Worship Wednesday

This song is so relevent right now for me and my family.  We just found out that my cousin has cancer.   He had a biopsy this week and Friday we hope to find out what kind of cancer it is.  God is the ultimate physician and nothing is impossible for him!  We are praying that God heals Buddy and I hope that you will join me in prayer for him, his wife Paige, and their two kids Tyler and McKenzie! Enjoy this song, and feel free to share your favorite worship song for today.

Livin' On The Edge

Learning how to do life with 2 kids has been an adjustment, and we are doing our best, taking it day by day.  Breakfast time can be tricky when you are trying to get the kids dressed, put all their things in the car, not to mention getting myself ready.  So a while back I decided to pick my battles and Joey now eats breakfast on the kitchen floor most the time instead of her chair.  The one rule is that no food is to enter the living room which is carpeted.  Joey takes this rule very seriously....

This kid's a mess :]  And I love that about her!!!

What Do You Want To Be...

...when you grow up?  Remember that question being asked of you when you were little??  Well, the other day I asked Joey what she wanted to be when she grew up.  She sweetly answered "a mommy".  I guess she's already starting to practice the part.....or at least taking walks in my shoes :]

I think mommy's shoes will fit!!

They are perfect :]

I can't walk!!!

Get these off!!

That's better mommy!

At least she's not ready to walk in my shoes yet!  She has plenty of time to be a mommy when she gets older, and we are enjoying her wonder and curiosity that comes along with being a kid!!

Another Blog By Christy :]

So in addition to this blog about our little family I also write a blog for Eagle's Wings Athletics where I work.  I love keeping our customers up to date on all things Gymnastics and EWA!  The posts range from daily activities at the gym to meet results for our amazing athletes!  Stop by and check it out some time especially if you have kids and are looking to get them involved in a sport that will benefit them for the rest of their lives :]

I recently started a blog to record the wacky things our kids say...ya know, those things that come out of their mouths and you think "where on earth did they learn that?".  If you are bored or just need a smile planted on your face, head on over to Things Stout Kids Say!

Thanks for reading :]  Y'all rock!!

Snow Day!!!!

So if you have checked my facebook, you know we had a snow day in Tejas!  It was so much fun!!!  Last year when it snowed I was preggo and couldn't really get down and dirty because I too big to get out of the snow!  Here are some pics from the day!

I came home from church and we headed outside!!  The show was really coming down!!

Throwing snowballs at Johnny :]

Sammy was sad she couldn't go outside in the snow :[

Daddy was helping Joey build our snow family!!!

It got really cold so we had to come in to eat some lunch!  Sammy was drooling because she was so excited about eating :]  Really her stinkin' teeth are trying to come in!!!  Hurry up already!!

Joey was workin some angle with her father....check out that face!!

We smartened up and broke out the snowsuit after lunch, put Sammy down for a nap and headed out to play some more!!

Daddy and Joey built a castle with our bucket from Aunt Vicky....in the Summer it is fun for the pool too :]

Here comes Grandma with some rain boots for mommy and some new gloves for Joey!!

Joey wanted to make a snow angel!  She wouldn't even get in the snow last year until we coaxed her enough.  This year she jumped right in!!

We came in and I had to model my new boots!!

The final family!!

We ended the day with some snuggling and a movie....it was awesome!!

I love snow days!!!!  The next day I had to go to work, but Johnny got to stay home with the girls.  They headed over to Aunt Becky's house and went sledding with the cousins!

Joey loved the "sled" and told me all about how she used the green one and daddy used the blue one and she went down with daddy and so on and so on!  What a fun extended weekend!!

It's the B I B L E, yes that's the book for me!!!

Since the day we found out we were pregnant with Joey I began to pray for her.  I pray that she will come to know Christ at an early age, that she would long to know her savior and that one day she would understand and accept the sacrifice Jesus made for us sinners in order to live with him in heaven for eternity.  When she was a baby and I was nursing her before bed, I would pray over her.  When she started eating food, we would pray with her before meals, and when she turned one, my cousin Lori and fam gave her this Bible....

