Inadequate Mother... Glorious Savior

Lunar Eclipse 2011

2012-01-28T21:28:00.000-08:00

For school this year the kids & I are studying Astronomy. We ALL are learning a ton of amazing facts about planets and our solar system. I had one of those "you know you're a homeschool mom when..." moments back in December. I learned that there was going to be a total lunar eclipse. Last one until April 2014! Having just finished a study on the moon there was no way I was going to pass this experience up. I set my alarm quite early, like an ungodly hour. Spent the first hour watching the moon, drinking coffee and sitting under the heater in our backyard by myself. Now I don't even get up on school days this early! Here I was on a Saturday morning waking myself up like it was christmas to see the lunar eclipse :) Around 5:45 or so I woke up Taylor and she joined me in the awe watching of the moon getting swallowed up. Trevor joined us shortly there after but didn't hang quite as long outside as Taylor and I did. Eventually the sun began to rise and the moon was setting to the point where we could no longer see it from our house. Tay & I jumped in the car to get a better view of the horizon but I think during that three minute drive the sun came up to much to see it fully eclipsed. Either way it was totally worth missing my opportunity to sleep in on a Saturday morning. We will however hike a mountain or get a little more out of town for the next one...

What an amazing creator God we worship!

Fall 2011 Pictures

2012-01-26T21:18:00.000-08:00

Some of you lucky few out there received Christmas cards from us. That was before one of my children spilled water all over the remaining "to go out" pile. Bummer. So I apologize to those who felt like they were missing out. I just couldn't bare the thought of buying more cards from Costco to be unsatisfied with. Why oh why do I keep going back? Cost I know. The color is AWFUL!! I must do something different next year...

Anyhow here are some pictures from a little November session in the park with my kids.

These already feel outdated to me. They grow SO FAST! Oh how I love them... I am one blessed mama.

Medieval Feast

2012-01-26T20:17:00.000-08:00

A little before November we had a Medieval Feast celebrating the ending of our Unit 1 in Tapestry of Grace. There are three other families that we know using this same curriculum, so together we threw a pretty awesome feast, 21st century style :)

I don't know how Medieval my costume really looks but it was the best I had. Taylor said it was a gift from Marco Polo while he was in the court of Kublai Khan. Sounds good to me.

I think the people behind us were a little confused.... isn't Halloween over?!?

We did the feast outside by the fire & tiki torches in a friends backyard. We took a little pilgrimage together outside where the knights protected the ladies :)

Taylor & Sarah... close friends!

All in all it was a great night. I'm grateful to have families and friends to walk this crazy homeschool journey with. About every other week one of us wants to quit and we dream of having all our kids in school and getting coffee together with uninterrupted conversations. But we don't. End of Unit celebrations are just as much for the mom's as they are for the kids :)

Adoption Part 2

2011-12-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

Well I never did get around to finishing my thoughts did I? I thought I would've had more time.....hahahahahahahahaha.

If I could sum up ONE major takeaway that I had from attending the Together For Adoption conference was that orphans needs homes. Not orphanages but real homes. With a real dad & a real mom. That became crystal clear to me throughout this conference.

"The Trinity is not an orphanage. When our Triune God set out to redeem us, building an orphanage and placing us in it was not a part of the plan. No, God’s plan of redemption centered on placing us in an existing home. By the grace of the Triune God we are brought into the love of the Father/Son relationship that has always existed. We are placed in the Home of homes. In Ephesians 2:19 Paul tells us that we were once strangers and aliens without hope, but now we are members of the household of God. By making room for us within the love that they eternally share, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit gave us a home and a family. God answered our need by bringing us into His household."

See this article for a much better explanation of the Gospel and adoption!

I walked away from the T4A conference more in awe and grateful for my Abba Father. As I watched videos of orphans throughout the conference, and my heart strings were tugged wanting to take them all into my home. I was struck with the thought that God did not die for me to make me his child when I was an adorable, little, helpless baby peering through a crib. No he died for me when I was the one spitting on that adorable baby in the crib. I was the enemy. That is when he died. Oh the gospel is so much greater then I could ever comprehend!! I don't know what the Lord has for Chris & I and our future. If we'll every play a physical part in the orphan crisis. One thing for certain, is that I pray fervently for the orphans of the worlds to be brought into loving Christian families and I pray for my friends who are adopting children. I drop every thing to be in attendance at those adoption hearings. Just went to another one last week!! I pray for my friends who are seeking to be a go between for those permanent homes as foster parents. Those things I can do in the hear and now. Would you join me this christmas in praying for these things as well?

New Photography Website!

2011-11-11T08:23:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to pass on the link to my new website.... it's a major work in progress but I'm happy with it so far :)

Tara d Photography

Adoption Part 1

2011-11-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

I'm going to do something I haven't done in awhile. Write. With words and not just pictures. If you haven't noticed I don't do this all that often. I mean I try to provide captions and mini stories with my pictures but this is different. I'm going to try to take what's jumbled up in my brain and put it on paper. There's various reasons why I don't take the time to write. One major reason is because it requires thinking. Let's just be honest any "thinking" that goes beyond my normal day I don't seem to have a brain for. I'm up at 6am thinking and planning out the kids school day, I try to get in the word and think/pray about how I'm going to apply the gospel as my plan from thinking the hour prior goes amiss. I school. I think about dinner. Somedays I actually make it. If I can get past the thinking that is. During the afternoons, if my kids are playing well and not fighting, I edit pictures for clients. Lots of thinking going on there. Chris gets home and I try to enter his world of church planting, counseling, administrating and join in with his thinking. Then I pass out shortly there after, or my brain explodes. Not much time for blogging thinking there.

Yet I feel compelled to write recently. I promise you it will be full of grammar errors and spelling mistakes. All my thinking in that arena goes towards grading my fourth graders essay's. Which are pretty much beyond me at this point as is. So consider this an apology for the inevitable.

Two years ago I met a girl named Stacie. She had daughter's around Taylor's age. We were walking around the zoo together with a homeschool group I had recently joined. She had told me a few months prior they were trying to adopt. By looking at her two girls it was fairly clear they weren't adopted. They couldn't look more like their mom. So my mind went to various reasons as to why they would now be adopting. I was wrong on all accounts. They simple felt a call and desire to adopt. It reflects God's heart. Awesome I thought. I prayed alongside them for the right child to be placed in their family. I prayed for this child in utero once they had a placement. I prayed as the birth mom gave birth. Then at last, I rejoiced with them when he was in their home! A few months later was their schedule court date. I had never been to a final adoption hearing before. They were so kind to extend the invitation out to our family. After a some brief visiting in the waiting area their names was called to enter the court. The judge walked into the room, sat at his desk and after the formal introductions he began to ask the girls if they think their daddy & mommy are good daddy's and mommy's. If I was my friend right about then I would be freaking out a little.

"Oh dear God, please don't let them talk about all the times I've spoken harshly"

Something like that. But since my friend probably never does that, they said

"YES!" They are a good mommy & daddy."

Then the judge asked the girls if they would like to have this boy as a brother. They girls enthusiastically said,

"YES! YES!"

Then the judge said something like,

"With the authority granted to me by the states I pronounce Tanner as now officially about of the "tanner" family. (left their real name out).

Tears streamed down my face. Streaming now as I recall this moment. I had never witnessed something so powerful and beautiful! It was truly amazing! Here was this boy, who's mom was unable to care for him. She had a choice. She beautifully choose life. And my friends choose to say, "We will be his family! He will be our son!" Seriously, adoption, and how it reflects the Gospel, has been taking my breath away lately.

Since then, I've attended another hearing for two precious boys and a third is on the way for two sweet little girls. All from our body at Grace! I praise God for these families and how they are caring for the orphans.

This is background to say that when I heard Together for Adoption was coming to Phoenix, I asked Chris if we could consider going. He thought it was a great idea. We weren't quite sure how to swing it financially though. Then life began to get a little busier then normal for Chris and we never pulled the trigger. I saw on facebook that Noel Piper was hosting a contest on her blog for two free registrations. I thought for a minute, couldn't hurt, as I entered my name. What are the chances really? Then I said some sort of prayer. The kind you really shouldn't pray. Like,

"Ok Lord, if you REALLY want us to go to this then you'll let us win".

I might've said a few other things to him. I should've known better. God has a sense of humor. Two days later there was a congratulations e-mail in my inbox from Noel! Chris walks in,

"Hey babe.... remember how we talked about going to t4g? Well... we are now! Ok?"

Costumes & Memories I'd Like To Not Relive

2011-11-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a eventful night. We joined our neighbors in a Franks on Frank party before tricking treating with them. Within ten minutes of being there Taylor dropped ketchup on her brand new medieval dress, seconds after I told her,

"Honey remember this dress is for our medieval feast in a few weeks PLEASE, I beg you, don't get anything on it!"

After cleaning up the dress my dad choked on a piece of chicken. Like really choked. Like running away choking while Chris runs after him prepared to do the heimlich. He is fine thankfully. Then some guy yelled at Trevor and Trevor ran home crying not wanting to come back out. I am not saying that more then likely he didn't need to be corrected but we typically try to do that without yelling in our household.

Somehow after all that excitement we were able to join our neighbors in some good old fashioned trick or treating. Honestly our kids were on the fence this year with trick or treating. I told them I would buy them a ton of candy myself if they chose not to go. There are quite a few houses in our area that get just a tad into Halloween. Like neon, flashing, orange lights that illuminate scary ghosts faces, into Halloween. Which also, in turn, flash into Taylor's room each night as she try's to go to sleep. Sometimes as late as 11pm. Nice. Like an invisible wire that hangs from the lamppost connected to a house with a demon face floating back and forth in the air, into Halloween. Honestly, I'm not even saying this as a Christian. But I just don't get it. I don't get the fun in celebrating scary evil things. Maybe it's because I've always been a "sensitive soul" but I just plain don't enjoy going through party city to pick out plates for Alexie's 1st party with larger then life-sized demons hanging over my head in each aisle. Stretching out as if to suck me into their world. Call me a party pooper. So when the man dressed as a dead baseball player, with a fake axe, hiding in the corner of a driveway looks at me and I say to him,

" I promise you if you chase after me or ANY of my children I will personally take your axe and...."

Ahem. Just don't blame me ok. And for the record the man with the axe heard me and did not move.

So on that happy note... we were able to met a ton of new neighbors who have just moved in! The kids had a great time dressing up and joining in the fun with their neighbor friends. There were PLENTY of non-scary houses that were able fill their bags up with a disgusting amount of candy.

That's Trevor in the far left corner not letting me take a picture of him.

I won in this picture.

This is just to great to not post. These are some friends of ours, also neighbors! Man what a husband does for his wife. Haha! You guys are awesome.

We'll see what next year holds :)

Who wouldn't....

2011-10-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

Who wouldn't want to spend all day with these three?

Alexie's 1yr Owl Birthday Party

2011-10-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun planning for this party. Maybe a little to much. I might've been a little OCD and gone a little overboard. Just a little. After this crazy insane month it was a nice distraction. And hey the first birthday party is way more for the mom then for the kid right :)

Pinterest was of great help in planning this party! So many ideas! I found Alexie's bedding a year and a half ago and I fell in love with the owl's on her quilt. Pottery Barn kids must've started something big because Owl's seem quite popular these days. I decided to stick with her bedroom theme and make it her first birthday party theme as well!

First up decorations! I kept seeing these one year photo banners on etsy and pinterest and just thought they were so cute. Not cute enough to buy, but cute enough to try to make myself :) Chris left town for a few days prior to her party so I took my free nights to put this all together. Again this was fun for me. Therapeutic. I know I'm weird.

I also made little owl pinata bags using my neighbor's different sized circle punches. Thanks so much Suz! Made the process SO much easier! I used pink eyes for the girls bags and Orange for the boys.

I copied these cupcakes straight off of pinterest. I used strawberry frosting to make them pink instead of chocolate. And I just might've ate a ton of the oreo's other halves while I made them...

My friend Ruth made this super cute Owl cake for Alexie! Thanks again Ruth!! Your talent never ceases to amaze me!

Yes I did. I am now one of "those" moms.

An Owl craft.

Pinata time!

I'm not sure when they stopped selling the good ole' fashioned hit the pinata with a bat. But it seems like pinata's these days are "pull strings". I don't get it really. Where's the fun in pulling a string? But it was an owl. It was cute. It worked. Well only sort of worked. Once all the strings were pulled the candy still wasn't falling out effectively. The kids wondered.... NOW can we hit it?

A little Papa D love.

The birthday girl getting ready for cake

She kept trying to go for the lit candle!

Thank you to all the family that came! We are seriously blessed with the best extended family! I am so glad it worked out for so many of you from out of town to make it as well. We had a blast celebrating Alexie with you all!

Birthday Morning- Tradition Continues

2011-10-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

We started Alexie's first birthday morning as we do every Daukas kid birthday morning. Waking up to balloons. It's a tradition my parents started with my brother and I. I have great memories of waking up and looking around to see if my parents had remembered and sure enough there they were. Balloons.

After we sang "Happy Birthday", Chris lead the kids in praying over Alexie and thanking God for her life. It was so sweet.

Next up... Her owl birthday party!

Walking

2011-10-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

It's official. The week of a step here and there is now full on walking.

Watch out Mama here I come!

Taylor's First Concert

2011-10-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Crowder band is finishing up their final tour ever. Chris and I saw them in concert 7 years ago and had so much fun. When I saw Gungor was touring with them I knew we had to try to swing it. It's quite often hard for Chris and I to swing anything that involves a babysitter these days but my parents graciously drove out here so we could go. Taylor LOVES Gungor and Crowder so we thought what better first concert for her to attend? Another family from our church was going and Taylor is friends with the daughter. We knew she'd not only enjoy going with us but it would be a bonus to have a friend there.

We decided to not tell her till we were in the car. Partly not wanting to tempt Trevor. As in typical Taylor fashion she was BEYOND excited. The concert was general admission. Chris and I didn't really have the time to stand in line for an hour but our friends did. They were some of the first in line and got us some floor seat wristbands but we kind of needed to get to get there before the doors open. And when I say we barely made it... I mean like Taylor & I were running, they were the next to walk inside and we were able to squeeze in with them and grab our bands. I'm sure that made everyone around them happy :) But hey it's a christian concert right!?!

The concert came at a perfect time in Chris and I's life. It was definitely one of those "we need to escape life and go see a concert" type night. In all fairness we have many of those nights but this time we actually had a concert to go to. Convenient.

Taylor's new dream is to become a professional singer.... you could see the dreaming in her eyes that night as she saw artists come and go off the stage. Heck you could see the dreaming in my eyes that night as well. I whispered to Chris at one point, "Let's leave this all behind and hit the road to tour." I guess some dreams never die, even once accepted it will never be a reality :)

What an awesome night! Check out Gungor if you haven't already. Crowder was amazing as always but I am eager to see a whole night of Gungor!

