What a cooperative bunch! :o)

This evening's photo shoot with the Shamburgers

Swimming "fun"

More from Father's Day photo shoot

This little photo session was one of my most frustrating ones EVER. The kids were pretty wild, tired, and the mosquitoes were horrible. Thankfully I still got a few good shots.

A bit from Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas

I'll post soon on my super secret hamburger recipe ;o), but I wanted to share a paragraph from this book I'm reading:

"Marriage teaches us to give what we have. God has given us one body. He has commanded our spouse to delight in that one body- and that body alone. If we withhold from our spouse our body, it becomes an absolute denial. We may not think it is a perfect body, but it is the only body we have to give. "

Pretty basic, but a good reminder for me. My husband is constantly complimenting me. Oftentimes I brush aside the compliment or mutter something sarcastic in return. In reality, I'm so thankful that he finds me attractive! He makes me feel beautiful, and I love him for it.

and before I turned 30

Not to brag or anything, but I did something today that I've NEVER done before. I FINALLY made a good hamburger. Can you believe it's taken me this long??? It was seasoned well, cooked to "perfection," and so yummy and juicy. I'm thrilled. So was my husband :o) Usually my hamburgers turn out very dry and very blah. Just thought I'd share my delight with you all- knowing how much you'd care. I'm excited that I made a good hamburger before I turned THIRTY. Can you imagine turning 30 and never have made a good one? How sad would THAT be?

In other news, I had a lovely Saturday with my family. I absolutely LOVE having my husband home on the weekends. He's such a dear and such a help. Our kiddos love him like crazy. We're both teaching Sunday School tomorrow, which means that I'll have Joseph in mine with me. That always makes for an "interesting" time. ahem. Hope you all have a blessed Lord's day tomorrow. Good night.

the use of natural light

I'm not a big flash fan. Obviously there are times when I'm very thankful to have access to flash on a camera, but for the most part, I LOVE using God's natural light. I guess one reason I don't especially like flash is that I'm not very good with it ;o) So, I guess the natural light works well for me. This is Mikayla "journaling" after her bath this evening. I LOVE MY GIRL!

Can't you tell I'm busy?

I love my children's father!

I

The Lord has done great things for me

I've shared this quote from my pastor before, but I'll share it again: The greatest blessings are spiritual blessings. I wholeheartedly agree. At the same time, the Lord gives us physical blessings as well. I got one of those yesterday. Thanks to my parents and my husband, I was able to get a new camera that I've not even really "dreamed" about. I just KNEW it would be years 'til I got one. Not so! Thank you, Lord! Thank you, mom and dad! Thank you, precious husband of mine! (It's a digital SLR. Canon Rebel xsi- 12mp!) As you can see I'm already enjoying it immensely...

My favorite banana bread recipe

I think I've tried about 20 banana bread recipes in my short life. There are so many to choose from! This recipe is my favorite because...
1- it's extremely simple
2- it's very banana-y (sp??)
3- it's dee-lish!

and some in black and white

Today's photo shoot in color

A sepia kind of day

Today has been a rough day. I have those every once in a while. Jody had to mow, so I took the kids to the park this evening. There we met a little girl who told me that I have white stuff all over my nose (yes, my face is peeling horribly!) and that she could fix Mikayla's hair better than I did. Well, what a smart girl. She made me laugh. AND, she took the picture of the three of us. I asked her if her name was Olivia, and she said, no, close- Octavia. Interesting. Thankfully the day is getting better as the sun goes down. As long as there are cherries, how could I NOT be doing better?

I got one!

A double jogging stroller, that is :) My mom spotted one at Goodwill and showed me and we bought it! This morning I took it out with the kiddos and we didn't get too far. The tires were in desperate need of air, so we made our way back home. I couldn't find the air pump, so I put it away and we came back in. rats! Maybe tomorrow. after the tires have been aired up. Anyway! I'm so thankful to have one!! Without it, it's nearly impossible for me to exercise with a 1 and 3 yr old.

I'm 13 weeks pregnant today. I guess today is the start of my 2nd trimester. Yesterday I had my 2nd appt. All was well, praise the Lord. It took the dr a while to find the heartbeat (kinda scary) and he said it was a quiet one. Mikayla and Joseph both got to be in there with us, so they were able to hear their brother's/sister's heartbeat. :) at my next appt I'll have my bloodwork done. fun.

Hope y'all are doing well. I know my blog has not super exciting these days. Maybe my next one (my 400th post) will be different. Stay tuned...

Boy or Girl?

