The Cupp Crew

Caught off guard...

2011-12-22T06:29:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we were on our way to Piano rehearsal and Carson started remembering and asking questions about the babies that we have lost. I was totally caught off guard...many times I can see it coming but this time it was totally out of the blue. We have tried to be very honest and open with our children about the two babies that we were not able to hold before the Lord took them home to be with Him. Our children have rejoiced when we found out we were expecting and they have also weeped a little with us as we walked through the days after finding out those babies had stopped growing. Carson, being the oldest, always remembers. Some days he just likes to talk about them and remember them. At Christmas I remember them most. We had just found out were were pregnant both times and had told family and friends. Now as I hang our stockings each year I pause to remember them. We will never hang a stocking for these precious children but they will always be remembered. This week Carson was just remembering and told me again that one of those babies would be older than Abigail and one of those babies would be older than Claire. Yes, I told him you are right. He asked why they stopped growing again and I explained again that we don't know but we can trust that God knows best and that His plan for us is perfect. He is a wonderful father and is with them until we can be with them again. Andrew wondered outloud if they were brothers or sisters...I just listened as they decided maybe one was a brother and one was a sister. I told them that Daddy had read a book called "Heaven is for Real" where the little boy met a sister in heaven that he didn't know his Mommy had lost. That sister was not a baby...that sister continued to grow in age just like them. I asked them if they thought our babies would be babies when we got to heaven or if they would be grown in age and one would be older than Abigail and one would be older than Claire. They both agreed that they would absolutely be babies. Carson asked why they say the babies were "lost" if we know where they are to which I totally understood. It was a sweet time of remembering. Remembering and teaching my children how good and gracious that the Lord is. How life is just stinky sometimes and we don't understand why some things happen but we are so blessed to have a heavenly father who walks with us and rejoices over us and quiets our tears. Yes, there were tears again this time as we talked but it is so good to remember the pain for in it we remember the love and grace that the Lord has so freely and abundantly lavished upon us. My prayer is that you would be real with your children. Share with them things that may not be easy so that they might glimpse Jesus working in the midst of your family. He alone is faithful! He alone is worthy! "The Lord is good and His love endures forever, His faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:5

"Mommy, Look it is a Ho Ho!"

2011-12-22T06:25:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to remember this little funny. Abigail calls Santa a "Ho Ho"! Everywhere we go we see Santa these days and she always says something to point out that there is a Ho Ho to look at! So funny! It makes me laugh every time I hear it! I tried to explain that yes, Santa says Ho, Ho, Ho but it is a Santa! She has not as of yet caught on....so I continue to snicker.

Christmas Piano Recital

2011-12-22T06:06:00.001-08:00

The boys did so well at their piano recital last night! This was Carson's third recital. He started with Ms.Holly last year. This was Andrew's first recital. He started with Ms.Holly in July. I really love that they are enjoying it! Carson played "O Christmas Tree" and "Santa Claus is coming to town". Andrew played "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" and "Go, tell it on the mountain". I was a little leery about how Andrew would do but he surprised us and did great! The girls on the other hand were a handful during the hour long recital. It is just really difficult to sit still, in the same place for that long! Mimi, Papa, Granny K.K. and Will joined up to root the boys on! We are so thankful for Ms. Holly! What a fun night!

Meggie's Pot of Gold

2011-12-16T19:43:00.001-08:00

Dustin and I had a Christmas Party to attend tonight so I called our favorite sitter Megan (aka Meggie) to come and play with the kids. As I was getting ready Andrew and Carson came upstairs with hands full of coin. I asked what the coin was for and why did they have it...Andrew told me that I didn't need to worry they were going to pay Meggie tonight so I didn't have to! What funny kids! Oh how I laughed at that! Okay.....so when Megan got here I told her it must be her lucky day because the kids had offered to pay her tonight...in fact Andrew told Dustin that he was going to give her thousands of dollars! Her very own pot of gold! Andrew, Carson and Abigail too proceeded to fill her hands with coin...

A pot of gold indeed! I am so thankful they love Meggie.

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Our Little Doll is 10 months Old!

2011-12-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

I love this one...I think she looks like a little doll.

C is for Claire!

I could just kiss her up! I will say that the fourth child totally gets left behind in the picture taking. With Carson he got professional pictures taken every two months....with Claire she has had them done and 1 month, 4 months and 10 months! I know it may be silly but I feel so much better getting them done today and what a treasure they are! 10 months is such a fun stage! Oh how we love Claire Isabel!

Ramblings from my heart to yours...

2011-12-14T06:42:00.000-08:00

My heart is full. Very, very full. Praise the Lord! Full of family, friends and ministry.

Oh my precious family just warms my heart. I am finding myself just stepping back and taking it all in at times...knowing these days are going by far too quickly! I want to intentionally relish the season of life that I am in and that is so hard sometimes when my to do list sits just calling my name most days. My friend, Jerri Kersh, came and spoke at one of our Moms 31 Sessions and said, "Moms, you are building a wonderful museum of memories for your children." Wow. That really got me. Yes, yes I am. How am I doing with that I began to process... I find myself holding Claire a little longer, reading to Abigail more, hugging Andrew a little tighter and carving out time to sit down and play a game with Carson more often. They are such a blessing and I am so privileged to be their Mommy. This past month I have been reading a book by Elizabeth George called "A Mom after God's Own Heart: 10 ways to love your children". It has been so wonderful and God has really spoken to me through it. It has helped me in so many ways but mostly how to share my love, faith and my values with my children...Today! My friend Suzanne Lawrence has a picture button by her facebook profile that says "Be Awesome Today"...I love that! Each day is such a gift...I will choose to be an awesome Mommy today! I desire to help my children experience God's love, God's blessings and God's provisions. This means I have to be very intentionally about seeking Him out in all things daily and recognizing where He is working and proclaiming Him to my children. I want to be a Mom after God's own heart! My heart is full of love for my wonderful husband. I am so proud of the husband, father, and devoted follower of Christ that He is. He has allowed God to mold him and use him in such a beautiful way and I am so delighted to get to see him grow and speak truth to his patients that need the Lord. I tell him alot that he is a bearer of hope...the hope of Christ within him! The kids and I pray every morning that the Lord will give him opportunity today to show God's grace and mercy to his patients. I love being a part of that. I love when he comes home and tells me how He was able to share God's word or pray with a patient. I am thankful the Lord is using him in such a mighty way! I see my husband as a sewer of hearts..a Cushing farmer perhaps....sewing hope, the truth of God..that He truly is the way, the truth and the life...into the lives of so many that seek his help "medically". Oh how I love this prince of mine! He is such a great Daddy. His little girls have him mesmerized for sure. When he says hi to Claire these days she cocks her head in a little cute shy smile...just adorable. He took us bowling the other day and after we got home he had to run back up to the hospital to see a patient. Abigail came into the kitchen and said totally unprompted in the sweetest quietest little voice "Thank you Daddy for taking me bowling. I really "wiked" it."....I looked over and could just see him swooning! He hugged her and later told me if she would have asked for anything just then he would have given it to her....oh, the power these girls of mine are going to have over their Daddy. My heart is full to the brim of love and thankfulness for my family.
My heart is full of friends. Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and wait to hear the answer. What a treasure true friends are that love the Lord! I have prayed for friends. We moved to Cushing last June and I knew 1 lady here. The wife of another doctor that had recruited us to come here. I prayed that the Lord would bless me with maybe just a few friends. This past monday I found myself at a Christmas gathering of 12 ladies that I have come to know and love this past year. I began to thank the Lord as I looked around the room...12 ladies there that I knew and loved their hearts and desire to know Him and make Him known.! I found myself thinking Who am I? Why would the Lord see me worthy of such a blessing? What I have learned this year is that women need each other. I have a desire to be real with other women sharing my life with them and they do to. I have a desire to see them grow in the Lord. I have a desire to grow with them! I am so thankful for these women. My friends. True friends. The amazing thing is they weren't all there...my friends that the Lord has given me...there are more! Friends are truly the flowers in the garden of life...the Lord has blessed me with a beautiful assortment that are all striving to be fed by the Son! For that my heart is so very full! Thank you Lord for the gift of friendship!
My heart is full of ministry. I love the little saying: Bloom where you are planted. Many times I wondered what the Lord would have in store for me as we prepared to come to our new town. Where He would want to use me. He planted us in Cushing, OK for a specific reason and season. Our message to proclaim: Life is better with Jesus! Abundant life eternally through Him alone but also here, right now. Abundant daily living with the blessings he bestows upon us as we obediently walk in His ways day by day. Before I sat down again to finish this post I was in the playroom with Abigail reading her a book before nap time. I came across this book that is one of my favorite little kids songs:
Jesus wants me for a sunbeam,
To shine for Him each day,
In every way try to please Him,
At home, at school...at play.
A sunbeam, a sunbeam,
Jesus wants me for a sunbeam,
A sunbeam, A sunbeam,
I'll be a sunbeam for Him.
Jesus wants me to be loving,
And kind to all I see,
Showing how friendly and happy
His little one can be.
I'll be a sunbeam for Jesus,
It's easy if I try,
Serving Him moment to moment,
Then live with Him on high.

