A day in the country...

We celebrated Father's day and my dad's birthday, which was on June 25th, yesterday at my aunt and uncle's house. They live out in the country between Sour Lake and Kountze. Stephanie and her husband Ross came in and we had such a great day....and of course I took tons of pictures!

My uncle Mark let dad take over his grill and he grilled steaks, boudain, deer sausage (my favorite), Zummo sausage, and chicken. It was so good!!

Me and Steph

Maggie loves going out there so we brought her along. Here she is laying by the barbecue pit waiting for dad to throw her a piece of meat.

They have a pond complete with ducks

They have two goats and they are really cute. I was surprised to find out that this is as big as they get.

We wanted to ride their horses, Jubilee and Cheyenne, but it was their feeding time so we helped feed them instead. We hand fed them carrots and treats.

Here I am giving Cheyenne a treat...you can tell I was a little nervous sticking my hand in the horses face. Last time I was out there I was able to ride her. They are both beautiful horses, but I have always thought that paint horses are so pretty.

After supper, we all changed into our swim suits and jumped in the pool. The water was really warm since it has been so hot outside. We all divided into teams and played "keep away" until we could hardly swim after the ball anymore. Then, we played water baseball and a good old fashioned game of "Marco Polo" with the pool lights off. Even my 80 year old Grammy joined in the fun. So great!!!

It has been a long time since I have actually "played" in a pool.... what was so great about it was there wasn't a kid in the pool. My cousins are all in middle school and high school. Sometimes it's good to bring the inner kid out and just have fun. I got home that night and fell into bed completely worn out and feeling just like I did as a kid after a long day of playing at the pool with friends. It was such a great day!

Jon and Kate Plus 8

If you are a Jon and Kate plus 8 fan like me you were probably not completely shocked at Monday's episode where they announced they are getting a divorce. I was hoping they would announce they were quitting the show to focus on their family, so the news of a divorce really saddened me.

I have watched the show from the beginning and it quickly became one of my favorites. I fell in love with their kids, and was always amazed at how a family with twins and sextuplets made it work.

I went to Houston with some friends, to a Proverbs 31 women's conference, where Kate was a guest speaker right before all of the media stuff started. She shared her story about finding out she was having sextuplets and the struggles she had during her pregnancy. It was really great to see her in person and hear her talk about her life and faith.

Kate at the Proverbs 31 Women's Ministry

Despite the attention they get, I am reminded that they are a normal family and they need our prayers like anyone else. I am so sad for their kids, but I know that nothing is impossible for God. He can change their hearts and restore their marriage. It is never too late. My friends parents were getting a divorce and every time they were supposed to go to the court house to sign the papers and finalize the divorce something would postpone it. During that time, God did a work in their hearts and healed their marriage. Please join me in praying for them and their family.

The Small Stuff

The other day I was shopping at Target trying to find a swim suit and as I walked to the dressing room this blue jean jacket caught my eye hanging on the mark down rack. I went over and couldn't believe that is was on sale for $2o and it was my size. I looked around and it was the only one left. This might not sound like a very big deal to you, but to me it was. You see, I have been wanting a blue jean jacket for a while and I have looked and looked, but couldn't find one the right color, fit, etc.. So, this was exciting because it was exactly what I had been looking for.

This post is not about fashion, but to share with you how God loves to show us His love through the little things He does for us, and if we are not careful I believe we can miss it. In any relationship I think we could all agree that it's the little things people do that often mean the most to us. It's a phone call to say I was just thinking about you, it's a card in the mail on your birthday, or help cleaning up after supper.

Many times I think we miss the little things God is doing for us to show us His love because we don't recognize it as Him. Some might call it luck, coincidence, or just nothing that I found that jacket the other day. But I believe that God knows the desires of my heart (big and small) and that He loves to bless me and give me those desires. I took the word luck out of my vocabulary a long time ago because I believe that when good things happen to me it is because God has blessed me and He gets all the glory, not luck or chance. In the same way, maybe many of the things we call coincidences are really God showing us His love.

This is something that God has really burned in my heart lately and my relationship with Him had become so much sweeter because of it. The past few weeks I have tried to be more aware and look for the little things God is doing and acknowledge it and thank Him for it. Let me share some with you...

~The last week of school I was sitting on the playground with another teacher and I was telling her how all day I had this chocolate craving and I really wanted some chocolate! A little while later this other teacher, who is never out on the playground, came out to ask us something and threw this plastic bag in my lap. I looked inside and it was full of mini chocolate Twix bars (one of my favorites!) She said, " Please eat it, I have had enough." After she went back in Robyn and I looked at each other and she was like, "You were just saying you wanted some chocolate....that's crazy!"

~ I love Starbucks coffee and almost every Friday I go before work and treat myself to some. It's great because I almost always have a gift card that someone has given me for my birthday, etc.. So, the other day I went to Starbucks and I used my last gift card. Then, at school later that day a teacher came up to me and gave me an "end of the year"gift and guess what it was....a Starbucks card!

