Great is His Faithfulness

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

Thankful Thursday

2010-08-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Please join us in welcoming Lucy Caroline to the Stevens family. She made her appearance at 10:38 AM on August 20, weighing in at 8 lb 6 oz (a lightweight in this family!!) and measuring 20.5 inches.
Everyone here is just in love with her and it's a good thing I have to hold her for feedings, or else Sam, Katie and Nathan would never give her up!!

Brothers gotta hug!

2010-08-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

And make silly faces too!

Why, yes, as a matter of fact, you can

2010-08-03T01:24:00.001-07:00

Mark had to work late tonight so I was telling the kids that I'd be getting them ready for bed after I cleaned up the kitchen. Sam said, "mom, you never let US help you clean up the kitchen. Can we do something to help tonight?" As I was recovering from the shock, Katie said something like, "yeah, can we have a fun job helping you clean the kitchen?" And Sam said, "yeah, like washing dishes! Can we wash the dishes tonight mom?" He later said, "you should just let us help you clean the kitchen every time, mom." Um, ok. Knock yourselves out!

And speaking of weird kids, Nathan has started calling me mom. He is 1, people. Ok, to be fair, he will be 2 next month, but seriously, what 1 year old calls his mother "mom"? I'm pretty sure I don't like it, but at the same time nearly everything he says and does is super cute, so I can't bring myself to make him say mommy. Tell me: could YOU resist this face?

And in other news, I am now less than 35 days away from my due date. Mark had a little panic attack last night, but I think he's settled down for now. He's worried that we don't have a name picked out yet. He seems to have forgotten that none of our children has had a name before he/she was born. In fact, I am pretty sure that none of them had a name until the day we came home from the hospital. We're weird like that, though. I guess I see now where our kids get it!

Oops

2010-07-30T11:57:00.001-07:00

So, I've been a little out of the bloggin loop lately. We've been working to get ready for baby sister. Something about bringing home a new baby makes one feel like all the closets have to be cleaned and organized! So we're a little over 5 weeks from the due date. Here's a picture I snapped of myself this morning. I had just woken up, so forgive the unkempt hair and unsmiling face. Who wants to be woken up to the sound of a child saying, "Mom, I don't have any clean underwear in my drawer"?
>

I've also been doing a bit of sewing lately. Here is the latest creation for Katie: a skirt and shirt set. I love that she loves my making something new for her, despite all my attempts to point out the flaws.

The skirt was pretty hard to make, I won't lie. There was a ton of gathering to be done and I am terrible at gathering. My next attempt from this pattern will be a dress. I love getting patterns with more than one option in them! If you like it, it's the Analiesse pattern from Portabellopixie by Sandi Henderson. I have several of her patterns and I love all of them. I also plan to make a Gracie reversible jumper with ruffle pants. Stay tuned for pictures...

Think he likes his pacifiers?

2010-06-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

Update

2010-06-22T12:27:00.001-07:00

The kids and I took a big trip recently. We spent a week in Memphis with my parents, then a week in Starkville, MS to participate in VBS at our old church. Sadly I did not pull out my camera even once while we were in Starkville and didn't pull it out enough while we were in Memphis, but I did manage to get a few shots here and there. This first picture is one of my dad with Katie and Nathan right before we left. The group shot of the kids is from the Children's Museum of Memphis. We went one afternoon and had an absolute blast. We were there 3 hours and could have stayed 3 more.

And here are a few shots from yesterday of the kids enjoying their Tootsie Pops from Em and Pop (my parents).

There are 11 more weeks (give or take) until my due date and all of a sudden, I have a huge nesting urge! Thanks to a youth yard sale this weekend, I am weeding through toys and books and movies and clothes and getting this house ready to meet it's newest resident. Only 76 more days! Where does the time go?

ICE!

2010-05-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

Goin' to the chapel...