I love the picture this little song paints about being a sunbeam for Jesus...sharing His light, His love in all areas of your life. Serving Him moment to moment. What exactly did the Lord have in store! Well if He had let me know all the details then that I know now...I would have been scared out of my mind and very disobedient, I believe. I know that I probobly would have tried to plead with Him that I could not possibly do the things He was calling me to do. What wonderful grace He has as He gives us sometimes only a glimpse of His plans and as we follow after Him He reveals more and more of the horizon, if you will. So. In April a few moms I knew started talking about how great it would be to have a MOPS in Cushing. MOPS stands for Mothers of PreSchoolers. It is basically a time during the day where moms meet. It can be structured very differently but most groups meet the needs of mothers through discussion, fellowship, creativity and speakers. Most groups use this as an outreach to create opportunities to get to know other moms. How the Lord fashioned together the leadership team is really pretty neat, I began to pray....their were four of us at the time. I met another mom at a garage sale and spoke with her and shared my heart with her about the moms ministry...she had been in one in Tulsa and had been praying about one!...she came and met with us and brought her friend...and thus we had the team of us....6 Moms set off to pray and plan through what God had in store for the coming year! What an exciting time! We met during the days with all of our children...in the summertime....oh my! God was totally in control....as I look back on it I wonder how on earth it all got accomplished... God can do all things!!! We began to pray in May for Moms that we could reach and the way we wanted our ministry to be set up. We decided that our mission was to connect moms of all ages in the community by encouraging and equipping them with God's word and providing a Christ-centered ministry where relationships with Jesus could develop. We wanted to make sure it was not a fellowship group but an outreach group...moms growing closer to the Lord. Moms reaching Moms...Moms being fishers of Moms...sharing the good news that Jesus has reconciled us with God! We began to plan for our ministry and all of the details that involved. Three big items where: budget=God's provision, children=Little Blessings, schedule=what did God want to teach us this year, mentor moms=who could invest and teach us about their walk with Him. We decided to model it much like the MOPS program with 8 sessions in the Fall and 8 sessions in the spring. I spoke with my pastor and he agreed to let us use the facilities and nursery for the meetings. Children...in order to minister to these moms we needed a program for the children which we named perfectly, I believe, Little Blessings Program because they are our Little Blessings!! Our sessions would be from 9am-11am twice a month and so we began to plan and pray for 8 workers and a coordinator. A budget....oh, how I laugh at that! We had originally thought, well, we could plan for 16-20 moms maybe? (I was truthfully thinking 12 would be great! That would double our leadership team, but God had other things in store). The majority of our budget for the Fall was to pay for the Little Blessings program. I believe the projected amount was $4000. We began to pray for His provision. How on earth were we going to raise $4000 by August to start the ministry! Well, He provided through a super awesome Garage Sale, generous donations, newsletter ads, and a Christmas booth rental and sales! You know what else he provided...we started enrolling in August for the session and the Lord brought 36 moms! (as you can imagine we were a little overwhelmed! We moved our meeting location to fellowship hall even before our first meeting because we had already outgrown it!) Well, with 36 moms we needed more classrooms for our 42 kids in our Little Blessings Program....again, Lord provided! We now have 12 teachers! Our total numbers this fall was 42 moms and mentor moms enrolled! Who would have known...only the Lord! Our first session I remember how tearful all of the leadership team was. I remember how neat it was to see the faces of the moms we had been praying for since April! God already knew them...he knew who would be in every seat...and we got to meet those Moms we had been praying for the first time...that was really special. Our schedule/ sessions began- what did God want to teach us this year! Oh soooo sooo much!! I invited a few dear friends to come and share (Jerri Kersh & Wynne Ann Hook). We had 4 speakers this Fall and 4 crafts. We had mentor moms from the community raise up and join us to serve alongside of us! They also have taken turns speaking and sharing their lives with us and encouraging us! What a blessing! What a lot of work!....We talk about this alot...the leadership team! Wow! This ministry is a lot of work, but so rewarding as we see hearts being softened for the Lord. As we see the Holy Spirit move and draw moms closer to him. As we see Moms at the park, library, wal-mart and invite them to come and be a part and they COME!.....our prayer is that through sharing life with them we can share Christ with them! Oh the things I have learned and continue to learn as He graciously guides me. I feel so unworthy and unequipped at times for some of the responsibilities that have come with this ministy. Satan is on attack. God is being glorified! Moms are growing closer to Him. Families are being changed....would you pray for this ministry? Pray that the Lord would give us wisdom in how to deal with some attacks that are going on right now. Pray that the Lord would put a hedge of protections around this ministry. Pray that we would serve him together in unity. I am so excited to see what He has in store this year for this ministry and am so thankful to be leading these women to serve him together in this ministry so near to my heart. He alone is worthy! One of the things the Lord has been speaking to me specifically about is that He is not interested in my capabilities but in my availability. Because He is God He can do all things. But he can't accomplish things for His glory if we are not available for Him to use. Are you available for the Lord to use? How are you spending your days...your time....your efforts? What does He have in store for you? Bloom where you are planted....Be a sunbeam for Him! Oh, how He loves you and wants to fill your heart with His goodness too!

Just a funny..

2011-12-13T18:58:00.001-08:00

Tonight at the dinner table Carson was trying to talk Andrew into eating all of his rice and peas and so he proceeded to say, "You have to eat your dinner, so you can grow big and strong so when you are older...well you can be somebody....(pause) Well, Mom isn't somebody...she doesn't work...(pause)...well, some people don't do anything they just sit on the couch all day!" Ha! Thanks buddy! I had to take a moment to explain to him that I have the best job on the planet...being his Mommy! And this Mommy does not have time to sit on the couch all day but sometimes wishes she could! What a funny boy!

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Sweet little Andrew

2011-12-13T12:51:00.001-08:00

Just a sweet little note my sweet little Andrew left me this morning...I am so thankful to be his Mommy!

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Catching up....Just playing!

