Women Walking With God

The highlight of my last few weeks was definitely the Women Walking With God Conference. It's the second year I've been able to go, and I already can't wait for next year! To all my girlfriends here, I want you to come too! This conference sells out, so we're going to have to get on top of our registration early.

The Northside Church of Christ is such a loving place with the most precious people. I feel like I have a second church family in Kansas now, and I was actually sad to leave some of those friends I know that I probably won't get to see for another year now. Thanks to all of you guys who made this last weekend an absolutely fantastic experience.

You can check out the website here, where there's a great promotional video of cardboard testimonies. We watched these ladies share their two-line stories while at the conference, and then my little sister also shared her own powerful testimony. I'm so proud of her and what her life and spirit is today thanks to the power of God.

Hope to see you there next year!

Catching Up

It's been a while, I know. We've had Spring Break and then recovery from Spring Break. Do I need to say more?

Our week off was actually a lot of fun. Ben's college roommate and his family came for a few days. We went to the science museum, visited a new baby, shared a fellowship meal with our small group, watched movies...nothing really extraordinary but so much fun when you get to share it with special friends.

On Saint Patrick's Day, Ben had to take a green snack to work. Try not to vomit, but this was my contribution:

Green Deviled Eggs. Believe it or not, they were a hit. They ate them all.

We also went to Texas to visit the in-laws and attend a family wedding. The kids enjoyed lots of cousin time. Fort Worth had a late snow storm at the end of the week, so it took us five hours to get home due to accidents and icy bridges! Thankfully, my Alaskan husband is always cool as a cucumber in those situations, and I always feel really safe with him behind the wheel.

The last random bit for this post is a video my mom took of Cianne this weekend doing "sign language" to Awesome God. First off, let me say that I hope this is in no way offensive. I would never mock the hearing impaired, and neither would Cianne. But the fact that she thinks she's really doing sign language is hilarious! Notice she never moves her fingers; they stay in a fixed position the entire song.

The Elephant in the Room

I've been avoiding my blog.

The simple reason is that I felt weird not writing about the most significant event/fact/change in my life, but I wasn't really ready to get it out there either. But it's really happening. And after a few weeks of praying, re-thinking/re-planning the next several months, and window shopping for cute baby stuff (since I don't own any anymore), I'm ready to announce the impending arrival of Baby #3.

I'm at the end of my first trimester, I think. Kerri Tindle took this picture this weekend of the rapidly growing baby bump. Not kidding, at around the 9-week mark, I was unbuttoning my pants to sit comfortably while driving! Hopefully, we can nail down a due date with an ultrasound at my next appointment. I'm looking forward to hearing the baby's heartbeat soon too. Never thought I'd be walking this road again. I find myself laughing with God's sense of humor, dumbfounded by His plan, and relaxing in the Father's faithfulness all at the same time.

City Girl Chores

My kids have lost a library DVD, I'm afraid. I hate having to pay for things we will never get to use, but I guess that's part of raising kids. I figured I should make this a learning opportunity though. It's never too early to teach responsibility, right?

So I told them they were going to have pay for the missing DVD. They told me that they didn't have very much money in their piggy banks because they had put it all in the "Lord's Jar," their affectionate name for the can that goes to the new children's building at church--STICK A KNIFE IN MY HEART!! But I'm sticking with this consequence. I told them that I would be more than happy to pay them to do some extra chores around the house, so they could earn the money.

Later in the afternoon, we're driving in the car when Cianne asks, "Do we know some chickens?" Confused, I said, "What?" She continues, "Well, if we knew some chickens, I could go collect some eggs to pay for my movie." Maybe that's a sign of too much TV or something, but it sure did give me a good giggle.

Colonial Day

I had a fun sewing project a couple weeks ago that I thought I'd share. My friend got to participate in Colonial Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol and needed special attire, so we put this together for him. Pretty handsome colonial dude, huh?

Virginia "Phyllis" Parnell

My sweet Granny passed from this life on Thursday, February 11. We celebrated her life yesterday at her home church in Porter, OK. She taught me so much, and I'm very thankful for the precious times my children were able to spend with her. Thanks to my friends for your love and prayers. I am CONFIDENT in God's salvation.

I do still sew...See?

I've slowed down on sewing a lot, so I haven't been posting many pics of stuff I've made. Here are some pictures from Christmas, though. I found these fun bags at "Tar-Jay," a classy place to buy Christmas presents, if I do say so myself....I digress...Each gal got their bag monogrammed in their own color. If you know my sisters & mom, you know that the colors are perfectly suited to each personality.

Hot pink & lime green for Misty & Jo

Red & turquoise for Addi & Jala

Thanks for modeling, girls!