"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"







Saturday, April 30, 2011

Happy 50th Mimi!

We got to celebrate Mimi's 50th birthday with her and all our brothers, sisters, niece, and nephew on Matthew's side. It was great to see EVERYONE at the same time. This usually doesn't happen with all of our crazy work/school schedules. I think Mimi enjoyed it too :)




The next morning, we got up and went to have our pictures taken in the bluebonnets. It was so beautiful to see all the flowers.









Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Makes me smile.....

To get this text message....

"Just saying hi and I love and miss you"
Her shirt says "Gigi loves me"

Gigi loves and misses you too Rozlynn Faith, wish we lived close and I could see you everday!



Jesus Calms the Storm

Last night was crazy! There were several tornadoes around us. Matthew was gone, so it was just me and Nathan at the house. I am crazy terrified of storms, so it only made it worse that Matthew wasn't there to be the calm one. I HAD to be calm for Nathan. This was accomplished with much prayer! (not just by me, had several texts that had people praying for us). There prayers worked, because I only almost lost it one time!

I put a blanket down in the floor of the bathroom, took several books, block, and a card game in there, and even took our dinner in the bathroom. We were in the bathroom for about 2 minutes when the lights went out. This freaked Nathan out, because it was so dark. We were in the bathroom that didn't have a window.  I calmed him down and we turned on the flashlights. (with all the scentsy that we had, I realized that I didn't have one candle to light) I was telling him how much fun it was to have a pick nick in the bathroom by flashlight! (haha!) He got on board and we had fun shining the light on the different bites we would take. We read every single book, built a block house, played memory, and did flashlight puppets. Nathan really thought it was cool to see his shadow and make different shapes with his hands. We would pray for the storm to calm and for the lights to come back on, then play some more, then pray some more.

Matthew called and told us it was ok to come out of the bathroom, so we sat on the couch and played games on my iPhone. Thank goodness for iphones!! We found out that the tornado came right over our house. The only damage it did was to our chimney, and a little water came through our fireplace.

When the lights came back on, we said a prayer of thanks and I heard Nathan say "Thank you Jesus!" It was the sweetest thing I have ever heard. All the storms and tornadoes were worth it to hear him say those three words.

I did snap a picture of him right before the lights went off. Here he is in the bathroom floor with one of his books!



Thank you Jesus for calming our storm!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tight Places

Tight Places


26 Apr 2011

Marybeth Whalen

“Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.” Psalm 4:1 (NIV)

Though I looked okay on the outside, inside I was screaming and flailing about.

I was stressed, anxious, worried and overwhelmed. I felt like something was pressing in on me, pushing me down emotionally and preventing me from escaping my situation. The more these feelings built up, the more I wanted to lash out, strike out, or push back against my burdens.

Outside I looked fine; inside I was a mess.

Do you ever feel this way? Stress comes at all of us every day, in a thousand different ways. Kid stress, job stress, money stress, house stress, and medical stress, relationship stress — the list goes on and on. Try as we might, we can’t escape it in this broken world. We feel trapped and imprisoned by these things we cannot change, and they weigh heavily on us.

When I read our verse for today, I was struck by the explanation in my Bible for the word, “relief.” It literally means, “make room for me in tight places.” Wow. I can totally identify with that idea!

I know what it feels like to want someone to come along and make room for me in my tight places. To remove the boundaries and burdens which threaten to smother me with their nearness.

My stress level mounts, my blood pumps in my ears, and my hope takes flight. Whether it is the little irritations in life like being trapped in a car with a screaming toddler, or the big burdens of wondering about the future of my husband’s job, I know those tight places all too intimately.

We all do.

I love that Psalm 4:1 reminds us there is Someone who can come and offer relief. So many times, we try to make our own space in our tight places — handling things independently and attempting to solve problems without ever calling on the One who best knows how to make room for us.

God is faithful to give us emotional elbow room, easing our burdens and offering us His wisdom. He shows us mercy when we call on Him, hearing our prayers and rescuing us from tight places.

The next time you feel stressed, anxious, worried or overwhelmed, call out to God, and let Him find you in your tight place, making room where you thought there was none.

Dear Lord, thank You for being the God who is near. When my tight places press in on me, Your presence is what I need. Thank You for offering me relief no matter what my circumstances. Help me remember to call on You in my tight places. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Rozlynn Faith Hightower!!!


Today we welcomed my brand new niece into the world. She is absolutely beautiful!! She was 5lbs 15 ozs and 19 inches long. She is just a little touch of heaven.

Here was the family of three before


Reese drew a picture of he thought she would look like


Chris getting ready


Reese wanted to dress up like a dr too!


Seeing his baby sister!


The happy family of four!


I am one proud aunt!!!



Gammy and PawPaw with there 3rd grand baby


Me, Mom, Stacy, and Rozlynn


I love this little girl!


Nathan seeing her for the first time! He wasn't sure what to think :)




Her shirt says "Reese's Rozlynn"






Welcome to the world Rozlynn Faith, we can't wait to spoil you!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Oh Glorious Day!

"Living He loved me,
Dying He saved me,
Buried He carried my sins far away.
Rising He justified,
Freely forever,
One day He's coming,
Oh glorious day!"

I love this song by Casting Crowns. With Easter being this coming weekend, I can't help but think of this song and remember all He has done for me. Don't forget to praise our father this Easter.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Happy Monday!

I posted this picture a couple of weeks ago, but I can't help but smile when I look at this little boy. His personality is really showing in this picture.

Happy Monday Morning!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

big boy = buzz toy!

Nathan is becoming a big boy way too fast! We moved him to a big boy bed this week, and made his room look like a little boys room instead of a nursery. I've been a little sad about that, but happy at the same time. A couple of months ago, I tried to interest Nathan in going to potty. A few times he would say he needed to poop, so we would go and find out that he had already pooped. I would still sit him on the potty, but he really didn't have much interest in it at all. I didn't press the issue, and haven't mentioned it or taken him to sit on the potty since.

Today, we were watching toy story and he looks at me and says, "I pooped." I said "really?" because he had already pooped twice today. He then ran to me and said, "I need to go to my potty." I said ok, and was took him into his bathroom, expecting to take off his diaper and see that he had already pooped. To my surprise, he hadn't. So I sat him on the potty and guess what.....he pooped!

I was so excited and so was he! We danced and sang and hugged. I sent a couple of text messages out, then we ran outside to see daddy who was mowing the yard. Dad was just as excited as we were, and took him around the yard on the lawn mower a few times (Nathan loves that). He got a few phone calls from people telling him how much of a big boy he was. We continued to celebrate!!

About 30 minutes later, he said the same thing. "Momma, I need to poop in my potty" I took him in there because I figured I made such a big deal out of it, he wanted to do it again. To my surprise again, he pooped again!

 Ok twice in one day deserves a new toy!! So we loaded up and went to Walmart. This is what he picked out......











Every big boy deserves a buzz light year toy!!!!


Happy Birthday Braleigh!

Braleigh turned 4 this week....she had a circus party.  There were pony rides, popcorn, cotton candy, clowns,  face painting, balloon animals, bounce house, pinata, and of course cookie cake and presents! Nathan had a blast.

Braleigh the Birthday Girl!


My lil cowboy!




I dressed up as a clown to make balloon animals for the kids, two other friends dressed up too!


A girl with a balloon flower that I made her.


Pinata time!




Happy Birthday Braleigh...we loved your circus party!