Some people might say, "Come on, do you believe that God cares about whether you get to have Starbucks or not, or a blue jean jacket you have wanted, or chocolate candy?" My answer is YES!!!! He loves us and just like any good father He loves to bless His children with the little things we enjoy and that only He knows about, the secret desires of our hearts.

So, I encourage you today to start looking for the little things God does for you to show you His love!

Random....

One thing I have come to love about blogging is choosing the background for my blog. If you have followed my blog for anytime now you have seen how often I like to change it. As you can see, I have a hard time making up my mind sometimes. There are so many websites out there with what seems like hundreds and hundreds of backgrounds to choose from. It reminds me of the medicine isle at Wal-Mart. You can get a cold medicine for a runny nose and fever, a runny nose and sore throat, sore throat and fever plus a headache, daytime headache and sore throat...Ahhh! Don't you ever wish that there was one or maybe two medicines to choose from when your sick? There is something great about simplicity! Anyway, I found this background and fell in love...purple is my favorite color and don't you love the BLING :)

Summer Time!

Today was the last day of school, so it is officially summer now! We had our fourth grade end of the year party complete with cookie cakes, kick ball, tug-of-war, and lots of noise and excitement ( I posted some pictures below). Every year, at the end of school, I get teary eyed saying goodbye to my class. I will miss my class this year very much. I was blessed with such a great group of kids this year. I can honestly say that they are the best class I have ever had. I wish I could go to fifth grade with them!

On Monday, I start teaching summer school, but it is much easier than the regular school year. I get out at 1:30 and there are 2-3 teachers in each class so there are no behavior problems at all :) It ends July 2nd, so I guess technically that is truly when my summer break begins.

I am looking forward to spending the summer catching up on reading some books I have wanted to read, teaching a class at children's church starting in July, doing a Beth Moore summer Bible study with some friends, visiting friends and family, and just relaxing.

Here are some pictures from that day:

Mrs. Byars is a 5th grade teacher and every year she dresses up as a clown and lets the students in her class who passed the TAKS tests spray her with silly string. So great!!

Thus is the 4th grade team! Mrs. Wakefield has been on maternity leave for about a month and she brought baby Gavin to meet everyone for the first time.

I guess you never get too old for Barbie's!

Tug-Of-War

This is my class waiting their turn for cookie cake..looks like Alexia is not too happy about waiting!

Taking a break from all the fun!

Moving Day!

No...I am not moving, but my brother, Glenn, or as we call him "Bubba" is. He just got a job in Pennsylvania. He changed career paths recently and decided that he wanted to become a mud engineer. If your like me your thinking "what is a mud engineer?" I have heard him explain it several times and I think I sort of get it now. He will be working on an oil rig drilling site and he is the guy, in a trailer, that determines how much mud "drilling fluid" is needed for the drill bit to keep drilling through different rock and layers of the Earth.

He just graduated from mud school in Houston and we were thinking that he would get a job on the rig where he was trained in Corpus Christi,Texas. Who knew they drilled for oil In Pennsylvania!! Anyway, I am really excited for him because it's a great opportunity, but he will be a long way from home. He came home last week to spend some time with family and pack his things in a U-Haul to move. My dad is going with him and driving the U-Haul behind him all the way to Pennsylvania and then flying home. My mom and I were hoping to go, but the timing wasn't right...if only school let out a week earlier!! I am still trying to get over that, but hopefully we can go visit this summer.

Dad and Glenn with the U-Haul all loaded and ready to go!

Bye Glenn!! We will miss you!

Girls Night

Every girl needs a good girls night! About a year ago my friends Katy, Alecia, and I decided to start having girls night out once a month. We decided we would go out to eat on the first Monday of the month. I am so proud of us because we have not missed a month. Sometimes we have to reschedule, but we always get together. I look forward to it every month!

This month we decided to have a girls night in. We went over to Katie's house because her husband, Michael, was supposed to go out of town for the weekend. His plans ended up changing, but he went out with some friends and let us take over his house anyway :) We ordered pizza and just caught up with each other.

Katie and Alecia

Every good girls night should always include ice cream and chocolate!!

I am also very blessed to be able to get together with my friends who live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area once a year. When I moved home to Beaumont we decided to get together every March during Spring Break (two of us are teachers so it works out great). We have not missed a year since I moved.

We went to the beach the first year and that was enough for Britni-it was her first visit to Crystal Beach and I think when we said beach she thought blue waters and white sandy beaches :) We stayed at Britni's house the next two years, and then in a hotel in downtown Dallas the next. This year we stayed at Britni's new house in Weatherford and we went to Grandbury to eat one night. Grandbury is the cutest little town complete with an adorable town square, antique shops, craft shops, coffee houses and restaurants.

Britni (and baby Pierson), Me, Carrie, and Heather at the coffee house in Grandbury

I am so thankful for the friendships that God has blessed me with. I love each of you very much!! I look forward to many many more girls nights!!

"I thank my God every time I remember you" Phillipians 1:3