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Last week we had our VBS style emphasis at our church, Lifepoint.  I helped coordinate all of our preschool workers and student volunteers. This year we opened up Pre-K to the community and had a great turnout! I got to love on some babies and toddlers, which was good. I am content in being able to love on them in doses and hand them back to mommy or daddy! We had around 800 kids on our two campuses and raised around $3800 for Haiti relief.

I love that our church focuses on children and students. I love that our kids worship with music that speaks to them, their age and their generation. The message is not watered down, which many often confuse with a hipper style of music or the use of lights and motions.  Our kids are learning to worship in spirit and truth and that following Jesus is about giving Him your life, not just a moment, a prayer or an acknowledgment.  They are learning what it means to follow Christ.  Last week they learned about Heroes in Scripture and their example. I am doubly excited to see our middle and highschoolers serving.  This week is possible because they sacrifice time at the pool, with friends, or hanging out in front of the tv for time spent investing in the lives of preschoolers and students. They are growing because they are serving Him.  Such a blessing to watch them grow in their journey with Jesus by being His hands and feet.

Emery was  on the praise team again this year and she did a great job!  It is so cute to watch her and we know that she is learning that leading others in worship is a privilege and that her role is to simply point others to Him.  No focus on self or on being the center of attention….at least that is our prayer.  Bradley was able to be in worship this year.  He came home singing some of the songs and talking about what he was learning, as well.  He told us all about, “the woaves and the fish.”  The girls were also able to invest in our neighbors this week. We don’t have many kids in our neighborhood, which is very evident in the summer.  Our neighbors had their nieces visiting and they came for two days.  The girls were so excited to be able to invite them. We are praying that they get to continue to see these sweet girls in the weeks to come!

Right before school got out last week, LuLu called to see if we wanted to skip the last half day and meet her at Myrtle Beach.

We didn’t have to think twice.

We took off after school on Wednesday and headed east. We drove to Columbia and got there about 1:30 am.

We were a little tired, but sooo ready to see the beach!

We had a great long weekend and stayed through Memorial Day.  We went to the same place we went to three years ago and had a great time visiting with “The cousins” which are LuLu’s amazing cousins. They are such precious people who love all over my kiddos and are just a pure joy to be around. You can see pictures from our last trip with them here.

We also got to spend some amazing time with our dear friends, the Swaffords. April called me on last Monday and said, “Guess where I am? The beach!” I said, “Which one?” and she replies, “Myrtle” to which I say, “SHUT UP, we are going to be there Thursday!!!!” I have no doubt God was all over this one in allowing our families much needed time together! We were phone tagging each other to figure out when we could do a weekend together this summer and low and behold….He already had it worked out!  April wrote about our time together, as well!

My precious girls. I am so proud of all they accomplished this past year. They are now a 3rd and 2nd grader!

Also, as my public service announcement, Landsend tugless bathing suits are AMAZING for girls! Modest, cute and no tugging!

Suits have been very hard to fit my girls and these worked great!

Bradley did a lot of this….

and this…

and he refuses to be left out of this….

I did a lot of this…..

Emery did a lot of this…..

and this….

and of course, this…

but, she really loves to do this….

Parker spent a lot of time doing this….

she also enjoys this….

and just being able to do this….

and this….

And, together they really love to…..

kid around…..

We were able to take some cleaned up beach pictures….

and I even got one with my man…..with whom I share a love of the beach…

Because my calendar is full!

This past week we had three performances to enjoy courtesy of our children. This is what is so fun about being a parent!

I love watching my kids on stage, working through their nervousness and accomplishing their goal! I also get a big kick out of all the other

parents doing the same for their kids. Video cameras, cameras and big grins are always a part of the picture of parenthood!

We all think our kids are amazing, talented and so bright….and for the most part, we are right!

This week was History Fair at the girls’ school. Each day a grade performs a small scene that pertains to

what they have been studying that year.  Emery has studied the states, the capitals, the presidents and can tell you each!