2011-12-12T09:15:00.001-08:00

While Daddy was in a meeting we found a park to play. It was a lovely day in November!

Carson is such a great big brother! He loves his sisters!

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Catching Up....Oh pink Christmas Tree!

2011-12-12T09:07:00.001-08:00

Abigail Ruth loves pink! "It's my favorite" she says! We went to find her a pink Christmas tree. Mommy is not really good at looking at and reading the boxes....so we ended up with this "whimsy" Christmas tree. Who would have known their were different "styles" of Christmas trees. In a matter of one day she had taken all of the plastic ornament balls off of the tree and destroyed them. She is so very much like Andrew, the destroyer, it's scary. We have been asking Abigail what she would like for Christmas this year and she says, "Pink!". Hmm...ok!

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Catching Up....Keep Out

2011-12-12T09:01:00.001-08:00

Andrew made these awesome signs for the girls and boys rooms and posted them to their doors by using bandaids! Truly genius work!

"Keep out girls only"

"keep out boys only"

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Catching Up....Go Pokes!

2011-12-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

Abigail and her friend Carlie Kennedy...ready for the big bedlam game! We walked away with a big W this year! Go pokes!

Catching Up...Thanksgiving Program

2011-12-12T08:16:00.001-08:00

Andrew and his kindergarten class went to sing at a nursing home here in Cushing for Thanksgiving so the girls and I went to show him support. They also collected items to bring to the people that lived there. He came home one day saying "Mom, these people that live there...they need wipes, lots of wipes. So they can clean themselves." He proceeded to go to the girls room and fill his backpack with bags of baby wipes. I love his heart to take care of people. Earlier this year he also conspired to take all of our basketballs and footballs to school to share with one of the schools that had lost all of their play equipment during the tornado. I only realized they had done as I walked past the box at school and recognized some items. We had to talk to the boys about letting us know about taking things to school. We actually would have been happy to go purchase some new equipment for those schools in need. I am however thankful that when my boys see a need they are ready to help in any way they can...even if that means packing up all their stuff and sharing it!

Catching Up....Da Girls

2011-12-12T07:25:00.000-08:00

Abigail loves this hat!

So, this is a funny story. Abigail and i thought Claire had already gone to sleep. I was reading Abigail a story very quietly and all of a sudden we saw this little sister peeking out over the top of her crib. We just laughed and I ran to get the camera.

She is officially strolling around the room with the help of her baby stroller.

Oops, did Mommy leave the bowl of food on her tray. Oh yea, and she was quick to get it all over herself!

...and she is very proud of herself!

Abby Ruthie loves to dance. I took these pics to remember that anytime she hears music...she goes to her room to get her "tangled" dress so she can twirl and dance. Just precious.

Abigail has officially confiscated Carson's Pistol Pete hat. She loves Pistol Pete!

Her Little shirt says "Daddy's Little Princess" and that she is.

Peek A Boo!

"Hey, Ma...I can pull up here but I can't quite see yet....hmmm" (waiting for the boys to come home and off the bus.)

Catching up....Oh Cww-are

2011-12-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

Cww-are is how Abigail says Claire....with a big W. It is so cute! Here she is waiting for some of our friends to get here for one of our Moms 31 Planning Meetings. More about this in another post. Oh, how I love Cww-are's cute little bum!

Catching Up....Momma's Little Helper

2011-12-12T07:01:00.001-08:00

Claire loves to "help" in the kitchen. Glad these dishes were clean...she really doesn't mind the dirty ones either. Abigail has decided she loves to help wash dishes. Every night here she will come with her stool to help wash up the dishes. It is kind of fun but quite a bit messy! The water gets everywhere but eventually all of the dishes get washed up.

Catching Up...Halloween

2011-12-12T06:50:00.000-08:00

Here they are! This year we had a cat, a Snow White, Mario and a Stars Wars guy.

We took the kids up to our fall festival at the church parking lot. They had tons of fun and quite a bit of sweet stuff. They also got balloons which Andrew happened to lose twice so we spent quite a bit of time waiting in the balloon line :) Well these munchkins sure are a treat!!

Cathching up...Pulling Up

2011-12-12T06:37:00.001-08:00

She is very proud of herself...we are delighted in the joy she brings us!

One of her many sweet faces...eye brows raised!

Eww, I love this one!! Eyes closed cuteness!

She was 9 months old here and a mere 14 pounds.

Cathching Up...Baby Cousins are Here!

2011-12-12T06:26:00.000-08:00

My sister Natalie has a precious little girl named Mackenzie! Isn't she a doll!

Her big brother Peyton is so proud!

Baby "Gravy" is here! Well, actually baby Grady. Abigail started calling him baby Gravy and it was just too cute not to continue. My sister Ashlea and her husband Matt live in Tulsa. New babies are soo much fun!! So happy for them!

Bountifully...

2011-12-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

In my quiet time this last week I came across this scripture and it really spoke to me. "I will sing to the Lord, for he has dealt bountifully with me." Psalm 13:6. Bountiful as defined by the Webster's dictionary means provided abundantly. The Lord has provided abundantly for the Cupp Crew and for that we will sing, sing, sing His praises! Oh, I have so much to catch this blog up with what is going on in our lives that it seems so overwhelming....incredibly intimidating, but if I don't start somewhere the stories will not be told and the Lord will not be glorified and thus, I am starting again to record the things I want to remember as we press on here in Cushing, OK. Funny things...my children are so funny. Abigail refers to everything strawberry as "shortcake" of course because of Strawberry Shortcake...we have tried to reason with her but she refuses to understand that the flavor or smell is strawberry...instead she will correct us with a sweet little grin and say, "Yep, its shortcake." Andrew is a ball of fun. This last week I went to put more money on his lunch account at school and after asking why he was going through his allotment so much quicker than Carson, I came to find out that he has been going to have breakfast with a friend at school. He has been eating two breakfasts each morning! Funny kid. He still says the funniest things. I will try to write them down and share his silliness. Carson is my man with the plan....or wants to know the plan every waking minute of the day. I used to be like that too. I am learning to be more flexible and attempting to teach Carson that we don't have to have such a structured day every day with a plan for every hour. The boys are both taking piano this fall and it has been a joy to see how much they have learned. They love their piano teacher and have her totally wrapped around their little fingers...she adores them. The girls love to tink, tink, tink on the piano too. I pray that my children will come to love music...that they will use it to praise the Lord, that He will use it to minister to them and speak to them, and perhaps that one day they can use it to speak truth and hope into others. Well, I've taken entirely too much time updating the blog. I just know some of my crimson and cream friends are gonna love this one. I should have just written so I could have shared more on my heart....well, maybe tomorrow. Until then, are you singing to the Lord tonight? How has He provided abundantly for you?

Oh Clairey Berry

2011-11-16T20:09:00.001-08:00

What a joy this little princess is!

She is 9 months old and pulling up on everything. She pushes around her little walker and just smiles. Oh how I adore her smile!

Oh the funny things we will all do to get her to smile!

She loves to help Cardy play the piano!

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Sweet Little Angel

2011-11-16T20:01:00.001-08:00

Oh my stars how I love this little girl of mine. I took Claire in to lay her in her crib and found Abigail asleep with her babies! So sweet! Soo thankful for Abby Ruth!

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Yes, I know...it's been a while... But I'm back :)

2011-11-16T19:59:00.001-08:00

Daddy got us free tickets to Cowboy Basketball tonight! The pokes pulled out a "W" in overtime! Claire learned to clap by herself! What a great night of family fun!

