My Wife

First off, I'm not in trouble. :) Secondly, I'm not trying to earn brownie points for the future. :)

I'm just really thankful for my wife tonight. She's a great mother. She's a great teacher. She's does a lot at the church as well. She oversees the nursery. She leads the Women's Ministry (In fact, she's hard at work right now on tomorrow's Ladies Brunch.) She is also doing our Sunday Morning Kid's Church.

I'm really proud of her. We had an awesome time tonight with the girls. We went to Texarkana and ate at On The Border. Afterwards, we drove over to my Grandparent's house and spent time with them.

Sasha is a huge blessing to me. Is she perfect? Nah.....No one is perfect, but as the old Country song says "She's close enough to perfect for me." I love you, Sasha!

Mady lost her second tooth

Sasha and I were in the kitchen when Mady came running in with a tooth in her hand. She was playing with Kenzie when it came out. An hour before, I tried diligently to get her to let me pull it. She didn't want any part of that. :)

Here's a pic with her new look...

The Night I've Been Waiting For

Last Night, we went through our normal routine of getting the girls down to bed. One of us usually goes and reads the Bible and prays with Mady while the other gets Kenzie into bed. Last Night, Sasha put Mady down. After they had read the Bible, they started talking about a phrase that Sasha's family will say. It started with Sasha's great grandmother, Ma. Ma passed away several years before Mady was born. She was 104. So, Mady asked Sasha questions about what happened to Ma. Ma was a believer. So, Sasha told her that she went to Heaven. She got curious and begin to ask questions about Heaven and what would happen to her friends if they were to die. Sasha told her that if they had asked Jesus into their heart to be the Lord of their lives then they would go to heaven.

We have not wanted to push Mady to pray a "sinner's prayer." We've always wanted it to be something she WANTED to do...not something she was FORCED to do.

The conversation continued and Mady said "Mama, I want to do that." She asked Sasha if she could pray and ask Jesus into her heart. Sasha called me in for this special moment. After I went in, I watched as Sasha led Mady in a prayer inviting Jesus to be the Lord of her life.

March 27, 2008 is Mady's spiritual birthday. I have never been more proud of her in all my life.

The Best Is Yet To Come

On The Boardwalk

Today was a day to remember. Chuck Swindoll said "Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children." Today, we had a day worth depositing. :)

Really, it started last night. When I got home from work, we had a picnic in the backyard. While Sasha and Mackenzie went to get the food. Mady and I laid on the trampoline and looked at the clouds, the moon and the birds in the trees. It was an awesome night.

Today, we got up and drove to Shreveport/Bossier City. We have heard about the Louisiana Boardwalk, but have never been. It is an awesome place with outlets and great restaurants located in Bossier City on the Red River.

While we were there, we went to Build A Bear Workshop. When Mady turned three, we were living in Oklahoma City. It was then that we started a tradition of getting Mady a Build a Bear for her birthday. When we left the city to move to Atlanta, Texas, we knew that this was a tradition we would have to work on to keep. So, today, we took the girls to Build a Bear to get their Birthday bears.

The Girls With Their New Bears!

Mady with her first Bear, "Bananas," and her new Bear, "Pinkalicious!"

Mackenzie hugging her new Bear, "Snuggly Bear!"

Mackenzie kissing "Snuggly Bear"

Mady checking "Pinkalicious" to make sure she has enough stuffing!

While we were standing in line to get the bears stuffed, we heard this girl scream "Oh my, look who we are standing next to." I turned to see what famous person was in the room. To my surprise, she was talking about me. It was a girl who had been in our Youth Ministry in Nacogdoches. We have not seen her in probably seven or eight years. It was great seeing the Gaudettes again.

After Build A Bear, we had lunch at San Francisco Oven, shopped at the outlets, retraced our steps several times to look for Kenzie's sippy cup and other lost items, got ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery and looked at the huge fish in the aquarium at Bass Pro Shops.

After spending five hours on the Boardwalk, we left and found an incredible area of Shreveport. We needed a Target to purchase some diapers. So, after some searching on my Palm, we found a Super Target on the south side of Shreveport off of Youree. When we drove up to the area, we found some great restaurants and lots of great shopping.

