Look What I Found!

This weekend, my man and I planted my Vegetable Garden. Delight! I so missed having a garden last year. Well, I had a garden, but my garden was made up of weeds. {Sigh!} This year, I carefully marked planting day on my calendar, made sure to reserve the date, and counted the days. Saturday was the day. Yippee!!!

While my man finished weed eating around the raised beds, I pulled a few weeds that were left in some of the beds. All of a sudden, I looked up to see something come flying out of the vegetable bed containing the most grass. It was lightning fast...so I thought it was a field mouse. My man was wearing headphones, and couldn't hear me call for him. What was I to do? I waved my arms like some crazy woman to try to get his attention. Finally, he looked just as I grabbed what was frantically fleeing the vegetable bed.  It wasn't a mouse:

It was the sweetest, but much afraid, baby bunny. I giggled with delight.

 

So precious! And to our surprise, there were two!

We had fun loving on them for a while.  What a fun surprise.  Before tucking them safely back in the burrow, I promised them that I would leave the tall grass in the vegetable bed that housed their burrow but only if they  promise to not eat my tomato plants. I think they grinned from ear to ear.  We will see what happens!  

One Act Play Regionals Here We Come!

Hannah and her fellow cast and crew perform in the Regional UIL One Act Play Competition today! I am soooooooooo excited for them! They are one step away from advancing to the state competition. You know what they say: Break a Leg!!!

(Hannah is the "old lady" pictured in the top right. She is wearing a hat. Doesn't look like her at all does it? Ha!)

Feeling Foggy

Mornings that are a bit cool, afternoons that are warm, and the hope of rain brings the fog. There's something about the sun breaking through the fog in the morning that I just love. I'm thankful I didn't miss it this morning.

Sweet Surprise

Last week, my doorbell rang while I was home for a quick bite of lunch. My sweet friend Lyn greeted me at the door with a special surprise. She is the proud mommy of the newborn donkey Louisa that I had so much fun taking pictures of. "Happy Easter!" she said and handed me this:

What a sweet friend and delicious baker!

She totally made my day...what a blessing to count her as my friend!

One Act Play Advances to Region!!!

What?? You haven't heard the news?

Hannah and her fellow cast and crew advanced in the Zone, District, and Area One Act Play contests!!!!

It's true!  That's my much older looking, youngest daughter, playing the part of Mrs. Osgood in Suite Surrender.  Really, that's my Hannah.  She looks older than her mother in these pictures.  Ha!

Love the braces!  Too fun! We are so proud of our baby girl...so proud of all of them!!!  They are one step away from going to State.  Wow!!!!

Angels Watching Over Me

Do you remember that song from the 80's by Amy Grant? This part of the song keeps playing in my head: 


God only knows the times my life was threatened just today.

A reckless car ran out of gas before it ran my way.
Near misses all around me, accidents unknown,
Though I never see with human eyes the hands that lead me home.
But I know they're all around me all day and through the night.
When the enemy is closing in, I know sometimes they fight
To keep my feet from falling, I'll never turn away.
If you're asking what's protecting me then you're gonna hear me say:

Got His angels watching over me, every move I make,
Angles watching over me!
Angels watching over me, every step I take,
Angels watching over me....

Friday afternoon, I picked up Hannah early from the District Track Meet.  My Freshman daughter made it to the Varsity Finals in discus and I made it just in time to see her throw.  Before we left, her coach told us that she placed 5th or 6th.  I was proud of her, as always. 

We made our way quickly to the Matthew West and Casting Crowns concert...which was amazing.  It was the perfect start to our weekend.  On the drive home, my baby girl and I had fun talking about the week's events and our favorite songs at the concert.  We stopped to get some lemonade from Chick Fillet-A and then made the drive home.

About 25 miles from home, on the interstate going 75 miles per hour, the truck in front of us slammed on his brakes and veered into the inside lane.  As the truck moved to the inside lane, I watched in horror to see a car driving in reverse headed straight for us!

I remember thinking the car was going extremely fast and in the outside lane, just like us.  I too slammed on my breaks, steered towards the inside lane while trying to avoid the truck that was right in front of us, and trying to avoid the car going in reverse who had now steered its car and was coming straight at us.

I remember grabbing Hannah's arm, stepping on the break with all my might, and steering my car towards the median and bracing for the impact I knew was inevitable.  I thought that I was screaming, "No! No! No!" at the top of my lungs, but Hannah later told me that I didn't scream at all....I must have been screaming on the inside!  In the split seconds that followed, I saw Hannah's precious life flash before my eyes as I noticed a semi truck quickly approaching us from behind. 

Somehow, in all of God's mercy and grace, God caused the truck that was in front of us to get out of our way, the car that was going full blast in reverse turned back into the right hand lane, and the semi directly behind us now was able to stop before crashing into us.  What should have caused serious damage...or worse I fear, didn't happen.  God saw it all and took care of us as only He could! 

