More Fall Pictures

Ok, Ok, I know I was supposed to be sending pictures but honestly the tree hasn't done much. It appears that the leaves are falling faster then they are turning. So here is a picture from today but I won't put anymore of this tree. There are some pretty ones around town.

The weather has gotten pretty cold now so the girls have pulled out the footie pj's. Ella hated them last year but now doesn't want to take them off. She even puts them on at quiet time.

Enjoy the pictures. More to come. We are headed to the state fair tonight and will add some pictures.

Fall is in the air

The fall season is upon us as the leaves are slowly beginning to change. I love this time of year. I am continually amazed at the handy work of Christ as I watch the process. I find it completely amazing that He paints the leaves every year in so many wonderful colors. I took a picture of the tree outside of our front door. I thought it would be cool to watch its progress over the next month.
School is going well. I can hardly believe we are just about to the halfway point. Next week is fall break and then the following week is week 8 which is half way. It is a busy semester but again Tommy is doing so well at staying on top of things. He is doing well in his classes and received an A on his math test. Math is a tough subject for him or shall I say it was a tough subject for him growing up. Funny how years can make things a little easier. Tommy has been asked to present the Gospel at our churches Fall Festival on Halloween. Please pray as he prepares for that. It is neat to see how doors are being opened to present the Gospel. It is very exciting to have our church encouraging us.

The girls are doing well. Ella and I have been doing "learning" as she calls it for about a month now and she loves it. It is a great time for the two of us. She is a good student and really enjoys the different things she is taught. Elizabeth is growing up so much. She is officially potty trained (I know old news to you) and I am amazed. I started giving her a regular cup at the table instead of a sippy. Does the second one grow up quicker??? I told Tommy last night, "You realize we don't have a baby anymore." Here are two pictures of the girls. As you can see they love one another very much but also have that sibling rivalry. I think the hug ended in a take down session.




Blessings~Melanie

Schools in

School is officially underway for us. Tommy just completed his fourth week of his fall semester. So far so good! It is a challenge for him to balance everything. The Lord really gives him and extra amount of strength during the semester. As I look at all that must be done I really wonder how he can do it but he continues to stay positive about it all. He is a strong man and impresses me continually. I am so proud of all his hard work and dedication to see this degree through. We are hoping that we are in the last three years of a five year Bachelor's degree with a minor. So pretty typical.

The girls are doing well and growing. They continue to amaze me as I see them mature. Ella is such a great helper and has grown up. We started some basic homeschooling this week and she has done great. She has such a drive to learn. Right now we are pacing it on her and do as much or little as she likes. Elizabeth is now wearing big girl panties, (see picture in previous post) and has done so well. I cannot believe we are there already. How fast time flies.
Blessings~Melanie

To My Grammy and Nanny

We miss you both so much and hope we see you soon. Grammy thank you for our new princess pj's and fun stuff in our box. It is so nice when you send us goodies. Nanny send scoobie doo treats ASAP. Mommy won't buy them for some reason.

Open air preaching in August

This month's outreach took us back to moore square in down town Raleigh. Budwiser was promoting two rock bands on this night so another brother and I felt Jesus leading us to go preach the precious Gospel of Jesus Christ. There where well over a thousand people there no matter where you set up you had a automatic crowd to talk to.
Had some really good conversations as you will be able to see in our vidoes. Thank you brothers and siters in Christ that continue to lift what we do for our King Jesus up to his throne on a daily basis.
The last time I preached at the State Captial I got run off by the police but we are working on a permit for the month of September. If the Lord is willing we will be sharing the Gospel on the State captial grounds in the end of Septmber.
I have met a gentlemen on campus that has done open air preaching for fifteen years I look forward to learning from his past experience.

What am I crazy????

Jen Bart called today to ask if we wanted to meet her at the play area at the mall. I said yes because I am always up for a good adventure. Keep in mind I am now hauling 3 kiddos around because I am watching Owen (5 1/2 months old). First of all bad idea because we weren't getting there until 11am when the rest of the crazy moms make it out. Second, Owen is new to us and on his own schedule oh and he has to eat a bottle and baby food while we are out.

Play area is too crowded so we head to eat. My girls aren't really ready but I get them food. We got to sit down and Owen is starting to cry because it is bottle time. Hook him up while Jen gets the girls food ready. Neither of them eat much and Owen is pretty interested in his bottle but also what others are doing. Oh wait we have to go potty. Did I mention that Elizabeth is pretty much potty trained and prefers (insists) the potty over her perfectly nice diaper she has on. The four of us head to the potty for dry bottoms and a diaper for Owen. Go to play area it looks like a concert it is so crowded. Play on the car things with no money. Owen gets fussy and girls want to go potty......the story continues with more of the same. I finally throw in the towel and head out to find another potty for Ella. Owen is asleep (it is not nap time) I think all the noise did him in. We head home Elizabeth falls asleep about 15 minutes from the house. Transition seems to go well with her but Owen isn't having it.

Owen took a 40 minute afternoon nap. Elizabeth woke up an hour early. Ella went down almost an hour late and work up after an hour. Nap time didn't go well. So trips to the mall or anywhere else for that matter are not on our agenda anytime soon. Thanks Jen Bart for the invite and helping us out but that's all she wrote for now.

Did I mention I had to take my 2 to Walmart that afternoon to get all our groceries on limited naps. By the grace of God we survived. Praise the Lord!!! He is Good!!! ~melanie

Wow, a month has gone by already

Ok, so I guess I am not as good as I used to be at keeping up with things on the computer. I have had a few good laughs lately at the fact that I actually have a degree in computers. I bet my parents are happy they didn't pay for that degree! Oh well it is so funny how life can change so much in 6 years since I graduated college. Wow, imagine how much it will change in 6 more years. My baby girl will be almost 10 and Elizabeth will be almost 8. Wow talk about change. We will be gearing up for their hormones not that we aren't already dealing with that drama. Oh the life of girls.

Ok, ok... so that was a weird way to start. Here is an update. Tommy started his 4 classes last week. It looks like it is going to be a fast semester with little time for air. Math seems to be the challenge. Please pray for him there and his confidence. He is such a great student and I know he can do it. I started keeping Owen last week. He is going on 6 months old and is such a cool addition to our family. The girls absolutely love having a real life baby around the house. I think they like him more since he isn't theirs and he goes home everyday. I guess this is preparing us for another in our family some time down the road.

We have been blessed with a few scholarships this semester that paid for school and more which was totally cool because we lost one scholarship before we knew about the others and were a little discouraged and then in a day the Lord brought in even more through another resource. Man he is faithful and gives us so much more than we deserve. How can we ever doubt you.

Here are some pictures of the girls and the toys we have for Owen. If you notice the exersaucer is broken down for storage and still Elizabeth managed to get herself in there. Oh and yes they do have morning hair. Check older posts for some other morning hair shots.

Enjoy~Melanie