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But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive adoption as sons. -- Galatians 4:4-5

(Another great picture from Shannon's collection.)

Shannon captured this super-cute moment in front of mom's Christmas tree. Don't you just love toothless grins?!

Here's another couple of pictures from our Thanksgiving trip. My brother found this leaf while hunting in Tennessee. We were all impressed!

My niece Zoey posing with the Giant Leaf

Here's Matt sporting his 'hunting beard.' (I'm not quite sure what they are doing to my baby in the background, but it's quite alarming!!!)

Thanksgiving week was spent at Meme and Papaw's house in Missouri. It was great see and spend time with family. The kids had a great time doing the stuff we usually do when we go to mom and dad's . . . . riding on the farm 'toys' (tractors and four-wheelers), picking pecans, and playing with cousins (although sadly, we missed out on a whole crew of them!)
This year, however, they discovered new delights. One was raking up the leaves! Who knew this would provide so much entertainment?! Raegan was especially ambitious, and hauled off many wagonloads. Her comment afterwards . . . "That is a workout, mom!!" Well, yeah.

The other newfound discovery was the joy of turnips. (Strange, I know.) Again, Rae led the charge in this adventure. Papaw peeled some raw ones and we all tried our 'turnip lollipops'. Not too bad. Rae was the only one who finished hers.





After the kids picked a wagonful we walked down the gravel road to Aunt Tina's house and made a delivery. (Anna Beth: "What kind of road IS THIS?!?") Aunt Tina was sweet enough to cook up a potful of turnips for Thanksgiving dinner. They were surprisingly good, and the kids loved that they were able to eat something they'd picked!

"I believe this little bird is mocking me."

"Why are you interupting me in my quest to grab this toy?"

"Seriously, why?"

"Yeah . . . I know I'm cute."

"Come give me some sugars, Mama"

"Will this photo session ever come to an end?!"

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from our son during a recent performance at school.
He started out OK . . . although he didn't participate in the singing.

He was very excited to discover that Mama was there -- who, by the way, had her video camera, digital camera, and cell phone camera all pointed at him!
But then he decided the program was much more enjoyable from the audience!

Here he is with his best little buddy, Malia.

Recently I've been reminded about how important communication is, and how easy it is to get something wrong because the words just don't come out quite right. I still have problems with this . . and I've been talking for quite a number of years. How much more frustrating is it for the little ones?

Mommy: AnnaBeth, please go downstairs and get me a Walmart bag
AnnaBeth: (coming back upstairs) I can't find any, Mommy.
Mommy: What do you mean you can't find any? There's a huge pile in the pantry . . you know where they are. Look again.
AnnaBeth: (down the stairs and back up again) Still can't find any, Mommy.
Mommy: (getting frustrated) AnnaBeth -- you aren't looking very well. There must be a hundred bags down there. PLEASE GET ME ONE.
AnnaBeth: (also frustrated, trudges downstairs and then shouts up to me . . ) MOM! I can't find any Walmart bags!! All I can find are Sprouts and Kroger bags!

And then there's this . . .
Aidan: Mommy. I hurt my winas.
Mommy: (knowing that we call all our 'parts' by the appropriate names) You hurt your WHAT?!
Aidan: My WINAS, mommy.
Mommy: Hmmmm. (hesitantly, I ask . . .) Show me what you mean.
Aidan: (Wiggling his FINGERS) Here mommy, my WINAS.
Mommy: (WHEW.)

"Look Mommy, I buttoned it by myself!"

Here's Aidan, all dressed up like Papaw and Uncle Matt. Underneath, he's even wearing camo-underwear!!!

Juliet had cereal for the first time last Friday night.

This was all Daddy.

Uh . . . . what just happened?

Raegan's assignment: Create a turkey using whatever materials you want.
I present to you . . . TRASH TURKEY.

Please note turkey's wings made of coffee filters, feet made of old Christmas decorations and feathers made of a cereal box.

AnnaBeth's assignment: Disguise your turkey so he'll be safe on Thanksgiving Day.
I present to you . . . . TINKER TURKEY.

Please note turkey's toenails are painted pink and her "Tinkerbell" wings made from a pink feather.

I'm not sure of the educational value in all of this, but it sure was alot of fun!!!

Here's our little piglet. Juliet's costume was a little too warm for the 80 degree weather we had . . . so part of the evening she dressed up as a baby in a onesie.

