Simplicity.

So, I know it's technically a new weekend, but I've been meaning to get on here and reflect on last weekend for 5 days now. So, here goes:
Last Saturday, our little family packed up and headed to Port O'Connor. I posted about visiting this small, Texas town last year. (You can read about it here.) This time in Port O'Connor, though, there wasn't a family reunion complete with sea fishing. But, there was a new thing that Dave has always wanted to do. Dave spoke at his Uncle's church. --Dave played preacher, and he loved it. It was such a humbling experience for me, though. I've gotta tell ya, I sorta felt like a preacher's wife. I sat in the small church, called The Fisherman's chapel, feeling under the weather, I fiercely blew my nose, while waiting for Dave to cue me to switch power point slides, all the while listening and wondering how the message (that God gave Dave) would be recieved. I felt meek, but content.
Although we were only in the small fishing town of Port O'Connor for 2 half days, it felt like a lot longer. Why? In order for anyone else to understand what I mean, I'll have to explain the landscape. Dave's uncle lives in a large parsonage that is located one small yard away from the church that Dave's uncle, Erny, pastors. The house has an upstairs that Erny and his wife, Joanie live in, and two downstairs apartments for relatives and guests to stay/live in. The church and parsonage are only 2 blocks from a quiet beach and peir. In fact, all restaurants and convenience stores are about a 2 minute drive away. --This to me equaled sweet serenity.
On Sunday morning, the girls, Dave and I woke up leisurely, got cleaned up, dressed, had breakfast as a family, and we still got to church early. There's just something so fulfilling about going to church nix traffic, long driving times, breakfast in the car, and the hustle and bustle of getting out of our house by 8:25 a.m. on a Sunday. But, don't get me wrong, Dave and I LOVE our church, and, feel very called to continue doing what we're doing, because I know that the long drive times, hurried early morning traffic and morning chaos isn't due to where our church is located; it's because we live in a Houston Suburb. It's how life is here. I guess I'm still not used to it. But, I know God called us here, to Missouri City, to this house, to this church, to our jobs for a specific purpose. And I am thankful for all them. I'm just not so thankful for the craziness (or the heat).
In Richard J. Foster's book, "Celebration of Discipline", Foster speaks about the value of simplicity by saying,
"The Spiritual Discipline of simplicity sets us free to receive the provision of God as a gift that is not ours to keep and can be freely shared with others. Once we recognize that the Bible denounces the materialist and the ascetic with equal vigor, we are prepared to turn our attention to the framing of a Christian understanding of simplicity."These days, I long for simplicity. Not a lack of hard work and diligence, but just an ease to our chaotic existence. But how do I do that? God called us to this here and now. I guess I'll just have to keep my attitude positive and take the long drives, and crazy hectic daily activities with as much simplicity as possible. If you keep reading Foster's book, he also says "Simplicity itself becomes idolatry when it takes precedence over seeking the kingdom." So, I'll do my best to shy away from idolizing the lifestyle of people who walk to church. But, maybe someday, when Dave and I have retired, we'll be living in something other than the fast lane, enjoying nature, good books, and the blogs of our kids and grand kids. We'll probably also reflect on the "good ole days" of whizzing from place to place, never having time to complete the laundry, dishes or  a sentence. We might even miss it. But, hopefully we'll choose to be content, as I am striving to be even now.

Okay, enough already. Here are some pics from our weekend:

God Bless! -Amber



Toot-er-ing

Our Newest Music Video:

Updates:

Dave started tutoring on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays a few weeks ago. When I told the girls where Daddy was, Julia laughed and said "He's toot-er-ing?" She followed up the question with a lot of unnecessary bathroom noises.

Lydia continues to be our little collector. Everywhere she goes, she carries some little princess or doll along. It's really cute (except for the times when she has to leave her toys at home or in the car. Those times are less cute.)

Julia still misses her teacher and playmates from last year. She likes her new teachers, but she says she's bored at school. I truly hope that she turns a corner and doesn't whine the whole year!

Lydia likes school when Julia does.

Our girls continue to amaze us! -Amber

Birthday Dave

Dave turns 32 tomorrow. It is so weird. I distinctly remember when my mom turned 32. For some reason, I learned that Michael Jackson and Madonna are the same age my mom is. I have no idea why that stuck with me. It's just one of those things, I guess...But, this blog isn't about my mom turning 32; this is about my husband. Woah! That's different.

