THIS is scary.....

I mean, just look at em. Pretty....all things girly....jeepin' to some tunes....driving crazy. While watching them, at one point, I was brought back to my childhood years with my sister, Ang. There Landrie was, telling Grace...."Come 'on, Grace!"....and Grace would run to get in, and just about as soon as she'd grab hold of the door, Landrie would push the gas. They'd laugh. Landrie would say, "Come 'on, Grace!" again, Grace would try to get in, Landrie would push the gas. : ) Finally, Grace daisy-duke'd it over the door fast enough to secure her spot next to older cousin, Landrie. Oh, the memories!

This week has been majorly busy. First week of school.....getting used to a new schedule...that's why there's been no posts from me. BUT, on a great note, my new class of 17 students has been one of the most well-behaved classes ever. Granted, one kid did ask, "How do you spell SWIM?" (which is a little scary), but hey, I got a whole year to make that kid a genius. No biggeeee!!

We opened our Labor Day weekend by heading up to Waco for a quick trip to see the cousins. And to listen to some really bad Aggie football (hey, I'm not giving up!.....I'm sure even Michael Phelps had some lean years). Some great things came from that visit - good food, good conversation, and......

A wonderful stack of borrowed maternity clothes, and....

a great new pair of fall shoes at Dillard's 75% off shoe sale, and....

Getting to see some really cute girls ham it up all day long!
All in all, not a bad way to end a first week. Tomorrow is Labor Day and I can't wait to do anything but labor!

Bible Journey: (Genesis 36:5 - Gen 41:5)

What's That I Hear?

It is the sound.....of silence. (Does silence have a sound??) I don't know, but this sound is just what the doctor ordered. Boog's running.....Grace is staying at Mimi's tonight....I am in my kerchief, I mean pajamas, about to lay down for long summer's nap. Actually, I'm about to go to bed and get ready for my first day of school tomorrow. The real deal........17 little ones marching through my doors. There's no stoppin' it.

I'm for sure of a few things:

1. Tomorrow my official name becomes "Mrs. Ferrell".

2. There will be that one child who tops my prayer list all year round.

3. I will undoubtedly go to bed before 8 p.m. at least a dozen times this year.

4. My belly will grow larger.....and according to my second helping of roast today, I'm guessing the rest of my body will follow suit.

5. My principal will continue to amaze me with his ability to cope with his 40+ women and one male staff.

6. My daughter will not want to get up early 4 days a week.

and finally.....

7. My husband will be "Hubby of the Year" when he scratches my head and plays with my hair at night.....(hint, hint Boog!)

I'm not so sure of these things:
1. Whether my guilt of not being a stay-at-home mom will ever subside.....I'm still considering it for baby #2 (but, we like to eat at our house, so that is a major decision!)

2. Whether I'll be able to make it teaching up until my due date like I plan.

3. Whether Boog will become bored with a wife who does nothing but sleep & eat....with the occasional heart burn to boot.

4. And.....just how will Grace truly adapt to having a little baby around all the time?

I love the knowing and the not knowing. I guess it's what makes life interesting. Thankfully, as my belly gets bigger, I get a little more excited that we'll have a bigger family in just 5 short months. That seems like nothing!

I hope all your children have a great first day at school!

Bible Journey: Genesis 30:24-Genesis -36:5

Summer's a Leavin'....

Morning-time Grace....my favorite

Well, summer might not be leaving temperature wise....I just know that we'll hit the 100 mark again....probably right about when those little wide-eyed creatures climb onto the little yellow (and un-airconditioned) buses to head to school. But summer is done for this household. For tomorrow, I will head back to the familiar. The place where patience is tested daily......the place where little kids line up in the hallways and for at least one day, the first day, they act like little angels.....the place where the letters T..A..K...S.....can make any sane woman have a meltdown - yes, that place is school!