1st Day of School

2011-10-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little late for the "first day of school" post. But we did indeed start school. Another year of homeschool. I went into it kicking and screaming... somewhat literally. The result of my tantrum was quite worth it. I figured I usually end up at some point in the year kicking and screaming so might as well get it out of the way in the beginning :) My fit lead me to change my curriculum all together. I have a close friend who is doing Tapestry of Grace with her girls who are Taylor's age. In my mind I was going to wait till Rylee was in first grade to begin such a program but I just wasn't satisfied with what I had. I knew that somehow I had to have T, T & R studying the same subjects as much as possible if I was going to make it through sane. I took a very fast crash course in Tapestry, found the curriculum used, the Lower Grammar books were offered up for me to borrow (PRAISE GOD) and I went ahead and purchased all the upper grammar books for Taylor. Let me just say this was the BEST DECISION EVER! We are on week 8 and loving every minute. It's just so rich! Taylor gets deeper into the subjects with her reading while I stay mostly on the surface with Trevor & Rylee but I don't feel like I have my hands all over the place. Each week, all three kids study the same thing. For instance, we just finished up learning about the vikings and onto the crusaders. I like Tapestry because it takes what I love about the classical approach and using living books approach and combines it all together. Once you learn how to read through the teacher's manual it's really easy to lesson plan for the week. In addition, unbeknownst to me, there are three other families in our church that are doing the same year in Tapestry. We are combining together to do a big medieval feast to celebrate the end of unit 1 in mid-november. Let the costume making begin.

So keeping in first day of school tradition I made pancakes for the kids. I found these awesome pancake molds 75% off at Williams Sonoma and knew they'd make my star wars loving kids happy. Here's what the pictures looks like. Beautiful fluffy pancakes.

My, *ahem*, second attempt at making these. Which took up ALL of my pancake batter. Here kids.... here's one pancake for you all to share. I think Chris was waiting for is this a "laugh it off moment" or is this a "she's going to cry". I wasn't too sure which one it would be myself. I was a little fragile those early days of starting school. Thankfully I had grace to laugh.

Just to keep myself humble... here was my first attempt. Who knew the pancake would get terribly stuck in the mold. Nice. Now you can laugh at me too.

It was ironic how much my pancakes reflect my efforts in homeschooling. I start out with this great, glorious picture of what school will look like. The reality is more like my second picture. A faithful attempt. I'm doing good if I can keep it from looking like the last picture :) It was good for me. Kill all my expectations of what we can accomplish on day one and aim for faithfulness. Looking back at the past couple months I can say that's what we done... faithful. So here are my students.

Reading at a 2nd grade level, Rylee. I love this kid. She's all kindergartner with her ability to still still and focus, or lack there of, but boy once she does is this girl smart. She can read like none of the others have been able to this early on! What a blessing. So basically kindergarten is over for her and everything else this year is extra :) Takes the pressure off of mom.

My math whiz kid, Trevor. Starting the first grade. I'm super pleased with how well his reading skills have progressed! I think he is feeling the challenge of having his younger sister reading so well. Nothing like getting some competition for a boy :) He is super smart in Math! Working on a third grade math book right now. He so impresses me with his ability to remember and work with numbers. Didn't get that from me that's for sure. That's ALL Chris.

And Taylor. The reader, writer, singer, loves mysteries, Taylor. She is eating up her new Tapestry program. Devouring every book given to her.

There they are. My three school beauties. Some days I love them, some days they make me cry... but all in all I wouldn't trade teaching them at home for anything.

After school was over we took them to the Peoria Space Challenger Center. We are studying astronomy this year for science so this was a way to kick it off! Nothing like a field trip on the first day of school.

For those of you who are interested in school type stuff we are using Tapestry of Grace, Year 2 for history/literature/worldview/church history
Apologia Astronomy for Science- LOVE IT!
First Language Lessons for T & R
Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading for T & R
A Reason for Handwriting for T & R
Taylor is using IEW for writing. They have a Medieval ages writing curriculum that goes nicely with our Tapestry.
Trev & Tay are using Teaching Textbooks for Math and Rylee is using Horizons K

Pictures of our salt map, scrolls, castles, knight drawings, and solar system to come :)

Happy Birthday Alexie

2011-10-11T06:49:00.000-07:00

Oh my sweet baby Alexie.... how can it be true? How can you be one already?!?! You have brought your mama and family pure joy this year. I tear up thinking about how much love I have in my heart for you. How your very presence has INCREASED my joy for your brother and sisters. Seeing them love on you, make you laugh, care for you makes my heart soar. And oh how you love them!! You love your mama too :) You show it by crying anytime someone tries to take you out of my arms. You are on the verge of walking, a few steps here and there. A whole new world is going to open up to you this year. I praise God that in his goodness, even when I thought we would not have anymore children, he surprised us with you! You are loved.

Happy Birthday Alexie Jane!

Pray for my friend Cari

2011-10-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

Chris and I have become good friends with another pastor's family here in the valley. Josh is the Pastor of Trinity Bible and he and Chris study most every Saturday night side by side at the local McDonalds together. I have been blessed to meet and get to know his wife Cari this year! Two weeks ago she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Being a friend, so close in age, a mom, a fellow pastor's wife, the news hit me hard. I'm so grateful for the promises in God's word to surround ourselves with when trials come. I have been inspired by Cari's evident faith in him as she is processing the news and beginning her fight. One of the things I have always loved about Cari is she is real. She says it how it is and speaks her heart. Her blog is no different. Take a look at it as you join me in praying for her! You will most definitely be encouraged by her genuineness and faith!

Cari's Blog

Last weekend she asked me to take some family pictures for them before she began Chemo. They told her she would start losing her hair within a week or so. These pictures are just beautiful... not because of me but because of what they represent. Take a look!

Tara D Photography

Remembering Grandma

2011-09-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Back in June I flew to Ohio to attend my Grandma's memorial service. I'm so grateful to my parents for making this trip possible. Taylor and Alexie came along, as well as my brother and his little guy Austin. We survived the flight with flying colors, no pun intended. Two babies in tow and a heart patient with circulation problems in her legs. We were quite the group. My dad & Taylor had to hold us all together :) I know so many of you prayed for my mom. God answered all of our prayers, her health really held up while she flew and the busyness of the weekend. It took her awhile to recover once we got home. Heck it took us all awhile to recover when we got home.

It was a jam packed weekend filled with laughter and tears. One thing is for sure the Jones' know how to eat, drink and be merry. Ha. It was a party morning, noon and night. My dad's Uncle Stu & Aunt Jane hosted us for practically every meal. It was such a blessing. Even greater we were able to sit on the patio and eat outside for every meal too! Something we were most definitely not doing back at home in AZ. Apparently we brought sunshine with us. I was ready to move to Ohio by the end of the trip! Simply gorgeous, large trees, rich lush fields, and the homes in Upper Arlington. Man oh man the character on these homes. You just don't find this in AZ. But less I forget my year in Maryland, I don't do cold. It snows in Ohio.
Well with that, here comes a plethora of pictures. I'm too tired to break this up into multiple posts.

I don't even have words...

Ever seen the show one born every minute. Yep that's our cousin. Or second cousin. something like that. He's a jones that I know. Dr. Jones. It's my sister in law's favorite show so we thought it would be great to et a picture of Ryan and Austin with him :)

Definitely missing some in this photo but it's a good portion of the Jones.

Ohio=fireflies. Do you know how cool it was to be there for Taylor's first experience with fireflies?! It was beautiful! I shed some tears. She LOVED it.

Time for Grandma's service. I am never fully prepared for the wave of emotions that flood me when I attend graveside services. Never. I am sobered. Reflective. That will be me. That will be all of us one day. I am grateful to be a Christian.

Grandma served in WW2 and the brothers were given an american flag. She also wanted to be buried near other veterans. Her country and her service to her country was very important to her.

I'm so glad Taylor was with me. She was not only such a practical help, but it was special having that time with her. She was able to meet Grandma JoJo a few times and has many letters from her. The last letter Grandma Jones sent to Taylor detailed how both of her parents were concert pianist and how excited she was to hear of Taylor's musical pursuits.

The graveside was in the morning and later that afternoon there was a party in remembrance of her life. Taylor helped my Uncle Bobby "get through" a poem Grandma requested be read at her service. The lighting was horrible for this shot and I dislike my conversion. But I did like seeing Taylor and Uncle Bob practice this. Uncle Bob saying ok right about here is where I cry so you take over :) Like he predicted, he cried and she took over.

This lady and her mom used to check on Grandma and bring her groceries when she was still living in her apartment in Ohio.

It was wonderful to see all the many people my grandma's life had an effect on. Even entering into her 90's she had such a great turn out! She truly lived her life out to the fullest to the very end. Talking to these older ladies with tears in their eyes I knew she meant a lot to not only me but so many. She was special. One lady said to me "Ruth isn't gone. She's here tonight in your daughter!" That made me happy. It's true. Watching my social butterfly going from table to table laughing and listening to stories. She does have my grandma's "life of the party" mentality.

Lexie was such a trooper. She hardly napped and barely slept. But she remained happy and smiley the whole time bringing a smile to many.

Austin Jones meet Austin Jones.

Ryan Douglas Jones meet Ryan Douglas. What can I say, we are a creative bunch :) Hey it's your job to keep up with the jones' not our job to be original.

So grateful for my Uncle Stu and Aunt Jane's hospitality! What gems the are!!

Austin loved Uncle Stu. He really took to him.

Austin also loves Lexie and Lexie loves Austin. This was a fun trip seeing the two cousins bound together! If I remember correctly these photo's were taking at 10:30pm. Yep troopers. They were slap happy at this point :)

Before we headed off to the airport we drove by my dad's house that he grew up in. The owner happened to be sitting out in his garage working. We walked up and told him we were just looking at the house because my dad used to live there. The guy was super nice and invited us into the backyard. My grandpa was the original owner. He designed this community and this was the last model to sale. My grandpa moved his family in instead of selling. It was fun to see the owner have these questions and my dad and Uncle Rick have answers as far as to why the home is designed the way it is and such. The original oil lamp post still sits out front. There's a lamp post at every street in this community and a good portion of them have been restored. The owner informed us he plans on restoring it as well!

This pictures says "tired" to me. You can see it in all of our eyes we needed sleep. I'm glad though that we could end our family trip before we headed home, here at my dad's old home.

It was a bittersweet goodbye. Ohio has always been my grandma. I'm not sure what would bring us back there again but I will always have fond memories of visiting my grandma there. Her taking us to the fourth of july parade and fireworks and her passion for the Ohio State Buckeyes :) Grandma this trip was not the same without you there. How you would've loved seeing all of your sons, grandchildren, great-grandchildren making memories and laughing together. You were missed there in Ohio and still missed today. We are grateful you are with the Lord and look forward to reuniting with you again one day.

Jesse, I mean Rylee, is five

2011-09-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

Well I continue to fall more and more behind in my personal blogging life. I'm finding there isn't much of a "personal" life these days with four kids, homeschooling, photography, church ect. But I am determined to get some of these posts that are lingering in my mind on the blog here soon.

First up. My sweet Rylee turned five August 17th. FIVE. FIVE!! When did that happen. She is starting kindergarten! My, I thought was going to be my last baby, baby is five. Oh how I love this girl. I really think she would be borderline perfect if it wasn't for her brother. He seems to bring out the sin in her... but hey that's what brothers are for :) No Rylee Grace is so full of grace. She is beautiful inside and out. Caring, compassionate, cuddly and we love her to pieces.

For her big five year old birthday party she wanted a cowgirl/jesse party. My friend Ruth, who makes everything I can't make, threw together a jesse outfit for Rylee in a night. That's right I said a night! Ruth she LOVES her new costume, thank you!

Hey there cowgirl!! You're FIVE now?!?!

Papa D dressed in his finest cowboy attire!

I couldn't get these girls to stay all that still for a picture...

But they are best buddies. Born a day apart, might as well be twins!

All the kids got "sheriff" badges and played a game of "sheriff" says. In Rylee's case it was "Jesse" says :)

Then they decorated their own tails for pin the tail on bulls-eye.

Apparently spinning them around five times and pushing them towards the target is a little much for age five.

Present time

This little one is next on the birthday calendar! AHHHHH!! Where does time go?!

Thank you to those who were able to make it and help us celebrate! And to those or you who weren't able to, you were missed but thank you for being apart of Rylee's past five years!

Carlsbad in Pictures

2011-08-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

So many memories to take back from this years trip.

Things we will remember fondly:

Watching Alexie take in the ocean, sand and sound of the waves crashing for the first time. She LOVED every minute on the beach!!

Remembering that it was this time last year we decided on the name Alexie Jane. How last year I was big and pregnant and now she's here. Adorable and healthy... PRAISE GOD!

Helping the kids learn to boogie board and see them go farther than any year prior into the ocean! SO FUN!

Having my husband around for TWO WEEKS!!

Trips to get frozen yogurt as a family.

Kids sleeping in to as late as 9am! Lexie too!

Due to their sleepign in... my early morning walks on the beach, listening to the new Matt Redman album, reading the word, sipping starbucks. Being alone :) Ah how I miss those mornings now that we are back home!

Playing cards with my parents and Ryan & Danae.

My nephew Owen saying, "B-EEEA-CH" to anyone that would take him out to the ocean.

Walks with my mom on the boardwalk and coffee with Danae. We FINALLY got that coffee date Danae.

Having my husband around TWO WEEKS!! (it's worth mentioning twice)

Seeing the kids play with their cousins AND second cousins.

Walking hand in hand with Taylor to get pedicures together on a mommy/daughter date.

Al's Cafe. Coconut Macadamia French Toast and Mickey Mouse Pancakes!

Taking walks through the town and watching the kids dance their heart out to live music being played.

Thanks to my friends at Radiant, my picture editing is finished up! Here's a video combining the photo's they took with the ones I have.

Carlsbad, Ca 2011 from tara daukas on Vimeo.

*the video may take a few minutes to upload

It's back to real life over here. We hit the ground running with Blackstone every morning this week. Have the closing banquet tonight. Now it's time to gear up for school and the fall church calendar. Lots to look forward to this fall.

Our Photo Session

2011-08-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

Back in May I saw that some of my photographer friends were going to be living and working in CA for the summer. I have always dreamed of getting a session done of our family on the beach. This tradition of meeting up with family in Carlsbad extends to when my mom was a kid. So on a whim I contacted Radiant and they just happened to be near Carlsbad on one of the weekends we were there. I talked through the details with my Dad and Ryan and we booked the session! We surprised my mom for her birthday.

