Film Festival Day 1

After visiting the Alamo it was time to head on over to the film festival.  It was a short and fairly pleasant walk from there over to the convention center.

We waited in line to register and then headed down for the first showings.

 

  We enjoyed a documentary on bugs  and then one of the favorites of the festival (for Mr. R) Awesome Science: The Grand Canyon.

The kids were excited to get their picture taken with the makers of Awesome Science!

Miss E noticed one of the advertisements indicated that there would be free popcorn in the vendors hall.  Our kids wasted no time in spotting that vendor!

John Moore from The Widows Might was spotted in the vendor hall, and the kids were excited to get their picture taken with him.  The Widows Might is one of our favorite movies, and we were excited to find out that they had previously made another movie -Heart Strings- that we are looking forward to watching and that the family is also working on another movie!

Part of the reason we were at the film festival was to encourage our friends The Wintons who entered their documentary Rescued in the festival.

After watching a couple of movies we went out for dinner on the River Walk.  We all had a great time eating outside and enjoying some fairly quite time as a family.

 

One of the vendors was giving out these squishy toy cameras, Miss J spent the entire festival "taking pictures" with it!

We attended the opening ceremony for the film festival.  It was great to hear the vision for the festival and a bit of its history.  It was also wonderful to hear some very God honoring music and talks.

 

Despite it being way too late we decided to attend a concert in the River Walk Amphitheater by Charlie Zahm.  While I did enjoy his music I did not get to soak in much of the concert.  The music was like wonderful background music as I bounced, walked, patted and soothed my two VERY tired little ones.  I was also able to make a new friend, and enjoyed meeting up with her and her daughters several times in the coming days.

Miss J enjoyed the treat of getting to sit with Mr. Winton during the concert.

As we walked back to the car Miss J was thrilled to see that the "princess carriages" that she had seen earlier in the day were lit up for the evening.  Yes, it was tempting to take her for a ride.

Remember the Alamo!

Mr. M is our soldier/outdoorsman.  He has been interested in Davy Crockett and the Alamo for quite some time, so you can imagine his excitement when we told him we would be going to visit the Alamo!

After studying the Alamo and general Texas history for the past month or so it was nice to see the actual place, to be where so many men fought and died.  There was no photography or video allowed inside the Alamo buildings.

 

Mr. M posing in the spot that Davy Crockett is believed to have died.

At the well in the court yard.

One of the cannons.

 

It was a beautiful warm day; we took advantage of the day and had a picnic on the grounds.

Fellowship

While going to a film festival sounded like fun, getting to watch a bunch of movies was not the big draw of the SAICFF.  Fellowship was.  We were excited at the prospect of making new friends, and enjoying some fellowship with them.  We were excited to be able to encourage and support our friends The Wintons, who entered their documentary Rescued in the film festival.  And most exciting for me....Getting to see my friend Miss K and her family.  We've been stationed together several times, but it has been several years since we've seen each other.  The fellowship with her family was truly a blessing!

Our kids had a great time playing together.  Her oldest (Mr. N) and Miss J are just a few months apart in age, and her little one (Mr. Z) and Miss C are also close in age.  It was such a blessing to see our little ones playing together.

Miss J and Mr. Z clicked right away and stuck close together.  It was so much fun to watch them.

 

We were so blessed by the T family's fellowship and hospitality.  We stayed with them during our entire visit in San Antonio.  They graciously put up with our early mornings and late nights, and our general invasion of their home.   Thank you T family, it was such a blessing to see you again!

On the road

The drive down to Texas went smoothly.  On one of our stops to feed Mr. K we stopped along a burnt out school building.  It looked so interesting that Rob took the kids walking around it to explore and stretch their legs.

We needed to stop for lunch and were looking for a suitable place to picnic.  A church was right off of the exit with quite a bit of grass in the front, it was the perfect place for lunch!  Miss C looked so sweet sitting on her little seat looking at a flower that Miss E and Miss J had brought her.

Our first stop when we got to San Antonio was Vision Forum.  The kids had a GREAT time looking through all of the clearance items.  We also enjoyed meeting some of the wonderful employees there.  I snapped a quick picture of the kids waiting on the couch in the office while daddy was in the customer service area paying for all the loot.

 

Sitting up for a tea party

Miss J and Miss C recently acquired a new tea set.  They have been setting up tea parties and serving everyone tea so very sweetly.

Mr. K just figured out how to sit up all by himself so he joined in the tea party fun.  He is so proud of himself being able to sit up just like the big kids!

Yee haw! Texas here we come!

We're so excited to be going to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival this week.  More than watching some fun new movies; we're excited about getting to see some very dear friends, and hope to meet new friends as well.  It's all about the fellowship!

Of course we couldn't head out to Texas without studying Texas, the Alamo, and Davy Crockett.  To end our studies the kids pulled out our Davy Crockett DVD to watch last week.  Mr. M quickly set himself up in front.  I think he looks ready for a trip to the Alamo. Maybe we should take him?

