Piano Lessons

Abigail began taking piano lessons probably a year and a half ago.  Every week she visits Ms. Kathy and along with two other students they work on new songs.  They are currently working on accompaniment and composing.  I snapped this quick photo while they were playing 'name that tune' by playing the first three notes in a song.  Abigail and Caleb have both loved Simply Music, and every song Abigail has learned she usually teaches Caleb when she gets home from practice. 

My heart is steadfast, O God!
I will sing and make melody with all my being! 

Psalm 108:1

Arlington Museum of Art - Artwork of C.S. Lewis

When we found out there would be an art exhibit in our area featuring works inspired by C.S. Lewis’s writings we jumped at the chance to attend.  The Arlington Museum of Art is a fairly new art museum.  The museum is free to visitors, and is located in the historical district of Arlington. 

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This exhibition is produced by Faith Artists.   The exhibit features about 40 pieces of artwork based on Lewis publications such as “Chronicles of Narnia”, “The Great Divorce”, “The Screwtape Letters” “The Four Loves” and more…

The exhibit was quaint, it was refreshing to see Christian themed art, it wasn’t near the caliber of work that we saw at the Biblical Arts Museum.   My favorite C.S. Lewis field trip was still the one man production of The Screwtape Letters.

The name of the star is Wormwood. 

Revelation 8:11

Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day 2012 with the babies!

                              M - O - T - H - E - R
                     "M" is for the million things she gave me,
                     "O" means only that she's growing old,
                      "T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
                      "H" is for her heart of purest gold;
                      "E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
                      "R" means right, and right she'll always be,
                       Put them all together, they spell
                      "MOTHER,"
                       A word that means the world to me.
                               Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

As a Mother's Day gift for the grandparents, we made book marks to send with the cards.  I took a photo in the backyard with the kids and then used Publisher to crop and edit the photo to look like the kids were hanging on to balloons float over the Dallas skyline. 

Before editing

Final Bookmark

Our day today included the usual sermon on mothers.  My favorite passage has always been the scripture in Timothy, because my father's mother was named Eunice and my mother's grandmother was named Lois.  Both women were Proverbs 31 women, it makes me smile to think of the heritage of blessings my family lives under because of the Godly life these ladies lived.

 Recalling your tears, I long to see you,
so that I may be filled with joy.  I have been reminded of your sincere faith,
which first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice and,
I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Timothy 1:4-5

Isabel's Baptism



Isabel and Caleb

Our home school community has served in the place of family since we moved to Texas.  We have made so many like minded friends who are raising a generation to serve the Lord and who have put their children's spiritual welfare above everything else.  Tonight was one of those victories in that battle! 

Our sweet friend Isabel decided to be baptized tonight!  We joined together at a friends house and friends expressed warm wishes and words of encouragement with Isabel and her family.  Then we joined outside while her parents baptized her.  It was so moving to see and hear so many well wisher expressing their desire to be their spiritually and physically for this new sister! 

After this Jesus and his disciples
 went into the Judean countryside, and
he remained there with them and was baptizing.

John 3:22

Dallas Zoo - Koala Marsupials NOT Koala Bears!

Abigail at the entrance of Koala Exhibit

Giraffes roaming

Abigail feeding the giraffe



In March the Dallas Zoo opened up their new Koala Walkabout exhibit.  This makes the Dallas Zoo one of only ten zoos in the country to exhibit the Australian marsupials.  In addition to the two koalas the walkabout exhibit also features Australian natives like the blue-tongued skink (a large lizard) and kangaroos.

a kangaroo rolling around playing

Today was just a mom and Abigail day.   It was one of the first times we’ve made it to every exhibit in the zoo.  When we go to the zoo with Caleb, he enjoys reading every plaque and tidbit of information.  Abigail on the other hand is blissfully happy looking at the animals and moving on to the next exhibit. 

One of the highlights for today was Abigail feeding the giraffes.  We have been members of the Dallas Zoo for five or six years and the improvement they have made to the zoo in that time are fantastic.  There was a time when the Dallas Zoo paled in comparison to the Fort Worth Zoo, but not anymore.  If you haven’t visited the Dallas Zoo recently, make the trip!