Aidan was Batman. Here he is in full attire . . . which lasted about 5 minutes. Most of the evening he was 'just Aidan.' Although he did at least wear his mask when we went out trick-or-treating.

AnnaBeth was Tinkerbell. Deciding not to spend $20 on a cheaply made costume from WMart, I put my newly-purchased sewing machine to work that afternoon and we made it ourselves. Since we already had the wings and the t-shirt, it only cost us $4!

Raegan was Princess Leah. Here she is getting ready to defend the galaxy against evil.

For the past few years CityView has hosted bounce-houses for kids and hot chocolate for the adults in different neighborhoods in our community. We got to host one in our front yard again this year. It's such a great way to get to meet and talk to our neighbors and also let people know about our church. I love that we can redeem something like Halloween by using it to love on our neighborhoods!!! One of my favorite parts is getting to hang out with our amazing family that is CityView. (I also had a blast jumping!) If you look closely you can see Aidan in there!

While mom and Shannon were here last week, we attempted to get some shots of the kids together. Some of them turned out pretty good!

These pictures wouldn't be possible without Shannon's super cool, super fast camera! For every good picture, there are at least 15 bad ones!!

Here's a couple of the cutest 'bloopers.'

Anna Beth!!!!!

NOW she smiles!!

Here's the keeper:

Juliet is our little Gifted & Talented baby. At 3 1/2 months she's already mastering some pretty tough skills. For one, she's already rolling over both ways: front to back & back to front. She's also started sitting up on her own -- supported by her hands, of course. On Thursday she could do it for a minute or so. Last night it was a full 5 minutes; enough time for us to have a full photo shoot!

Here she is showing off her skills:

One-handed and getting ready to grab a plate (Yes, she's on the table -- but I'm ready to catch her if she falls!):

Showing off in the exersaucer. "No hands, Ma!"

These pictures have nothing to do with Juliet's skills. They just show how advanced she is in cuteness!!

Rick is halfway through his Poland trip. Thanks to Facebook and Skype we've been able to communicate quite a bit. (Much more than the ONE conversation we had when he went to China last year!) The kids can tell dad all about their day -- even baby Juliet goos and grins at the screen! And I get to learn all about what they've done that day. I've even gotten a tour of their hostel and gotten to meet the other people he's with!
Ed Stetzer (who's a church planting guru) interviewed Rick and posted it on his blog. He also posted a pretty funny video at the end. It's worth checking out!

Also . . . here are some pics that Rick has posted on his facebook. For those who don't have an account, here ya go!
Here's a view from Wawel castle, 1000+ years old:

Here's the outside of the castle:

And the inside:

And our missionary friends, Seba and Erin, with the stuff CityView sent them. And no, Erin didn't choose her wall color or couch! Check out a link to their blog to the right . . . the Vasquez's. Pray for Poland!

Rick getting ready to get on the tram.

Here's Jeremy talking to a group of students at one of the Universities. Jeremy's one of our friends from CityView who went with Rick.

Rick preaching . . . in a TIE. His interpretor is on the right. He said it freaked him out a bit. He'd listen to her instead of thinking about what he was supposed to say next.

And finally . . . Polish food. Although I think he liked it, the guys have eaten Italian and Chinese food as well!

Our sweet friend Meredith came out from Garland, went to church and spent the afternoon with us yesterday. (Hi Mere!) It's always so much fun talking to people that I've known for a long time -- 10 years in her case! I can see so much more clearly the hand of God directing our steps when I take a step back and look at our lives over the long haul. I echo what David says in Psalm 16, "Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance." I love where the Lord has placed us!
I also have been showing the older kiddos pictures of themselves when they were little like Juliet. They love to see what they looked like and hear stories of what they were like as babies! I tell them things like, "Just like I hold Juliet alot, I held you alot too." "You loved your tummy just like she did." "You were a great burper just like her." I hope that they see the way I love and care for her and know that I've always loved and cared for them -- even before they remember! Hmmmm . . . kind of how God does us!
So in the spirit of 'old times', here are some pics of the kiddos when they were about Juliet's age. Can you guess who is who?

Juliet has been working hard . . . and has finally mastered the use of the thumb.

There's nothing sweeter than this!

And now for a little perspective . . .

She may be getting bigger, but she's still sooo tiny!!!

Here's AnnaBeth with her team, the Transformers, getting ready to play her soccer game.

She's a really obedient kid. Her coach tells her to stand in a certain place and she does . . . no matter what's happening or where the ball is!!!

