Yes...Joshua is wearing a Pink Shirt.

The Finally Finished Picture....

Here's the picture...Fred has wanted me to "try" selling paintings for a while now...and guess what?!!? This picture sold today! WoooWhooo! Granted, it was Fred's mentor/accountability partner that bought it...he's one of the most encouraging guys you'll ever meet....so he might have bought it because he simply is that much of an encourager! Him and his wife have three children, so he wants me to add two boys to it...and then it will be completely done. (I don't know if you can tell, but there is a little girl on the path and she is standing at a fork in the road. The theme of the event was honor, so the point of the picture is the decision to choose the "path of honor" verses the path that's easy/well-traveled.)

More Painting...(thank you, dear husband:))

One of the big deal events that Ingleside does every year is a father/daughter dinner. On the first night, they have it for teenagers and their dads and the second night is for elementary aged girls and daddies. Because it is technically a "student event," Fred and the high school pastor are part of the planning. Besides them (and the children's pastor) it basically consists of a bunch of creative/decorative-inclined ladies. I would love to be in these meetings to watch my husband's blank stare as the women go on and on about stargazer lilies and floor-length tablecloths! Not long after Fred started attending these meetings, we were playing battle of the sexes and he answered the question correctly "What is toile?" Wow...that's all I have to say.
Anyways, after one of these particular meetings, Fred got home and we all went out to run errands. When we got home, I had a message on the answering machine from a woman who helps with this event. She said that she had a "proposition" for me. Being that I have only met her once, I thought this quite strange. I looked at Fred and said "hmm...I wonder what that could be about." Fred replied with a bit of a chuckle "...I think I might have some idea." Hmmm. So...here's what happened: The ladies were discussing how great it would be if they had someone paint a picture that would be displayed at the entrance of the event that "captured the essence" of the theme verse. One of the ladies had a friend that did these sort of paintings and she said that she would give him a call. Before moving on to the next order of business, my dear husbands piped in.:) He said that I painted and could probably do something like that. Thank you, Freddy Broome!!! It's not that I didn't want to help, it's just that I haven't painted much at all since having kids and I don't really know what I'm doing in the first place. I have no idea about technique or brushes...it's really just through trial and error that I learn. The pressure of painting something for an event like this kind of overwhelms me. However...I called the woman back and told her that I would do it. Many of you know how difficult it is to serve in the local church when you've got little kids (especially if your husband is on staff) ...there's so many times that I go to events to "help" and end up getting paged or having to leave early for bed time or chasing the kids the whole time. This was a way that I could use my "gifts" even as a young momma. I am actually really grateful that Fred volunteered me for this project. The painting is far from perfect, but I thoroughly enjoyed working on it. For the past week, I've spent every nap time and some evenings painting. I would pull out the ipod and be in my own little world for an hour or so. It was really fun! I guess that sometimes I get in the routine of being wife and mommy and forget about some of the hobbies that I really love. SO....Thank You, dear hubby for allowing me the opportunity to paint:)

Painting...

For those of you who have never seen my hair brown, here it is. (I think that this is pretty close to my natural color...but I'm not quite sure.) I've highlighted my hair for a long time but cannot keep up with it for anything and constantly have terrible roots....so I decided to just dye it brown. I'm sure that I'll get bored with this before too long and change it, but for now it's nice to not have to bother with it.

Joshua is ALL boy when he works on art projects! I can't wait until spring when we can take the paint outside!

We LOVE Our New Swings!

I think that I shared in an earlier post that Fred's dad bought the kids swings for Christmas. We haven't invested in a swing set just yet, so for now, the tree in the front yard works great!

