Mandy turns 1!

Well Mandy just turend 1! Can you believe it. Her birthday was on Dec 21st. Last Sunday we didn't do much, but take some really cute pictures, but just look at that smile.

Since she is now traveling the furniture she thinks that she is a monkey. She loves to climb on everything especially this little rocking chair here. She likes to rock away and then proceed to stand up and rock some more. She even gets mad at you when she wants to get up in a chair or on a couch and you don't help her. She most definately has a temper!

She has 12 teeth already. She has just cut her 4th molar and let me tell you NOT FUN!

She is such a fun little one though. She loves to give kisses and hugs and yes still nurse very much. She wants to eat everything you have even if she can't. I think her favorite food is ice cream even though we think that may actually be one of her main allergy problems.

We have been really struggling to find out what is going on with her for the past several months and it has just about driven me crazy. I don't eat much dairy so her rash has been very intermittent lately. But when she or I started eating cheese, ice cream and other types of dairy the rash would flare up. So today I have kept us both off and I will add it tomorrow for us both to see if that is a definate trigger. Please pray for the answer soon. I just don't want a flare up to be her not breathing.

We pray that you all had a Merry Christmas and we love you all!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! I just wanted to let everyone know that we are thinking about you all this year. With the hustle of the season my time has been very stretched. So any christmas cards sent will be after Christmas.
But we just wanted to let you all know that we love you and pray that God sends many blessings on you all this time of year and the year to come.
I know that it is so easy to get wrapped up in presents and traveling, but I usually have to remind myself that it isn't that which makes Christmas. It is the birth and death of our wonderful Jesus Christ.
Wow what a very humble beginning. I mean he could have chosen to be born in 2008 with all the nice hospitals and gadgets, but instead he chose to be born with the smelly animals. I have given birth 3 times and believe you me I would have a very hard time doing that.
One of the things that I try and make sure I tell my kids is not only about his coming as a baby, but why he chose to die on the cross. Because we are ALL sinncers and we can't enter into heaven just because we are good to our neighbor and go to church every Sunday. We have to accept the greatest gift of all in that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and all we need to do to spend eternity with him is to accept that wonderful gift and ask Jesus to live in our hearts.
I accepted Christ when I was 7 years old and now I am 30! Wow what a long time! But the awesome thing is that I will never stop learning or growing with what the Lord has to teach me.
The best thing also is that the only time it is to late is after you have ceased living on this earthly world.
One of my favorite lessons from the Bible is actually while Jesus is dying on the cross and hung next to him is a thief. On his last breath he asks Jesus to not forget him and then enters heaven on his last breath. That is the perfect example of how so many of us are today. We always wait for the last possible moment to accomplish our tasks.
Please don't delay accepting what God has given.

We love you and hope to share more after the wondrous season!

Mandy's allergic

Well it looks like Mandy may be allergic to Bananas. Since we rarely eat them she hasn't really been exposed to them. But when I started feeding them to her all the time in a mmixed jar she just couldn't handle them. So this past week I just gave her bananas to see if this was truly the cause and everytime I fed her after an hour she would flush with a body rash. When I backed off and just nursed her she was perfectly fine.

So thanks for all your prayers! It is actually interesting that after finding this out several people on Rob's side are allergic to bananas as well.

This is one of her nutty moments. She laughed for an hour with this in her mouth!

Oct 31st

Well here are some major cute pics of the kids for Holloween. Rachel is Dorothy, Brooke is Superwoman, Isaac is Thomas the traing, Beth is a lamb and Mandy is a bumblebee. They had so much fun dressing up and of course the cameras came out flying! Enjoy!

Questions

Well over the past couple of weeks Mandy has had really bad rash that is really unexplained. It does seem to be following something that she is eating and we are having a hard time deciding what it is. Please pray for discernment and that we will make the right decisions about what to do next. Our doctor isn't really doing much and it just seems to be coming back every time worse than before.

So as not to gross you out I just wanted you to see two pics and if any of you have seen this before I would love to hear from you!

Mandy

Well yesterday Mandy stood alone without support!!! She will be 10 mo on the 21st and is much full of life. She is really crawling now. She can get on knees and hands, but still prefers the army crawl. She is used to being roughed around by her big sisters and LOVES it! These are some pics of her crawling and just having fun.

She is such a joy to us. We are so blessed to have 3 little blessings when we didn't think that we ever would. They are each truly one of a kind and unique. They all have their special ways of doing things and sharing their love. Thanks so much for your love and support with these sweet things.

Awana missionary night

Well this is Rachel as Marilu Evans Ryser for Awana missionary dress up night. Most people didn't even know that she was Rachel. Shd had so much fun. She wore this short blonde curly wig which totally changed her looks. She also won a prize for most inventive costume.