For Dave's birthday, the girls and I plan to celebrate him as much as possible and love on him through out the day, and I am excited to do so. I am excited because Dave is a great man! I don't talk about him a ton on my blog, but that's not because he isn't important, it's probably because he is graciously taking care of something mundane and not "blog worthy". In the last few years, Dave and I have learned so much about each other, and I think we are continuing to grow in such neat ways. In every milestone, I have watched Dave change into the man he is today. And, I am proud of him. When Dave and I were very new parents, Dave was so supportive of me, and desired to be such a good dad.

Example:
Dave: "Amber, we have to start getting Julia to sleep through the night. I want to make sure she gets enough sleep."
Me: "Dave, She's only 4 days old."
Dave: "Right. Ok."

Dave loves our girls so much. It is a joy to watch. When Julia was only 2 months old, he asked me when we were going to start trying for more kids. I laughed when I thought he was joking and was appalled when I realized he wasn't. But the fact was, Dave loved Julia, and wanted to continue to spread the love.

After Lydia was born, things got pretty hectic, and Dave's urgency for more kids subsided, but someday, we plan to have more. (Dave certainly loves Lydia just as much as Julia.) I know that when we do, Dave will continue be beside me to discipline and love on our future kids as much or more as he has been there for me with  Julia and Lydia.

After moving to Houston, Dave and I grew even closer. I was totally depressed (and Dave was scared) but he was there for me to comfort me with his kindness and leadership. It was such a blessing. I will be forever grateful.

Just in the last year, since I started working part-time, Dave has really started helping with dishes, laundry, vaccumming and even some cooking. He decided that our bread machine was sitting dormant for way to long, so he pulled it out, and started baking. We haven't bought bread in weeks. Amazing, right? --He also decided to try his hand at making hummus, and it's really delicious. Yeah for that!

So, this blog is a tribute to Dave for his birthday. I know it's super sappy, but sometimes you just have to go there, you know? And, I wanted to sit and think about how my husband has changed in the last decade. There's been so much improvement that I can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring!! Woohoo! So, without further ado, Happy Birthday Dave!!! Love, Amber

The Texas Times

What's going on in the suburbs of Houston, Texas in early September? Heat. It has cooled off to the lower 90's this week. And, I'm not gonna lie, I think it feels great! (I guess I'm adapting to this crazy weather afterall. The girl in me who was once sweltering in Anchorage, Alaska because it barely reached the high 70's is evaporating.) Ten degrees really does make a huge difference. (I'm trying to ignore the fact that the rest of the nation is much cooler.)
But, honestly, the temperature of the outdoors is not my main concern. The heat that is most discouraging to me is the heat that is coming from the fires that have destroyed over 1400 homes in South Texas. How devastating would it be to get a knock on your door telling you that you need to evacuate your home because fire is on the way? Lord, please send rain!
As the girls and I drove from our neighborhood into Sugar Land on Thursday, I saw and smelled the smoke. It dawned on me a few seconds afterwards where the smoke was coming from--the wildfires. Yikes!
I'll say it again, please Lord, send rain!
Blessings and love to you all! -Amber

First of Day of School and My Birthday Week

The day before my birthday, my girls had their first day of preschool/mother's day out. They love their school and so do Dave and I.

4 year-old Julia

3 year-old Lydia

Cousin Time

Birthday Dinner complete with candles and a fudgy chocolate cake

Hugs for Aubrey and Josiah at the airport. We all mis you!

My sweet hubby helped our girlies hug their cousin.

Me and my sis.

In the picture above, I look as tired as I am...we had a fun and exhausting birthday week. (I didn't know my sister was that much taller than me. Hmmm...)

Well, I thought I had a lot more pictures from the week. I guess I didn't get any picures of my parents or my brother! Oops! Sorry!