Over the weekend, my parents, Laura, Maddie Grace, and Ashley came to visit. We had soooo much fun! We celebrated Anna Bell's first birthday with cake and presents. Anna Bell seemed to like cake: she wasn't nearly as messy about it as her brother was!
(I'll try to post some pictures soon)
Joshua adores his cousin, Maddie. They act so silly together! It's so fun to watch. Joshua tries to do everything that Maddie does, which is mostly a good thing. However, one thing that I'm kind of bummed that Joshua picked up from his big cousin is that he decided/realized that he could climb out of his crib! Stink! I thought that MAYBE he'd forget once they all left, but nope: yesterday when it was time for his nap, he climbed out twice. Finally, he slept in his big bed, but only for about 50 minutes. Since nap time is for 2 hours at the Broome house, this was not so great. We've decided that the standard/rule is going to be that there will be consequences for getting out of bed without mommy or daddy, which is working well so far. If any of ya'll have any wisdom to share about this transition, we'd love to hear it!

My Sweet Husband

Tomorrow is our four year anniversary! Some of our dear friends from the college ministry in Indiana are coming to visit for the weekend, so Fred surprised me with a whole day of celebration yesterday. It was so fun! Just as we were falling asleep on Monday night, he casually said, "I took the day off tomorrow." I could barely fall asleep because i LOVE it when Fred is home, especially in the middle of the week like that. When we got up the next morning he said that we needed to go ahead and get ready because we were going to Atlanta! Once in the car, he asked if I'd rather go to the Aquarium or IKEA (my FAVORITE store as of late!). Both ideas sounded super fun to me, but we ended up deciding that it would be a major bummer if we paid all that money for the aquarium and the kids weren't into it....so: we chose IKEA. The picture above is what Fred got me for our anniversary: it's a storage unit for the laundry room. Like most stay-at-home-moms, I'm constantly trying to think up ways to better organize and make it look "cool" at the same time. Doesn't this look so cool!!!!! Thank you, my amazing husband!!!! If that wasn't enough, Fred also made me an appointment for a pedicure when we got back...but we missed the appointment because we were at IKEA for like 3 hours!!! When we did get home, we got ready and fed the kiddos and one of Fred's interns came over and watched them so that we could go out to eat. It was such a great day!!!!

I am so completely blessed by and thankful for our marriage. Fred is such an incredible husband and daddy. He lives out the description of what love looks like found in I Corinthians 13 so much better than I do. I am so overwhelmingly grateful that God saw fit to make me

Fred Broome's wife!!!

Update

Thank you all for praying for our friends...I know that so many of you can picture yourself in Jesse & Shanee or Leslie's place and have great compassion for what they're going through. We haven't heard any more from Jesse & Shanee...but they should be back in the states for a memorial celebration any day now. As for Leslie, all the reports from doctors have been good so far: what they have tested of her lymph nodes has been reported to be cancer-free...which is an amazing answer to prayer since her tumor was so large. Please continue to pray for healing and strength as she starts treatment. Leslie has a website that keeps people updated and allows them to post prayers/Scripture/encouragement : http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/leslieshuler

Psalm 34:18

"The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

More Pictures

Nana (Fred's mom) gave Joshua this dump truck...he will LOVE to haul stuff outside with it!
Joshua loves trains right now-- David and Melissa (Terry's daughter/son-in-law) gave him this one.

The kids at our Christmas party with the students...they had a BLAST hanging out with the big kids (Joshua wanted to host with daddy all night...he really likes microphones) Anna Bell and Joshua have both had stinky colds since Christmas. I took AB to the doctor and she has a bad double ear infection. She has been throwing up and coughing so much. She finally started to perk up after her nap yesterday, so we played outside for a few minutes. This is her first smile since we've been home from St. Louis!

Picture Catch-up

Joshua LOVES to ride the horsies at the mall...he will often say "let's go shoppin!" (which really means that he wants to ride the horsies...just a clarification that Fred would prefer that I make:))

We're into abstract art at the Broome house

(piece #1 by Joshua titled: "q-tips and cheerios on the bathroom rug"...beautiful, isn't it?

piece #2 by mommy and Anna Bell titled: "peas and bananas")

Check out AB's top tooth in the above picture...thankfully the other three have since come in beautifully!

