My trip to Stonecroft

I arrived home late Sunday evening from a trip to Kansas City with my mother-in-law Anita. We were at the Stonecroft Ministries campus for 4 days at the Pray Up, Lead Out event.

What is Stonecroft, you may ask? It's a women's ministry that has been around for 70 years! Anita has been involved for around 30 years! They have a large variety of programs and events for women of all ages. Outreach luncheons, Bible Studies both for women and couples, Moms on the Run, Prayer Connections, etc... I learned a lot about a minstry I've known about for along time. My Mom was involved when I was younger.

So... what in the world was I doing there?

• Anita invited me


• it was free!


• I love gaining more leadership skills


• the prayer focus of the event


• as the event got closer, I was asked to be on a panel and speak about reaching younger women and mentoring!

It was a great weekend! It was the 5th Pray Up, Lead Out event they ran them from June to November. We attended the last event held. Out of 125 women attending, there were 2 of us that were 30 and under! So I felt like I was in the room with 123 of my Moms and Grandmas. It was wonderful. I got lots of hugs, encouragement, and inquiries about my pregnancy!

The 2 questions of the weekend for me were....

1. "Is this your first baby?"


2. "4th baby! Are you old enough to have four children?"

I loved these women.

It was a unique experience for me. At the MOPS Convention that I've attended these past three years, everyone is like me! At Stonecroft, I felt like a bit of a novelty... It was a fun feeling. And I got the chance to speak to these women about something close to my heart: Reaching my Generation! I also had two other fun opportunities! I'll be featured soon on Stonecroft's website in their "Generation Now" feature, and was interviewed on film for an upcoming video project!

It was a very unique trip and a huge blessing to me.

Here is a shot of the unbelievable home Anita and I stayed in! It was the dwelling of the Stonecroft founder, Helen Baugh. It recently went through a major restoration! It was beautiful! I wanted to move in right away!

Here is the room Anita and I shared! Each room was elegantly decorated, each with a different color scheme. It was a dream to stay there!

The following pictures are of different areas of the home affectionately called The Manor. My camera battery died before I could capture the downstairs of the home. There are 6 bedrooms, 7 baths, an amazing double dining room, sitting room, formal dining room, kitchen with 2 islands, and a covered porch area in the back!

The Girlfriends Room!

2 birthdays and 1 farewell

Last Sunday, the 4th, we celebrated Drew and Jen's birthdays together!

It was a fun occasion and a sad one, it was our last night together

before the Howells flew out of state.

Drewy turned 7 and Jen 32! Happy Birthday to you!

The Howells are doing well. I haven't spoken to Jen yet this week, but last week they received a call as soon as they arrived in Missouri from a church in Tennessee that they are interested in! And I think they visited there this last weekend! I'll update you all on the job hunt as soon as I get word! We sure do miss them.

Last week, after talking to them the day after they left, Drew said sadly, "It sure it disappointing when your best friends leave you. It's really, really sad."

Well put, son.

Keaton's self portrait.

November Bunko

Here is a picture from this month's Bunko Night! It was my sister's last night before moving out of state, so it was fun to capture our group together that night.

There are four of us preggo Mommies in the group! Allison (to my left), Jessica (Allison's sister, on the far right with short sleeves), myself, and Rachel (in the back row with the green shirt)! We are all due within 3 months of each other! So far there is one boy (Allison) and two girls (Rachel and I), and we have will know what Jessica is having this month!

I always look forward to that blessed first Thursday of each month! :)

So funny

Last night, the Howells came over for dinner and Morgan was into toting her dress up box around with her! After dinner, Jen and I sat down with her and started digging through it putting on necklaces, etc... she was just slightly annoyed at first by us wearing her things... "Um, can you put that back, that's mine!" (Don't worry, we corrected her... but she's not exactly used to anyone being interested in her girl toys except Mommy) Then I would put a bunch of necklaces on and a crown and she would ask me to put them back and I would... then she would turn around and my sister would be covered in ribbons and necklaces... "But those are mine!" She completely fell apart when Uncle Kris put on her dress up shoes, earrings, necklaces, and a hat. She collapsed in my lap and we were all laughing SO hard! She finally was okay with the idea of sharing with her Uncle and this is when we took these cute shots!

Grammy's recent visit

I have a lot of life to catch this blog up to! My Mom was here mid to late September, here are some pics from one of our a fun nights spent all together. She is so great with all of the kids, and PRAISE the LORD will be here for a MONTH when our baby enters the world!

Hooray for Grammy.

Some favorite pics from this summer

Zach, Peyton, Drew, Grandpa, Morgan, Gavin, and Keaton

Morgan and Mommy taking a walk down Grandpa's trail.

I guess little Annika was on that walk too, but she was incognito.

