Christmas, a great time in Hot Springs!

What a great time we had away in Hot Springs for Christmas! It was a blast to have the 4 kids all together for McKenna's birthday party, then Christmas Eve with all the Mills, and then Christmas morning opening gifts from Santa and to eachother.... lots of memories were made and we had a great time!

The kids all slept together upstairs in the gameroom on Christmas Eve after a

"personal phone call" from "Santa" himself!!! They were icing cookies to leave

out for Santa in their Christmas PJ's for this year when Brian's phone rang and

his caller id read, "Santa Claus"... the kids flipped out!

See Brian's blog: http://www.brianmills247.blogspot.com/ for the video of the phone call.

It was definitely a Merry Christmas... Hope you all had a wonderful time together as family as well! Have a Happy New Year!

Happy 3rd birthday McKenna Grace!

I really don't know where the time has gone...it seems like just yesterday that I had a newborn baby girl that I could just hold and cuddle with and who didn't complain about what I picked out for her to wear!

All of a sudden there is this adorable 3 year old, who LOVES to dress up, LOVES Disney Princesses, LOVES to play Barbie's, who has a mind of her own, who LOVES to be independant, and now she's this little person who you can carry on conversations with!

The other morning I was getting her dressed and she looked down and my feet and noticed my new shoes and said, "Cute shoes Mommy...where did you get those!?!" I was like, what?!!? What happened to my baby girl??? She's growing up so fast and I am so in love with her!

She is such a joy to my life and she makes me smile and laugh every day!

A visit from Santa Claus Friday night!

Last Friday night, some of our J-High volunteers invited us over to their house for a special visit from Santa Claus himself! That's right... we took the kids for their own personal time with the big man in the red suit! McKenna was bashful at first but told him what she wanted....

"a princess dress, and a princess doll" - a.k.a. The Sleeping Beauty dress & barbie doll...sleeping beauty is her "favorite"! Parker was terrified of Jolly St. Nick...so we didn't get many pic's with him...

After he left, we all decorated Christmas cookies! YUM!!

Happy Birthday Dusty!

Tonight we were went to Dusty Stanfield's 30th birthday party! It was a great time of fellowship and meeting even more couple's our age with kids at the same stage as ours! Second Baptist is such a huge place, that it's hard for Brian and I to get to meet other families our age since we can't attend a bible study class on Sunday mornings b/c of the student ministry services.

It's so important to get out and meet other couples and families in your same stage of life...
We had a blast! Thanks Kenzie for the invite! :)

Two teenagers from our student ministry in Fort Smith, Caitlin & Landon, are here visiting us from Arkansas and we've had a great time hanging out with them again. It's been a short trip (they leave tomorrow) but we have enjoyed them being here...especially tonight, they kept our kids here at the house-bathed them and had them in bed by the time we got home!! So it was a fun night for Brian and I to hang out with friends without chasing around our kiddos! :)

Thanks Landon & Caitlin!

Pictures from Sunday...

Here are just a couple of pictures of my sweet kiddos taken by our high school intern, Brett! They are so good of my kids...

sorry my smile is SO huge & scary! :)

Here's a laugh...

I thought I'd share with you all this hilarious picture of my son!

I walked downstairs from picking up their playroom the other morning to find him with his "winter hat" on and his diaper only...carrying his sippy cup! Crazy kiddo! :)

Yes, even though we live in Houston, a cold front has blown through and it has been cold here (well, like 50 degrees) the past few days.

He's so funny and into EVERYTHING!

There is NEVER a dull moment with him around.

Gifts for McKenna's 2 Preschool teachers!

McKenna has the privilege of attending our great weekday preschool here at Second. She LOVES it and has two great teachers, Mrs. Jen & Mrs. Heather. They are precious women and do a great job in their classroom.

Mckenna loves going to her hour of gymnastics on Monday's and music on Tuesday's with her class. In thinking of an gift idea for Jen & Heather I thought it would be great to do 2 coordinating canvases for them to hang outside their rooms!

So here they are...

Merry Christmas!

Christmas jobs.....

I've been really busy this week with Christmas parties and lots of PAINTING for the holidays. And I love it, but I thought I'd update my blog with some that I've completed thus far...

16x20 Canvas for brothers, Luke & Lane who share a room!

