The Broome Bunch

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T21:33:00.000-08:00

Praying that you too will have a sweet time of celebrating the amazing act of love that God the Father bestowed on us by sending his One and Only.

Because of Jesus...

Love,

the Broomes::2011

Happy Fall Y'all

2011-10-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

My friend, Michaella is a gifted photographer and took some pictures of our family last week. In a way, this is my favorite. It pretty much sums up each of our four and their different personalities:)

If you live nearby and are looking for someone to snap some pics, check out Michaella's website. She's offering a special right now...so go check it out!

Hilton Head.2011

2011-10-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

We made a quick end-of-the-summer trip to Hilton Head Island at the end of August. Our dear friend and sweet student, MH went with us to help with the kids and just hang out. It was SO great to have her with us!!!! Not only was she a huge help and fun to have around, but she's also a great photographer!!! So....thanks for going to the beach with the crazy Broome bunch, MH!

A Free Day at the Zoo

2011-09-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Our local library has an amazing deal where you can check out an informative DVD about the Atlanta Zoo and when you return it, you get a free pass for four into the zoo! We got the pass last week and headed up to Atl for a few hours. It is a great zoo! Our favs:

Joshua: the reptile house (You know, because he's definitely in that "I love snakes" boyish phase.)

Anna Bell: the flamingos ("because they're pink!")

Caleb: the parakeets (he loved to "feed da birds!")

...I personally loved watching the gorillas. The babies were so adorable and amazing to watch!!! Fred was our great travel guide daddy who kept his map in hand and made sure we made it to all the attractions. And Ezra..well, he's just along for the ride. And in gracious true-fourth-born fashion, he contently sat in his stroller and didn't make a peep!:)

One Tough Girl

2011-09-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

Little Anna Bell had a big day last Friday. She has been visiting our friendly neighborhood ENT doctor regularly since she was a year old. (Thankfully, he really is pretty great; he goes to our church and his oldest daughter is in our ministry.) AB had tubes put in when she was just over a year old. And all was well until the tubes fell out and the hole left in it's place in her right ear failed to close. Thankfully it was a small hole, but it has effected her hearing and she still has needed to wear a plug in that ear. Little bit has also become quite the little snorer...and has battled quite a few rounds a strep throat. So on Friday, Anna Bell had what the Dr called a blue light special of surgeries: she had her tonsils and adenoids removed and her hole patched with fatty tissue from back of her ear lobe. Surgery went great and she is recovering amazingly. She is drinking and eating soft foods and hasn't even taken any pain medication since yesterday! She's a little trooper for sure.:)

Rock Ranch 2011

2011-09-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

First Days of School

2011-08-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

Joshua started kindergarten and Anna Bell is in 4k 3 days a week this year. Our church has a 5K program. I am really thankful for this because it keeps our kids in the same place for one more year, is a fabulous Christ-centered program, and gives us an extra year to make the elementary school decision. Both kids have wonderful teachers and have done great so far. I miss them by the time noon rolls around, but I'm also enjoying the time with C and Ez. (Caleb goes to Mother's Morning Out two mornings a week and LOVES it...he is really sad when he doesn't get to go too!:))

I know that I've said it before, but I'm so thankful for our excellent preschool program. I have only good things to say about it. Our kids learn the Word and biblical Truth continuously.

However, I am a little torn about them going most days. I know that these days are going to fly by. Already, I'm feeling time slipping through my hands and wishing for more quiet, uneventful mornings at home in our PJ's.

Regardless of whether we home school or school school, life is quickly changing. Gone are the days of spontaneous mornings spent at the park with friends or weeks away with no concern of what we're missing while away.

...So here's a word to my friends of toddlers: before you know it, life will change. Your little boy or girl will be in school and you'll not only miss him or her terribly (if you choose the school school route) you'll also miss the season of simplicity.

And since I'm on the topic of school and all....here's the best school picture ever. I think that this is my first grade pic. Isn't it completely hilarious?!!!!? Can you imagine pulling this thing out of the envelope??!!!

Birth Day

2011-08-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to sit down and document Ezra's arrival...mostly for me (and the lack of details that I can retain in this mommy brain of mine) but also because what mom doesn't like to hear a good ol birthin story? ...:)

I called my mom on mother's day (May 8th) on my way home from church and told her that there was no way that I would make it through the end of the week pregnant. I didn't feel bad necessarily, I just felt like labor would surely start at any moment.

So my wonderful mom quickly rearranged her schedule (she's a preschool director, so May is a super-busy time for her) and flew in on Tuesday. And once she arrived we had a great time....waiting....and waiting...and waiting for Broome baby # 4 to take his sweet time to make his appearance.

Joshua was 8 days early. With Anna Bell I was induced 2 weeks early. Caleb came 9 days early. So all along, I thought it was a safe assumption to say that Ezra would come sometime between the 38th and 39th week of pregnancy.

Nope, I was wrong. And let me tell ya, I can't imagine those women who walk around still waiting for labor pains to begin weeks after their due dates have passed, because the anticipation about drove me crazy. Not to mention the constant questions of "do you feel anything?" ..."is today the day?" ..."you still haven't had that baby?"

The most embarrassing and humbling part of waiting was that I even went into the hospital on Friday night (May 13th) with what I thought were the beginning stages of labor. Everyone (including my doctor) told me to come as soon as it began because it would most likely progress very quickly being that it was our fourth and that my body had already been progressing for several weeks.

So I did- with mostly mild contractions about 4-5 minutes apart. But once I arrived, the contractions slowed down and the nurse informed me that only every other contraction was a true contraction. I felt like such a nerd. And at the time, I was pretty stinkin mad that they sent me home. When I walked out the door, I said that this baby would most likely either be born at home or in the car, because there was no way I was being sent home again. Ugh...pregnancy hormones and being stubborn are a dangerous combination.

So I made it to my 39.4 week visit on Tuesday (May 17th) and by this time, we were all pretty amazed. Because of the progression that my body was still making and some other circumstances, my doctor thought that it was best to schedule an induction for Thursday, (May 19th) the day before my due date.

However, that night little Ezra decided he was ready to leave his safe womb-home and labor began around 11pm. We didn't head to the hospital until around 3-4am because I had to make sure that there was no way that it was false labor again. (But when it really came down to it, I didn't want Fred and mom delivering this baby, so fear won out over stubborness.) When we arrived, contractions were still managable, but I'd progressed to a 4-5 already. So we thought that labor would go pretty quickly.

Mom stayed home with the sleeping babes. She planned to come as soon as she dropped them off at school. I thought she'd definitely miss it. We'd decided that we really wanted her in the room with us. It had always been just me and Fred and we wanted her to be a part this time. When she arrived, contractions were really picking up. I was having to breath through them and rest between.

I've always wanted to try to go as far as I can without an epidural, but with the other 3, I got one along the way at some point. (When the pain of contractions outweighs the fear of a massive needle going into my spine!) This didn't happen with Caleb until I was dilated to an 8, (I didn't know that I was that far along until after the anesthesiologist was finished.) so I was disappointed with myself that I didn't push thru (ha!) the pain and make it "naturally."

I don't know exactly what it was about conquering this. I'm very thankful for medicine and have no worries about using help that is available. I guess that it was just something that I wanted to prove to myself. That I could do it.

Welp, on number 4 I finally did, and lemmtellya- wow, that was some seriously intense pain. Women who choose to deliver naturally time and time again are superwomen in my eyes. That is some seriously crazy-kinda-hurt. Ezra was in a posterior position through labor up until he came out, so I guess that that slowed things down quite a bit and made the pain more intense than normal.

{*The entire time, Fred was saying thing like "Why don't you just get the epidural?" and mom has always raved about how wonderful natural childbirth is. Right after Ezra was born I looked at Fred and said "You were right" and then turned to my mom and said "and you're crazy." :)}

Regardless, that one is crossed off the bucket list. I've done it and I can't say now that I would ever choose to volunteer to go throught that pain again if an epidural is available! So... Ezra James Broome arrived at 12:37pm on May 18th. He weighed 5 pounds and 14 ounces...and is absolutely perfect. ...And is so worth every second of epidural-free labor and delivery!!!!

This is at around 3 am before we headed to the hospital. (That must be a shadow in my armpit...I don't think that I was sweating at this point!)

Monday morning, at Anna Bell's field day. I'm willing to try anything to get labor going. (Including looking like a fool in front of my daughter's friends and their parents. Good thing she's 4 and not 14 and still thinks that it's cool that her preggo mom is hulla hooping.)

Sweet first moments.

A Fun Friday

2011-08-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

Caleb...Just Because

2011-08-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

Smiles

2011-08-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

Prosser Family Beach Trip 2011

2011-06-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

(Yay- a picture of all 6 of us!)

(*Bonus: everyone is relatively well-groomed and even color coordinating)

Life Six Weeks Later...

2011-06-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

...Random, I know, but how else do you sum up the first 6 weeks of life with your 4th baby?

We went to the pediatrician for the sixth time in one week this morning. Caleb, Joshua, Ezra and I have all had some sort of virus. It's been terrible. Caleb had the croup with it. Joshua's fever got up to 104. I felt miserable but still needed to be mom for a few days. And sweet baby Ezra's fever got to 101.3, so just be careful, the doctor's had to cath him to get a urine sample and give him an IV to get a blood culture. It was pitiful. ...But we are really thankful that he seems pretty much over it and it didn't turn into something worse.

I cleaned yucky poop off of the kitchen and hallway floors this afternoon. (And of course, it had to be the day after I mopped!) Caleb pooped in his swim trunks while we were outside playing in the sprinkler and then ran inside, leaving little droppings all over the place before I realized it. The best part of it was me trying to get him up into the bathtub while trying to keep the others from stepping in it, while also trying to take care of Ezra. Oh wow...sometimes I wonder why God saw fit to only give us two arms. Three would come in handy on a pretty regular basis.

I'm feeling good and pretty much back to "normal." I felt just kind of weak and easily light-headed until about a week ago. It's nice to be able to run upstairs to grab something again.

Ezra is such a sweet baby. He seems like he's already watching, thinking, trying to figure out what's going on. I soak up the quiet moments when I get to just sit and hold him.

After the kids are all in bed and Fred and I are downstairs and hear a cry, we have to listen a moment to guess who it is. If it's Joshua, he's had a bad dream. If it's AB, she needs to go to the bathroom. If it's Caleb, he's dropped his paci (I SO need to get rid of that thing, i know!) And if it's Ezra, he's ready for his last meal.

We went to the beach with my family when Ezra was a little over 3 weeks old. It was fun and as always, so great to be with my parents, sisters, their husbands, and my precious nieces for a full week. ...But it was also a bit crazy. All of the kids did great, but it's still a bit hard to go to the beach with a 3 week old!

I can't even tell you how many times I've counted heads to make sure that we have everyone.

Ez started sleeping through the night at 3 weeks. The first night I tried not to get my hopes up, thinking it was just a one time thing. However, thankfully, he's slept from around 10-7 the majority of the nights since!

Although it's definitely easier to stay home most days, there's a great feeling of accomplishment in getting out just to vacuum out the van or run to the bank.

We have the best friends ever: We have had 14 meals brought to our house. Most have been more than enough for 2 nights. And since cooking isn't my favorite thing in the world, I've been really spoiled. I have only cooked probably a handful of meals in the past 6 weeks. I could get used to that!

The kids love Ezra. They love to hug him, kiss him, talk to him, sing to him. It's so sweet. I wasn't expecting them to be so gentle with Ezra, but they really all are...not that I can leave him on the floor or anything. Poor kid hardly ever gets tummy time:)

I counted 26 different piles from one load of laundry the other day.

It seems like with each child, I get a little bit more relaxed about certain things: like organization of toys or how long it takes to put a basket of clean cloths away.

I. am. blessed. ....beyond measure. With a husband who loves me and our kids selflessly because he loves Christ first. With 4 precious little ones who won't be little forever. With family who loves us and supports us immeasurably. With friends who loves us and our children like family. And most of all...and terribly understated...with a God who loves me even in my sinfulness and has allowed me this season of life to bring glory to Him.

...And here are some {5 weekish} pictures of the little guy...

Little Ez

2011-05-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ezra was a week old yesterday. We are adjusting well as a family of 6. J, AB, and C are all three in love with him...they want to give him kisses and hugs throughout the day. Unfortunately, sometimes their affection is a bit much for this little guy. He'll be tough, I guess! I am doing well. I'm trying not to do too much and rest when I can...easier said than done around here:)

The kids and I went for a short walk around the neighborhood this morning and I had one of those "I hope I never forget this" moments. Ezra was in the sling, Caleb was holding my hand, and Joshua and Anna Bell were a couple steps ahead exploring bugs, pine cones, pieces of road and whatever else interested them. Life right now is hard. It's often times messy. Our kids our sinful and so is their mama. I fail every single day to honor Christ in the way that I parent them. One fear of regret that I have is looking back and not enjoying these days. But in that moment, life was pure bliss. I am overwhelmingly blessed. I know it...even when it's hard and exhausting, I know that the great responsibility and honor of being mom and wife in our home is awesome.

As with the other three, Ez's first name is from a biblical hero and middle name is from a missionary hero:

{ezra}

Fred and I were reading through the book of Ezra early on in my pregnancy and both agreed that his is a pretty worthy legacy: Ezra 7:10 "For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach His statutes and rules in Israel."

{james}

James Elliot is one of the most well-known missionaries of our day...and for valid reasons. His testimony of service to the Auca tribe along with his wife is amazing. We will teach Ezra Elliot's famous quote at an early age: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

My Papa is also James and although he has never been a "missionary" he is a man who has walked closely with God for a long time. He is my favorite person to hear pray. There is both a reverence and an intimacy in his words that speak of a long, dear relationship with his Savior.

...And here are a few pictures of our sweet Ezra James:

Little Mama

2011-05-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

Ezra is here!!!

2011-05-19T05:32:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little Ezra James was born yesterday at 12:47 pm. He weighed 5 pounds, 14 ounces and is doing great! We are so excited that he is here-- the kids did wonderful meeting him. They were each so sweet and anxious to check him out:) I will hopefully post some more pictures soon...a lot are on my mom's camera. Thank you for all the prayers for the Broome family!!!!