I am amazed at their capacity to memorize.

For Emery’s class, they read a book and traveled back to talk to a few presidents in history!

She got to talk to Teddy Roosevelt.

She did great!

Here she is with a few of her gal pals afterward!

So cute in her red and white!

Parker’s grade has learned about Egypt this year.  How fun is that!

They have studied Exodus and about Pharoah, the Pyramids, King Tut and

about how God delivered the Israelites.  She played an Israelite, but check out how decked out the Egyptians were!

It was soo interesting and they all did an amazing job!

This is a part of classical education. They start them early with speaking in front of people to instill a confidence in public speaking, as well learning how

to communicate.

This is Parker’s grade all decked out in their Egyptian garb…as well as a few Israelites!

Check out the Burning Bush in front!

Here is our little Israelite talking about how God gave Moses the 10 Commandments.

I was so proud of her. This was a struggle for her last year, and she did a great job.

I don’t think it occurred to her to be nervous! We worked on her part a lot, and I think it made the difference.

Now, we couldn’t leave Bradley out of the week of starring on stage!

He participates in a Tumbling class at his MDO. She comes once a week

and I am sooo glad we put him in this year. That boy has some serious energy and

this has been a great outlet for him. He is such a ham and loves being in front of  people.

Here he is lined up with his class after stretching.

The first thing they did was run to warm up.  He zoomed to the front and even lapped some kids.

He is all about making everything a competition…..not sure where he gets that from (his dad, he totally gets it from his dad).

PURE JOY!

Here he is tacking the balance beam….not bad!

This is his crab walk. He was so stinkin cute…

Then, came the catepillar crawl…or his intro into breakdancing.

I think he will be breakin it down one day!

Here is his horsey kicks!

Lastly, he got his very own MEDAL….such excitement.

Not sure how I feel about him having men in tights on it, but hey, gotta start somewhere!

I am so proud of my kiddos!

This past weekend, Mom, Kim and I headed out to Atlanta for a little girls Get-A-Way.

It has been a while since it has been the original Bradley chicks, so it was high time to plan a trip.

We decided to go to the Beth Moore Simulcast which was being hosted at First Baptist Church Woodstock, GA and it was

just what we needed to plan around.

On Friday, the girls had Grandparents Day at school.  LuLu had come in for a few days and the girls LOVE being able to share their school

with their GP’s.  They show off some cool things they have learned and enjoy time with them.  I love that our school does this, even if there is a push for the GP’s to

donate money!!

We left after eating lunch and headed south.  We rolled into our swanky Embassy Suites and were pleasantly surprised with our cool suite.

We dropped our stuff and headed to the Ballard outlet and  you know it….IKEA.

We pause for a moment of silence to honor my most favorite place to buy stuff for our home….

Now, we spent a few mindless hours walking around and a few hundred dollars later, exited.

I bought these for our hallway project….more to come on that at a later date.

I also got this and this for outside.  They are a lot larger than they appear. Excited about all the things I can do with these.

We then went to eat at Pappasito’s. I adore this place.  Their tortillas are hands down, the best I have ever had.  It was fun to take Mom and Kim.

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We were up bright and early and headed out.

It was POURING…so we stopped to get an umbrella.

Thank the good Lord for Navigation….that’s all I am saying.

We were early birds.  Seriously early birds.  That is the way we roll for some members of my family.  While I am not ALWAYS late, some members of my family like to point out that I am not ALWAYS on time, either. Some members of my family, on the other hand, are especially fond of punctuality.

Trust me, I am reminded A LOT that I don’t always arrive on time.

Anywho, we were at the Beth Moore Simulcast for her new book

So Long Insecurity.  I have not read the book, but I am a big fan of kissing insecurity goodbye.

I am a girl.

I have insecurities.

Shocking, I know.