I had the shakes as I pulled back into the middle lane and looked in my rear view mirror to see so many cars swerving into the bar ditches and median trying to avoid the speeding car that was driving in reverse.  My phone had hit the floorboard as we had slammed on the breaks, but we were able to dial 911 using Hannah's phone.  The phone rang 15 times before they answered!  The dispatcher on the other side wanted the make, model, and license plate of the car...seriously?!  It was pitch black and all of this happened at 75 miles per hour.  I was just thankful to have avoided it all by the grace of God.  No, I didn't know the make or the model or even the license plate.  I only knew the mile marker.  Hopefully, they were able to stop the driver before any serious damages were done. 

Hannah was so brave the whole time and she tells me that I was too.  I didn't feel so brave when I got home and was shaking and dry heaving over the very thought of what could have happened.  It sickens me to even write about it now! 

I'm thankful for how God so graciously took care of us and reminded once again to not take life for granted.  Each day is a gift....and each new day is filled with new mercies and His great faithfulness. 
"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22.

Prom Tables

I didn't mean to leave you hanging from last week's, I think it was last week's, prom post. The centerpieces were finally finished and it was time to decorate.

My camera was already set for group photos, so I simply snapped these two images with my Iphone:

I thought the centerpieces went pretty well with the decor of the beautiful atrium. And this year instead of giving students commemorative wine glasses, I don't like the message that sends, we opted to give frames instead...I really like this idea.

We put together all of the animal wrapped columns...I burned three blisters on my fingers in the process with the hot glue gun.  My instinct was to put my finger in my mouth to cool the burn, I'm so thankful I didn't.  A burned tongue too would have not been fun at all!  I didn't take pictures of the food tables or the chocolate fountain because I was too busy once prom began.

I had fun taking portraits of the Juniors and Seniors and the Prom King and Queen.  We didn't just take traditional pictures.  I thought this was more fun:

Here is one of the portraits that I took.  Yes, we had a serious shot too, but the student seemed to like the mustaches that Hannah and I had made and I did too:

It was a fun night, but I am soooooooo thankful that I had my Rachel to help me. We were crazy busy and on our feet from 5:00 until we fell into bed around 1:30 that morning. Whew!

Easter Encouragement

During the Sunrise Service, as I was listening to my dad's message and the birds joyfully singing their praise, I was struck by something new, something I hadn't thought of before. I love that God's Word is alive and active; it's always fresh and always new. Dad was explaining how the women went to the tomb and the eartquake that violently shook the earth and how the Angel, sent from Heaven, rolled away the stone, not for Jesus to come out of the tomb but for the women to see with their own eyes that the tomb was empty.

When he said those words, I realized something new, something I hadn't considered before. Perhaps, you have already considered this, but this new knowledge thrilled me and I couldn't wait to share it.

The Bible explains in mark 16, " 1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Yes, I knew the women went to annoint Jesus's body, that wasn't new to me, but I was awestruck when I realized they went in complete faith that even though the tomb was completely shut, somehow they would be able to annoint His body, because somehow God was going to provide a way for the tomb to be opened. No, it wasn't at all how they expected, it was far better than their best dream!

The women felt led to annoint Jesus' body, but they didn't have all the answers as to how they would be able to do it....but they still went in faith. Lightbulb moment for me!

God calls all of us to do certain things for Him. We may not have all the answers or details of the assignment.  More often than not, we may not know much at all other than He is calling us to do something for Him and we shouldn't let the unknowning keep us from doing what He calls us to do....and that applies to the little things as well as the big things.
Like Mary and Mary, we should step out in faith believing that He will make a way for us, He will equip us for His good work, and that it is all in His hands. I've got goosebumps! And, yes I've always known this, but not from Mary's perspective. We don't see the bigger picture, but He does and He longs for us to simply be willing and trusting Him for the details. He blesses those who are obedient to Him. What a blessing He had in store for the two Marys. What would have happened if they had chosen to sleep in that day or done something else instead?! Oh, what a blessing they would have missed!

Had you thought about that before in the context of the Easter story? What an encouragement this revelation was to my heart...keep up the faith in all things because He will provide the way!

Blessed Easter

Hope you had a wonderful Easter.  We had a wonderful Easter weekend.  Our Rachel came home from college and we were sooooo thrilled to have her home!  She came home in time to go with me to watch her sister's One Act Place performance Thursday afternoon.  Hannah and her fellow cast and crew advanced!!!  They will perform this Thursday in the UIL Area competition.  We are so excited!

Friday morning found my girls sleeping in for a much deserved rest.  That afternoon, after One Act Play practice, we hit the stores in search of Easter dresses and shoes.  We found two dresses and two pairs of shoes for each of the girls and it only took us about an hour and a half.  Delight!

