valentines at chuck e cheese

My dear friend, Laura, puts on a fun Valentine's party every year at Chuck E Cheese. We keep growing every year - I think there at least 15 families there from our church and neighborhood, if not more. All of the kids bring Valentine's boxes and line them on a table. Then, the chaotic part takes place. We all walk our kids around to put their valentines in each of the boxes. These valentines from their friends become treasured possessions around our home for at least a week afterward. We all print out the free 5 tokens coupons off their website and share pizzas. It ends up being a pretty cheap way to celebrate and gives us special memories with the friends that God has so graciously put in our lives.

I love this pic for two reasons: 1) It shows Bryn's fun personality as she runs over to see her friends and 2) I just think that my man looks hot in this pic ;-)

Mary and I weren't able to get a good group pic of our kids while we were at Fiesta Texas for New Year's Eve, so this was the make-up shot.

I ran into one of my college roommates while we were partying it up at Chuck E Cheese. We have only gotten to see each other a couple of times since we graduated in 2001 - our lives are definitely busier than they were 10 years ago! Misty is still just as beautiful as I remember her during our Baylor days and her kids got her pretty genes passed down to them :-)

These two are the sweetest friends. They have been friends since they were born - I don't know if they had any choice in the matter since their mom's are such close friends - but they are tight. I had to calm Bryn down today at church because another kid was moving Lincoln's backpack and she was determined to "protect" it.

These two (the older siblings) are also best buds. Kale and Landon met right before Kale's 1st birthday party and have been having playdates ever since.

Our family shots are becoming a rarity - much to my sadness. It is sooooo tiring to try to get us all to be still and look at the camera at the same time. It doesn't matter to me though that they all have funny faces in this pic - their faces just remind me of how much joy and laughter they bring to our lives daily.

This is a really late Happy Valentine's Day from our family.

sabbath rest

We just finished a great Real Life Group tonight with our neighbors. We were discussing the sermon notes from this past weeks sermon at our church, found here. Not that I haven't been challenged and reminded of my need for Jesus with all of the Ten Commandments that we've studied so far, but this one has really gotten to me.

I'm just going to go ahead and be real from the get go - I struggle to rest. Sure, I sleep at night because I would be a lunatic if I didn't. But, as far as the hours during the day go, it is hard for me to ever feel the freedom to sit down and rest. I've always equated it with laziness. And, there is always more work to be done, right?

So, that gives you my mental background as I was confronted with what God has to say about Sabbath rest this past Sunday. He modeled it from the beginning (Gen 2.3). If you look back at creation, it is unbelievable how much God can accomplish so quickly. I don't want to get into whether we are talking about literal days here because honestly, I have no idea. What I do know from reading about creation, though, is that God is the Creator and He can do a lot of work quickly. So, I'm thinking it took much self control to not go ahead and put lots of buildings and city structures up on the seventh day. You know He could have knocked it out much quicker than it took man to figure it out. But instead, He rested. Six days of work, one day of rest. It seems like such a healthy pattern for our life, doesn't it? It is a gift wrapped up in a command.

What was really different about this sermon on the Sabbath is that it was taught in a way that showed how the Sabbath really is about pointing us to Christ. Jesus says in Matthew 11.28-30, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." It is only in Jesus that we find true rest for our souls. Jesus was constantly having to address the Pharisees because of their "religious" view of the Sabbath. They were so good at externally following all the "rules" of the Sabbath. But it is pretty evident that their souls weren't peaceful because they were always upset at how others, including Jesus, weren't following "the rules." Jesus tells them in Luke 6.5 that he is the Lord of the Sabbath. He's like, "Listen fellows, are you really trying to tell the Maker of the Sabbath how he should act on the Sabbath?"

So, this is my conclusion after a week of quiet times studying the Sabbath spurred on by some really great teaching at church on the subject:

