A Crazy Love Teaser

I am dying to do a book review on the book I am currently reading, Crazy Love. Oh my goodness, it is so amazing and encouraging. I am going through it with a couple of great girls, Erica and Chelsea, and we have two more chapters left, so I'll wait to do my book review until we're all done. BUT...

In the last two chapters that we read, there were some quotes that really stuck with me and I thought them quite pertinent to the season, so I thought I'd share.

1. From the chapter: Your Best Life...Later
The concept of downsizing so that others might upgrade is biblical, beautiful...and nearly unheard of.

2. From the chapter: Profile of the Obsessed (as in obsessed with Jesus)
I realized that everyone I knew had enough, that I didn't know many people who were truly in need, and that I needed to change that. I needed to go and intentionally meet people who don't live like I do or think like I do, people who could never repay me. For there sake, but for my own as well.

There is so much more in this chapter, but he goes on to quote 1 Timothy 6:6.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.

Oh man...there is so much on my heart about this. I can't wait to talk more about it with you. Until then, be blessed and a get your Crazy Love on! ;)

Happy 80th Grandma!!!!!

My sweet grandma, 'bout to make her 80th wish!

For such a special occasion, Braelyn thought she'd look her best.
Although, when one looks as beautiful as this, it's hard to concentrate on anything else.
But the Birthday Girl did get a hug from the Princess.
My brother Tyler, Grandma, and me.My Grandma has lived with our family since I was in the 6th grade and my brother was in Kindergarten. We've shared our whole lives with her. What a privilege!

I love you Grandma! Happy Birthday, you gorgeous girl!

Well, Braelyn and I are off to the store. Can you guess what Braelyn is wearing?
Oh man, what have I done? :)

Steph Cease - Neighborhood Watchdog

I can't believe this, but about 30 minutes ago I called the cops! Um...I CALLED THE COPS! Like a crazy woman...with 50 cats, who's suspicious of her neighbors and has a macelet. (A bracelet that sprays mace.) Ok, well, here's what happened.

Braelyn and I got home from Sugar Land at about 8:30pm. (Casey is not with us. He's speaking at at retreat.) As I was pulling into the driveway, I noticed that a car pulled into the driveway across the street at the same time. It caught my attention because no one has lived there for several months. While I was quickly getting baby and bags and food and whatnot out of the car, it started to bother me that no one was getting out of this mysterious car. We got inside, and I tried to lock the door, but couldn't. I decided to put my concerns on hold for a brief moment so I could get my exhausted, princess dressed baby in bed. (Oh yes, we have the princess dress! She is not sleeping in it.) Once that was done, I fiddled with the door again and still could not get it to lock. Immediately, I went to the window and tried to get the status on the mysterious white car. Sure enough it was still there, and there were no lights on in the house. I could only assume that the criminals were still sitting in the car.

By this time I needed to call my parents to tell them I got home safely. (Yes, they still make me do this. ;) While the phone was ringing, a great debate went on in my mind about whether or not to tell them of the mysterious criminals sitting across the street. I did not want to worry them. I knew everything would probably be fine. BUT, it did seem a little dishonest to tell them I was home safe and sound while I was at that very moment peeking out my window watching the criminals. So, I told my dad...my dad, the cop.

Within a half a second of hearing the situation, he told me to call the Brenham Police Department. I resisted. I didn't want to be the paranoid cat lady. However, my daddy is rather persuasive, and the fact that there is no limit to the humiliation I am willing to endure to ensure the safety of my little girl, I grabbed my cat (figuratively speaking) and made the call. For the first time in my life, I called the police department. I told the dispatch lady the situation and she said officers would be sent to check it out. In less than 10 minutes, the cops arrived. I was peeking out the window, as inconspicuously as possible, and 2 thoughts ran through my mind. 1. I sort of hope someone is actually in the car. And 2. I hope they don't know it's me who called the cops!

I'm not going to lie. It was a little exciting to see those flashing red and blue lights and know that they were they because of me. And then, what was even more exciting was when I saw a boy step out of the car and get questioned by the police! Gasp! I thought, "Oh, my goodness! There was somebody in the car! What were they doing there?!" I also thought, "Oh, thank goodness. I'm not completely insane!" After about 3 minutes, the boy got back in his car and left, as did the cops.

Relieved that situation was over, I called my dad back and told him that the cops sent the criminal away, but I didn't talk to the policemen so I didn't actually know what the criminal was doing over there. Well, this was not sufficient information. I was feeling perfectly safe, but to my dad the cop, safe is not as good as safe and informed. Again, I resisted, and again, my dad (who claims to be an authority on such issues) was not hearing it. And so I called...again.

