T is for THANKSGIVING

yeah, yeah, i KNOW it's the day after christmas.

but right now, right here i am going to do some THANKS giving.

i'm so alert this year...so thankful...

what a year.

where my heart once beat with fear, it now beats with gratitude.

where worry once ruled, freedom now reigns.

and life is GOOD.

i am thankful for my family.

i look back at the last 16 years and think the odds were against us. but God wasn't. and if he is for us, who can be against us?

i look at these four crazy kids of ours...and think WOW. they're really mine. the dream i've had since i was small...of having a big, happy family...it's become my reality. (some days i will admit that i have the desire to do a little reality escaping, but that's normal, right? LOL).

each of my children has added such depth and character to our family. and i love them more than they will ever, ever know.

i am thankful for my family afar as well. i love my parents...my sisters, my brother, all my sister in laws, my brother in laws...and while it seems the standard to have issues with your mother in law, i don't. she is an absolute angel.

i am thankful for my friends. i have been blessed beyond belief in the 'friend' department...let me never, ever take this for granted. i am thankful that, while i have left dear friends back home, i continue to make new friends along the journey that we're on. of course, the new friends don't REPLACE the old...but they add joy to my daily life here on the other side of the continent and it's amazing that we've only been here for a little over a year and that they are friendships of depth...and for that i am so grateful.

i am thankful for my home. sure, it's not ours yet...not according to the bank. but considering all we've been through, we are blessed to even HAVE a place to live, let alone some place that pleases the eye :)

i am thankful that even in the midst of all of the challenges, God has allowed me some items of beauty...we sold most of what we had to make this move...and yet, if you walked in our front door, i think (i hope) that you would find it comfortable and lovely...it is to me. and yet, as i look around, most of it has either been given to us or has come from moving sales, craigslist, trash piles...(yes, yes, it's true...but it was DARK and no one was looking LOL). and for this i am thankful. i don't mind being poor. (okay, maybe just a little). but i would mind it if i couldn't have a side of 'pretty' with my poor.

have i lost you yet?

i am thankful for this amazing journey that we have been on.

i am thankful that we had the courage and the grace to JUMP when asked to jump.

looking back, there is no doubt in my mind that the faith we were walking in was an absolute GIFT. because i don't think that most people would up and move...to a place they've never been before...with their four children...and no job...and leave everything they know...just because they thought God was telling them to.

i don't mean for this to sound prideful. but at the same time, i AM proud...proud that we obeyed...but realizing that the faith to do so was the gift...does this make ANY sense at all?

and what did we receive as a result of our obedience?

A NEW BEGINNING. a brand new start. an altered destiny. WOW.

we had been praying for SEVEN years that bobby would be brought into full time ministry...that God would give him a job that would allow him to use the talents that he had worked so hard to sharpen during his 20 years at the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). seven years of praying.

to see that come to fruition...as a direct result of TRUSTING...no striving, no pushing...

what a gift. a gift that our entire family will continue to be thankful for.

it is amazing to me. seriously. seriously amazing.

we have much to be thankful for.

YOU TURNED MY WAILING INTO DANCING,
YOU REMOVED MY SACKCLOTH & CLOTHED ME WITH JOY,
THAT MY HEART MAY SING TO YOU AND NOT BE SILENT.
O LORD MY GOD, I WILL GIVE YOU THANKS FOREVER.
(psalm 30:11,12)

S is for SHHHHH...do you hear that?

the quiet????

it's just before midnight and i think, maybe just MAYBE the kids are finally asleep?

poor bobby is far from ready to go to sleep. i've decided that being the MOM on christmas eve is far more preferable than being the dad. he's out in the garage doing the whole 'some parts may require assembly' thing :)

we had a great day together as a family and then headed to church tonight...looked at some christmas lights on the way home...and then the minute we walked in the door the kids were begging to open their 'pajama presents.'




we also did our little family dollar-store gift swap...jordan 'decorated' a plunger for her dad. i think that was the gift with the most laughter attached.

bobby just came in and said that one of the gifts will NOT be assembled in time...he said it's probably a good four hours worth of labor that needs to be done. i'd tell you what it is but i don't want to give away any surprises :)

it's now 12:06 and i am OFFICIALLY wishing y'all a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

xoxo.