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"Go God"

2011-08-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

So I have three "Go God" stories to share so that I will remember how good God is.
Story 1: Family Pics

So, for my birthday this year I asked for an updated family picture to hang on my wall. In our last picture Carson was 1 year old! That was six years ago...so, so hard to believe. One of the local photographers was offering a cd copyright release for $100.00 so I thought that was a win, win situation. I just wanted one picture and I could send it off to the lab and get it printed how I wanted. Well the pictures did not turn out. I asked for a full length family picture and unfortunately did not recieve that in any of the 12 pictures I received. I was so upset. It was my birthday present. I prayed about it and decided to email the photographer and ask her to prayerfully consider refunding my session because I did not recieve anything close to what I requested. She was very upset. I told her that I would be happy to pay her for her time but I would really just like a refund. I did not want to try this endeavor again with the same photographer. She granted my request and refunded my session fee for which I was so grateful. My other two family pictures are from Hart Portrait Artist in Stillwater....and I love them...but they cost soo much. The setting fee alone is $75.00. I really wanted to go ahead and schedule and appointment with them but I did not have the $325.91 to purchase the one 16x20 family picture that I was wanting. I prayed about it. I decided that if I waited I would have to buy all new outfits for a different season and size since my munchkins grow so fast. So we went ahead and made an appointment and I decided to just wait until I could set aside some more money to purchase the print that I was wanting. These are the lessons I learned: sometimes you really do get what you pay for and just because you have a nice camera it does not make you a professional photographer. We took the picture on Thursday morning and then set off on a last adventure before school started. We took the boys to POPS on 66, unpluggits play place in Edmond and the Oklahoma Science Museum. We had a really fun time. When we got back home I went out and got the mail. In the mailbox was an envelope from Cushing Regional Hospital to which I quickly thought stink, another bill. As I opened it up I saw that it was not a bill but actually a letter saying that they owed us $325.00 and they wanted to know which card we wanted refunded!!!! Praise the Lord! "Go God" for sure! I love how He continues to show me how much He loves me by being so incredibly faithful to us. I love that His timing makes me chuckle and fills me with joy!
Story 2: Unpluggits

Story 3: Moms 31

Claire almost 7 months old!

2011-08-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

She can't possibly be this big yet!

Oh how we love this sweet little face!

And yes, she is very close to crawling!

Where does the time go? I find myself just soaking her up! She is so expressive these days and especially cuddly with her Mommy. She loves her blanket and loves to watch her Daddy. I think she has special smiles just for him!

The boys first day of School!

2011-08-22T06:24:00.001-07:00

Andrew asked this morning if he could get a Clairey Kiss every morning before school!

The inevitable silly faces....

Carson Wayne is in 1st grade this year! My how the time goes by so quickly!

Andrew Maddox is in Kindergarden this year. He was a little leary of going to school. He told me that he just wanted to stay home with Claire and Abigail. I asked him if he wanted to ride the bus with Carson and learn new and exciting things....to which he replied, "Well, I could ride the bus to school and you could just come pick me up there!"....but today he was more excited and ready to go with his brother! Carson was going to take him to his classroom and then head to his new class. I am so thankful that Carson is such a wonderful big brother!

Claire was awake and so she got to wait with the boys this morning for the school bus!

Oh my goodness I love these boys of mine! Thank you Lord for these precious gifts you have given our family!

I cannot believe that summer came to a close so quickly and the boys are off to school! What a great morning! The set their space shuttle alarm...got up....got dressed...breakfast...made lunches...brushed teeth...bible hero lesson...prayed...pictures...waited for the bus in a drizzling rain...gave Clairey a kiss and they were off!! This Momma always gets a little sad to see them go but I am so excited for them! Daddy asked them to make two new friends today and show the love of Jesus to them!

Our Claire is big enough to eat in the highchair...oh my!!

2011-08-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

Abigail loves to help Claire!

Oh my goodness this girl is loved for sure! Her eyes are looking more and more like Andrew's.

How in the world could our littlest princess be six months old already! She is eating baby food now that her mommy and sissy have made for her. Abigail loved helping make Claire food! She looks so little in her highchair. I had a hard time picking which pictures I liked best so I just posted them all. She really like the sweet stuff...go figure...apples and sweet potatoes are her favorites. She pretty much turns her nose up to peas and green beans but her Momma is gonna keep trying! The last days of summer are upon us and I find myself getting sad that the boys will be going back to school. They of course are thrilled! We got them some fall clothes which was very difficult to purchase in this 110 degree weather by the way. The Lord has brought us much needed rain and a bit cooler temperatures this past week that has been a very welcome change that we are so thankful for. Our trees are all completely stressed out and the leaves are all falling. All of our beautiful flowers are pretty much fried from the extreme heat. God is moving in our little church and for that we are excited to see what He has in store. Well, my little chickadee is awake so this is a little post but at least you have some pictures! I am so thankful all the Lord has done and continues to do! I hope and pray that you are doing well and growing in your walk with Him! Oh how He loves you!

Bath Time!

2011-08-08T17:54:00.001-07:00

My girls are such a joy! Bath time

is especially fun now that Claire

can play! What fun!!

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She is sitting up!

2011-08-08T09:25:00.001-07:00

Claire is six months old and sitting up! Yea!

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This is my daughter....

2011-07-28T10:23:00.001-07:00

....with no panties! The positive:she is completely potty trained and will go on her own to potty and wash her hands....the negative: she forgets to put her panties back on and this is what I find so may times throughout the day....a very cute, but bare bottom!!!

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Claire is Growing!!

2011-07-28T10:20:00.001-07:00

Just some cute pics of Claire!

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Love my Girls!

2011-07-28T10:17:00.001-07:00

So thankful for these little joy bringers! Carsy took this pic...I just loove it!

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Just two seconds...and everything could change.

2011-07-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

I feel compelled to blog this two seconds of our life last night. God is continuing to graciously teach us and protect our family. God has blessed us with a pool. We have soo enjoyed the pool in this HOT summer. I saw this morning that we have had 28 days of over 100 degree temps so far. Dustin was home and we had finished dinner and decided to go out for a swim to cool down. We all got dressed and headed outdoors. I had Claire in my arms and headed for the watering hose to give the flowers by the pool a much needed drink. I looked over and saw Dustin, the boys, and Abigail go into the gate on the west end of the pool as Claire and I made our way to the gate at the east end. I heard Carson get in and turned my back to water my pots on the side of the pool. All was quiet....for just two seconds. Dustin yelled my name and I looked over. I saw Abigail bobbing up in the shallow and flailing around in the water...I didn't think, I just reacted. I yelled "Roo!"..She heard me and looked over, she looked very scared.... I dropped the hose and jumped in with Claire in my arms and grabbed up Abigail. Just after I pulled her up Dustin was there pulling her out of the pool and this is what he said, "Thank you, Jesus.". She was crying. My heart was pounding. She was fine. She was okay. Yes, Thank you Lord! She had watched her brother walk right into the pool and so she did too without her floaties on. I thought my husband was watching. My back was turned. Two seconds was all it would have taken to change everything. Today I am most grateful for the Holy Spirit and how he helped us to see Abigail needing help and Jesus who allowed us to help her. We thank Him and praise Him for his watchful care over our family and for allowing us to spend more days with Abigail Ruth. This morning I was overwhelmed with his word. "He who keeps you will not slumber." Psalm 121:3. He was watching, alert even in those two seconds when our eyes were turned and for that I am so grateful! Thank you, Jesus!

Claire Isabel is 5 months old!!

