are pretty babies (big girls?) and pretty flowers.
tonight i took pictures of both. 
and, lest you think my kids are easy to photograph,
most of the pictures look more like this:
sneaky fox…
they are FULL of energy!
such joy…
If ever I do anything right at all…
This is what I want it to be. Trying to raise kids who love Jesus with everything they are is the most humbling, challenging, convicting thing I’ve ever attempted. They’re here all the time. They know if I’m in the Word or not. They know if I choose to respond out of love or frustration. They’re very aware if I’m at church when I should be at home, which is an intricate balance since our involvement at church is also modeling how to serve… Every night since Tanner was conceived I’ve begged God to give her a passion for Him, and for His Word, and for others at a very early age. So when I walked in to hear her singing this while she played with her toys, my heart melted… *video*
Sunday we celebrated 2 years since we launched The Vine. On one hand it’s hard to believe it’s been that long, and on the other hand I almost can’t remember life without it. Gregg made an awesome video to commemorate our 2nd year…God’s done a lot in twelve months! Check it out.
Here’s our One Year Video, if you’re looking for more video goodness…
And we’d love to see you Sunday at 9:30 or 11:00 as we continue our current series, Sensational God!
it’s cool to get older. i like it. not because i like birthdays so much as i like how things have changed. instead of thinking about what i “want” i’m just thankful for what i’ve already got. i woke up thinking about how tremendously blessed i am, and thankful for life… all i “wanted” for my birthday this year was to be with nick & the girls. there’s nowhere else i’d rather be, whether they’re behaving or not. my list of favorite things to do has changed. it includes:
1. sitting right next to Nick, both on our laptops. i love his presence.
2. watching Food Network with the K-dawg, listening to her stories, and watching her love Tanner.
3. rocking Tanner to sleep, while she sings “Jesus Loves Me” with me.
4. laying awake at night while Jaxson kicks and rolls around. i think he’s trying to communicate. can’t wait to meet the little guy.
5. family Cheeto-Puff eating. i’m not sure why, but our kids LOVE Cheetos and get so excited!
6. having nowhere to go and nothing to do. and a clean house with the windows open.
7. watching the birds on our bird feeders on Saturday mornings. Tanner loves the “peep-peeps!” (see, toldja I was getting old…birdwatching? seriously? i don’t know their names or anything, but i like the little yellow ones.)
my goals for 28 are to love my family like nothing else matters, and to find ways for us to tangibly be the hands and feet of Jesus…there’s a weird passion in my heart that i can’t yet identify, but i refuse to get any older without figuring it out. i’ll keep ya posted on that one.
and, in the meantime, i’ll leave you with some (not really new) lyrics that are, for some reason, messing me up right now. peace-out
It is not a human right
To stare not fight
While broken nations dream
Open up our eyes, so blind
That we might find
The Mercy for the need
Singing, Hey now fill our hearts with Your compassion
Hey now, as we hold to our confession
It is not too far a cry
To much to try
To help the least of these
Politics will not decide
If we should rise
And be your hands and feet…
This morning was a great experience at theVine as we celebrated the Risen Savior and kicked off a new series, Sensational God. James, Nick, Kris, Matt, and Jeff spent long hours making sure the new set was ready for Easter, and I was really happy with how it looked! We re-used the spandex wall tiles that we implemented during a previous series…but differently.
theVine[band] was excellent today, and my favorite song was “You Found Me” by the Fray. Gregg captured different images of the motion visualizers on iTunes, and created png files with key works in the song, to simulate a pseudo click-track. It worked wonderfully.
As a part of the message, Jason, our outreach pastor, shared his testimony. His story is such a radical testament to the redemptive power of the Gospel and to how JESUS can overtake your life and make you new… it’s awesome. And Gregg did a great job filming and editing… Check it out:
If you missed us this morning, you can listen to the message by clicking here.
Join us next week at 9:30 or 11:00 for week 2 of the Sensational God series!
We loved Spring Break this week! It was amazingly awesome to play with the girls and take a nap everyday. However, I definitely think Tanner’s teachers should charge $150 per DAY, not $150 per week. She’ll wear you out fast! She literally climbs the walls, and loves to say, “No mommy! No nite-nite! No rock-rock! No nap!” Katelynn had a great Spring Break as well. She got her toes done and her nails done, blogged, and did some serious shopping. Friday morning she helped all the little kids with their indoor egg hunt (while it hailed outside!), and Friday night Nick and I took her to dinner and to see the Hannah Montana movie, and she’s perfected this dance.
*Egg Hunt* / *Coming downstairs Easter Morning* (p.s. don’t feel bad for them. they do own pajamas that match. they just chose to dress themselves and we’re picking our battles.)
Sunday morning the Easter Bunny came to visit (at 6:15am, before mommy went to church…I think next year he’s coming on Saturday morning instead!) and the girls got all sorts of fun things. Katelynn got a new DS game, a bubble wand, and big girl candy, and Tanner got a new “baby bruh-ver” doll.
According to Tanner, however, the best things the Easter Bunny brought were CHEETOS! She was so excited about her Cheetos (at 6:30am) that she wouldn’t even stop eating to smile for a picture.
After the 8:15 family/volunteer service at theVine (which was really cool because they came to the grown-up service with us…and Katelynn got to help with the offering!) it was home to dye eggs with LaLa and then hunt them a million times. We’re already ready for Spring Break to come again!