36 Weeks

2011-04-26T13:32:00.000-07:00

He is Risen!!!!

2011-04-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

Our Resurrection Morning Celebration began right at 7 am when our two oldest babes crawled into bed with us. We had plans to read the great Truth of Christ overcoming death there, before Fred had to get to church. ...I haven't done a great job this week of planning many meaningful activities for our family surrounding Easter. (I'm not a very good planner to begin with, so at 36+ weeks pregnant...planning is happening even less!) Welp, about 2 seconds into our sweet time together one of our precious children chucked the Bible at the other child's face. Ugh...yep- that's about how our morning went. Let's just say that on Easter morning I was greatly reminded of my desperate need for my Saviour! Thankfully, the day got better and ended up with sweet time with friends and a wonderful time of worship with our church family. And a major bonus in the Broome house: I even got a pretty decent picture of all three kiddos!

We love you, Shell!

2011-04-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

My dear friend, Shelly came to visit us last weekend. We had a great time not doing much of anything. I'm so thankful for Shelly and her friendship over the years. We roomed together the year that we both graduated from college and I think that she's come to visit every place I've lived since then. She is a faithful, loyal, and lifelong friend. We love you, Shelly! Thank you so much for coming to visit!

sweet brothers

2011-04-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

A Girl and Her Critters

2011-04-12T11:32:00.000-07:00

Anna Bell's latest critter obsession has been the multitude of caterpillars that are all around our yard right now. Goodness, that girl loves bugs. She came from the garage, through the house, and out to the porch the other day with a spider in her hand that she found. (We've since made a rule that no spider catching is allowed.) I made AB a little bug box that now holds her caterpillars: I think that we're up to 6 now. (Only 2 have escaped into the house somewhere!) The cool thing is that 3 have cocooned in this little bug box-- so we'll hopefully get to see them change into moths!

Picture Post

2011-03-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Muffins With Mom in 3k...such a sweet time with little Anna Bell.

The annual Cherry Blossom Festival was this past week...we had a wonderful afternoon with our family and some friends. Joshua and AB both got to ride one thing, we saw a Tiger show (actually not so impressive, but it was free) ate cotton candy and a Turkey leg, and just walked around enjoying the day.

(Unfortunately, the only pic of the outing that I have of Caleb is in his seat on the way:))

Watching Daddy exterminate the Carpenter Bees that have taken up residence in our siding makes for sweet pictures:)

We've gone Tadpole hunting in our little creek out back several times over the past week...and Fred and the kids have been pretty successful. They've caught 8 pretty good size little guys. A couple of them are even starting to get legs!

Preggo Update...

2011-03-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

I hit the 32 week mark yesterday-- I can't believe that we are getting so close to the arrival of our sweet baby boy! In less than 7 weeks, he will be here! (I haven't made it to 39 weeks with any of the others...so I think it's pretty safe to guess that I won't with this one either.) This pregnancy has been pretty similar to the others: I'm at about the same place with weight gain, the same pesky veins have popped out behind my right knee, and Braxton Hicks are keeping me up most nights. I'm really trying to enjoy every stage and moment of this pregnancy...even as the discomfort increases. At my last appointment, the doctor expressed just a little bit of concern with how I'm measuring, so I have another ultrasound scheduled in a couple of weeks. I suppose that he's following in his sister's footsteps and may be a little guy:)

We are so excited to meet you, baby Ezra!!!! You are one blessed little boy to have such fun and crazy brothers and sister waiting to meet you. They already love you so much!!!!

Outside Fun

2011-03-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010...Just over a month late:)

2011-01-23T11:56:00.001-08:00

Here are my top 4 reasons for just now blogging about Christmas:)

1. I'm pregnant with our fourth. (...and I know that there are other mamma's out there with 5+ kids who homeschool, make their own bread, and blog everyday...but I'm definitely not one of them!:))

2. Our very generous and kind neighbor gave us an ipad for Christmas (CRAZY, right?!?) Because it is so easy to just check email and blogs on that thing, I rarely even turn on our laptop anymore.

3. I've actually made some new year's resolutions. The overarching theme of those goals is better time management...and I don't know about you, but the blogging world can zap my spare time like none other!

4. We've been internetless for a week now...our router died. And of course it did this right after I finished this post so a bunch of it didn't even save. Ugh.

...So here are just a few of the moments of Christmas 2010 that I managed to capture on camera:

These are from my attempt of a Christmas picture photo shoot. I wish I had an eye for photography. And I wish my kids would all smile at the same time...but as my MiMi says "you may want horns, but you'll die butt-headed." I love my MiMi:)

I made stockings for our family this year. We didn't have any and these only cost around $3.50 each!

My mom sent us a couple of wonderful family advent devotion books as she does every year. I loved this one (sorry- I don't know the name because it's already put up with the Christmas stuff.) It was very age-appropriate for our crew. The kids loved reading it together each night.

We were able to visit with Fred's family in NC the week after Christmas. We had a wonderful time seeing lots of folks and Fred even took J and AB sledding! We were able to meet up with Fred's Aunt Sandy, cousin Leslie, her hubby, and 3 precious little ones! Here are the dads and our 6 babes:) Unfortunately, this is the only picture that I took from the entire trip. Oh well...

I posted last year on how Joshua had arranged the nativity with Jesus in the manger and everyone else lined up looking at Him. This was the way Anna Bell arranged them this year, unprompted. I love it! ...Even My Little Pony got in on the worship and adoration of the Christ-child!

I cannot tell you how much I love the preschool at our church. Joshua told someone the other day that he went to school to learn God's Word...isn't that great?! Sure he's learning lots of other stuff too, but it is such a Christ-centered place, that learning God's Word is what sticks out to him. The Christmas presentation was no exception. It was such a sweet time of celebrating Jesus' birth. Here, Joshua is part of reciting a Christmas poem. His line was "A is for angel, who announced the baby's birth. That God had sent His only Son to come and live on earth."

My dad has received an Almanac every year for Christmas for as long as I can remember. Here he is reading some "fun facts" to Caleb. Maybe one of his grandchildren will inherit his love of facts/trivia:)

This is from the live nativity at the Christmas Eve service at church. I love this service...and our kids enjoyed it so much this year. They sang along to the Christmas carols and watched in wonder as the account of Christ unfolded. So sweet:) (Never mind the impressive black eye that AB is sporting...Joshua chucked a train at her...not so sweet:) ...Oh, and never mind the paci that my now 2 year old is attached to. Please don't' judge me...I will get rid of it. And because I feel the need to justify myself: he only gets it in his bed and when he's really tired...oh, and when I need him to be quiet at a store or doctor's office...one may wonder, who is attached to the paci? Is it child or child's mommy?:)

umm...Merry Christmas, everyone!

Boy, Girl, Boy...

2010-12-21T10:54:00.000-08:00

...BOY!!!!

That's right, we had our ultrasound yesterday and found out that our fourth baby is a boy! We are really excited...and thankful for another little Broome boy. I must admit, however, that I was completely wrong on my guess for this one. I was convinced that this baby was a girl! Fred had to keep asking me if I was excited...and I kept saying "yes...I'm so excited...and so shocked!"

Sweet sister has been very gracious in her acceptance of another brother as well...she was a bit confused when the ultrasound technician said that he was a boy-- I think that she was just as sure as I was that this baby was a girl:)

We are very excited and overwhelmingly thankful for him...and what's amazing is that I think that we even have a name already picked out. This is a definite record for me and Fred. We are very slow name-pickers...Anna Bell wasn't officially decided on until we had to write something down to leave the hospital!

...So: Thank You, Lord for this little boy. Thank You for how You have already amazingly knit him so perfectly together and how You continue to sustain his little life. We are so thankful for his place in our family. We are in awe and humbled at the treasure and blessing of him. Thank You, Awesome Creator!

Big Two Year Old

2010-12-11T12:38:00.000-08:00

Caleb Judson turned TWO yesterday!

Dearest Caleb,

You are a treasure.

You are sweet and tenderhearted.

You are tough.

You adore your "people" and can make someone feel so special when you run and give hugs.

I love how you say "GOD loves me!"

I love how you say "Aww, man!"

You love trucks, cars, and most of all- trains.

You are so interested in letters and numbers. (And I think that if you were my firstborn, you would definitely know them all by now!)

You really enjoy books.

You are learning to hold your own as you play with J and AB.

I'm so thankful that you are a great sleeper.

You're going to be a wonderful big brother.

Happy 2nd birthday, sweet boy! We love you so much- you are such a joy and blessing. I'm so thankful for you!

It's Friday, and I'm Feeling Random

2010-11-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

*I seriously woke up yesterday morning and smiled when I remembered that it was Thursday: no definite plans or places we had to be, a night at home, and (for us) the beginning of the weekend. We ran a few errands in the morning and spent the rest of the day at home. ...And I actually cooked a complete dinner; which is something that I have RARELY done since pregnancy sickness kicked in. My dear, sweet family has lived on frozen meals, kids-eat-free nights around town, or cereal/sandwiches. It's been rough. I don't think that I've been quite as sick as I was with Caleb, but thinking about food is just the worst. I reached the 13 week mark today, so I'm praying that relief comes in the next week or so!

*It's so amazing and awesome how God has already knit this littlest one into our family. I "found out" that I was pregnant while the kids and I were in St. Louis at the end of the summer. I didn't take a test. I guess that by the fourth time around, you just pretty much know:) I didn't tell anyone for nine days! Not even Fred! I didn't want to tell him on the phone or around other people. And I definitely didn't want to tell anyone before him, so I just spent a little over a week joyfully pondering the idea in my heart and thanking God. It was really cool: it was a different kind of excitement than I've felt with any of the other 3, but still a giddy, overwhelming excitement just the same...maybe just a bit more peaceful. It's amazing how much love we already have for this little peach-sized person. We are all really excited! Especially big sis, Anna Bell:)

*I've mentioned several times here how sweet and for the most part, compliant Caleb is...however, as evidenced in this pic- he is almost two:)

*I love this picture of Bella and Caleb. I don't know why they chose to hang out on the bathroom stool, but it sure made for a cute pic!

*This is a pretty old picture, that, for some reason, I never posted...but oh, how thankful I am for precious and rare moments such as these!!!!

*I LOVE this time of year!!! Fall has finally arrived in Macon. The leaves are beautiful. We've been faithfully playing Christmas music for over a week. Oh, I love it.

*We finally decided on a new room arrangement and moved Anna Bell to Joshua's room last weekend. We were blessed with another twin bed from a dear family, so we finally decided that putting J and AB together made the most sense. Their sleeping needs are the most alike and are both at a place where they can fall back asleep easily if someone wakes them up. As I was looking at the once-all-boy room with now two twin beds in it, I looked at Fred and said "It would be so great to go to IKEA to pull this room together." This was at 5:30 on Saturday. Fred looked at me and asked if I wanted to go...ummm....of course I do!!!! So by 5:45, we were all piled into the van and on our way to Atlanta! Crazy, right?!? It was such a fun family night! We pulled up to IKEA at around 7, all ate dinner for $5.00 and were off to shop. We stayed until 9 when they closed and picked out bedding for Anna Bell that worked with the colors already in Joshua's quilt. I also bought some frames to hang in there and little floor mats. The room in not quite together yet...I'll post pictures when I'm finished. It was so fun to do something so last minute and for the kids to be so great with it...it made me realize that as they get older, there's so much more allowance for flexibility.

*Alright, enough randomness for one night- happy Friday y'all!!!!

Funny (and sometimes sweet) Little Conversations

2010-11-10T09:08:00.001-08:00

Anna Bell: Mommy, I love the baby girl in your belly.

Me: Anna Bell, we don't know if the baby is a girl or a boy yet. But Who does know?

AB: God.

Me: That's right. And God knows best, doesn't He?

AB: Yep.

...We've had LOTS of conversations like this one with Anna Bell. I was a bit concerned about her at first, and how she will react if this sibling is another brother. However, this is the conversation that she had with an employee at McAllisters a few weeks back:

AB: My mommy has a baby in her tummy. (She pretty much tells everyone she sees!)

Worker: Wow! How exciting! Do you think that you're going to have a brother or a sister?

AB: Only God knows. And God knows best.

...Gotta love it!!!!:)

*After Joshua received a spanking last night:

Anna Bell: Daddy good job. ....You did a good job spanking Joshua.

...Hmm...what an encourager.

So I guess that I don't have to change my blog...

2010-10-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

I started this blog when Anna Bell was first born. Honestly, I didn't think that it would be something that I kept up with. (And by that I mean, sometimes 1 blog a month is actually beyond what I would have expected! Ha!)

Well, I foolishly made the site's web address fourbroomes. What was I thinking? I knew that, if God saw fit, our family would outgrow that name. And although it's been nearly 2 years since we've been a family of 5, the blog name is once again appropriate:) Because come May, we will be a family of 6!!!!!! (four kids works with fourbroomes, right?!?)

We are beyond excited! The kids are excited! It's been fun to see, for the first time, siblings who are old enough to comprehend what is happening (and why mommy is puking all the time!:) We are so thankful for this new little life...more stories and thoughts to come...

Rock Ranch 2010

2010-10-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

We spent beautiful Saturday at the wonderful Chick-fil-A Rock Ranch. It was a great day with the Browns and Johnsons!
Just a few pictures of our day:

It was Veggie Tales day...one of AB's highlights was meeting Bob and Larry.

Caleb was a bit fussy...which is fairly uncharacteristic of him. We are battling our third ear infection in a month. This mama's praying that we don't have to get tubes!

The train: A definite fan favorite.

Joshua was the only Broome who rode a pony. He loved it. AB and Caleb watched, desperately wanting to build up the courage to ride too...but kept chickening out.

Another fan favorite: the "corn shed." Just when I was thinking that maybe we should buy corn instead of sand for our sandbox, Joshua frantically came out with two kernels or corns shoved way up each nostril. Thankfully, they both came rocketing out when I told him blow his nose!

...And speaking of Chick-fil-A, here's a latest conversation at the Broome house:

me: Anna Bell, thank you SO much for doing such a good job cleaning up your toys!

AB: my pleasure.