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds,
and all the creatures that move along the ground
according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:25

Scarborough Renaissance Festival 2012




Some of the Gang!

Court Jester






Food Court!




Today we joined the Gungan’s, the Terry’s, and the Hansen's and entered the realm of England’s King Henry VIII at the Scarborough Renaissance Festival. We enjoyed great demonstrations of jousting, weaponry, metal works, glass blowing and even a fire whip!

As you enter the kingdom the Royal Court and villagers welcome you into the kingdom. All of the kids dressed for the occasion. We usually attend on their Student Days, when you don’t have to worry about adult beverages and the costumes are a little more modest. This has become a fun tradition for our family here is a look back at our visit in 2008 and 2010.

Fire Whip!

Saw it coming!

the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon
all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen
and the metal workers, 1,000,
all of them strong and fit for war.

2 Kings 24:16

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Ring

Tonight all of our hard work paid off!  Tonight was Plano Educational Association of Christian Homeschoolers (PEACH) 2012 Drama performance.  This year our drama club presented the Mysterious Case of the Missing Ring!  Abigail portrayed the brainy Rose Einstein and Caleb was the Stage Manger responsible for props, sound & set design.  So fun, such a great group of kids!

Stage Manager Caleb

Rose Einstein

Best buddies!

Frankie & Grandmother

My Mom drove down from Oklahoma for the special event.  It was so great to be able to share with her the excitement of the evening.  The kids had an outstanding performance and the props, costumes, everything was just fantastic!  We sent videos of the performance to each of the grandparents so they could share in the kids accomplishments.

Then all the people went away to eat and drink,
to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy

Nehemiah 8:12

Visit to DayStar

Caleb & Abigail on-set at DayStar

Outside of the studio



Joni & the DayStar Singers


 Homeschooling in the Dallas area gives us a lot of opportunities for fun field trips and today was one of those adventures! The DayStar television studios are nearby and many of their show tapings are during the day.  When they have a need for a youth audience they usually email out to the local home school groups.


Broderick Rice & Marcus Lamb

Today Marcus & Joni Lamb were having Christian comedian Broderick Rice on their show and we went to the taping.  The DayStar studios are incredible, to say the least!  It is always entertaining to see behind the scenes.  Today was also Israel's anniversary so we watched the live correspondent interviews and a tapes message from Benjamin Netanyahu, very cool! 

 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness.
And what does pleasure accomplish?”

Esslesiastes 2:2

Church Picnic

Dylan, Blake and Caleb

Sissy with the SnoCones





LTC Kids Chorus performed

One of the hallmarks of any church is the traditional potluck luncheon.  The potluck is where you often find the best recipes and an occasional deviled egg that has gone horribly wrong.  As a congregation grows larger the semantics of the potluck get slightly more difficult.

With the church of Christ on McDermott swelling to almost 1,000 members the potlucks are usually confined to the smaller Life Group venues, but today was an all church picnic!  Tables were set up in a portion of the parking lot.  All the food was filtered thru four double-sided lines in the fellowship hall. 

Abs playing volleyball

There were bounces houses for the kids, an snow-cone truck, volleyball, horseshoes all kinds of fun.  It was really special because we started the day off with a message from our former minister, Tim Pyles.  It was like no time had passed, it was great to see him in the pulpit and to get to visit with his sweet wife.   I'm sure it took a small army to put everything together, but it was a great day!

Mom's Tea

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While Jon and the girls were are the Mother/Son Date Night, I was attending PEACH's Annual Mom's Tea.  This year our theme was, "What Cup Have You Been Given?"~Seeking the Lord through Trials.

Three PEACH moms offered encouragement and inspiration as the talked about their victories thru Christ amidst trials.  I'm pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye among the 20+ moms! This year's tea was held at Plano's Chocolate Angel.  It is a sweet tea and pastry shop.  In addition to the fabulous messages the cucumber sandwiches and scones were yummy!

I was seated at a table with two other PEACH Board members and my sweet friends, Tami Cooke and Becky Keck.  These ladies are amazing moms and so encouraging to be around.  You know those moments when you know you are in the presence of God, this was one of those moments.

After Paul and Silas came out of the prison,they went to Lydia’s house,

where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them.

Acts 16:40