I have always admired Radiant's work. Their stuff is seriously amazing! It was quite interesting being on the other side of the camera. The stress of "what to wear" the getting the kids dressed, looking pretty, trying to quickly do the same to myself! AGH!! I will have much more compassion for my clients after this experience :)

I am SO, SO happy with how they turned out! You can see their blog post with our preview here on their blog.

Thank you Scottie & Bre for your friendship and sharing your gift of photography with us!

Yum

2011-07-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

better

2011-07-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

on vacation for one more week!

My Life is but a Weaving

2011-07-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

My husband shared this poem in a sermon he preached on Sunday.

My life is but a weaving between the lord and me
I cannot choose the colors he worketh steadily
Oft times he weaveth sorrow
And I in foolish pride
Forget he sees the upper
And I the underside

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttle cease to fly
Shall God unrole the canvas and explain the reason why
The dark threads are as needful in the weaver’s skillful hands
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned

We just finished up a seven part series on the Life of Joesph. It has been outstanding and such a great reminder that God's sovereignty is ALWAYS working for the good of his people. He is always in control, always good, and always wise. Joesph sat in prison for TWENTY years waiting for God to move. Abandoned and betrayed by his brothers. Betrayed by Potipher's wife, forgotten by the chief baker. He sat and sat. And when the day came and prison was a thing of the past he stood face to face with his brothers, the ones who betrayed him and left him to die, he was eager to offer forgiveness. What an amazing story of repentance and forgiveness. Through it all Joesph trusted and clung to God's sovereignty. Oh I pray in times of waiting I will be found faithful.

Genesis 50:19
"But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good."

Here's the link to the sermons on Joesph.
http://www.gracechurchaz.org/media_library

Father's Day Trip

2011-07-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

After church on Sunday, Father's Day, we loaded up the car and kids and got away for a few nights in Cornville AZ. Where the heck is Cornville you ask? I did the same thing back in May when Chris took us up for a night for the first time. It's about 20 minutes from Sedona, Cottonwood and the ever so cool mining town Jerome. In Cornville, is this incredible retreat center. Their are mini hotel like rooms and one staff house. When the staff house is not in use the owner will rent it out to Pastor's and their families for a very reasonable rate.

So off we went! It's been a VERY busy spring and summer. Hence my lack of blog posts. The short time away was refreshing for my own soul and our family. We had a such a great time together.

Trevor has taken more to reading as of late. His favorite book is Danny the Dinosaur. He took his book out a number of times and went off to read. It was especially sweet when he went off with Daddy to read his book as Daddy read the word. Love this kid.

Chris' parents and his brother's family were coincidentally staying in Sedona for the week. We took a day and hung out with them in their Condo area.

Cousin Luke LOVES Alexie

Daddy, Papa & Trev played many rounds of croquet. Trev was actually quite good! Maybe another golfer will emerge in our family?

The cousins took some time exploring the creek. The same creek area that Chris and his brothers went off and explored as kids. Then the boys got in trouble cause the wondered away from Dad/Uncle Chris... ah good times :)

Little Lexie is growing up. She loves her tongue and her daddy.

And sometimes she is just so serious...

But she has great hair :)

Finally, the kids favorite thing at this retreat center... Winston the horse. Ok his real name Jolla, but the kids named him Winston. I like Winston better personally. The owner said the kids could feed him carrots. So they did. often.

Well, this trip away was just a foretaste for our extended trip that we are gearing up for. TWO WEEKS IN CA! Oh I can hardly wait...d

Happy 11

2011-07-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better. It did. And it does. I am so unbelievably grateful for my husband. He has far surpassed any dream I had for what I thought marriage would be.

We laugh. We cry. Ok I cry and he listens.
We compete at games. He always wins. I let him. After 11 years I've found it's best.
We disagree. We have conflict. We talk. Talk some more. Pray.
Reconcile. Make up. I like that part.
We work hard. HE works hard. Hard late into the night and days serving the Lord and His church.
Then we rest. Sweet, blessed rest. And we recount God's goodness to us.
Four amazingly beautiful children.
For today, we are alive and healthy.
We are best friends.
We are married.
Thank you God.

Happy 11 years baby.

Taylor's Holes

2011-05-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

Taylor has been asking since her 8th birthday to get her ears pierced. Chris and I talked about it, talked with her and decided that if she indeed would face her fear of pain and get it done then she could do it. This was a huge deal. Taylor is not adventurous. She plays everything safe. How did I know she was mature enough to have her ears pierced? She was willing to subject herself to unknown pain. Albeit with a little trepidation. So off we went to Peircing Pagoda two days before her 9th birthday!

Taylor what do you think about getting your ears pierced?!?!

Remember that excitement. It slowly fades.

And it's gone.

Let the freaking out begin...

I reminded her that I was not going to force her to do this. That this was something she wanted and she had to put herself in the chair.

However I told her that if she didn't do it today, I wouldn't bring her back for a couple years.

Ok so maybe I helped "keep" her in the chair just a little....

See I was praying, not forcing.

Here we go 1,2...

First words out of her mouth... "that didn't hurt at all!!"

Oh the drama.

Not sure I, I mean Taylor, could've made it without our support system!

Thanks for coming friends! It was super helpful. Grandma Daukas we were sorry you weren't able to make it. You would've made us laugh for sure :)

My beautiful girl. She chose emerald flowers for her birthday month and I couldn't be more happy with her choice!

After the drama, I mean fun, we went to dinner with this guy :)

Ah these girls have been such a blessing in Taylor's life! Serious answer to prayer!

Thanks Aunt Danae for taking so many of these pictures. We love you Taylor!

Alexie- 7 Months

2011-05-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a little crazy around here. Well I guess when is it not huh? Alexie's 7 month mark just passed and I realized I never posted a six month update. So it's past time. She has grown leaps and bounds this month. She began the army crawl at six months and perfected it over month six. She is now up on all fours and gets faster by the day. The past two weeks her main interest is pulling up to standing. Today I heard her talking in her crib and came in to find her standing in her crib. My oh my she is keeping me on my toes. Definitely following the Trevor path for her physical development, who was walking by 9 months! Who can blame her when she spends large portions of her day watching her siblings move and dance around her.

I'm also happy to report that her funny seal like sounds and shrieks have turn into full on babbling. Lots of "mamama", "dadada" and an occasional "nanana" talk happening. I'm relived to know she isn't going to sound like a seal for the rest of the year.

Last but not least she loves her mama. She KNOWS without a doubt when I'm in the room and if there is a person holding her and I walk by, she gets all excited waving her hands and little legs around until I take her. There are times when she just cries with someone till I take her, then stops when in my arms. I don't mind too much. It's always nice to lay your life down for someone daily and be noticed :) Although I'm working on making sure she's not to spoiled.

There's a little Lexie update for you. We love you little peanut.

Grandma & Taylor

2011-05-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

My brother found this picture today. Thanks Ryan! Brings a smile to my face remembering this trip. I'm not sure who had more fun Grandma Jojo or Taylor.

Goodbye Grandma

2011-05-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

My Grandma's health has been failing slowly over the year and it became increasingly apparent this week that her time was coming to an end. She was rushed to the hospital again on Thursday morning only to awake and ask that no more intervention be done. Grandma was done. She was transferred to Hospice care and passed away this morning with two of her three sons by her side. My dad being one of them. I am grateful that the Lord gave us a few more days, as I was given a chance to write a goodbye letter to her on Thursday. I so wish I could have been there and told her in person but it wasn't the Lord's will. I'm am certain she got to read it and my dad read it to her again last night.

My Grandma was a reader of my blog and I feel like in sharing this letter, one will get a small glimpse into the wonderful lady she was. Truly to know her was to be impacted by her. I miss her already.

My Dear Sweet Grandma,
Well I have heard that you have decided “no more needles” Can’t say I blame you. You have suffered so much recently, needles, surgeries, and constant dialysis. I am grateful for how long you have fought to live but it seems as if I may not be able to see you again here on this earth and I still have a few things I want to say. I would call you but I fear I would be a crying fool and you probably wouldn’t have any of it. And heck you might just get fed up with my rambling and turn your hearing aid off. I don’t want to take that risk ☺
I wanted to tell you how much I love you. Hopefully there is no doubt but you have always been one of my favorite people here on this earth. Your smile lights up the room, your contagious laugh and upbeat positive attitude have always encouraged me. You are also one of the funniest people I know. I LOVE your sense of humor. Grandma you have always put others needs in front of your own. I am SO thankful that you came to my high school graduation and were there on my wedding day. Who in their right mind would ask their grandma to come to AZ in the middle of the summer to watch them get married. Wow. That’s a sacrifice ☺ I will forever be grateful that you were there to witness and celebrate one of the biggest days of my life.

I know you haven’t had it easy. Now a mom of four, my respect for you has only increased. I don’t know how you raised three kids, boys nonetheless, all on your own. What an amazing job you did too. Your boys are wonderful, caring men! My dad is also one of my favorite people here on this earth and I know his character reflects the hard work you put into raising him. I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to drop him off the curb so he could hitch-hike to AZ at 18. As a mom, I can’t imagine how hard that was for you! I am grateful for that hard decision as God’s hand was on my dad’s life. I know I would not be here had he not come to AZ let alone my precious children. God has known and seen all along the sacrifices you made for your boys. They will not be forgotten! I am eager for you to hear “Well done my good and faithful servant” from the Lord when he greets you in Heaven. And what a wonderful day it will be for you to be face to face before the Lord, knowing that you can only come into heaven because of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross for your sins, ALL of our sins. I often think back on my life and think of things I could’ve done better, things I wish I had done better and I am reminded that God loves me, not because I do good things, but because he sent his son to die for my sins. That is where my hope is placed. So fight off any doubts you might have Grandma! When God is your savior he will bring you home to him in his perfect timing. I already await the day where I can be reunited with you. I am so thankful that, for Christians, there is no permanent goodbye. I would be in utter despair if that was the case.
So Grandma I am praying for you. Praying you would not suffer much that God would give you peace and joy in Christ. Everyone in our church is praying for you. So MANY are praying for you. I love you with all of my heart Grandma Jones. Thank you for all the love and support you have given me all of my life. Oh how I will miss you but I’ll take good, good care of your great grandchildren and they will always know what a wonderful Grandma you are! And don’t worry our “spiked” tea party as a child will always be our secret ☺
Hoping in God,
Tara

"Think, Christian believer, of seeing your Savior, and beholding your King in His beauty. Faith will be at last swallowed up in sight and hope in certainty. Think of the many loved ones gone before you and of the happy meeting between you and them. You are not going to a foreign country; you are going home. You are not going to dwell amongst strangers, but amongst friends. You will find them all safe, all well, all ready to greet you, all prepared to join in one unbroken song of praise. Then let us take comfort and persevere. With such prospects before us, we may well cry, “It is worth while to be a Christian!” JC Ryle

Parenting

2011-05-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

Read this article today on the Gospel Coalition blog. I felt like Kevin stepped into our home and shared a real life example straight from a conversation with one of my kids. It made me laugh out loud. I really appreciated these words:

"I just know that the longer I parent the more I want to focus on doing a few things really well, and not get too passionate about all the rest. I want to spend time with my kids, teach them the Bible, take them to church, laugh with them, cry with them, discipline them when they disobey, say sorry when I mess up, and pray like crazy."

I couldn't agree more. I can read and study up on parenting methods/models but at the end of the day I want my kids to remember that their daddy & mommy loved Jesus with all their heart, not perfectly by any means, and that they deeply wanted their children to know and love Jesus too.

Check it out.

My Easter Babes

2011-04-26T22:34:00.000-07:00

I think I said something like, "Welcome restful April" in my last blog post. HAHAHA! Now that was a funny joke. Man life is crazy busy around here. But I'm busy with good things. Schooling the kids, participating in Grace Church life, making new meals, going on dates with my husband, occasionally attempting to restore some order and cleanliness back into our home. In all of this, I wouldn't change a thing. Especially my four little ones. Man I love them. I have enjoyed seeing how Alexie has changed the dynamics of our family. It has brought out such strength and new dynamics in each of their personalities. We are having a BLAST with her!

With some help from Nana I got the kids special outfits for Easter this year. Matching ones for Rylee & Alexie. Rylee was quite thrilled! I felt we were past due for some pictures of all the kids so I took them out the night before Easter for a mini photo session.

She was in rare form this night!

I had the brilliant idea of suggesting Trevor & Rylee getting a picture together. That didn't go so well. Rare form I tell you. I should have known better.

Trevor embraced the idea so sweetly. Rylee, not so much. "His hands are dirty!" He'll ruin my pretty dress!" Oh man. But what followed is some of the sweetest pictures.

Taylor comforted the big crocodile tears off of his face in such motherly fashion.
As we went to leave Rylee came around and asked Trevor if she could take a picture with him now. I did not pose these, just stood back and watched.

I'm so blessed to be a mother to these four sweet babies!

Smelling for Bats

2011-03-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

Somehow in the midst of this crazy season we find time to do school! Occasionally I take pictures just to have proof. ha.

Before pictures let me tell you about this new resource I'm using. Back in December I switched Math curriculum for Taylor. Yes mid- year. It was that good and the results have proved to be the right call. Singapore continued to be a challenge for me to keep up with and math seemed to be source of frustration for us every day. A friend led me to Teaching Textbooks. Everything is taught and instructed on the computer. She has a workbook with all the printed problems but they also show up on the screen. Greatest thing is it has automated grading. Also, if she misses a problem she can click a "see solution" button and it works it out right there for her. In addition it has a teacher's gradebook where I can she what she missed on each lesson, if she viewed the solution or not and her final grade. I was encouraged when I gave her the placement test that she scored a grade higher then her "official" grade level. After a hard year it was great to see I had actually taught her something :) She is loving this new program! Math is her new favorite subject. Never thought I'd hear those words come out of her mouth! On top of it all she's flying through the with full comprehension and a solid "A"!

Ok on to picture proof. Taylor has been working through a bat science unit. Last week she learned that Bats find their baby bats, "cubs" by scent. Each cub has it's own unique scent. Out of millions of cubs mama's can sniff their way through them all to find the one that's theirs. Crazy sense of smell huh?! So to drive this point home we took cotton balls, put about 15 different scents on each one and each kid picked one cotton ball to be their cub. Each one took their turn trying to smell their way to their cub while blindfolded. Ah fun times :)

How kind of you to think that I made this up all on my own... this came straight of our Apologia Science book :)

Teething Much?