Hmmm...maybe we've been eating a little too much cfa around here:)

Just Joshua

2010-10-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, Fred and I got to go with Joshua and his class on a pumpkin farm field trip. It was really fun to spend such special time just with him.

I love you, big five year old!

Caleb Judson

2010-10-09T17:16:00.000-07:00

Caleb Judson-

You are sweet beyond measure.

You are the biggest cuddle bug.

Your precious little voice melts my heart.

...And yet, you are most definitely one tough cookie.

Especially when your older sister drives you straight into a very large tree branch on the john deer...and as I scoop you up to frantically check for signs of a concussion, all you can do is fuss "RIDE! RIDE" begging to get right back on with your wild driver.

I love you, Caleb boy.

The Story of the Summer Bee Drama

2010-10-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

I love being outside. I always have. In fact, I think that it was during my senior year of college that I went thru a phase of sleeping outside on the back porch. (I don't think that lasted very long!) ...Anyways, my kids love being outside too. Some of our favorite days include exploring out back, riding bikes, painting outside, searching for critters, and other sorts of outdoor adventures. The thing about living in Macon, Georgia is that you can pretty much play outside all year long. It's blazing hot in the summer months and the mosquitoes are terrible...but we still go outside and just set up our own little mini-water park in the front yard (there are less mosquitoes in the front...so we red-neck it and set up the pool on the driveway!)

Well, while Fred and I were away on a student mission trip at the end of July, my mom came to watch the kids at our house. They did all kinds of fun things together and stayed pretty busy. All was well until the day before Fred and I returned home. Joshua was playing in the next yard over with a neighbor's grandson, while mom and our neighbor were standing out back. They called the two boys back to our yard and before they knew it, both boys were running as fast as their little legs could go and screaming their heads off. It took a minute for the two grandmas to realize what was going on, but once the boys got close enough- it was obvious. One of the boys had disturbed a yellow jacket nest. And my poor, dear baby was covered in yellow jackets. He was, of course, screaming hysterically while my mom fearlessly ripped his clothes off and got him upstairs into a baking soda bath as quickly as possible. Both mom and Joshua got stung 6-8 times by those awful little suckers:( Our neighbors were great: bringing mom Benedryl and checking on her and J several times (mom had a reaction when she was a little girl...she actually called dad that night and said something like "Call me in the morning. If I don't answer, call an ambulance." ...nothing says "sleep well, dear" like that!!!!) Thankfully, mom waited til the whole ordeal was past and Joshua was fine to call me...otherwise, I'm pretty sure my trip would have been cut a day short:) You know, you can't hear something like that without immediately replaying that terrible scene from My Girl.

So, we got home the next evening and everything seemed fine. Joshua had perfectly recovered; you couldn't even tell where he'd been stung. We headed out the next day for our Prosser family beach trip and spent an amazing week living outside in the sand, surf, and at the pool. We got home the next week and as we saw friends that we'd missed for 2 whole weeks, we recounted Joshua's tale of being attacked by bees. Joshua usually loves this sort of thing: telling a great story, seeing the reaction of his audience, receiving the praise of such bravery. However- it backfired on me big-time! Apparently, somewhere along the way, my little boy became deathly afraid of ALL things creepy crawly. We are talking gnats, ants, spiders, ANYTHING that was a bug, he was seriously afraid of! It was terrible. He refused to go outside for over a month and even got upset when we had to park far away at church or at a store. There were times that he even begged for us to carry him over the step and into the van inside of the garage!

My sweet boy was seriously traumatized. It was a good thing to go through, really. It allowed our family A LOT of conversation about trusting God. We prayed with Joshua, we recounted Scripture and accounts of courage from the Bible. We talked about God's goodness and purpose in creating bees. We read books about bees (and every other type of bug!) We talked about how fun outside is and how thankful we are for God's beautiful creation. I could tell all along, that there was a struggle going on in my little guy. He SO wanted to trust...but his fear was holding him back. And after, like I said, over a month of spending mornings and afternoons cooped up indoors, we went to St. Louis for a week and Joshua got over it. As we were praying one day, at the end he said "and thank You, God for bees." wow! That was huge. Joshua is still a bit skittish around bees (I don't blame him!!!!) but we are back to a normal routine of playing outside. We will probably eventually be able to have more conversations about trusting the LORD from all this... but for now, we've decided that it's best to just not talk about it and be VERY thankful that we are past the Summer Bee Drama:)

*These are pictures of me and the kids missing an entire wedding ceremony that Fred officiated...because it was outside. We instead, spent an hour sitting in the van watching Curious George until the reception!

2010-09-26T11:07:00.001-07:00

My heart is heavy today. Late last night, one of my heroes went to be with Jesus. And although I'm definitely not a writer, I feel compelled to attempt to describe Gary Varner. This man walked with God in a real and passionate way. His relationship with Christ was evident in everything that he did. As I've thought, prayed, and even been able to visit with Gary and his dear wife, Carol, I've been reminded of all of the ways that they have challenged and encouraged me. I realized that, other than my parents, there are probably no two people who have been more influential in my walk with Christ in my teenage years.

When I was 15 years old, I remember sitting in the Crestview Middle school Gym on a Sunday night. (Our church met there because we didn't yet have a building.) I don't have a very good memory when it comes to these kinds of things, so it's interesting that this moment sits so vividly in my mind. I was sitting with some friends on the stage of the gym when Gary Varner walked up and asked if I had thought about going on the mission trip to Kiev, Ukraine the following spring. I don't remember if I had or not...I probably had because God had already stirred in my heart a love of missions. But I do remember that when he took the time to ask a little squirrelly 15 year old girl if she wanted to go on a mission trip, that meant a lot to me. So that spring break (and week following) I went to Kiev. I then went to Kiev the next year, and the next, and then went to Kursk, Russia with Gary and Carol the summer following my freshman year of college.

It was from these trips and the training that we had in preparation for going, that I learned to share my faith. I saw the world outside of the safe little neighborhood that I knew. I grew to understand and love a culture and people that was so foreign to me. Gary and Carol taught us to be ready to always give an account of the Hope that is in us- whether it be to one person or thrown up on stage in front of hundreds with a translator! They taught me to use the testimony that God has given me to proclaim the Truth of the Gospel. They taught me the importance of respect for other cultures and people, regardless of how different they may be. It's been thirteen years since I've been on a trip with the Varners, but the truth that they diligently ingrained in us still is so fresh in my heart and mind.

Gary was diagnosed with lung cancer last fall. The diagnosis was not good and the effects of the cancer and treatment quickly took Gary to a very painful and restless place. I went to visit him and Carol last spring with my dear friend, Kelli. She beautifully wrote about our time with Gary on her blog. She put into words much better than I ever could the truth and wisdom that Gary shared with us that day. And what she graciously left out of her post is that I bawled my eyes out through a good bit of our conversation. And I'm not a crier. I usually prefer to process emotions when I'm all by myself. But I couldn't help it that day. The tears just kept flowing. I was overwhelmed by several things that day: 1. My dear friend and mentor was going through something awful and unless God saw fit to miraculously heal him, he would be in heaven soon. 2. Floods of memories with the Varners: Going to Russia. Sitting in their basement learning the Four Spiritual Laws until I could say them backwards in my sleep. Taking care of their daughter, Jessica while they were on another trip to Russia. Sitting in their living room as they lovingly yet directly confronted me when I was not making wise choices my junior year of high school. Gary challenging Fred and I at the end of our wedding and praying over us right before we left the church. ...The memories go on and on. 3. Sitting at the feet of a great saint who had spent a lifetime loving Jesus who had the perspective of one who would likely meet Him soon.

Hearing Gary's heart that day was life-changing. He was trusting God in the midst of great suffering. I left their house that day and didn't get over the urgency to pray for Gary and Carol. I've learned through this that although there are a lot of things I can't do to serve people in this stage of life, I CAN pray. And God loves it when His people pray. I can't tell you how many times I've begged God to heal Gary. I can't tell you how many times I've been burdened in the middle of the night or throughout the day to stop and pray for him and Carol. I'm not saying this to toot my own horn or say I'm some kind of prayer warrior...I'm actually pretty unfaithful when it comes to interceding for others. The Lord has worked in my heart to pray faithfully for others through all of this.

I went back to St. Louis a week ago to visit with Gary and Carol again. My sweet daddy flew into Atlanta and the kids and I met him up there. He then drove us back to MO. ...I'm not brave (or foolish!) enough to make the 11-12 hour drive with 3 children all by myself. Gary ended up having a really difficult week and I almost didn't get to see them. Then his precious, selfless wife texted the evening before I left to say that he was up for a visit, if I could come by. I was able to spend over 2 hours again sitting with them and soaking up their wisdom and perspective.

Although I know that Gary felt awful that night, it did not keep him from teaching me what it means to love Jesus. One thing that he said that really stuck out was the importance of loving people. How programs, plans, schedules don't mean much of anything- what really matters is showing people the love of Christ. I was convicted. How many times do I care more about my list of errands or vacuuming the floor than sharing the love of Jesus?!? And here I sat, with a couple that had loved me and so many others so fervently and selflessly over the years. I know that it probably wasn't always convenient or fun to invest in me as a teenager. I'm pretty sure that I was annoying and irresponsible at times!...Yet Gary and Carol cared about me and my relationship with Christ enough to always be there for me. I am more than just a "part of the ministry job" to them. And I'm sure that there were plenty of times that they poured into me without me even thanking them. (However, I'm sure my parents thanked them often!) I want to love people like Gary Varner did. My mom said to Carol the other day, "Can you even imagine how heavy Gary's crown is going to be?!?" I can't imagine.

It makes my heart so happy to think of Gary in the presence of Jesus today. As the kids have said several times today: Mr. Gary is no longer sick. He gets to be with Jesus. He is made new. And for that, I so rejoice today. But when I think about my dear, precious friend Carol Varner, tears automatically well up. They were a team like no other. They loved each other so honestly, faithfully, and deeply. As my mom said, it's not like most couples where the husband goes off to work and the wife does her own thing. In every ministry endeavor, they worked together. And in the last year, Carol was the world's best nurse. (although she would never say that!) Please pray for my friend, Carol. Pray that God would be so near. Pray that she will know His loving arms. Pray for people to surround her and speak Truth in a loving way. And please pray for her kids too: Clayton, his wife Courtney, and Jessica. I pray that they will know what an amazing impact their daddy's faithful service has for the Glory and Kingdom of God.

Thank You, Jesus for working in the heart of Gary Varner. Thank You for using him to impact so many people. Thank You for using him to so mightily display Your glory!

5 Today...

2010-09-25T18:19:00.000-07:00

Five years ago today, our sweet Joshua Baker was born. Joshua, you are such a joy to your Mama. I love to watch you figure things out. You are such a great question-asker: whether it's "Why did God make fire ants?" or "How do water towers work?"... you keep me on my toes:) I love that your heart is so tender to what you do not need to hear/say/watch. You are very quick to want to turn off a video if it is the least bit scary and do not like it if you hear anyone saying something that is unkind. We need to work on your respect with adults on this one...but I am thankful for your boldness to stand up for what's right:) You have become exceptionally good at telling jokes lately. My favorite part is after you tell the joke, and you repeat the punch line and crack yourself up. I am realizing more and more that I have no idea how to raise a boy. On days that we haven't been able to go outside, I think of as many constructive ways as possible for you to get some energy out. And yet, you still seem to have an intense need to body slam and wrestle. I love this about you, but I also really love it that you're still okay with sitting in my lap and reading a book or watching pbs. I love the great conversations that we have about God, missionaries, people that we are praying for, or any other random thing before you go to bed. Daddy and I have realized that this is a sweet and precious time with you. Joshua, I can't believe that you are five. You are no longer a toddler at all...you are a little boy. And I LOVE YOU!

Psalm 70:4

2010-09-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

"May all who seek You

rejoice and be glad in You!

May those who love Your salvation

say evermore, 'God is great!'"

Wow, I love this verse! I just read it this morning and was so challenged and encouraged...especially since David wrote it in the midst of awful circumstances: while he was seeking rescue from his enemies. My desire is to be a follower of Christ who rejoices and is glad IN HIM...who is a lover of His salvation and says evermore "GOD IS GREAT!"

Catch Up

2010-08-31T12:30:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else ever get behind on blogging about life and it just hinders them from ever getting caught up? ...I feel like that happens to me all the time. I think "Well, I can't blog this until I write about that." Anyways...I just need to let that go. Here are just a few (as usual-random!) blog-note-worthy things going on with the Broomes:

*My dear, sweet, wonderful friend Constance moved to Macon! And what's even better is that her husband, Adam is the new high school pastor at our church! We are having a blast having them here. I keep saying that it's the closest thing to living near family when you don't:) Con and I were friends and roomies in college and in each others' weddings. It's SO fun to have her and her precious children and husband here! We were hanging out on Friday and just sitting around laughing, chatting, watching our kids play- and I couldn't help but smile and thank God for such a sweet and unexpected blessing.

*Last week, I pulled EVERY toy that was in our house into the playroom. SO many things needed to be sorted/stored/purged. We consolidated and now only have toys in the playroom downstairs and Joshua's closet upstairs. I like it. I have a much better handle on what we are actually using and where things are.

*Joshua started 4k and Anna Bell started 3k two weeks ago. They both love it! I can't remember if I've written about this, but I really struggled with whether or not to enroll them this year. We are praying about what to do about school for Joshua next year. We haven't come to a decision yet; we'll be visiting schools and I'm going to start doing some Kindergarten curriculum at home. We'd love to hear any godly wisdom that anyone has to offer. ...But for now, I am glad that we went ahead and did preschool this year. They are going 3 mornings a week. J and AB love it, are in a Christ-centered place, and are learning. They both have fabulous teachers. I'm having sweet time with Caleb (and getting some things accomplished with just 1) and C is even going to MMO on Friday mornings when Fred is off- so we have a date morning every week!

*And here are some pictures that I attempted one morning. I love these kids:)

*Whew. I feel *somewhat* caught up now.