We glanced at our watches to find we had just a few minutes to get to the Secret Church service.  David Platt was the speaker, and while he talks even faster than I do, I enjoyed his enthusiasm and his deep knowledge of Scripture.  While I am use to having time to soak in the message, there wasn't any time for that.  After three hours of amazing teaching, where we covered Genesis to Matthew, I felt like I had run a marathon of sorts.  My mind is still reeling from all that was taught, but I couldn't think of a better way to spend Good Friday with my family than by reading through the Scriptures. Our family left before it was over.  My dad told me that it lasted until 1:00 a.m.  Wow!

Saturday morning,  I woke up early to do my grocery shopping at HEB. I was thrilled that most people had either shopped the night before or were still sleeping.  To my surprise, the store wasn't crowded at all.  I ran a few more errands and then went home to get ready to celebrate Easter with Mr. Incredible's extended family.  It was fun to see the little ones hunt eggs.  I had such a terrible sinus headache, that totally against my nature, I didn't take one picture. 

Easter Sunday morning, we were at church by 7 to help set up for the Sunrise Service.  Dad brought a wonderful message as we celebrated with the birds singing joyfully around us the Risen Savior!  My mind flashed back several times to our trip to Israel last year and the joy we all felt to actually step foot in the empty tomb.  He is risen, just as He said!

Our church family enjoyed breakfast together, had Sunday school, and morning worship.  I was blessed to sing, "How Beautiful" during the worship service.  I have to be honest, my dad had asked me to sing this song over a week ago and to sing it accapella. What?!  I enjoy singing in church but always with the piano or a track.  I was anxious about it but felt the Lord leading and stepped out in faith.  The Faithful One lovingly wrapped His arms around me and enabled me to sing it accapella as only He can do.  He always enables us to do far more than we could ever do on our own when He calls us to do something. 

After morning worship, our family headed home to grab the salad and dessert I had made to take to my mom and dad's for Easter lunch.  We enjoyed the delicious foods and the joy and laughter around mom's dining room table.  I rejoiced once again in the blessing of being with my man, our girls, and my parents....three generations celebrating the risen Savior together.  What a tremendous blessing!

Hamburgers A La Mr. Incredible!

Saturday was the most gorgeous day! My man and I worked in the yard the day before and he was set on finishing it while I worked on finishing up a gallery and doing laundry and cleaning house. I kept hearing what sounded like my man talking to somebody. I glanced out the window to see him rockin' out to a song he was playing on his ipod. He had his Beats on and was singing at the top of his lungs. It did my heart good to see him so happy! It's been quite stressful at work since the beginning of the year. This was one of his first Saturday's off and he was taking full advantage of enjoying being home. Delight!

As I was moving some laundry over to the dryer, I heard him mention he wanted to cook lunch. He knows I love it when he cooks lunch! A little bit later lunch was ready. He made the most delicious hamburgers:

He called them "Juicy Lucy" hamburgers.  He had seen them on the food network. Here is a link to the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/juicy-lucy-recipe/index.html

They were delicious and juicy...like you needed several napkins or paper towels juicy! They were incredible, just like my man who found a song in his heart again.  What a blessed day!

A Palm Sunday Funny!

I took this picture on our trip to Israel last year. It has nothing to do with my post other than I always think about this image during Passion Week.

Now for the funny! Mom and I and the other children's sunday school teachers gathered our students to do the annual Palm Sunday parade down the aisles of the church waving palm branches and saying, "Hosannah, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."

My little group practiced before church began...and then we did the unthinkable, we handed each precious child two palm branches with ten minutes to go before church began.Oiy!

I'm sure you can imagine what happened next. Visitors were welcomed to church with slaps from the palm branches, a few little girls used their palm branches as pom-poms and pretended to be cheerleaders, other acted like they were swords and had sword fights.

Needless to say, the palm branches didn't look the same as when we had passed them to our students....the branches were a bit more broken in, so to speak.

And while this alone is funny, the funniest part is when I heard one of our students, as she was waving her palm branches, saying, "Hosannah, Hosannah, let down your long hair!" Oh my gracious. That is funny!

Mommy & Me and Grandparents & Me Sessions

Announcing Mommy & Me and Grandparents and Me Mini Sessions. They would make wonderful Mother's Day gifts!!! Please, email today if you are interested. Half of my sessions booked within the first 24 hours of announcing this on facebook!

The "B" Family {A Sneak Peek}

What fun to meet up with our friends for their family photo shoot!  Their girls are growing up just as fast as mine! Hannah and I had fun remembering when our girls and the "B" family girls use to get together and sing songs from the Lizzie McGuire soundtrack in the back of my suburban.  Fun memories.

Thank you sweet friends for the blessing of taking your family pictures.  I hope you enjoy your sneak peek....good luck girls on your cheerleading tryouts this week!

If I was going to have a new picture over the fireplace, this one would be it, I'm just saying!

Ooh la la, they still got it!