Her favorite part about soccer? Cheetos and gatorade after the game!

This past Saturday the White family participated in a local event called the Run in the Dark benefitting our local Community Storehouse. Raegan ran/walked the 1 mile with Rick -- finishing in about 13 minutes. Not bad! I did the 5K with Juliet in tow. I haven't been training, so I was planning to mostly walk it. But about halfway into the race, Juliet decided she was done. If I'd been thinking clearly, I'd have picked her up out of the stroller . .. . but crazy me decided to get to the finish line as fast as possible -- by running. Amazing what motivation a screaming baby is!

AnnaBeth still has on her uniform from her soccer game that morning. (Her first!)

This was the third year that our CityView band played for the event.

Juliet hanging out with her buddy Elaine.

Aidan is rarely outside without his "Papaw hat".

Rae is ready to run her race!

After she ran. Red-faced Raegan gulping down water!

This is our first post with pictures of all SIX of us! Now, if only I can get us all in ONE picture!

The cooler weather means we've spent lots of time outside this past week!

Here's a toad that lives in our backyard. Aidan has decided that this toad is our pet, and calls him 'Toady.' Toady likes playing so much, that he's even hopped in our house when the door is open and invited Aidan to come outside!

I'm not sure what the deal is with the buckets on the heads. Are they playing aliens? Are the buckets helmets? I have no idea, I just thought they were funny!

Raegan loves doing acrobatics on the bar!

She's not excited to come inside to do her homework.

If it weren't for the bright spot of Mizzou football on Saturdays the White household fans would be a sad, sad lot. Herm Edwards is slowly killing our beloved Chiefs franchise. In fact, if it weren't for TiVo I'm not sure we could even stomach the games. I mean, we lost to the RAIDERS! Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
But with a local guy from Southlake as their QB (in case you haven't heard), Mizzou football has been alot of fun to watch!

Here's our very littlest fan, cheering on Mizzou.

Halftime. Time to take a break and play with big brother:

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!?!?!?

Aidan's first day of preschool was last week. He was very excited to go.

Isn't he cute?!

But once he got there, he wasn't so sure.

"You're not really going to leave me here, are you?"

Once he warmed up, he had a blast! He has lots of fun playing with 'those guys' (he can't remember his buddies names yet!) He loves the playground, eating lunch, playing, . . . . I'm sure he likes other things, but that's about all I can get out of him!

What a big boy!!!

I haven't posted any pics for a while. And there's a reason for that: trouble 1 and trouble 2, aka AnnaBeth and Aidan. They decided that the card reader where I upload my pictures was the perfect place to stick coins in. Grrrrrrrrr. . . . . .

We got most of them out, but then I got a paperclip stuck trying to get that one last penny that is wedged in there. Rick got the paperclip out tonight. But we still have that one stubborn coin.

What the heck were they thinking?

So God heard our prayers for baby Juliet's belly button and decided to answer! HE is so Good!!
The surgeon today said, "It looks good. Keep sunscreen on it and make sure she wears a one-piece bathing suit." I was a little confused. "So no surgery?" That was Rick. I was still in shock. "Nope, it looks good." That was when Rick and I looked at each other and grinned from ear to ear. What a Great God we serve! And why I'm shocked, I don't know. I knew He could heal, I asked Him to heal, and He did. Again, how Great is He. I really can't say it enough!
Our job now is to watch it for any signs of drainage, or of any 'lumps' in her belly that would indicate fluid building up inside. Other than that, we go back in a year.
I gotta say it one more time, Hallelujah and Praise the Lord!

I think I'd mentioned a few posts back that Juliet's belly button took a while to heal. Well, it did, but it didn't.
The doc carterized it a few weeks ago, and it appeared to be better. It still had a little pink to it, which I just assumed was new skin. But this past week it once again started looking yucky. I took her in to the doc yesterday to have it checked out and she referred us to a pediatric surgeon. Thank goodness they could get us in right away -- I'm sure I would have started to worry and imagine the worst!
Her condition has a name that I can't pronounce - but basically she still has connections to her bowel and bladder. If left untreated, these connections could lead to infections. The solution is a small incision, the disconnecting and tying off of the passageways, and sewing her back up. Since she'll have to go under anesthesia for the procedure we'll wait until she's 3 mths old to have this done. (If they are under 3 mths, a night in the hospital is required) Until then, she carterized it again and applied silver nitrate to hopefully ward off any infection.
She did say that there's a slim chance that the carterization will heal it. Actually what she said was it probably wouldn't heal it and our only solution would be surgery. So . . . to me, there's a 'slim chance'! But because we serve a God who is the ultimate healer and can do the impossible when our chances are slim to none, the White family is praying that God will heal Juliet's belly button issues in the next two weeks (before we see the doc again.) I'd love it if you'd join us!
If He chooses not to heal her, I trust in Him. This is, again, a good reminder to me where I am in relation to my Lord. I love my children dearly, but they are not my idols. My life revolves around my Savior and I will not let my fears have victory over that. Whatever happens, Blessed be His Name!