here are some pics from our christmas eve:

R is for ROUGH NIGHT AT THE STABLE!

away in a manger, no crib for a bed...

the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head...

the Bionicles above him look down where he lay...

i can tell Hudson and Carson, with the nativity did play...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

made a late night run to the grocery store tonight. left austin in charge.

came home to THIS:

and THIS:


LOOK CLOSELY...the bionicles have rampaged through the stable while little baby Jesus slept...

apparently the BIONICLES really kicked some a$$...literally...check out the donkey on the roof :) :) :)

***forgive me but i just COULDN'T let that one go (if you HAVEN'T read about carson and his basketball orientation then you may not find this the least bit funny)...personally, i'm soooooo cracking up right now...of course, that might be sleep deprivation...or it might just be cause i have FUNNY kids :)

****okay, and editing to add that when you look close you will also see that my buffet needs a serious paint job...chalk it up to our cross-country journey that my possessions have still not fully recovered from.

Q is for QUICK...LOOK! HURRY! BEFORE IT'S GONE!!!!!!

yesterday we had the adventure of a lifetime!

more excitement than one can bear in a single day...

truly.

what could POSSIBLY be MORE exciting than SNOW in TEXAS?

really.

yesterday i got a phone call from my friend stacey telling me that there was going to be SNOW at MARKET STREET (an outdoor shopping area in the middle of the woodlands).

and not just SNOW.

LIVE REINDEER too!

and so our day began! i rushed to get the boys ready. it's a tricky thing to dress for. what does one put on their child when they will be playing in the snow and yet it's 80 degrees outside?

we settled on polo shirts and shorts...but i insisted on shoes and socks rather than the standard flip flops...after all...it's SNOW.

the normal christmas crowds were even heavier...parking, almost IMPOSSIBLE to find...

this is a once a year event and so everyone was excited. children, in their snow boots. adults in their fur-trimmed down vests...all gathered together...

for this:

i must admit it made me giggle just a bit :) and i thought that some of you, my northern friends, would also get a kick out of seeing all the crowds gathered for a 12x12 (?) patch of (snow? ice? slush?).

of course, after a hard day of playing in the snow (LOL), the kids wanted hot chocolate...so we got some (yes, we actually DID) and went and sat outside by the giant christmas tree.

no pictures of the live reindeer. i learned something new yesterday:

REINDEER STINK! for real!!!!! i'm talking SERIOUSLY STINKY!

here are a few pics of the kids throughout the day:






the snow might not have lasted very long, but the memory of yesterday will last for a lifetime.

xoxo.

P is for PumP it uP...

Tonight we had the Pleasure of attending a party at PUMP IT UP for our little buddy Lukey!

The kids had a blast and are all now fast asleep in various Places & Positions around the house...too bad they can't jump til they drop every day :)

A few favorite Pics from the evening:

rowan, whether going down the slide or posing for the camera, is always perfectly poised!

miss abby loooooved going down the slide with her daddy...i'm not sure who was having more fun!

soon to be 'big-brother-will' had a blast playing rough with dane, the pump it up dude.

carson was a maniac...his first trip down was head-first...the boy is crazy.

hudson...taking a break...he fell in love with one of the pump it up girls and was showing her his 'dinosaur moves.' i'm sure she was beyond impressed. ha ha.

stacey and rowan...WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

austin...no that's not a new mole on his cheek...he got shot in the face with a paint gun. there are some things moms should never find out about.

no party is complete without a self-portrait...and yes, it's december and i'm sleeveless...it was almost 80 degrees today. wow.

there was a throne in the party room...perfect for the 'POSH party mom' and my daughter, who USED to be shy...i remember praying that she would come out of her shell...is there any chance i may have prayed just a little too hard???????

and last but certainly not least, it's the one...the only...KING KANKELFRITZ!


that's just a sampling of our evening. we had a blast. thanks lukey & family for inviting us!