Thanks Dad, Mom, Aubrey, Alex and Josiah for visiting me on my birthday.  I love you all! -Amber



Birthday Week

I had a fan-tabulous birthday week with my family! My family came and went all last week. On my birthday, my dad, sister, nephew and the four of us were all here. The adults, except for me, made a wonderful (and high calorie) breakfast and dinner for my 29th birthday. It was a great day of hanging out, and enjoying one another. (One of the best presents: everyone went to HEB and left me alone to read while the 6 of them got groceries for dinner and a delicious chocolate HEB cake.) That evening, Dave and my dad put the girls to bed while Aubrey, Josiah and I went to church to practice for church on Sunday. (I really like our singing group, and didn't want to miss it, even on my birthday.)
On Thursday, my sis, Aubrey, my nephew, Josiah, and I got to shop all day while my girlies were in school and my dad stayed home to work on his sermon for Sunday. It was amazing! After we picked the littles up from school, we ran a few more errands and than came home. We had a nice dinner (I was back in the kitchen for this one) and then we hung around with one another. Nice.
On Thursday night, my mom and brother arrived. Friday night, my parents took us out for Indian food for my birthday and I got to open a few presents. Saturday morning, my dad went home in time to prepare for Sunday, and my mom and brother stayed until Sunday afternoon. It was nice to have most of my family come to church with us. (My sister even got to sing in choir with me.)
The only sad parts of the week: my mom, sister and nephew got sick from the yucky Houston air, my girls were crazy giddy and over-excited the whole week and acted slightly unruly, and my brother-in-law, Andy, couldn't make it to the "family reunion" for my birthday.
Overall, though, the week was delightful. --Pictures are to follow!!!-- Thanks for all of you who also wished me a happy birthday, Amber

Two Day Vaca

Last weekend, Dave and I took the girls on a whirl wind trip to visit San Antonio and the Guadalupe River State Park. We had a ton of fun and totally wore our kiddos out! It was nice that the girls slept for 2.5 hours in the car on the way home from the State Park, and then went down easily after we got home. The only problem was that Dave and I also wore ourselves out. I think we're still catching up! But, I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything (...well almost anything).

Day 1: San Antonio- The Alamo and the River Walk

I took this while Dave drove around down town San Antonio. He was looking for the cheapest parking available....we're used to this now.

The building behind the Alamo

Julia can not stand still lately! She just dances, and grooves to no music. (She does not get her constant movement from me!)



Me and my sweet Lyddie girl at the Alamo.

  The girls were pretty bored with the whole Alamo experience. They were sick of taking pics, but we made them take a few more than they wanted to.

Sweet Julia and Me.

My handsome husband and 2 of his 3 girlies.

San Antonio River Walk

The girls sleeping on the crib mattresses we brought. This an easy solution when only rooms with a king size bed is available.

Day 2: Guadalupe River State Park: Hiking and Picnicing 

Guadalupe River

 I was really shocked to see that the river's water is clear. We could really see the fish swimming. It was great! The water was so low though. I'd love to go back after we've had some rain in Texas.

Look at those roots! They were fun to climb on.

 Being under the trees on the river reminded me a lot of when I used to salmon fish with my dad in Anchorage. Of course it was twice as hot, and the trees weren't pine and aspen; but, the water was clear and I was there with my two pipsqueaks. --It just made me think of the time I spent at the riverbank when I was a pipsqueak myself.

Picnic on a blanket with a picnic basket- Julia's specific request

We saw two roadrunners at the Park. - So Cool!

The sky looks beautiful, doesn't it?

We hiked during what is usually the girls nap time. Poor Lydia was so tired, and it was so hot.

Here I am with Lydia almost half way through the 1.7 mile hike.

Here's Dave with the girls after my arms gave out. Dave let them talk him into this. I piggy backed Julia for a while about 2 minutes later.

One more pic of the sky. It doesn't look like it packs a 100 degree punch, but it does.

Well, there you have it folks--our family's fun times in San Anton and at the state park! We still need to make it to the beach and the pool a few more times before summer is officially over. I truly wish our neighborhood pools stayed open until October....because that's how long it'll be hot for. No long sleeves for us as we carve pumpkins and drink hot apple cider....(And poor Julia keeps asking me when it'll snow here. I told her we would try and visit a place that has snow....probably not gonna be seeing any snow in these parts....) Even so, we are loving life in Texas, and enjoying all we can. Hope your lovin' your life too, Amber.

Mommy Mind Lapse

A lot of the time, mostly when I'm tired, my brain goes into this wierd mom default. Have any of you ever experienced this? (Whether you are a mom or not, does your brain revert back to something?) Need some examples? Okay, so Lydia came down stairs whiney and out of sorts a few minutes ago. I took her back up to bed, thinking she would be fine. On my way back downstairs, Lydia started crying. My first thought: "Does she need her pacifier?" (She hasn't used one for about a year now.)
Another exmple: I was holding Lydia today, and I looked over and realized that she is much taller than my lap is.