Today is the first day of kindergarten for AnnaBeth and of second grade for Raegan. Our school district still does 1/2 day kindergarten (thank goodness), so AB will be home before lunch. When asked if she was excited to go to school, she said no. When asked why not, she answered, "I don't know how to read yet!" She has since been told that's why she's going to school. Funny girl.
Raegan was very ready for school-- she's even startrd setting an alarm clock at night so I won't have to wake them up in the morning. She's very responsible!
Here are the girls before heading off to school this morning.

Juliet's umbilical cord was ripped off a little early so her belly button took a while to heal. But we were finally able to give her a real bath this past week. You can see by her smiles that she enjoyed herself!

All done!

Raegan got glasses today! Her vision isn't too bad at 20/50. But hopefully this will help her not squint while watching TV and help her to see the board clearly at school. She's pretty excited about having her specs . . . we'll see how long that lasts!

I really get excited when I'm able to save money, so I have to share this. Because we went to an MD (opthalmologist instead of optometrist) we only had to pay our copay for a specialist. We don't have a vision plan on our insurance so this was totally unexpected. Also, Walmart was having a back to school sale, so kids' lenses were half off. And my darling Raegan found some plain pink frames she liked for $10, instead of the $68 ones that were "High School Musical" brand. She's my bargain shopper junior! So intead of paying around $300 like I was expecting, we spent only $75 total for her eye exam and glasses. Nothing like saving a couple hundred dollars to brighten your day. Thank you Lord for surprise blessings!

Juliet is getting really good at lifting her head while on her tummy. She's even started rolling over! Hopefully a video documenting her amazing skills will follow soon!

Aren't Sunday afternoon naps the greatest?

For Raegan's 7th Birthday party she decided she wanted a cooking party. So we (mostly she) started brainstorming. This is what we came up with . . . .

Before everyone arrived, we made chef hats out of posterboard and tissue paper. We kicked off the party by decorating aprons with fabric markers.

Next, the kids made their own pizzas. Yum!

While the pizzas were cooking we played some games, including a relay game with spaghetti.

After Rae opened her presents, the kids decorated the cakes. Don't they look. . . appetizing?!

Happy Birthday to my incredibly creative little chef!

Here is Juliet watching her "Praise Baby" video for the first time. (For those who are unfamiliar, it is very similar to the Baby Einstein videos . . . only with worship music instead. Thanks Taber for the gift!)
Juliet loved it! I was able to take a shower and get ready while Juliet had a good time praising Jesus -- as only a 5 week old can do!

After a good nap she's all smiles. She's even started laughing recently!

Her hair is a trip!

We've decided that Juliet's crazy hair looks a little rock-n-roll.

Here she is checking herself out in the mirror.

And speaking of tiny rock stars, check out this line of baby and kiddie clothes. Proceeds go to orphans in Africa.

Juliet taking a little nap on big sissy Raegan.

Juliet is now one month old! It's amazing to me how fast the time has gone. And how much she's already changing -- for example, she's now too long for her newborn and 0-3 mth old sleepers. She's also just graduated out of newborn diapers into size 1. And although she started smiling in the hospital, her smiles are now becoming responsive to us. I have tried and tried to get a good shot of her smiling -- but my durn digital camera has a long delay, making it nearly impossible! Here's one I was able to capture -- too bad the rest of the kids weren't grinning as well!

Aidan is also doing some changing. He's finally realized that since BABIES wear diapers, and he is a BIG BOY, that he no longer should be wearing diapers. And so, he's potty-training himself! I wasn't going to start the process until Juliet was a couple months old -- but the boy wanted to start wearing underwear. He pretty much has taken charge of the whole deal, running to the potty when he needs to. I'm happy to report that a week into this, Aidan has had NO poop accidents and just a handful of pee accidents (although his aim isn't so great yet!) Hurray!

