Girls Sleepover February 2014

Hannah wanted to have her girlfriends from Pearland come and stay the night for her birthday.  We went to Sengelman Hall for a family night.  It was great music, pizza, and lots of laughs.

Then it was home for a late night of movies.

 

Mark 10:45

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give

His life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)

We pray our children will understand this scripture and live as Christ lived.  Praise God!  Hannah understands this verse and is striving to live a life of service unto Christ and others.

Our dear friend, Mrs. Barb, is having heart surgery this week and Hannah wanted to be there to help her.  This is the letter Hannah wrote to Tray and I asking us if she could go to be with her.

 

 

Barb's response to Hannah:

Dear Precious Hannah, You are so sweet to want to come and help and I want you to. Let me get home and see if all goes well and we will arrange it. There are few young women your age that would care about an old woman. I love you, Hannah

Barb

 

 

Face Your Fear

When everything seems crazy

and your world's turn upside down

Don't be afraid

 Don't run away

 Face your fear

In the darkest moments when you curl up and cry

 The Lord will wipe the tears from your eyes.

  Express yourself to God,

He's always by your side.

   Don't give up now,

In the darkest moments,

  face your fear,

  The morning will come again.

  

        -  Hannah Manley (our daughter)

Homemaker in the Making

 

She gets up while it is still night;  she provides food for her family...  (Proverbs 31:15)

                                      

My little homemaker in the making.  I'm not sure if she will let me cook anymore.  She has really taken a joy to cooking.

Last night she prepared Chinese fried rice and hot and sour soup.  We attempted egg rolls but making the wraps from scratch was not as easy as it sounded.  

This morning she was up before the other members of the household, making breakfast.  She prepared homemade pancakes and eggs.

This evening she asked to make pizza.  She loves to make Pioneer Woman's from scratch pizza dough, you can find here http://thenoshery.com/2010/02/26/pioneer-womans-pizza-crust/.  We do substitute half the flour with fresh ground wheat.  Oh, they were so delicious!  For dessert she made no bake cookies http://allrecipes.com/recipe/unbaked-chocolate-oatmeal-cookies/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=unbaked%20chocolate%20oatmeal%20cookies&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page.  Our alterations: omit coconut flakes, raisins, walnuts.  Reduce sugar to 1 cup.  Cacao powder in place of cocoa powder, when we have it.  We use raw milk and peanut butter made with just peanuts.  These are always devoured real quick. 

I have been taking advantage of all this cooking she is doing and planing out future weeks of school for us.  I can honestly say it has been such a blessing for me and a joy to see her want to serve our family.

 

Hannah First Year Swim Team

Here is a video.  

In May Hannah joined the Schulenburg Sharks, this was her first year on the swim team.  She LOVED it and plans to join the team every year.  She performed so well while on the team and continued working on her butterfly and breast stroke all through the summer. 

Lexi's Third Birthday

Mrs. Barb and Mr. Larry brought Lexi many Dora surprises. Lexi was so excited and really enjoyed her Dora cake,stickers, and books.  It was a special day for Lexi!

Our Move to Schulenburg March 2012

Our New Home

 Bathroom before

 

Bathroom after

 Kitchen before                                                                                    Kitchen after, still in the works

Kitchen before

                                                                                                     Kitchen after, still in the works

Kitchen still in the works

School room before

School room after, still in the works

Dining before

 

Dining after

 

 Micah's room before

Micah's room after, still in the works

 Living room before (well there was carpet, we pulled up). Like the hole in the wall?

 Living room after, still in the works. 

 Girls room 

Still a lot to accomplish and will take years, if we ever even stop.  You know old houses always have something that needs to be done.  We are so grateful for what the Lord has given us and to be in our new home town. 

God's Gift of Purity



Shared a sweet moment with Lauren reading The Princess and the Kiss. She had tears flowing down her cheek and said, "Mommy you didn't save your first kiss for our daddy." I had to explain how I once didn't have Jesus in my life and didn't make choices that honored him and that brought a lot of emptiness and heart ache. By God's grace I was able to heal and he showered me with his mercy and love. He blessed me more than I deserved by bringing daddy (Tray) into my life.

