The New House-part 1

So we moved recently. Not just across town but halfway across the United States. We are in Maryland for Joe to pursue a PhD. AND we are going to be here awhile. So this blog will come in handy to update our family and friends back in Texas with all our activities. Some people have asked for photos of the new house. So for the next few days, there will be a series of instagram pictures to take you on a tour of our new digs. Some areas are not ready to be photographed since the "little people" around here need to clean up. But I will try to get everything in as soon as I can.


Entryway:



View from one of the basement windows:



Grace and Laura's room:



Another view of their room with Audrey:



Messy Basement with lots of big windows:



Kitchen--hate the wallpaper:

Recent pictures I love...and why

Audrey's second Birthday...she was into eating like a "puppy" at this time so why not eat the cupcake this way?

This is Easter where all the family members were teaching Audrey the fine art of cracking cascarones.

This is Cuatro and his "best buddy", Carson. Cuatro and Carson have been close since birth and are considered "armed and dangerous" wherever they go. This Picture was taken the day that Carson's grandparents had two new horses delivered to their property. (That is Carson's dad with the boys---someone must be with them at all times).

This is the girls at the end of Dance Camp with two of their favorite friends. We also love the families of these girls as well. Dance Camp was fun even though the theme for the week was Justin Bieber...Grace was not happy about this.

Thank you to all my "moms"

I read a blog post recently where a woman my age recounted and thanked all the women who shaped her spiritually. These women came along side her own mom and added something unique and special to her life. And that got me thinking to all the women who have come into my life to do the same. I think first of my Mimi. She was my mom's mom and some of my earliest memories are of her dining room table filled with a Bible, commentaries, and so many notes from her various studies. I remember saying goodbye to her as she got on a bus every summer taking underpriviledged kids to a Christian camp many hours away. I remember her prayers every night before dinner. I long to hear her alto voice once more sing the old hymns we sang when we visited her church. Her life radiated so much love for her Saviour that it was poured out onto all of her grandkids. And then I think of Mrs. Coppin. She is one of my mom's oldest friend's. She showed me the gift of hospitality. She was always so cheerful and so willing to teach us lessons about God through stories and hands on experience. I never saw her cross or angry. She had five kids of her own but treated each one of us like we were the most special person in her house that day. I also recall Mrs Gordon who gave me so much advice and quietly served our high school youth group with enthusiasm and grace. She showed me how important it is to serve the church and find the "least of these" and serve them faithfully. Then there are women who taught me how to be a mom as I was learning seven years ago that this was harder than I thought. There were my own sisters who showed me how to bring God into life's simple lessons. They came along side me to help when I was drowning. And they faithfully prayed for me when life was just too hard. There was also Elizabeth Erhart and Deanna Sanders who taught me the joy of cooking for my family and the art of decorating my home to make it inviting for others. The memories I have of the three of us in the Erhart kitchen while all the babies played will forever be a precious one. There is also Jamie B. who led our women's Bible Study when I moved back to Texas. She prayed for each one of us faithfully and God so clearly spoke to my weary heart as I was in the midst of pregnancy (after pregnancy) and todlerhood. She prayed over me and cried with me and still does. There is also my dear friends Lori and Leanne who took in children not their own and constantly remind me of the love Christ had for us while we were yet sinners. They are my prayer warriors and confidants and they are the women shaping my children's spiritual lives right now. And finally, there is my own mother who has faithfully prayed for me for the last 33 years. She led me to Christ and that alone is enough but she amazes me with all she takes on and accomplishes so well. And these aren't fundraisers or the like that she busies herself with. She takes on people and ministries that further the gospel of Christ. I will never forget her repeating to me over and over when Joe was deployed and I was pregnant with the girls, "God is good and whether Joe comes home or not, He is still good." The women above are all so special to me and I am so indebted to them for showing me the love of a wonderful Saviour. I am indeed blessed. Happy Mother's Day!!

