Madame Mulberry

This past weekend we were hanging out in the backyard when I discovered some blackberry-like fruit all over the ground, I took a closer look and saw that they had all fallen from a tree that had an abundance of berries just hanging from the limbs. I put one in my mouth and tasted the sweetness that was like a blackberry and then I came in and googled blackberry on a tree and found that it is that of a fruiting mulberry. I love this time of year because of all the fruit growing wild and I have been anticipating my dewberry outings but not looking forward to crawling through prickly vines and snake havens so to find not only a tree where they hang but in my backyard (and partially in my neighbors backyard :)) I was so excited!

This was Arabelle's first time down on the ground in the backyard without a blanket, we decided to take her clothes off and let her help in the gathering fun and boy did she love it. It didn't take long for her to stop putting them in the basket and taking them straight to her mouth...I found the same problem with Matt.Now that I think of it Nellie was eating them too.....maybe I will go without my "help" next time.

* Catherine...if your reading this let me know if you want some jelly :)

Please Vote

Hey Everyone,

Our worship leader at Champion Fellowship entered one of his songs into a Chris Tomlin contest and was chosen among the top 30. Now it is up to us to vote for his song to win! You simply click on the link below and enter in your information with the song "Saving King" by Jason Morgan. You do not have to listen to it to vote but if you would like to listen there is a small microphone at the top of the page you can click on and click through the songs until you get to his.
Vote Here

Thank you so much for your support!

11 months

Arabelle sweet baby girl, I can't believe you are 11 months old already. You are growing and learning so much every day. You have the sweetest little spirit and a tender touch in your ways. I just carried you on my shoulder to your room for your nap and as I was walking through the hallway you were patting my shoulder as I was rubbing yours.
You love to give kisses Nellie style and we love to receive them. You say "Hi" with the sweetest little voice, it just lights up my face to hear it. You love to snort your nose and scrunch up your face. It's so fun and shows me how much you love to see others smile. You love to drink water...I mean love it! You just got your own sippy cup to drink from and you would drink the whole thing if we didn't stop you. You just started to pick up food off of your tray and eat it by yourself. You don't have any teeth, we thought they were breaking through a couple of weeks ago but your still all gums. When people see you they tell us that your mouth is always open and smiling. Your moving all over the place crawling faster than we can run. You hold onto heavy objects on the floor and slide them as you walk holding onto them. You still love to help me in the kitchen and I can't wait for the day we are making cookies for Daddy together.

I look at you and thank the Lord for giving us the gift of being your parents. You cause us to examine every aspect of the way we live our life. We know that you are soaking up what we place our values, efforts, worries, affections, money and time on. We are constantly seeking the Lord that he would shine through us and you would see him in all that we are and do. We pray our family would live with a Kingdom purpose and not with the consumption of this world we live in. We pray that you would come to know the Lord at an early age, that you would love him with a pure heart and would draw others to know him.

We love you so much my sweet and precious gift from the Lord Arabelle, we love you.










Photography by my dear friend Lynsey Kramer

Capitol 10K

Sunday April 11, 2010 I ran in the Austin, Texas Capitol 10K. Matt had given me the gift of this race as a part of my Christmas present this past year. I'll be honest....when he told me he signed me up to run 6.2 miles I doubted myself but he believed in me. During the season of training for this event there were times that it was hard to get to the park and run. It seemed like from Christmas until March most days of the week were rainy and nasty with one pretty day spread between all the yucky. One of the days I was driving to the park,it was sunny and pretty and by the time I got there...3 minutes later it was raining, and I was that bad mommy that ran with a baby in the rain. All this to say as the race was approaching I didn't feel totally prepared because as I trained I only got up to running 4 miles at a time but I knew race day adrenaline can make you go further than you expect.

So today, as I prepared to begin the race my most awesome husband made the decision to run it with me. I still can't believe he did this. He coaches and teaches P.E. so he stays in shape but the boy isn't a fan of long runs through the park, he stopped those after I accepted his request for a first date. It's experiences like these that mold us closer together and makes my heart grow with love and gratefulness over our marriage. He was so encouraging and positive as we endured the 6.2 miles. He pushed Arabelle in the stroller and took pictures along the way. I offered to push the stroller at one point and within 5 seconds ran over a man, it was at that point I realized Matt was doing a good job with maneuvering through the runners that would go from a run to a dead stop in the middle of the trail.