Prosser Family Beach Trip 2010

2010-08-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

We got home yesterday from the annual trip to the beach with the Prosser clan. It was wonderful...and as always, I left with a deep appreciation and love for my family. (And also a readiness to get home to our little family routine!) We played in the ocean and pool, went to a little fair, went to the aquarium, stayed up WAY too late and ate WAY too much junk food, loved on cousins, and all around had a really fun time.

Silly Little Conversations

2010-07-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

(As we were driving home one evening, we passed a man running without a shirt on)

Anna Bell: LOOK!!! That man is NAKED!!!!!! Hahahaha Isn't that so funny?!!?

Joshua: WHERE?!!?

Me: There was a man running without a shirt on.

Joshua: Oh. Yeah, that's just what us boys do sometimes. But not girls, right?

Me: That's right.

Joshua: That's because girls have mustaches.

Me: They have what?

Joshua: Mustaches. You know, kinda like beards.

Me: Uhhh....girls don't have mustaches.

Joshua: Well, sometimes really old ones do.

Well, the boy has a point...but what did that have to do with boys running shirtless? I decided not to ask.

(While walking into the grocery store, we passed a worker who was on a smoking break)

Joshua: Mom, why does that lady have a straw in her mouth?

Me: Let's just go on into the store, buddy.

I decided not to tell him that day what smoking was. I know that we'll have that conversation soon enough, but in that moment, I was just enjoying the fact that my fast-growing little boy doesn't have any idea what a cigarette is.

(I was listening to Joshua and Anna Bell fall asleep the other night while we were staying at a cabin in the mountains. They were in beds side by side and just having a quiet conversation like two little grown ups.

Anna Bell: Joshua, I'm gonna be really nice to you tomorrow, okay? I'm not gonna bite you or anything.

Joshua: But Anna Bell, you pulled my hair really hard today.

Anna Bell: (After a long pause...and in her most sincere and sweetest voice) Joshua, I am so sorry. But you probably don't want a bandaide because that would really hurt your hair.

july.4.2010

2010-07-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

First Braves Game

2010-06-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

We took Joshua and Anna Bell to their very first Atlanta Braves game on Monday night. Some friends gave us 4 great tickets and we thought it was worth a try. And they LOVED it!!!! They loved stopping at Quick Trip for hot dogs and gigantic drinks on the way there, they loved playing in the kid zone area, they loved getting to pick out yummy snacks while there (cotton candy and birthday cake ice cream...talk about a sugar rush!)....the only part of the experience that they weren't too crazy about was actually watching the game! HA! Oh well, I guess that was to be expected...I mean, let's be honest, I go for the snacks and people watching:) All in all, it was a really fun experience. It made Fred and I realize that our kiddos are growing up really fast. We expected such an outing to be somewhat chaotic and stressful, but it was pretty relaxing. Thankfully, our friends Robby and Cort watched Caleb...otherwise I'm quite confident it would have been a little crazy.

sweet little zemma leigh

2010-06-19T19:47:00.000-07:00

At the end of May, my family welcomed a precious new addition to our family. My niece, Zemma Leigh finally came home. We have been fervently praying and anticipating her arrival for what seems like forever. And her homecoming was sweet, beautiful, and something that I'll never forget...and will forever be grateful that I got to be a part of. It worked out that the kids and I were able to be in St. Louis when Luke, Laura and Zemma walked off of the airplane. It was so cool- we had a whole crowd of people there celebrating with Luke and Laura. I don't think that there was a dry eye in that terminal as we all stood around adoring this little girl. MiMi (Luke's mom) got to hold Zemma first (that was very gracious of you mom-- I know that it took everything in you to not scoop Zemma right up!:)) And then my mom held her, followed by us Aunts and then the Grandpas. She was so sweet and cuddly with all of us. (Except for when she popped Aunt Becca in the nose with a big smile on her face...and Luke quickly said "She's waking up!!!!") I got to spend a few days in Bolivar getting to know my little niece before I left the kids with mom and flew back to GA to go to our student camp. It was so fun-- Oh how I love that little girl!!!! And wow- adoption is such a beautiful and amazing thing. I've been reading a book by Russell D. Moore: Adopted For Life. It is a great read- one that has caused me to stop mid-sentence and just praise God for His adoptive redemption for me. Anyways- here is our Zemma- who has finally come home- who we all love so much- who is such a beautiful picture of what our loving Father does for those who confess Christ as Lord and Savior: He has placed us in a family and called us His own. AMEN!!!!!

Latest Craftiness

2010-06-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

So...I don't know about anyone else- but I definitely go through stages of tackling projects. Here are some of my latest cheap creations:

Our house is around 25 years old- which is actually a pretty fun age for a house- because while things aren't in terrible shape, you really don't have that much to loose in taking risks on refinishing things. I decided to paint our master bath cabinets a couple of weekends ago- I went with blue because everything else in the room seemed kind of boring. It was a really easy and affordable project: around $10 for the paint and I found a package of knobs on clearance for under $8!!! Not bad for a completely new-looking vanity!

This is my first completely pattern-free sewing project. I made a patch-work skirt for both Maddie Grace and Zemma from this amazingly cute fabric that I found at a local fabric store. I actually bought what's called a charm pack of fabric- that's typically used for quilting. I had all of these coordinating fabrics in 6" by 6" squares. I like how it turned out, but it was a little too time consuming to make many more of them!

There's nothing that special about this next project...except for the cost. I found these frames for $1.50 at Michael's and used scrapbook paper and spray paint to make a pretty fun decoration that pulled some brighter colors into our living room. I like how they turned out. I'm going to do a couple for the kids' rooms as well.

I went through a fairly long stage where any furniture I refinished was done in black...and now I'm kind of bored with it. I used the same spray paint as the frames and redid this end table that was in Fred's house growing up. I like how it turned out. I need to redrill holes for a new pull, but other than that, it's done and probably only took a total of 30 minutes to complete.

Dinner Conversations

2010-05-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Joshua: "Mom, I think that Caleb needs to watch more Praise Baby."
Me: "Why's that, bud?"
Joshua: "Because that's what I watched when I was a baby and that's why I'm so smart."

(Yeah...lots of conversations about what it means to boast around here these days:))

Me: "Well, actually that's not what makes us smart...God made you and He is the One who made you smart."

Anna Bell: "And God is the One who made me so funny!"

....HA! So true, little Anna Bell, SO TRUE!!!!!

My Man is a Grillin' Champ

2010-05-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

Check out what my man grilled up for dinner last night. YUM. He made his own rub, hickory smoke cooked these two birds on the grill and even made his own sauce to go with them. The meat was so tender, it just pulled right apart- we made chicken pulled BBQ sandwiches. Ooooohhh- it was so good! Nice work, babe!

Precious Zemma

2010-05-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know my sister, Laura and her husband, Luke- they are in Ethiopia right now adopting their baby girl! They left on Thursday and just had their long-awaited "Gotcha Day." Here is part of an update email that we received this afternoon. (And had been checking for all morning!:)) It makes me cry...and SO VERY EXCITED to meet my little niece!

"Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know about our big day...We picked up Zemma this morning around 10, and I do mean we "picked" her up! Like, we met her and then took her away to our guesthouse! She has done fabulous so far! It took us about 3 hours to get a smile (Luke got the first one), and after that she warmed up really quickly. She has been playing, laughing, reaching for us, and we even got good night kisses a minute ago! She is absolutely beautiful, perfect! Just can't wait for you all to meet her! Tomorrow I will try and send a picture or two."

Swing Set And Sickness

2010-05-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

Fred's dad came down over the weekend to add on to the swing set that he has built for the kids. He built the swing portion last year and has been working on the rest at home. He brought part of it already put together and set up the rest while he was here- check out how wonderful it is! I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but it has a climbing wall on the side and a ladder on the back. We will either put sand or a tire swing underneath. The kids are so excited- thanks, dad! We love you and are so thankful for our swing set!

Okay, does anyone else feel like this season of life= someone is always getting sick? (And then passing that sickness on to a brother or sister!!!) I think that we've had some sort of stomach bug 4 times in the past year...but this round is definitely the worst. Poor Caleb started throwing up sometime in the middle of Thursday night, Anna Bell started on Friday night, and Joshua on Monday night. ...And now my dear husband is down:( It has made them all so weak and tired. I know that this is probably something I shouldn't admit, but I've enjoyed it a little bit...not the vomiting, required additional cleaning, or pitifulness. And before you think that I'm a terrible person- I definitely do not like to see any of them hurting. However- they each have been so incredibly sweet and cuddly! Caleb and I sat for hours reading board books (which by the way-- I have not done hardly at all with him-- poor third child!) Anna Bell and I sat and did a puzzle for 30 minutes today. And I curled up next to Joshua in his bed last night and had great talks on what it means to be created in the image of God and what it means to love Jesus with all your heart. Those are the things that make me thankful for even things such as sickness:)

*We've also watched WAY TOO many hours of PBS kids and videos...

Next week: television detox!!!

*This was the only activity J and AB did yesterday- they "played in the sink" (Or rather, cleaned those nasty germs off of some toys!)

*Caleb didn't smile for 2 days straight. SO sad...he finally started smiling again on Sunday afternoon.

AB is not impressed...

2010-05-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

...I think that it's a safe assumption that Anna Bell is growing weary of my sewing. This was the fourth time that she tried these pants on in the process. (I had to keep checking the length as I added ruffles.)

Randomness

2010-05-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

...Let's see how random I can make this post:

1. Wedding: My sister Becca got married two weekends ago!!! Isn't she a beautiful bride?!? (I don't know why this picture is so small...I couldn't get it to download any larger.) It was a great, fun, crazy and exhausting weekend. Fred officiated the ceremony, (he did a great job!) I was in the wedding party, Joshua was ring bearer, and AB was a flower girl (with Madelynn). Joshua and Maddie Grace also recited I Corinthians 13:4-8 during the ceremony. They did a really good job and it was pretty much adorable- I hope to get a clip of it from my uncle to post on here. Congratulations, Aaron and Becca!!! We love you and had so much fun celebrating with y'all!

This picture was probably taken around 10 pm (11 our time!) Belly was pretty much exhausted at this point!:)

As you can see, Joshua was having too much fun gettin' down to feel tired!

2. Mother's Day: was absolutely wonderful. (Except for the fact that the kids and I had to stay home from church because Joshua was just getting over a stomach bug and I didn't want to risk getting the rest of the church sick.) After Fred got home we ate a quick lunch, went on a worm hunt, and headed out to a little pond that is next to some friends' house. Both J and AB caught a couple of brim each and had a blast! Then we stopped by sonic for the free mother's day slush (that Caleb dropped on the floor of the van...oh well) We ended up our great day eating Firehouse Subs (kids eat free on Sundays- so Fred and I split a combo and we get 2 kid's meals for free!) I am so thankful to be a mom. It really is the best job in the world. Thank You, God for allowing me to be the momma of Joshua, Anna Bell, and Caleb. They are a treasure. I am humbled by the fact that You've blessed us with these little babies. ...And thank You, God for my great mom. I am so thankful for a mom that loves You most of all and loves my children. Her wisdom is a continuous blessing as I learn to be a mommy myself. And thank You for a husband who constantly loves and encourages me. Oh, I am so blessed! Thank You, sweet Jesus!

3. Trip home: Check out what we drove through on our way back from St. Louis!!!! The news did not do justice to the crazy flooding all over Nashville! We only saw the devastation right off of I24, but that alone was wild!

4. More pics of the wedding weekend: This is the only picture that I took of the actual day. (I was a little busy!:)) Becca and Aaron had a great photographer, so I'm excited to see all of the pictures of their day. ...I'm really bummed because I don't think that anyone ever got a shot of the Broome family:(

I got to see my good friend, Shelly-- no surprise to those of you who know her, but she was a huge help with the wedding! Love you, Shell!

My lovely, wonderful, sweet sisters. I love them so much and miss them every day.

5. Sewing: I haven't done much sewing lately. But I did add these cute little flowers to AB's sandals to dress them up and match with her dress for the wedding. I just hot glued them on, so they were easy to pull off afterwards.

I made this little dress for my newest niece, Zemma. We can't wait for her to come home!!!!!

6. Strawberry patch: Yeah- I LOVE strawberry season! We've already gone twice this spring and will hopefully go at least one more time.

7. New Couch: I cannot even tell you how many times my sweet husband has couch-shopped with me! I finally found one that I really liked at a great price, so we have a new couch! I love it...now I just need to find the perfect and cheap chair to go with it:)

Wow-wee. I love random posts.

pictures say it all...

2010-04-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

What will stop a mother's heart.

2010-04-13T12:47:00.001-07:00

My sweet little Anna Bell has done a few things over the past couple of days to nearly make my heart stop:

*On Saturday, Fred was able to go fishing with a friend from church, so the kids and I were having a very lazy, quiet morning. ...That is, until Anna Bell snuck off and climbed up our dresser and got a hold of the bottle of infant's Tylenol. When I found her, she had the bottle open and was drinking the Tylenol out of the dropper! I first called the after hours and left a message and when they didn't call back in the 2 minutes that I waited, I called poison control. Thankfully, the amount that she could have possibly gotten out of the bottle was not enough to be toxic for her size/age. Our pediatrician called back as I was talking to poison control and they said the same thing. Whew. We keep all medicines on a high shelf in the closet, but I had just gotten careless and left it on our dresser. I will NOT be doing that again!