Amazing Faith

Fred and I just received this email from our dear friends...thank you for blanketing them in prayer, please continue to do so. We thought that you all would be encouraged by their great faith in our Great God.

Priya Jean was born by C-section at about 4:30 on the evening of Dec. 31st. After struggling through the night she went to be with the Lord around 6 am on New Year's morning. She weighed about 5.5 pounds (1 pound of which was fluid), and she was unable to overcome the fluid that had built up in her chest and abdomen. She struggled throughout the night as her blood pressure kept dropping and the doctors tried everything to overcome it. Shanee and I were able to hold her and say goodbye to her with our mothers there by our side. Shanee is doing fine after her C-section. She should be able to leave the hospital tomorrow or the next day. Shanee and I are so thankful for your prayers and for all the support we've received here. Our good friends Nathan and Kari were here in Delhi and they were there with us at every step. Also, our good friends Glen and Marvella flew straight here to Delhi from Thailand and were like another set of parents to us throughout this ordeal. This has been, without a doubt, the most difficut thing we've ever been through. We are pleased that our daughter is through with the troubles of this world and in the arms of her Lord. And we praise Him. We praise Him. Job said it best in the wake of losing all that he valued on earth: "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." That conveys our feelings better than anything we could say. The Lord gave us Priya, and He has chosen by His gracious will to take her away. Blessed be his Name. Her life was an undeserved gift to us. We wouldn't trade one moment of the seven months we had with her. And we praise God for it from beginning to end. We don't know the reason why she was taken, but we know the God who made that decision. And He is enough for us. He is our glory and our strength. We want to praise Him right now as the God of all grace and comfort. He has been our truest and most constant companion in the midst of all this. We are in the midst of arranging the details for a flight back to Missouri. We should be there in the coming week. We'll hold a memorial celebration there--details will follow. Once again, thank you so much for your prayers and words of encouragement. It is our desire that you would praise the Lord with us at this time. He is always worthy of it. For His Name,Jesse and Shanee

Attempts at Christmas Pics!

This is one of my personal favorites...although I don't think that we'll use it for the Christmas card, it sure does capture the authenticity of the moment!:)

Joshua and the Gingerbread Man

As we decorated and marveled at our Christmas tree, this seemed to be Joshua's favorite ornament...he had quite a bit to say about it!

Joshua: "Wow, that's a nice ornament. It has hair on it. I think it's kinda white. I think the gingerbread man needs a diaper change." ...hmmm, interesting.


This is the first year that I've really "decorated" a tree. It was really fun...usually we just use a bunch of lights and random ornaments. This year, I bought two packages of "pretty" ornaments and three kinds of ribbon. My friend Alison (her husband is the high school pastor) inspired me. She has the most beautiful Christmas tree I've ever seen! I'll try to remember to take a picture and stick it on here. Although the tree had plenty of decor already on it and probably looked prettier without, I couldn't leave our special ornaments in the box. There are so many memories from each special one. I also consider buying a fake tree every year during the after-Christmas sales. I don't think I can bring myself to do this either. Although it would be more economical in the long run and less of a hassle with all the dropping pine needles, I love picking out a tree. I love the imperfection of a real tree and how Fred has to hold it up and turn it until we find the "prettiest side." There's just something about it. I suppose that there are some traditions that although there's no biblical mandate to them, you just hate to change. I've been thinking about this a lot this season...how we always say that we hope that when we're older, we won't be wrapped in tradition. Yet, here we are; age 28 and clinging to the way we've always done it!

