Sneak Peek - Baby N

BEFORE (BIG) AND AFTER (TOP - LITTLE)

Found

A home! Woo-hoo!!!

Moving Tuesday. Thankfully 95% of our belongings are still in boxes! Pictures to come.

Cutie Patooties

wow

maybe this picture will persuade my 10 year old to get a haircut!

Homework Trick

Does anyone else have a problem with getting their child to do homework?? Lane absolutely hates homework (I have to say I was exactly the same way. paybacks...ugh!)
Well, I would ask him if he had homework and he would say no. Many days would go by and I would wonder why in the world our 6th grader never has homework. I am always hearing other moms complaining about their child having tons of homework. Well, we are really trying to get our children to learn about their choices and their consequences - kinda the whole love and logic theory (to some degree. not fond of most of it though). A trick I learned to find out if he really has homework: don't ask him if he has homework. ask him what subjects he has homework in.
It's amazing how changing your words up can make such a difference. It tricked him. I found out. Now, I need a trick to actually get him to do it!

Skate or die

I should totally make him wear pads. Can you see the bruises on his legs? He looks like he has been beaten with a baseball bat. I don't think he has allowed pads since he was like 2.

house hunting

it has begun....

will let you know when we find the one.

wknd deep thought

"Are you sowing the seeds for the life you want five years from now??"
Me - yes. well, for the most part yes. I say this mainly because I went back to school to do what I have always wanted to do - be a school counselor. I don't see this happening in five years. Maybe more like 10. Every time I drive to school I say to myself "I'M DOING THIS!" Finally. For some reason I usually take the long, difficult road in life. I should have finished school 15 years ago. Not me. no - i go the hard road.
Another seed we are sowing for our 5 year goal is our finances. We are doing things a little wiser now a days. Trying to set aside more and more for all those *%$^ moments in life.
Eating better. Hopefully in 5 years I won't physically feel 5 years older, but 5 years younger. I am trying to eat all God-given foods. Fruits, veggies, meats. Not so much fun when I could live on Dots, pizza and popcorn.
So- deep thought for the wknd: What seeds are you sowing in your life?

Dr. Seuss

Happy Bday Dr. Seuss! Olivia celebrated at school by eating green eggs and ham. She's brave.

I love Horton hears a Who. That's my fave. Love to read it to the kids and think it has a great message in it - every voice counts. Good stuff.

Sneak Peek - Tana and Josh

I am photographing Tana and Josh's wedding in October. For their engagement shoot we went to their home neighborhood - Buda. It was so sweet to hear the stories they shared growing up together. I think their entire families and extended families took up the entire neighborhood. Such a different experience than I had growing up! Definitely small town country living. So sweet. So wholesome. Refreshing.

Sneak Peek - Baby Jackson

I know I say it every time - but this is the cutest baby ever!

Sneak Peek - Kali and Josh

This is Kali and Josh. I am going to photograph their wedding next month. Kali is a second grade teacher at my kid's school. This couple is so sweet and so in love! Can't wait to witness their wedding - sounds like it will be a lot of fun!

shout out

you have to check out huebyjennyhouston. she is so talented and she is family! her jewelry is affordable, great quality and super cute. and - the packaging is cute and fun! great idea for mother's day!

Friday night on the drag

On Friday we only had Cam. His request was to skate downtown. Thankfully it was before the cold front hit! Very rarely do we only have one child with us. Our desire is to spend one-on-one time with our kids as much as we can. Unfortunately that rarely happens. We try to make up for it by spending time with them talking about the day, or whatever when we tuck them in at night. Better than nothing I guess.

As we were walking back to our car we passed about 200 bikers. They weren't the Lance Armstrong type of bikers if you know what I mean (see top pic).

We're back!!

Just want to start out by saying sorry to any of you that were faithful readers of this blog and thought we dropped off the planet. I am so thankful for those of you who checked in on us. We are still here and I am vowing to be a better blogger from now on.

The reason why there is such a long break from blogging was because there was just too much on my plate! My photography business got very busy over the holidays (see below) and then I decided to go back to college and finish my undergrad. So, I am taking 6 hours on campus at TSU in San Marcos. So far, I love it! I did realize that I am going to need to study to get through it. Attending class just won't cut it. Bummer. Lane told me he would share his tutor with me. phew. I don't even want to talk about how many hours I have left. My transfer hours consisted of too many aerobics classes!

We are almost a year out from our "eye-opening-church-experience" and continue to grow and heal. There have been a wave of emotions. Sometimes I think I am over it and then other times I realize i'm not...at all! Luke is much more mature about it, or at least he hides it better.

We miss all our wonderful friends in Bartlesville. We really made some cool friends there! The congregation at FBCB treated us so good and we miss them.

All in all we have learned a lot. A lot about what our idea of ministry is, what our vision is for ministry (and not to settle for someone elses), and what kind of church we want to serve at.

Thankfully God placed un in a church (ANC) that "fed" us and helped us to heal. It is truly a Christ-centered-kingdom-minded church filled with real people just like us focusing on serving those in need. Ahhhh. relief. What is even cooler is that they had an opening come up for a children's pastor and asked Luke to take it. We couldn't think of a better place to be at this time. The pastors at this church have to raise their income because it is a church plant (new church). Please be in prayer that we will raise enough money to support our family.

Luke has one more class at Seminary to get his Master's in Christian Education. He has never taken a semester off - through very stressful and busy times - he has never taken a break. 10 years of school! Can you tell I am proud? I admire his dedication and perseverance.

The kids are getting big as you can see from the pics below. Lane is 12 and at the middle school  (the same one I went to). Cam is 10, Olivia 6 and Ryder 3. They are at the elementary school that I am working full time at as the art aid (which I love). The older boys are playing flag football right now and will try soccer again next. Ryder thinks he is ready to play too.

Haven't traveled lately and don't have any plans in the near future. I am looking forward to Summer already (now I know how teachers feel).

Well, that's a pretty good update on what has been going on with us. Keep checking back. I will be updating on personal life, photo sneak peeks and ministry outreaches (for all those who care and are praying for and/or supporting our ministry).

Lots of love to you!!

Thanksgiving

random

Nov. Homeless cookout

FREEZING Flag football

Hansen Family