*The weather has been absolutely perfect lately. I cannot stay inside! The kids have so much fun and get so dirty exploring and playing hard. It's been so fun to sit and soak up the sun or explore along with them. But I've also enjoyed being productive: organizing the garage, pulling weeds, watering new grass, and planting flowers while listening to their little voices. However, yesterday I got a little over-zealous. Caleb was down for a nap and J & AB were doing a great job playing together, so I decided to mow the lawn. I knew that it would bless Fred to not have to worry about it over the weekend. So I started out mowing the front yard. I kept an eye on the kids the whole time- making sure that they didn't come near the mower and weren't pulling each others' arms off or anything. As I got close to finishing the front, I turned the mower off and told the kids to head to the back. Joshua went one way around and Anna Bell ran the other way. I had about 2 more strips to do and then headed around. I saw Joshua playing at the sandbox, but did not see Anna Bell. Like most 3 year olds, she is easily distracted, so I figured she found something that interested her on the side of the house. I continued mowing for probably only 2 more minutes. Still no Anna Bell. So I turned the mower off and asked Joshua if he'd seen her. Nope. I walked around to the side that she had run to while calling her name. Not there. Garage- no. Neighbor's yard- nothing. By this time, I was jogging and calling her name a little louder. I checked both neighbors' yards, back by the creek and woods- all the while yelling her name. The garage was open, but I didn't think that she could reach the door to inside and I thought that even if she did, she probably wouldn't shut it behind her, but I checked anyway. I ran (while yelling) all through the house. Knowing her tendency to hide and ability to be very quiet when she is doing something she's not supposed to, I even yelled "Anna Bell, do you want a piece of candy?!!?" - not a sound. Okay, by this time I was fully panicked. As I ran back outside, a neighbor drove by and I flagged her down. She jumped out and started helping. She ran back to the creek to check there while I kept calling around back in the woods. The only thing that I could pray was over and over "Please Lord, please Lord." After what seemed like forever (probably not even 10 minutes) Joshua said that he heard her voice. Sure enough, there she was, coming out of the house saying "what mommy?".... Oh praise Jesus. I scooped her up and just kissed her and held her tight. (Even though her pants were completely wet from peeing all over herself...a topic for another post:)) ... I was so terrified in those moments. I know that it wasn't really that long and the likelihood of something happening probably wasn't that great, but in that moment all I could think of was the worst. That someone had snatched her or that she had fallen in some water and I wasn't there to protect her. How would you ever begin to heal from something like that?!? ...And as I laid in bed last night, recalling the emotion of it, I thought upon the Lord's goodness. He is good. I have watched dear brothers and sisters in Christ lose their babies to sickness or other tragedies-- watched them Bless the name of the LORD in the midst of the heaviest grief. And I was greatly challenged-- to trust the LORD and His provision. To bless His Name regardless of the circumstance. ...And to thank Him for such sweet blessings (even on the days when they completely exhaust me!)

Dearest Anna Bell,

I love you. You are a challenge and exhaust me most days, but gracious, do I love you. Your overflowing personality is such a joy to me and daddy and so many others. ...So PLEASE stop doing things to scare your momma to death.

Love, Mommy

Determined Passion & Faith-filled Humility

2010-04-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, Fred and I got to get away for nearly 24 hours. His dad and Terry came down to take care of the kids and we headed up to Atlanta for the night. A sweet and dear family at church gave us this special gift for Christmas and we were so excited for the chance to use it!!! This is only the third time that Fred and I have done this since having Joshua...and the other two times I was 7-8+ months pregnant...so needless to say, we were pretty excited! We got to stay in an amazing hotel in Buckhead. We ordered room service (We had a credit that the couple gave us that was non-refundable-- fun!)...watched a movie in the middle of the day...we ate constantly...shopped at Lenox (and didn't buy one stinkin thing-- I didn't even know what 90% of the stores were!)...we ate a late breakfast...after sleeping in as late as we wanted (which...um...was like 8:15...lame, right?!?)...we sat in the hot tub by the pool sometime mid-morning...and just all-around had probably the most restful day we've had in the past 5 years! But, without question, my absolute favorite part of our getaway was when Fred and I sat next to each other in the plush comfy chairs in our room and read the WORD. It was great to have that uninterrupted time together. We rarely have our devotion time at the same time and to be able to sit and talk about what the LORD taught us was so refreshing. We are reading together through the Bible using the Life Journal and our passage for that day was Judges 1-3 and I Corinthians 12. After reading and journaling, we talked about what stuck out to us. And, wouldn't you know, that God used the exact same verses and we were both challenged with the same thing! Here's what I wrote in my journal:

Scripture: Judges 2:10b "And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that He had done for Israel." (...this being said right after what occurred in Joshua 24:31 "Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the LORD did for Israel."

Observation: when Joshua and the elders serving with him were alive, the people served the LORD. After that, when the next generation came along, they forsook/forgot the LORD and did what they wanted.

Application: How does this happen?!? How did this next generation become so far from God? How did Joshua's generation (who WAS THERE when Deut. 6 was spoken by Moses!) fail to pass the baton of faith? Joshua knew the words spoken in Deuteronomy. He understood the importance of passing on the Truth and love for God to the next generation. I am humbled and burdened when I read these verses. We have a great responsibility to teach our children and and even greater challenge I think-- to trust the LORD to draw them near to Himself!

Prayer: LORD, please give me and Fred wisdom and endurance to teach and train our children. I pray by name for our Joshua, Anna Bell, Caleb, (and children to come) that they would never forget the works of Your hands. That they would never forsake Your Name. You are worthy. You are worth it. You are Life and what our children need for life and godliness.

***So, thus the title for this post: LORD, You alone can draw these children to Yourself. That spurs in me a faith-filled humility to trust them to You. But I will run hard as I live to use every opportunity with determined passion-- to train them, teach them, and model to them what it means to love You with all that they are. AMEN!

Catch-up Post

2010-03-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

I feel like there are a lot of happenings that I have failed to blog about lately...so here's a super-random post:

(In no particular order)

*Anna Bell got this great, girly, life size dollhouse for her birthday from Grandpa and Grandma. She loves playing in it and although my plan was to move it upstairs to her room, I think that I'll leave in our dining room turned playroom. (Who needs a formal eating area over a place just for toys when your kids are 4, 3, and 15 months?)

*Joshua and AB got new fishing rods a couple of weeks ago. J upgraded to a big boy rod and AB picked out her first one (it has Tinkerbell on it and lights up when you cast). We took them fishing for a few minutes after dinner one night and they both did great! It was so fun; they both did a super job casting on their own and didn't get bored, even though they didn't catch anything. We're gonna have a blast this summer! Joshua's rod came with a little tackle box and the other day, he said "Hey mom, do you know where my fish killer box is?" HA!!!

*I've had a few ministry opportunities lately at church that are a little out of my ordinary for this stage of life. God has given me great peace and pleasure at this point in ministry to serve alongside Fred a lot of times in the background, as our kids are young and are my main ministry. With a husband who is a pastor, I feel like a lot of times, my greatest service to him and our church is to keep our home in order. I love to get to know our leaders, love on our students, and pray for them- but I just don't do a lot of things that I can't leave if someone gets sick or we have to leave early. However, over the past few weeks I've served in a few "up-front" roles. I got to speak to the girls at two of our father/daughter events and challenge those little girls to love and serve Jesus above anything else. I was really nervous (haven't done that in a while!) but it was a lot of fun! I also got to sing backup for our worship pastor in one of our new evening service that targets a more "edgy" crowd. I felt completely inadequate for this role; I haven't done much like that since college and there are SO many more talented singers at our church. But it was really fun helping lead other's into an intimate time of worshipping our Amazing God!!! Of course, 30 minutes before the service started, someone from childcare came up to tell me that Caleb was sick with a fever-- which reminded me of the serving season that I'm in. (Thankfully, Fred's sweet and wonderful assistant came and took C home! Thank you DD! We love you:))

*I continue in my sewing endeavors. I never expected to enjoy it so much! My sweet friend Amanda and I got together one night after our kiddos were in bed and ended up "sewing" (okay, mostly laughing and talking) until after midnight! She taught me how to follow a pattern and this is what I ended up with:

My dad, mom and ash came to visit this past weekend and she taught me how to applique as well! We (okay, mostly mom) made a little flower shirt that matches these pants. (I ask again, dear mid-western friends, have I gone crazy?!!?) I'm working on another dress right now that requires things like zippers, bias, and slipstiching...I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

*While the fam was here over the weekend, we drove to Savannah on Saturday. It is so great to live somewhere that you can drive to and from the beach in one day! We had a wonderful time while they were here. Mom got some sweet pictures that I'll post when she sends them to me:)

*Confession: I'm not a good couponer. Ahh...it feels so good to admit that to all of you frugal blogging friends. They stress me out. I get so mad at myself when I mess up and forget to use some. I typically grocery shop with my children, which requires enough multi-tasking without a handful of paper! ...All that to say, I did pretty well at saving at Kroger yesterday and there was a bit of a rush in knowing that I saved so much money. Kroger is a great store!

*We've had some major sickness at our house lately. All three children have ear infections and allergies and we just found out yesterday that Joshua has mono! Isn't that crazy?!? I was pretty sure that he did when I took him to the doctor. He was really drowsy acting all weekend and then on Tuesday he fell asleep at around 3 in the afternoon and didn't get up until 8:30 the next morning! He also has had a terribly congested nose, so we kept thinking that he was just worn out from that. But when he slept for 17+ hours, we thought we should probably get him tested. A lot of people have had it around here and even quite a few young children at our church. He fell asleep again yesterday and around 3 and here he is at 8:30 when he woke up to eat some dinner. He was up for about an hour and then went right back to sleep. Poor little guy...the best thing we can do is encourage him to rest...and when I asked our doctor how to keep a 4 year old resting, his answer was "lots of movies and games." So there are some upsides to mono: nap time revisited and guilt-free (for mommy) movie marathons. The downside is that we have to be careful to protect his spleen for the next few weeks; which mean no bike riding or jumping off of things. Please pray that none of the rest of us get it!

*Okay...I guess that "in no particular order" isn't quite accurate, because I definitely saved the best news for last: my sister and b-in-law have an adoption referral!!!! You can go to Laura's blog to read the entire story, but really, it's so amazing how it all happened: way earlier than expected and clearly what God has planned for them. She is a two year old, BEAUTIFUL little girl from Ethiopia. I love her so much already from just looking at two pictures. There is a sweetness about her that I can't wait to get to know. Please join me in praying for Luke, Laura, and Maddie Grace as they wait. Please pray for my little niece: for her protection and provision and that God would prepare her little heart to know that she is dearly and deeply loved by her family and her Father. I will post pictures as soon as we can-- we're not allowed to until the adoption is final. Praise Jesus!!!!

The Word is Good

2010-02-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

"Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love,

that we may rejoice and be glad all our days."

Psalm 90:14

Maybe I've lived in the south too long...

2010-02-24T07:17:00.000-08:00

I completed my second sewing project last night (while watching LOST-- holy cow, can that show get any more confusing?!!?). I have been wanting to make a "pillowcase dress" for AB for a while now-- and have to ask my Midwest people: if this is what I like to dress my little girl in, have I lived in Georgia too long?!!? Seriously, I'm not to the point of putting Joshua in saddle shoes and rompers, but I know that my style has changed since living here. I love the sweet little dresses, big hair bows, and even monogramming. Anyways- I looked at a couple of instructional websites and called mom to talk me through some of the details. It really is a very easy dress to make. There are just a few simple steps, and because it's loose fitting and the ties bunch it as much as needed, you don't have to worry about getting it exactly right measurement wise. So here it is, folks- Belly in a pillowcase (yeah...she'll definitely give me a hard time for this one when she's older:))

Thank You, Dear Husband!

2010-02-16T10:57:00.000-08:00

Growing up, I have vivid memories of my mom sewing. She would stay up all night making me and my sisters' Easter, Christmas, and First Day of School dresses. I wish that I had pictures here of some of these outfits; some were quite "impressive". We're talking Christmas dresses with lacey placemats as the collars. We even had designated colors; my dresses were often times country blue (can we say 80's!!!) Laura's colors was mauve, and Becca was cranberry. This was a childhood nightmare for the tomboy girl that I once was. I wasn't a fan of dresses to begin with, let alone those with lace and smocking on them! (At least my color was blue, right?!) Well, anyway- my mom is a really gifted seamstress. She can make just about anything. She even made Anna Bell's crib bedding. As I was growing up, I had absolutely no interest in learning how to sew. It wasn't at all my thing. However, now that I'm wife/mom/homemaker with a daughter (that I want to put in pillowcase dresses-- for which she'll someday make fun of me for), I want to learn to sew. My sweet, thoughtful husband surprised me on Sunday with this super-cool sewing machine!

I was so incredibly excited! I pulled out the manual (and I'm not really a manual type of person, but I was so determined to figure the thing out.) I learned how to thread the bobbin and the needle and practiced some of the stitching options. Then I finished my very first sewing project:

I wish that my mom wasn't hundreds of miles away and we could sit down and she could teach me. We intend to do those sort of things when we visit, but the days are so jam-packed that we never get around to it. However, she's coming next month, so I have every intention of planning a big sewing party while she's here!

Cabinets Shnabinets

2010-02-10T20:14:00.000-08:00

So I just searched through old files and found some before/during pictures of our kitchen cabinets. ...And then I spent way too much time looking at old pictures of our precious growing babies. Holy Moly, they grow up too fast! Check out a few of my favorites that I came across....

Precious, sleeping, less than 2 weeks old Caleb.

Sweetness.

(I'm gonna develop this one and hang it in this bathroom:)

Our little faux hawk man.

Who cares about cabinets with priceless pictures like these?

(Almost) Finished!

2010-02-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

These pictures are a little fuzzy for some reason, but here are our "new" cabinets!!! I'm going to have to look through pictures on our old computer and find some before pics- but I love the difference. It's amazing what $40 of gel stain and $75 of new hardware will do! I still need to touch up a couple of places and add a coat or two of polyurethane (sp?). Does anyone have any experience with that? The stuff seems so runny- I'm afraid I'm gonna mess them up by leaving drips all over the place. I'd love some tips, if you have em!

Recent Conversations

2010-02-02T12:46:00.001-08:00

Some sweet/funny recent conversations in the Broome house:

**AB has had some behavior issues at school lately...ugh- you wouldn't think that a 23 pound three year old would take it upon herself to be the class bully, but I guess she has. We're working on it. (Any godly advice would be appreciated.)

Me (on the way home from school): Anna Bell, did you have a good day at school?

Anna Bell: yes mommy.

Me: Did you obey your teachers and were you kind to your friends?

Anna Bell: ummmm....no- i went to time out.

Me: And why did you have to go to timeout today?

Anna Bell: I took toys from Sarah and pushed her. (*Sarah is one of her dearest friends...and thankfully Sarah's mommy is one of my dearest friends who understands and loves my little darling AB)

Joshua (has been listening intently up to this point, but now decides to chime in with a stern voice): Anna Bell! That is NOT good and that does NOT honor God!

