Women of Faith Conference

This past weekend, I joined other ladies from our church at went to the Women of Faith conference. It was so fun to load up in a car and be free with no responsibilities! Thank you Jonathan for sacrificing your weekend so I could go. I did not know much about who were going to be there as far as speakers and singers, but I did know that my childhood favorite artist was one. Sandi Patty. Okay...I know some of you are laughing hysterically right now, but seriously...I LOVE HER! It was so nostalgic and I literally was 5 feet away from her at one point. I felt like I could have walked up to her, hugged her, and start talking to her like we were long lost friends. I learned to sing and harmonize listening to her. My mom has an old song book of hers and we used to pull it out, and as she played on the piano, I would sing sing sing to her greatest hits. Sandi has a humugo range, so I did not sound so good on some of her songs, but I sure tried. Two friends that came along, Stacie and Heather, are huge fans of her, so I was glad to have someone to share it with.

The other artists were Nicole C. Mullen, and Mandisa. A-MAZING! I think I am addicted to Mandisa now, and need to attend every concert in Houston when she comes. How incredible how God can use a show like American Idol to bring glory to himself! Ha...I love our GOD!

On Saturday, I spotted Lisa Pierre a few rows down from us, so I visited with her during a break and was blessed. A long time ago (7 years I think..wow time flies) we were in the Gathering Band together and now she leads worshio for Beth Moore on Tuesday nights. She is amazing. She has two awesome kiddos that I was blessed to know in our student ministry and her daughter Kamri, is a joy. Lisa also taught aerobics to our girls at First...and I TOTALLY COULD NOT HANG!! But none the less, I saw how really out of shape I am! I forgot totally that she previously was on the Women of Faith praise team, and was sad that she was not on it this year to hear her!

Anyhow, I got my fill of good music this past weekend and need to get on i-tunes to purchase some new songs. Don't laugh..but I am for sure going to rock out to Sandi!

A Heavy Heart....

Within this past week, we have been hearing grim news for a fellow sister, Kristi Walkers. I barely know her but she was the girl intern that served on the student ministry staff a couple years before I did at HFBC.

Last week she went into the doctor with high blood pressure and jaundice and was rushed into a an emergency c-section. She was diagnosed with HELLPS disease because her platelets were low. Normally, the platelets go back to the normal level, but hers never did. Within the past week, they learned that she had stage 4 cancer. In a e-mail I received this morning, the latest findings are this... "The result of the bone marrow biopsy was not good; the doctors have said the cancer is diffused throughout her entire body – around the brain, all bones, bone marrow, liver and possibly the GI track and chest. The doctors said tonight that even with aggressive treatment, she probably has less than a year to live."

What I do know of Kristi is that she is a 30 year old woman that has dedicate her life wholeheartedly to the Lord. When working at HFBC I heard stories and stories about her and her faithfulness to studying the Word, her intense walk with Him, and a great impact on those she was around. She has children that are 4 1/2 (Cade), 2 (Mason), and of course a newborn (Zane). I know that for now she wants to walk right out of that hospital and be the mother she was called to be.

If you will join me in praying for Kristi as he fights this battle. Chuck, as he supports his wife but at the same time bonding with his newest son, Zane and explaining things to his older boys. For Cade and Mason, that there will be peace in their hearts as things are explained to them in time. Pray for the Kristi's parents, sister Amy, and husband Daniel who I am sure are feeling a great loss on exactly how to feel.

I know that God has done tremendous miracles in the past and He can do it again. At the same time, we know that He has a perfect plan for our lives even if it means suffering. "God, we believe in you and trust you. We can hardly fathom how quickly this cancer has spread. Lord, we cry out on Kristi's behalf who so desperately wants to be home and rock her baby and be a mother to her boys. God, we know GOOD comes out of every trial, so let this sweet family hold on to that. We pray that you will bring an incredible peace to this family and that they will be a light and witness of your greatness!

If you would like to send her an e-mail of encouragement....please send it to michellersanders@gmail.com and I will forward it on.

One of THOSE weeks...