I have no regrets. Everyday this summer, I woke up with one thought on my mind...."How can I make today fun for Grace?". It didn't mean that we did something everyday, but I would be intentional about making at least one thing that day about her. After all...this was her break, too. She'll be headed back to her school tomorrow.....I hear that their new educational program will have her reading basic sight words by the end of the year! Reading??? Already? I'm not ready....I love being able to spell things outloud "in code" to Boog so Grace doesn't know what I'm saying.

I love teaching and I love that it affords me so much vacation time......uh, I really mean "re-couping" time. But I'm gonna miss Grace so much.....I'm gonna miss her snuggle-buggin' with me in the mornings watching cartoons.....I'm gonna miss watching her be a momma to her babies all day long.....I'm gonna miss so much. Thus the plight of a working mother.

So I choose to look on the bright side and see that her school provides the joy of friendship, entertainment, and education. And my job provides me friendship, entertainment, and mounds of on-the-job education (I learn something everyday!).

So back to work! Bye summer.....it's been fun.

Bible Journey: Genesis 27:1 - Gen 30:24
Because of Adam & Eve's sin, God told Eve among other things, "Your desire shall be for your husband". What more havoc could be created than reading about Leah & Rachel fighting over having their husband Jacob's children? It turned into quite a mess, and just made me realize that God truly turned our hearts in such a way towards our husbands that without God in our marriage, guiding our thoughts and actions, it will crumble. Or at least, it won't be the shining light of God's blessing that it could be. Speaking of marriage, my church is having a "Marriage Matters" conference Sept. 26-27. It should be amazing, and if anyone is wanting to come and is in our area (close to Tyler), let me know and I'll get you information!

Making the Most of It!

Got up, looked on the weather forecast and saw that it said "high of 88 today". 88??!!?? Got on the phone to my non-acquaintance Keri, who just woke up...."Want to go to the zoo today?"....."Sure!" she replied, always willing for an adventure. A few more calls and by 11:00 a.m., 4 mommies, 2 babies, 4 toddlers, 1 kid, and 2 pre-teens are loaded into 2 suburbans with lunches packed, ready to spend the day in Tyler.

Gold medal for the Olympian mommies!! World record time!

We had a blast at the zoo and quickly realized that the 88 degrees turned into the 90's, but it was still overcast and a great day for an outing. Whether it was looking at the "Cheetos" ....or being asked incredulously by two teenagers, "Are all of these ya'lls kids???" it's always fun to share a day with friends. I thank the Lord for friendships made.....friendships sustained.....and friends who are willing to be flexible and fun! Thanks ladies!

Lunch time!

(Part of) the Crew!

Goat Glamourtime!

Jenna & her boys

Of course the baby had to come!

Bible Journey: Genesis 25:1 -Gen 27:1

Doin' the Decoupage!

Decoupage Designers!

For any male readers out there, it's pronounced "deh-coo-pazsh", or rather, a bunch of liquified glue plastering down whatever you can get a hold of......in this case, scrapbook paper and a $.97 clipboard.

Grace & I worked on our masterpieces and quickly found out that although we don't have a calling in clipboard design, we do have a calling in just enjoying a little craftiness! Which is all that matters, right?

BTW....Boog is back home, safe and sound....with only a few stories to tell (wink, wink!). I'll let him share those on his on blog!

Bible Journey: Genesis 23:20 - 25:1

I Laid Awake in Bed Last Night....

thinking about this story I had read earlier. It is from the St. Petersburg Times and is simply an amazing piece of journalism. It covers a horrible story of child neglect and simply put.....I could not get over how a mother (if you can call her mother) could ever, ever treat their child this way. Ever. What went so wrong in her life that made her hurt her own child in such a way? After I read it, I crawled into bed, next to Grace, (who has slept with me this week while Boog's been gone), and rubbed her back while she was peacefully sleeping......just being thankful for her.

I encourage you to take 15 minutes out of your day to read this story, and be blessed by the wonderful, amazing love of another family who took a child who was so.....broken.....into their lives.

Bible Journey: Genesis 20:1 - Gen 23:20

Family, Friends....and the Loss of an Acquaintance

The Little "Emers"...