......And there you go, people. I started this blog about 5 days ago and completely forgot about it. Ironic? I don't think so. My brain is gone. --I have NO idea where I was going with that second example....

(I promise I won't forget how much I love you all though!)

-Amber

Stewart Weekly - Funnies

Summer has been flying by for us! (It seems like it has been for everyone.) In the midst of the "organized" chaos, our girls have had some pretty hilarious things to say. Here are a few of the tidbits:

Me: "We're going to a birthday party today at a pool."
Julia: "Which pool is it, Mommy?"
Me: "Well, it's a pool in Greatwood."
Julia: "What? That sounds creepy!"
Me: "No, it's not creepy, it's just not in our neighborhood."

A few hours or so later we were at Target, getting a birthday present.

Julia to  Lydia: "Lydia, we're going to a birthday party at a pool in Sweet Cheese!"

Me, laughing: "What? No. It's called Greatwood."

We are working with Lydia and Julia on staying in bed after we put them there. (They prefer to sneak out of bed and play, get a drink, look at a book or what-have-you. ) So, while Dave was reinforcing the stay in bed rule a few nights ago, Lydia piped up, "Daddy, I promise I'll stay in bed."
Dave: "You do, Lydia? Thank you."
Lydia: "Daddy, I promise, my promise."
Dave: "Okay, good. Thank you...."

On our way to church on Sunday, We drove by a "No Parking sign". We drive by it every Sunday, so I don't really pay much attention anymore, but Julia did. She said, "Hey, why are there no P's allowed on that sign?"

I'm working with Lydia on pronouncing her R's correctly. So, today, when she was talking about her woom, I corrected her and said, "RRRRoom. Can you say that, Lydia"

"Puh, Puh, woom."

(Sometimes she gets the reason for my correction mixed up. She decided to add the random letter P to the beginning of the word.)

I explained it a little more to her, so she tried again: "Ewwwwoom!" Afterward, she smiled so big, knowing what a good job she'd done, so, of course, I congratulated her on a job well done.

Last Funny for tonight:

On our way home from the party tonight, Julia and Lydia were bombarding us with questions.

"Can I have some water?"

"Can I have some more peanuts?"

"Can you put the lid on my water?"

"Can you take this?"

"Can I have more to eat when I get home?"

"Can we listen to music?"

Dave and I decided to give it right back to them. After a few measley come back questions, Julia yelled over us. "Hey, we're the kids!" I guess in her mind, kids get ask for a billion things at once and parents get to role with the punches. Interesting.

Thanks for reading! Tata for now! -Amber

Dancing Divas

Last Thursday, after getting back from the grocery store, Julia and Lydia turned on their music while Dave and I brought in the groceries. They immediately started dancing, with their sunglasses on, inside, even though it was dark outside.  It made me laugh. So, I took these pictures:

Here's to dancing the night away! Love, Amber

Prayer Website

I have been praying for my pastor for several years now, following the guide I got from a ministry called Revive Our Hearts. I decided to check out their online ministry today at http://www.reviveourhearts.com/, and found some 30 day guides for husbands, pastor's wives, and whoever else you know who may need prayer. (Type prayer into the search engine.) Please check this website out, and let me know what you think! Oh, and start praying!! Love, Amber

Party Pics - Lydia's 3rd

Strawberry Shortcake at her own party.

POOL Party!

Our sweet friend and pouty Lydia. (It's her party, she can cry if she wants to.)

Aunt Xiaolan and Lydia snitching strawberry cake

My Amatuer Strawberry Cake. :)

I'm throwing this one in from today. Don't the girls look adorable in their church dresses?

The Hill Country

Almost a year ago now, Dave won a free hotel stay. And, we still haven't used it yet! So, this evening on our long family walk, Dave and I decided that we are going to use our free hotel stay and visit the Hill Country near Houston. We've heard many wonderful things about the beauty of this nearby land, and want to stay true to our commitment to explore Texas as much as we possibly can. We plan to be as thrifty as possible by packing a cooler full of home-made goodies and only being gone one night (the night that's paid for). We also thought it would be fun to rent a bird sighting book from our local library so that we can record what birds we see on our sight seeing. Hopefully it will be fun and educational for all of us! Seeing as how my love language is quality time, I am really, really looking forward to this little family get away. I won't divulge the exact date of our departure over the world wide web, but I will let you know when we've come back! Happy summer get aways to all of you! -Amber