I can officially label last week as a "BLUR". It is one of those inevitable weeks where everything will hit at once and when it is over you sigh in relief. My car was in the shop for six days so I was stuck at home. Jack cut 3 teeth last week and is currently getting the fourth one now. Keegan is still keeping on with the 5:15-5:30 wake-up call. This leads to lots of whining, crying and tantrums before naptime. It also leads to very tired, emotional mother who tries to keep it together. At the end of the week I took Jack to the doctor for his check up to find that he is wheezing from his cold and needs breathing treatments. Well...note to self...baby who has teeth coming in does not want a mask on their face. The doctor is also sending Jack to an oral specialist to check out how everything functions in his mouth to see if that is the reason why is he is not eating. I claimed it as "one of those weeks".

SO....this week gave me a few lemons...I had to make lemonade....

Since I could not make the pumpkin patch playdate, because my car was in the shop, my friend Stacie and I loaded up the kids on Friday and went to nearby church that had lots of pumpkins. We had a great time chasing after our kids. Jack gets the star for the best picture and Keegan gets half of one since he never smiled for me.








On Saturday, Jonathan went to the A&M game and I loaded up the boys and headed out for the day to hang out with Christine and Zach or "I-Teen and Mac". (who knows) Our first stop was at Corey's garage sale. I heard she has some really great stuff so I rushed to get there only to find out that a woman bought all the good stuff 5 minutes before I came. However, she had a shabby chic desk that was perfect for my entry way, sugar and flour jars, a toy for Keegan and a hair straightener! Yeah! It was very much worth it. The rest of the day we hung out at I-Teens and Mac's house for naps and such. Before we left, we spent some time with the Altic family enjoying one of their last Saturday's before Judah comes. Oh Bayou Woods...I miss you dearly.
(don't pay attention to everything on it...i am still working on it!!)

This Picture Makes Me Smile

This picture was taken at Aunt Fitine's 30th birthday party and I just felt like posting it tonight. (a little late...but better late than never). For the last 8 plus years, each one of you hold different a meaning in my life and I am grateful for our friendships. I wish time could stand still and we could all be at camp again for one final year. Sweet memories. Love you all.

Sunday School Costume Party

For a solid year now we have been attending Houston Northwest, and we have made some amazing friends that live around us. Obedience to change churches was very hard for a long time, but God has blessed our faithfulness. (Not that I don't miss our HFBC family tremendously!) Our Sunday School class is relatively new and there incredible people that we get to share life with. So I guess you get to meet them now...but you might need to look past the costumes. He He! (I did not get a picture of the one couple that scored high reviews on their costume...so I will need to add that one later!)

Andy and Dana (He is some sort of Halo character...it got a great review from the guys...of course!)


Brian and Shawna


Billy and Lesly (He is our SS teacher and does an amazing job...God has gifted him!)


Walter and Crystal (She is the one that had to approach me about my "supposed" felonies. I am glad we can laugh about it now!)


Aaron and Kelly (They were so funny in those costumes!)


Chris and Katie


Brian and Stacy


Kurtis and Heather

Pumpkins and such...

I love October because it means 3 full months of fun coming up. I love seeing pumpkins out and especially the edible ones. I allow myself one bag of Brach's Mellowcreme Pumpkins, but now I have to share with Keegan. He of course, loves them and labels them "cake". We are headed to the pumpkin patch tomorrow to hopefully obtain a good sized one for our front porch. We have a puny and lonely one from HEB sitting our porch and he needs a friend.

Pumpkin Bread is a must for the season. My sweet friend, Kay, gave me a very easy recipe that makes fabulous bread. However, it did take some time for me to get it just right and it seems like something always seemed to go wrong the first couple of years. One Saturday afternoon while the boys were watching Aggie football, Kay, Christine and I decided to make some. We whipped it up and put it in the oven. Of course the smell of the bread was engulfing us and we could hardly wait to take it out and taste some. When we opened the oven door, our pumpkin bread was concave and not rising. We tried so hard to figure it out. So, I made another batch and it came out like that again. Later, I made the discovery that instead of using flour I had used powdered sugar on accident. Ooops. The powdered sugar is now labeled very clearly. :)So I finally made a good loaf and it was so tasty. The second year I put it in the oven, ran outside to check the mail, and when I came back I had locked myself out of the house. Luckily, Jonathan came home just in time to let me in and get it out of the oven. This year, I plan on enlisting Keegan's help for the pumpkin bread. Am I asking for it or what?