2011-03-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

It's in full force around here :)

Pigtails

2011-03-29T22:56:00.000-07:00

This little girl is growing by leaps and bounds. Not so much in the weight category. She remains my little peanut. But she has fully mastered rolling, beginning to sit and continues to strengthen her "push up on all fours throw herself forward" move. Not quite crawling but on her way. She is such a joy. I am enjoying every last minute. Poor girl had a hard month. We began rice cereal and after a day or two she developed a rash. I didn't think much of it. I stopped the cereal as I wasn't sure if it was that or the antibiotic she was on for her ear infection. After it cleared I started again. On the second day a small rash came back and then I gave her a full feeding on the third and she awoke a couple hours after I put her to bed completely covered in throw up. It was so sad and scary. I gave her a bath and when I got her out she began throwing up again :( This began another cold virus and many sleepless nights. After fighting off the cold I thought I'd give a different cereal a try. Maybe rice just wasn't for her. I tried oats and sure enough a couple hours after bedtime I woke up to her crying and covered in throw up. Needless to say I am waiting for her six month appointment before I try anything else. We will see. This is a first for a daukas baby.

Aunt Danae suggested today that I throw her hair in pigtails! Good call Auntie. I think it helps control the craziness. It also makes her look older which I'm not sure I'm ready for.

35.

2011-03-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

March was an insanely busy month. I knew back in December when I said yes to two fairly big commitments that I was in for quite the month. As always, I ask for input from Chris before I say yes to anything. He helped me process the decisions and I said yes. I began the month shooting my first wedding! That's right FIRST wedding. What possessed me to say yes I'm not sure. I think it was the desire for experience mixed with them knowing it was indeed my first time shooting a wedding on my own. The anxiety leading up to the wedding kept me up at night and on my knees. Ha. At times I questioned my sanity in saying yes to such a task. But low and behold the day came. I think I rocked the wedding and had SO MUCH FUN! Serious fun. Then I slept for a day :) I'll post a link here once I get a preview up on my blog. I then had a week to recover from the wedding and then came the second commitment. Leading three worship sessions for a Woman's conference being held at our old church in Gilbert. This one produced a lot less anxiety as I feel like I've played piano and sang my entire life. Still, it took a good chunk of administrative work on my part. Honestly though, once I had decided on songs, playing and meditating on them feed my soul this month. I truly worshiped as I prepared. Then I worshiped as I lead worship this weekend. Ah, it too was so much fun! It also gave me a little insight into my husband's world. I was so exhausted emotionally and physically when I got home!

What often kept me going this month, other than the sheer grace of God, was a special date I had on the calendar. A date I had been planning, to celebrate this guy.

I love him. He had his 35 birthday last week and after what an amazing support he was to me this month, I couldn't wait to celebrate him. His life, how much he has grown in the Lord and the amazing husband and father he is. I couldn't wait to celebrate all of this! I had done some research trying to find a new place to take him. We haven't had many opportunities to explore the west side where date nights are concerned. So with some help from my neighbor friends we seriously scored on an awesome new restaurant. It was a bit of a drive from our home and by the time we got there it was PERFECT! Atmosphere, food, we felt far from home but not to far to be able to drive back. We sat on the patio as the sun set and the weather was perfect.

What he didn't know was that, what I was working hard for this month was in part to buy him this:

He was so surprised! It was awesome and it brought me great joy to bless him with this unexpected gift. But apparently everyone in America wants one of these right now, so he has to wait a few weeks for it to ship.

Goodbye March. You were unbelievably exhausting but fun. Welcome restful April :)

Kind of a big deal.

2011-03-15T12:06:00.000-07:00

It's true.

Alexie- 5 months

2011-03-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

Lexie you have brought your family more joy than I even knew existed. You are growing up way to fast. I love seeing the wonder and curiosity in your eyes as you take in new things. I know you are going to be smart like your brother & sisters. I love the way you laugh and laugh when you are tickled and it seems the more overtired you are, the funnier everything seems to be. I love how you can take in new faces quite seriously but just a glimpse of one of us and you are all smiles. You have become quite the explorer, rolling every which way these past few weeks. I am anticipating your crawling in the very near future as I observe you pushing up to your hands and knees. We can't take you anywhere without someone commenting on all the beautiful hair you have. After your bath your big sister Taylor has taken the role of "styling" your hair just right then your mommy loves to smell and kiss your precious head. It is hard to believe that half a year with you is just right around a corner.

Alexie Jane you are our little peanut and we love you to pieces.

Trevor is 6

2011-03-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

I'm really behind on this post. A day after Trevor's birthday, February 16th, I went downhill fast. Highest fever I've had in years. Aches, chills, sweats, horrible headache. Ugh! I was miserable. Unfortunately the miserableness made it's way through the entire household. I think and PRAY that we are all almost through this nasty flu bug and can resume normal life next week.

Back to my boy Trevor.

My baby boy is not so little anymore :(

Last week Trevor turned SIX!

He is such an amazing little boy. Smart, caring, funny, handsome, athletic, imaginative, talkative. Trevor has taken a real interest in knowing God's word this year. It's been encouraging to hear him talk and get excited about things of the Lord.

I love this kid! Alexie loves him too. She adores Trevor and finds him quite entertaining. Just a few weeks ago Trevor was the first person, other than myself, to make Lexie laugh. Trevor has always had a way with the little ones and it's warmed my heart to see him use his gift on his littlest sister.

This has been the year of football for Trevor. Turning six, for him, meant Dad & Mom would sign him up for flag football. Here he is showing me some moves :)

I don't know much about football but I think he's got "star quarterback" all over his face :)

Buddy your mommy loves you so, so, much. I pray that God would save you. I pray that we can take all that passion, energy and leadership capabilities you have and train you how to use it all for God's glory and His kingdom!

Happy Birthday!

Friday's on Frank

2011-02-15T12:34:00.000-08:00

We live in an awesome neighborhood. I feel so blessed to live on this street. Chris and my desire has never been to shut our garage and live within the confines of our house. We desire the kind of neighbors that text you at 10pm to say, "Hey your garage is open." Or, "Your car door is open." and then about 20 min. later, "I just shut it for you." Something apparently we need :) We desire the kind of neighbors that concrete their side walkway to pull up their trash and say, "Hey feel free to pull up your trash on our walkway too!". And when a neighbor's brother passes away, all the neighbor's pool in to buy this family flowers of sympathy. We have all of this and more here on Frank.

There have been many "F on F" events over the past year. "Franks on Frank", "Fire on Frank" and no we didn't set things on fire just roasted marshmallows in a friends backyard. There's been ice cream socials and a cookout on Halloween. My favorite has been the weekly, "Friday on Frank". We meet outside around 4pm and let the kids ride bikes and play in the massive sandbox out front. The girls catch up on the past week and celebrate the weekend's arrival by drinking wine in fancy cups. This is a highly anticipated event in our household.

Here are some of the girls.

We have chosen to overlook the UofA paraphernalia :)

There have been four babies born from October through December! All boys except for Alexie.

Our fancy cups.

My favorite was the week we used Hello Kitty cups leftover from a birthday party. Hey it's what on the inside that counts right!

The kids have created something they call, "The post". The mission each friday is to find really cool items to add to this post. Anything from boards, cool looking rocks, my kids left scooters and nurf guns have been found in the dirt.
We've talked about planting a neighborhood garden in all this dirt but figured that's not something the HOA would appreciate :)

Houses are slowly creeping in us. More then likely this time next year our street will be built out. My children have often us asked me how much it would cost to buy this land so we could keep houses from being built on it. It's a devastating thought. We keep encouraging them that more houses means more friends to join us for Friday on Frank! Right guys? The adults will miss the dirt too.

I praise God for leading Chris and I to this neighborhood! I'm grateful for the new friends our family has made here on Frank Ave and look forward to seeing our kids grow up together!

These pink toms are just too cool to not post :)

My New Baby

2011-02-09T13:40:00.000-08:00

Recently I took on a new baby. This baby weighs something over 20 pounds. Solid metal. Still working on a name.

Maybe I'm just bored with my life. Feeling a little under challenged. Have to much free time on my hands. Ha! None of these are true and I feel TOTALLY crazy trying to pick up yet another new skill but it's something that has been on my bucket list for quite some time. After Taylor spent night after night sewing a pillow for Chris & I secretly in her room, I figured it was time to allow her to expand on her craftiness. I will not hold her back anymore! For my girls sake, I am going to learn how to sew. We are going to learn how to sew! My mom was very kind to pass on to Taylor and I my great grandmother's Singer machine. I took it in recently and was assured that with a little oiling this baby will be back to working like new. She's from the 1940's. I had to order the instruction manual from an old relic antique shop. Can I just tell you how proud I was when I learned how to "load a bobbin" for the first time?!?! It's just so encouraging to know I do have a brain and it will work, sometimes.

Pictures of Taylor's and I's first project to come. We've got it all cut out and ready to sew. Now to find the time TO sew :)

Grace Church- New Location Pictures

2011-02-08T21:28:00.000-08:00

We finished up our second week in our new location. It honestly couldn't be any better. Morning church is amazing. How I've missed it so! Also, we are reaping the benefits of being located in a neighborhood unlike our last location. We've had guests each week who came because they saw our signs. Awesome! The whole feel of the location is just better. I can't explain it. I can't wait to see how God is going to use our new place for His glory.

Our dear friend Luz was in town for our first Sunday and I handed off my camera to her to take some pictures for me. I always feel weird taking pictures during the service being the Pastor's wife and all. She can get away with it.

Our new location allows food! So we have a hospitality team that provides coffee and muffins.

Love this picture of him :) So proud of you. Really, couldn't be more proud.

One of the things that's unique to Grace Church is that we celebrate and take communion every week. I love remembering our Savior through communion each Sunday. It never grows old.

Closing the meeting with worship.

Thank you again for all your prayers and support! Planting a church is definitely a journey of a lifetime. We feel privileged to be on it.

Taylor's Fashion Design Experience

2011-01-31T18:11:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Taylor received two gift cards to Fashion Playtes. If you have a little girl who dreams up designing her own clothes THIS is the place to send her. It's genius. They can pick the style, color, add in appliques, roses, ribbons ect. They also offer doll clothes that you can make to match. Taylor was quite excited for this and declares it one of her best Christmas presents ever! The dresses arrived last week and she's worn it pretty much every day since :) Oh and she designed the matching headband as well!

Be sure to check out Fashion Playtes for all the little girls in your life!

My Three Month Beauty

2011-01-28T21:31:00.000-08:00

She melts my heart!

Disney On Ice

2011-01-28T20:57:00.000-08:00

Last week Chris' parents bought the whole Daukas clan Disney on Ice tickets. Cousins and all (missed ya Scott & Jess!). My kids have never had an "on ice" experience! They were unbelievably excited. Trevor woke his sisters up at 6am to start getting ready for the 10:30am show. Ha! Thanks buddy! As you can see I've figured out how to post pictures in a larger format. The new change has inspired me to blog again :) Here are some highlights from the morning!

Waiting in great anticipation:

Uncle Jeff bought all the kids cotton candy! What a guy :)

Rylee biting her lip in anticipation

The girls loved the princess' on ice!

At one point the audience was asked to scream. It was great to see Trev man obey. You too Jeff good job :)

Seriously though I love this kid. He is adorable.

I think all the kids favorite part was when the Toy Story 3 characters came out at the end. Rylee is convinced she's Jessie. She will occasionally ask we call her "Jessie".

This was the best shot I could get of Papa D & Henni with the kids. It could be because I was risking MY LIFE standing in the sea of walking people just to grab a quick shot! I think Papa D was distracted by Luke who wasn't all that excited about getting a photo with them.

The swarm of people died down and little Luke was more willing to let us get a shot of him with his cousins.

I wanted to grab one more on my way out. Rylee informed me when she saw this photo that she didn't smile because she was very, very tired.

Glad this girl is never to tired for a photo

Thank you to Papa & Nana Jones for taking Alexie so I could enjoy the show! And THANK YOU to Papa D & Henni for providing this memory! Love you guys!

Testing New Format

2011-01-26T08:49:00.000-08:00

We're Moving

2011-01-23T20:42:00.000-08:00

This week our church plant finished up it's last Sunday meeting at the Rio Vista. Chris has been praying for the past six months that something in the area would open up that would allow us to move the church meeting time to mornings. It's become increasingly hard to reach families in our area and even unbelievers with our 4pm time slot. It's just not the time you think of when you think church. But in our case it was all we had and all we could afford. The schools that were open were over double what we were paying. Which when you're a small church and financially tight it just wasn't an option.

As Chris prayed he became convinced that God was leading him to take the plunge. A few weeks before Christmas, Chris was working hard making calls and meeting with principals. Their was a school he was starting to settle on but the doors to meet there weren't swinging open. Back to praying. A day before the school let out for Christmas break he meet with another lady at a different school. This school wasn't in the Peoria school district but close enough to our location now that it warranted looking into. As he met with the lady and toured the school doors were being flung wide open. Not only were they eager and excited to have a church meet there, they were even willing to offer us storage. To top it all off they're prices for rent were significantly lower! So much lower that our move to mornings will now be saving us money each month!! PRAISE GOD! It was a wonderful Christmas present for Grace Church!

For more information on Grace Church and the new location feel free to check out our newly designed website http://gracechurchaz.org.

Thank you to those who pray for our church and inquire about how things are going. We'd still covet your prayers. Prayers for endurance for our core team. Man they work so hard and although we've grown some in numbers, not enough to take the burden off this original group. Pray for more growth if the Lord wills. Oh how we long to see people get saved through the ministry of the preached word and evangelism from the members of Grace Church. Pray for my faith to be strengthened. God is so good to us. We long to be his happy, joyful, servants willing to be used in any way He sees fit!

"To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus. Throughout all generations forever and ever amen."

A Hospital Trip

2011-01-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we had our first hospital trip with one of our kids. I'm not sure how we've escaped the ER this long but we have. On a Monday Trevor woke up with a fever and a bad cough. I tried to keep him away from Alexie but to no avail. He ended up coughing right on her face and, in a not so happy with him tone, I said, "Son if she gets what you get she'll end up in the hospital! Stay away please!" Tuesday Rylee was down, Thursday Taylor and by Thursday night Lexie was going down too. Friday morning she woke up completely stuffed up, watery eyes and a bad cough. Mid morning she had this coughing fit that lasted over ten minutes. I ended up calling Chris in tears unsure of how to get her to stop. We stood in the steamy bathroom with her coughing non-stop, crying and turning red. Chris called our Dr. to see at what point we should bring her in. They said right now. So off I went before lunchtime to the Dr. At first check her oxygen levels were low but improved as we sat her up more. The Dr. came in and said her lungs are clear but she wasn't liking what she seeing. She was kind and said something to the effect of I realize I'm sending a mother of four to the ER and this isn't going to be easy but I think it's best. I called Chris and both of us agreed with our kids sick we couldn't ask anyone to stay with them. So off I went by myself to the pediatric ER that's nearby.

