Checking in

In my usual slightly-later-than-I-meant-to fashion, here is Halloween and beyond.  :)

The girls were inspired by Little House on the Prairie for their costumes this year (with minimal prodding from their Laura Ingalls loving mom).  Avery was a cowgirl (not really in the books, but you can see how it connects), Landry was an indian with the all-important papoose, and Mallory was the pioneer girl.  They looked SOOOOO cute!

My three gals 

Mallory cruisin' in her covered wagon 

Quite possibly one of my favorite days of the fall was one day we just all went out and hung out at the land.  I think it is good for my soul... outdoors, a little time to wander and explore, a little smaller crowd than usual... I love watching my kids just putt around, notice things around them and enjoy nature.  I personally think it's becoming a lost art.

PawPaw showed the girls how the inside of mussel shells were iridescent.  They immediately went to cleaning them so they could see all the rainbows in the shells.

Off to dink around in the woods.  Our little neighbor came and hung out with us that day so it was extra special!

Seriously... these pictures make me so happy.

Making lovely art in the mud 

Roasting marshmallows while Daddy sneaks in a little evening hunt.

Had to sneak this picture in for my Daddy.  Mallory LOVES her boots!  She requests them by name most mornings.

Never content to have one hand full.  This applies to paintbrushes, snacks, Kleenexes, toys... pretty much everything. 

Helping mommy clean up the kitchen 

Christmas pajamas! 

Clay was making ridiculous faces behind me and cracking Mallory up. 

And speaking of cracking up, Landry waltzed into the kitchen in this the next morning.  Can anyone think of a better way to start your day?  I can't.

Every year I'm disappointed that no one in Paris (that I can find) sells tall Christmas trees.  We have 10 ft ceilings in our living room and I'm a bit Clark Griswold-ish and would like an 11.5 ft tree... Okay, so I would settle for a 9 ft tree.  So this year, we went out to the land to find our own Texas cedar Christmas tree.  Not quite as nostalgic as a pine, but free and big. :)  I know, I'm ridiculous.  I have to admit, it was difficult to decorate since cedars aren't as sturdy as pines, but it works.

Mallory preferred decorating from the ladder.  The kid has no idea what a little runt of a person she is. :) 

  

And last, but not least, a shout out to Miss Audrey for taking us backstage at the Christmas play!  The girls thought it was so cool and loved seeing so many friends on stage.  Thank you!!!

Five years ago today...

Five years ago today... It's hard to imagine.  I have prayed the same prayer for my firstborn for five years now.  That she grow in wisdom and in stature, in favor with both God and man, that she will bring glory to God all the days of her life.  It is a prayer that is offered daily and answered daily.  Today I am thankful for my children, especially Avery Maurine Spencer.  I am thankful for the selflessness that I have learned (and continue to learn).  I am thankful for the joy she gives me everyday.  I am thankful for the small insight to what God must feel about his children.  I pray that I am a good steward of this precious little gift God gave me.

October 24, 2006

2007 

2008

2009 

2010

2011

Getting God's Word in Their Hearts

Since becoming a mother it has become really clear to me that kids are SPONGES!  I knew that academically before I was raising my own kids, but I had no idea how true the saying actually was.  At 3-yrs and 4-yrs old, Landry and Avery can quote a myriad of movies, TV shows, and music at length.  They can recount conversations that we had weeks ago in detail to me... things that I wouldn't have thought about again unless they had brought it up.  This tells me two things.  

One, holy cow, I've got to be so careful what comes out of my mouth... gossip, uncouth words, quips about how I feel about my post-3rd-baby body have no place in my home (like they ever should have in the first place!). 

The second thing it tells me is, if kids have such a natural affinity for soaking up things right now, why am I not taking more advantage of that?  Little decisions could make a really big difference in what is soaking into and thus shaping my kids minds.  One of those little decisions I've tried to make is my music selections.  If Avery can sing the words to Beyonce's All The Single Ladies just because it's on my playlist that is playing throughout the day, then surely she can memorize some Bible verses set to catchy tunes, right?  

So, I set out on what I'm sure was not a very thorough search for songs that only had Scripture for lyrics.  They also had to be catchy enough for a child to like, but inoffensive and preferably enjoyable to me as well.  I thought I'd share with y'all what I found...

       

... The Seeds Family Worship CDs.  There are 6 CDs, but these are the 3 that we know and love so far.  My kids love them and I actually enjoy them.  There are a couple of cool things about them.  First, they come with two identical CDs.  The idea is that you keep one and then give the other to a friend (planting the seed of God's Word somewhere else).  I love that idea.  Second, if you go here you will find printables to go with many of the songs so that you can visually reinforce the Scriptures if you would like.

I made Avery and Landry little binders and fill it with their coloring pages each time we learn a new verse.  They like flipping through and seeing their pictures and it serves to visually remind them of the verses.  

 Landry's book

Avery's book 

Since the music is good, I play it pretty regularly in the car and in our home so they are always being reminded of the verses they already know and getting familiar with the verses we haven't learned yet.  It's worked SO much better than I thought it would.  Both of my girls remember the very first verse we learned and that was from back in December of 2010.  I am pretty intentional about talking about the verse we are currently working on, but pretty haphazard about reviewing the old ones.  They still stick though because the music is constantly keeping them fresh.  

Anyways, I just thought I'd share just in case it sounded like something that would work for you and your family.  It doesn't take much time or effort and it's a great way to start to talk about what God's Word says.  I'll leave you with a couple videos of their first memory verse.  Landry was 2 1/2 years old and Avery had just turned 4.  

Summer: Part 2

Betcha were worried I wasn't going to do a follow up on Part 1...  I was. :)

Here is what we have been up to this latter part of the summer (besides holing up in our house with all the blinds closed trying to keep the temperature in our house 80 degrees or less).

Multiple visits to dear old Deer Run.  This is one place that I don't care how hot it is, I have fun.  I guess since you're supposed to be hot and sweaty there, it doesn't bother me.  Here's Landry with her cousin Blake.  Notice the face paint... Thanks Mackenna Jones! :)

Playing in the dirt is a big part of the fun here.

This child sits and dumps dirt on her head and down her back.  I'm not exaggerating.  She would scoop it up, raise her hands above her head and dump it all over herself.  I'm not sure the appeal, but whatever.

We've also been (of course) beginning the early lessons on good oral hygiene.  For some reason our kids LOVE brushing their teeth.  It's one of the highlights of Mallory's night.  Who knew?

We also busted out the surf board this summer.

Well... some of us busted out the surf board and others of us just busted... a lot.

Cooking lessons/Let's make the mixer go real fast.

Enhanced swim time

Landry swimming with Aunt Brenna.  Avery learned to swim this summer... legit swimming.  Wahoo!  Why do I not have a picture of her?

We've had great visits with both great-grandmothers on my side and one great-great-grandmother.

Dr. Pepper is sort of a family thing on my mom's side.  Little G graciously shared hers with Landry, who graciously accepted.

Feeling the peer pressure, my mother less graciously shared her Dr. Pepper with Avery, who graciously accepted nonetheless.

My Daddy took us to the lake with Uncle Trevor

It's always a fun time when Uncle Trevor is with you.

We've spent a slightly ridiculous amount of time at Clay's new office in Sulphur Springs getting it ready to open (which it successfully did last week! Yay!)  The girls were great entertaining themselves day after day while we worked.  Here's a little Follow the Leader.

And Mallory climbing on some sort of vent that hadn't been put up yet.

And we'll end with a little creative time.  These are some of my favorite times with the girls.

Stay cool!