It's a conspiracy!!!

Please watch this short video. I could change your life!

http://www.adventconspiracy.org/


Greg and I have decided to join the advent conspiracy this year. So many things have changed in our lives over the last year and it's only getting better. We are really becoming aware of what is going on around the world. Things that so many people would rather ignore. I'm so excited about this. I guess some people will think of us as freaks. I don't care! I'm not buying Christmas lights this year. I will use the ones I already have, but I won't be buying any more.
I recently saw an interview with a chinese Christian who was abused at a factory in China while making Christmas lights. It is wrong the way these people are being treated and some are very young children.
"No company has come under as harsh a spotlight as Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, which sourced about $9 billion in goods from China in 2006, everything from hammers and toys to high-definition televisions. And so while American and European consumers worry about exposing their children to Chinese-made toys coated in lead, Chinese workers, often as young as 16, face far more serious hazards. Here in the Pearl River Delta region near Hong Kong, for example, factory workers lose or break about 40,000 fingers on the job every year, according to a study published a few years ago by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. "At Wal-Mart, Christmas ornaments are cheap, and so are the lives of the young workers in China who make them," the National Labor Committee report said. "

I'm not saying stop buying gifts, I'm just saying instead of buying 6 gifts per person, buy 3. We have started with our kids. Each child gets 3 gifts. That is how many Jesus got, so that is how many they get. We also go through their toys a couple times a year and give away some to kids in Matamoros, Mexico. It is a way for the kids to sacrifice. It isn't easy for them, but it's good for them. Giving is not always easy for adults either, but it is good for us.

We always hear that if you give God will bless you. Today Greg and I had proof of that. While I was in Joplin the window on my van broke. It is rolled down a little bit and won't go back up. We have taped it up with duct tape. We know it needs to be fixed, but other things have priority since the tape is working fine right now (like giving). We decided to partner with http://www.kiva.org/ It is a micro loan organization that gives loans to entrepeneurs around the world so they can start providing for their families. We gave $150 in loans yesterday. 7 $25 loans to 7 different people. These are loans. We will get the money back when the businesses of these people become profitable. When the loans are paid back you can take your money or put it back into the progam for more people. This is what we will be doing. We also gave more cash to our church this morning beyond our tithe. It was a little bit of a stretch for us, but we felt we needed to do it even though we needed to fix the window. The spanish church threw Greg a surprise birthday party after church. They presented him with an card. Inside was $250 and a gas card!!! See how God blessed us? Now we have the money to fix the window and our giving didn't suffer.
All because we stepped out in faith. God has taken care of us everytime we have needed Him. When we worship God by trusting Him amazing things happen.


The slogan for the advent conspiracy, "Worship fully, spend less, give more, love all."

DEFINATELY!!

I think the church needs to get ready. Our nation is going through some hard times, and it's predicted that it's only going to get worse. The church needs to get ready. It's during hard times that people turn to God. The church needs to get ready. People are going to be searching for something to give their lives meaning. The church nees to get ready. We have that something . The church needs to get ready. God is going to use what was ment for bad to bring about good. The church needs to get ready. I can feel a revival coming on. The church needs to get ready. Awesome things are beginning to happen. Church, are you ready?

Soccer season

I know this is my 3rd post today. I guess I'm just playing catch up. Soccer season is finally here. After a rough start (mainly with Eli), we are finally getting the hang of it. This is Nate's 2nd year to play. I am amazed how much he had improved over last year. He has become quit the player. He plays defense. He is always back by the goal and whenever the ball gets near he kicks it out. He has saved his team many times! I'm so proud. His team is the Scorpions.

Eli has scored 2 goals already this season. The first one was kind of accidental, but the 2nd one he ment to go in. It was great! We had a little trouble motivating him at first. His new favorite phrases are "That is soooo stupid!" and "It's so boring!". I can't stand it when he says that. Anyway, he thought soccer was soooo stupid and soooo boring! I tried it all to motivate him. Finally I came up with something. It worked and he has been doing awesome since. I'm so proud of him. He is actually enjoying it too. IMAGINE! Eli's team is the Cougars!

Happy Halloween!!

Tonight we went to "Boo at the Zoo". It was a lot of fun. The boys love it. Well, maybe not Nate so much. He hates the scary costumes. Eli would go up to the tables and say "trick or treat" 3 or 4 times trying to get more candy. Here are our little men.