2011-07-11T13:25:00.001-07:00

Oh my stars my little Clairey Berry it 5 months old! What a joy she is! She is rolling over very well which is making getting her to go to sleep a little challenging these days. She loves to watch her brothers and sister and is now grasping things and putting them right into her mouth. What an incredible blessing from the Lord!

What is on my heart today...Contentment, Living Water, Sharing Life, Gift of Friends, Awesome God!

2011-07-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I just shared what God has been doing in my heart and what He has put on my heart and being that I have a few moments I thought I would just start my post there. Please don't feel obligated to read this is just so I will remember. On my heart today is contentment. The past six months really Dustin and I have been praying about a position that Dustin was offered in being the medical director of the transitions unit at the hospital. We were first approached by a hospice group out of Chandler that was needing another doctor to help answer phone questions which would mean just some extra money to be able to put toward student loans. With the news of Dr.Babb leaving, the hospital in Cushing approached Dustin with the medical directorship of transitions. They told us that they would have the deal ironed out quickly as we began talking with them in January. We decided to put the hospice care on the back burner and was very surprised that the hospice rep was so very friendly and flat out told Dustin that they would wait for him because he felt like Dustin was the right guy for the job. So we waited....and waited...and waited some more. They originally told us that it would be very lucrative....Dustin was a little uneasy about the position because transitions is the psych ward and that their is little opportunity to share Christ with these patients. We began to pray for God's will for our family. I will not lie the extra money sounded fantastic to pay off loans but as we began to get into June and finally had a deal on the table it was quite interesting how it was presented. The hospital wanted him to be oncall 15 days a month (which means he would have to take calls and manage patients on those days) and to manage this ward. They had decided that the salary that they had paid the previous doctor to do this was excessive and that they would offer us less and not only that but they would actually only pay us half of the less and put the other half towards Dustin's clinic. It was almost insulting. It would be more than what were were making now but they wanted so many more hours for so little pay.....and we had waited 6 months to get the details of this. I started to see Satan in the midst of this. All I saw was time being taken away from our family. Time that cannot be replaced. Dustin was really distressed about it and we began to pray diligently and seek God's word to guide us in this decision. This is the verse that the Lord gave him 1 Tim 6:6-10 "But godliness actually is great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wondered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." I believe that God's word is so very true. It seems that with money you could always use more but learning to be content with what God has provided now and understanding that it may take time to take off those loans but we will not squander that time away to the enemy has been a great gain for us. Contentment. On my heart today is living water. It is soo hot these days and I have been spending quite a bit of time in the morning watering my flowers. We had VBS two weeks ago in the evenings here at our church and one of the stories I taught was about the Samaritan woman at the well and how Jesus told her that He was the living water and that whoever drinks of Him will never thirst again John 4:9-20. Living water. I need Him not only for salvation but for daily watering just like my flowers need watering. Every day as the sun is hot and scorching the flowers dry out and wilt but the water restores them just like God's word restores me when I am disciplined enough to set aside some time and open His word. I am making a point of doing this daily not just when I have time because I need His living water. I need His word to equip me to be the best wife, the best mom, the best Christ follower that I can be. On my heart today is my desire to share life with others. To share Christ's plan for abundant life now! God has been moving in the hearts of 6 moms, including myself, here in Cushing. A new ministry is blooming! It is called Moms31. Simply put our mission is to connect all moms of Cushing, OK to Christ and to one another so that they may be equipped and encouraged to live life to its fullest with Jesus right now! This has been really exciting to see God working out all the details and funding! We now have a year of sessions for moms that can meet during the day and are praying through some outreach opportunities for working moms too! You can find more information on our blog here: http://moms31ministry.blogspot.com. Here is the verse that has been on my heart regarding this ministry. "You are here to be a light, bringing out God colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this , as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think that I'm going to hide you under a bucket do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand- shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt others to open up with God, our generous father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16 (Message) Sharing life with others so that you can Share Christ with others!! On my heart today is the gift of friends. We have been in Cushing now a year! Isn't that crazy! So hard to believe and yet at times it seems like we have been here forever. Friends. We have prayed for friends that love the Lord and God has granted us the sweet blessing of some good friends and for this we are so very thankful! "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from God." James 1:17. On my heart today is awe of an awesome God who cares about His people and answers prayer. Sunday night we spent the evening doing and watching fireworks with Dustin's family. As we were leaving the show we were looking off in the distance and saw a huge grass fire a long ways off. It looked scary. All around us counties had issued a burn ban to protect people from possibly setting things on fire with fireworks this year because it had been so hot and dry. As we loaded the car and the boys continued to ask questions about the fire and started to get concerned about who might be in it, we decided to pray God's protection for the families and homes involved. We have tried to teach our children that in any circumstance that we can pray and that God's word tells us that He loves us and listens to us if we are right with him. " The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much" James 5:16. We pray alot. We pray for upset stomachs, for boo boos, for ambulances that pass us, car wrecks that we see on the highway, and even for parking spots. We pray because we know that God's word is true and that He is an awesome God that can accomplish all things! This morning Mimi called to tell us that Grandmommie was not feeling good and so they took her to the heart hospital in OKC today. She told me that Grandmommie had told her that we had prayed for the families that might have been involved in the fire on Sunday night and that she had found out that it was actually a friend of hers on facebook. They were just getting ready to pack all of their stuff and evacuate because of the fire and didn't have to in the end because they claimed that only answered prayer stopped the fire! Now that is awesome! God cared enough to make our boys become concerned for that family, whom we did not know, and that He answered the prayer of His people interceeding on their behalf. I am sure there were many more people praying for them as well. Awe. Lots of awe just swelling up in my heart for a God that loves his children and answers prayer!

The Silly girl

2011-06-26T11:50:00.001-07:00

This is our silly little Abigail! She came in yesterday with no panties, Andrew's boots (on the wrong feet) and tie....just funny! The best part which I did not take a picture of was the picture from behind. Her buns hanging out under her shirt with her boots on!

She looked so cute this morning I just had to take a picture! She is growing so fast! Thank you Lord for the precious gift of Abby Roo!

Happy Birthday to Carson Wayne

2011-06-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures from Carson's birthday this weekend. It was scheduled for last weekend but he got really sick and thus we had to postpone the fun to this saturday instead. The pic above is of his first cookie cake we made last weekend. What a joy Carson is! It is so crazy that we have a little boy who is now 7!! Where on earth has the time gone? He loves to play baseball, piano, and mario. He is such a wonderful helper these days with the girls. We are so proud of the young man he is becoming! Happy Birthday Carson Wayne! We love you!

Momma's Flowers

2011-06-07T16:21:00.001-07:00

Just some pictures of some of my favorite things in my backyard. My lantana reminds me of Granny. She has lots of it growing in her little courtyard up on the fence.

Can you see all the blooms ready to bust open!

My two rose bushes are new this year and we are soo enjoying their beauty!

My hydrangeas are blooming this year. Last year they did not bloom. We did some major work in this bed early spring and cleaned it out and dug out some nandina bushes (not sure if that is how you spell it). We were delighted to find a stone retaining wall around the Crepe Mertyle (that is coming up from the roots because of the late frost) and planted some new begonias in front.

I really enjoy my pots on the deck in the mornings. The one below is my favorite! I looove caladiums.

This I planted as seedlings in early spring in the front beds by the sidewalk doubting it would come up but it did! The best $3.00 I have spent in a long time.

This is probably my favorite, angel wing begonias! I couldn't keep anything alive in these pots by the door last year but so far these are doing well! I know it may seem silly to post pictures of my flowers but I just wanted to share a few of my favorite flowers that God has created so perfectly that I am able to take care of and enjoy in my very own backyard!