Let’s just say, I sooo needed to hear this.  She talked about 6 Signs of A Secure Woman.  She based most of it out of Ephesians 4 and looking at the demon that is insecurity.  Insecurity is, in its most basic form, making it all about OURSELVES.  Insecurity keeps us chronically self-aware…and honestly….how gross is that?

We are caught in the Am I’s….

Am I smart enough, cool enough, skinny enough, Am I witty enough, Am I saying the right thing.

Yet, a life controlled by the Spirit curves out to serve others, love others, forgive others…to Magnify His Glory.  We are so esteemed by our Creator that we don’t focus on ourselves, but rather on Him.

There was so much meat that I can’t wait to read her book, look at myself through His Word and be transformed.

Because it matters to me, my faith and my ministry.

But it also matters for my girls.

To raise them SECURE in His love, His Grace, His AMAZING journey for them.

It matters to every woman, to every mom.

This is a battle we ALL face and I am so sick and tired of being told what I am supposed to be as a woman, a mom, a daughter, a wife by our twisted culture.

The only measuring stick I am to hold to is that of Christ.

I could be the skinniest, most beautiful, talented, confident, witty, woman on planet Earth, but I would still be a quaking mess of fears without recognizing who I am as a Daughter of the King.

I am WORTH it to HIM.

I am PRECIOUS to HIM.

I am BEAUTIFUL to HIM.

I am IMPORTANT to HIM.

I am DESTINED for An ABUNDANT LIFE through HIM.

Needless to say, I could go on and on.  As someone who has worked with teenagers most of my adult life, these are things I have known and said for years, yet it is sooo good to be reminded that I can be enslaved to my own self and be hindered in by obedience to the life God ordained for me.

I don’t want to miss His plan.

After the simulcast, which over 300,000 women heard about finding their security in Christ alone, amazing, we headed to the hotel and then to a local mall and the Container Store.

To me the Container Store is the Pottery Barn of organization and IKEA is the Target…..I am more a Target girl myself.

We ate a Maggiano’s and picked up Cheesecake Factory for dessert.

I soo gained weight this weekend, but I am secure in the knowledge that my pounds do not determine my worth!

We relaxed at the hotel and the next morning headed back to IKEA to pick up a few last things and to Atlantic Station.

All in all, it was a refreshing, relaxing weekend.

And when I got home, I came home to a clean house, happy kids, folded laundry and homework done.

Can I get an amen??

My man is a-may-zing.

A perfect ending…..

As we get ready for an Easter weekend, I thought I would share some ideas we did from our Easter family night last year….the day of the Tornadoes!

You can read about Resurrection Buns and Writing on your Easter Eggs here.

I also plan on doing Empty Tomb Cookies this year.  Here is the Recipe and Scripture references for those….

Begin this recipe on Saturday, the day before Easter.

1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
zipper baggie wooden spoon or a wooden meat hammer
duct tape or packing tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300*F.

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon or hammer to break them into small pieces.

Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.

This came home from school the other day and I thought it was just precious!

Dear President Obama,

my name is Parker. Are you a Christ Follower? How are your dauters? How old are they? When are there birthday? My birthday is Dec. 7.  God bless you

from

Parker

Age 8

What a crazy week we had last week. We helped out some friends and kept their kiddos a few days, kept my niece over the weekend and the kids were out of school! Not to mention that Emery got strep throat. Needless to say, we had a packed week and weekend. On Friday, we took the kids and Lauren, my niece to lunch and bowl. This was one of the best things we have done in a while as a family. The kids did great! Bradley actually was beating Jason and I through the 7th frame. I kid you not! I think that says a lot about Jason and my skills as well as Bradley’s!

Friday night Jason and I went to Romance and Roses, which is an annual night out for married couples. I LOVE that our church is actively involved in strengthening marriages.  I can’t say enough about what a blessing it is to be on a staff that values our marriage and seeks to protect the relationship that Jason and I have with each other.

So, come Sunday night, it was all about celebrating as a family!  I will be honest, I am not a big fan of  V-day.  But, it does make for an easy family night!

