Sarah's Baby Dedication

Along with our church family, we pledged to bring up Sarah "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4

SARAH
Meaning: Princess
Spiritual Connotation: Beloved
Scripture: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God." 1 John 4:7

KATE
Meaning: Innocent
Spiritual Connotation: Godly Example
Scripture: "So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe." Philippians 2:15

Keeping it real for you...

Finally, the money shot!

Jadie, Caleb, Lauren, Sarah, and Brother Preacher-Man Pastor Cary

Quote of the Day. Yesterday.

Caleb: "My teacher with the curly hair said my raisins came from South America. I told her, no, they came from Santa."

Learning To Love

How do you teach your children to love one another?

An obvious answer is to demonstrate love through your own words and actions.

My more specific question is this: How do you successfully correct unloving behavior?

The reason I ask is that we are having some challenges with Caleb hurting Sarah.

Tonight's episode seemed pretty severe to us. He threw a small toy at her head, repeatedly. When she finally started screaming at the top of her lungs, he went to hide. He did admit to hitting her repeatedly with a toy.

We punished him by quarantining him to his room for the night, with the exception of eating dinner, which he would do alone at the kitchen table. While in his room, he was not allowed to play with any toys, only read his books. I made sure to reiterate the reason for his punishment at least 5 times throughout the evening. I reminded him that we are not to use our hands for hurting others, but for loving them.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or some encouragement?

Time Off Can Be A Hassle

Jadie was off work from the 7th to the 15th because of his knee issues from earlier this month. We had the doctor fill out FMLA paperwork and he was approved. End of story. Right?

Not so much. Apparently, the FMLA is only for the first 7 calendar days. He was off work for 7 work days (9 calendar days). So, in order to receive benefits for the last 2 days he missed work, we had to get paperwork filled out for the disability group. Ok, that's annoying, but doable.

Not quite the end of the story. To further complicate the story and light a fire under us to make sure all of the details are taken care of, Jadie got a call today from the payroll department. Through this phone call, Jadie was informed that he is still shown to be off of work (even though today is his 6th day back to work). So, until the disability paperwork is completed and approved, he is not getting paid for actually being at work and working.

I'm praying that the details are worked out and that we get paid...we are a one income household, after all!

Sarah Splashing in the Bath

Because you liked the first bath video so much...and because I love to hear her talk!

Matt Baker...GUILTY

This week is HUGE for many people here in the Central Texas area. The murder trial of Matt Baker came to a close this week. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 65 years for murdering his wife, Kari Baker.

As if we're surprised.

If you're interested in reading the details, here are some links for you to peruse.

Matt Baker's 911 Call

Matt Baker's Arrest Affidavit

48 Hours Online Story

Matt Baker's Sentencing (Be prepared, I cannot watch the statements of friends and family following the sentencing without crying)