Well, right now only God knows the answer to that. We're not planning on finding out until his/her birth. But, we have decided on some names, so we are prepared for either!

So, here they are:

Boy name: Jadon Michael Dodson

Girl name: Kaitlyn Esther (I REALLY had to convince Jody about Esther. He was not (still is not really...) a big fan. He feels like an Esther should be about a 95 yr old woman. oh well. I like it and he likes me:)

On Tuesday I'll be 13 weeks, about 1/3 of the way finished. yay!!!

Ethan Henry- the stealer of hearts

We LOVE this new little guy. What a precious (and tiny!) one he is!

Happy (late) birthday, my love!

How I love this man! and I'm so thankful for his love for the Lord, for me, and for our children. I love you, Joseph! Happy 36th :)

our son Joseph

Wow, I love this boy! He has become so affectionate and I'm lovin' it :) Thank you, Lord, for my son. What a joy, what a delight he is to my heart!

Time for a new post

SO much has happened since I've last posted. My precious husband turned one year older; we celebrated by enjoying a night in Abilene while my beautiful mother (and dad!) watched our young'ns. Boy, that was brave of them. On our way home from Abilene Christy called me to tell me she was in pain and needed to pick up Johnny at work, but she felt like she couldn't. So, Jody emptied us out at home, then went to pick up Johnny. The kiddos and I drove to help Christy out with a few things and they proceeded to the hospital while we brought their girls here.


Christy was right. She WAS in labor. How exciting!! At 1am the next morning, she had a most handsome baby BOY. Ethan Henry weighing in at 5 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19 inches long. What a shock that was to everyone! She REALLY wanted a boy and the dr had told her it was a girl. What a fun time that was. I was so thankful to be there!! My husband prefers me not to be out by myself when it's dark, but he made an exception and I'm so glad he did. I LOVE babies!


Our Mikayla is at a very trying time right now. She often displays major disobedience, disrespect, and a very ugly and rebellious attitude. I feel like we're in a wrestling match together and oftentimes I come out the loser. Today after an "episode" while she was supposed to be getting the hair ties, I walked into our bathroom and she'd cut off a good bit of her hair. She's one hard-headed little girl and I love her SO MUCH. She told me that it's hard to obey. To me it seems extremely easy, but then I think about when I disobey God. The whole thing makes me sad:( I just cried and cried while I ate my lunch (lunch meat/cheese/avocado roll ups). Then my mom called me and prayed with me and I cried some more. SO, that's where we're at right now. I really do love being a mommy, but it's no small task by any means! I'm thankful to be right where I'm at. The Lord gives strength and wisdom for each day and I need it.

Here's a question for you

Do you want to be the most beautiful woman in the world?


I asked Jody this evening if I could get a few minutes of "me" time. He agreed, so I hopped in the tub and listened to Dr. Dobson interviewing Carrie Prejean (the lady who got first runner up at the pageant who answered a judge's question that a marriage is between a man and a woman).

Anyway, Dr. Dobson said that she was one of the most beautiful women in the world and went on to say that (I wish I had that direct quote!) that's what every woman wants. to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Really???????? Um, not this woman.


Don't get me wrong. I do want to be attractive to my husband. without a doubt. But do I want millions of men to lust after my body while strutting around stage in a white string bikini???? Absolutely not. Is that honoring to God? I think (know) not.


I'm so fired up I can barely see straight. Every once in a while this happens. What kind of example does Carrie set for young girls? This would not bother me so much, but it's all in the name of Christ.


This verse comes to mind:

"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." ~ Proverbs 31:30

Modesty. Seems like a tough issue at times. I want to dress and act in a way that honors God. Whether I'm at church, at the park, or at the lake. How we ladies dress reflects our husbands and their names. Let's be aware of this. Let's not be deceived by the world's definition of "modest." If you're unsure, pray about it. I'm sure the Lord will lead you and give you wisdom.

I'm so thankful for a husband who strives to avoid immodesty. He will not vacation at the beach (at least not in the summer time). He does NOT want to be tempted in that area. I praise the Lord for him and his stand. I appreciate his loyalty and faithfulness to me. So, we miss a few swims together. oh well.

I want to be the most beautiful woman in the world TO MY HUSBAND ONLY. And that's what I have to say about that.

Fun with cousins

My sister Grace and family surprised us with a visit, and we are LOVIN' it! More collages to come. :)

She must know my love language...

Today my mom gave me a very cool gift. I had no idea getting something like this would make me so happy. But get this. She gave me a $10 gift certificate to Sonic. !!! Do you know what this means to me???