Our Dr. had called ahead so I was able to bypass the waiting and went straight to a room. From there things happened fast. She was due to eat again and crying from hunger but was told I couldn't feed her because they had to do a series of tests on her one was suctioning out her nose and chest. It could make her throw up so it was best to not put anything into her stomach until they were done. The nurse came in with the machines and mentioned something about blood. I was already feeling faint from not eating all day so I made the hard decision of leaving the room while they worked on her. I knew it would be a long day and I had to stay strong. Not sure what good that did though as I was in tears outside her room hearing the machine and her cries. I prayed and thought of every mom I've known or read about who has gone through so much more then this one moment with their child and I thanked God for their faith and knew that God was near. As I went back in with my baby they had her hooked up to oxygen. They got a lot out and I could tell she was breathing better. Poor thing looked so exhausted. Her already red eyes from her angel kisses were even redder. I went to feed her and she refused. To traumatized. More crying, chest x-ray, eventually she crashed in my arms and slept for over an hour. Upon waking she was ready to eat.

I'm grateful for my friends that came to support, pray and even distract me during the waiting. Thank Deb, Janelle & Megan. Deb has nursing experience and Janelle is a nurse so it was so helpful having their knowledge in the room. Megan is one of those moms in the background of my mind that I mentioned early. She knows what it's like to actually lose a child. Her faith is AMAZING. It was helpful having her there too.

The preliminary tests for RSV and pneumonia came back negative. Praise God and it was determined she had Bronchiolitis. The doctor thought it best to keep her overnight for observation.

That night was long. I spent the majority of it watching her oxygen levels as she needed to stay above a 92% in order to not be hooked up to oxygen again. I'd watch it go from 100%, 95%, 92%, 90% *alarm goes off, then she'd go back up. She slept pretty decent through it all. I, not so much. There were poor babies crying throughout the night and their alarms going off. So I spent most of the early night hours praying for them and their mommies. At her midnight feeding she spiked a fever and I began praying for Lexie to get better. We woke in the morning with more stuffiness but I could tell she was feeling better. Her fever was gone and she made it through the night without needing oxygen. Hopes for home set in. After another round of suctioning, the Dr. came in and released us to recover at home. Praise God!

I'm so grateful for all the prayers that were lifted up for us! We praise God for his healing and I can say now a week later she is so much better. With all the kids finally well I guess it's my turn to be sick :) I'm grateful for the health I had to care for my kids while they were down. Time to go get some more movies!

Alexie's First Laugh

2011-01-08T19:52:00.001-08:00

Alexie more then made up for having a fussy week by giving us her first laugh! She gave me one little giggle and I had Taylor quickly grab the flip. Lucky us she did it again and gave us a little more.

I just love baby's laugh's they are truly one of my favorite sounds on this earth!

Christmas Moments 2010

2011-01-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

My kids were so grateful for every little and big thing they got. I was super proud of them! Trevor opened a gift from Taylor and it was a T-REX book she bought him at a garage sale. He opened it and ran over to give her a huge hug!

Taylor was working for weeks on a surprise gift for Chris and I. It is truly something I'll treasure for a lifetime!

She made, on her own, a "LOVE" pillow for Chris and I! So super sweet. I'm so grateful for my mom and my friend Deb who helped her along the way.

Taylor and her new doll Felicity.

Trevor sporting his 3D glasses that went with his 3D color explosion set.

Rylee got a webkinz jr. and a wooden tea set for Christmas. She saw fit to put the two together.

Rylee got some leggings from baby legs. She put this little outfit together herself :)

New Toy

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

A reminder I'm being watched

2011-01-07T11:24:00.000-08:00

6:00pm- Enter Chris.
6:01pm- Tara asks Chris what time do you need to leave for you next mtg? Chris says 6:30 why?
6:02pm- Tara leaves.
6:03pm- Chris says to Taylor, "Taylor now think like an adult for a second...."
(that's all she ever does so it wasn't hard) "Taylor think like an adult what would make mommy want to leave as soon as I got home?"

Taylor, "Well Lexie has been crying like ALLLLL DAYYYY and at one point mommy yelled "I just don't know why your crying!!"

Chris, "Say no more."

Taylor, "Oh and then Trevor & Rylee snuck a bowl of cereal and spilled right before lunch time and didn't ask mom".

Chris, "Say no more."

Taylor, "Then there was the spider...

Chris- "Say no more."

...that crawled out of the sheets you brought in from outside this morning. She kept trying to kill it with her shoe but it wouldn't die. I was like hand me lexie mom."

Chris- "Uh oh. Say no more."

Taylor- "Oh and right before you walked in Lexie pooped all over mommy and her brand new shirt. She had just taken a shower too."

Chris- "..." you get the point.

Wow I forgot how challenging, in midst of the joy, it is to have a baby again. I'm happy to say my 25 min. drive of crying, I mean praying, did me good and I had enough grace to finish the night off. Chris and I had a good laugh at how well Taylor was able to recount my day to him. A very good and sobering reminder that I'm being watched.

My First Christmas

2011-01-02T10:54:00.001-08:00

Wish I could've done this for all my kids first Chrismtas'!

click to view larger.

Snow!

2010-12-30T14:19:00.000-08:00

Yes we've seen snow before... and yes my daughter is barefoot :) but never have we seen snow here in the AZ valley before! We were quite excited today to have a few mintues of snow flurries! Trevor ran outside and shouted "THANK YOU GOD! THANK YOU GOD!" over and over.

Yes thank you God for blessing us today with your amazing creation! Pictures to come.

My Favorite Christmas Gift

2010-12-25T13:20:00.001-08:00

To think she wasn't even a thought in our minds last year and now we can't imagine life without her!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T20:42:00.001-08:00

Celebrating the joy Jesus brings to real life! Merry Christmas!

Chris, Tara,
Taylor, Trevor, Rylee & Alexie

We Call Her Linus

2010-12-22T09:40:00.000-08:00

Rylee is quite the piano genius. This past year she will sit down, make up a song on the piano, name it and remember it days later. It's a beautiful thing. She wrote a song for Alexie and EVERYTIME she starts crying she plays her song "Baby Sleeping". With blue blankie always by her side, we call her Linus.

2 Month Smiles

2010-12-13T07:12:00.000-08:00

Alexie is loving life these days. Lots of smiles and coos coming from her! Just this past week she's fallen into a real nice 3 hr schedule, finally sleeping in her crib and giving me longer stretches at night! Yeah for sleep :)

Family Night

2010-12-09T17:11:00.000-08:00

This week we had a family night with my parents and brother's family. My sister in law made this awesome wild rice turkey soup for dinner. Recipe please Danae! Afterward we loaded into the cars and drove to downtown Glendale to view and walk the lighted streets. It was beautiful, and free. On one part of the street the city had decorated a large tree with christmas lights and synced it to music. The kids loved this! My 2 yr old nephew got out and danced the night away with his cousins. Trev man was putting on quite the tap dance show, minus the tap shoes :)

It was dark and I mostly had a baby in my arms but I did manage to snap a few pictures.

It wasn't that cold... she just had to go potty :)

Friends

2010-12-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

Our dear friends had a baby three weeks before us. Last monday they drove up and spent the day visiting.

We hope they get married one day :) f

Siblings

2010-12-09T07:14:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post these photo's for some time now but life just keeps moving full speed ahead. Hoping to do some updating here this weekend.

Lexie lou is so loved by her siblings. She just adores them!

She's wrapped in the blanket Taylor made her. Oh man what would I do without Taylor?!?! What a gift she is.

I love seeing Trevor's "sweet and sensitive side" with Alexie.

Rylee smothers her, literally, with constant love :) Lexie's expression here just cracks me up.

Thankful

2010-11-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

So much to be thankful to God for this year.

How I love my little people

To God From Trevor

2010-11-24T14:42:00.000-08:00

Found this while cleaning up the school room this week. Precious.

*click on the picture to view larger

6 Weeks

2010-11-24T14:41:00.000-08:00

Oh how I love her.

1 month

2010-11-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

This little beauty is one month old today. Time is flying too fast... I don't want her to grow up.

My almost 10.10 Baby Birth Story, Part 2

2010-10-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

We arrive at OB/Triage around 12:15am. On our 15 minute drive Chris and I had pretty much sent a text out to everyone we know. This was the real deal. I'm led to a room where my first nurse says to me, "Ah, you just missed 10.10.10!" I say something nice back like, "Wow you're right. I hadn't thought of that at all today. THANKS!". They do some sort of test to see if my water really had broken. Apparently there are crazy women who come in and lie about their water breaking hoping they can stay, so telling them your water broke is not enough. I try to get comfortable in my temporary room, start dreaming about what my little girl will look like and the nurse returns and says,

"Well I'm not sure. The test is inconclusive. I even had another nurse look and neither one of us saw any fluid. I'm going to have to run another test that's more accurate."

My heart drops. I start questioning my sanity. Again. All I know is I'm not going home. With all the calls we had made there's no way on earth I'm calling them back to say I was wrong and maybe I peed on myself. NO WAY! She leaves, I cry. It didn't help that just a couple hours early some man friend of Chris and I's jokes with me about my prior hospital trip and says, "Haven't you had three kids before? Don't know when you're actually in labor?!" That's running through my mind over and over as she takes another test. I was supposed to hear back in 10 minutes but God, fully aware of my declining emotional state, had her come back after two. I wasn't crazy after all. We were having a baby today.

It's 1am and I'm wheeled upstairs to my room. Time to start the penicillin drip. My contractions were coming consistently and they were painful but the penicillin made my arm burn and hurt to the point where I wasn't sure what I'd be getting an epidural for first. Chris at this point has gone completely downhill. We were quite the pair. Once we were settled I released him to go to sleep. I think he was already asleep before I gave him permission. He was out. Drugged. Occasionally he would wake up and sneeze a bunch of times, check if I'm ok, then fall back to sleep. The nurse at this point left me alone. Our room was dark and I sat breathing through contractions by myself for a few hours. I was so thankful that I had put together a playlist of songs for my labor. The songs were my friends, reminding me of God's truth, comfort and that I was not alone, despite how I felt. Eventually, all the wires attached to me, the increasingly painful contractions, my sick husband asleep on the couch, got the best of me and I was done. I woke Chris up crying asking if I could call someone else who wasn't sick and drugged to come sit with me and help me through. I couldn't do this alone anymore. I was dead serious. His response, "Why don't you get the epidural." Oh how we laugh about this now. I didn't laugh then. I heard it as, you don't need support, you need an epidural. Not quite how he meant it. The nurse, who Chris and I affectionately call, The nurse who saved our marriage, walked in. It had been a few hours since I was checked. 6 almost 7 cm and fully effaced. She offers the epidural and I decline. My amount of pain had not increased to the point where I was no longer afraid of the epidural. I'm weird I know but I can't stand the thought of the epidural. With each one I've ended up no longer caring about my fears and wanting it. I wasn't sure I was there yet. She sat on my bed, put her hand on my leg and reminded me that my time to get the epidural would soon pass and in her opinion if I want it, now's the right time. I listened. By the time it took the epidural man to get to my room I was truly ready! You forget that they are not just stationed outside your door waiting for your word. It takes them at least a half hour to get there, set up, get it working. The fear was gone.

Rest. It was about 6 am. I could relax. At least half of my body could rest. The other half was doing better but I didn't end up with a completely successful epidural. I no longer hated the IV's and wanted to rip them out. I lay my head back and close my eyes and in a matter of minutes awake to hammers, nail guns and all sorts of construction equipment. The hospital was undergoing some construction and they chose the room beneath mine to begin in. It literally sounded like someone was shooting a gun up into our floor. No rest for the weary. The nurse comes back and I'm at 9. Lights on, nurses of all sorts start coming in and prepping the room for baby. Happiness and excitement creep in. My doctor comes and pushing begins. I'm told one more push and BANG, HAMMER, BANG. The doctor and nurses look at each other in disgust and disbelief, like where are we?! I'm laughing. Alexie is born. Those were sweet moments. I was so happy to have my beautiful, healthy, baby here. I counted her fingers and toes. She looked like every one of our other kids when they were born. But she's her own person. The kids came in shortly after and our family was all together. I had looked forward to this part for nine months. After a little while everyone headed home and I'm wheeled into a very small recovery room.

Recovery. I'm greeted by an older nurse who literally won't stop talking. Granted I haven't slept in 24 hrs but even my husband who had slept was in disbelief at her candor. She rattles off a list of things I should and shouldn't do now that my baby is here. She begins with,

"Don't sleep with your baby. Just last week a mom slept with her baby and rolled over on her and suffocated her."

WHAT Did she seriously just say that to me... I wonder.

She continues on, "Also don't fall asleep holding her, I had a girl do that too and she dropped her baby on the floor and he had a concussion.

She continued on for what felt like eternity. Telling me things like, use an emery board not nail clippers, and never use formula because it takes over 8 weeks to get out of their system. Chris and I had already talked about having the nursery give her a bottle that night so I could get some rest. It was unbelievable. I was so happy when 7pm rolled around. I sent Alexie to the nursery for some sleep and carpet cleaning began at 2am in the room next to me. 48 hrs. of no sleep. Because I was Group B strep positive Alexie had to stay in the hospital for a full 48 hrs. I asked and begged to go home but my pediatrician said no. Alexie had to stay. Therefore I had to stay. The last night and day Alexie continuously set off alarms. The little security foot tag kept slipping down. I'm grateful for the security but this got a little annoying. Especially since every time she set it off they'd come in, unbundle her, which always sent her into a fit of screaming, and then they'd tighten it back up. Which also sent her into a fit of screaming. By the time I got her calmed down and back to sleep the alarm would go off again.

I've never been more grateful and excited to return home from giving birth. Usually there's a little fear in me in adding another little one into life at home. Not this time. I knew there would be challenges but anything would be easier then the three days I spent there :)

So all of that to say... If I end up having a home birth with my next you will know why :)

My almost 10.10 Baby Birth Story

2010-10-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

*taken on 10.10.10

I knew it was it unreasonable. My due date was the 18th after all. I've never been more then a few days early with the other three, what's the likelihood of being a full eight days?! But nevertheless the desire was there. How fun it be to have our 4th child on 10.10.10, during our 10th year of being married! Imagine my excitement when I learn on the 7th at my dr's appointment that I'm 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced. That's a lot of progress from the barely 1 cm the week before. I saw a glimmer of hope. For three straight days I had cramping and contractions. Surely, I thought, they had to be doing something. I kicked into high gear mode. I walked miles and went up and down those stairs like nobody's business. I was given a chance for a 10.10 baby and I was going to take it.

Saturday night, 10.9-
A full day of contractions, increasing in pain, and well some "other" signs of labor happening and I put a call into my Doctor. This time around I tested positive for Group B strep and she wanted me at the hospital leaving myself with ample time to receive two doses of IV antibiotics with about four to five hours in between the doses. Being my fourth child there was no guarantee that we'd have that much time. My call resulted in another trip to OB triage to get checked out. Conveniently my parents were staying with us. We kiss the kids goodnight and drive away with our bags packed. Chris says something to the effect of "what happened to our agreement about not having anymore babies in the middle of the night?!" I never agreed to such a thing.