Sewing and listening

I've been working on some skirts for the summer this week.  I was given the fabric a couple of years ago and Miss E was so excited to see it, all of the girls were.  It took me a while, but I finally got around to using the fabric.  I did skirts for all three girls and there was plenty of fabric left over for one for me too!

While cutting, pinning, sewing, and hand stitching I enjoy listening to sermons.  This week I enjoyed listening to a couple of Paul Washer sermons.

Here is the short version....

 

The long version is even better, take a listen!

Just hanging around

The weather has been wonderful around here and we are also getting a bit more settled in around the house.  This has lead to some sweet and relaxing days around here.

A few of the kids discovered that the remains from the fun backyard fire last week-end had more fun to offer!  After painting their faces they spent quite a bit of time playing "indians" in our fun back yard.

Inside Miss E enjoyed sitting with Mr K for a while while reading a book from the library.  Now that we don't have nearly as many "settling in" errands to run and the holidays are over we have more time to stop at the library.  Miss E and Mr R are enjoying being able to make requests on line and are spending quite a bit of time enjoying those books!

A winter picnic!

The kids got the idea to have a "beach" picnic; complete with swimsuits mid-winder!  It was such a cute idea and seemed like a fun thing to do so I went ahead and put the requested hot dogs on my grocery list. 

With temperatures starting to climb into the upper 60's and even the 70's I guess we could have had the picnic outside, but this was fun and we didn't have to worry about any cactus pokes!

A little girl and her weapons!

Miss J is mostly "all girl" she loves to play with dolls, have tea parties, play dress up and help in the kitchen.  However, she does love her weapons!

Recently, after coming in from playing outside she was heard saying "Oh no!  I've left my weapons outside!"  On that particular day her weapons consisted of a sword and a pop gun.

Daddy is so proud, and so am I!  You see we see weapons not as agents of violence and destruction, but as tools.  Knives are in use daily for everything from cooking, opening boxes, yard work and various other cutting jobs around our house.  Guns are viewed as tools as well, they are to be used for hunting and self defense (not to mention battle, we are a military family ya know ;) ).  We start teaching safety and respect with these tools early on, even with toys.  We study history as well and the kids see how these tools have been used in the past, how they were made, and how they have changed over the years.

A visit with The Wintons; and a concert!

Our friends The Wintons are on their way to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.  Not only did we have the pleasure of hosting them as they passed through, but they did a concert here too!

Miss J was tickled pink to have them here (the rest of us were quite excited too!), and was thrilled to get to play a couple of games with Mr. Winton.

The Winton boys are very popular around here too.  I'm afraid this may not have been the most restful stop for them, with all of the kids wanting their attention.  These are some wonderful young men, and we love having our kids spend time with them!

The concert was great too!  We never get tired of their music, and their testimony is even better.  It is always so encouraging to hear how God has worked in their lives.

 

*Mr. Winton took this picture with his iphone during a part of the concert that the boys where doing on their own.  I forgot my camera. 


We sure missed the Winton ladies.  Maybe they will get to come next time?


The Wintons are on their way to the SAICFF because their film Rescued (a documentary on adoption) has been entered.  It is a semi-finalist in the documentary category.  For more a chance to win a copy of this DVD go here.

February/Valentine Cupcakes

This past Sunday was our Church potluck, so it was time to make the cupcakes for the month!

These turned out cute!

They were super easy to make!

4 month? 6 month? Baby update!

Mr. K finally got to have a well-baby appointment last week; just before getting sick!  Since we had to cancel his four month checkup when my dad passed away and the make up appointment was not until he was nearly six months we just killed two birds with one stone and did both the four and the six (or was that three with one since Miss C also had her 2 year appointment then too?).

Mr. K is doing great, but I already knew that. ;)  He is 16 pounds 5 ounces.  He is working on at least three teeth, but none are in yet.  He can roll over (I've seen him do it), but mostly chooses not to most of the time.  He loves to play with toys, chews on them and transfers them from hand to hand.  He smiles, coos, laughs and is starting to babble a bit.  It will not be too long before he can sit up on his own.  

Nursing is going fairly well after a bit of a bump.  Mr. K is enjoying his "solid" foods as well though.  Sweet potatoes and butternut squash seem to be his favorites.  Pumpkin is ok and he just was not too sure what to think of the peas he tried.  He is not too excited about his morning oatmeal, but takes a couple of bites.  His favorite is the teething biscuits that he gets to chew on, I think he is going to be one happy boy when he gets to feed himself finger foods.

Miss C is also doing well.  She is growing well and with so many big brothers and sisters to watch and learn from she seems to be excelling in every area.  She is rather shy though, which is just part of her personality.  She loves to run, play and chatter but has a fairly quiet and calm personality.  

 

struggling AND gratitude

I've really been struggling these past few weeks.  My dad's passing has taken a lot out of me.  I was already wiped out after Mr. K's birth, helping my wonderful hubby through his Phd, and moving.  I had been looking forward to our Christmas break.  The day that my dad passed was the day that break was supposed to start.  Its been hard to keep going and do what needs to be done, I've been in a bit of a funk...

For more, take a look here.