Anna Bell Makes Some Funny Faces

Jesus and the Little Children

Today was baby dedication at Ingleside. We got to participate with both children, which was both meaningful and nerve-racking! I really had no idea what to expect from Joshua. Not only is he two (which is enough to make a mother worried in and of itself) but he also has virtually no fear of crowds/people he doesn't know. It was actually really good for me: I had to come to the point of realizing that it's not about my child acting "perfect." It's about participating in a sweet time of commitment on the behalf of our church family to come along side of us as we strive to carry out the weighty responsibility of training our children to love the Lord. Anyways, it was a really special time. Our pastor prayed with each family (16 children in our service) and then preached about having the childlike faith that Jesus speaks about in Mark 10:13-16. Joshua did great. He did make me a little nervous when our seats on stage happened to be right next to the baptistry and he told me several times that he "wanted to go swimmin'"...oh boy!!!! Thankfully, we were able to redirect his attention with the mini marshmallows that I stuffed in Fred's pocket!!!! Ha Ha!!! Kind of ironic that here we were making this public commitment to discipline and training in righteousness and I'm bribing my kid with sugar! Oh well. We are so thankful for our church and the commitment they have to the family!

Our New Park

One of my favorite activities to do with the kids is go to the park. We found a really great one here in Macon. It has plenty of slides, ramps, stairs for Joshua to play on and its kindof in a "valley" of sorts, so I don't have to follow him around the whole time. On this particular day, Fred was able to come with us. We packed a pb&j lunch and played before and after. It was great. Anna Bell is mostly content to sit and watch her brother, but she also likes to swing next to him. Joshua likes this too: he says "I want Anna Bell to swing with me!"

I Wanna Be Just Like My Big Brother

As Anna Bell becomes more and more mobile, I'm realizing what a challenging stage of parenting we're entering into: sibling rivalry/conflict has begun. This is a whole new territory that we have so many questions about. Please pass along any wisdom that you more experienced parents have gained...we'd greatly appreciate it:) Other than Joshua adjusting to sharing and loving his little sister, this is a pretty fun stage. Anna is learning so much and becoming much more independent. She's able to eat pretty much anything now and seems to like just about everything. We shared a pomegranate at lunch today! (Joshua wasn't interested) Joshua is talking up a storm these days. His latest really cute phrase is "mmmm....that's good mac n' cheese, mom." ha ha!!! I am quite the gourmet cook! We're all really excited for Thanksgiving. My parents, Becca, Ashley, Pa Pa and Mi Mi are all coming! It'll be great to have everyone at our house.

Fall Family Festival

As ya'll can see, we decided to go with the lion...better stay on the safe side and save the elephant for Anna Bell:) She was some sort of bug for the festival...it's pretty silly-she was called a boy all evening. I suppose that's better in some way than people thinking that our son looks like a girl:)

Break Out Night with Ingleside Middle Schoolers

Our dear friends Josh and Tasha Via came and led worship for an all-night event that we had with the middle schoolers a couple of weekends ago. We had such a blast! As far as the event goes, we ended up having to put kids on the waiting list because we had more sign up than we could take. Praise God...what an incredible "problem" to have! Josh and Tasha were such a blessing as they led our group in worship- it's so great to be able to be a part of worship through music when it's led by people who have an authentic and passionate desire to honor God with their whole lives! We had a wonderful time hanging out with them and their two precious children; Areyna (2 1/2 years) and Zeke (15 months). Thanks, guys...we love you!

"ABCDEFG....amen"

This was Joshua's prayer today while we were sitting at the table eating lunch...what a little theologian he is becoming.

The Broomes Love Fall!!!

A couple of weekends ago we went to a place called the "Rock Ranch." It is a big farm that's owned by Truett Kathy (founder of Chick-fil-A) that he opens up several times during the year for families to come and visit. It was a great place for our family to hang out: there were tons of things for Joshua to do. He got to ride a pony, steer his first powerwheel, (which was a super-cool John Deer by the way) jump on those inflatable things, watch a pig race, get his face painted, and a bunch of other great stuff. One really fantastic attraction (Fred's personal favorite) was that several times throughout the day they shoot pumkins out of a cannon into a pond. Oh yeah...it was pretty stinkin amazing!!! Anyways, we had a great family day. It was a perfect fall activity. The season of fall really is so exciting: anticipating cool weather, fires, sweatshirts, beautiful leaves, pumkins, ... good job, God.