We were given a really sweet nurse. Man I was missing her when I was given Nurse Crachit the next day. She checks and I've effaced some more but still at a 3. Bummer. Given my other signs of labor, the contraction monitor, she does what every nurse does at this point. Sends me walking. I'm doubtful. If my three days of walking have done nothing, what's another hour going to do? But I wasn't about to give up. I walked & walked some more. And prayed. I wanted her to come in God's time way more then on a silly date. An hour passes and we walk back in. 3 1/2 cm. It's a half but no 4. She looked at me and said,

"I'm 50/50. I could keep you and get things going or send you home and let you get a good night sleep. I think you need some rest and I bet you'll be back her tomorrow in full on active labor."

That was good enough for me. Then she offered me a sleeping pill. Gosh I love this woman. She assured me that I'd wake up if I was in active labor but it would help take the edge off and let me sleep. I hadn't slept in weeks. I took that pill, swallowed it whole and that's the last thing I remember of the night. Oh there are some funny stories of getting me home, up the stairs and into bed!

10.10.10-
I wake up after 13 hrs of sleep. Have I mentioned how much I love that nurse? I wake up to nothing. Contractions are gone. Slightly defeated and to tired to walk, I eat something and go back to bed for a couple more hours. Somewhere in all of this I notice Chris going downhill with his allergies. Some friends picked up the kids for church and this time Chris slept for a couple hours. He awoke and we both felt well enough to join our church for the after church picnic. 7pm rolls around. I realize my 10.10 dream has passed. I was grateful for the much needed rest I had gotten that day and felt rest in my soul as well. She'd come when she was ready. I made plans for the remainder of the week with some friends to pass the time. We called it a day and headed up to bed. 11:55 pm I wake up my sleepy, VERY allergy drugged husband with, "My water broke".

10.11.10- to come later...

Alexie's Newborn Photo's

2010-10-24T22:57:00.000-07:00

I posted some newborn photo's of Lexie. But because I'm tired and don't have the patience to upload photo's to another blog I'm going to direct you to my photography blog to see her!

Oh there is still so much more I want to do as with Alexie as far as photo's are concerned but I'm thankful for that one day were I felt well and energized enough to take pictures. I'm still waiting for that next day to come :)

To view Alexie's Newborn Photo's click here.

Bringing Home Baby

2010-10-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

I've never been more ready in my life to go home. Home, Sweet, Home. I'll save my hospital experience for another post. But it involves jack hammers, saws, horrid nurses and carpet cleaning at 2 in the morning. None of which should be in a birth story. I was wheeled out of the recovery ward, down the elevator, through the long hospital floor, all the while Alexie screaming at the top of her lungs in my lap. The girl has a nice set of lungs. I believe she shared my sentiment with that hospital as she hasn't cried like that since we've been home.

We arrived Wednesday morning to three very excited kids! They insisted on wearing their big sister and big brother shirts that they wore to the hospital again. I told Chris with the birth of Taylor that for whatever reason coming home celebrations were important to me. I can say this one was the best. The kids had decorated our driveway and pathway to our door with chalk drawings.

This one was a double blessing as Taylor and I have been working hard on her cursive.

Coming home with Alexie was much different then the others because the kids are older. A far cry from when I brought Rylee home to a 15 month old & 4 year old. It was madness back then. Fun. But this was so much different. It has been so peaceful here at home. Each kid has surprised me with their gentleness, tenderness, their lack of fighting over who gets to hold her. And again their patience while they hold her. They have all surprised me with their longevity in holding her. I think Taylor has the record of 45 minutes.

We have so enjoyed this little girl. She is the sweetest thing. Since being home, she has hardly let out a cry. Of course she has a mom and three little people tending to her every possible need all day but she really has a sweet, peaceful demeanor. I can't believe it's already been a week since she's been in this world and on the other hand it feels like she's always been here. I am so unbelievably blessed!

Alexie Jane Is Here!

2010-10-11T21:03:00.001-07:00

After a whirlwind of a night, water breaking at midnight. Lexie was born at 8:58am 10.11.10, weighing 7 lbs even. She is beautiful, healthy and we are in love all over again. Thank you my love for your support and taking these beautiful pictures this morning!

Nesting & Waiting

2010-10-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

This past month has been quite exciting. In the midst of all my incessant nesting there have been a few hospital trips. One for bleeding and the other for Lexie's heart rate being to high at a routine check up. The girl was doing all sorts of crazy moves and her heart rate would spike up to 200 or 210. Fairly high! I was told I have one active girl. Both times we checked out ok and I was sent home. Home to wait. I can't say I particularly enjoy going to the hospital before it's time to give birth. Actually by God's grace something I've never done up until this pregnancy. But it has forced me to cast my fears and place my trust in God's sovereign care.

In addition to hospital trips there have been tons of sleepless nights. I know it's silly because I've done it three times before but I totally forgot how hard the last couple of weeks are. It takes me about 15 to 20 min. to get comfortable and by the time I get to that point I have to pee again :) I know it's all worth it. Which is probably why the aches and pains of the end are easy to forget.

A couple weeks ago my parents came up for a few nights. In addition to spending the weekend helping my brother and sister-in-law move into a new place, my dad spent another day helping Chris move beds, dressers and assemble the crib. What a servant! My mom and I had a grand time decorating! After contemplating how we should arrange the rooms, on my many sleepless nights, we settled on moving Trevor & Rylee together. It was a risk. Put our bad sleeper with our best sleeper. So far it's gone great. And our bad sleeper has slept better having his sister in his room. Praise God! Plus it's helped me sleep a little better having some of these things done. Just a little.

Alexie's room is ready and waiting. We all are.

So excited to meet you little one.

My Girls

2010-09-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

Can't wait to see what the next Daukas Girl will look like...

Forever

2010-09-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

Chris was looking through some training material and found this from Tim Chester.

• Your suffering and your shame are for a moment. Your reward is forever.
• The location where you live now is for a moment. The place where you will live is forever.
• Your temptations and your sin are for a moment. Hell is forever.
• Your pride and your achievements are for a moment. God‘s glory is forever.
• Your career is for a moment. God‘s "Well done, good and faithful servant" is forever.
• Your love life is for a moment. Your union with Christ is forever.
• Your home now is for a moment. Your home in your heavenly Father‘s house is forever.
• Your money and possessions are for a moment. Your heavenly treasure is forever.
• Your bank account is for a moment. Your heavenly inheritance is forever.

It is good to remember what is fleeting and what is forever.

Follow Me

2010-09-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

"And they follow me." John 10:27

We should follow our Lord—as unhesitatingly as sheep follow their shepherd, for He has a right to lead us wherever He pleases. We are not our own, we are bought with a price—let us recognize the rights of the redeeming blood. The soldier follows his captain, the servant obeys his master—much more must we follow our Redeemer, to whom we are a purchased possession.

We are not true to our profession of being Christians—if we question the bidding of our Leader and Commander. Submission is our duty—but caviling is our folly. Often might our Lord say to us as to Peter, "What is that to you? Follow you Me." Wherever Jesus may lead us—He goes before us. If we know not where we go, we know with whom we go. With such a companion, who will dread the perils of the road? The journey may be long—but His everlasting arms will carry us to the end.

The presence of Jesus is the assurance of eternal salvation, because He lives—we shall live also. We should follow Christ in simplicity and faith, because the paths in which He leads us—all end in glory and immortality. It is true, they may not be smooth paths—they may be covered with sharp flinty trials—but they lead to the "city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." "All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant."

Let us put full trust in our Leader, since we know that, come prosperity or adversity, sickness or health, popularity or contempt—His purpose shall be worked out, and that purpose shall be pure, unmingled good to every heir of mercy. We shall find it sweet to go up the bleak side of the hill with Christ; and when rain and snow blow into our faces, His dear love will make us far more blessed than those who sit at home and warm their hands at the world's fire. To the top of Amana, to the dens of lions, or to the hills of leopards—we will follow our Beloved. Precious Jesus, draw us—and we will run after You!

Spurgeon, evening, 9.18

A Shower for Alexie

2010-09-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my friends from church threw a shower for Alexie. It was very special! Walking in one could tell a lot of thought and planning went into this. We started with a delicious dinner. Then it was on to dessert & presents. Taylor was so cute while helping me open presents. I am so thankful for all the gifts but Taylor's shrieking and excitement over every sock & girly thing was precious. After presents they spent time encouraging me in this next season of four kids with scripture and said such kind words. Makes me wonder if they really know me :) Afterward they had picked out a few worship songs they knew were my favorite and we all sang together. I so enjoyed seeing all my new friends and a few of my lifelong friends in one room. Also, Taylor had so much fun with her friends that came with their moms. It was another picture to me of how God has been faithful. I love our church and the group of ladies God has given us. I could see spending the rest of my life learning from them, raising our kids together and bringing Glory to God! I pray that would be his will for some of us!

Here are some pictures from the evening. Most of them are taken by my friends Megan & Sarah.

One my dad snapped before we left my house.

A friend who has been through the anticipation of all four daukas kids. Love you friend!! Thanks for making the hour drive in traffic to be with me! Means so much!

Taylor made all sorts of gifts for Lexie with those who are talented in ways I am not. She made a blanket with Deb and some burp cloths and a onesie with Ruth! Thanks girls for teaching Taylor and helping her create such special gifts!

The awesome cake my friend Ruth made. The pink doesn't really show up in this picture. By this time the sun had long gone down and the lighting wasn't all that great. But it looked and tasted sooo good :)

Hard to read on blogger... but the sign when you walked in was handmade by Sarah and spelled out Alexie Jane.

Sarah had hand painted this tree for Lexie's room. It matches the colors in her quilt. My friends all put a fingerprint in pink paint and by it wrote a verse for her. I loved this idea and will treasure this painting!

They knew both my mom and I needed to keep our legs up when sitting due to our vein issues. Ha. Like mother, like daughter! Ah my poor legs... they are barely holding up and seem to look worse with each passing week. Almost done legs!

Finally my friends know how excited I am to take newborn photo's of my own baby girl. So they decorated the gift table with different things that could be used in taking pictures of her. So thoughtful!

Thank you so much dear friends for blessing me in such a way! I feel so loved. Now I just need my girly to arrive :)

Happy 1yr Grace Church

2010-09-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we celebrated our church plant's one year anniversary! Wow... so hard to believe a year has passed already. I've enjoyed the chance to look back and think of all the ways God has been faithful to us. Faithful to me. My fears, my doubts, my own selfish heart. God has been faithful to meet me and lead me through it all. The northwest valley is home to me now.

Last week we had our Daukas Community Group night. It is one of three our church has right now. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and encouraging one another in God's word. I looked around the room and was struck by the fact that not one of these couples were with us a year ago. The group split a few months ago and is getting large enough to multiply again. All full of people that I didn't even know existed a year ago and now are dear friends! That amazes me.

Chris and I were also marveling at how these days needs arise in the church and before we even have a chance to meet the need, it has already been met by someone else in the church! The people the Lord has added to our number are solid believers who get the Gospel, get evangelism and get living life together. It has far exceeded our expectations!

This past Sunday we celebrated by changing things up a bit. We rolled out a new logo and signs. The Lord brought a couple to our church a few months ago and the husband is a gifted graphic designer. He has been eager to use his gifts to help Grace Church and did an outstanding job with the logo. A new website is also on it's way.

Chris had invited all the past visitors to come back and join us for our 1 yr celebration. MANY came. The Pastor's from our sending church in Gilbert came with their wives. It meant a lot to me to have some of my dear friends come and meet some of my new dear friends and it also gave Chris the opportunity to thank and honor the Gilbert pastoral team for their faith and sacrifice in planting our church.

Chris preached an outstanding message on Ephesians 2. It was clear, compelling and perhaps one of his best of the year. After the meeting we served dinner on the back patio. It turned out to be a beautiful night weather wise! We rented a couple bounce houses and did face painting for the kids. That was a huge hit! People stayed and talked late into the night. Basically till we had to kick them because the Rio Vista was closing :)

Thanks to all for your prayers, support and encouragement to Chris & I. We are so excited to see what year two holds for us all!

Alexie Jane

2010-08-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't had the time to finish out my vacation posts but something big did happen in Carlsbad. We decided on a name for our baby girl! Chris and I have gone back and forth on quite a few names. We had it in our minds that it would be fun to tell the kids and family in Carlsbad! But alas on the drive out there we were still undecided. I had brought a baby name meaning book and scoured it while we were on the beach. Towards the end of the trip my parents graciously gave us a date night out and even kept the kids overnight at their condo! We had a gift card to the Chart House and enjoyed one of the best meals of our lives to date. Seriously good. I still think about that meal lol. The restaurant overlooked the ocean and we were given ocean view seats and watched the sun set. It was very romantic! While there we began discussing names again and we stumbled upon one that stuck. When Chris said it, yes it was Chris' idea, I knew we had a name.

He threw out Lexie or Lexi... depending on how you spell it. I loved the sound of calling our little girl Lexie and I also loved how it flowed with our other kids names. Taylor, Trevor, Rylee & Lexi. We've gone back and forth on the spelling and what her full name should be. We've settled on Alexie Jane.

Alexie-greek for defender.

My pray is that one day she would become a defender of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Our last night there we were able to tell the kids and their response was awesome. Particularly Taylor's. I think she almost cried she liked it so much. We've brought her in on a few other name ideas here and there and her response was less then enthusiastic :) I knew whatever we picked she would grow to love but it was warmed my heart to see the kids so excited. Naming her and sharing the name with our children has made this little girl and her impending arrival seem so real. That and her amazingly strong kicks each night from 10pm-midnight :) So they have stopped calling her violet and she is now Alexie to them. It's taking Trevor a little longer and he's calling her Alex. At least it's a step in the right direction.

Since our kids know, it only makes sense to bring the rest of our friends & family in on the name! They're not exactly great with keeping secrets.

While waiting for our table at the Chart House Chris took these pictures of me & Lexie. They are a little outdated at this point since I've grown a TON since these were taken. But I'll treasure these pictures knowing it was the night the Lord gave us a name for her.

School is in Session

2010-08-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

Last week we had our first day of school! We started the morning off with chocolate chip pancakes and I had bought them all special lunches.

They have been asking for these for some time now and I keep telling them it's not cost effective. I made an exception for this day. Well actually I had a coupon. Regardless it was a hit.

This year we have a 3rd grader

A KINDERGARTNER! Wow my boy is starting school.

And preschooler, mostly doing kindergarten, Rylee.