Spring Piano Recital

2011-06-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

Ms.Holly said that Carson is her most improved student this spring! He is doing so well. He played four pieces for the recital. Yea for Carson Wayne! We are sooo proud of you! We pray that you would use your talent to glorify the Lord!

Our Little Blessings

2011-06-07T15:48:00.001-07:00

God has greatly blessed us with these little munchkins!!!

Just a little SNOBALL!

2011-06-07T14:59:00.001-07:00

Yes, it is a snocone....

...or snowball as they call it in Cushing....

...in the car....

Sure made her happy and yes, it did require an immeadiate bath when we got home!

What is he doing?...

2011-06-04T17:48:00.001-07:00

"Andrew, what are you doing under there?...Please sit up..." Not a word from Andrew...We looked under the table and this is what we found!! All that swimming must have made him "wheeeely tye-urd"!!!

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It is pool-time!

2011-06-04T16:55:00.001-07:00

Clairie Berry after her little snooze.

All covered up.

Her very first sun bathing experience!

First time in the pool!

"Hey Mom, take a picture of this." Carson said.

Abigail is doing a fantastic job swimming!

Just munching on her hands and observing the pool fun! What a fun afternoon!

Tee Ball

2011-06-04T14:57:00.001-07:00

Carson playing 1st base

Andrew trying to get the runner to 3rd out!

The Rockets and their silly faces!

Captain Carson is turning 7!

2011-06-02T14:19:00.001-07:00

Ms. Holly

2011-05-24T17:20:00.001-07:00

Carson loooooves Ms. Holly! She has been such an incredible blessing to our family. She very much enjoys teaching Carson every week and has figured out what makes him tick....sweets & pop!

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Just playing in the t-u-b!

2011-05-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Abby Roo having a big time in the tub!

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall....

2011-05-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

The little princess found herself in the mirror tonight. It was fun to watch her make faces at herself!

Happy Birthday Daddy...

2011-05-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

We looooove you!!

Talent Show Day

2011-05-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

Carson played "Yankee Doodle" in the school talent show! He was the only one to play the piano and he did a super job!!! So proud of him!! Mimi was able to come and see him play. What a fun day!

Kindergarden Rocks!

2011-05-18T10:16:00.001-07:00

We had a fun morning celebrating kindergarden graduation with Carson Wayne!!

This is his name on the wall from getting chosen for student of the month!

We are thankful for great friends...Matthew

And Caden!

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The cutest baby ever!

2011-05-17T18:37:00.001-07:00

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She is a cutie...even in red!

2011-05-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

She looks just like her big brother Carson!!

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Growing waaay too fast!

2011-05-11T07:39:00.001-07:00

We went and weighed Claire at Daddy's office yesterday and she weighs 12 pounds! How is it possible she is soo big? I did get a little teared up as I put her in the bouncy seat for the first time today...she loved it!

Claireabella is 3 months old!

2011-05-09T08:44:00.001-07:00

I love this last one...it is like she is saying to me, "Seriously Mom, no more pictures." I just couldn't help myself...she looked soo cute!! Three months have gone by so quickly it seems. Claire is such a joy! She is really holding her head up great these days and spending more time put down which is a little relief for this Momma. She is enjoys playing on her belly, swinging in her swing, and sitting in her bumbo seat. Just this week she found her hand and loves to slobber all over it!

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

Sooo Blessed! Look at these cute munchkins of mine! Thank you Jesus!

Little Claire Bear

Abby Roo

What a fun night as I have spent over an hour looking at old pictures! My, how the time goes by soo quickly and I feel so completely blessed! I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed me to be a Mommy to these precious children...today I rejoice in His gifts to me! All six of them really. Two that I will one day hold in heaven and the four that God has so graciously given to us that I love so very much. A friend posted this and it just really touched my heart. "The shortest distance between your child's heart and Christ...is you" I love that. I pray that as I continue to grow in the Lord that I would constantly be striving to becoming a better Mom for my children and that they would be able to see the Lord at work in my life. Most importantly I pray that as I share Christ with them that the Holy Spirit would speak to their hearts and call them to himself.

The Littlest Girl

2011-04-30T16:17:00.001-07:00

Her sweet smiles just melt my heart!

She fell asleep during dinner this week...so cute!

The Silly Face

2011-04-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

Carson wanted me to take a picture of his newest silly face. His friend Matthew at school taught him to cross his eyes....and a big thanks to Matthew for that! :)

She is an entertainer...that Abby Ruth of ours!

2011-04-30T16:05:00.001-07:00

She looooves to entertain her brothers at the dinner table. She is such a ham. I know that I probably should have been scolding her but instead I grabbed the camera and just laughed along. Silly Abigail!

It's that time of the year....BASEBALL!! Well, Tee-Ball for us!

2011-04-30T16:00:00.001-07:00

The boys are playing on the same team this year and Daddy is coaching. Dustin has told the boys they can just call him Coach Daddy. Funny Daddy. We are excited about the opportunity to meet some more families in Cushing and hopefully get to love on them and share the hope of Christ with them. Please pray for these 12 kids and their families! We look forward to a great season of tee-ball!

Eggs at Easter

2011-04-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

Easter was a little different for us this year. My grandfather got really sick and transferred to Mercy Hospital in OKC on Sunday morning so we spent most of the day at the hospital with him. He is now doing much better and hoping to go home in the next couple of days. Praise the Lord! We did manage to dye some eggs! As you can see it was alot of fun! Abigail's hands turned up green for about 24 hours...I think the boys were calling her the green goblin and of course she was chasing them and acting like a monster. We did have a very special time Sunday morning with our kids as we read from our bible the story of Easter morning 2011 years ago....that Jesus is ALIVE!! That is truly the only reason we celebrate Easter. It is not about eggs, bunnies, fancy church clothes, chocolate candy or gifts in the easter baskets but the most precious gift that God gave us when He sent his son to die for us, paying our penalty for sin and the celebration that He was victorious over death! He lives!

11 Weeks Old

2011-04-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Abby Roo is TWO!

2011-04-20T09:35:00.001-07:00

We decided on bubbles are our fun activity! This girl of ours looooves bubbles!

Sorry for me

2011-04-17T09:51:00.001-07:00

A man at church after confirming with me that I had four kids told me he was sorry for me. Huh? I was speachless for a minute...sorry for me, why on earth would he be sorry for me? I told him that we were humbled that God would bless us with four children for they are a gift from Him. He just told me he would be even more sorry for me when they are teenagers....I talked to him for a few more minutes and it left me sad that he would see children as such a burdon and inconvienence...I pray that my children would always know that they are treasured and bring us so much joy!

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Entertaining Claire

2011-04-15T13:26:00.001-07:00

I had to add this. I laid Claire down for a moment so I could take Abigail to the bathroom. I guess she started to fuss...so Andrew, the big helper, decided to put his train tracks on either side and run his trains on them to make her happy....great idea!! She still was unhappy though...

New Friends and New Ministry!

2011-04-15T12:33:00.001-07:00

Abigail and her friend Ellie Kate

Look how little Claire is filling out! She is a cutie pie!