4x6 frame in chocolate & pink for Isabella... coordinates with a canvas I've done for her previously, as well as the 6"x36" wooden plaque (shown below).

Great Blog...thought I'd share!

Well, as most of you know (hush, Brian!)...I'm not the best cook in the world. It's not that I'm bad, I just don't know what to cook. So we have the same dishes ALL the time! But today I found a new blog that is great!! So I thought I'd share with the rest of you all in case you're in a similar boat as I am!

http://www.thepioneerwomancooks.com/

Prayer time together for friends...

Tonight Brian & I attended a prayer time held by our bible study group, to all come together and pray for our awesome friends, Dusty & Kenzie http://thestanfieldjourney.blogspot.com/. It's amazing just how quickly an hour can pass by when you're spending it with fellow Believers lifting up your friends & their unborn son to the Lord! It was such a special time together...we are believing great things for baby Maddox as for Dusty, Kenzie, and their 2 year old son Deacon. They are an amazing couple and have such amazing faith & peace in the midst of this "storm" in their life!

To those of you prayer warriors out there, here are some ways you can join with all of us in praying for them:

1. That the Lord will bless their choice of doctors (Dr. Rowe) and the staff that will be surrounding them.
2. That He will give them guidance in the decision-making and planning between now and delivery.
3. That the Lord will remove major decisions from their hands and make His will evident.
4. That the delivery room/recovery will be peaceful and free from stress, anxiety, worry and fear.
5. That Maddox will make it through delivery ALIVE!!
6. That Deacon will have a chance to hold him.
7. That Maddox's spinal column will be covered with skin or a membrane at birth due to his spinal bifida.
8. That the Lord will give them overwhelming peace, strength and unity in an circumstance~ now and in the future.
9. That they will be willing to be used by the Lord to witness to others and bring glory to Him.
10. That the Lord will grant protection for Deacon's precious heart and mind through this difficult process.

Moving can be a hard adjustment, and does take time...but Brian and I are so blessed to be a part of such a great church, we have been blessed to get to know so many neat people who we are growing to call friends...

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

- Jeremiah 29:11

I love Chocolate Brown!!

My love for the color "chocolate brown" has now found it's way into my dining room and I love it!! I painted our dining room last month before Thanksgiving. Here is a picture...it's still a "work in progress" though... but I love the rich look of it! :)

Haley's new room!

My neice, Haley, has a newly decorated bedroom in their new home. I coordinated a canvas for her new room that goes with her bedding (pictured above).

20 days till Christmas...

It's my favorite time of the year...Christmas!! I can't beleive it's already here!!

I just wanted to write another post to all of your readers out there who check out my blog...
just a reminder that I can paint something if you are looking for that perfect, personalized gift! Whether it's for friends, family, teachers, daughers, sons, etc. etc.
If you would like a carefree gift idea, I can help you out!
Canvas, personalized canvas tote bags, painted cork boards, picture frames, wood plaques....
You name it, I can personalize it and SHIP IT!
($10.00 standard shipping rate)

"Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

A new couple that Brian and I have gotten to know are some of our high school youth workers, Dusty & Kenzie. They are a PRECIOUS couple with an adoreable little boy, Deacon, who is 2. They are expecting their 2nd baby boy, Maddox, in February. They found out when Kenzie was 18 weeks along, that Maddox has been diagnosed with Trisomy 18 as well as Spina Bifida. The medical professionals have labeled children with Trisomy 18, "incompatible with life". There is only a small percentage of babies who even make it full term, those that are born are considered "long-term survivors" if they make it to their 1st birthday.

Please join with me in lifting this precious baby boy and the Stanfield's up to our Heavenly Father as they are going through this journey in their life. I am just praying that the Lord would grant them a "medical miracle" in the life of baby Maddox.

It has been such a joy getting to know them since coming to Second Baptist. Kenzie has a blog, http://thestanfieldjourney.blogspot.com/, her link is in linked in "Blogs I read"...

This past Sunday, Dr. Young used this verse out of the book of Isaiah in his message,
"Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear." Isaiah 65:24.

What a perfect reminder that our Lord is faithful to hear us when we call on Him. That he hears us even while we are still speaking... I pray that you find Him Faithful in your life today...