Brooke was Melissa Abott and a nurse. She wore one of my lab coats and a stethascope with her hair pinned up. They both looked so very cute that night that I don't think we passed one person that night that didn't smile and then laugh at jus how cute they looked.

I tell you that these girls LOVE to dress up and are rarely in normal clothes throughout the day. It is really fun to see all the people that they try and dress as.

Good report

Well Rachels teacher called me today and wanted me to know how Rachel is doing in school. She said that she was the first in her class to count to 130 all by herself. She is always the first to raise her hand, answer the questions. She already knows her abc's, numbers, months, days, years, seasons and her calendar. She is also learning several verses at a time in preperation for grandparents day in Nov. She is proficient in Colossians 3:23-25 and she is learning all the the 10 commandment verses. On top of that she is learning about 5 extra verses a week for Awana. Please pray for this young one who God has given the ability to learn quickly and for us that we can encourage her bright mind in a way that is pleasing to God.

This was taken today as she and Brooke played dress up. She was a pretty dancer.

Bunk beds

Well the girls now have new bunk beds. They were given to us on Sat by their grandparents and they LOVE them. I can't keep them out of their room. The first night they slept together on the bottom bunk, but last night they were each on their own bed. It was so precious. Rachel of course is on the top and Brooke on the bottom. The head room isn't much on top as Rach has so frequently noticed, but she loves it.


Brooke can actually make her own bed now YEAH! I let them pick out their own sheets and a new pillow each so they were even more excited. Brooke has yellow ones and Rach has white with purple and pink stripes. It has been so much fun to watch and remember my own bunks when Sarah and I were growing up.
Thanks so my Nannie and Bampah!!!!!

Rachels first day of school

Well this is Rachels first day of school. She is at her desk looking so big. She has been doing so well and I think that she really has a lot of fun.

She only has 6 kids in her class so it is perfect one on one. Thanks so much for praying for us during this time.

Never ending

Does it ever feel to you that things are never ending. I was thinking about just now that housework NEVER ends, whining never ends and being busy with daily life never ends. But the good news is that God's love never ends or our eternal life with Him.

I have spent most of the day jumping on my girls when they trail me EVERY where I go or mommy this and mommy that. But then I also remember that that is what God wants from us. To follow him everywhere and never stop asking him things or for his help. It is ironic that it annoys us, but not God. I know it is our sin nature and Satan's little digs, but still it is ever so hard to reember that when you are worn out.

So I encourage you today and the next that everytime you yell at the kids or scream at your husband for not doing what you want that minute to remember that God is always there and to rest all your cares and strife in HIm.

I know that this is a VERY hard area in my life to deal with, but necessary. I have seen the days that I am most upest that especailly Rachel will start to go "arrrhhh" at Brooke and me. SO I know the impact it has on them and need to remember to ask God always for his sweet mercy and quiet of spirit even on the hard days.

Now look at those sweet faces and know that I am truly blessed even though sometimes it is hard to understand that.

Some pics

Sweet Mandy. One of her many naps on mommy. She was about 6 mo here. Now 8 mo and has 8 teeth.

This is Rach and Brooke. Brooke was about 4-6 mo at the time. Rachel was almost 2. It is even harder to remember them like this. It has gone sooooo fast.

This is Rob and Steph before we got married. We were engaged on April 24, 1998. Wow on the 19th will be our 10th Anniv!!!!!

This is Brooke Memorial weekend 2006. She fell in the gym and really injured her nose. She also thought that if she put panties on her head that she would look like an egg.

A little fun now....

Ok now some older pics that I can't believe how much time has already past.

The girls have grown so much not only in size, but maturity. Rachel's already on her second week of school. She has already had homework, which she is doing wonderfully well. She is waking up ready to go in the morning and when I drop her off she just blows me a kiss and waves. Such a big girl.

Last Wednesday Brooke started Awana ( bible club ) and is a cubbie. She said all of her verses last night and got her book. Next week she will get her vest as well. I am so proud of her well she is doing.
Rachel is a Spark and did get both her book and her vest last night. She has worked really hard and had to memorize all of John 3:16.

If you will keep them in your prayers in that they will strive to know the Lord and want to please Him as well as obey their parents to glorify Him.

So enjoy some scenes from the past.

Thinking of those....

Well it is 9/11 today and it is a sad day. As I watch the memorials I remember to pray for the families that don't know the Lord. I am more sad that I am sure several of those who died did not know who Jesus Christ is and what he did for them. When you think of it pray that even though it has been 7 years the people who lost or those who didn't will want to rely on what God wants for their lives.
I was sleeping in that day when I heard about what happened. I remember watching as the second plane started coming in to the second tower and thinking about what an opressive feeling I had. The animals were constantly bellowing, howling or just acting agitated. Satan had his way that day, but again God prevailed in all his glory and people were once again praising God for his mercy.
I am thankful that I know the God who is in control of my life. I can't imagine trying to always be on guard for my life or that of my children. I praise Him for all the blessings he bestows on us graciously!

