Fall 2015

They say time flies when your having fun, and I just noticed it's been 8 months since the last post. I like to think it's because we've had so much fun!

Rachel's got a new business venture with Usborne books that allows her to stay home and only work a few nights a week. So far we all love it. The kids love that they have even more books to play with! She gets to spend extra time with Jacob at home during the days when both girls are in school. One of my favorite new times is lunch on Tuesday or Thursday when Rachel, Jacob and I get to eat lunch together just the three of us.

Megan is rocking 1st grade this year. We just got her 2nd six weeks report card and she made us proud! It's hard to believe that she can read and do addition/subtraction so well. She also learned to play sweeper on her soccer team this fall. I enjoyed seeing a determined look on her face as she chased down opposing players. One team had a player who regularly scored about 10 goals a game, and Megan was able to keep her to just a few goals. The special dates with Megan have an added dimension of good conversation now too! She's also been doing a great job of learning her memory verses at church.

Jenna has really blossomed into a girl instead of a toddler this fall. She's pre-reading, and even reading some words. Jenna is the most loving, and emotional of the three kids. She has really learned how to be a big sister, in fact we have to keep her from mothering Jacob sometimes. Jenna enjoys having and making friends. She loves playing with Megan, and being Megan's best friend - even if Megan won't admit it. Jenna embraced the social, or team aspect of soccer this year. She didn't score as many goals as last time, but she still played well. She just used the opportunity to cheer on teammates this fall. Jenna has really excelled at learning Bible stories, memorizing verses, and acting out Bible stories.

I've been hustling to get all my work done this fall. I've been at the church office 2.5 to 3 days a week, and then working at SWBTS and home the rest of the time. The goal is to finish this dissertation and free up 10-15hrs a week. I've had a great time teaching 2 classes, with a total of 50-60 students. I've enjoyed connecting with them, and mentoring some of them. But, it has required a great deal more time than I thought it would. One class per semester might be more my pace as long as I'm coaching soccer. The best part of working at Greenwood has been seeing small groups gain some momentum this fall. The media team has maintained pretty well, too. I really enjoyed coaching the two girls' soccer teams, and making connections with those families. The WPL has also been busy with an attempt to get started on the process of a new building.

Wonderful Winter part 1

It's only mid-winter, so I suppose this season will be broken into two parts. Just as it was getting cold, Megan got to have her picture taken with Elsa at Chick-Fil-A. Jenna wanted no part of it...

Jacob started playing chase, and learning to scoot around the house. He's into everything now, which is good and bad.



Christmas went wonderfully in Amarillo.

Created with flickr slideshow.

I turned in my dissertation a few weeks ago, and as you would guess a huge burden was lifted. Sleep comes much easier now. I also started a new job as Pastor of Small Groups and Media at Greenwood Baptist Church in Weatherford. I am really enjoying it so far. I think it will be wonderful, and I'm excited about the fact that I may still be able to teach as an adjunct professor at SWBTS.

Rachel is plugging along with a strenuous school year schedule. She is doing an amazing job of being a mother who also holds down a job. I cannot thank her enough for that!! When at home she enjoys her time with the kids, and especially enjoys the snuggles from the little guy.

 

Jacob is getting more teeth. I think 4 are coming in right now. He chews on everything - even me. He chases the dog, chases Jenna, gets into anything he can open, and does the normal little boy stuff!! He is starting to try and say "bye-bye" when he waves bye-bye to people or places as we leave. He still has that infectious baby giggle that we love too. Of course he's growing - we had to buy him a new car seat because the doctor said he was too tall for the infant seats. The girls didn't get this big until they were over a year old.

Megan has teeth coming out of her as fast as Jacob has them coming in. She is getting really good at reading, and we have found a series of books at the library that we read together. They are called "we both read" and she likes to read them with me while Jenna listens (sometimes participating). She is asking a lot of questions about church and God. She also loves to be right about everything - kind of like me. She is also getting ready for soccer season to start soon.

Jenna goes to school twice a week and always tells me about things that she learns. She also tells me about her friends every day. Jenna loves friendships and people in general. If I had to pick one word to describe Jenna, it would be "fun." This girl is going to have fun wherever she is, and no matter what is going on around her. I love to get her special affection from her sensitive heart. I also enjoy seeing her display her strong will (in certain situations), like while digging.

I'll end this post with a picture from our New Years' Eve party. Two of my three senior year roommates were in town and came over to the house. We took a picture of our kids all together on the couch before everyone went home at 8pm...

 

We ask for your prayers in a few areas:

1. Justin to pass his dissertation defense and graduate in May

2. Justin to have the opportunity to teach more classes at SWBTS.

3. Rachel's continued success in teaching.

4. The kids to continue to grow and develop, and make friends.



Fabulously Fast Fall

As I write, it is almost Christmas Eve. Where did the Fall go? Megan quickly pointed out that her birthday was in the fall. That birthday celebration was quite an event. It was her first time to invite a group of people from school over to the house. It also marked a fun time for church friends to meet school friends. 

The girls also finished the Fall soccer season, and I finished my first season coaching two teams. I enjoyed it tremendously, and had a great group of parents and kids. Hopefully we were able to encourage some of those we met through soccer. One thing all of us enjoyed about Soccer was getting to know people from all different walks of life. 