AT LEAST TEN HAPPY HOUR DRINKS!!!!

sigh. How does she just know??

Someday I'll laugh about this? I don't think so.

Friday afternoon while Mikayla was supposed to be sleeping, she got into a bit of mischief. I woke up to markers. She wanted to do art work and wanted to look like the guy at Wal-mart (I'm assuming the one who had tattoos all over his arms). She had marked all over herself, her clothes, her stool (the one used to GET the markers), and our comforter. The last thing I mentioned made me the saddest (read: MADDEST).

Boy was she ever in trouble. I thought about posting a picture of it, but I think you can only do that if you think it's kinda cute. And it wasn't. Not in the least.

"Poor" girl got her piggy bank emptied, her kitchen set retired for about a month, and many of her toys sold at the garage sale we had today to help pay for a new comforter for us. The comforter she ruined would've cost over 100 dollars to replace. So, we opted for a cheap(er) plain black one.

How I love that girl! But, she's starting to get destructive!! HELP!

Think I'll ever laugh about this one?? I don't know. I can't imagine.

Cisco15, Rising Star 11

Or this one...

This (obviously) could be turned to black/white as well. I just don't know. Should I just keep trying?? any input would be great. (Look how BIG Joseph is getting!)

looking at a bird

For my husband's birthday I want to make him an 11x14 of our children. I'll post some different options and you guys (girls) let me know which you think I should do for him, ok? thanks:) this is the first...

Our fourth 2nd Tuesday

We started out with a Bible study on Obedience. Everyone brought their Bibles!! I was so happy and impressed :) Then we delved into a craft that looked fun, but proved to be way too hard. Oh well. I'll try to do better next time. We then topped it off with some spaghetti, corn and garlic/cheese bread. Yum! Join us next time if you'd like. I think we're going to pick strawberries!!

So happy to be a mommy today!

To all you beautiful mommies, esp. mine!

some effects of last night

We had a bad storm last night. The top picture if the house right next to ours. The Lord was very merciful. We were spared and we are thankful. All to report with our house is a few missing shingles. Driving around the neighborhood shocked me. Downed power lines, uprooted trees, simply chaotic. It's amazing how powerful the wind can be!!

Never to be taken for granted

Psalms 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.

This past Wednesday I had my first appt with my ob/gyn. At the first appt he always does a sonogram. As I lay there in that dark cool room, I waited calmly to see if our tiny baby had a heartbeat. Dr. N always looks at the monitor first and then turns it my direction. I saw the tiny baby with the even tinier heartbeat. sigh. What a truly beautiful sight. I'm so thankful!!

He kept my due date the same- December 8th. Tuesday I will be 10 weeks, already 25% finished with the pregnancy. yay!

I'm feeling surprisingly exhausted lately. I thought I was at least a semi-strong person. Now I feel like a big wimp, getting so tired from everything. Still nauseated quite a bit, but not constantly like before, thank the Lord!

Just enjoying my family and the joy they are to me. It's almost Mother's Day- oh boy:) Hope you all have a great weekend.

Welcome, Bethany!

I "stole" this pic from Misty's blog. Love it!

She's been born!!

Bethany Hope Risse. She weighs 8 lb 7 oz, is 20.5 inches long, has dark hair :) She was born at around 9:15 this morning, and Mike assured me he has given her kisses already. Praise the Lord for the good delivery of a healthy baby girl!! Hopefully I'll be seeing a pic soon...

A scare and a mercy

About 10 minutes ago, my brother Mike called me. About an hour ago, they had a big scare with the baby. Her heartrate had gone from 150 and lower and lower til it was 40. The Lord was merciful and thankfully, it climbed back up to the 150 range. Praise the Lord for that!!

Misty is at an 8, is enjoying her epidural:), and is just waiting to start pushing. I love being an aunt.

More updates as I hear them...

A baby today??

My brother Mike and his wife Misty left for the hospital this morning at 5:40 (their time). Lord willing, their baby girl Bethany Hope will be born sometime today. This will be their 4th child. I'm super excited and I wish (of course!) that I could be there. Thankfully my mom is there to watch the other children. I will keep you udpated:)

A cold/fun Saturday

We met the Hamiltons and my dad in Abilene today for a day of excitement. When we got to Abilene it turned super chilly on us. Our first stop was the Army Surplus Store, where we met up with our friends:), then China Star (YUM!), then the Air Show. We definitely enjoyed the day. We didn't see much plane action b/c of the lack of visibility for the pilots, which was totally understandable. A good time was had by all!