Baby Food Fight

He won! All carrots on self instead of in mouth. He thinks he is so funny. One day he will eat solid food....one day! Thanks to all who have given me advice on this. I think ultimately he has a texture aversion. Let's just say the apple does not fall very far from the tree. (referring to me!) We go to the doc next Friday, so hopefully we can get moving on this eating issue!

My Keegan

Today is Keegan's 27th mirthday! Sometimes I look at him and think..."You were just 5 pds. 11 oz. yesterday!" He is such a little grown up now, or at least he thinks he is.
Here are some of his stats...
*Keegan knows all his capital letters and a few numbers (1, 2, 4, 8, 9).
*He loves his monster trucks right now. (Mister Jackson, you know how to give good gifts!)
*He labels everything as "mine". When I kiss his cheek, he screams.."NO! My Cheek" When Jack is playing with anything, it is always "MINE!!!!". I am not sure Jack has anything that belongs to him at this point. One day, Jack is going to have some fighting words of his own.
*Keegan is obsessed with the movie Cars and says, "KA-CHOW" all the time.
*He is noticing all different things. He looked at his wrist today on our daily walk and says, "Mommy...Color...Draw." I could not figure out what he was saying for the longest time, until I noticed him tracing his veins with his finger.
*He knows exactly which direction "home" is. We were outside our neighborhood running errands and we passed the entrance off the highway that gets us home to run another errand. He screams from the backseat, "NO, Mommy...HOME!!!!"
*Keegs loves to crawl on the ground and yell for Jack to follow him. They both laugh so hard, it is good for my soul those few moments until....it back the the "M" word. (mine)
*It is never a good idea to watch the Elmo's world segment on "up and down" while he is sitting on my bed. (and at the same time his favorite book being "Five Little Monkeys") Some good things together make a bad combination.
*He loves to break dance to songs. (Thanks to Mister Billy!)
*Lately, his has been waking up at 5:30. Uggggh.
*He loves to watch people playing violin on TV. One day he came in (without zero prompting) with his guitar and plastic golf club for his musical debut.
*He never lets you back out of the driveway without your seat belt on.
*Keegan's favorite word right now is "almost". It cracks me up mainly because it is used in the right context.
*He is obsessed with going to McDonalds for fries. He is also in love with going to church. (which makes me happy!)
*He LOVES his daddy. (more than me) But that is okay.

What I Am Reading

I thought I would pass these two books along as some really good reads.

The first one, "David" by Chuck Swindoll has surprisingly been very captivating. His series of books on character studies have been on my shelf for the longest time and I decided to read it. He takes scripture verse by verse, pulling it apart and then relating it to your life. I just finished "Jonathan" by Francine Rivers which make me want to read more on King David. If you have not read her series on "The Sons of Encouragement" it is awesome.


"Bringing up Boys" by James Dobson has been on my list for a while to read. It is a slow read (at least for me) just because it has so much to think about. I seriously recommend this to anyone raising boys. It has given me more perspective especially into the life of Keegan right now.

Jack-9 months

My Jack is growing up so fast! I barely can remember the last 9 months! He is an amazing little man with an amazing smile. He warms my heart and I don't remember life with out him. Here are a few things about Jack...

*He has the best gummy smile....which means no teeth. But I am waiting any day for them to make their grand entrance.
*He is a great sleeper. He sleeps 12 1/2 hours every night, and I love waking him up in the morning because he is all snuggled up with his blanket.
*He started crawling around 7 1/2 months and now he is standing holding on to furniture.
*Jack still does not eat baby food or solid food. The only thing he tolerates "sometimes" are puffs. We have our appointment soon and hopefully they can give me ideas on how to get him to eat. (anyone have any more advice??)
*Jack loves any kind of strap can get his mouth on!
*He loves his mom, so much so, that he hates when other people besides me hold him. I love this...most of the time. :) (especially when daddy is Keegan's favorite)
*Jack loves his brother. Oh my goodness....he thinks that he is so funny even when Keegan takes all his toys from him. He doesn't really care, but I know he trying to figure out how to walk to keep up with Keegs.
*He loves to make noises with his mouth. Most of the time he is clicking his tongue but lately he has found that his arm makes some fun noise too.
*Jack's eyes can light up a room.
*He is looking more like his brother.
*Jack is just so much fun and has no fear. He is going to be one crazy kid!

Happy 9th Mirthday Jack!