O is for OPEN HOUSE

c'mon in and stay while.

i can't believe it's less than a week til christmas. we have been busy getting teacher gifts ready and wrapped and today is the last day of school for the kids til after christmas break.

so, before things get absolutely insane, i thought i'd take some pics to share with you of our house, decked out in it's christmas finery...before we moved, we sold most of our christmas decor, but i saved the things that are favorites or have strong sentimental value :)

i love all of our ornaments...but there are a few special ornaments that bring me EXTRA smiles each year when i unwrap them.

when bobby and i got married (it will be seventeen years this coming may) we drove away from the reception in bobby's white pick up truck. (yep, i married a true southern boy LOL). these two ornaments always must be hung close together on the tree :)

the next two ornaments were handpainted by myself and my brother when we were little (the clown is a little creepy greg...but i still cherish them).




my very first car was a red volkswagen beetle that sissy and i bought for $150 ($75.00 EACH lol). it was adorable...not dependable...but adorable...and back then, THAT'S what mattered.



and lastly, this is probably one of my favorite pics ever of carson...mom and i braved a REAL LIFE BLIZZARD and dragged all of the props (and the baby) in to the studio to have these done. it was crazy...but it was absolutely worth the end result:



thanks for letting me share :)

a p.s. to my dear friend monica...your old tree has not lost her splendor...doesn't texas agree with her? :)

N is for NAMES in a hat...

okay, well technically we used a shoe...yeah...i know...you're thinking EEEEWWWW...but in our defense, it WAS a brand NEW shoe...

with six people in our family, we have not exchanged gifts before...the children each get gifts from us...and they each give to one of their cousins...but they have never given to each other.

and i thought this year it might be fun to have a FAMILY gift exchange. of course, this isn't in the budget...but that's not going to keep us from doing it.

each member of our family has drawn a name from the shoe (this part of the tradition may not stay the same next year...austin is to blame for grabbing the closest thing to him LOL).

each person will receive ONE single dollar...and an all-expenses paid trip to the DOLLAR TREE store. presents will be carefully chosen (or maybe carelessly chosen depending on who is doing the choosing) and will be wrapped and placed under the tree.

our new christmas eve tradition? open these babies up and let the laughter begin...at least that's the way it plays out in my head.

so who has who?

bobby is buying for austin.

austin is buying for jordan (this could be funny).

jordan is buying for bobby.

carson is buying for hudson.

hudson is buying for me (heaven help me...or better yet heaven help bobby who is going to have to spend countless HOURS in the dollar store while hudson makes his decision).

and lastly, i am buying for carson.

stay tuned :)

M is ALSO for MAIL RUN...

i went out to the mailbox...in a tank top, shorts and my bare feet.

on the way back in, these caught my eye...thought i'd share them with you :)

M is for MERRY CHRISTMAS!

here is our 2007 christmas card. i love how it turned out and wish i could send one to everyone in my address book, but i had to cut WAAAAAY back on my christmas card list...those postal workers must be getting paid quite well...i can't keep up with the rising stamp prices!

it looks fuzzy but if you click on the picture, you can see it crystal clear :)

merry christmas y'all!

L is for the LEE family

i didn't want to tell anyone about our LEE family photo shoot until christmas cards were sent out.

i am 'almost' done with my list, so i will start sharing some photos from the day.

my friend stacey offered to take pictures for us. stacey is incredibly creative and talented and we are so very grateful for her offer.

we went to old town spring, a section of town filled with lots of antique and gift shops. we all wore our jeans and cowboy boots...did i mention we did this late JUNE/early JULY? it was HOT, HOT, HOT.


but totally worth it. i'm pretty sure this was the last shot of the day. it totally cracks me up.



















there are plenty more, but i still have to get to 'Z' so i'm going to share them a bit at a time :)

K is for KUDOS to KSBJ's KANKELFRITZ & the KOLACHE man

so, i'm laying in bed last night and the thought goes through my mind,

"tomorrow is the letter K on my blog. hmmm...what am i going to blog about?... "
'k' is a tough one...actually my friend angela (who i got this whole alphabet idea from in the first place) admitted to me that she hadn't updated HER blog for awhile because SHE was STUCK on K."

this morning i started my day the way i always do...turned on the radio & checked in on the website that i belong to...

my friend becky's husband is the morning DJ for KSBJ...michael kankelfritz is a funny dude. and his morning show was just named TOP MORNING SHOW in houston!

that's quite a feat, considering houston is the third largest city in the country.

you can listen online @ www.ksbj.org

so KUDOS to KSBJ's KANKELFRITZ.









and i thought "PERFECT...this is PERFECT for my K blog!"
but there's MORE. lol.
we didn't have any cereal in the house for breakfast...so i ran to a little store right up the road...not much from the outside...a combo liquor/convenience/donut/kolache store with bars across the windows...

i've never been there before...but our very first morning in texas, mr. chuck got breakfast there.





the older gentleman behind the counter boxed up my donuts & then put a couple kolaches in a bag for me. he gave me my total and i handed him my debit card.