1) I won't find Sabbath rest from putting strict rules on what I can/can't do on a specific day of the week.
2) The Sabbath is really about Jesus - apart from which I wouldn't ever know true rest for my soul. I could choose to do nothing on Saturday except sit on the couch and talk to my family, but if I am not at peace with my standing before God because of what Jesus did (not what I've done), then I'll still have strife and unrest in my spirit as I seek to perform better to win God and man's favor.
3) My quiet times with the Lord every morning are vital to my spiritual health. I've known this for awhile, but I've really understood more this week how they are like my daily Sabbath time. For those of you who are morning people, you know how easy and exhilarating it is to wake up and start checking "to-do's" off your to-do list. The early morning time is so peaceful with no distractions in our home because all the kids are still sleeping. Therefore, I could knock tons of to-do's off the list in a short amount of time. But, when I choose instead to use that precious time to spend time with the Lord, it is an active way I can show the Lord that I ultimately believe He is in control and that I trust Him with all of my life, including my to-do list. I am reminded of Psalm 143.8 where the psalmist says, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." That is my prayer every morning as I sit down in my comfy chair with my Bible, journal and coffee. And I can honestly say that I get more important stuff accomplished on the days that I choose to start my time off with the Lord instead of the computer, dishwasher or washer.

I'll end with this passage in Hebrews 4. 9-10: "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his."

It is a true gift wrapped up in a command. Don't we all want to have true rest for our souls? to not have to justify our worth by what we accomplish or how many rules we correctly followed? God is so good to us to give us a way to enter His rest. Through his Son, Jesus Christ, we can find true rest for our souls, which I believe what Keith said on Sunday, must precede rest for our physical bodies.

PS - I know this so isn't typical for me. I want it to be though. I would love to use the blog to share more of what God is teaching me thru His Word and not just about family life. It is just easier to post a picture and talk about the event behind the picture when you're tired at night than putting into words what God is teaching you. So, I'm not sure how regular I'll be at sharing my quiet time thoughts and you might just like the family stuff better, but I guess what I'm trying to say that I hope to change it up a little along the way. And, I would really love hearing what God is teaching all of you who are still reading this extremely long post ;-) We can spur each other on as we seek to live out a life that honors the Lord in the midst of our daily activities.

Blessings,
barie sue

new look for our buffet

I have no idea why I didn't take a before photo. I took one of the buffet after it was sanded (boring) and primed (even more boring), but not what it looked like before I started messing with it. I'm going to go back and try to find an old photo of my dining room with this piece in there. The transformation is pretty drastic. All of the hardware was falling off and there were scratches and sticker residue (that would be Brynlee's doing) everywhere. I loved the function of it though and it is a very sturdy piece, so I decided to make my first attempt at refinishing a piece of furniture. Though it took me a little longer than I would have liked (I tend to get distracted and am ready to move on to another project pretty quickly), I persevered and ended up with this pretty piece that now holds all of my crafty stuff. It really is incredible what a new coat of paint and new hardware can do for an older piece of furniture.

bryn and emry: our little mini-me's

I imagine this is what Jada and I would have looked like at 2 yrs old if we had been friends then...

Brynlee and I took Emry out on a date a couple of weeks ago to celebrate that Emry was potty-trained. After a grand plan to go have ice cream with another little friend that failed due to one of the main roads in Round Rock being closed, we ended up at the Wal-Mart McDonald's - that's right. Are we high class or what? They did get to end it with a little shopping in the toy section though, so I think it all still worked to their advantage.

always be ready

One of the things I have loved about homeschooling is the informal conversations that take place all day long. Today tops the cake though for my favorite of those conversations because during the middle of it, Kale asked if I would pray with him to trust in Jesus as his Savior. It was obviously a much longer conversation that led up to that point, but what was really cool is that it was Kade and Kamden who walked him through what it meant to be a Christian. All I got to do was step in at the end and pray with him. I found them in their room with the music blaring shortly after, and they said they were celebrating that all three of the boys were Christians now.
This is the third time we have had to wrestle thru our thoughts on the genuine conversion of our children at an early age (thankfully!) On one hand, we want to affirm that a 4 1/2 year old can understand the gospel and believe in Jesus. The Bible explicitly tells us to let the little children come to Jesus. At the same time, we won't be crushed as parents if our kids decide as young adults that they didn't really understand what they were doing at 4 or 5 and want to personally affirm their faith at that time. From our years in youth ministry, we understand that every adolescent has to go thru a time of searching and personalizing what they believed as a child. Some teens easily reaffirm what they learned as kids while others go thru a long searching process. Either way, we're still called to teach our children the gospel at an early age and pray everyday for their love for God to grip their heart.

We scrapped all school stuff after so that we could spend the rest of the day celebrating. First line of business, going to get dad and heading to Chick-fil-a...