I'm excited about this school year. Lots of fun field trips planned. Our P.E. group will be starting back up in September and for the first time ever I feel like I have a good handle on what we're doing. I expect that all to change in the next 7-8 weeks with a newborn :) The Lord's way of keeping me humble. For the time being I'm going to enjoy and soak in these next few months of following a schedule and pray some of it sticks when baby arrives.

As a side note for my homeschooling friends... if you haven't seen the Pioneer's Woman's blog on famous homeschoolers, check it out. It makes me feel a little less crazy. Just a little. Also, I couldn't agree more with her that homeschooling is not for everyone. Some days I question whether it's even for me ;) But for now this is where God has us and we are grateful to live in a country that lets us decide what's best for our family!

So happy school days to all my friends who's kids are back in school. Public, charter & homeschool. May God grant us all wisdom & grace to shepherd our children's souls through another year!

4 Years

2010-08-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that my baby is four. It has been four beautiful, delightful, joy filled years with Rylee Grace. Her middle name describes her and what she has been to our family. Grace. She is the sweetest little girl. Compassionate, puzzle genius, loves to make up beautiful songs on the piano, will make you laugh during "Go Fish" and after a long day she just wants to cuddle with her blue blankie and anyone that will hold her.

Sweet Rylee I can't imagine life without you. You are a gift to this family!

Days in CA

2010-08-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

I have a few more pictures I want to share from our trip. Trying to make up for lost time on this blog :)

While in California we took a trip to the Fish Market in San Diego and got caught up with some old friends. These friends live in AZ but it seems like since we vacation at the same time we often catch up with them in CA.

While waiting for them and our reservation we took a few pictures. These are a few of my favorites from the whole trip...

We like to eat on vacation. Lots. There are great breakfast places around Carlsbad Village. We took the traditional walk to the Donut Shop and also ate at Al's Cafe! Another favorite if you ever in the area. Their coconut macadamia nut french toast is to die for :) Now I've got you craving coconut macadamia nut french toast. Or maybe now I'm the one craving...

And one of my absolute favorites of my parents with Rylee!

Lastly, one of the two older kids & I.

Trevor's Seashell Store

2010-08-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

My Son turned entrepreneur in Carlsbad. I always knew he had it in him. He's been obsessed with money since he was 2. After two days of endlessly searching and collecting seashells or pieces of seashells he decided to open up a shop. One morning we were out sitting on the common green area of the resort. There really isn't a better name for this place. We had finished up our family morning walk and grabbed some books to read. Trevor asked if he could set out all his shells on one of the smaller tables and look at them all. As he began to set them out he had the idea of opening a store. I was hesitant but Chris, being the good dad he is, encouraged him in this pursuit. Taylor made a sign and he waited and waited. Occasionally he would say "come to trevor's seashell shop" I was about to give up when lo and behold a customer came by. Apparently inspired by Trevor this gentleman gave Trevor a whole dollar for a couple shells. That was it he was hooked. For the next few days the routine went like this. Head to the beach, Trevor would search endless for shells and then set up shop the next morning.

Here he is negotiating with some customers...

The kid has a line!!! lol.

One morning we woke the kids up earlier then normal and took a walk on the beach. The tide was lower then it is during the afternoon making it easier to find shells. The whole family got in on the action.

Chris was proud of his find.

I liked mine the best :)

All in all I think he made like $20.00! Crazy huh? I was proud of the little guy. Proud of his creativity and proud of how hard he worked each day scouring the sand. And well thank you God for allowing him to see some reward. He was so darn cute I would've given him money myself if other's hadn't have come. He's been quite generous with his money too. He bought us all frozen yogurt and a few other things for his sisters at the toy shop :) Here's to seeing how God will use him in the future :)

Legoland

2010-08-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

I know you have nothing better to do with your day then look at my hundreds of Legoland pictures so I'll make it short.

We took advantage of the unusually cold weather for California in July and spent a day at a theme park.

We rode rides.

We navigated boats.

Some under parental supervision.

We learned the rules of the road. And took it very seriously.

We conquered our fears. Dad made us.

This seems to help in the conquering....

We also rode roller coasters. No picture for this though. It was taken on Chris' iphone which took a dip in the pool with Chris a few days later. In the spirit of keeping it short, pictures gone.

We sat by lego created men and touched their knees...

A Girl.

Bob the builder.

We stared in shows.

Had our pictures taken afterwards.

Some lines got long.

But it was worth it to get wet.

Ahem, for them to get wet :)

A picture just to prove I really was there.

After spending the entire day and evening at lego land walking miles we spent the next day doing nothing but this:

The End.

Back From The Beach

2010-08-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

We returned last week from an amazing 2 week vacation in Carlsbad, CA. It was the first time we have every taken two weeks for a vacation and let's just say it was glorious. Particularly for Chris. I found he was able to wind down from work by the end of the first week and then we had the second week to just relax and have fun as a family.

Lots of memories were made and of course more pictures then I know what to do with were taken.

First up: Beach

There's very little in life I find more relaxing then sitting on the beach, listening to the ocean, taking in it's vastness and breathing in fresh air. Every time we went down to the beach I found myself in awe of God and his creativity. Blue waters as far as the eye can see, waves that form just enough for humans to surf, but not so hard that they are crushed by them, shells for little ones to find, sand that sparkles like gold and at the end of the day a beautiful sunset illuminating it all.

The kids enjoyed the beach throughly. I'm thankful that they now instinctively know not to go to deep into the ocean, yet they aren't afraid to wade in the waters and play. This was by far the easiest year we've had taking the kids down to the beach. Chris and I took it all in. Reading, talking, listening to music while the kids played for hours. Next year will look a little different :)

more pictures to come...

Packing Tip For Kids

2010-07-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

This week we are gearing up for our annual trip to Carlsbad, CA. It couldn't have come at a better time either as it's a tad bit hot here in AZ. Thankfully we had a "mild" June and I'd say it's only been recently that it's been miserably hot. So with the lows in the 60's and high's in the 70's I can't wait to be on the beach for TWO WEEKS!

Something I started doing a few years ago, that has come in handy, was picking out individual outfits for each of my kids for the first 6 or so days of vacation. I place each outfit into a cheap ziploc bag. I also do a bag, or two, full or underwear and a couple bags for PJ's and one for toiletries. Not only does it make their little bags look nice and neat but I'm not having to arrange outfits for three kids every morning! And that's vacation :)

Happy 10 Years Chris

2010-07-06T22:50:00.000-07:00

10 years ago I married my best friend. Today he is that and so much more to me.

Through the joys, through the trials.
Through the conflicts, through the resolutions.
Through the changes and stability.
You are the one I want to walk it all with.

Life with you is half as hard but twice as good.

Here's a look back...

25 Weeks

2010-07-05T21:13:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe I'm a few weeks shy of my third trimester! The thought of having another baby, a precious little girl baby, has sunk in and I'm can't wait to meet her. So far she's pretty chill, that or I've been too busy to notice her moving around. However, once I stop moving she goes crazy for about an hour. Usually her busiest time is from 10pm-11pm. Hopefully that's not a sign of things to come :)

We are still working on names. The kids have decided on Violet. I keep reminding them that they'll grow up and Lord willing have their own babies to name but this one is for Daddy & Mommy. We'll see, if we don't get a name quick she might forever be Violet to them!

The 4th pregnancy has proved to be the hardest on my body. Typically I get pregnant and can eat whatever I want without stomach repercussions. Different from my normal way of living. But this time my stomach was doing well until I got pregnant. So it's been quite the feat trying to figure out what I can tolerate. This coming from a girl who just finished two bowls of Fruity Pebbles :) It's been a good day. My legs also aren't happy with my pregnancy hormones. I've been resisting the thought of wearing the thick, tight hose that I've been told will help my pain. There's something about 115 degree heat and thick hose that don't seem compatible in my mind. If these next 12-15 weeks go as fast as the last 25 I know God will continue to give me grace to the end and this little girl will be so worth any temporal inconveniences! I would love prayer as I take my gestational diabetes test next week. I'm 2 for 3 right now. First two pregnancies I failed and with Rylee I escaped the diagnosis. It would sure be nice to be free from all the stress tests involved with GD and too not have to check my blood sugars a couple times a day again. Particularly since we are paying out of pocket with this one. Another opportunity to trust God! Thanks for your prayers and excitement in another little Daukas girl joining the world!

One Crazy June

2010-07-01T21:33:00.001-07:00

Well it's July 1st. Which means I survived June. There was so much going on in June. Lots to do and details that I wasn't sure would come together. Entering into it I had the thought of pulling the covers over my head and having someone wake me up when it was July. Instead I prayed, read the word and received much grace from God for a busy month. All with minimal meltdowns and tears :)

For the past six years Chris has been asked to lead worship for ADF's blackstone legal fellowship group. You can read more about who they are on their site. It's always been a wonderful experience and something we feel privileged to be apart of. It does make for a busy June. This year I was graced to be brought into the craziness in a way I've only done twice before. Joining the worship band. So that means, up at 5am for two weeks, out the door with Chris by 5:45 and home around 9:30. That's early in my world :) It was good though and there really isn't a better way to start the morning then hearing a devotion taught from God's word and after proceed to sing songs of worship for 30 min. It did my soul much good. And on a personal note I really enjoy playing and singing with this group of guys. Particularly my husband :) It takes me back to our old days of dating and early marriage. I returned home with three kids waiting and ready for my full attention and I often felt like all my creative energy had been spent. For this reason I'm thankful that Blackstone is a season and not my way of life.

In addition to Blackstone Chris has had the opportunity to help out another pastor in the area with a worship leading need. So Sunday's for June have been Chris leading blackstone worship, worship practice for this church and then on Sunday morning leading and afternoon preaching at Grace Church. One week we had blackstone in the mornings, a blackstone banquet one night, and then Chris and I leading worship for our friends church Sunday morning, home in time so I could practice with Grace Church band and then church that night. Much grace was there for that week :)

The blackstone band's wives:

The worship leader and me

The Blackstone band

After blackstone we began packing for Seattle. Chris left a few days ahead of me to get some time in with his twin brother and I met up with him on Thursday. Our dear friend Luz was getting married! I was asked to be her maid of honor and Chris officiated their wedding. We had so much fun this past weekend. Soaking up the 60 degree weather and making memories with friends!

Luz was the most beautiful bride! Seriously stunning.

She had each of us choose our own dresses with a few perimeters, ivory and cocktail dress length. Maybe in light of all I wrote above one will understand when I say I found my dress the day before I left. I had a backup but one that I wasn't super happy with. Ah the memories of dragging my kids into Macy's, Dillards, Ross, TJ Max & Kohl's while mommy tries on dresses. lol. It was nuts. I was nuts for doing it. There were a lot of ice cream, chocolate milk bribes and yes some sinning on my part. But Praise God I found a dress that worked with my growing belly, in my price range and worked with the other girls dresses as well.

If you know Luz, you know that she has to be one of the most creative, gifted, people around. I can't even begin to explain all the ways her wedding was different then anything I've seen. It begins with her creation themed ceremony. She has always wanted a wedding that would represent the 7 days of creation. So each girl was a different day. She had our friend Ruth make different headpieces that corresponded to each day's colors. For instance I was day 1. Light & Darkness. So my jewelry and headpiece was black and white. She also had a friend paint doors that represented each day. As each couple walked down they would reveal a door. The last person to walk down was Cole, representing Day 6. During the revealing of the doors there was a group of girls reading from Genesis and the music that we all walked down to was composed by her husband Cole.

Luz's friend and hairstylist had extra time to pin my hair back for me. I LOVE the result!

Here's a better pictures of my headpiece...

and I love how my friend Megan's turned out!

She made her bouquet by tearing out pages from St. Augustine's confessions and turning them into flowers.

There was no guest book, but rather a guest tree. A friend painted this tree onto canvas and each guest put their fingerprint and name on the tree.

She has been saving all the flowers she has received as a single women and once dried placing the petals into jars. As they left the wedding, their friends in the receiving line threw flowers from these jars! I LOVED that idea and just might have to start that for my girls!

After the wedding we went out with our friends Jeff & Ruth for some fresh seafood and a ferry ride. So much fun!

We arrived home on Sunday just in time to make Grace Church and welcome in July. July for our family means Carlsbad, California. We are all counting down the days!

Nancy Drew Party- The Mystery

2010-06-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

This was by far the hardest part of the party. I underestimated just how hard it would be. It was Thursday night, 2 days before the party and I still couldn't figure out who took Jada, why and how I was going to leave clues for the girls. How does one go about writing a mystery for 8 year old's to solve? At 11pm it came to me. At least most of it.

Super Sleuth School ended and I declared them all graduates and ready for their first official case. We reviewed the ransom note, I handed everyone a picture of what Jada looks like and began presenting the suspects. This was super fun. I had made up suspect wrap sheets the day before for Trevor, Rylee, the grandparents, Chris and one for Blackbeard. Blackbeard is a pseudo character that Chris will slip into every now and then with the kids. It's quite funny! In the suspect wrap sheet I put clues that I would use in the mystery. For instance, "Trevor's favorite stuffed animal is his dog Jimmy, who's blue with floppy ears." I said something else like "Rylee's favorite thing is gum, she'll often get into Mommy's purse and eat an entire pack!" True story.

After handing everyone a suspect list the doorbell strategically rang. On the doorstep was a note left for Nancy. Oh you should've seen the girls excitement! They grabbed their super sleuth kits and hit the family floor to open up the letter. Inside was a letter from a neighbor saying they had found part of a note and thought it might have to do with Taylor's missing doll Jada. Beforehand I had typed up a letter from the person who took Jada to the person he/she wanted to give Jada to. Then I ripped the letter into four pieces. The first part said something like

"Dearest sweetie-
I was in the homeschool room reading a book when the most beautiful doll fell into my lap."

All the pieces of the letter were typed in 4pt font. So the girls had to use their magnifying glasses to read it. The picked up on the clue to search the homeschool room. While in there they find Jimmy on the rocking chair! They remembered that Jimmy was Trevor's and Trevor, who was following them around, said he didn't do it. My goal was to lead them to Trevor's room. It took them a minute or two to think of that.

In Trevor's room was a pile of waded up gum wrappers on the floor by his bed. They got this right away and rushed off to Rylee's room. On Rylee's dresser was a framed picture of Jada with a note attached.

You are a girl who is only 3 and therefore I think you should have as many dolls as you want. Here is a picture of her so you know what she looks like. I can’t give her to you yet for it has to be a secret! For now I’m going to listen to some piano music.

In perfect time they finished the reading the note and someone started playing the piano downstairs. The girls rushed down to find Papa D, a suspect, on the piano playing some parlor type music.