Parker helped me get ready by cutting out a lot of hearts…she also set the table for us!

This is an easy night to decorate for…just throw out some red and call it done! I used red hots, red candles, heart plates

and white serving pieces.  I also picked up some fancy glasses at the Dollar Store. Such a big spender, I am!

For dinner, we had heart shaped pizzas from Papa Murphy’s and breadsticks.

Here are the fancy glasses with cherry 7-up added. Yes, we had several spills….

For dessert, we had Red Velvet Cake Balls

…they have the face only a mother could love,

but were yummy….I am laying off the cake balls for a while….they do too much damage to the ol waistline.

maybe they were a little messy….

We also had chocolate covered strawberries…white chocolate and dark chocolate.

Emery had been battling strep throat, but her meds kicked in and she was able to

join us at dinner.  She is such a trooper..

Next, we all wrote out things we loved about each other.

I helped Bradley a little…

He liked that Emery plays with him, Parker helps get him breakfast,

dad plays wii with him and how his mommy loves him.

This was really cool to hear what the girls wrote.  It is also fascinating to see how they listed

things about their daddy that they loved and just said I am the best mom or that I love them……not sure what all

the psychology of it means, but it is interesting none the less.

The look on their faces when reading their notes and hearing what others said about them is priceless…. (even with a low grade fever)

Jason had also written out scripture on love on some of the hearts. So, we read them, talked about them and how we can live it out….simple devo.

Next, we played a little game of pick up stix, conversation heart style.

We used some sticks and tried to see how many we could pick up in 30 seconds.

This

was harder

than you

might think (check out the tongue for concentration)

Then we tried to use our hearts to make sentences….yeah, not so much!

Afterwards we dumped out the hearts and let the kids build away.  Emery make a city with hers…

and Parker just kept stacking hers…

I hung our hearts in the window to help remind us about loving each other

and about loving Jesus….

Another one in the books…..

The Stews have been quite busy lately.

Last weekend, we went to Knoxville to visit the grandparents and for me to have a visit with a family who are adopting.

About a year ago, I started working part time for an agency that completes a homestudy for families who are wanting to adopt. This is one of those things that God has
completely took be surprise. I was set on one path, but as usual, He has another plan! Needless to say, I am loving working with families who are
adopting. If you have any questions about adoption, please feel free to ask me. I would love to answer your questions!

So, while we were in, we had a blast. The reason I chose this weekend, was so my sweet man could go watch some VOL basketball. He LOVES UT basketball.
They were playing on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, so we took the kids out of school and headed to Kville.
Jason was able to go to both games and I actually went with him on Saturday. It was so fun! It had been awhile since I had been to a game, so I was pumped.
They introduced the new football coach while we were there, Coach Derrek Dooley. His kids are just darling!
We won both games which made it even better!

Friday night we went to see the Harlem Globetrotters.

The kids had fun. They were funny, but it is sooo cheesy.  My favorite part, without a doubt was the mascot Big G.

It was really cute!

We also went to see Grandad at work. He is a bailiff for one of the judges and wanted us to come by! Bradley had a blast. He got to experiment with the xray machine and made many friends in the process!

Last night, I was able to take the girls to see 101 Dalmatians, The Musical.  Mom, Kim and I got season tickets to the Broadway series at TPAC.    They decided not to go for various reasons, so I took the girls. I will be honest, I was not looking forward to it.  It was raining, it started at their bedtime, I had to drive downtown and I was tired.  But, we persevered and they really enjoyed it.  Beauty and the Beast is coming in June and we are planning on taking all the girls!

Here are the 2 pictures we took before we left.  As you can see, I am taking my time in decorating the hallway!  I also have very few pictures of me with my offspring.  Ohh, the trials of motherhood…

fun times with my girls…

So there is a snapshot of what we have been up to…

I am planning a family night this week.  Anyone want to join me??