We saw Elvis, two grown men in diapers pushing another grown man in a jogging stroller and a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader in full uniform running for the best costume contest. We also found ourselves among all the HEB employee section as we started the race and got to be a part of the HEB pep talk...Matt and I chanted "we love HEB" in order to fit in. All in all this was such a great experience.

We started the race downtown and ran past the Capitol and then up and down some monster hills. As we were on the final stretch Matt was not in appropriate race-day attire and was getting sore and told me to go ahead and finish strong. As I kicked it into high gear I was so excited to finish this race but felt sad that we had ran it all together as a family and I was going on without them.I was a pretty good ways ahead of them...or so I thought when Matt decided to catch up with me and deal with the pain later. We held hands and crossed that finish line as a team. I felt so loved, encouraged, supported and inspired. My husband encourages me to be everything he sees in me and not what I limit myself to. This showed me that I may not always believe in myself and that is just one of the reasons God gave me such a positive husband to build me up with his loving words and covering me with what is true while casting aside lies from the enemy.

Come next weekend Arabelle and I will be ready for race number two as we participate in the Blue Bell Fun Run here in Brenham. I honestly can't wait!

A Basement in Texas????

Yes, we have a basement in this old 1930's home of ours. The day the Realtor was showing us around I was slowly working my way through each room with ideas of how we could make it over into something we really love and then she got to the end of the hallway and said "oh...here's a little something neat" at this point I was thinking there was going to be a big closet or something behind that door, she opened it up and I saw stairs...leading downward...What...A BASEMENT????? IN TEXAS???? Yes, that's what we thought and that's now what we hear every time someone comes to our home and gets the tour.

The stairs are narrow as can be, in fact when I was big pregnant there were days I couldn't fit down there. The actually room is very spacious and stretches the length of one and a half bedrooms. Because of the stair situation and budget we were limited as to what we could do to renovate it. A few cans of paint, electrical work, dry erase board and elbow grease it is now my little craft haven.

Craft Room = Husband of the Year Award goes to Matt Farmer. My sweet husband set his man cave wish aside so that his wife would have a spot to craft, create and make a mess and shut the door on it at the end of the day. I can't tell you how much it meant to me to not only be given this special haven but for all of his hard work in preparing this room for me. He has given me full reign on this little home of ours in the most delightful way. He has never once complained. Anytime we have been away from our home when we walk in the door he never fails to look around and thank me for making a home for him...it just melts my heart.

At one point the DIY network was giving away a man cave makeover and he wanted to apply for it and then he decided that I needed a craft room more than he needed a man cave. The boy sleeps with a ruffled pink pillow and has every right to a man cave for crying out loud!!! But this...this is just one of the reasons I love him so.

So here it is.....It's not totally done but I couldn't wait to setup my sewing machine and crafts and get in there to start some creatin'

I will post more pics when I have time but for now here it is.

Before:





After:

Easter weekend

Good Friday started off with our puppy niece Ellie coming for a weekend visit. Arabelle was so excited for her arrival that she wanted to get in Ellie's pet carrier before Ellie could even get out. Ellie is such a cutie and knew just how to play with Arabelle minus all of the puppy kisses.





Friday night Arabelle went to her first ever Birthday party for a little cutie named Laney Rae. I was so excited to go to the party because this girl is one of the sweetest joy's to be around. Every time we see her at church or at their house she takes care of "A'Belle". I also had the privilege of making her Birthday outfit. It was my first time to actually follow a pattern, make a casing with elastic and complete and applique. I loved how it turned out.








Easter morning Arabelle had a fun surprise waiting for her when she woke up. We got her, her very own swing. She loves swinging and now she can swing her little heart out in her very own backyard.






Somehow I only managed to get this picture Easter morning of her in her dress. Bummer because we were all dressed and looked descent.



Sunday afternoon it was time to load Ellie back up in her crate and send her back to Katy.We will miss that cute little soccer playing dog!