Ok, so I missed my Wednesday posting time, I have no pictures, and not really sure what to share. I am still not used to just putting stuff out there. So I will start by sharing one thing that has been good this week. As of late, we have been taking advantage of the new year to evaluate everything in the Lucas household, one big thing being our dear little ones. As every other parent, we want to see our children growing in glorifying God by their behavior, but sometimes unsure how to get there. For one, the Lord is who changes hearts and thereby changes behavior, so then where does that leave us parents who want to encourage change, but not take the place of God. Hmmmm.... well, thank you Lord for grace, without which I would be a lost cause. A bit of this grace came from a conversation from another mom, one whom I see as full of peace and patience (as is evident by her children as well). She shared about a book in which she read that you should "always exhort your children in complete patience with training". Now, not a direct quote, but wow...if you think about how you relate to your children, can you honestly say that you ALWAYS, 100% of the time exhort them with COMPLETE patience? Sad to say, but I would not be that mom. So after much prayer over this, I decided that for 1 week, I would strive, by the grace of God, to be purposeful in exhorting my children with complete patience, in every circumstance. So we are about 3 days into it, and I must say there is much more peace in my house, and the real kicker is what I am seeing about myself. That I believe that I am really the catalyst to my children struggling a lot of the time because I do not exhort them with complete patience and with a mind to train them. I always knew that I really played a big part in how they responded, but this has been an eye opener. Very humbling indeed. I am thankful that the Lord allowed me to cross paths with this other mom. I believe the Lord is using this to truly change our hearts for each other and in turn change our behavior to glorify Him all the more.

It's a Boy!

IT'S A BOY!!!!! For those of you who thought I was done, you would still be right, but I am loving being an auntie. I had the priviledge of flying to Houston last week to help my younger sister Becky with her new baby. I had so much fun. I got to do all the fun stuff except being up all night. ( hee,hee...sorry Beck) Little Jackson Kyle decided to come about 4 weeks early weighing in at a wopping 5lb 13 oz. He was in NICU for 5 days, but came home 2 days before I got there. He was also jaundiced, poor little guy, but we got him over that so that by the end of the week he was eating better and more alert.














Here are the proud new parents, Becky and Kyle with little Jackson. How fun...there is nothing like that first baby and all the sweetness that comes with it. They are both doing well, though Kyle is waiting til the cord falls off before he commits to changing any diapers. Soon enough though, we all know, he will be an old pro.







Poor baby, he was so sad when I told him I had to go home and take care of my own boys, he made me promise that I would come visit again. I just can't stand it, he is just so cute! So there you have it. I will post pictures as I get them and keep you all updated.













Now, since I didn't have a blog when I first became an auntie, let me do a little more bragging. This is a picture of my other baby, my niece Sydney. She was born in April of '07, and is just as cute as she can be. She loves stuffed animals and is on the go all the time. She will be walking any day now. Good luck Katie.
So now you have seen all my babies, there should be no more wondering if we are done or not. I am done giving birth, but not to having more babies to spoil, that is just too much fun.

A Belated Christmas

Ok, so I have already proven to be, oh, let's say....not a good blogger, but I am determined to get it going. So here it is, better late than never.

We have lots of traditions for Christmas and Christmas Eve. We always read The Night Before Christmas, get new pjs for the boys, and search for a pickle hidden on the tree to see who gets to serve out the candy orange.
We also leave some refreshment for the big man himself. Yes, we do Santa. After much deliberation and discussion, we felt like it was just plain fun and really only lasts a short time, so why not. One knows the truth and directly asked if he could play along anyway, and the other, though he heard the truth, may have been too young to remember. So I think he really does believe, hmmm. Not sure I did a good job on that one. Oh well, it was fun hearing him try to figure out how Santa does it all. For example, reindeer don't fly, so how does that work?.....they must have jet packs or something. (from Sammy) Pretty funny.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! (belated)
The aftermath in the morning is just unexplainable, but what a blessing that the Lord allows us to celebrate His son's birth with such abundance.

I hope all of your holidays were just as fun and enjoyable as ours.

Now if you want to know more of what has been happening, wait about 10 minutes for the newest update.