...oh boy.

**Anna Bell is seriously the BEST daddy greeter in the world! I mean, we're talkin no matter where that child is in the house or what she is busy doing, when she hears her daddy walk through the door, it's over. She RUNS and yells "DAAAADDYYYYYYYY!!!!!" until she sees him and then proceeds to leap into his arms. It's great. I love that she adores her daddy like that. Lately, after the initial greeting, while softly patting Fred's face, she then says things like:

"So. How was your day at work, dad?"

Or, while laying her head on his chest, closing her eyes, and sighing:

"I sure love you daddy."

She may be a bully at school, but she sure knows how to sweet talk her daddy.

**Last night, as Fred was talking with Joshua before bedtime.

Joshua: Daddy, I don't want to get any bigger.

Fred: Why not buddy?

Joshua: Because I DO NOT want to start loosing all my teeth!

(This was after we stopped by our 5 year old neighbor's house who had just lost her first tooth. This was very disturbing to Joshua...I guess we've never explained that process to him!)

If only it could be that simple

2010-01-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

Like many of you, we have been greatly burdened for the people of Haiti since the earthquake. We've had a lot of conversations (especially with Joshua) about how we can help and what the needs are of the people there. We've been praying that the people would receive needed food and water, for the many children that are orphans, and that these people would know the love of Christ for them. After one such conversation, here was Joshua's matter-of-fact response:
"Well, why don't they just go to IKEA and get the things that they need when their houses fell down? ...and they even have food there for them too!"
I wish it was that easy, buddy.

What Great Weekends Are Made Of

2010-01-18T12:51:00.000-08:00

*Dinner with friends followed by the guys and bigger kids

roasting s'mores out back in the fire pit.

*Starting a trial membership at the gym. I don't know if we'll join, but it sure makes working out better when you have childcare and all that fancy equipment at your fingertips:)

*Playing outside while daddy mows up leaves and fixes things with his new nail gun.

*Running errands that aren't necessary at that very moment but still productive.

*Buying a new computer. (Yay!!!! We've put it off forever and used the other one that hasn't really worked well in years-- wow, it's nice to be able to just turn it on and be ready to go!)

*Daddy and big kids going to get doughnuts for breakfast. (and even bringing one home for mommy!)

*Getting a lot accomplished on refinishing the kitchen cabinets. (I love them! Pictures soon to follow!)

*Reading/telling accounts from the Bible with the kids in bed.

*Lots of playdough creations.

*Movies on rainy afternoons.

*Sitting under Fred's teaching at church on Sunday morning. And hearing what the kids learned about in their classes.

*Sunday lunch at Firehouse. (Kids eat free and Fred and I split a combo- so it's less than $10 for us all to eat plenty...and I don't have to rush around cooking when everyone is starving!)

*Sunday evening Bible Study with dear friends-- challenging and encouraging one another in the way that we love/discipline our children.

*2 hour premier of this season's 24...so exciting...go Jack!

*And I know that Monday doesn't count as the weekend, but we played hard for a good 4 hours outside-- which always makes for a great day!

Cookbooks Are In!

2010-01-01T09:15:00.000-08:00

Most of you know that my sister and her husband are in the process of adopting children from Ethiopia. They have completed all of the paperwork and are about 5 months into the period of waiting for a referral. We are beyond excited as we think about our sweet little babies coming home! If you think of it, please pray for Luke, Laura, and Maddie Grace during this time of waiting and preparation. They have walked a difficult road to get to this place of, but have walked it with grace and trust in the Lord and His provision.

I'm writing this blog to let you know about another way that you can help. As you can imagine, international adoptions are very costly. It has been amazing to watch the Lord provide for Luke and Laura as they step out in faith and completely trust the He will provide the finances thus far. Laura has put together a fabulous cookbook for which all of the proceeds go towards the adoption. They are $15 (shipping included). Please let me know if you are interested in getting one. The best way would probably be to email me at lindseypbroome@yahoo.com. Please include your address so that we get it to the correct place.

Just to give you a window into Luke and Laura's heart, here is an excerpt from the forward of the cookbook:
"It is because of His faithfulness that Luke and I walk on this side of infertility- grateful for the ways that the Lord has taken care of us. Not only is He healing our hearts, but He has provided for us a passion for adoption- something that could only have come from Him as we were originally quite opposed to the idea! While we wait for our children, it is my desire that our adoption story be a testimony of how graciously the Lord has taken care of and blessed our family."

Thanks everyone! I CANNOT wait to be able to post pictures of our sweet babies on this blog!!!

Caleb Judson

2009-12-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

Our littlest baby turned one on Thursday. Unfortunately, he woke up with a cold/teething issues that morning so we barely made it through dinner let alone birthday cake. After the first official Broome birthday party for Joshua in September, we've pretty much decided that parties aren't for us. From now on (at least in this stage of life) birthdays are pretty low key around here. Now don't get me wrong, birthdays are still a huge deal and we greatly celebrate in our home...just without all the hoopla of cleaning the house, sending invites, decorating...and so on. So Caleb spent his first birthday playing at home, eating lunch out, taking two good naps (poor guy was sleepy all day) sharing a spaghetti dinner with the fam, playing with the balloons that daddy brought home, and tasting a couple of bites of cake (before his head practically fell asleep in it!!!:)

Here are just a few descriptions of our little guy:

*Caleb Judson is pretty easy-going so far. (I say that, yet I'm remembering the little fit that he threw at dinner tonight when I was placing cheese in front of him when he'd already seen the grapes that I pulled out of the fridge and continued squawking until I got him the grapes!)

*He is definitely a mommy's boy at this stage. I think it's because with the third, I've 1. realized that this stage of having a baby is so fleeting and I don't have the feeling of needing a break as much and 2. taking just one to the store or out to eat is a break!!!!

*Caleb is a really good eater. I've mentioned in a previous post that we didn't do baby food with him. I did steam and blend some things at first, but he quickly got to where he could just eat normal soft foods like avocado, sweet potato, beans, peas, small pieces of chicken, bananas, peaches, and so on. Now, he's able to eat most anything and seems to enjoy most foods. I'm sure we'll hit picky stages with him, but I feel like he's off to a good start.

*Caleb is crawling, pulling up, cruising, and beginning to stand for a bit on his own. I would guess it will still be a few weeks before he walks, but once he does, he'll be all over the place!

*He loves his brother and sister. And they love him. Joshua is a big helper and very loving towards Caleb. There is no question that Anna Bell adores him too...she just has a more "hands-on" way of showing her affection-- like by trying to push his face into the carpet or attempting to pull his arms off. We're working on it. He loves his daddy too-- his face completely lights up when Fred walks through the door after work. He's also getting into the mix when Fred wrestles with Joshua. Probably like most younger siblings, he thinks he's just as big as his brother.

*Caleb is a good sleeper. Not fabulous but pretty good. He goes to bed around 7-7:15 and wakes at 6:45 to nurse then goes right back to sleep until around 7:45-8. I think that I could have stretched him to wait and eat at 8, but our house is pretty crazy by that time, so that routine worked for us. Now that we're weaning, I'll probably stretch him to drink his cup of milk with breakfast at 8ish. He still takes two naps at 9:30 and 1:30. The first is between 1-2 hours and the second is 2.

*Caleb is affectionate. He gives kisses, hugs and really loves to cuddle. It takes him longer than J and AB to warm up to people....which is hard when grandparents/aunts/uncles live far away (sorry grandpa--we will be talking to a picture of you everyday from now until Christmas!!:))

*He still rides in his sling when we are at church, occasionally at a store or somewhere that I need my hands free. People are starting to give me a hard time about it at church, but he's still pretty content as long as I keep moving. It works for us.

*Caleb's words are "momma" "dada" "bubba" (joshua) "dankdu" (thankyou i think) "bye bye" and "more" He can sign "all done" and "more."

*He has 6 teeth so far- two on bottom and just got all four on top in the last few weeks

*Like each of our children, our name for Caleb is intentional: a biblical hero for the first name and a missionary/modern hero of the faith for the middle.

Caleb

"Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'we should by all means go up and take possession of it (the promise land), for we shall surely overcome it.'" Number 13:30

"But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it."

Numbers 14:24

Judson

Named after one of the first missionaries to the people in Burma, Adoniram Judson. He was a man whose passion to share the love of Christ with people who didn't know Him was second only to his passion for Christ Himself.

Here's a little info on Adoniram from a manuscript by John Piper. (You can read the rest at desiringgod.org)

When Adoniram Judson entered Burma in July, 1813 it was a hostile and utterly unreached place. William Carey had told Judson in India a few months earlier not to go there. It probably would have been considered a closed country today - with anarchic despotism, fierce war with Siam, enemy raids, constant rebellion, no religious toleration. All the previous missionaries had died or left.
But Judson went there with his 23-year-old wife of 17 months. He was 24 years old and he worked there for 38 years until his death at age 61, with one trip home to New England after 33 years. The price he paid was immense. He was a seed that fell into the ground and died. And the fruit God gave is celebrated even in scholarly works like David Barrett's World Christian Encyclopedia: "The largest Christian force in Burma is the Burma Baptist Convention, which owes its origin to the pioneering activity of the American Baptist missionary Adoniram Judson"

Adoniram Judson "hated his life in this world" and was a "seed that fell into the ground and died." In his sufferings "he filled up what was lacking in Christ's afflictions" in unreached Burma. Therefore his life bore much fruit and he lives to enjoy it today and forever. He would, no doubt, say: It was worth it.

Caleb, We pray that you would be bold and have a "different spirit" that follows God fully like Caleb (the son of Jephunneh) and possess the passion and single-mindedness of Adoniram to obey our Saviour in life or death- whatever He calls you to. We love you, sweet son. It is a privilege and blessing to be your mommy. Happy Birthday. Love, Mama

You have GOT to be kidding me...

2009-12-13T17:44:00.000-08:00

All I want to know is HOW HARD could it be to get ONE good picture of three kids....apparently it's next to impossible for the Broome gang. Here a few pics that didn't make the Christmas card cut.

TAKE ONE

yeah...I thought that suckers might keep them put and end up being kind of cute...hmmm...not so much. (check out the massive amount of drool on Caleb!)

TAKE TWO

TAKE THREE

TAKE FOUR

Maybe I'm being too picky, but I kind of think that if I'm going to spend the time and money to send out cards, I'd like it to be a good pic. Does anyone agree? Any solutions? ...I ended up just doing 3 separate shots. BTW: for those of you who have moved recently, PLEASE email me new addresses!

For This I Pray

2009-12-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

At about this time last year, I gathered all of the nativity Little People (from the massive collection of these beloved figures that we have collected!) and arranged them on a cabinet at the top of our stairs. And naturally, I placed them in the traditional order: Mary and Joseph on either side of baby Jesus, with the angel above and the other characters spread out on each side. However, this is the order that I found them in after Joshua and Anna Bell had played with them. I was in complete awe and amazement as I sat there wondering what was going through their little minds as they arranged those figures. I know that they probably didn't fully understand what they were doing when they placed each figure focused completely on Jesus, but it sure did challenge me! *This is my prayer for this Christmas season and every one the follows in the Broome household- that we would train and model and teach our children that amidst such tradition, Christ is Who we celebrate! He is God with us! He humbled Himself and came here as a baby, and (in the words of Shane & Shane in my favorite modern Christmas carol) He was born to die.

In My Opinion...

2009-11-24T23:21:00.000-08:00

...Sand angels beat out snow angels any day.

What's Been Goin On...

2009-10-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

I finally transferred pictures to the computer this morning, and realized that I have missed posting a lot of blog-worthy pics. Our computer is sadly dying. She's been a good ol girl-- nearly 9 years old which is apparently ancient where technology is concerned. All that to say, it took me FOREVER and a year to download all of these shots. (thankfully, I had an endless supply of laundry to fold while waiting. lucky me.)
So...in no particular order whatsoever...

I actually took these this morning. Look at that sweet little boy! Overalls, camo shirt, and cord hat. You really can't beat that.

Joshua and I went on our first official field trip last week with his preschool class. I have to be honest and admit that I wasn't totally looking forward to the trip. This may make me sound like a really bad and ungrateful mommy, but j and ab going to school 2 mornings a week is just as much for me as it is for them. The break does me good. I get things done. I rest and relax and by noon I usually really miss them and am ready to see their sweet shining faces. However, we ended up having a wonderful time and I'm really glad that I got to go with him and his class. I was able to meet some of the other parents. I got to see how he interacts with his teachers and classmates. It was really fun. Here are just a few pics of me and my Joshua...and sweet Caleb tagged along too.

This is Fred's intern. Do you think that he knew that loving our kids was in the job description when he got the job? They adore him and love it when he comes to our house.

One thing we have learned about our sweet AB is that if it's really quiet she's definitely doing something she's not supposed to. ...Like getting an entire batch of cupcakes off of the counter and plopping down to eat as many as she can. ...And like the good mother and discipliner that I am, I stopped to take a picture before we had a little chat:)

Who needs Disney World when you have a big hill and a stroller? Seriously one of our kids' favorite things to do. And it's a really good work out too!

I LOVE it when they show love to each other!

This is just one of the MANY piles of sheets/towels that I washed 2 weeks ago...when all five of us got a stomach bug. It was terrible. I've never done so many loads of laundry or sprayed so much Lysol in my life!!!

I love rainy days. I really do. They're so relaxing- we've had tons of rain lately but it hasn't really kept us inside. We've spent many mornings in and out of the garage in our messiest play clothes. I love it!

My kids love anything having to do with water. And they're really smart...because when they ask "mommy, can we wash each other's feet like Jesus did?" how can I refuse?!!?

My friend Becky blogged about doing cheerio art at her house so we gave it a try one morning. J and AB loved it! Thanks for the idea, Becky!

J has become obsessed with letters, words, sounds, spelling-- anything pre-reading really. So we pulled out a big pan and some cous cous (sp?) and spelled things out. It was really fun!

Whew...sorry about the long post, people. But like many of you, I want to be able to look back on all of these entries in the years to come and remember what life was like. I think that if I don't blog about it, I'll forget so many of these sweet treasured moments with our little family. And I don't want to forget any of it...even when I washed a bazillion towels in one week:)

What's Worse Than Diarrhea?