So I've spent the last few days in Waco babysitting my little two year old niece.....my sister, having just kept my own daughter for a few days, left me with 5 pages of hand-written notes about schedules, feeding, food ideas, entertainment ideas, directions (knowing me oh-so-well, all her directions started out with "go towards Target" or "go the opposite direction of Target").

Was she nervous? Not at all. In true Angela form, making sure everything was taken care of was her way of making my stay easier. BUT.....she didn't have a clue that while she was away....these cats would play!

I gave her fun things to play with....like a spoon.

I let her hug on perfect strangers as we rode the terror train ride.

I made her dress up like a tiger and forced her to do the "YMCA"

......no, seriously, she was a little angel and Grace got to experience what it's going to be like having a little sister or brother around. There was many a moments of me saying, "Grace, see? Having a little sister or brother is going to be a lot different than having your baby dolls," after she complained of Emerie messing with her stuff. I feel I'll have that conversation many times in the near future!

We did have a great time in Waco, and aside from me having to get used to buckling two kids in car seats, it was actually easier sometimes having two children around....Grace was always entertained, by someone other than me! How encouraging!

But a real blessing out of the week came from getting to have some 'hang out' time with a new friend, Keri and her family, who were visiting their own family in Waco, too. Part of my title had to do with the "loss of an acquaintance" (thank you spell check!). I say that, because I have "known" Keri for quite a while. We've gone to the same church for 5+ years and said our weekly "hello's" for 5+ years, but it was just this summer that we started to actually hang out together with our kiddos and ....like I said, it's so nice to lose an acquaintance and make a friend. She's a pretty down to earth gal with great kids, and well, it's nice to know that friendships still can be made even from behind those "niceties" we like to hide behind. I hope we all can think of at least one person who we can lose as an acquaintance! (BTW....that was Keri's daughter, not some random stranger, in the picture with Emers!). Here's a couple more pics from Waco.

Grace and Colton, flying high!

Grace, trying to convince me to enroll her in ballet....

Bible Journey: Genesis 18:1-Genesis 21:1
Oh, Sarah! How I've done exactly what you've done....just worse, and many times more. I was literally sighing to myself when I read the part where Sarah, after just hearing the Lord tell her and Abraham that at their old age they would be having a son, she scoffed at the thought. Then the Lord said, (this is great!), "Why did Sarah laugh....Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" (Gen 18:13) to which Sarah denied laughing. The Lord then said, "No, but you did laugh." (Gen 18:15).
It made me think....and remember...how many times I've denied my thoughts to the Lord. No, Lord, I didn't think that when I first saw that woman. No, Lord....I didn't secretly envy what she had!....No, Lord, I wasn't jealous!.....No, Lord....oh, the list could go on, and on, and on!
I love that the Lord didn't have some huge theological, cranial response. He just simply said, "No, but you did....".
He convicts us rather convincingly....doesn't he?

I'm Missing My Boog....

Guatamala is closer to the equator, but about 20 degrees cooler day & night....

how is that?

Boog left today for a week long mission trip to Guatamala. We stayed up late last night... him packing, me watching a movie. And he - in true "Boog & Flo Ferrell" form - packed his entire week's worth of clothes, snacks, shoes, first-aid, etc. into one small carry-on suitcase. (You know how it is to check bags in...especially on international flights. Ugh!) This summer, we managed to pack our entire family for a Florida trip in 2 suitcases! Shouldn't there be a gold medal for that?

Anyway, when Boog's gone, things quickly become very bland around here. He's makes our life colorful, and without him, it's so.....beige. If any of you know him, you know that you get exactly what you see.....a man that says what he feels, and feels a lot. He's the emotional one in our family!

I'm 14 weeks pregnant now, and I couldn't imagine going through all this without him. So come back safe, Boog! We miss you!

Bible Journey: Genesis 12:9-Genesis 17:27

Another example here of how we let others affect our belief in God. The story of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar.....