My niece, Macy, came with my dad from Missouri and stayed with us for a few days. The girls and Aidan love playing with her. She also had a good time playing with her cousins -- except she doesn't appreciate the kisses that Aidan tries to give her!

Meme and Papaw took the kids to the park:

In the pool with Meme:

Reading with Papaw:

And finally, Mom and Dad left today, we'll miss them very much! And now we'll see what life with four kids is REALLY like!

There he goes . . . . .

. . . all by himself!

We are so proud!

Here are the girls sporting their new haircuts. Raegan's looks alot like Mommy's and AnnaBeth's is similar to an American Gladiator named Crush (we are all about the Gladiators!) The girls were obviously very excited . . . and didn't want to stand still to have their pics taken.

Mommy finally has had enough. BE STILL!!!!!

Juliet turned one week old yesterday. So far, she's doing great! She's sleeping for good stretches at night, she's eating well, and she's very interested in staring at her mommy and daddy, brother and sisters and at meme -- who all love to stare right back! She is such a gift from God!! I am always overwhelmed at first with gratitude for the little blessing that God has given -- and overwhelmed by that instant great love that you have for a new little person. My heart sings with gratitude and praise!

I'm also once again remembering how much WORK newborns are -- every time I turn around I'm feeding her! But I'm blessed to have mom here to help with the kids, laundry, cleaning (she scrubbed my shower so clean it looks brand new!!!), grocery shopping, diaper changing, . . . . I could go on and on! I'm also blessed to have an awesome church family that is taking care of meals for us. It's almost like Christmas when people come to bring food! And I'm blessed to have three big helpers that are great at getting water for mommy, changes of clothes for Juliet, and endlessly running upstairs or downstairs to grab something for me.

Today Juliet made her debut at church. Here are a couple of pictures of the girls all dressed up and ready to go (Aidan didn't want to be photographed . . . such a boy!)

Finally, here's a picture of Juliet on her quilt that Mamaw (my grandmother) made for her. It even has her name on it! It's sure to be a favorite.

She doesn't do much...so I had the camera rolling when she was moving around a bit.

Everyone wanted to hold the baby. Even Aidan!

Well...Juliet Caroline White was born at 10:53am yesterday morning (July 5th). She is 8 lb. 9.5 oz. She is 20 and a half inches long. She's beautiful...mom is great and we should be coming home by tonight. Good stuff.

But in the meantime, Meme and Papaw have arrived! Which means I can quit worrying about what to do with the kids if I go into labor in the middle of the night. With grandparents, come gifts. Juliet now has LOTS of clothes and the kids (and Rick and I) have a Wii!!!! Raegan has logged the most hours thus far.

And Papaw has been able to make the immobile mobile, mobile! Hurray!

Aidan is learning what it means to be a boy -- like how I don't paint HIS nails pink after I clip them like I do the girls. "Just gails?" he says. "Yes, just girls," I answer.
He's also learned that girls go first, especially when we are getting into the car. "Gails first." His favorite girl/boy 'rule' however, is that boys open doors for girls. He loves to run to the door, open it, and then hold it until everyone has entered. He does this at the library, at restaurants, and especially when we get home. It's very sweet.
The only flaw in all of his gentleman actions, is that he is three and full of three-year old reasoning and temper (aka sin nature!) If the girls happen to open a door before he does, it is nothing but screaming . . . . "I DO IT! I A BOY!!!!!" And then the violence . . . . he proceeds to slam the door and demand that he be the one to open it . .. . . OH MY!

Rick here. So...my sister has started posting some old pics on her facebook. Some of these are just great. It was fun to show them to my kids the other day. They like seeing mommy and daddy when they were little. I have maybe 10 pictures from when I was little...so this is a treat of sorts to have so many pics that I thought I'd never see or be able to show again. For those that know my kids...any resemblance?

Me around 3-4 years old

Me around 1st grade or so...

I'm proud to say that I'm just about done in Juliet's room. The mobile is still immobile. But the crib -- which has been used almost non-stop for 7 years -- has been scrubbed as has the changing table I bought off of Criag's List. I was just going to touch up the paint on the shelves that I originally painted when I was pregnant with AnnaBeth. However, I had to completely repaint them after discovering that the places I'd touched up were lighter than the original paint. (I guess the paint on the furniture darkened over the years?) I didn't have the same green I'd used then, so I used the green from the girls' room -- it doesn't look so great in the pictures, but it looks OK in the room. I just finished my painting and scrubbing tonight! Here is the result:

The bed is even pulled out and ready for Meme and Papaw to come!