2010-05-25T12:30:00.001-07:00

Keri got married this weekend! And, I might add, in record time! The wedding started at 2 and she and Jeremy were leaving the reception by 3:20! Above is a picture of all the Lagniappe ladies who attended or participated in the wedding. Front row: Sarah Niemitz and husband Ben sang at the reception, I sang during the ceremony, Keri was a radiant and cheerful bride, Lynne played the piano and Kelly Moore's husband Curt officiated. Back row: Our buddy Elizabeth Holman came down from Jackson, Ruth Friant, and Beth Laninga was the Maid of Honor. I love weddings! I love the reunion of friends, the celebration with music and food and the picture we get of the ultimate wedding we'll one day attend in Heaven when Jesus comes to claim His bride, the Church. May that day come quickly!

Will you settle for this instead?

2010-05-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Blogger won't load my video. Boo on them. But I do have some cute pictures. Wanna see?

Coming soon to a blog near you...

2010-05-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

A video of Mark reading "The Three Cajun Little Pigs" to the kids in an authentic cajun accent. It's taking for.ev.er. to load. But keep checking back. Cause trust me folks, you'll want to see this...

I'm Ba-ack!

2010-05-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

And had a nice time! It turned out to be more of a family conference than a homeschool conference, but I still came away encouraged. A friend asked me today what I took away from the weekend. Well, that was a hard one. I am still processing that one. In fact, I've typed and deleted about 4 things and still don't know exactly what I want to say. Voddie Baucham was the main speaker. He's quite controversial, but an excellent preacher and a man who really seeks to both raise his children to know and serve the Lord and encourage other fathers to do the same. Maybe I'll write more about it in the next few days, after I've had time to really think through all I learned.

Abby, I ate some City Bagel just for you and Kristen. It was fabulous! I even brought home a baker's dozen bagels to share with the kids. But who am I kidding? I'll probably eat most, if not all, of them myself. They will have no appreciation for such fine cuisine.

And just a word about homeschooling. Although many HS (homeschooling) families will tell you that they do it because they believe God commands it, I just really like to have my kids home with me. I love all the funny things they say and do, I love to watch them love on and play with each other, and I love to see them learn and grow. I also love having my own schedule and not being a slave to school starting and ending times. Will we homeschool all the way through? Who knows? Right now I am taking it one year at a time. Next year will be insane, with Sam starting 1st Grade, Katie turning 4, Nathan turning 2 and a new sister joining our family. I have no idea how things will play out. But I do know that God is faithful and that He will provide whatever I need (notice I said need, not want) to make it through each day. And please do not feel that the Stevens have any judgement for what other families have chosen for themselves. We know what we (and most importantly, God) want for us, but the choices and decisions you make for your families are completely between you and the Lord. I have to add that last part in because there are very few HS families in our area (that we know of) and when people ask me about it, for some reason I get very self-conscious and feel like I am coming across as judgemental about the choices that their families make, when that couldn't be farther from the truth.

And now I am off to browse through some of the books and catalogues I picked up this weekend. Happy Sunday night!

Starkville Bound!

2010-05-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend I am headed up to my old stomping ground to attend the Mississippi Home Educators Association's Spring Conference. That's just a fancy term for homeschool convention. I might be the only person there in pants. Just kidding. Anyway, I get to spend two days and two nights with my friend Amy and sit under some great teaching, eat great food and see old friends. And the best part? I am going alone! I know. You're jealous, aren't you? Well, you should be. Check back in a couple days for an update on the convention, pictures, and maybe just to see if I actually came back home. Tee hee.

We love Aunt Amy!

2010-05-12T10:22:00.001-07:00

Boo on me

2010-05-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

I didn't post yesterday. Mark's sister was here for the night and spent most of the day getting ready for her to come and hanging out with her once she got here. She leaves this morning to head back to Charleston, SC. On Saturday she'll be leaving for Africa on a two week medical mission trip. I'm going to try and snap a few pictures of her and the kids before she goes. Have a great Wednesday!

Just another manic Monday...