"I've got this"

So things in our house, as always, have been crazy. It is at these times that three words are sometimes more precious out of Joe Tidwell's mouth than, "I love you". These three words comfort me, make me smile, and make my heart stop pounding everytime. The words are. "I've got this". When I can't make sense out of our schedule or am overwhelmed by the complexity of a situation, all I need to hear is,"I've got this". And he just does what needs to be done and I fall more in love with that man every time.

And the same thing is true of our heavenly father. I have felt Him so close these past few weeks as we have faced some moments that could change our life forever. He gave me a peace that should not have been there. He gave me friends who would text me Bible verses like 2 Corintians 10:5 where He says to take every thought captive. To not dwell on the "what ifs". Or Psalm 46 where it says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea." He has calmed me and whispered every single time I start to lose heart, "I've got this". He can take care of every overwhelming decision and health scare. He's got it. There is no need to be anxious because my God, the God of the universe, He is more than capable to walk me through the valley and He is capable to get my little family through the valley as well.

I started reflecting on all the times where my life has changed paths, where it started to look different than what I thought. They all came to me like a sequence out of a movie when someone is having a flashback. It goes like this:
"I'm joining the Marine Corp", "We are moving to Virginia","We are moving to Oklahoma", "We are moving to North Carolina", "I am deploying in August","You are having twins", "Your mom has cancer, Joe","Your mom died last night, Joe","They are here, Grace and Laura are here!", "Welcome home, Joe", "I am deploying again", "We are moving home, mom", "I'm pregnant, Joe", "It's a boy!","He has pancreatic cancer, Sharon","I'm pregnant Joe and I don't know how!","Bob died last night","It's a girl", "We are taking your daughter to the NICU", "Your dad is in the emergency room", "Your dad is in surgery Joe","He is not going to make it through the night, Sharon, come say goodbye","We are going to do a CAT scan on your son's brain", "They found something in my pancreas, Sharon","They found a lump in my breast, Joe"--it goes something like that.

All the times the phone rang and I wished it had not are burned in my brain. All the times I looked a doctor in the eye as they gave me news I didn't want to hear are all there for me to remember when I am going through the valleys. But God was there too. As 2 Corintians goes on to say in chapter 11, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” In every moment whether I saw Him or not, He gave me the grace and peace necessary to get me through each moment. HE provided a comfort only He could give and used His people to share His truth day in and day out to my weary heart and body. And today as I get good news back from the doctor, I am reminded that whatever the outcome would have been, "He's got this" every single time.

Happy Seventh Birthday to My First-borns...

Today Grace and Laura are seven years old. It seems like so far away yet not so long ago that I was sitting in a hospital room not knowing what to do with two babies and finding out that the military hospital we were in had NO baby nursery. Grace and Laura are the easiest girls to raise. Joe and I comment all the time on how truly blessed we are with how kind and helpful they are with everyone. We love you girls and pray that your seventh year is happy and filled with more knowledge of our heavenly Father. Thank you for making us a mommy and daddy all those years ago.

A day in the life of....

Everyone who has a blog always says they are going to be more faithful with their blog every year so I won't say that but I will try:) I would like to record for my sake "a day in the life of" entries so I can look back and see what life was like with four young children (and hopefully be more compassionate when I encounter young mommas when all mine have flown the coup). So here is today, Wednesday, January 4, 2012:

