as if I had an abundance of time to get the daily things done which is nothing short of miraculous with a newborn and a toddler!
After the activity-filled day we have each Saturday, we always look forward to Sundays and having our small group in our home. Meeting with our group is one of the stress-free joys we look forward to each week. My biggest question for tomorrow is if I make chocolate chip cookies or snickerdoodles. Hmmm. Here is a cute picture of a few of our small group's young people socializing. This has all the kids in our small group except either of mine! I love Eva, Scout and Kyndall!

Closet Fanatic

I have a confession to make. I am a closet video game fanatic. I know. . . that's not normal for a girl. I seriously love playing them! We were at Best Buy last night and there were about five new games I really wanted to get. I definitely don't have time to sit and play by myself anymore, but it's something our family likes to do together.
I guess this came from growing up with brothers. It was never quite as much about the game for me as about playing it with other people. We would play, compete, laugh, and get frustrated together. We still play Mario Kart on family night sometimes, but we have to take turns because there are far more of us who want to play than there are controllers! Carli will make our ninth Scroggins sibling with in-laws and Little John plays too so that's ten. Pretty funny.
When I got married I played them with John. Before kids we would sometimes stay up until the wee hours on a weekend playing "Empire Earth" or our latest find. Now I play with my son. He has one of those educational games where he learns while he plays as well as really enjoying the active play of the Wii. I'm glad I know how to play those games because instead of Little John playing by himself, we can do it together. Maybe this will make me a cool mom. Either that or my son's friends will go home crying that I beat them at the games and wouldn't share! : )
So, I have confessed. I assure you I do not sit around the house doing this while my kids cry and the laundry is piled everywhere. I do however sometimes choose to leave the chores, sit with my son, put Kailey in my lap (she likes to grab at the controller), and play for a while. I may not be his favorite video game partner forever!