2009 was quite the whirlwind for our family.  Jason and I experienced some amazing highs and some challenging lows.  As a result, we are both sensing the Lord leading us to be more intentional in just about every area of life….faith, family, friends, finances and our home (it doesn’t start with an f but I was stumped!).

Here is how we spent our past year….

JANUARY:

We spent New Year’s Day with friends, bowling…quite fun!

Our church officially changed its name to Lifepoint Church. This has been an amazing year at our church.  We launched a second campus,

moved to three services, and are sending out teams to Thailand and Belgium in the next year.  We are so blessed to see God moving in a real, tangible way!

FEBRUARY:

We launched our Stewart Family Nights…all centered around a theme and a devotional.  I love these nights, but they are a lot of work! So worth it though.

I am looking forward to picking up the pace again this year.

We started with Colors night..

and had Backwards Night. We started with dessert and ate under the table.  Kids loved it!

Lauren, my niece, had her birthday party at a rock climbing place and Parker and Emery gave it a whirl.  Emery loved it!

AFRICA…..how you changed my life!  Jason and I spent 10 days away from our family on a mission trip to Africa.  It was amazing,

heartbreaking, life changing and all the things you think it would be.  You can read about our journey here.

MARCH:

The house was painted while we were in Africa and was starting to feel more homey.

The girls also started a new soccer season, which was great!

We celebrated Bradley’s 3rd Birthday at our home!! We had a golf party and it was a blast!

We also went to Knoxville and spent some time on the girls’ Spring Break with LuLu. We went to WonderWorks and had a great time!

We also went to The Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga with our dear friends, The Hales.

APRIL:

In April, we took a girls trip to Atlanta for the weekend to celebrate Emery’s 6th Birthday.

Our big outing was to the American Girl Store and Bistro.

We ate at the bistro and added a cake to celebrate!

We shopped our hearts out in the AG store….

We also celebrated Easter with some fun activities to highlight the Resurrection…

MAY:

We honored Emery’s actual birthday with a date with Daddy.

She loves going out one on one and this was no exception..

We also ended the school year with Emery’s Kindergarten Graduation. Where does the time go?

The kids also planted a garden with Poppy.  That garden was very plentiful…

The kids were also in a production at church and Bradley made his debut.

He wore his sunglasses the whole time and came very close to stripping off all his clothes…those preacher’s kids…

Parker had her first speaking part in the History Fair at school. She did great!

Jason and I also started P90x and managed to complete most of it…until the addition started.  It worked for us!

JUNE:

Emery had her dance recital and performed in two dances..loved it!

She also was on the praise team for VBS at church…

But, by far the biggest thing we did this month was start an 1100 square feet addition to our home.

Two trees had to come down and my kids loved watching the initial progress…

Ready to pitch in.

JULY:

This month, we had a lot of fun, enjoying summer.

The kids, Mom and I went to Mississippi to see my family. This was a great trip and I totally

had a moment where I realized my kids are getting older and somewhat easier to travel with!

We also potty trained t his summer and it was BRUTAL. PLAIN BRUTAL.

The kids on my aunt’s farm.  They had a blast on this trip.

We also had Kid’s Camp.  We invited our good friend, Callie Grace, to come stay with us and attend.

She did and it was AWESOME!

Lastly, the girls started 1st grade and 2nd grade!!

AUGUST:

We had a safari family night at Rainforest Cafe. This was a fun night out. We were needing a break from

construction and this did the trick!

Bradley also started back to Mother’s Day Out two days a week! He loves it!

We bricked the addition and got many a questioning looks when it looked like this…

SEPTEMBER:

Then, we painted the brick…Lafonda Sagebrush was the color and 31 gallons later…

the house looked like this…

Jason took a much needed Annual Golf Trip and while he was away, my dad

and I landscaped the majority of the house…

That was an exhausting 3 days!!

But, worth it…

OCTOBER:

The kids had two weeks of Fall Break and on the second week, we went to DISNEY WORLD!!!