-Got up at 5:50 to shower and dress before the kids woke up. (NOTE: I slept in the girls room because Cuatro crept into our and talks and flails his arms)
-Made the sandwich part of the kids and Joe's lunch and folded laundry
-Girls woke up at 6:20 to get dressed, eat breakfast and leave at 7:10 with Joe to go to school
-I finished getting ready before Audrey woke up (Cuatro woke up at some point and snuck into the living room and fell back asleep on the chair)
-Audrey woke up, ate breakfast and I wrestled the two kids into their clothes.
-Forgot I was supposed to meet Lindsay Neff WITH the baby monitor and couldn't find parts of it PLUS could not find any of Cuatro's shoes (at this point I was frustrated and it was only 8am!!)
-We left at 8:25 which is so late since that is when Cuatro is supposed to be at preschool
-Got to school late (8:45) and Cuatro missed chapel and threw a fit because he wanted to go with me
-Took Grace's class pet that we kept over Christmas (Pancho the gerbil) back to her classroom because Joe forgot it (BTW--holding a gerbil cage, its huge bag of supplies, and pushing a stroller makes people look at you twice)
-Was late meeting Lindsay at McDonald's to have breakfast, let the babies play, give her PART of the monitor that I did find, and borrow their shock collar for our crazy dog.
-From McDonald's went to Academy to get Grace a pair of roller skates for her birthday tomorrow (Laura already got skates for Christmas). I also picked up camo shirts for hunting next week since Joe is gifting them with BB guns for their seventh birthday. PLUS got Laura a wii game so we have the same amount of gifts tomorrow:)
-Mom met me at Academy to hang out and give me my birthday gift since she was out of town on Monday for my birthday.
-We headed to Target together to get the girls stuff for their party this weekend
-I took mom back to her car at Academy and headed back to Boerne to get Cuatro from preschool all the while talking and catching up with Sarah Hicks and comparing notes from Christmas
-Got to the church/preschool early and let Audrey play on the playground (it was a beautiful day)
-Retrieved Cuatro and spent 10 minutes in the bathroom with him since he decides to "go" when I get there (weird I know)
-Drove the two minutes to the girls school and picked them up
-Headed home to put Audrey down for a quick nap and feed three "starving" children an after-school-snack

AND THIS IS WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN AFTER I GET OFF THE COMPUTER:
-Get Audrey up, do homework with the girls, prepare dinner
-Joe gets home in time for dinner (that is a good day)
-Baths, tooth brushing, PJ's, bedtime (ahhh) from 7:15-8:00.
-Clean and then work on the girl scout cookie orders that are coming in from the email I sent last night (Girl Scout orders are due next Thursday!!!)
-Quiet time, watch a netflix episode with Joe, Bed......hopefully before 11pm:)

And that is the abbreviated version (I didn't mention the phone calls about girl scout cookies, making dentist and hair appointments and all the other mundane things I did in-between all of the bullet points)


(A typical image of Cuatro and Audrey in the morning while I run around getting our bags ready)

Looking Back...2011

I recounted our moments last year and I feel it is a good exercise to do every year. So 2011...well, hmm. If I had to sum up this year in one word it would be FORGIVENESS. We have had some run-ins with not-so-nice people this year and we have had to really study what God has said about forgiving others and actually shed tears and ask God what it looks life in real life. I would love to wrap up this year in a pretty little package and say I have overcome this sin and here are the steps to not fall into that ugly pitfall but it is ongoing and sometimes a daily task. BUT God has been faithful and loving and shown me so much about Himself this year. I began Bible Study Fellowship this year and we have been studying Acts and Hebrews and this has been an eye-opening experience to see God's hand in the formation of the early church and the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives and the realization of the power He has today in my life and the lives of the women in my group. The girls have been going with me to the kids program and we have amazing conversations on the way home about God and His work around the world and how some Christians are persecuted for their faith. It brings tears to my eyes to see them "get" it. God really has been good to us this year and has shown His faithfulness to us so clearly. So without further ado, here are a few highlights of 2011:

January: Joe and I went to San Francisco for a wedding and few days of sight-seeing on my birthday weekend (best present ever!!). The girls turned six and we celebrated with six other girls at a hotel with an indoor pool and an all-night slumber party.

February: Audrey turned one along with her cousin Grayson and we had a small celebration at the house with a valentine-themed party.

March: We enjoyed a restful Spring Break and I was able to sneak off to a wonderful Women's retreat with some ladies from church. We also hired a sweet lady to help with children and laundry once a week (she has been a blessing!!)

April: We attended so many birthday parties and had a wonderful Easter with family and friends. We also were invited to go to Lake LBJ for the last weekend in April. Our friends have a great lake house and we had a wonderful time on the boat.