"OOOOOOH, WE NO TAKE CREDIT CARDS...you have CASH? you have CHECK?"i said no and asked if he had an ATM.

"NO."
i said i was sorry, and turned to head to the door.

"OOOOOOOH, NO. NO. YOU TAKE DONUTS & KOLACHE. YOU COME BACK LATER, OKAY?"i couldn't believe it. in this day and age? are you KIDDING? but he was serious, with a giant smile on his face.

i thanked him over and over and came home with my OWN giant smile.

wow. KINDNESS lives.

and soooooo, KUDOS to the KOLACHE man too!

what a GREAT start to my morning.

J is for JESUS' BIRTHDAY (lol...a hudson funny)

hudson is our musical child. so it was no surprise when he asked me this morning to turn the radio on so we could listen to christmas songs.

our favorite christian radio station, KSBJ, is playing ALL christmas music through the holidays.

so the song that comes on is singing about JESUS in a manger...

and hudson says, 'MOM, THIS ISN'T A CHRISTMAS SONG, IT'S A JESUS SONG.'

i take this opportunity to (again) explain that the reason we celebrate christmas is because it's JESUS' birthday.

he says, 'WELL, ARE WE GOING TO HAVE CAKE?'

i say, 'SURE, WE CAN MAKE A CAKE.' (thinking this will be fun).

he says (with some fear and trepidation in his voice), 'BUT ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO GO UP TO HEAVEN TO GIVE IT TO HIM?'

i told him that since Jesus is in our hearts, when we eat the cake, he gets it too.

JESUS, I HOPE YOU ENJOYED ALL THE M&M's I ATE YESTERDAY. lol.

interrupting my alphabetical blogging for a moment :)

i shared with you about HYDRATE HOPE and the event that bobby and i were involved with last week.

here are some INCREDIBLE photos from the event:

http://www.studio563.com/houston/chip/

i wish i could have taken all of you with me...this is the best i can do.

xoxo,

me

p.s. good thing i did my hair...you can catch a glimpse of bobby's and my backside in one of the photos...ooooooh, i know you're going to hurry there now :)

I is for I AM...

i am wendy.

i am wife to bobby. i am mom to four crazy kids. i am in love with bobby. i am in love with my four crazy kids. i am in love with GOD...i am amazed at his mercies in my life.

i am thankful. i am grateful for all he has brought me through. i am in awe at all he has brought our family through.

i am hopeful. i am believing that the promise he made to finish the good work he started in me is TRUE and will happen.

i am human. i blow it daily. but i am forgiven.

i am joyful. i am happy to be alive and well. to have weathered this journey called life.

i am hungry. i am craving something chocolate and there is NONE in my house.

oh wait! i am wrong! i forgot about carson's birthday cake. woohooooooo!

i am turning grey. you would NOT believe the amount of grey that has decided to reside on my head.

i am back to the size i was when i got married 16 years ago. i am thrilled but i am acknowledging that somehow it all LOOKS different after four children have wreaked havoc on my abs LOL

i am silly. i am one who loves to laugh. i am one who loves to make others laugh.

i am also intense. i am hard to figure out.

i am santa. (shhhhh...good thing the little guys don't know how to read yet...please keep my secret, okay?)

i am friend. i am scatterbrained. i am a scatterbrained friend. i am loved despite this.

i am loving life.

i am loving watching my husband's dreams come true.

i am loving watching my children grow & learn to love Jesus (yeah, yeah...i know....one swore in church...but isn't it a testament to his place of safety in a home where he had NO CLUE that it was a bad word? i am choosing to look at it this way LOLOL).

i am acclimated to the crazy texas weather. i am cold now when it hits 60. i am SERIOUS. i am now a big fat freeze baby. i am embarassed to admit this.

i am off to have some birthday cake and then i am off to bed.