I think the highlight of the evening was seeing the storm trooper from Star Wars. Nate and Eli both are big Star Wars fans right now.

Turns of life.

Lots of things have been going on lately. Some are great and some not so much. First of all, my mother in law was diagnosed with breast cancer. It really was a shock for everyone. She has now had a masectomy and is recovering. We should know today what stage the cancer is at. My grandparents have had cancer. I guess maybe I was in denial when that happened. Maybe I thought if I didn't really acknowledge it it would just go away. I guess now that I am a little older I am realizing just how devestating cancer can be. I used to walk past all of the pink ribbons without thinking about it. Now I have a pink magnet ribbon on the back of my van, a pink bracelet that says "hope", 2 different pink pens, and an m&m bag full of pink m&ms. Pink now catches my eye. My mom told me this week that I would be better off to just send $20 to the organization than buy all of this stuff. But to me the pink makes a statement. It's a reminder to me too to pray. To pray not only for my mother in law but for all those who are fighting. For all those doctors working on a cure. One day it will happen!

A month ago my in laws came down for a visit. It was a great time for everyone. Here are a few pics.

Last week my parents were here. They did another color code conference. Greg was a little worried at first because it didn't seem like we had many registered. We were so pleased when about 60 showed up. I think it was a great time for everyone. Here are some pics from that week.

Back to School!!

Well we have officially been back to school for 2 weeks now. The first few days was extremely difficult. I am homeschooling both Nate and Eli. Nate is in 1st grade and Eli in kinder. The first day Nate cried a lot and was telling me that he thought school was stupid. I told him he needed to get his attitude right. He has to go to school, so he gets to decide if he wants to go to school at home or go to the "big school". I found a great website for homeschoolers. homeschoolspot.com It has been a lifesaver. After our first day I got on the forum and told them about my horrible first day and asked for advice. They reminded me that the great thing about homeschooling is that we don't have to sit in a desk for 3 hours at a time. Some one suggested writing everything we had to do down on individual index cards and writing fun activities too. Then we choose a card from the work pile and do it, then choose one from the fun pile. Continue doing that until all the work is done. I adapted that into something that works for us. I have a chalk board in our office. I drew a line down the middle and wrote work on one side and fun on the other. Our fun things include: bingo, reading a book, playing with legos, video games (20 minutes), computer time (really counts as school but shhhhh!) and a coloring page. This seems to be working really well. We usually break for lunch around 11am. Our day starts around 9am when Greg goes to work. In that two hours we work until the kids starting getting restless then we pick a fun thing (usually bingo first) then we work a little more, then we have lunch. After lunch Eli and Sam lay down and Nate finishs school. He usually doesn't need a break in the afternoon. He is able to work much faster without Eli around. Then its free time for the rest of the day. Really its working out great!! I love that I am able to teach my children.

Our day at the zoo!!!

Today the boys and I decided to go to the zoo. We were walking around enjoying the animals when a man from the zoo came up to us and told me that we needed to follow him immediately that there was a code red. I of course asked what that ment and he told me there was an animal loose. We followed him to the special events building. He got on his phone and asked someone to call him when the code red was over. A couple minutes later he walked us up to the front office. While we were up there I heard another worker tell someone that she was hearing two stories. She said she heard it was a ... (I didn't hear what she said) then the other worker she was talking to shhhhh!ed her and told her to come talk to her somewhere else. About 5 minutes later the all clear was given. They said the escaped animal was a Bongo Antelope. They are the 2nd biggest antelopes in the world. Here is a picture. I think it's a conspiracy though and it was a more dangerous animal. I talked later to another worker who told me the same story that it was the bongo and then told me someone got thier codes mixed up. Code Red is for a dangerous animal such as a lion or bear. A code yellow is for a non-dangerous animal like an antelope. I'm not sure I buy it. Anyway, what a story!! Nate also got stung by a bee for the first time. He screamed so loud. We went to the first aid station and we go the stinger out and I smashed the bee even though he was dying anyway. He is fine now. Here is a picture of my precious boys too.