Rachel's teacher

Hello everyone! I just wanted to show you Rachel's new teacher this year. Her name is Robin Michaels and she is one of the sweetest people I have met. She is so excited about teaching Rachel this year and already thinks our little girl is very smart. She tested her a little to see where she is at and was impressed that she was already reading, counting, knew all her letters and numbers and could count money. She said that she has a good foundation for this year and can't wait to build upon it.

Rachel was a little nervous, but did great. This is on meet the teacher day with her uniform on. She has red ribbons in her hair which totally made her look like a school girl. She will start on Sept 2nd. Please pray for a quick and easy transition and she will make mandy new friends. She will only have 6 kids in her class which will be wonderful because she will get lots of 1 on 1 time.

Please also pray for Brookie in that she really wants to go to school also and can't this year. She will probably be a little sad for the first few days.

Thanks again for your love and support!

Cute aren't they?

Well it has been a long week still in the Renfro house. I took Mandy to the Dr today because she has been NOT sleeping well and last night started having a rash on her face. She hasn't been very pleasant. It is so hard to know what is wrong when they can't tell you. She is normally such a great and content baby that it is hard to see her as anything but. But today her being like this reminded me of how I am towards God.

Most times I try and be content with everything that he puts in front of me, but then there are those times when I am not feeling good or exausted that I totally turn and become an angry, ungrateful human mommy. Rachel asked me today why I was so cranky which I proceeded to tell her that "I'm not" I am just in a bad mood. But then I see myself standing in front of God and saying "yes God I don't care how I am supposed to act, but I want to do it my way. THat is ssoooo hard for me.

Brooke being so much like me I find that I am frustrated alot of the time with her. So please pray for my continued work in this area. Tonight in fact she said that she was going to fill up her water bottle and I gave her the benefit of the doubt. For a 3 year old that was pushing it a little. So after 10 min I went down the hall to check her. She was sitting in the sink washing her feet because they were "dirty". To this I couldn't say anything, but just laugh and smile at this cute innocent little face. She is such a little pixie it is hard not to smile most of the time.

So when you are down this week or next just allow God to take control and he will show you how to control the being frustrated and help with the feeling that nothing is going your way.

Little cutie

Hello all! I know it has been a while since you have heard from me, but I just wanted to let you all know what is going on with us lately.

Brooke was diagnosed with having some leg,muscle,ligament and ankle deformities. So she is in physical therapy to hopefully help correct this situation before it becomes difficult. She is taking it in stride for now, but on Sept 2 she will be fitted for a shoe insert to help correct the feet and ankle deformities. Pray that she will be accecpting of this and it won't affect how she does things.

Rachel will be starting school again on Sept 2. We have already met and talked with her teacher Mrs. Michaels and she is one of the sweetest women I have met. I know that she will be an awesome help for Rachel this year.

Rachel has been reading already. She is sounding out the hard words, but already recognizing words by sight. Pray that she will continue to be strong and want to learn all there is to learn this year.

Mandy is now 8 months old. She is now cutting her 7th and 8th teeth. AHHHHH! Lets just say that sleep is not really happening. She is getting so big. She does the army crawl which is so cute. She can sit up from laying down now and can say HI and MAMA! Not overly clear, but there none the less. She is such a joy to us. Her hair is now and auburn color and is starting to curl on the ends. So now we have a blonde, brunette and a red head. God so has a sense of humor.

Remindeed about some things today....

that I know in my heart, but always need much reminding. Today with my family some things came up that helped me remember that God is in control of the ins and outs of our lives. It is hard to trust something that we don't see because what we do see seems so beautiful to us. When God doesn't give us sign posts on which direction we should go we need to allow him to carry us toward the main goal.

As most of you may know my little sister Sarah has been fighting fatigue, pain, financial worries because of all the Dr bills and just being a mom of two active little ones. She is so giving of her heart and self that sometimes things get in the way of her goal. Well just today as I was on the phone with her I noticed that there were many things going on that were distracting her from being in control. I asked her to stop and just pray that God would give her clarity and encouragement. She has so had to rely on what God is trying to do in their lives and not what Sarah thinks should be done. I have seen her grow much during these past few years and I am proud of her. It is funny being the older sister and always wanting to protect her. But I had to realize that it wasn't really my job; it was God's.

So if any of you have things going on in your lives that you think you can handle just remember this verse.

"Trust in the Lord with all you heart and never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do and he will show you the right way. Never think you are wiser than you are; simply obey the Lord and refuse to do wrong. Proverbs 3:5-7

This verse has become my life verse because I have seen what can be accomplished when Stephanie allows God's plan and not her own.

