Sleep over!

My friend Apryl from the gym and neighborhood pool has become such a great friend over time! I'm so glad God brought us together. Out three kids are all the same gender order and same age. Our husbands are both super chill laid back guys who loves the Dallas Cowboys and we are both into design, fashion, and working out. It's crazy! The big kids begged all summer to do a sleepover. We finally let them! The boys at our house and the girls over there. They did great!  We traded back kids at church the next morning. 

Hudson fun Friday's

Our baby boy started a preschool class on Fridays at Carmen's school. He was a little hesitant at first, but now he loves it! Hudson has always wanted to be big like his siblings. Now he can carry a backpack and lunch box just like them!  He's growing up too fast!!

Regina

My mentor Regina Williams went to be with Jesus this morning after battling metastatic breast cancer for a year.  She called me the night I got diagnosed with breast cancer and prayed over Matt and me.  I had never met her,  but heard of her through Ashley Jansen.  Regina had breast cancer two other times, but this time it spread.  I got the news that it had spread after I had gone through my chemotherapy and surgeries.  It was devastating for me.  I cried for days.  I still hadn't met Regina yet, but knew what this diagnosis meant.  Later, we met at the Grove at Passion City church when she spoke of her life and gave her testimony.  This woman truly shined for Jesus and devoted her life to mentoring young women.  She created Titus 2 mentoring groups of a few young women and helped them walk through life for a year.  After her metastatic diagnosis, she realized that she couldn't handle a large group of women, but still wanted to mentor.  She felt like God kept putting me on her heart and wanted to mentor just me alone.  It was amazing to just learn from her.  The few times we met, I learned so much.  I read books that equipped me to have a daily quiet time with God and learned scripture.
Andy Stanley's sermon this morning was about giving of yourself to others.  You can't be fully happy and satisfied if you only concentrate on yourself.  I want to model Regina and be bold and try to give of myself to others more.  I want to be a light for Jesus and use my story to benefit his kingdom.  I am so grateful that our paths crossed.  God is so good ALWAYS!

Hudson

Hudson has been pretty difficult lately on sleeping. It has been tough to get him to stay in his room. He slept in Roman's bottom bunk for a couple of weeks. Roman loved having him in there, but we noticed he was waking up at 6:30am every morning when roman was getting up. So we put him back in his own bed now, but still he is waking up early! Also I have to lay with him until he falls asleep every night. Naps are hit and miss. It has been so crazy. I have gotten more peaceful about the situation, though. I used to be so uptight about the kids sleep, but after having cancer, I realize even more how precious this time is and how short these early years truly are. If my baby boy wants me to cuddle with him, then I will. I secretly love it!

Electrician

Matt and I were told it would cost $600 and be nearly impossible to install my lights sconces in the bookshelf. So what does Matt do? What he always does... Pick up YouTube and figures out how to wire the lights. Didn't know I married an electrician!

We have lights! And now we have been having plenty of game nights too!

Pre-K

Carmen's first day of Pre-K was August 26th. She was very excited! We changed schools for her to go with some of the neighbors. We are carpooling and it is fabulous! I'm so proud of our big girl!

Library

So kind of as an anniversary/birthday gift this year, Matt told me to finish the front room in the house. Most people would use this room as an office or formal living room. We don't need either, so I decided to make it a library/homework room. This has been so fun and exciting to decorate! We are almost complete. Just missing the light sconces on the bookshelf. 

I drew a sketch for the cabinet man and had him build the shelves per my drawing. It was a cool feeling to see my drawing come to life!

We also had the partners desk custom made by a local woodworker. I gave him the style, dimensions, and color of stain. I couldn't find a partners desk anywhere that was exactly what we wanted. I needed it to be big enough to sit four at a time for homework. I found the hardware for the desk at anthropologie to bring in gold and white.  The chairs and light fixtures are from Restoration Hardware. I'm pretty much obsessed with that place. Most of the decorations are from Homegoods or Hobby Lobby. The Ghost chairs and cowhide were purchased online. Overall, we are pretty happy with the space. Now it's time for the homework to begin!