Andrew and his new friend Tennyson

The girls are still sleeping and thus I have stolen a few moments to blog, sigh...it has been a busy week but a great one. I feel so blessed as I think about how God continues to bless us with such sweet friends. One of my new friends brought me the ingredients and recipe to make my own 5 gallon tub of laundry detergent...yes! She told me I would dilute it 2/3 detergent to 1/3 water and the cost for the ingredients to make the detergent was around $3.00. Her 5 gallon tub has lasted her family of four for four months and it works great! Awesomeness! I am soo excited to try it and start saving money...boy, do we use lots of detergent these days! Claire is growing and growing...I think she may actually get rolls on her thighs! Abigail is sleep walking....weird, yes. Three times this week. Once I got up with Claire to feed her around 4am and found Abigail asleep on the floor of the living room without her blanket (she doesn't go anywhere without her blanket when she is just waking up)...one night she came up our stairs and into our room, not saying a word and Dustin pulled her into bed for a while, she never woke up and did not have her blanket...then this morning when Dustin woke up he heard snoring in our room and looked down beside the bed and there was Abigail asleep on our floor right beside the bed without her blanky. Strange. It scares me because she is climbing our stairs...asleep. Tonight we will start using the gate again at her doorway to keep her safe. Carson is doing super well....Ms.Holly is so impressed with his piano playing each week...he is soon going to surpass my piano skill level...and he really enjoys it! He also brought home his BEAR reading test this week with 100% in all four catagories! Yea, Carsy. Andrew is doing great...he is a funny boy. We find such joy in listening to his amusing statements and questions these days...silly, silly, silly! New Ministry...God is up to some great things in the hearts of some Cushing Moms, mine included! Four of us met this week to start a new ministry for stay-at-home Moms much like Mops here in our church. Our town does not have a group like this yet and has so many Moms that would be able to get connected to each other and to Christ through this ministry! Oh, how I love how God works in weaving Moms together! It has only just begun! We are in the beginning stages of praying, researching and planning but we are confident that God is in the midst...as I was praying about it this last week I kept coming back to the idea of equipping...Equipping Moms to be the best that they can be with Christ's help and the encouragement of other Moms! I can't wait to see what He has in store! Well, Carson just came off the bus...time to get moving again....tomarrow is Abigail's birthday party....more on that later!!

A sweet girl and a crazy hat!

2011-04-07T12:58:00.001-07:00

Thought this was so cute! I went out to check on Abigail. She was "helping" Daddy. Look how sweet this is...laying on Daddy's leg while he sprayed the lawn for weeds...such a sweet girl! She wants to be where her Daddy is these days..as soon as he walks in the door she is following him around the house and only he can take her to the potty. :)

Andrew's crazy hat for Awana's. We just used what we had at the house but it turned out pretty cute! This week was joke week. Andrew told me that his joke he told in class was "Kaden is a Kukuhead..." (I have no idea if that is how you spell it)...I asked him if they laughed and he

told me "No, they were just sitting there." He was adamant about making up his own joke. He is a silly one. We had to have a talk about how it is not funny to call people names....Oh, Andrew Maddox!

Being led...to show God's love!

2011-04-07T12:56:00.000-07:00

I am learning to listen to the Holy Spirit and where he wants to show His love to others. I was able to do that this week for Carson's piano teacher. She has a very sick husband who has been in & out of the hospital. She works full time and teaches piano two days a week after work from 4-6:30. I took Carson to lessons on Tuesday and as I pulled up I had this overwhelming sense of the Holy Spirit. He impressed upon me to bless her with dinner so that she could go home after lessons and not have to worry about what to fix for her husband. Okay. Going to the store with three kids is not an easy task and yet I was so excited to do what God wanted me to do to show her His love. So off we went to the store. I decided on fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes and a small cheesecake. I will have to say that it was one of the easiest trips ever....why?...bc God was in our midst for sure. We were in & out in 10min and back to piano lessons. I ran the sacks in to her and simply told her that the Holy Spirit had led me to provide dinner for her & her husband. You should gave seen the shock on her face....so, close to tears. I left and went to wait for Carson to come out. I absolutely love working where God is moving!! I totally tell you this not to boast in any way of this "deed" but to encourage you to slow down and hear where the holy spirit is guiding you! What a blessing it is to be apart of where God wants to show Himself. She texted me the next day overwhelmed with gratitude sharing that she has been so tired lately and stressed over everything going on and that the blessing of food to them was such a break that she so needed. God knew that. I gave credit to him and the leading of the Holy Spirit. She was able to feel God's love and provision for her!!! Yea!! Go God!!

One happy baby

2011-04-03T16:18:00.001-07:00

Claire is 8 weeks old today and she is happy! She slept 6 hours straight last night so Mommy is happy too!

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Just little things to remember...

2011-03-30T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is typical Abigail at the dinner table. For some reason she thinks that her foot belongs on it too!

Just a funny picture of Carson. We are so proud of him trying new foods this year. He now likes spaghetti!

Andrew is my official baby holder. He loooves to hold Claire and it really comes in handy when I need to put her down for a few minutes...and of course, she doesn't want to be down...so, Andrew can hold her for me and save us all from her wonderful screams!

Carson playing "God is soo Good!!

2011-03-30T07:05:00.000-07:00

Carson Playing "Praise Him, Praise Him all ye little Children"

2011-03-30T06:05:00.000-07:00

7 Weeks Old

2011-03-29T11:56:00.001-07:00

Our Littlest princess is 7 weeks old!

I love this picture...this is what she looks like when I put her down.
She loves to be held and cuddled!

Just look how big she is getting!

She moved in with Abigail officially this week. She is sleeping in the crib and Abigail is sleeping all night in her toddler bed! I still get up with Claire 2-3 times a night. The first night together Abigail woke up at 5am when I went to get Claire to nurse and she didn't want to go back to bed. I tried to talk her into laying back down again and went to nurse in the living room with Claire. The next thing I heard was, "Andrew!"....yes, she was in the boys room trying to get Andrew up to play! Silly Abigail. I got Claire back settled in the crib and took Abigail up to snuggle with us...which she loved. Claire has started to smile and really follow things with her eyes. I haven't weighed her lately but I would guess she is close to ten pounds now. She is a great eater and a pretty good spit-up-er too! I forgot how many shirts you can go through in a day especially if you are always having little people carry off your burp cloths to play with. :)

Abigail is turning 2!

2011-03-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

Potty Update

2011-03-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

Well, all I can say is wowzers! Abigail has done an outstanding job in our training...to the surprise of us all. Praise the Lord! The funny thing is she has invented her own word for it...she tells us" I need to pee-poo"...which is super cute! Today she even poo-pooed in the potty! Yea for the big sister!

It's Potty Time

2011-03-26T16:45:00.001-07:00

Abigail started to tell us when she was needing to go to the bathroom totally on her own accord so I decided it would probably be best to get after the dirty business of potty training! Yes, I have a newborn and I have not lost my mind, well not completely at least.

So, we set off to wal-mart to buy some panties. The trip by the way was utterly disasterous...by the end of our little errand I was pushing a huge cart to the front to check out while holding Claire (at least she had stopped crying) after strapping a screaming Abigail in the cart and Andrew was finding joy in agitating his sister and seeing just how loud she really would scream...yes, I was that Mom today in Wal-Mart....not fun, not fun at all. So, in making it back home I was a little leery as to starting the training but decided the sooner the better and off we went. Abigail has done soo well...I really am shocked! I thought this picture was funny...apparently she thinks that her new panties are just another accessory to her wardrobe :) Well the training has begun and it has reminded me to be patient with my children like my heavenly father is so patient with me. Oh how He teaches me to be patient through my little munchkins. Here we go!

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Claire is 6 weeks Old!

2011-03-20T14:32:00.003-07:00

Our little angel is 6 weeks old! It is hard to believe. She is growing and getting chubby little thighs and cheeks. She is very much like Carson as a baby...not very content.