And onto a random side-note...I am a big fan of the new "dip and squeeze" ketchup at Chick-fil-a. I'm guessing that a mom who has spent much of her life opening ketchup packets at fast food restaurants invented these babies...look..I just had to post a picture of my favorite find of the day!

latest dessert find

I saw this recipe on two different blogs before giving in and trying it out myself. Double Stuffed Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookie. I think I'm only going to make these once a year because (a) they're ridiculously good, (b) my husband has diabetes and I don't want to tempt him too much and (c) though I'm working on self-control when it comes to really good sweet treats, I'm definitely still a work in progress and these would make me give in to my cravings every time. But, you should try them because they're amazing ;-)

Here is the blog I got the recipe from: Becky Bakes

our weekend project

We got the itch to give Kade his own room last week. He has been upset a couple of times recently because he keeps getting lumped in with his younger brothers for not picking toys up or cleaning their room. He does end up being the one that ends up doing a lot of the work many times when we ask them to clean up their messes, so we thought this seemed like a good time to let him have a little space of his own.

I put out a call for a twin bed/mattress once we made the decision and almost immediately had this bed and mattress donated (HUGE BLESSINGS from my friends, Alison and Heather!). Alison even sent a gallon of blue paint which worked perfectly with the lime green paint that was already on two of the walls in the room we had been using for our playroom. So - pretty much after painting two walls, putting the bed together and moving the other furniture, Kade had a new room and Kale got to officially move from the toddler mattress on the floor to the bottom bunk that Kade used to occupy. Kale looks a little too excited that Kade is out of their room now ;-).


I had to include this pic below because it was taken the morning after the first night in his own room - I love that they all end up in the same bed to start their morning off. It's a sweet bond that these four siblings have - I pray that bond remains strong all through their lives.
My project that I'm hoping to finish this next weekend: refinishing our buffet. So far, I've sanded and primed it. All that's left is the turquoise paint!

the ten commandments

I don't brag about my husband near as I ought to when it comes to how he communicates God's Word. He is hand's down my favorite pastor and teacher - and I am 99.9999% sure I would say that even if he wasn't my husband. He is so passionate about people having a solid theology - not only that but his passion is contagious and makes those around him want to know God better.
He kicked off a new series at church this past Sunday called Words From the Fire. He introduced the Ten Commandments and talked about the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me." I've never been more excited about studying the Ten Commandments as I was when I left church. If you're in need of a fresh love for God's Word and His commands - click on the link above. You can also print out a study guide to go with it if you like to take notes like me.

we're going on a heart hunt

OK, so as of 11 p.m. last night, I did not have one thing planned for Valentine's Day for the kids - I know, horrible mom. I've been too busy going on dates with my man ;-) We just wrapped up a four night stint of getting to go on dates every night. I have no idea how that happened, and I'm almost certain it probably won't ever happen again - or at least for the next 18 years. But, it has been so fun and refreshing to get to spend so much quality time with Keith and be reminded that he is the absolute love of my life. We just have so much fun together and even after four nights of getting to hang out, I'm already ready for our next date - just can't get enough of Ferguson!
I have also been reminded how wonderful my mom is to be available four nights in a row for us! She didn't move here until I was pregnant with #4, so I know I was able to manage without having her here, but I'm so thankful that she is here now to spoil us. We were pretty creative back then in finding ways to get our weekly date in - trading off date nights and utilizing the monthly "Family Night" at the YMCA - but I do have to admit that having mom here makes things easier and I love that the kids get to have such special memories with her.
Back to the title of my post though :-)
I came up with this idea this morning and it was so easy to quickly implement. I know that Valentine's is over, but the idea could be used for birthday's, Easter or "just because."
Now for the idea:
Write a poem.
Put each word on a separate heart.

Hide the hearts.

Let the kids find them.

Make the kids figure out the order of the words to make the poem - SO THAT - they can find a little something special for them.

I had random things waiting for them: tennis balls, fruit snacks, one can of play-doh and a couple of books (one of the books was "Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl." Kamden thinks the Fly Guy books are the funniest - don't know about that, but I love that he enjoys reading them.)

This involved team work, reading and puzzle-solving skills, so I totally counted it as school-time too ;-) They really liked that part!

mail from mama e.

Keith's mom, or Mama E., as the kids know her, is so good about sending mail addressed to each child on a regular basis. I'm hoping that by the time I have grandkids, I have developed the skill of mailing cards to people on regular basis - so far, it has proved to be a skill I'm definitely lacking in my life.