Shortly, the police officer called me back and was delighted to assure me that Braelyn and I were quite safe. Being a gentleman, the cop wanted to protect my delicate, feminine ears, but was able to inform me that my criminal was with his friend's girlfriend, and they needed a place to...um..."snuggle." So what crime is my criminal guilty of?...Forbidden love, my friends. Forbidden love and hormones.
Nice. :|

So to all you neighborhood kids out there, to you I say, "Look out! Premarital sex will not be tolerated in this neighborhood! I will call the cops and I am just waiting for an excuse to use my macelet! So just keep on drivin', Loverboy. Keep on drivin."

So there you have it.
We are safe and sound. I even figured out how to lock the door.
Sweet dreams.

Oh and Daddy...thanks for keeping me safe. Love you.

Blogging: D-

I am quickly approaching blogging failure. I'm so ashamed. I've been wanting to blog, but, I don't know...the words just aren't coming these days. Also, my whole family has been sick. Braelyn was throwing up last week, and then Casey and I got some crazy nazi version of it that just won't quit. I have had this nagging nausea since Sunday night. Tomorrow, if I still feel nauseous, I will simply refuse to acknowledge it. Or I'll start telling people I am pregnant because that is the only legitimate reason a person should be nauseous for this long. (No...I am not pregnant. Yes, I'm sure!) ;)

Anyways, tomorrow I leave for Sugar Land. We have 2 objectives. 1. To buy my daughter a princess dress. We were at a friend's house tonight, who's daughter has a fabulous dress-up collection, and it took Braelyn no time at all to develop a deep attachment to the pink, ruffled, sparkled, laced princess dress. She was quite a big girl when she finally had to take it off, however, when we got home she went straight to her room and started looking for her princess dress. (Um...she doesn't have a princess dress.) Surprisingly, we she couldn't find her princess dress (um...because she doesn't have one)...ballistic! Oh, the tears. The drama...on the floor. Pure, unashamed heartache. Over the fact that the dress was missing or the fact that her parents are so negligent as to not have provided her with a princess dress, I'm not sure. Either way, she was quite unhappy. So tomorrow...princess dress shopping...because she looked so cute twirling around, and because every girl really should have a princess dress. ;)

As for objective 2 and the REAL reason we are making are way to "town," it's my grandma's 80th birthday! Lots of family and food. Unfortunately, Casey will not be with us, but my brother will be there, so I am looking forward to some QT with him. (I wonder if he like princess dress shopping?)

All this to say, I know I haven't blogged, and I probably won't be able to blog for the next couple of days, but I'll try to get back to some good C+ blogging when we get back. No promises though.

There's a Yearbook Fun Bandwagon...And I'm On it, Baby!!!

I thought I was going to spend some time blogging this evening, (since it's been almost 2 weeks since I've posted, which is completely unacceptable), but I'm pretty tired and I don't feel that great, so I think blogging will have to wait one more day.

But, before I call it a night, I'll leave you with some yearbook fun! I thought my husband looked pretty awesome, so I had to take a gander.

Steph Cease, 1952 (Nominated most likely to be a preacher's wife)

Steph Cease, 1966

Steph Cease, 1992

Man, how I've changed! ;)

Have a good night, y'all.

The website is yearbookyourself.com...just in case any of you were interested in trying this nonsense out for yourself.

Do it! It's fun.

(And yes. I have been changing my blog layout like everyday. I'm done. I am definitely done until December.)

Adopting a New Tradition

At the end of an after-storytime-lunch at Must Be Heaven, my friend Cheryl (who has since had a baby...congratulations to her!) was telling us about a fun Thanksgiving craft/activity for the kids. She cut out a big turkey and for each day until Thanksgiving, she and her two boys (well, now 3) will give him a feather with something that they're thankful for written on it. Super easy! And a great way to be daily reminding our kids (and ourselves!) that we have much to be grateful for.

Well, November already had a few days under its belt and I didn't really have any big paper from which to cut my turkey...so, I improvised. I had picked up a couple of small pumpkins before Halloween to do a little toddler-free pumpkin painting, but I never got around to it. Instead, I decided to translate Cheryl's turkey feathers into Give Thanks pumpkins.

I just wrote Give Thanks on them, (you could do this super cute with a great stencil or something), and then each day we've been writing on the pumpkins something we are thankful for. The concept is still a little fuzzy for Braelyn, but I think it's good to be having these conversations. Finally, for our dinnertime prayer, we give thanks to the Lord for that particular blessing.

There ya go. A kid-friendly, cheap, easy, and most importantly, a Christ-centered holiday tradition.

(Today we are thankful for my Grandma. Love you, Grandma! (Mom, tell Grandma we love her and we're thankful for her. ;)

A New Fall Look

I noticed that my dear friend Cynthia got a new fall look for her blog. It is so cute. At first I thought her husband did it, cause he's very handy that way, but when I took a second look I noticed that she had a little label at the top of her blog, the one you now see at the top of my blog. Lots of fun template to be had there.

I like this template okay, but not as much as Cynthia's. I would have picked that one, but I didn't want to copy. :) Oh well, in December I'll get a new one!