May: My sisters, mom, and I put on an estate sale with Joe's uncle's household items and that was an extreme undertaking. I don't think we will ever do that again! We attended a wonderful graduation party and attended many end-of-the year parties. We also took Memorial day weekend to go on our first trip of the summer--Clearlake, Texas. We loved being with our friends the Totton's. We enjoyed swimming, the boardwalk, and good laughs with amazing friends.

June: The girls completed Kindergarten!! We left the following week to Family Camp on Mustang Island. This will become a tradition with three families from our church since we had so much fun (and so did the kids!). We came back Sunday and started VBS and Cheer Camp on Monday. What a week!! We ended this hectic week with the annual Berges Fest parade that the girls were able to be in (huge perk of living in a small town). Cuatro and the girls also started gymnastics lessons and loved it.

July: We went to the Calder's for the third (or fourth) year in a row to their Fourth of July Party. We look forward to it every year. We also started renovating the kitchen and girls room so we moved to the guest house and survived (barely).

August: We went to Fort Worth at the beginning of the month to see Joe's older sister and her family. We stayed at a downtown hotel with a pool and then toured the Science and History museum. We stayed there for three hours and could have stayed longer if it wasn't nap time. What an amazing place! We also went to the Stockyards for the first time and had a blast. We will be going back next year. This month also brought a new dog. A golden doodle Cuatro named Shasta was brought home to live with us and she is wild but we love her. August 19th we celebrated our 11th year anniversary with a weekend at home with no children(thanks mom). Everyone (but Audrey) went back to school on the 22nd and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. We ended the month with a fourth birthday party for Cuatro complete with a rented water slide bouncy house combo.

September: We celebrated the baptism of two very special girls (Endie and Makeda). Cuatro started swim lessons (at an indoor place). I co-led the church garage sale for the fourth year in a row and competed in my first ever skeet shoot tournament (it was for charity and I will probably never be asked to be on a team again).

October: We attended two galas (I love to dress up but Joe doesn't). The girls had their walk-a-thon at school (the fundraiser for their elementary school). I snuck away for a weekend in Fredericksburg with some old college friends. We trick-or-treated in our friends neighborhood as a cowgirl(Laura), rockstar(Grace), Ironman(Cuatro), and a cow(Audrey).

November: My sister renewed her vows with a nice big party at the beginning of the month. We had a wonderful evening of food and laughter. Joe and I attended another anniversary party the next weekend which was the couple's 11th wedding anniversary on 11-11-11! We got all of our flu shots with the help of my mom(only had to hold down Cuatro this year). I took the kids to see the local high school production of "Beauty and the Beast". We had Thanksgiving in Carrizo Springs (where Joe is from) with some of Joe's family and was able to enjoy the ranch for a few days (well the kids and Joe did while Audrey and I enjoyed heat and comfort at the big house in Carrizo).

December: We were able to be in "A Walk in Bethlehem" that our church puts on every year. Cuatro and Audrey have both been baby Jesus in previous years (with Joe and I playing Mary and Joseph of course). This year we were the town gardeners and showed people how we gathered and planted food back then. It was a wonderful time as a family and helped our kids see what it was like when Jesus came to this earth. We also attended lots of holiday parties and programs for the kids in the last weeks before school was over. My mom and I took Grace and Laura to the Riverwalk for dinner and then to the Majestic Theater to see the Symphony perform their Holiday POPS show. Joe's older sister and her husband came in a few days before Christmas and then his mom's side of the family came on Christmas Eve to have dinner and go to church with us. We celebrated Christmas at my mom's house and then left the next day for three days in Carrizo Springs. We came home and had Joe's niece stay with us for two days and now we are catching up on laundry, life, and sleep!! We are looking forward to ringing in the new year with a sweet group of friends tomorrow night.

My prayer is that 2012 brings us rest and a deeper understanding of what it means to serve God. We are hoping our kids see that there is much need out in the world and that by meeting people's physical needs, we are able to open up communication to show that there is a spiritual "need" as well. I hope we can sum up 2010 with the words "boldness" and "diligence" and "forgiveness" as well:).