We stopped by the mailbox on the way home from our Valentine's Chuck E. Cheese party and found Valentine's cards for each of the kids and for Keith and I. I think we get just as excited as they do to find one of her cards in the mail!

Thanks, E., for being so thoughtful! You made our day :-)

school time

We decided to homeschool Kade, Kamden, and Kale this semester. We are finishing up Week 6 tomorrow and I can still say that I am loving it. I had my doubts because it definitely keeps me inside more than what is normal for me. But...that is actually a beautiful thing. Because I am very social and because the nature of Keith's profession keeps us going all the time, it has been wonderful to have an "excuse" to totally focus on the kids. Plus, I have always had a hidden desire to teach, so the lesson prep stuff actually energizes me instead of being draining. Our home seems more peaceful because we're not loading and unloading in and out of the car all the time - which for those of you with large families, you know that is a BEAST and can make the most pleasant day go bad very quickly. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure we'll be back in the public schools at some point. We've been blessed to have had an awesome experience with our elementary school. We just simply wanted more time with the kids and wanted to be able to engage them in their educational process more than we were finding the opportunity to while they were at public school. Today was such a good day where they all stayed on task that I had to capture a couple of pictures.


Keith has been taking the boys through this book the past couple of weeks. Don't be fooled by the fact that Kale is asleep and Kamden is very close to being asleep - they really do love the book and the special time with their daddy.

daddy's girl

Here are pics from Bryn's first Daddy/Daughter Dance. She sang "I'm going on a date with dada, I'm going on a date with dada...," the whole way to the salon to get her hair done. She is pretty smitten with her daddy and I'm noticing that her daddy is pretty smitten with her too.

Jada and I, along with Mary and Tomi, spent the evening looking at Shock photo albums while our hubbies were away with our daughters. All I can say is this pic of Nick and Keith below is much better than a couple of the photos we unearthed from ten years ago - before these girls had joined our families :-) It was so fun to be reminded of the precious friendship our two families have enjoyed for almost 12 years now.

Now, Keith might be smitten with his daughter, but I still have his heart ;-)

what she does while we're sick...

I talk a lot about how Brynlee likes to keep busy and how many times that leads to messes in our home. Well, she got to enjoy two days this past week of unfiltered fun because neither Keith nor I felt like going to find her everytime she disappeared - but I did manage to grab a picture or two of her "busywork."

First, she took every cup from the kid shelf in the kitchen and moved them to our bathtub.

Next, she got the cornbread muffins that I was saving for a friend to pick up later that day and stuck a sour gummy worm right in the center of each one....I struggled to get upset with her for this though because it was so creative. And, I have modeled this for her. The kids love for me to hide a gummy worm somewhere on their plates - they think it's the best thing ever. So, I guess she was just wanting to provide the same fun for the Magee kids :-)

It's been so long since I've blogged...I feel like I need to introduce myself again. I can't promise that I'm going to ever be regular, but it does feel good to blog again!

Special Night

Kamden trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior tonight after our Real Life Group was over. He has been telling us for over a week now that he wanted to become a Christian and we kept saying that we would continue to dialog about it. Well, tonight after baths, he basically came into the room and told Keith and I that he had prayed to God and told Him he was sorry for all the bad things he and his brothers had done today. That led us into how God forgives us when we ask because of the cross. He said "I know Jesus died on the cross for bad people." We asked who the bad people are and he said me and Kale and you and daddy and everybody. The more that we discussed it and listened to Kamden explain what he believed, the more we understood that he was really ready to pray. He prayed first and then Keith got to lead him in a prayer that conveyed everything that Kam had already told us. It was so cool to hear him communicate the gospel thru the gospel fuzzies that our teachers sing to our kids faithfully every week at church. He was already trying to evangelize to Kale, but Kale's response was, "Kamden, did you know when you eat a lot of food that you get a headache?" Seriously, though, I hope that Kamden does have the chance to lead his younger brother and/or sister to the Lord - that would be so awesome! Well, I know I hardly ever blog anymore, but I thought this was definitely worth journaling about :)

