Birthday Girl!

Happy Birthday, Daisy!

We are so thankful for every day the Lord has given us with you and we love you so much!

Happy Birthday also to Uncle John (30!) and happy 9th anniversary to the couple

over at Helms Deep!

For You, Granny

Hi Granny. I made my Mommy take some pictures for you. Here they are, in no particular order:



Here I am sleeping. Don't you like how I have my hands up by my chin? Mommy thinks it looks picturesque, whatever that means.

Here I am sleeping with Daddy. His arm is very comfortable. If only he didn't snore. How can a baby sleep?



Here we are again.



Mommy surprized me with this one!

Here I am with the whole fam except for Mommy.

Here we are again. Don't Rocky and I look happy?

Here I am in my new dress. Daddy and Mommy think I look pretty in blue.

And last, but not least, a full body shot. Pay no attention to those rolls on my legs.

And that's all for now! I love you, Granny!

Big Brother

Today Rocky really started to bond with the baby.
He has been asking to hold her much of the day
and has remained by her side often.
He has been pretty protective of her making
sure the girls are not too rough with her (hee hee).

Here are some pictures from this morning:

P.S. Congratulations on your wedding, Princess Teresa!

I hope all went well! We wish we could've been there

New Arrival

The Fourth of July turned out quite eventful at the Poppe household with the arrival of this little firecracker:

We are continually praising the Lord for a safe labor and delivery of this much-anticipated little blessing and look forward to seeing what He is going to do in her little life. Mommy and Daddy are doing well and Twiggy, Daisy and Rocky love their little sister very much.

If you are interested in details on the little one, please feel free to e-mail us!

Big Boy.

Does this look like the face of a boy who woke up dry this morning?

Well, it is...

...just for the record, so did I.

What DO They Do?

I was upstairs getting clothes for the kids to wear today and I came downstairs to this "discussion" Daisy and Rocky were having at the breakfast table:

Rocky: Where's Daddy?

Daisy: He's working...

Rocky: No! He's at church!

Daisy: No, he's working!

Rocky: No, he's...at...CHURCH!!

(...and so on...)

I guess even pastor's kids wonder what these men do when it's not Sunday!




p.s. no baby yet.

Tick...tick...tick...

I am thankful that God is in control and I am not (even though sometimes I like to think I am). After having pretty steady contractions for three days with no "results", I can so easily and selfishly say, "Poor me! How can this be good?" God is saying, "This is good! I will be glorified"

Thank you to those who have been thinking of and praying for me these past few days--they truly have been good days! Please continue to pray that the Lord would give me patience and that He would be glorified in the birth of this baby!

Twiggy's appendix

One of Twiggy's close friends, Rara, just had her appendix removed so Twiggy has been talking about it a lot. Today, she came to me looking like she does in the picture below. Did she break her arm? No. Did she sprain her arm? No....

She had her appendix removed!

Pamper the Pregnant Lady, Part II

For those of you who have also been keeping up with my sister's blog, you may remember her post from last October when she was a pampered pregnant woman. Well, yesterday, I was the pampered one and was sent off by some wonderful friends to get my very own pedicure. These women are quite the troopers because they had twelve children in their charge while I was relaxing in the quiet of the salon. Here are my feet:

Besides being ugly feet, don't they look beautiful???

After my pedicure, I went shopping all by myself before heading to my midwife appointment.

I had a wonderful day and would highly recommend being 9 months pregnant for anyone who has terrific friends! Thank you tons and tons, Mommy, Molly, and Rachel! The day was so much appreciated!

Water Fight at Helms Deep

Yesterday the kids and I headed down the road to Helms Deep for fun in the sprinkler. Our air conditioning is not working right now and since the temps soared to the upper 80s, we thought we'd take advantage of water. Once again, I did not think to grab my camera until we were almost done with the water, so you are only seeing aftershots...sorry!

Can you believe there is a year-and-a-half difference in age between these two (above)?

The kids had a great time (except for some reason they were willing to get the Mommies very wet, but a little more unwilling to let the Mommies get them wet). After our water fight we hooked the hose to the slide and the kids had fun on the make-shift water slide (I have video of the water slide but am not sure how to post video...sorry...again).

Above is my little native in his loin cloth. Wouldn't he fit in well in Papua New Guinea???

One of these evenings when I have lots of time I will update you on what is going on in our lives. Between a baby coming (three weeks to go), selling our house, and getting ready for the upcoming move we've been very busy.

Remembering that Freedom is not Free

Thank you to the people who are serving in our military. We appreciate the sacrifices you are making on our behalf. We remember you today and always and you are in our prayers!

Thinking of you, Big Brother!

Johnny, today the kids and I made cookie dough just for the purpose of eating it!

We love you!

More Fun With Math-U-See

Echoing my sister's thoughts, we love this Math-U-See curriculum! Math is probably Twiggy's favorite subject and the younger two love to play with the blocks while Twiggy is doing school! Rocky found a new use for the blocks...

"Mommy look! Socks!"

Twiggy's turn!

All I have been blogging lately are weddings and birthdays, it seems. We really do have other stuff going on! Yesterday Twiggy was in a friend's wedding. The ceremony was out-of-doors and the weather was beautiful! Twiggy was right in her element! I know it's ridiculous, but when she came down the aisle I cried!

She loved her tiarra!

Here she is with the beautiful bride, Amber.

Here's Rocky with what he feels is a good use for the flower girl basket!