And here's another project I've recently finished. I'm excited to see the kiddos in them!

For those who are curious -- "Little Sister" wouldn't fit on her tiny little onesie!

I still have more to do . . . mostly cleaning things around the house. But I don't know that I'll ever be finished with that!
So baby Juliet, whenever you decide to show up, it's just fine with me!

Swimming has always been one of my very favorite activities. In fact, most of my favorite activites involve water in some fashion. I love going to the lake, water skiing, floating on a raft, playing water volleyball, . . . I could go on and on! I LOVE that our kids also love the water. Although we've been at the pool frequently for the past month they still jump up and down and cheer whenever we announce we are going swimming. It makes my heart glow warm.
Not only do they love the water . . . but their skills are improving, quickly. Which leads me to the point of this post . . . .
AnnaBeth amazed Rick and I this afternoon by mastering not one, not two, but THREE new skills in the swimming pool! First, she begged and begged to swim halfway across the width of our pool. I said she could swim it with me. And when she kept going, so did I, until we'd reached the other side! For a little bitty five year old swimming across a pool that has at least 6 swimming lanes is quite a distance! And then she proceeded to swim back. New Skill #1.
Later, she was swimming underwater and started pulling my legs apart. I was very surprised when she swam right underneath them. She didn't even warn me that this was something she wanted to try! Rick and I got to be bridges quite a bit after that (although I had to protect my big belly from little kicking feet!) New Skill #2.
And once she realized that she was actually able to swim that far underwater (she's been trying and trying to reach the bottom since last summer) she also realized that FINALLY she could grab the diving rings from the bottom of the pool -- not just from the steps. New Skill #3.
We are very proud of our little fish. Our whole school of fish for that matter!

We are getting closer and closer to the birth of baby Juliet -- a little more than 2 weeks until my due date. My doctor seems to think, in his 'medical opinion' (ha!) that she'll come early. I laugh because a)there is NO WAY he can make a prediction like that and b) because I think he secretly is wishing she'll come early because his vacation starts that day after my due date! He keeps trying to talk me into an induction . . . but I've been there and done that and will try to avoid it this time if at all possible (no matter if it does run into his vacation!) This time I am trying to go for a drug-free birth. I figure if I'm going to try it, it might as well be with the fourth! Plus, the epidural didn't work last time. So I essentially DID go drug-free, only with pitocin added -- which produces very strong and painful contractions (thus, no induction this time!)

It's always amazed me how God puts instinct into his creatures -- like how the birds know to fly south for the winter (how do they know which way south is when the sky is cloudy?!) And what's equally amazing is how he's given women closing in on giving birth the 'nesting' instinct. The last couple of weeks I've seemed to shaken off the intense fatigue I'd been experiencing and suddenly have new energy. Projects that I've been putting off for months and months now look appealing. The half-finished nursery and unwashed blankets suddenly need to be done NOW. It comes and goes . . . but here are a couple of things I've been working on:

I've been hanging family pictures in the stairway. I've probably gone through every picture we own of us. It's been fun to look at baby/toddler pics of the kids and Rick and I and imagine what new baby will look like. Not only that -- but what kind of personality is she going to have? With the other ones, it showed up the day we brought them home from the hospital!

Putting the nursery together. Although, I've run into a few snags. This picture shows the mobile that Rick is trying to fix -- it won't turn for some reason! (Not very 'mobile' at all. sigh)

So what have the kids been doing while Mommy is in project mode?

For one -- Raegan has been teaching AnnaBeth to play chess. Amazingly AB has actually won a couple of times (I secretly think it's because Rae isn't always monitoring her to make sure she's following the rules!)

Aidan meanwhile, has been 'playing' in his room. Or more like -- DESTROYING it!

(Yes . . . he IS holding a purse. But doesn't it sort of cancel out if he's also holding a batman mask?)

Once he even made his own 'snack.' That is, he opened a jar of peanut butter, inserted his entire arm, and proceeded to lick the PB that clung to him from his fingers to his elbow. Oh my! Rick was the one that caught him and was much more upset at him than I was -- I think it's because my sweet husband was the one that cleaned him up!

And finally . . . Rick has taken up a tradition that was formally done by me -- reading to the kids at night. So we are taking a pause in the Little House series (not really Rick's style!) He's chosen a book that his second grade teacher read to his class that he loved as a kid. It's called The Great Brain, by John Fitzgerald. It's a look into the mind of a little boy -- ha! The kids are loving it!