When we were pulling up to the Super Target, we noticed a great surprise directly across the street. It was one of our favorite restaurants, Moe's Southwest Grill. Since it was almost six when we finished at Target, we made our way across the street for some sweet tea, tacos and queso. Since I wasn't real hungry, I broke with the tradition of getting the "Homewrecker." Instead, I tried the John Coctostan (Moe's tribute to Fletch). The Johnny C. is a great quesadilla.

We caught a few more shops before coming home. It was a memorable day. I love making memories! :)

Out of the mouth of babes....

Tonight, we were sitting around the dinner table. Mady is 5 now and quite inquisitive. She likes to ask me about what worship songs we sing in church. She wants to know the whole list.

Tonight, she said "Daddy, what songs are you going to sing tomorrow night?" I replied "I don't know. I haven't prayed about what songs we are going to sing yet."

A little more curious, she said "Then, what songs are you going to sing on Sunday?" Again, I replied, "I don't know. I haven't prayed about what songs we are going to sing yet."

She turned and looked straight at me. With all sincerity, she asked me "Then, what DID you do at the church all day?"

Sasha and I both busted out laughing.

Fun Day

Today, we celebrated Mady's Birthday with a few of her friends and family. It never fails on Saturday that the girls are up by 6:30 a.m. ready to go. By 8:00, I was outside putting together the trampoline that we got Mady for her birthday. 4 hours later, I finished. :) I finished literally two minutes before the first guest arrived.

Mady had a blast. The kids did crafts, ate lunch, ate cupcakes and jumped on the trampoline.

After the Party was over, the girls got naps. When Mady got up, we all went back out and watched the girls jump.

I love days like today.

Mackenzie

Mackenzie is a trooper. Over the past few months, she has non-stop ear infections. So, this morning, she had to have tubes put in her ears. I am amazed at how fast they do that procedure. We arrived at the surgery center at about 6:15 a.m. After paperwork, they called up back about 6:45 a.m. They took us back to the room and put her gown on her. She looked so cute.

She went into surgery about 7:10 a.m. Within 15 minutes, they came and got us to tell us everything was great. We left the surgery center about 8:00 a.m. I can't believe how fast they do those things. Sasha had tubes when she was small. She had to stay overnight in the hospital.

Mackenzie is doing great. She is so much fun. Before the surgery, she was blowing kisses to all the nurses. She was putting on a show for them.

Mackenzie's Birthday Pictures

Tonight, we celebrated Mackenzie's Birthday! We will see all the grandparents over the next week and we will have mini-celebrations with them. Tonight, just the 4 of us had some cake celebrating this milestone. Here are some pictures from the evening.

Mackenzie and Mady getting ready for cake!

Mackenzie shoving cake into her mouth. :)

Mackenzie discovers that the icing is the best part!

Happy Birthday Mackenzie!

Wow! It is hard to believe that Mackenzie is turning one year old today. In some ways, it seems like she has been with us forever and in other ways it seems the time is passing by so fast. She is wonderful. She makes us laugh. She loves her big sister, Mady.

It is so much fun to watch her walk around the house. Last night, she had real milk for the first time. She is beginning to experiment with new foods and feeding herself. She is getting so big.

Happy Birthday Mackenzie! Don't grow up too fast! Love, Daddy

Weekend Reflections

1. Worship was awesome yesterday. Yesterday morning, there was a word from God crying out for us to worship him. There was a wonderful presence of God in the place. Last night, we were singing the song "Everlasting God." I have to admit. I wasn't "feeling" it. After the song was over, the congregation erupted in spontaneous worship. It was awesome. I was pleasantly suprised by the reaction and the worship to God. He's amazing and he deserves our praise.

2. Mady had her last Soccer game. This season seems to have flown by. I was really proud of her. She got in and kicked the ball a couple of times. Then, the rain came and the game got called.

3. Sasha and I had a date night. We really connected. With two kids and us both having jobs, it is sometimes hard to find the time to focus on one another. We had a great time.

4. Little Peyton got to come home yesterday! He is now one month old and they released him from the Hospital. Please continue to pray for him. They still may have to do surgery because an artery is closing.

Hide And Seek

Tonight, we had a great night at the house. Mady and I played Hide and Seek. We used to play in our house in Oklahoma, but there's not much room here in the duplex we are living in. However, we were creative and found some great places. She didn't want to quit when it was time to go to bed.

I love my girls! They are the best! All three of them. ;)