Also on the couch listening were all the adults/suspects. Minus blackbeard. Hard for Chris to be two people at once. The girls began questioning Papa D. He said he didn't know anything. And well even if he did he wouldn't tell them. At this point I need to say that there's a similar scene in the Nancy Drew movie. Where Nancy is trying to get some information and the man is not helpful. She thanks the man for his trouble and gives him one of her housekeeper's Hannah's lemon bars and walks away. I don't believe that bribing with food was in any books but this was one of Taylor's favorite parts in the movie we watched the day before. So during the school portion I explained that all the treats were made by Nancy's housekeeper Hannah. I also told them that sometimes Nancy would try to bribe people for information by using Hannah's lemon bars!

They all seemed to pick up on Papa D's line and one of the girls said "Thanks, here's a lemon bar!" and Taylor lead the girls in walking away. Papa took a bite and said "Wait a minute, come back here!" He told them he did see something suspicious while looking through Taylor's music book. She might want to check out Jack & Jill.

The girls grabbed the book and looked through the music trying to find the song Jack & Jill. Once there they found the last part of the note.

"Meet me on Saturday at May 29th, 2010 at 3:05 in the loft. But come alone.
Yours Truly"

The girls ran up to the loft and hid while waiting for the criminal. Up walks Chris into the loft all the while begins talking to himself about how he can't wait to give Jada away. Taylor pops out, with the girls following her cue and she begins to say things like "Where is Jada?" I wasn't sure how this part would go. But Chris played it out. He said he didn't know what she was talking about. Taylor looked at me funny. I said something like, well tell him why you think he did it. Taylor laid out her case and Chris confessed. Chris said he's give her back but they had to use their compasses to get to wear she is.

He lead them through a series of directions. Which was when I learned that the cheap compasses from Hobby Lobby didn't work all that well. And it didn't help that some of the girls were holding them upside down :) But they made it through and into the homeschool room where Jada and Taylor's cake resided.

Mystery solved, case closed :) Let's eat & open presents!

Well it was a blast hosting and planning this party! I'm so happy with how it turned out and more importantly Taylor said it was the best birthday party ever! I think I'll take that year break now :)

1 year ago...

2010-06-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

1 year ago I was cleaning like a mad women getting our house ready for Grace Church's first meeting ever. It wasn't our official start date. We'll celebrate our 1yr in August. As my husband said to our church, in marriage you celebrate the anniversary but remember the engagement as well. Today we remember the engagement.

All month I've been reminiscing that it's been a year in Peoria. A year in this house. I am so amazed at how quickly and well we've all adjusted. It hasn't been without it's challenges but God has been so kind to bring friends for my children, give us neighbors to reach out to and knit our church close together in friendships & our understanding of the gospel.

Today Chris is having our church's first official membership class. We've added new members over the year individually. But today we're expecting from 20-30 people to be in the class. Very exciting!

I wish I could say that I've completely won every battle in my unbelief and that my faith never falters. But I'm still a sinner. It's gotten easier but battles still arise. I still have fears. I still look for my security in this world only to be redirected to Christ and all that he has secured for me! In the midst of it all though, I can say that I love our life. This is the most enjoyment I've had, dare I say ever, in our ministry life as a couple. And I can say that I have more respect and appreciation for my husband then ever before. I wouldn't want his job nor do I envy him but he is truly called to this and God's work in him and through him never ceases to amaze me!

Nancy Drew Party- Super Slueth School

2010-06-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

After our girls arrived I had them sit at a table and explained to them that before they could solve "The Mystery of the Missing Doll" I had to make sure they were ready!

First off, and very important for girls, was to make sure they were fashion ready :) I had bought a bunch of headbands from the dollar aisle at Target. Then at Hobby Lobby I found some cute plaid ribbon and jewel stickers. Nancy Drew always wore headbands!

After fashionizing I tested them on their observations skills. A sleuther has to be able to take in her surroundings and remember details when solving a mystery! I had prepared a little hand out beforehand and paired the girls up back to back. They were questions like. "Are her ears pierced? What color is her shirt? What color are her eyes?" ect.

From there we talked about fingerprints and I had each girl do a fingerprint of themselves on an index card. Originally I had thought each girl could touch a glass and then I'd mix up the glasses and the girls could dust for fingerprints. In practicing the night before I had a hard time with my homemade coco powder and paintbrush dusting set-up. It wasn't all that easy getting a good fingerprint. Jeff, Ruth's husband, suggested to blow off the coco powder instead of "dusting" for it. That worked a lot better! So in the end we had Taylor touch a super clean glass and demonstrated how to lift a fingerprint from there. I think the girls found it really interesting and had fun using their magnifying glasses looking at each other's fingerprints.

After that I pronounced them as ready to solve a real mystery. I passed out pictures of Jada, Taylor's doll. One for each of their folders. We explained where Taylor last saw her and I had prepared beforehand a list of suspects. More on that and the mystery in the next and final post!

Nancy Drew Party- Decorations

2010-06-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

There were a lot of different color options for Taylor's party. Somewhere along the line I heard blue was Nancy's favorite color. In the end we found these amazing black/grey plates at Hobby Lobby that had an old fashioned chandelier on it. The plates just said "mysterious". From there Taylor chose purple and yellow to accent the black.

I saw this idea on a blog and asked my friend Ruth, who's gifted in every way I'm not, if she could help me pull it off using our Nancy Drew theme. Well by help I meant help, but she had some free time and took the paper from me and did it herself. Thanks Ruth!! I think this was one of the coolest parts of the decorations but probably would've been the first part to go for me if I ran out of time. We hung some over the food table, our entryway into our family room and a couple over the table the girls sat out. We mixed in some purple & yellow streamers as well. I also need to give Ruth credit for the Nancy Drew image I used in the invitations and on the circles. She drew it in Adobe paint and I was able to use it in my photoshop documents.

Taylor picked out the food she wanted. Fruit salad, chocolate covered strawberries, "Hannah's Lemon Bars", that we used when solving the mystery, and crackers and cheese.

I found a picture of a magnifying glass cake that Ruth made for Taylor! It turned out so cute!

I made place settings with the girls character names around the table. They all brought notebooks & pens, as well as the file folders they received as invitations. I found mini magnifying glasses & compassses at Hobby Lobby that we used in super sleuth school and to solve the Mystery of the Missing Doll!

Swimwear...

2010-06-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! One I despise almost every summer... trying to find a swimsuit. Ugh. Just when I found the perfect suit I get pregnant and my whole body changes on me :)

Well, this new site I found won't exactly help me this year but it might be of help to some of my friends and I most definitely will be checking it out for next year!

Check out some of these super cute Tankini Tops!

For more suits & prices go to Lime Ricki.

Nancy Drew Party- Invitations

2010-06-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

So I'll be honest I flat out took this idea from this blog. I also found this idea on another blog that I really liked but in the end I let Taylor pick. And being that I had a short amount of time to pull it off I'm glad she decided to go with the first idea.

Taylor enjoyed the process of picking out Nancy Drew character names to give her friends for the day of the party. A theme we carried into the party itself.

Taylor cut out the letters for the ransom note and painted with lemon juice on the cards to create the secret password.

We put the folders in white manila envelopes and I printed out labels with the girls name and also some red "TOP SECRET" tags that we glued to the front.

If you choose to go with this sort of invitation/theme for a birthday party be prepared for it to come with high expectations from the guests :) I heard from mom after mom how excited their girls were and that each were researching their character's name and searching for the most perfect Nancy Drew like outfit! I'm not sure what kind of response I expected but I had very little plan for this party short of getting the invitations out so this type of response put me in high gear planning mode for the party! Next up... decorations!

Happy 8th Birthday Taylor

2010-06-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

How do I begin talking about Taylor? Chris & I have looked at each other and said a number of times, "how did WE get HER as a daughter?!". She is one of the sweetest girls I have ever met. Her heart is soft towards God, she loves her brothers & sisters and is constantly laying down her own preferences to serve them! One of the highlights of her weeks is going early with daddy to church and helping set-up for our meeting! She is still my avid reader, devouring anything given to her. She even tried reading a few chapters in Augustine's Confession of the Faith. It was just a little to advanced for her to comprehend. But her even attempting is a sign of her brilliance. She has taken fairly quickly to learning the piano this year. She loves to sing, dance, draw and serve mommy!

It has been such a fun week celebrating her life. This was her year to skip having a big party. But in talking with Chris we remembered how last May she moved away from her home on her birthday week and there were a few months of praying, through tears, for God to bring her new friends. We had many wonderful people who moved and went with us for the church plant but at the time there were no obvious friends for Taylor. Well in thinking of who to invite to her party this year she had 10 new west valley friends to invite!! We thought that was worth celebrating in and of itself and made an exception to our every other year party decision!

Boy did we party :) I think this could've been the best birthday party the Daukas' have thrown yet! Taylor loves reading mystery's, particularly Nancy Drew. So with some help from the internet and my friend Ruth we threw a mystery solving themed party. I'll take a couple posts to show how we pulled it off! I don't want to forget as I've got two more girls behind her that will probably want to do the same sort of thing when they are her age.

IT'S A.....

2010-05-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Baby Daukas #4 is a girl. A healthy little girl. It took me by surprise as I've been convinced it was a boy for the past couple of months. The first trimester I got a bunch of migraines and the only time I've ever got a migraine while pregnant was with Trevor. Then, at my 15 week appointment, the heart rate was at 148. My girls were always in the high 150's. Except for Trevor who hung out in the 140's, low 150's. So take all of that, combined with my desire for Trevor to have a little brother, and it was a boy! I just knew it. I didn't need the ultrasound.

We took all three with us to my ultrasound appointment. They were so cute and super excited. Originally we had brought in my journal and asked my dr. to not tell us but to just write it secertly in the journal. We were going to take the kids out to breakfast after the appointment and find out together as Chris told us the news. It was a great plan. Apparently we didn't make that clear enough to her. She asked Trevor if he wanted to squirt the jelly on my belly. He thought that was pretty cool. Instantly the kids begin asking, "is it a boy or girl? Is it a boy or girl?" I don't think they got our plan either. She mentioned something like, "Well lets take a look cause that's really why you're all are here!" That should've been my cue to remind her... but it was to late. The words "It's most definitely a girl!" came out before we could stop her. I held back tears. Still not sure why. It could've been cause she messed up my perfect plan, or maybe it was Trevor's "ah man" or maybe, for just a split second, I was ever so slightly disappointed.

She quickly moved on from there to check the heart and the four chambers. She let the kids listen a couple of times to her, still at 148, heartbeat. What a peaceful sound those babies heartbeats are in the womb. We looked at her perfectly forming spine. She focused in on her face and we saw her lift her hand with five fingers up to her head. Then as if she was looking right at us, she yawned. It was truly amazing! No disappointment at all. Just wonder at the miracle of life, gratefulness and a heightened eagerness to meet my new daughter!

Yarn Pom Poms

2010-05-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've started collecting ideas for things to do with the kids this summer. Taylor has shown interest in knitting, sewing, all things her mother isn't good at :)

Here's something I stumbled upon at The Creative Mama that I might actually be able to pull off!

The Creative Mama- Yarn Pom Poms in a new way!

PE Days

2010-05-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

The school year is finishing up. Well for some people I guess. I've learned that it's common in the homeschool world to continue some subjects into the summer. We'll be doing a little math through June & finishing up our history as well. But for the most part we'll join the rest of the world in taking a summer break.

As we conclude the year Trevor & Rylee can count to 100! Trevor is reading but rather not. He loves math & science. He could watch seeds grow and do different experiments all day long. And Rylee, who's just tagged along all year, surprised me the other day by reading a few words out of a Bob book on her own. Both are growing in writing as well.

Taylor, she's still bright as ever and constantly challenges me with her questions.

This year we joined a PE group that took place on friday afternoons. It was a great place for the kids to get all their energy out, learn the basics of sports and good sportsmanship and I was able to make some new friends too :) Each month was a different sport. Hockey, soccer, baseball, basketball and of course water games in May.

We had our end of the year party last friday. I got my first taste of 100 degree weather pregnant. God help me :) Anyway here's some pictures of the kids in PE throughout the year!

Rylee made a new friend. These girls are like long lost sisters. When Rylee's hair was long they looked like they could be twins. The two played on the swings & the playground while their older siblings did PE. But by the end of the year they began to join in and "do" PE with the older kids.

Happy Moralist or Sad Moralist?

2010-05-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've read a ton of good books lately! It's far time I start putting some of them up on the blog. One I've been reading is Counsel from the Cross. It's really challenged me in just how gospel centered am I? In chapter six she opens with painting two different types of churches that produce two different type of people. I can say I've been both at one point in my life.

"Further, in a strangely convoluted desire to reach the unchurched, many churches have mimicked in their ministries the world's emphases on amusement. Skits, comic sermons, and featherweight vignette masquerade as truth, while the souls of "seekers" thirst for a drink of the living water and wonder if this is really all there is. We think it would be safe to say that many people who attend this kind of church may be categorized as Happy Moralists."

"On the other hand, there is also a vibrant through sober church that can be identified as serious and disdainful of the airier versions of church-lite. This church is truth-driven and assumes that there are serious realities, particularly about sin and obligation, that must be taken to heart and pondered by "the elect" We think it would be safe to assume that we'd find the Sad Moralist here."

She goes on to explain how even though different they are the same in one area. They both lack the understanding of the gospel and are missing certain aspects of applying the gospel.

"The Happy Moralist needs to be humbled by a clear view of his laxity and self-love. The Sad Moralist needs to be humbled by the discovery that even his self-righteousness and self-loathing are symptoms of a heart to proud to abandon it's self-reliance and surrender to the grace of Christ. And both also need to see themselves as loved and welcomed".

"There's another facet of the gospel that's missing... neither lives in the joy that is to be their strength. The Happy Moralist won't have the impetus to put down the remote and follow hard after God. The Sad Moralist will feel burdened by his sin and estranged from the God who commands joy at his presence. Rejoice? About What? Is this something else I need to feel guilty about? he might wonder."

Elyse then goes on to explain sanctification and what she means by Gospel Sanctification.

"Although all Christians want to grow in godliness many of us miss the truth that the gospel is as necessary to our sanctification as it was to our initial justification. Without the gospel drenching our soul in our union with Christ, the quest for moral improvement becomes just that: another quest for self-improvement doomed to futile failure or, worse, arrogant success. But in light of the gospel, because of all that Jesus has already done, sanctification becomes another sweet evidence of his grace working in us, making us more and more delighted by his abiding presence and less and less enamored with the world's enticements. Only the extravagant love shown us in the gospel has the power to draw us away from other loves."

This book is filled with rich Gospel truth. With chapter titles like "The Gospel and our emotions" and "The Gospel and our Relationships" it's a book that I am sure I will re-read and reference often. I love Elyse's mantra that I've heard at her conferences and read in her books "Remember what the gospel says about us: we are more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe but we are also more loved and welcomed than we ever dared hope."