I keep hearing that my wife is taking over this blog again...but alas...this is my third post since she took it over again. Hmmm.

For those of you that don't know it, Raegan DOES want to be the next American Gladiator. She's currently in training.

Rick here. Ok...I know I'm kinda' slow to the party here, but I just registered with Skype recently and it is simply mind-blowing. Forgive my excitement (for those that are veteran skype users), but it's pretty cool that I can talk to about anyone that has a skype account in the world via webcam in real time...for free. Quality can be sketchy at times...but hey...it's FREE!!!

I was actually made aware of this technology by Nick Ostermann...a church planter in residence at CityView. He suggested we could skype a meeting instead of spending the time/gas it took to meet up downtown. So...it's free...and it saves me gas money AND travel time. Love it.

Anyway...our cityview leadership will be using it for meetings and such. So far, I've talked to a missionary friend in China...had a meeting with Nick (same guy mentioned above) and talked to my best friend from high school. Great tool...great technology. In case you're interested and in the market, you need a good web cam and then you need to download skype and register an account.

The web cam I use is the quickcam pro 9000...smooth video and great audio playback. They are on sale at Best buy as of this posting for 79.99 (regularly $99.99).

Well...we are trying to get ready for our new baby girl in a few weeks. I was in the attic earlier and retrieved the bouncy seat, the swing, and some bottles. Talk about memories. I've also been looking at pics and old vids. Here's a classic--Aidan when he first learned how to walk. Good times.

So I've decided that it's probably about time I posted a little bit. I have to admit . . what put me over the edge was the day I saw Rick had posted 'fecal contamination.' There's got to be more going on than that!

So here are a few pictures summarizing our summer so far . . . .

We were fortunate enough to score some really great seats at the Rangers game when the Royals were in town. It was a great night -- we were only 12 rows above the Royals dugout, it was dollar hotdog night (Aidan's favorite), it was a cool night (great for a pregnant lady), the Rangers hit several homeruns which meant the fireworks went off quite a bit, and the kids got to share their first ever cotton candy (Raegan says I was spoiling them!) Rick had fun, despite the final score!

Anna Beth graduated from preschool. On stage she told everyone, "My name is AnnaBeth. I am five years old. When I grow up I want to be a cowgirl." How sweet!

More pictures from graduation:

Also happening this summer . . .
Raegan lost her fourth tooth -- leaving an incredibly cute gap!

Aidan got a bike for his birthday. This was the worst kept secret ever -- he's known since February that this is what his present was going to be!
Here I come!

Pausing to pose for a picture

And there I go again!

We've spent alot of time at the pool. The kids are such great little waterbugs. And I can swim laps and not feel like a big pregnant person!

Speaking of big pregnant person -- only 3 1/2 weeks to go (more or less)
Photo by AnnaBeth!

And finally -- for Aidan's birthday we promised to take him on a train ride. Specifically the 'big train' called the tarantula that travels from the Stockyards. After 3 hours of mishaps and missing trains that had mommy almost in tears, we decided to give up for the day. We still plan to take Aidan on the 'big train', but in the meanwhile, we rode the 'little train' next to the zoo with some friends. It was alot of fun!

Aidan with his buddies

View of the train, from the train.

Waiting for popcorn at the stop.

Yup...that's what the sign said when we tried to go to the pool yesterday. There are many joys and sorrows to the community pool. When parents neglect to place swimming diapers on their children...we all experience the latter. Bummer.

Back to swimming today, though. Had a great time. Kids always have a big appetite after the swim. I think Rae just might become a swimmer. She was doing laps tonight...and she was doing a pretty good job.

So me and Steph are making some iced coffee yesterday morning...when all of a sudden both Anna and Aidan start saying "we have coffee?".

Evidently, they've done this before and evidently Steph has felt the need to accomodate them. So...I watch as she says "ok" and pours about a shot of coffee into each of their cups...adds a little toffee nut syrup and fills the rest of the cup with milk.

Our kids drink coffee. I wasn't allowed to have coffee as a kid...said it would "stunt my growth"...so I'm not sure how I feel about this. Something in me says that I'm a bad influence, though...

I'm totally hooked on this show called "Fight Quest" on Discovery. It's crazy. These two guys go around the world learning new fighting styles from different countries/cultures. It's a great show if you like to see a diversity of fighting (and self-defense) styles.