6 days at Disney World.  We had a great time, but wow, not the best idea on our parts during the middle of construction.

But, the kids did amazing and we will cherish that trip always.

We went with the Hales and we love traveling with them. Our 6 kids did SO WELL and I love “doing life” with them!

We came home and hit it hard on the addition and were finally able to move in!!!

It looks so different now! I will post new pictures soon!

Having our own bathroom, closet and a master bedroom again, can not be put into words! It is so sweet and I feel so

blessed and thankful…

NOVEMBER:

We spent a lot of time finishing up a lot of details of the addition.  We still had a lot of painting!

But, for Thanksgiving, we went to Orange Beach, AL for several days to be with my parents and sister.

We had a great time, fabulous weather and of course, lots of shopping!

DECEMBER:

We finished up a lot of work this month and are very close to having all the details done!

We celebrated Parker’s 8th Birthday!

Here she is on her day with a new bible, a fish and some flowers! She had a sleepover with her BFF’s and a joint party with a friend at

a bounce place.  She is growing into such a sweet girl..

Bradley was a Wise Man in the MDO Christmas play.

He did so good.

Lastly, we celebrated with all of our family for Christmas.

(My camera memory card was placed in emery’s new cam, which was left at Jason’s aunts…pics to come)

This has been an incredible year…high highs and tough lows.

Looking back, I am so thankful for this life I lead, the God I serve, the man I married, the children I get to raise, the church we call home,

the family that love us so faithfully, the friends who support us and the school that teaches our kids that Jesus is enough.

My prayer is that I am found more faithful, more loving, more patient, more giving and more in awe of Jesus in 2010….

Blessings.

I have so many pictures to post, but Jason has most of them downloaded on his computer.  Isn’t that how is always happens!

So, I am going to post a few of the ones I do have.

We had a total blast.  We arrived on Saturday and headed straight to Magic Kingdom.  We spent the rest of the day there!  When we got to the hotel, we found that Bradley was broke out in some major hives.  He got his first dose of Benedryl.

Sunday we went to Hollywood Studio.  This was a good day. We were still figuring everything out and walked around aimlessly a lot.  I took Bradley to the First Aid station and almost to the walk in clinic but it was a 2 hour wait not including the shuttle waits and rides.  He was dazed most of this day, due to multiple doses of Benedryl.  I still have no IDEA what caused him to break out, but the rest of the week, he was broke out in itchy welps.  Poor guy.  He did have fun, though.  We loved the Toy Story Mania ride, Rock N Roll Rollercoaster (the adults, the kids we scarred for life on this one!), Star Wars ride, Playhouse Disney Show, Monsters Inc, Laugh In and the Army Men from Toy Story.  They were walking around and were really funny! We ate at the Prime Time Cafe and it was really fun and the food was good!  FANTASMIC! was amazing.  Bradley cried quite a bit, but he persevered, triumphed, suffered through it and enjoyed the end.

Monday we went to Epcot.  This was a great, long day.  We went to the Land exhibit first and got fast passes to Soarin’, which we LOVED.  LOVED.  We also toured the greenhouse. We also went to the Sea exhibit and  rode the Nemo ride and look at the Aquarium.  We ate at Coral Reef that night and it was all right. The food was good, but the atmosphere was not that big of a deal.  Some of our favorites were Test Track, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth and the character meet and greet.  When we finally made it to the Nations, we only had about an hour before our dinner reservation, and the girls were going to do the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure.  The dads totally ran with this while Ashley and I had Ryan and Bradley.  We barely made our reservation and didn’t see anything but Norway in the Nations.  When we finally finished dinner, the IllumiNations fireworks had started so we watched them and hustled to the bus stop.  This day was fun, but there is so much to do.  It seemed like we waited a lot to do our fast passes, but it was still a great day!

Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom. More to come later….

Wednesday we were back at Magic Kingdom. More to come later……

Here is at least one picture from our trip!