2009-10-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

Two year old's diarrhea...

In the little potty...

That we keep in the minivan...

While sitting in the Chick-fil-A parking lot...

On the way to church...

That was then spilled all over said two year old...

Needless to say, we didn't make it to church tonight.

FOUR

2009-09-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

My baby turned four on Friday. FOUR. It sounds so old. I was going through some clothes for Caleb tonight and was reminded again of how fast time flies. Wasn't Joshua wearing those 12 month track pants LAST WEEK?!!?

Our prayer for Joshua is that he would be bold and courageous for the LORD. Another prayer that I have been praying for him lately is that he would be tenderhearted towards others and broken over his own sinfulness. There are a lot of wonderful things that I could write here about my precious little boy- but instead, here are two bedtime conversations with Joshua that we've had lately that I DO NOT want to EVER forget:

(*It's so amazing to see God answer our prayers and watch Him develop character in our little boy)

*My mom was visiting with us last month and one evening Joshua was having a particularly difficult time falling asleep (this isn't that abnormal with Joshua!) My mom finally went up to chat with him (that's what grandma's do, right?!) and the conversation went something like this:

Mom: Joshua, what's wrong, buddy?

Joshua: I'm going to die soon.

Mom: (naturally, quite concerned) Why do you think that you're going to die soon?

Joshua: Because I hit Anna Bell. And I'm going to die.

This is how "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" connects in a 4 year old's mind. He had just memorized this verse a few weeks before that. Praise God for the glimpse that Joshua got of the depravity of his own sin.

*For those of you who don't know my family, my sister and brother are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. Joshua and I were talking about the adoption and all the steps that have to happen before we get to meet our new neices/nephews. It is not natural for Joshua to have compassion for others. He is not a people pleaser, so you know that whatever comes out of that boy's mouth is genuine. With all that said, this is what he prayed unprompted over the weekend:

"Dear Jesus, Please help Aunt Laura and Uncle Luke and Maddie to get their babies soon because they miss them very much and are crying everyday. And I really want to see them because I love them a lot."

...AMEN!

...I love you Joshua Baker

Chucks N Leggings...

2009-09-07T11:52:00.000-07:00

...should be an essential to every girl's wardrobe

"I Already Love Her"

2009-09-05T19:02:00.001-07:00

I was putting Joshua to bed tonight and we somehow got on the topic of the names of each finger. When we got to his ring finger, the conversation went something like this...

Me: You see how mommy has the ring that daddy gave me on this finger? Someday, you will probably meet a girl that loves Jesus and loves you and you will decide that you want to marry her. So you will get her a ring and ask her to marry you. Then you will put a ring on her ring finger.

Joshua: ...And I think that I will pick Anna Bell. I already love her...

Talk about meltin' this mama's heart...

Caleb's First Buddy

2009-09-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

Wow.

2009-08-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

*On the way home from the grocery store yesterday...*

Anna Bell: Eww! Somethin' stinks!

Me: Really, Belly? What does it smell like?

*Long pause*

Anna Bell: I like the smell of poop.

...alrighty then.

My Husband Rocks

2009-08-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Friday was my 30th birthday. Big stuff, huh. It's strange to think of myself as a 30 year old. Not that I think 30 sounds that old or anything...it's just weird to think that I am no longer a 20 something year old. It seems like I just graduated college last week!

Anyways-- my sweet, thoughtful, creative husband did a fabulous job of celebrating my birthday. He took Joshua and Anna Bell to school on Thursday morning and texted me a few minutes after he left telling me to look in the garage. There, I found a packing list instructing me to get things together for us to be gone thurs-sat and to be ready to leave by 4:30. SO fun, right?!!? I was super excited! I quickly finished laundry, packed everything that's needed for our little family to travel, ran to Wal-mart to grab snacks for the car and breakfast/lunch stuff, and cleaned up the house! ...If only I had a surprise destination to motivate me to get everything done every week! When Fred got home we all hopped in the van and were on our way. I had no clue where we were going and didn't know for sure until we were about 10 miles away! We ended up at Hilton Head. We stayed in a condo right off the beach. It was so wonderful! The beach is probably my favorite place in the world, so to spend my birthday there with Fred and the kids was just about perfect! Thank you, dear husband! I love you!

To Do...

2009-08-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

*Make the biggest possible train track.

...check.

8 Months.

2009-08-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

Sweet Caleb Judson is eight months old! Fred and I were talking about the fact that 8 months have past since he joined our little family and I cannot believe how fast it has flown by! He is such a joy. He is very content to sit and watch his brother and sister play around him- no attempts at crawling yet (this mommy is thankful!) He has yet to get any teeth either (again- thankful!!!) He LOVES food; I have not had to buy a single jar of baby food this time around. He eats mostly avocado, banana, and sweet potato straight out of the peel. I've also steamed carrots, green beans, broccoli, & squash. He likes those too, but avocado and cheerios seem to be his favorites. He can say "Mama" and "Dada" and we are working on "uh-oh" and "bye." Caleb has the greatest cackle of a laugh and laughs hysterically when Anna Bell falls down (this happens a lot- she's quite clumsy) or when someone has the hiccups. He is still very content to ride in my sling when we're shopping or at church. I have joked that he's going to go from riding in my pouch right on to walking- actually, I think that's his only option...so I hope he doesn't get super heavy all of the sudden!:) We are so thankful for this little guy. I am humbled by the fact that God has placed him in our family. Thank You, Lord for Your lovingkindness!

Worth Boasting About

2009-08-12T06:52:00.000-07:00

thus says the LORD,

"Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom,

and let not the mighty man boast of his might,

let not a rich man boast of his riches;

but let him who boasts boast of this,

that he understands and know ME,

that I am the LORD who exercises

lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth;

for I delight in these things,"

declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

Can 3 and 2 Year Olds Have Pica?!!?

2009-07-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

Me: Joshua...Anna Bell...tell your daddy what you did to mommy's pens today.

Joshua: We ate them.

It's true. I walked into the play room yesterday morning only to find my two oldest chomping down on ball point pens. ...Thankfully, they were not so much interested in the ink as the surrounding plastic...that they had crushed into tiny little plastic pieces...that lay all over the floor where Caleb was playing. What in the world?!!?

Good Friend...?

2009-07-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Anna Bell: Momma, Caleb spilled (meaning that he spit up)

Me: Where, Anna Bell?

Anna Bell: I cleaned it up.

Me: Well thanks, sweet girl.

Anna Bell: I'm a good friend.

...I don't know where she's come up with this whole "good friend" thing. She decided that Uncle Luke was a good friend at the beach... what can I say? my AB is a little random...a lot cute:)

2009-07-16T06:11:00.000-07:00

Blogworthy.

2009-06-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Over a month has past since my last post. ... and it's not that there haven't been happenings worth posting about in the Broome family:
* I traveled to Missouri and flew with all three kids. WITH the help of my 15 year old sister...yeah...I don't know if I'll be making that trip all by myself with all 3 in tow anytime soon. All three were really good and cooperative, but things just happen, ya know?!? Joshua had to go potty as we were taking off. Caleb had a blowout. The Atlanta airport is INSANE. You get the idea.
* While in St. Louis, I was able to see and hang out with family and dear friends...however as with every trip back to the midwest, I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to. Joshua had a really tough week which in turn, was exhausting for me. Everything was a battle. He's not a typically aggressive kid, but really was while we were there. I still don't know exactly why it was such a difficult week, but I know that part of it was being away from his daddy. I was reminded of how great it is to have a husband who loves me and loves our kids enough to be really involved in loving, correcting, and training them.
* Caleb is now 6 months old! How did that happen?!?! I have SO enjoyed the baby stage with him...much more than with the other two. I find myself savoring the fact that he can't crawl or eat food or do anything on his own yet. I'm so thankful for that. He is such a little ball of sweetness. He started clearly and deliberately saying "mama" about a month ago and it melts my heart! At his 6 month well-check he was 25th % weight and 90th % length!!! How did I get such a long baby?!!? ...Fred may get his bb star after all!!!

* We're having the outside of our house painted. It's not exactly how Fred and I would have liked to spend our money, but it needed to be done. And it looks SO good! The guys are almost finished and I'm amazed at what a fresh coat of paint does for the curb appeal.

* IBC's student camp was the first weekend in June and it was INCREDIBLE. This was the first year of doing our own camp, so Fred, the other student pastor and their administrative assistants put tons of work into making it all happen. God did some amazing things in students' lives and at least one became a follower of Christ! Praise be to GOd!!! I didn't go so Ash came and helped with the kids. I am so thankful that she did- it made those days while Fred was away so much easier and it was great to be able to hang out with her for those days. I'm already looking forward to getting to go next year!
* We had Xtreme Week at church last week (IBC's vbs). I taught 3k Bible study time. It was so fun getting to share Truth with those little guys and gals! We were worn out by 1:00 everyday, but it was so worth it!
* And now, for the source of motivation for this post: Check out this DISGUSTING critter that FLEW across our bedroom about an hour ago! ughhhhhhh!!!! Apparently, this is just part of living in the deep south. I guess this is the season for these beastly creatures to be seen and with all the windows open with the painters, this horrid thing got into our bedroom. ...SO that's why I'm posting well after midnight-- because WHO can go to bed after that nastiness is flying around your bed?!!??

THIS is what our bedroom looked like after tearing it apart trying to track the thing down! I have said since moving to Macon that there are A LOT of things I love about life here; our church family, our friends, southern culture, ... But there are 3 things that I HATE: the fire ants, the mosquittos, and the roaches!

A Week in Pictures

2009-05-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

The past two weekends have been just absolutely fabulous. You know the kind, when you just step back and thank our God for life. Here are a few of the adventures the Broomies have experienced in the past week (or so...:))

We had a GREAT Mother's Day weekend at the beach! We went down to Jacksonville and visited my MiMi and PaPa (of which I did not get any pictures with because the camera battery died...ugh...) Joshua LOVED the water! I can't wait for Prosser family beach trip '09...Maddie and Joshua are gonna be SO fun! The picture of Anna Bell is a bit deceiving; she was quite the chicken anywhere near the water...she may be spending most of her vacation poolside:)

Just a couple pics of Caleb last week-- oh, how I love this little guy! He is so fun and sweet. He seems to be easygoing so far...of course we all thought that about AB at five months as well!

We visited one of our favorite May/Macon places on Friday; the Elliot Farms strawberry patch. (I think that this was our fourth trip this spring already!) It is one of the greatest places on earth for toddlers! Pick strawberries, eat some along the way, meet fun farm creatures (peacocks, goats, cows, chickens, roosters, and dogs all included) and eat amazing homemade strawberry ice cream. All that for about $7.00. You can't beat it.

On Saturday morning as we were sitting around finishing up breakfast, Fred and I decided that we wanted to get out with the kids again. We made our way to a great animal rescue/rehabilitation place called Daucet Trails. It's a free "zoo" filled with all kinds of cool animals and beautiful trails winding through forests and around a lake. There's another free zoo that we've been to a couple of times called Noah's Ark. This is somewhat similar, but we decided we liked it even better.
*Check out my three guys all sportin their Tarheel ball caps!:)

Caleb tried rice cereal for the first time on Saturday. He didn't love it. He didn't hate it. I don't know if I'll start into full swing with the whole baby food stage quite yet. It's just not my favorite milestone. We'll see.

Yeah...this is what happens when I think that unsupervised finger painting is a good idea while I'm trying to get dinner fixed. Mommy thought it was hilarious. Daddy was not so amused when he walked in the door. I wish that I could post a full-body shot of the aftermath of this activity, but it's just not right to post nude pictures of your 3 1/2 year old.

We actually took these a couple of weeks ago, but I had to stick them on here. We took our kite to a church park near our house. I love the church in the background...:)

Some Spring Pics

2009-05-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

The egg hunt with church.

Caleb representing the best basketball team in the nation.

Our palm Sunday devotion. This went pretty well. The kids acted it out complete with palm branches.

Nothing to do with Easter...just enjoying push pops on a cold day:)

Joshua REALLY loves Caleb...he can't wait to share a room with him.

At one of our best buds, Lucy's house. Fred and Lucy's dad spent ALL day setting up their new swing set and the tire swing was a HUGE hit!

Luv Ya Ash:)

2009-04-29T11:14:00.000-07:00

I ran out of clean athletic socks the other day and thankfully found this pair of beauties in my sock drawer. ...One of the many perks to having a cool 15 year old sister:)

I Have the Best "Job" in the World

2009-04-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

I am a mom to three great kids and wife to an amazing student pastor. That makes for one crazy, but beyond-blessed Easter Sunday. Every Sunday morning is a battle. -To not get frustrated as I rush around the house for a solid hour and 30 minutes trying to get all three kids out the door and to church. I HATE it when my heart is more focused on affection (or disdain!) for my hair than for my Savior. I HATE it when I nag my children all morning to do as they're told rather than spend those moments teaching and modeling what it looks like to prepare for worship. ...and although we experienced these same struggles yesterday, God was beyond faithful. He is SO worthy of our worship! He is overwhelmingly wonderful and full of grace. He has the power and authority to conquer death! I had the awesome privilege to pray with a sweet 7th grade student yesterday as she asked Christ to be her Savior. It was so cool. I have been praying with and talking to this same girl for nearly a year as she has wrestled with doubt and fear that has kept her from Christ. And yesterday was the day of salvation for her. I am so thankful and humbled that God allowed me to be a part of it! Praise God!!! For He alone is the Giver of life and all things good!!! He uses us to glorify Himself and bring others to Him in spite of our sinfulness and inadequacy! Thank You, Lord!

3 Year Old Logic

2009-04-08T19:01:00.000-07:00

Anna Bell had a check-up with the ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) Doctor this past Monday. And let's just say that our little girl is not a fan of doctors of any kind. (At her last well-check with the pediatrician, he broke out into a sweat just trying to check her ears and listen to her heart!) In order to prepare her (and myself!) for the visit, we talked quite a bit about what the doc would do and what it meant to be brave. We prayed with her, reminded her of the glorious sucker that she would receive after her visit, and practiced ear-looking while waiting in the room. One of the verses that Joshua has memorized is Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord you God will be with you wherever you go." Our buddy Shelly taught Joshua a little song with that verse when she came to visit and I asked Joshua if he would sing it to Anna Bell as we waited in the room. This is what he sang:

"Be Strong!
Anna Bell 1:9!
Be Strong!
Anna Bell 1:9!
Be strong and courageous.
Do not be terrified;
do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God is with you
wherever you go!"