These pictures were taken in August at my Dad's house. My Dad, sister, and I took the kids on a walk down the trail behind my Dad's house and onto the flats. It was a beautiful evening. These are fun memories! And I'm so glad we've been taking so many pictures of all of the cousins together lately. We just found out last week that Jen & Kris are moving out of state on Monday.(in 4 days) They are flying to Missouri to stay with Betty, Kris' Mom, until he is hired by a church somewhere.



I have absolutely treasured these past 5 years that we've been able to live close, and knew it probably wouldn't last forever, but I sure wish it could have. I absolutely hate the thought of having them so far away when we are used to popping by to borrow an egg, or a late night visit to each other's house. They moved back here when Keaton and Gavin were just babies and now they're in kindergarten! It's hard to believe. The part that makes me so sad is wondering if they'll ever live here again! Sigh... God has big things planned for them, that I know for sure. So I guess I'll leave that up to him. Double sigh... and a sigh of relief.

Bacon Bit Knits goes retail!

I have fun news to report! After knitting these little fruit hats for about 4 years, they are now being sold in a cute little children's boutique here in town! I am making a great profit from each hat sold, which I am thrilled about! I have changed, rearranged, and made the hats my own these past few years and am adding new ones to the collection!



Next up? Neopolitan Sundae hats that I saw on Ebay and said, "Hey, I can make those!" I'll post a picture when I get one finished this week! They aren't exactly fruit hats, but they're edible! :) Ooh, and Watermelons are on the horizon as well.

It's amazing actually, just two days after I decided for sure that I was taking leave from my The Body Shop at Home business, this opportunity came knocking on my door! Well, actually it came calling on my phone... My friend Tasha, took her cute little baby girl, Jada into the store wearing a Raspberry hat I made her, and the store owner wanted to know where she got it! I had called her earlier in the year about my hats, and had several friends tell her about them, but she already had a friend knitting baby hats for the store. She (the othe knitter) has since moved out of state, and Whammo! enter Bacon Bit Knits!

I have knit more of them in one week than I think I have made in 4 years, and have enjoyed every stitch of it. It's so cool how God works!

Grandma Bacon

These pictures were taken last Friday evening as Anita, my mother-in-law, was being released from the hospital after surgery. We found out not even two weeks ago, that she had cancer. They originally found a sack of fluid on her thyroid on the right side of her neck, and went in last Wednesday to remove the sack and be done with it! But upon doing some further exploration during surgery, the Dr. found cancer on the left side in her lymph nodes. So she ended up having her entire thyroid removed and some of her lymph nodes as well. We had dinner with her at her house this evening (to celebrate Grandpa Bacon's birthday!) and she is doing very well. She has been tired, but other than that, doing exceedingly well.



She is such a dear, dear soul to so many. She has some follow-up treatment in a few weeks... AKA: a radioactive iodine treatment that should take care of any residual cancer in the area.



Please be in prayer for Jeremy's Mom! She is well loved by all of us.

sNoW

We finally have snow! We had a great time outside the other day after our first snowfall! I think we just about used all of the snow on our grass to make our Snowman! It was great wet snow perfect for a Snowman. He's still standing firm outside on the lawn,

but he lost a few pant sizes due to some melting!

a warmer family room!

Here is a new addition downstairs in our family room! HEAT! It has always been a bit on the chilly side down in our family room, so we decided to put a gas stove down there! Jeremy just finished the tile work last weekend! Didn't he do a great job? He had never done any tile work before, ever! What a guy...



The gas will be hooked up to it next weekend,
we are very excited to make our family room cozier this winter.

a belly shot

As was requested, here is a shot of my ever-expanding belly!

I'll be 25 weeks pregnant tomorrow with our sweet baby girl. Morgan announced today (with the help of Grandma Marla Kay) that we should name her Tunafish Oranges. Don't you think it has a nice ring to it?

Actually, we think we've finally settled on Annika Scarlet. Well, whatever we name her, she is much anticipated! We can't wait to cuddle her!

Just 3ish more months to go!

Drew & Gavin the science guys

Here are they boys embarking on a crystal growing adventure! Hmm... it's been a week since we started the experiment, and still no impressive crystals.... We are patiently waiting for them to appear!!! The boys seem to think they can sell them for some cash! I had to sadly tell them that they aren't worth anything, but maybe a Grandma or Grandpa would buy them. Wink, wink. Drew is always thinking of ways to make money. And now he wants to be a Geologist when he grows up! "Mom, do Geologists make a lot of money?"

silly, silly, & silly

Well, we finally have a digital camera again after not having one since June! I have been "borrowing" pics of our family from friends to post! So here are loads of updates from this past week! Our silly, silly kiddos just love to make crazy faces for any camera!