The episode from Israel was completely OUT OF CONTROL. Krav Maga is seriously one of the toughest fighting styles I've ever witnessed.

We found out we are having another baby girl this past Thursday. The sonogram isn't 100% conclusive...because this baby was being modest and not showing the goods...but we're pretty sure it's a girl.

Today...we just finished Anna Beth's birthday party. She turns 5 in two days. It was a total girl-party. A tea-party, to be more specific. She loved her presents...but her favorite? Her Han Solo action figure...

Pitchers and catchers report to Surprise Arizona 15 hours from the time I'm typing this. Let the resurrection of my favorite dead franchise begin...

Two funny, recent pics:

Rae had her 100th day of school the other day...and to celebrate, the teacher wanted them to dress up like they were 100 years old. So here is Rae, circa 2101 A.D.

And I title this little AB pic, "How can you say no to this face?"

I was a youth pastor for 10 years...and because I was a fan of the Star Wars series, I would tend to receive Star Wars toys from time to time from teenagers...for birthday, Christmas, Ground Hog Day. You get the picture.

Well...what does a grown man do with Star Wars toys? Playing with them is out of the question. So I displayed them...usually on a shelf. In our house, they sit on my office shelf...on top for all to see (plus Steph wouldn't allow them anywhere else in the house).

Well...we finally started letting our kids watch a few "non-kid" movies...and one of those was Star Wars. They have gone absolutley BONKERS over Star Wars...as if its the newest thing ever. Anna Beth is especially obsessed. All she can talk about is Star Wars.

To make a long story short...the kids began taking special note of the toys on the shelf. I knew what they wanted. Eventually they asked if they could play with them. Of course...I got them down and let them have them. Now I have an excuse to play with my Star Wars toys--it's called "playing with your kids".

This year's presidential race has been dizzying. It's completely crazy. Not only is there a short schedule, but the very purpose of such a schedule has been thwarted. Unless something radically changes on the Democratic side, Obama and Clinton are going down to the wire...which will make an interesting convention...where two very charged portions of the party will be playing "chicken" with their super-delegates.

In my wildest political dreams, my hope is that both Romney and Huckabee stay in the race at this point. Why? Because it makes it interesting. Nobody seems pleased with this field and voter turnout is depressed on the GOP side. While I doubt Romney or Huckabee could muster the delegates needed to win (actually, Romney could...but it would take a miracle...and Huckabee I believe is mathematically out of it), they could both play spoiler and prevent McCain from getting the needed delegates to clinch.

What would all this mean? Well...since I doubt the conservatives are wanting to "fall in line", they'll continue to support Romney. And in light of Dobson's recent statements, I'm even more convinced that evangelicals will be less likely to move away from Huckabee to McCain. So...this could come down to an unlikely brokered convention. It's a long-shot scenario, but the most interesting one by far...and it would be out of character for Republicans. In the end, a brokered convention might be the only way they could stand against an Obama victory on the Dem side. How is that?

If a FOURTH candidate that is both tolerable to all sides and exciting to all those involved (becoming a party "savior") emerged from the GOP convention...it would create new media buzz/hype...a shortened campaign season where he/she would not have to face the many months of criticism and scrutiny...and more importantly, it would energize a base to a party that is utterly un-energized this year. I doubt any of this will happen...but if it DID...it would make this an incredibly interesting political season.

Well...now that the NFL season is over and we can put the Patriots bid for a perfect season away, we can now look forward to the boys of summer bringing the "talking man's sport" back to the forefront.

I must admit...I'm excited for the Royals season this year. They have a great general manager now...and what seems like a legit manager. While I don't see anything higher than 3rd place, I DO think this will be the corner-turn year.

Which brings me to my latest temptation. I'm really eyeing xm radios right now. An XM radio subscription (while I hate the idea of paying for radio) would get me about every MLB radio broadcast anywhere in the USA. Very tempting...

It had to happen. It happens to every parent. Today was the first day Raegan came home from school with the news--she was written up. She got in trouble...for talking when she wasn't supposed to.

If only this were the last time...but it won't be. Good times...

So...with the writer's strike, nothing too good is on the tube these days. So...I'm doing some work...the wife is watching a little movie from the 70's called "Love Story".

Neither of us have seen it before. I'm not even watching it...just hear bits of dialogue from time to time. And by my best estimation...this is a HORRIBLE movie...just TERRIBLE dialogue. And that music...arghhghghghghg.

The previous management of this site is now replaced with the management it replaced...unless she gets motivated to take it back again.