Our Garden Grows

It has been over 3 weeks now since we've planted the garden and we have completed 3 wonderful weeks of Homeschooling.  It has been fun to watch & observe the growth in both gardens!  My what an Awesome God we have who causes life to spring from such little seeds.  With tender care, fertile soil, sun & rain, roots are sent down deep and growth begins.  How very blessed I am to experience the joy of tending the gardens!!

"The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."
Isaiah 58:11

Singing in the Rain!

It has been HORRIBLY HOT here in Texas.  The girls have not been able to play outside for weeks (with the exception of a few nighttime romps in the backyard with stars out and PJs on).  So, while Tropical Storm Hermine was not so kind to all, you can see just how very much the girls enjoyed getting the rain & relief from the intense sun:

Apple Tree House

After many countless hours of carefully following instructions, searching for just the right piece (and needing very little help from mom & dad) Miss Elizabeth Ann has completed her Apple Tree House Lego Project!!
Here are some pictures:

August Update

My apologies in advance as this is going to be another rather beefy post.  Someday I may actually get to post short updates or even wax philosophy about the comings & goings in our life.....until then....I'll stick with pictures to give a sense of all that is new. 

We continue to enjoy our new surroundings and are thankful to be off the border!!  Our rental home has been wonderful.  And, true to God's goodness, we actually live on the same street as one of Paul's fellow dermatology residents!  Truly a wonder considering the size of San Antonio! It has been nice to have a fellow resident & his family just down the street and we have even been able to do some car pooling! 

Here is a picture of our new digs:

One thing the girls and I have been especially excited about is that we can now have a garden!!  Thanks to the Texas A&M extension office, we've learned that we can actually plant a full garden (beans, peas, carrots, broccoli, cucumbers, lettuce, herbs...ok, you get the idea) starting the end of August and can harvest all the way up to end of January!  SO....last weekend we built the start of our raised garden beds:

We've also celebrated a couple birthdays since our last post!  Here are some pictures of Emily turning 5:

And Paul turned 36 er...celebrated a birthday too:

Another big event in our household: Libby lost her front tooth!

...then, 2 days later, she lost the other....

Here are a couple of partners in crime and a large part of the reason my posts are so few & far between:

Abbie has been making some adjustments with becoming a new big sister and moving into a new home!  Despite all the changes, she still has her infectious little giggle and loves to be mommy's "helper".  Last week, I found her covered in white powder from head to toe.  She decided to add powder laundry detergent to my load in the dryer....quite a few scoops I might add.....to the clean, dry clothes.....unfortunately, I didn't exactly have the presence of mind to "capture" the moment via camera so...this picture will have to do:

Britta is a sweet, easy, smiley baby! She frequently steals the show while we are out and about as she loves to flash big grins...

Lastly, we have been getting things ready to start our homeschooling year!  Here is our new classroom:

We are excited to kick things off on August 23rd and have connected with a great Homeschooling group in San Antonio where we will be able to participate in some wonderful field trips, park days, and a bible study for little girls as well as meet & make some new friends.

So...that is life in a nutshell....thanks for checking in!! :-)

Love, Katie, Paul, and girls

New Baby, New Home, New City.......NEW BLOG!!

With all the changes going on in our life right now, we decided a fresh blog appearance might be in order.  (That and we somehow "lost" our other blog background......another story for another time)

Also, now that "the Captain" is safely home, we are going back to first names!  I can't tell you how happy this makes me (and I'm sure my little brother is cheering loudly because he often had to call me saying "um, Katie, you used Paul's name 5 times in the last post" or "the pictures are labeled with names").  So, Ducks gone...first names IN.

Goodness, life has been such a whirlwind, I don't even know where to begin!!  Many of you have been asking for some Britta pictures so, why don't we start there!

 

We have unpacked ALL our boxes and are slowly, slowly getting settled in our new home.  Sadly, our washing machine did not handle the move well and died during its first load.  Two weeks & a new part later, she is back and running again!  I have gained a whole new appreciation for having a functioning washing machine in the house!! 

As you may know, we rented our home in San Antonio just based upon 12 Internet photos.  Of course, it shouldn't surprise us that God once again proved Himself faithful as the new digs are really great and Paul has a nice & short commute to work.  The girls love their new rooms AND love the fact that our new house has an upstairs!! The backyard has a great playscape but it has been so hot & sticky here, they haven't been able to enjoy it as much as they'd like. Come fall, I foresee lots of time out in the backyard!

Now that we've had some time to "breathe" we are wondering "what the heck happened?!?"  We figured out that in 6 weeks time we welcomed Paul home from Iraq, welcomed Miss Britta Elise to the world, packed up our El Paso home and moved across Texas!  While Paul and I are scrambling to "find normal" the kids are doing remarkably well!! 

We did have some rather disappointing news....the sale of our El Paso home fell through!  It has been a strange situation, but from what we can gather, the buyer's loan defaulted (despite having a preapproval letter from the bank).  So, the house is back on the market and we are praying the right buyer comes along.  We are also praying for wisdom on when & if to put a renter in.  Your prayers are much appreciated!!

As some of you know, my neck (occipital neuralgia) flared up again after the birth of Britta.  This made the move across TX that much more interesting.  But God is bigger than the pain in my neck and I'm happy to report that I've been pain free for a couple of weeks now!!  Thanks so much for your prayers!

Paul has finally completed all the in-processing (no SMALL feat) and has had a chance to meet the other residents & dermatology staff in his program.  He found everyone to be very nice, feels it is a good fit, and is excited to embark upon this new endeavor! 

It is still our hope/goal to do a blog post on deployment reflections complete with some pictures from Paul's experience.  Stay tuned :-)

With much love.....Paul, Katie, Libby, Emily, Abbie, and Britta! :-)

Announcing Britta Elise!!

Hi All -

We are slowly in the process of reworking our blog now that the Captain is back home safe & sound! It is still our goal to recap some of his time in Iraq with pictures etc... but life has been a little hectic around here! First - we'll start with our biggest news:

Britta Elise arrived safe & sound on Friday May 21, 2010 at 3:08 pm. She was 6 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches long. What a sweet little bundle of joy she is! Here are some pictures:

A few last pregnancy pictures taken late Friday morning when contractions started:


Britta Elise makes here appearance!


Libby meets Britta:

Emily meets Britta:

Abbie meets Britta:
Nana meets Britta:
Mom and her girls:

The whole family:


In addition to Britta's arrival, we are also celebrating the selling of our El Paso home and getting ready (packing!!) to move into our San Antonio home! If all goes as planned, we will be in San Antonio by June 15th!

How very blessed we feel and how very good God is!! His Grace is sufficient, His timing is perfect, and His love is everlasting!

Stay Tuned for more updates as we are able!

Baby Duck Turns 2

Here are some photos from Baby Duck's 2nd Birthday! Enjoy :-)
Click here to view photos