2010-05-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

Well, not really. But I wanted something cleverly Monday related in the title. And we all know how much I love 80's songs, so there you go. Anyway, in my quest to do a blog post every day this month (OK, OK, I know it's May 10 and this is only my second day in May to do a post. Let's be encouraging, people. I want to do one every day for the rest of the month. Sheesh. You're so literal.), here I am at 11 o'clock at night trying to think of something of interest to report. Today we spent much of the day cleaning up after our Ocho de Mayo party on Saturday. We had so much food leftover, we invited people over after church on Mother's Day to help us finish it off. We still had leftovers though, and ate them for lunch and supper tonight. I think we're tacoed out. Thankfully we had the foresight to go ahead and freeze the other 10 pounds of taco meat. Yes, I said 10 pounds. It's gonna be a fiesta of a summer around here. Ole! In addition to cleaning up, we read books, did some school, played outside, visited with some friends (who we also invited to lunch today to help us eat up the food) and did laundry. Just another laid back day in the Stevens household.

The Personalized Peacock

2010-05-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

A sister of a friend who lives in Memphis has started her own monogramming business called The Personalized Peacock. She is doing a giveaway through tomorrow, May 10. Head on over there and check it out!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

Thankful Thursday

2010-02-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a week since I posted anything. Oops. Things I'm especially thankful for today:

1. My sweet husband who doesn't complain about slightly wrinkled shirts when his wife is still in bed at 8:45 because she is so exhausted.

2. My kids, who are satisfied with the simple pleasures of a short walk on a nice day and leftover BBQ for lunch. With extra pickles, mind you.

3. A nice house to shelter us from the elements. It's been so cold lately and I can't imagine not having a place to escape it.

4. Food to eat. Even though lots of food isn't appealing to me right now, and what we have isn't always the gourmet spread I'd like, I am thankful for leftovers, rice and beans, and surprises from the freezer.

5. A cool new children's wing in the library where my kids can go to story hour, make crafts and play computer games. And get 20 new books every week too.

6. Reading. My kids would sit for HOURS and read if I would do it. I love that they love stories and books, and recently they've taken to reading to each other. Does my heart good, I tell ya.

7. And last (for today) but most certainly not least, the grace of God that sustains me every day, that reminds me I am His and He is mine and I am a child of the KING!

I am so blessed!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-10T15:49:00.001-08:00

Friday's Feastings

2010-02-05T14:13:00.001-08:00

Ok, is it weird to have a blog post about our meals? I have other friends who give regular food reports on their blogs, so I figure it's not completely unheard of. We ate several things this week that we'll definitely be trying again soon. First, we thawed and made use of the smoked ham sent home with us from our Christmas visit to Memphis. We were able to make ham and bean soup, several days' worth of ham salad for sandwiches, five ham and cheese quiches, a ham loaf (very similar to a huge ham and cheese Hot Pocket) and some ham and swiss party rolls for the Super Bowl Party this weekend. Go Colts! We were also able to put chopped ham on our salads. We found the recipes for the quiche and the party rolls from the Faith Presbyterian Church cookbook, given to me by my good friend Sarah. Also, in that same cookbook, we found a recipe for Cranberry and Orange Scones which we enjoyed for breakfast this morning and a recipe for Garlic Butter Tilapia which we had for dinner on Wednesday night. And last but certainly not least, last night's dinner consisted of Barb's recipe for Fabulous French Onion Soup. It most certainly was! Fabulous that is! Next time, I'll know to make a double batch so everyone can enjoy the leftovers, not just mom. So readers, what are YOU eating these days? And I'll be happy to share recipes if anyone is interested.

Yes, it's true...

2010-01-29T12:01:00.000-08:00

Baby Stevens #4 will be making his or her debut sometime in late August or early September. We are so excited, especially the kids. In fact, Katie already refers to the baby as "my baby sister". She won't even entertain the notion of it being a boy, nor will she even listen to boy name suggestions. Secretly, I'm really hoping for a girl as well, but I know God will give us what He knows our family needs. Besides, who says boys aren't just as sweet as girls?

New Year, New Blog

2010-01-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our new blog! I would love to do a better job of keeping everyone updated on our lives this year! Hopefully a new blog will keep me motivated. Here's to New Year's Resolutions...