We would read from it's pages to Joey when we thought about it, but weren't really dedicated to the cause.  Later that year, we were challenged by a video shown at church.  It talked about people relying on the church to provide children with the spiritual education they need and how that doesn't make sense knowing that kids attend once weekly.  From that moment on, Johnny and I decided we were going to read Joey her Bible each night among other things.

We earmarked the pages each night and continued the stories the next night.  Once we had read her Bible from cover to cover, we got out the marker and personalized her Bible a bit.

We put her name in it....

 

.....and we started taking note of how many time we have read through her Bible.

We ask Joey questions as we read like "What was that story about??  Can you point out Jesus in the picture??" and so on.  

Some nights Joey doesn't want to read her Bible, and she even says "No Jesus!".  It makes me sad when she says stuff like that, but I know she's tired and doesn't really know what she's saying.  Other nights she's like this.....

....saying stuff like "We read my Bible now?" or my favorite "One more bible story?"  And even though she does have nights where she is opposed to reading her Bible stories, we press on and read...sometimes through her talking, and fidgeting....we read.

We are so diligent with getting our daughter in the Word and it has really forced me to take a look at my own Bible reading.  

Am I in the Word everyday, even when I don't want to be, even when I'm tired, and when I have a headache, and when we have a workout to do, and all I want to do is go to bed?  

The answer is no.  

Now if you look at the picture of Joey's Bible, you can see we have read it from cover to cover 4 times, and at this moment we are almost through it again.  I can't say that I've ever done that with my own Bible.  I have sat down with lofty goals of reading my Bible cover to cover. I have started many a reading plan only to fail them all.  Something always comes up ya know??  EXCUSES are what comes up.  

I thought, why am I so diligent with Joey and how are we able to keep up the reading with her.  I decided it was because of the accountability we have with our 2 year old and the deep desire I have for her to know Jesus.  On the days I forget to read to her, she comes running with her Bible asking me to read to her, and on the days she doesn't want to read, we press on even though it's tough. Accountability is the key!

My friend Jan issued a challenge to her facebook friends.  She was starting a reading plan to read through the Bible in a year.  I looked at her challenge and ignored it at first but then I couldn't get it out of my head.  I checked out the reading plan and still decided against it.  I began thinking about the example I'm setting for our children with my Bible reading habits.  How can I expect Joey and Sammy to be in the Word if I'm not modeling that for them?  So I took the challenge.  Now if you know me, you know I don't like to loose, and if I set out to do something, I prefer to finish strong. I feel I can win with this because we have accountability with the other women in the group.  There are people looking out to see if I'm reading.  If I have questions, there is a group of women I can go to and ask anything.  I can do this, I need to do this, I have a desire to know God more, and I have a desire to show my kids what living for Christ is all about!

So long story long, I will be reading my Bible cover to cover this year.  Please ask me how it's going and ask often.  I know that even just reading God's living word will impact my life greatly and I pray it sets a good example for my girls! It's not a resolution, it's a devotion to myself and God!  Here we go!!!  Amen :]

7 Months Old!!!

Sammy is 7 months already!!  She's a happy and healthy baby, and we just love her more and more each day!  I can't believe she is closer to turning 1 than she is old!

Sammy loves her sister and Joey loves Sammy :]

She's finally rolling all over the place!  We put her on a blanket and she's in the kitchen in no time :]  We lay her on her play mat and she rolls to the front door.  Sammy can also turn a full circle while on her belly.kinda like a helocoptor :]

Sammy can sit up now all by her self!!

She still sticks that tongue out :]

And her nose is turning orange from all the carrots and sweet potatoes!!