...I LOVE it when we get little glimpses into their perceptions on life!!!

** We are celebrating Christ's ressurection intentionally this week with some special family devotion times. Pictures and stories soon to follow:) Our friends Josh and Tasha started this last year with their kiddos which encouraged us to do the same- check out their blogs for some great ideas as well!

Just Pictures...

2009-04-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

I Love This Man...

2009-03-29T21:11:00.001-07:00

Today is my wonderful husband's 30th Birthday!!!!

I am so thankful for him.

These are just 30 of the many reasons why...

1. He is the spiritual leader of our home.

2. He can always make me laugh...even when I'm in a cranky mood:)

3. There is no pretense about my husband...he is who he is- and who he is is pretty great!

4. He is the best preacher of the Word that I know.

5. He is creative.

6. He is a thorough and critical thinker.

7. He loves me so selflessly.

8. He loves students and their families.

9. He loves Jesus...with everything that he is.

10. He cares about and looks towards our future.

11. He is one incredible daddy.

12. He doesn't complain when the laundry isn't done or we eat mac-n-cheese for dinner.

13. He puts our family first.

14. He loves to share his hobbies with me.

15. He loves God's Word.

16. He is a reader.

17. Even at 30, he is one seriously handsome fella.

18. He is a learner.

19. He values my opinion- for our family and ministry.

20. He loves my family.

21. He is the most forgiving person I know.

22. He doesn't care much about the latest style or fad.

23. He dreams big.

24. His memory and retention of information is amazing.

25. He loves the Tarheels...and although I rarely have the attention span to watch an entire game on TV, I do too:)

26. He laughs at my attempt at humor...and i'm really not that funny.

27. He plays the guitar and has a great understanding of music.

28. He has the greatest color of blue eyes...that have been passed down to 3/3 of our kids.

29. He is very smart...but never pretends to be smarter than he is.

30. Fred Broome is the husband that God chose for me. And I couldn't be more grateful.

I love you, honey:) Happy Birthday.

Just a Thought...

2009-03-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

As Fred and I were talking the other night, I had a thought that I've never considered before having to do with creation/the fall. I can assume that it's not an original idea, but it is to me and I'm wondering if anyone has any insight: In the account of Eve (and then Adam) being tempted and then sinning, there is no mention of them having children yet. And when God banished them from the Garden, I would think that if they had already birthed a child, that would have been said. Because there was not yet sin/sickness/pain/ and an overall "fallen" state of humanity, I would think that Adam and Eve would have quickly gotten pregnant once they were created. (...I know that this is a lot of speculation...but stick with me here- I have a point!) Therefore, it is reasonable to estimate that they lived in perfect fellowship with God in the Garden for less than a year. -That is, assuming that it would have taken no more than a few months to get pregnant...and Eve could have been very pregnant when they exited Eden. (Thus, the consequence of pain in childbirth would have been very real to her!) So here's my point: if this is all accurate-- that Adam and Eve only lived in Eden for less than a year, how astounding that they were not content with the perfect and sinless life that God had created in the Garden?!!? It may have taken them less than a year to fall into temptation. Can you imagine?!? Tasting life, a constant and uninhibited-by-sin relationship with God, and all of His beautiful creation only to look for "more" after a couple of months. I know that none of this can be proven and if it was really important to us, God would have told us how long they lived without sin. But still, it's something to think about...

Fun Times

2009-03-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Joshua pulled out a bunch of Fred's fishing worms last week and had a blast! He must have played with these things for an hour. He enjoyed sorting them by type and color and then taking them one-by-one to the sink for a "bath." Unfortunately, Fred did not have as fun of a time putting them away, so we kept out a little baggy full that are now just for Joshua to play with.

I think that Caleb is going to pass his
big sis up in size before we know it!

Nothing beats running by Sonic for a route 44 slushy
(only 99 cents before 11!) on our way to the park!

Caleb is one sweet, precious baby!!!

Hmmmm.....

2009-03-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

....I wonder who got a hold of the camera today...

Yee Haw

2009-02-26T13:23:00.000-08:00

I love it when we discover new, fun, and free things to do in Macon. This is our latest find: Wesleyan College has an equestrian program and it is open to the public. Joshua and Anna Bell love looking at all of the horses. They are beautiful and enormous!!! One of the girls in the program helped with middle school for a while and she said that she would love to meet us up there sometime. She could get the horses out and the kids could even feed them! Does anyone have any other ideas of fun and free activities for families with little ones?

Crazy is Fun

2009-02-26T12:35:00.000-08:00

Some may speculate that spending the weekend with 5 children 3 and under would be quite chaotic...and...well...just so you know-- it is! Our dear friends from seminary, the Vias, came to visit and lead worship for several events at Ingleside over the weekend. They did a camp preview on Sunday morning, since they will be leading worship for our summer camp in June. It was so great having them here! Josh and Tasha spend a lot of time on the road traveling to different places to lead worship. Josh sings and plays guitar and Tash plays the violin. It was great having a few days to hang out and visit. It was really encouraging to see how God is blessing their ministry and how they are such a team in both leading worship and parenting. Tasha is such a wonderful wife and mom-- here are just a few tid bits of wisdom/encouragment that I gained from their visit:
*Areyna and Zeke share a room and do a great job of sleeping right beside eachother; this has given me the confidence to do this once Caleb is sleeping consistently through the night.
*Tasha is a master at using coupons and cutting down on grocery expenses; I'm going to start getting the Sunday paper delivered and give The Grocery Game another shot.
*Tasha (and probably Josh too) ask the kids a great question when they say something that is unkind/disrespectful. They stop their children and ask "Was that kind or was that rude?" (and then discipline as needed) ...as simple as that sounds, it's a great way to help them realize that how they speak effects others.
*I am always encouraged by Tasha's commitment to be a vital part of their ministry. She not only leads worship alongside Josh, but she also handles most of the office/organization stuff that goes along with it. I was reminded of how important it is for us as wives to not only be workers at home but to support our husbands in their ministry as well.
*Tasha has a lot of little songs that she sings with the kids...some of them that she picked up from other places and others that she made up. Whether it's for picking up or having a happy heart, for some reason songs seem to motivate kids.
...I'm sure there are other things that I learned, but these are just a few that stuck out. I'm so thankful that God created us in a way that we learn and grow from community with one another. So...thanks for coming, Vias! We had a blast!

This is the only picture that I took while the Vias were here. Areyna was so sweet with Caleb! She was very concerned whenever he was crying and really enjoyed holding him.

We LOVE our cousin, Maddie Grace!!!

2009-02-16T12:56:00.001-08:00

My parents, Laura, Ashley, and Madelynn all came to visit this weekend. We had a great time. Laura and Maddie met Caleb for the first time. Maddie is so sweet with babies and is going to be an incredible big sister to her little Ethiopian brother(s)/sister(s!). Joshua and Anna Bell had so much fun playing with their cousin, grandparents, and aunts. They were both bawling and begging to go with them as they pulled out of the driveway yesterday afternoon!

Does this mean that I'm not sentimental?

2009-02-16T12:38:00.000-08:00

Anna Bell got her first official hair cut last weekend (I had trimmed it a couple of times...only because it was looking way too mullet-ish). I forgot the camera in the van, so I don't have any pics of the actual hair cutting experience. Bummer. She did a wonderful job sitting perfectly still in the over-sized chair with the huge cape around her little body. I was so amazed at how she looks so much older with her new cut.

Whenever I see your smilin face...

2009-02-01T12:15:00.003-08:00

...I have to smile myself- because I love YOOOUUUUU!!!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Anna Bell!

2009-01-26T12:33:00.001-08:00

Our precious little girl turned 2 last Sunday!!! And although Sundays are not the best days for birthday celebrations in our house (early church, late lunch and naps, Fred has evening activities at church...many of you know exactly what I mean!) we had a great day of being thankful for Anna Bell. She is such a joy in our family. She is expressive and adorable in just about everything she does. (Fred and I both have to remind ourselves that her "bit of sassiness" won't be quite as cute in a couple of years if we don't discipline her for it now!!!) I am so thankful for Anna Bell and love to watch how God is shaping her. These are just a few of the reasons I am grateful to be AB's mommy:
*She is so affectionate! There are moments that I have to remind myself that laundry and cleaning can wait...there will come a day when she will not want to sit and cuddle in my lap for hours on end!
*In Anna Bell's own words: "I'm FUNNY!!!!" ...and she really is!
*She ADORES her older brother, who she now refers to as "Josh"...even though we never call him that!
*She is quickly becoming a second little mommy to Caleb. Her most used expressions when referring to him are "Awww...how cute!!" "Oh no...mommy; baby cryin'!!!" "I wanna hold it" & "Hi Caleb!!!"
*Anna Bell is the best greeter I have ever met. She will yell your name and run to the door with her arms open wide for a big hug whenever Fred or I come home. She also does this for good friends or family...grandma is a sucker for this one!!!
*She is tenderhearted yet she can hold her own even with kids twice her size (she's quite the small fry; she weighed 18 pounds at her last checkup at 18 months!)
*She gives the BEST HUGS!!!!
*Anna Bell's voice is really raspy. I don't know where she got this, but I definitely need to record it more often.
*She is getting more into girly toys like her kitchen, dress up and baby dolls but also loves playing with trains and cars with Joshua.
*Her favorite song is "Jesus, You are near to me" and asks me to sing it before going to bed.
*She is undeniably a daddy's girl. I love that.
*Often times when I pray for her, I pray that God would develop in her a gracefulness that Anna in Luke 2 displayed. I see this character in her and am confident that as the Lord grows and shapes her, that she will be a woman of grace someday!
I love you so much Anna Bell!!! I cannot imagine our family without you!!! I am so thankful that God saw fit to place you in our family!!!!
Fred's dad and Terry came down for the weekend; it was great to be able to see them and celebrate with them. Thanks for coming, Dad & Terry!!! Unfortunately, Anna Bell woke up from her nap with lots of coughing and a slight wheezing on her birthday...I finally took her to the doctor on Wednesday morning and sure enough, we have had to do breathing treatments again. The doctor said that it was viral, so we are stuck at home until next Wednesday. I am getting a little stir crazy and I think that the kids are too! I took some sweet pictures of Caleb Judson smiling today. I will try to post them tomorrow...we'll see...:)

sleep in heavenly peace

2009-01-04T18:11:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that our sweet little Caleb Judson will be a month old next weekend!!! As you can see, our third spends the majority of his little life sleeping! When he is awake, he is really making eye contact and looks like he is about to begin smiling in response to us (and not just in response to gas!:))
This Christmas was unlike any other for me. To hold in my arms a brand new baby as we celebrated and pondered the wonder of Christ's birth was amazing. I thought a lot about what Mary may have experienced. I was also in awe more than ever of the great sacrifice that God the Son took upon Himself as He clothed Himself in flesh and came as a helpless little baby. How amazing and beautiful the incarnation is!!! Thank You, Jesus, for coming in such a humble way!

Precious Caleb Judson

2008-12-19T05:20:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday night (December 10th), we had the great joy of welcoming Caleb Judson Broome into our family!!!! He was born at 11:00 pm and weighed in at 6 pounds, 6 ounces; our biggest so far! He was 19 1/2 inches long and has more hair than his brother and sister did. We are all doing really well and as you can see from the pictures, Joshua and Anna Bell have done a great job of being sweet with baby Caleb. Caleb is extremely laid back so far; he only wakes up once at around 3:30 to eat and sleeps a lot!!! He is a champ as far as eating goes- he had already gained 6 ounces as of this past Wednesday! Anna Bell calls him "Baby Jesus!!!!" and Joshua exclaimed during a diaper changing cry "my baby brother is driving me CRAZY!!!!" ...Needless to say, life is not dull at the Broome house!!! --But we are beyond blessed and thankful for Caleb Judson Broome!!!!

The Broome Bunch

Merry Christmas

Happy Fall Y'all

Hilton Head.2011

A Free Day at the Zoo

One Tough Girl

Rock Ranch 2011

First Days of School

Birth Day

A Fun Friday

Caleb...Just Because

*Smiles*

Prosser Family Beach Trip 2011

Life Six Weeks Later...

Little Ez

Little Mama

Ezra is here!!!

36 Weeks

He is Risen!!!!

We love you, Shell!

sweet brothers

A Girl and Her Critters

Picture Post

Preggo Update...

Outside Fun

Christmas 2010...Just over a month late:)

Boy, Girl, Boy...

Big Two Year Old

It's Friday, and I'm Feeling Random

Funny (and sometimes sweet) Little Conversations

So I guess that I don't have to change my blog...

Rock Ranch 2010

Just Joshua

Caleb Judson

The Story of the Summer Bee Drama

5 Today...

Psalm 70:4

Catch Up

Prosser Family Beach Trip 2010

Silly Little Conversations

july.4.2010

First Braves Game

sweet little zemma leigh

Latest Craftiness

Dinner Conversations

My Man is a Grillin' Champ

Precious Zemma

Swing Set And Sickness

AB is not impressed...

Randomness

pictures say it all...

What will stop a mother's heart.

Determined Passion & Faith-filled Humility

Catch-up Post

The Word is Good

Maybe I've lived in the south too long...

Thank You, Dear Husband!

Cabinets Shnabinets

(Almost) Finished!

Recent Conversations

If only it could be that simple

What Great Weekends Are Made Of

Cookbooks Are In!

Caleb Judson

You have GOT to be kidding me...

For This I Pray

In My Opinion...

What's Been Goin On...

What's Worse Than Diarrhea?

FOUR

Chucks N Leggings...

"I Already Love Her"

Caleb's First Buddy

Wow.

My Husband Rocks

To Do...

8 Months.

Worth Boasting About

Can 3 and 2 Year Olds Have Pica?!!?

Good Friend...?

Smiles