That's my boy! Oh dear..

Tonight, my wonderful step-mom, Marla Kay stopped by for a quick visit on her way home from work. We were just talking and Drew said, "It's too bad Grandpa Louie isn't here, he could have seen his old wife, but she just left!" We all laughed so hard!!!!!!!!!!!

My Mom "Grammy" as she is called around here, flew home to Oregon tonight... we'll miss you so much! Our Drew, sure has a way with words! All very truthful, but completely tactless, we're working on: You should only say things that are TRUE, KIND, and NECESSARY!

I'm not cute...

Yesterday, I was telling Morgan she was so cute, to which she replied, "I'm not cute, I'm pretty!" Well, then!

oUr bIrThDaY gIrL

We had a "make-up" birthday party for Morgan last Friday morning with a couple of her little friends! She was sick on the day of her scheduled party and we ended up having to re-schedule with her friends. (who we didn't want to infect!) Grandmas, Grandpas, Auntie, Uncle, and her cousins still came... but we decided to have a birthday "dress-up party" last week to make up for her friends missing out on the real deal! Here are some pictures of our now 3 year old darling girl in full princess attire.

I guess we'll never be empty nesters...

Yesterday as we were driving home, this was the conversation between Drew and I... (He gets on an "I don't ever want to leave you and move out of the house." kick quite often.)

"Mom, I don't ever want to move out of the house when I grow up." (in a teary voice)

"Why not, Drew?"

(more tears) "Because I'd miss you SO much! Mom, can Gavin stay too?"

"Of course, you guys can stay as long as you want!" (I often remind him that he'll WANT to move out when he gets older.)

"Gavin, do you want to stay with us too?" Drew asked.

Gavin nodded sadly.

"But Mom, I still want to have a wife and kids."

"Okay, then we'd better get a really big house!"

"Yeah, but I don't know if Daddy could handle that!"

"Why not?"

"Because all I will have is my saved up Birthday money!"

MOPS Convention!

I have loads to share about my experience in Florida last week... here are some pictures in the meantime! As you can imagine 4,500 moms on the loose in Orlando was a FUN time! Our group had an amazing time together!

Yum, the Olive Garden!

Sara Groves and the MOPS Mom Choir!

Unbelievable

We are proud to announce we are having a baby GIRL! I think I am still in shock, but thought I knew it all along at the same time. The ultrasound was so much fun. Jeremy, my sis Jen, and all three kids sat and watched. At the office she has a big screen hanging from the wall so you get a better view of the ultrasound. It was amazing. She gave us a roll, I mean a roll of pictures to take home.. one for each relative in our family tree I think. This one is my favorite. She switched to 3-D at the end for us and captures this amazing full body view. I told her it was our dream to have a 3-D ultrasound since we've never had one!

Her little hands are right up by her nose. Looks like she's praying. :) Tears of joy streamed down my face when she said it was a girl! Jeremy and my sister Jen didn't exactly have dry eyes either!

I was a little worried about how Morgan would take the news if it was a brother. She was convinced and no one could tell her otherwise that it might just be a boy. Yesterday, it broke my heart. She said, talking about the baby, "Maybe she will play dress up with me... and maybe she will have pigtails like me!" I keep saying, don't forget, it might be a baby boy! She knew all along and wasn't too suprised when we told her over and over that it's IS a girl!

She weighs a whole 1/2 lb. and it was so cool to see her wiggling all around. In the very first view we had of her at the start, it looked like she was signing I LOVE YOU with her little hand...

It has been the desire of my heart to have two boys and two girls... I just can't believe it! Thank you, Lord God for filling that longing in my heart. How overwhelming. Name suggestions, anyone??? We have a few favorites, but aren't against suggestions!!!

family getaway

Last night was our much awaited Homeschool Kickoff Family Getaway! Though I didn't bring a lick of school to do... hey! it was a Sunday night that was turning into Labor Day! But we told the boys the reason for our celebratory trip and told them we'd like to do a trip like this one each year to celebrate the start of a new school year!

We had a blast at a wonderful Bed & Breakfast on a lake. We were the only folks there, it was very fun. We brought frozen pizzas, chips, and made ready-to-bake cookies in their kitchen last night, and had a yummy breakfast prepared for us this morning. Before we checked out, we spent some time out on the lake in a paddle boat. All 5 of us! It was a great time, the lake was smooth and there were ducks floating nearby.





Jeremy and I totally crashed at the same time as the kids last night because we were pooped too! We had plans to "lie down" with them until they fell asleep because we were all sleeping in one big room with the kids on the floor. But we actually fell asleep! We had big plans to sneak out into the big beautiful living room with a fire place and watch a movie we brought, but oh well... sleep won out! Fun times had, next year we'll add a 6 month old baby to the mix!