She's eating 3 meals a day...fruit and oatmeal in the morning, a bottle for snack, a veggie and oatmeal for lunch,  a bottle for snack, a meat and oatmeal dish for dinner and a bottle before bed.  Needless to say, she's getting some rolls on her tiny legs that I will picture post as soon as I snap a shot of them :]

Sam is talking up a storm, laughing all the time, reaching for everything, putting anything she gets a hold of in her mouth, and drooling a lot!  She still doesn't have teeth, but I feel like they have to be coming with all the drool!

One thing that I've noticed about Sammy that's different from her sister is that she smiles and calms down when I sing to her!  Maybe she will be my little singer???  Joey sings now but didn't really care for it when she was Sammy's age :]

Other things Sam is doing or has done this past month.....

• puts herself to sleep
• celebrated her 1st Christmas
• celebrated her 1st New Year
• has 3 friend younger than her already :]
• she now plays with her friend Violet instead of just hanging out
• she can bring things to her mouth on purpose and hold them there
• she flaps her ams up and down super quick when she gets excited

I feel like this really isn't much, but I can't think of anything else right now :[

Sammy, we love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our family!  Your smile is infectious and you are such a sweet little girl!  I can't believe you are almost 1!!!  Your bday will be her before we know it!!!

If These Tools Could Talk

While we were at our dad's this past weekend for Christmas, we went to my Papaw's house to recall old memories and see if anything left behind by he and my Memaw were things we desired for our own.  I got out of the car and immediately went to the back door where we always entered the house.  It was locked and we were forced to go through the front door of the house.  This was a first for me...well at least from what I remember anyway! Both Memaw and Papaw have passed, and it was a little strange walking into the house without my Papaw in his recliner.   Looking through all the stuff brought back some memories like when Vicky and I got sick off of Memaw's dried peaches, and when we went to the lake with Aunt Patti and I made Kyle sit on my lap because I had to prove I wasn't a wimp or something :]  I remember curling up in Memaw's lap on her chair, sitting on the back porch swing for hours, Papaw's enchiladas, and so much more.  It's crazy the things we remember right??

Anywho, the point of this post....we left the house to look through the garage.  I can't say I remember going out there as a kid except to get the golf cart out, and it was like I had on blinders because I had no idea the treasures inside that 2 car garage.  My Papaw was a carpenter....if not by official title, then by merit.  He always made things with his hands from houses to trinkets...he was even a painter.  Looking at the rows of tools made me wonder what things they had created.  What was their story?  How long had they been in that same place?  It was strange to see the sawdust still on the floor and the bowling ball randomly in the middle of it all like time had frozen.  It was amazing.  Take a look.....

I loved my grandparents dearly, and I'm sad Joey and Sam will not know them.  I can pass on the memories though, and though they may not have ever seen Memaw live and in person, they will know how comforting she was and how she loved us so much.  The girls will have no memory of Papaw, but I will make sure they know that he always had peanuts by his chair and he even shared if you asked :]

Christmas Up North 2010

Our last stop for Christmas 2010 was up North in Pottsboro with Papa Ray and Grandma Bea!  There were a lot more family up there aside from them and us, and it was a great time!!!

We had some awesome food which is always the case when we go to Dad's!  The smoked pork was my favorite!!!

Sammy was like "Aunt Laura, are you gonna share with me or what???"

I couldn't resist this picture, and Tammy might shoot me, but we all know Maddox didn't actually drink the beer...he just grabbed it and smiled :]

Little Ray {I know, you are married and have 2 kids now, but you will always be little Ray to me :]} Helped Joey and Jayden with the baby alive doll

The Stouts and the Williams families got Maddox this cool toy :]

Chloe helped Joey open her presents!

Sammy loved her gifts even before they were out of the box!!

Sweet boy :]  This is my great nephew and he's gonna be 1 this month!!

Aunt Vicky helped Sammy open her gifts and was trapped by all the stuff!!

So sweet, Maddox was trying to play with Sammy....

Maddox: "Here, eat this."

Sammy: "I don't think so mister!!!"

It was so much fun to see all the family, and the girls got so many great clothes, books, toys and more!  Thanks for all our great stuff, we are already enjoying it all so much!!!