This little face....believe it! She is only content when she is held, bounced, or rocked but she will not be put down at any time if her eyes are still open! She is a mess pot, but an adorable little mess pot that we wouldn't trade for anything! Getting the housework done is a little impossible right now...I forgot how much longer it takes to do things when you only have one arm to operate on. I am overwhelmed at times at the things I need to do and yet the Lord is reminding me through Claire time and time again to slow down and just enjoy.
Enjoy my monkeys for they are growing so fast and this time now is so precious!

Here they came when they heard me taking pictures of their little sister.
Oh how they looove Claire!

Oh, the ducks

2011-03-20T14:32:00.001-07:00

We filled the pool for the ducks this weekend! What fun to see them play and swim. They are so funny...they do not like being seperated at all! They squack and squack until they are side by side.. They are growing and getting bigger...and pooping alot!

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Pray for Abigail's hand

2011-03-20T14:09:00.001-07:00

When we were at the park on Friday I was holding Abigail's hand and walking towards her brothers that were about ten feet from us going down a slide. She turned away from me and when I looked down I heard a pop. We went to the hospital and got an x-Ray...praise the Lord that it is not broken or dislocated!! I was very afraid it might be. We think she may have just sprained her wrist. She won't use her hand at all and she can't talk really well to tell us exactly where it hurts. Daddy made her a splint to protect it while it heals which she was so thankful for. Please join us in praying that God will heal Abigail's hand.

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Twinkies

2011-03-20T14:00:00.001-07:00

Andrew & his good friend Caden showed up at church this morning with matching shirts!!

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Little Spring Break Fun

2011-03-17T14:18:00.001-07:00

The kids love watching the donuts cook so we squeezed in a trip to Krispy Kreme's.

Claire pooped after a day at the zoo.

A day at the zoo is not complete without a train ride!

The crazy crew. Lori Matthiesen and her kids, Ty, Hudson & Lola joined us...what fun!

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Pictures of Our Monkeys...we are sooo Blessed by God!!

2011-03-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

Scooby & Tiger

2011-03-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

Scooby & Tiger

Carson and Andrew got to pick out ducks today....we are in for an adventure for sure! They are pretty cute. We will see how long we can keep them alive. :)

Just a little cuddle time

2011-03-03T19:33:00.001-08:00

She was cold after her bath tonight so I decided to put her little hat on. It is getting pretty snug! What a cute little angel she is! Soo enjoying just a little cuddle time with her this evening!

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Just a little sugar and spice...

2011-03-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

Here she is...the littlest girl...3 1/2 weeks old!

Abigail always comes and poses and says cheese when she finds me taking pics of Claire.
So funny!

I am getting bigger. We went and weighed her yesterday and she weighed 8 lbs 7 ounces...she has gained over a pound in three weeks! Yea!!

Look how tiny she is compared to the playroom couch...I wore her out doing laundry!

Play me a Song little Piano Girl!

2011-03-02T10:12:00.000-08:00

Hip Hip Hooray for Carson Wayne!!

2011-03-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

Student of the Month for February!

Andrew Maddox turns 5!

2011-03-02T09:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to our Andrew Maddox! Oh my goodness we cannot believe that you are turning 5! Wow, the time has gone by so quickly. We love your funny jokes and things you say, your tender heart and the way you love to be a great helper. God has given us a super great gift when He blessed our family with you! God has great things in store for you sweet boy! We love you!

A Tumlison Visit!

2011-03-02T09:49:00.001-08:00

Our good friends, Joel, Cinthya, Linda and Lisa Tumlison came for a visit! I cannot believe this is the only picture I took :( Stinkers! We sure had a fun time with them. They are here in the states raising money to go back and serve full time in Honduras. If you would like to visit their blog for more information here it is: http://thetumlisonian.blogspot.com
What a fun time to spend with friends!

Praising the Lord!

2011-02-22T17:45:00.001-08:00

Momma, why are her hands up over her head?"-Andrew..."I don't know" I replied...."well, maybe she is praising the Lord."-Says Andrew....yes, I'm sure that is it! Even as she sleeps! :)

I love the sweet things that Andrew says. Almost every day he tells me "Mommy, Claire looks cute today...she is a cute baby!" While Mimi was still here he told her if she needed to go take a shower he would hold Claire for her. He is definately her champion. He wants to be right where she is all the time....talking to her and alerting me when she caughs or sneezes or starts to squawk because she wants her Mommy...sooo cute!! Andrew loves his little Claire!

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Boys day out...Girls day in!

2011-02-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

Papa called today and asked if the boys wanted to meet him in Stillwater this afternoon for some Cowboy baseball.....so the boys put on their orange and headed out for the afternoon while us girls enjoyed some down time at home. How cute are these boys!! Looove them!!

13 Days old!

2011-02-19T09:19:00.001-08:00

Little Claire and her first skirt! 13 days! I cannot believe that she is 13 days old! One week tomorrow! Wowzers! Today her umbilical cord fell off! She is such fun and such a cutie! I ventured to Stillwater yesterday for the first time with Andrew, Abigail and Claire to run a few errands...wow, after just an hour I was worn out! We got all that we set out to do except finding some sandals for Abigail, but I guess that will have to wait. We had a huge praise this week....God provided enough money back on our taxes to fix the pool!!...when I told Andrew this he told me, "Mommy, you can use my money in my piggy bank too!" What a sweet boy! Spring is in the air! I seriously hope that the cold weather they are predicting for next weekend is wrong....I would really like to have Andrew's birthday party outside...but I guess we will wait and see. The Tumlison family is coming on Friday to stay the weekend! They are our good friends that are missionaries in Honduras. They will be speaking at church on Sunday evening! So excited to see them and love on them! Daddy has been promising the boys a tree house....maybe construction will begin today..it is absolutely beautiful outside today!

There is a new Princess in our Palace!

2011-02-16T17:48:00.001-08:00

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Andrew Maddox is turning 5!

2011-02-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

Come one, come all....lets have a ball at Andrew's 5th Birthday Party!

First Day of School at Home

2011-02-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

Andrew's first day of school at home. He drew a spaceship! Soo cool!

Abigail is loooving "And-jew" is home.

Poor Claire's bilirubin count was still high on Monday when we went to the doctor so we have had to do light therapy which she doesn't like much. We are praying that it will be better tomarow so she won't have to do it any more.

This girl loves to play the piano and sing...so funny!

Princess Abigail

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T11:44:00.000-08:00

Andrew woke up this morning with one eye swollen shut!

Abby Ruth loved her puppy Daddy got her.

"We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19

Happy Valentine's Day! This morning the kidos woke up an had a Valentine's Day Card and goodies at the table waiting for them! Andrew got a pair on new orange boots! Carson got an OSU t-shirt and jacket and Abigail got a cute puppy that talks and flaps its ears! What a fun day! This is a special day for Dustin and I too! 15 years ago today a scared, young boy brought me a rose and asked me to go on a date....our journey officially began...I can not believe it has been 15 years! I am so thankful for my wonderful husband and for the most awesome plans the Lord put into place today 15 years ago! My cup is overfloweth with the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us time and time again!

One week Old!

2011-02-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

I thought the top one would be good to show you how big she is compared to my show...pretty tiny little peanut!

Little Claire 5 days old!

2011-02-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

The Big Sister

2011-02-11T17:58:00.000-08:00

Abigail loves baby Claire! I have been trying to take alot of pictures of Claire and Abigail has been right at my side the whole time posing and saying "cheese" to get her picture taken too! Soo cute!

The girls

2011-02-11T17:33:00.001-08:00

Claire IsabelAbigail Ruth

Claire 5 days old (7 pounds 6 ounces)

Abigail 5 days old (8 pounds 15 ounces)