Hurricane Dolly

Well it's been an interesting week. On Saturday I was watching the news and they starting talking about a tropical storm hitting the Yuchatan. I figured we didn't have anything to worry about. On Sunday I saw that the projected path was leading straight toward Brownsville. It was projected to make a Category 1 hurricane before it hit land. Monday I watched the weather channel religiously. Now they had it going a little bit south. Monday afternoon the path was Brownsville again. I decided to throw some clothes in a bag just in case. Greg was scheduled to leave Tuesday morning witht he praise band for a convention in San Antonio. Tuesday morning the tropical storm was picking up speed. Greg left around 7:30am. I called some friends who have lived here their whole lives and asked what I should do. They offered for me to come over there during the storm for a hurricane party, but said they understood if I wanted to leave. They said they thought we would be fine though. Around 9:30 I decided to go get plywood to board up the windows. I figured I was the only crazy on in Brownsville. NOT SO!! When I arrived at Home Depot there were tons of people. I had to wait in line for about 10 minutes to get the plywood. If my husband had been a little more concerned for his family this would have already been done. He thought there was no need for it. I am always thinking, "Better safe than sorry." (I still wasn't sure if I was staying or going.) While waiting in line to pay I asked a worker at home depot if he was from Brownsville. He said that he was and then I told him my situation. "My husband is out of town and I am going to be here by myself with the kids if I decide to stay. Am I ok to stay or should I leave?" He said, "If you were my wife I would make you go." DONE!! I went home and thanks to my wonderful friend Racheal and her awesome kids Asha and Isaiah we got the plywood up on the windows. Then I loaded the car and drove to San Antonio. Well, I think we did the right thing (no matter what Greg says). Tuesday afternoon Dolly became a Category 1 hurricane and Wednesday a Category 2. I would have been terrified had I been at home by myself. We came back to Brownsville on Friday. There was a lot of flooding about 30 miles north of Brownsville. We lost some shingles and the kids swingset looks like its a goner, but other than that we are fine. Here are a couple pictures of flooding and damage.

Life!

My three little ones are keeping me busy. Too busy to write on here obviously, but I thought I would take just a second as my groceries are calling my name to be put away. The kids are hungry, Sam needs to go down for a nap, but that all will have to wait while I do this. I know, I'm horrible. Although things have been busy they have been good. I am teaching the 3&4's Sunday school class, I am leading a women's Bible study on Wednesday nights, we have swimming lessons and fun summer activities that are going on around town, the Spanish service just got moved to 9:30 am on Sunday in the sanctuary, I have been helping out with Beth's kids since she had her 4th 4 days ago, scrapbooking, and all this on top of everyday normal things like laundry, playing with the kids, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, etc. etc. etc. Wow! I'm tired just thinking about it.

Nate turned 6 2 days ago! I can't believe it! Time goes so fast. When Greg brought the cake home for his party I fully expected it to say, "Happy 4th Birthday Nathan!" When I say Happy 6th Birthday my first reaction was, "They got it wrong!" Then it dawned on me that I have a 6 year old!!!!!! It feels so crazy. I guess 6 is kind of the magic number from going to a little kid to just a kid. Some days I wish I could have my little mouse back! Then I look at him and the wonderful little (see I'm still thinking of him as little) boy he has become and how he knows about Jesus and loves him and how most of the time he loves his brothers and how he still comes up to me for hugs and he just wants to be held sometimes and realized how blessed I am. The way he is tells me that I'm not a complete failure as a parent (although there are definatly days I wonder why in the world the Lord thought he could trust me with 3). I'm doing something right because he is a really great kid (most of the time)!

Eli is doing well too. He broke is collar bone about a month ago. He was playing on the window sill which he was not supposed to be doing and fell off. I think he hit a toy box on the way down. I was on the computer and heard him cry and ran in there. At first I thought it was just another one of those falls. I told him he would be fine and went on about my business. A couple minutes later he came in crying telling me it hurt. He has been grouchy all day so I told him to go take a nap (even though it was already 2pm). A couple minutes later he came in again and told me it hurt so I decided to take a look. After I had him lift up his arms so I could take off his shirt I realized his right arm looked a little funny. I immediately called Greg and told him to bring me the car that I thought Eli had dislocated his shoulder or something. Greg was home within 10 minutes and Eli and I headed to the dr. After 3 hours at the dr. this is what the xray showed. We were referred to a specialist who put E in a brace. 2 1/2 weeks later we went back and the brace was taken off. The specialist wants to see him back in 4 weeks to make sure it is completely healed. I knew with 3 boys that a broken bone was inevitable, it was just a matter of when and which child. Thankfully it wasn't worse. Eli has also been doing swimming lessons. He as so scared of the water at first. He would hold onto my neck for dear life. After only 5 days he is loving the water and wants everyday to be swimming lesson day.