I than explained to her that she now knows the importance of saving her first kiss and that it is not just because mommy says so.  God gives us wisdom on how to live a life that is God honoring because he loves us.  When we choose to go our own way we are choosing to bring emptiness and a lot of misery into our hearts.
"love...comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith"  (1 Timothy 1:5) NIV

I love that I can teach my kids at home and that I can share the word of God and his love for them all day!

Lexi's First Silly Face

Lexi's first silly face.



Roadrunner



First let me explain that every morning our kids chase daddy down the road on their bikes or on foot waving goodbye and shouting out their love for him.  How could you not have a good day when you have a beginning like that.

Well this morning we were heading out the door before daddy and as we were loading in the car we noticed daddy getting onto his bike.  Puzzled I didn't understand why he was getting on his bike when he needed to be getting into his car.

Then as I watched daddy with his childlike behavior zooming down the road rushing to be the first, he reminded me of Micah in the mornings.  As we met him at the intersection he waved goodbye to us with a gleeful smile.

It was just the sweetest and funniest start to our day!  Thank you daddy for always keeping us laughing.

Lexi is 2

Life at  2

for

Lexi    Elliana

Curious of all that surrounds you. Always attempting to master the skills of everything that is set before your eyes. If ever there is a moment of silence we know there is a mess to be cleaned. With a smile we chuckle, “Oh Lexi!” Knowing that you are just but seeking to be like those who you look up to.

You love to share butterfly kisses, paint your toes, cook, dance, color and paint works of art (well masterpieces in the eyes of mom). We mutually have a joy for admiring birds. It is quite wonderful to watch you birding. For someone who is constantly on the go and full of boundless energy you can become as quiet as a mouse and as still as a statue when trying to get a glimpse of a beautiful burbling bird.

Before the age of 2 you began potty training at your own desire. We have yet to master the poopies. With your left hand you hold your pencil in the accurate position striving to form the letter L for Lexi. You most often make requests with one or two words, but Hannah has been teaching you to repeat after her your requests in the form of sentences. Micah and you enjoy rough playing, sometimes you tend to be a little stronger than we would like. Lauren and you often share a coloring book on the floor.

I would say you mostly dislike going to bed. You can throw some longs fits before you wear yourself out.

Lexi the past two years of your life have been a joy to watch.

   Preparing for Lexi's Birthday

 

 Hannah icing the cake.

 Lexi making sure the chefs whipped up an icing to her liking.

The kids created a birthday banner.

 Hannah getting creative with the wrapping.

Don't touch yet!

 

And she blows them out. 

Cookie's Week

Lexi and I stayed home to finish dinner while everyone else went swimming.  We thought we would sit on the kitchen floor and read a few books from her wagon of books.  We started with Cars! Cars! Cars! by Grace Maccarone, next we read Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree by Eileen Christelow, our last book was Cookie's Week by Cindy Ward.  Lexi jumped from my lap after I read on Monday...Cookie fell in the toilet.  I got up to follow her, as I glanced around the corner she was pulling the days of the week off the velcro chart.  She wobbled herself back into the kitchen sat on my lap and laid the days of the week in her lap.  As I read through the book she attempted to find the day of the week and put it up the book. 

You know this is an example of just how much those little ears pick up as I teach her siblings.  She really amazes me.

Riding His Bike

 

Look who began riding his bike on his 5th birthday! 

Never a Dull Moment!

Trying to get 4 kids ready for church can sometimes be a challenge. 

Well I had one down, little Ms. Lexi

Oh wait!!  That's not what she looked like 10 minutes ago.

Went upstairs to help dress my other children, came down and Lexi was covered in sunblock.  My first reaction was oh no!  Then I just laughed, there is never a dull moment with my Lexi. These are the moments I will truly reminisce on and giggle, especially when her little one is being mischievous.

Clean up.... Oh and I didn't intentionally put those bubbles in the tub.  Can you guess how they got there???  A couple of days ago Lexi dumped Tray's hand soap in the tub as I was getting my makeup on.  I didn't bother to clean it, thinking it would come in handy on another day.  Well it did, we are cleaning off the sunblock and utilizing our soap mess from a few days prior.

Lexi you bring joy, laughter and craziness to my life and I wouldn't want it any other way.