Happy Birthday Rocky!

Rocky is two years old today and, Lord willing, as I type this he is flying in the air with Paul on their way to North Carolina. He has been talking about going to Granny and Grandad's constantly for the last 24 hours or so saying, "Airplane! Granny and Grandad! Cake!" (Granny ordered a cake for his birthday).

Rocky, I miss you and Daddy already and, Daddy, if you read this today give the birthday boy a big smooch from his mama!

We love you, Big Boy!

I've been tagged.

I think this is the first time I have ever responded to a tag (no...make that the second time). Not that I don't like to be tagged, I'm just a lazy blogger at times. So, here goes...

Here's how it works, I’ll write 10 facts about me and/or habits of mine.- I’ll tag 10 people.- If you’ve been tagged, you do your own list and tag 10 more people...or however many you wnat (”No tag backs.”).

1. I am not very well organized (if any of you who are rotfl can get up now--I know this is common knowledge). If I need something organized, my sister volunteers to come over and help me because she loves to organize. I hope she will still volunteer even after we move to Texas! ;)

2. I do not like to talk business on the telephone and will avoid it at all cost. If I have to make a doctor appointment for one of my children, I would much rather go to the clinic and set it up face-to-face. If I have to make a phone call I will write down word-for-word what I am going to say and rehearse it or else my mind will go blank while on the phone. This does not bode well being a nurse...you have to talk to doctors on the phone every day--and sometimes in the middle of the night!

3. I like to sleep on my stomach. This is hard to do when you are 7 months pregnant!

4. I love to go for walks!

5. I'm not too keen on formalities. There! You have the dirty scoop on me! I don't understand why, if you are able to give a heartfelt "thank you" on the telephone or in person, you are still required to send a thank you card? I am working on getting better at this one, but don't know if I will ever understand it.

6. I don't mind being corrected. If I have offended someone or have done something wrong, I would much rather someone tell me instead of keeping it to themselves.

7. I do not want to be a man. I love the role of a woman! I love being able to nurture and take care of my children while my husband is out slaying dragons. What an honor (and huge, scary, responsibility) to be able to raise the next generation to love the Lord!

8. I am not a very good reader. I don't know if it has to do with the phase of life I'm in, but I don't read very much and it bothers me (yes, I is a learnin' my children at home). I have great respect for people like my husband who read and read! I'm working on this one too!

9. I have lived in Chetek all my life. This move to Texas will be a huge transition.

10. I love shopping!

And the 8 people I tag are...

Froggy
Mommy
Fannie
Mindy
Branching Out
Gknee
Zack S.
Paul (my man!)

Twiggy is Six!

Six years ago today this crazy, beautiful, sweet little girl was born into the world.
This girl keeps us in stitches with all the funny things she says and does
(like yesterday during school when she slapped her hand on her forehead and exclaimed,
"Mama, I'm trying to think but nothing is coming out!"--she's a lot like her mama).



We are thanking the Lord that He is giving us the honor of raising this one!

Happy Birthday, Twiggy!
We love you so much!

Psalm 8:3-4

"When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have set in place,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the Son of man that You care for Him?"

Moving

It's official--I can now tell the world that we are moving to Texas in the fall. The main reason we went to Texas on vacation was to check out To Every Tribe Ministries, a mission board that specializes in church planting to unreached tribes. Though we do not know specifically where the Lord is directing us, we are going to be training at the school there in Texas. This has been mulling around in our heads for over a year now and today it became official (well, public anyways). I would love to share with you how the Lord brought us to this point, which I think I will save for another post.

Now the kids are in bed, Paul is at Applebee's with a good friend of his and as I sit here in the silence of our house my heart sinks. I don't know if it's just the release of finally making all of these plans public, or even what it is exactly, but the tears just will not stop. I have no doubt of my Lord's leading thus far and I am so very excited about this next step but I think tonight it really became a reality as we shared the ministry with our home church; we are moving from the place that has been my home for the last 28 years--my parents, my sisters, my grandparents, and the church that I grew up in, all these people that I love so greatly--everything that is so familiar to me will change in a matter of months. I am going to miss everyone so much that my heart aches already. Why is it that sometimes doing what the Lord wants you to do has to be so hard? I hate change! In my flesh I want to stay here and have life continue on as it has been...

...but then my all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful God reminds me that He is never going to change. It is He who brought me out of the pit in the first place and He is not going to leave me. He will be with us in Texas and wherever He sends us after that. The very same God that is in Wisconsin as I type this is also in Texas ( not to mention North Carolina, Kentucky, Florida, South Dakota...). I don't really know what else to say except that I love all of you that I dread leaving and I love my never-changing GOD!

"I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps." Jeremiah 10:23

Our Little Princess

Yesterday Daisy was in her first wedding. She was very nervous but did an excellent job for an almost 4-year-old. During the rehearsal she was instructed to throw the petals, but instead would squat down, place a petal on the floor, stand up, take another couple of steps, and do the whole process over again. She was then shown how to throw the petals. So when the next practice came and she was told to throw three petals, she walked about halfway to the front of the church, squatted down, placed three petals on the floor, stood up and walked the rest of the way (she makes her mama smile). Here are a few pictures of the little princess:

Daisy with her "dashing" young escort, Dash.

Just minutes before the wedding, Daisy was getting very nervous, but Twiggy was right by her side to reassure her.

I love this picture of Daisy with the bride, Becca.