Sam is well... Sam. He is so precious, but man is he a handful. This morning I asked Nate where Sam was and he said in the bathroom. Immediately I thought of Sam playing in the toilet. When I went in instead of finding him splashing around in the disease infested waters of the toilet I find him sitting in the sink playing with everyones tooth brushes. Oh this child!! Not 5 minutes later I come in and he is on top of the dining room table. He is by far my most curious and daring child. At swimming lessons the other day he got away from me for a second and headed straight for the water. If I had been one second further behind he would have ended up in the pool. The kid has no fear!! As much of a handful as he is he brings so much joy to this family. As our yellow (color code not jaudice) he is always making sure everyone is happy. He gives kisses andhugs spur of the moment and is always doing silly things, whether it be dancing in the middle of the floor of falling down on purpose to make you laugh. What a blessing!!

Greg and I celebrated 8 years of marriage on June 3rd. We were able to leave the kids with Beth and go on a date. We went to see a movie and then went to Texas Roadhouse. It was so nice!

Well, I better go finish putting away the groceries so I can get to ironing. UGH!!!

Good bye 2007 HELLOOO 2008!

I feel like I've been stuck in a whirlwind the last 2 months. So much has gone on. Sam turned one on December 5th. I can't believe how fast that year went by. He is running everywhere. I can't turn my back on him for 5 seconds!

It's amazing to think that this time last year I had a 3 week old baby! Unreal how much they change in one year. I love seeing Sam's personality coming out though. In mom and dad's color code we think he is a yellow. He is always going around giving people hugs and making funny faces so people will smile. Yellows are "smile checkers". He is such a wonderful baby. Here is a picture of his latest funny face.

In my next to last post I mentioned the "little angels" that I was in charge of for the Christmas program. Here are some of the pictures from then. The boys did a great job! This is the first year Eli has done it. Technically he isn't old enough until he is 4, but since I was in charge we made an exception. He did so awesome. This is the first year Nate hasn't hidden behind the bigger kids. I guess because this year he was the bigger kid. Next year he moves up to the big kid program. He is so excited! Anyway, here are the pics.

Greg's family visited in mid-December. We has so much fun staying on the beach with them. The kids love having family around. This Christmas was one Greg and I will not soon forget. Greg was in charge of the Christmas Eve service at 6pm. All went well. After church we went by Wendy's for dinner. We all ate and the boys opened their traditional Christmas pj's and went to bed. Around 8:30 I started to feel pretty bad. My stomach was very upset which it had been off and on for the last week or so. My first thought..."here comes baby #4!" Around 10pm the toilet and I started to get aquainted and we reamained close the rest of the night. When I heard Greg also making a move on the toilet around 2am I first felt sorry for him and them was totally relieved because I realized that baby #4 was not going to be making an appearance yet! WHEW!!! Anyway, we thought we had food poisoning, but realized it was probably a bug when Nate started throwing up a couple days later. Thankfully everyone was well by New Years Eve. We had a really fun time New Years Eve with our friends here. Here is a picture of Greg and I on new years.

Tonight at our Women's Bible study we were talking about Namaan's wife's maid servant. How she used her actions to show Namaan's family God. The lady teaching the study used the words, "She lived a life of joy, peace and purpose." That one sentence got me thinking. I have these revelation moments and vow to change, but life usually catches up with me the next day and it goes out the window. This time is going to be different. Years from now when I am gone, when my kids think about me I want them to think about how much joy and peace our home had. I don't want them to think about the times I yelled at them because I had told them 15 times to clean their room. I want my kids to know their purpose in life. As Christians we have all been put here for a reason and that reason is to glorify God and let others know what we know. I believe God sets up divine appointments for us everyday, whether it is with our kids or a complete stranger. How many of those appointments have I missed because I've been too wrapped up in myself? Worried about how I might sound, or scared because the person only speaks Spanish and mine isn't that great, or I just don't want to! My friend Beth and I were also talking about how hard it is in the stage of life we are in with kids to sit down at church and have a meaningful conversation with someone because we are constantly worried about the kids. It's just a stage, but it makes you think how many people have slipped through. Anyway, I'm rambling, but I just wanted to share my BIG new years resolution. Please pray for me as I try to make giant leaps toward the woman of God that I so desperately desire to be. Blessings and Happy New Year!