Vacation times

Well we just had our wonderful 3 day Texas vacation this past week. We visited several friends and had a wonderful time of fun and fellowship.

On Wednesday we drove most of the day to the Fitzgeralds home. They have 5 delightful kids and with ours we had 8 kids!!!!! Needless to say it was busy. They are such trusted and loving friends and we are grateful for their presence in our lives.

On Thursday we saw Amy and Caylee. Amy is Rob's sister and Caylee is her 5 year old daughter. We spent the day getting sunburned and very wet by playing in the pool. It was Mandy's first time in water except for her baths and boy was it interesting. I don't think she really knew what was happening.
So all in all it was a great fun day and lets just say that all three of my children were OUT in their seats just after we started the car.

On Friday we spent the night and day with the Whalgrens. Jeff and Lori have a beautiful little boy named Jonathan. He is 7 mo old and two weeks older than Mandy. I think he held some sort of peer pressure over her because she really had no interest in sitting on her own before they saw each other and then..... well she made us all look silly that she started all of a sudden. It was rather comical.

On Saturday we headed home about 6 and Rob had just enough time to pack and get to bed to leave for Pennsylvania the next am. He will be there all week leaving me with the silly girls.



Speaking of today while I actually managed to get a shower at 4pm Brooke comes into the bathroom and proudly annonces that she had stuck a green jelly belly into her nose. I groaned. The last time she stuck something up her nose was an eraser from the end of a pencil and it took 3 days to come out. So I told her to stay in the bathroom thinking maybe it would melt just a little with all the humidity. The next thing I hear is LOOK MOMMY I DID IT MY SELF!!!! I couldn't help but laugh just a little. And of course she had to do it while I was in the shower.



Well since it is 12:20am I think I shall go to my lonely bed and try and get some sleep. Have a wonderful day and may God give you many blessings.

I turned 30!

Well I turned 30 last friday. My family truly suprised me with the day. I thought that we were just going to have a family affair with sandwiches. My sister decided to give Beth a bath and I thought that was normal. She asked if I wanted to get Mandy cleaned up as well and so I said sure. As we were doing this several of my friends and family were there to yell Suprise! I was totally taken back with this. I wasn't able to get any pics from our camera, because I broke ita few days before, but I will try and get some from my Dad.

The next day my MIL Janet took Bec and I to see Phantom of the Opera. It was so excited and I had soooo much fun. Thanks for everything you all it was worth it!!!!!

Puppets

Well today we had a puppet rehearsal for our performance on June 22. We were at the church and WOW was it hot and muggy. Since we weren't on the schedule they hadn't turned on the air and we ended up being there from 2:30 - 6:00pm. I also had Mandy and Brooke with me and they looked like little wet mops. Mandy wasn't all that happy about the situation and Brooke just kept wanting to eat and go home.
But we were able to get a lot accomplished. We are doing some patriotic songs and acting for the evening service.
I am so proud of these young people. They are really strong and keep me on my toes.
I am so thankful that God has allowed me the privilege of leading this ministry.
Thanks to all of you for your hard work.

Cakes

Hey well another little interesting thing about be is that a few months ago I started making cakes. You might say well I make cakes also, but I have been taking some classes for this and am making great progress. I am working well with creating flowers, special designs, fondant and such. This past weekend I just made a Thomas the Train cake for Isaac's 2nd b-day. I was so excited when he immediately said CHOO CHOO Thomas! So at least he knew what it was. It sortof looks like a dog, but I think it was just how we had the cake stacked. I am having so much fun with this! So is my family because they get to eat everything I make.

Just getting started

Hello all! This is my first day of this and I wanted to share things with you.

This past week I have been thinking about why God allows us to go through so many trials and challenges. It seems sometimes that we always want what we can't have. Two years ago we had something come up concerning Rachel's Awana program. She was not going to be allowed to be in the program that year because of her d-day. Since her b-day is Oct 15th she was going to have to wait until the next year. So went were sent across the street to a Baptist church who also had an Awana program. I was so furious about that and my attitude wasn't a good one.
So after she WAS excepted over there and loving it I stared seeing that God was working on my heart. The women were hosting a bible study dealing with the Heart and so I joined. Like I said Iwas so upset that it was hard at first, but after 2-3 weeks God softened my heart.
After being there for 2 years I can truly see how my attitude and my wants would've hindered my getting to know these awesome women and Rachel fully succeeding in her class. In fact she was the only one who recieved an award for being there the entire year. We are so proud of her!

So anyway I have truly realized how much I need to rely on God's plan and not my own. We can't always see the big picture because we are so small. So the verse that I have really put in my heart this year is:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do and he will show you the right way. Never think you are wiser than you are; simoly obey the Lord and refuse to do wrong. Proverbs 3:5-7