Trip Full of Adventures

We've had an incredible time in Estes Park, CO with our three boys. This was definitely a trip of firsts for them - airplane ride, ice skating, tubing and sledding, driving a snowmobile, hiking up a mountain trail, being 20 feet from an elk, climbing up a frozen waterfall, hiking around a frozen lake while it was snowing and roller skating. It has been a little boys' dream vacation - full of adventure and firsts. I will say that I have been hit hard on this trip with the reality that my boys enjoy being with their daddy over their mommy. I know that is a good thing and I want them to be attracted to masculinity, but I am having to process how my role as the nurturer in the family needs to change now that they are all out of the toddler stage. Though part of me has wanted to mourn the loss of the "mama's boy" stage they have all gone thru, the other part of me rejoices that my boys have such a strong desire to be associated with all things manly. I asked Keith to take a picture of me with the boys one day and Kade laughed at Keith calling him a "lady because only ladies take pictures." You can tell that he is sorting out in his brain constantly which activities are associated with men/women.
Speaking of taking pictures, he has it right that it is the lady in our family that loves taking pictures - here is the link that will take you to our Picassa album of the trip. And I know, this is record speed for me. I just told Keith that usually the process to get my pictures from my camera to our blog takes at least a month - maybe I've gotten better in my old age :)

Colorado Trip

Ringing In The New Year

We had such a blast ringing in the new year. We started off with dinner at Hudson's On The Bend. Thanks to Aaron and Laura Murray, our sweet friends who treated us to dinner, we now know that an expensive wine really does taste better than a cheap wine and we will always remember what foie gras is - goose liver, not a sweet cream sauce! Not only was the food simply amazing, but the company was even better. Keith and I have been so blessed by the friendships that God has put in our lives. It was a sweet time of fellowship with the Murray's and Shock's.

Then, we all headed over to one of our mutual friends' 30th birthday party. It was at a little shop/cafe on the Georgetown square. There was karaoke and dancing - what more do you need to ring in the new year? I never knew how much Laura enjoyed karaoke - I so know what we're going to do on her next birthday :) The whole night was special and just reminded Keith and I what a sweet year 2009 was and how much we have to look forward to in 2010. Thank you, Lord, for blessing us beyond anything we could have imagined. And, thank you mom for allowing us to go out on New Year's Eve - that was a special treat!

From New Years Eve Fun

Family Pics Time Again :)

This is one of the most anticipated events of the year for me. Picture time with Rachel. Once a year. I am always excited and anxious at the same time. For those of you who have tried to get four kids under the age of six to smile on cue and all at the same time over and over again know what I mean...I'm excited to get good shots of my family but anxious/frustrated/resolved (in that order) knowing deep down that the "perfect" family shot is just not going to happen at this stage of life. But you know what I always realize afterwards? That for us, it wouldn't be perfect unless it included at least one child looking away and maybe one crying. Because that's our life, and in my book, it is perfect and I want to capture it just the way we are in real life - imperfect but blessed beyond measure.

I know...some of you have forgotten what the Ferguson family looks like since I have been on a blogging sabbatical. Here are some pics to jog your memory :) I think you just click on the link for the photo album.

Family Pics 09 Rachel

Refreshed

I didn't get to post much last month, but only because I could barely keep up with life, much less recording life. We had so much fun during the month of June - we celebrated my birthday all month, went on vacation, went on a study break (without the kids), finished the triathlon, enjoyed our typical summer playdates at the pool and the free movies, traveled to Dallas for a friend's baby shower and had Brynlee's 1st birthday party. Not to mention all the normal routine stuff that keeps us busy anyways like church, real life group, date nights, changing diapers, reading stories and studying God's Word. I so love that our life is full, but at the same time I struggle because deep down I know that I will never catch up on recording all these memories.

One of my friends got me wanting to try my hand again at digital scrapbooking - so here was my first project...a reflection on the three days in June when we were totally refreshed - of course, we were by ourselves at a bed and breakfast in the hill country. And the refreshment only lasted thru day two of being back in the chaos of our life. But...it was awesome :)


I got this quick page from jessicasprague.com. She has a free tutorial on how to get into digital scrapbooking with Photoshop Elements - you should check it out if you're into scrapbooking.

Lifelong Friends

There's just something sweet about celebrating the upcoming birth of one of your closest friends from high school's baby girl. She's going to be the greatest mommy. It was so much fun to get to spend time with a couple of girl friends that I know are friends for life. Due to us all living in different cities, our time together is pretty sparse these days, but I know that I can always count on these ladies to be there when I need them. Here's to lifelong friends that accept you on your good days and bad :)