Megan continued to flourish at school, as did Jacob and Jenna. School has become another place that our family can encourage other people. Most notably, Rachel works in a local elementary school. So, we try to be a part of all the school events that we can so that our children and family are known by the other teachers and the administrators - hopefully known for the right reasons. We also attend those events to build relationships with other families, as well as to get to know the families of our kids' friends. 

Finally, a new place for our family to influence others arose this fall. Justin accepted a new church staff position as Pastor of Discipleship and Small Groups. This will give our family a great platform for encouraging others to grow in their faith. The position will allow our family to stay in the same location, and allow Justin to teach as an adjunct professor in the future. Justin also presented a paper at a national academic meeting this Fall. He will be submitting that paper as a chapter of his dissertation. The whole dissertation will be submitted in January. 

We are blessed to have all of these opportunities to encourage others in the gospel, as well as other smaller ones. We ask that you will pray for us in the coming year, in all of these places that God allows us to serve him.

Summertime! 2014 style

I write this post as the summer draws to a close. My Megan will start Kindergarten in the morning... It is hard for me to believe that she is already there!

Thankfully we were able to pack in a good bit of fun this summer. The fun began with VBS at church, which is the source of many of our summer songs such as Agency D3... Then Megan went to Museum School for a week, while Jacob, Jenna and Rachel played at the Museum. Next Rachel presented at a professional meeting in Grapevine so we took a little weekend vacation over there. Nana and Papa accompanied us on the trip and we went to LegoLand for the first time!!



Also at LegoLand:





One of the highlights was watching 4d movies there too:






After LegoLand we went to the Aquarium the next day!!





After all of that, I taught a quick OT 2 course at SWBTS during July while Rachel did some of her continuing education for her teaching certification. Oh, and I preached at church one week too. Schedules were busy, in part because the girls took Gymnastics all summer, and learned a ton!!




Summer was fast and fun!! The kids had several friends come over, and went to play at their houses too. The little man moved from 3 to 4 months and started giggling, smiling, standing, sitting, putting everything in his mouth, and even pulling on sister's hair.




Edit: Megan will want me to mention that Roxy got another bird, and chased lots of squirrels and a possum.

Spring Part Deux

The first part of this Spring was covered in the post "a factor of 3". So here we will talk about events after that post. Let us begin with the smallest member - Jacob (for now the smallest - give it a few months). Jacob is smiling now and responds to all of us. He's doing all the things we expect a 2 month old to do...



Roxy is a tad bigger than Jacob still, so her update is next. She reached a new milestone this week with her first confirmed kill. I'll refrain from giving details lest PETA come knocking.

Jenna finished her 2yr old class at Pre-School. She's signed up for Soccer in the fall, and started Gymnastics this week!



Megan finished Pre-K at Happy Day this year! She too began Gymnastics and will play a second year of Soccer in the fall.



Rachel worked her 3 days between maternity leave and summer break. So at least someone went to work!! :) She has also been enjoying the extra time with the kids!



Then there's me - the biggest. Not a lot has changed for me. I've got the dissertation thing going in overdrive... and that about covers it... Plus I get time with family - but I take the pictures so there are none of me! So, the last picture is a good one from the spring-time visit of our friends the Gibsons. Here are 2 of the 5 kids:

a factor of 3

We added a 3rd kid to the mix on April 10th. He was a week and a half late... He's a big boy and appears to take after his dad, though admittedly the sample size is small. Here he is on day 3:




We have had a blast adjusting to life with him!!

Jenna had a birthday and turned 3 this month too! She is getting big enough to have real conversations, and ask good questions.




Megan's soccer team has been doing great too. They have a really good coach this year who is passionate about the game. Megan said he's her favorite coach... me. She registered for kindergarten, became the biggest sister, is learning to read. She is growing up too fast!



In between all of that fun was Easter. It was a little different this year because R and Jacob had to stay home from church. The girls and I went to the worship service and the egg hunt. Then we brought some lunch home for the family, and took some family pics. Here is my favorite:

Mid-February 2013 update

At this point, I forgot to post about Christmas and family trips for Thanksgiving. But, I won't do that now because it would take too much space for one post. As of today, Rachel is teaching with about 6 weeks left until Jacob arrives. At that point she'll take time off work. As for me, I'm teaching a class at SWBTS, and grading for another. I'm also working on my dissertation and doing a few other part-time jobs. Between the two of us we are worn out.

Megan and Jenna are great. Their sing-along sessions, smiles, and hugs really brighten my day! Megan still loves her Lego friends. Jenna bounces between Doc McStuffins and other things. Jenna has really grown up as of late, and will be 3 soon - I can't believe it. Jenna is a little more strong-willed than Megan - but certainly not a problem. Megan is more focused of the two (right now, but she's older!). Both of them are amazing kids. We share our "glad things" around the dinner table at night and the girls "glad things" are usually doing something with Rachel and I. We are blessed.

God has been very good to us this first month and a half of the year.

Megan singing along to the theme song from Disney's Frozen:

Megan and Jenna ready to go to the Fort Worth Stock Show with Nana: