Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth.  I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:  I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,  I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.  Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”  Genesis 9: 8-16 NIV

This rainbow’s beauty absolutely stopped me in my tracks the other evening.  I was rushing to avoid getting wet while on the way to a meeting at the girls’ school.  I don’t think this picture quite captured the jaw-dropping, brightness of God’s promise in the sky.  It was a show stopper.

Toothless wonder

Yesterday A came out of school complaining that her tooth hurt because she had hit it with her water bottle.  After school we checked it out and found a very loose tooth.  Her tooth was bothering her during dinner, so she went to the bathroom and pulled it out herself!  She was so proud of herself for pulling her own tooth.  It was “easy, peasy”, she said.  She was very excited this morning to find that the tooth fairy had left $3 under her pillow on her first visit to A’s room.

Ready for the 1st Day of School

School started this week for the girls.  The 6skinny feet are getting used to walking to and from school everyday.  The local school district built a new school behind our neighborhood.  I am not quite brave enough to let them walk to and from school yet by themselves.  Maybe next week.

A loves her teacher, Ms. H and she is so happy to be sitting by her good friend Grayson.  L is excited to have two teachers this year.  Her homeroom teacher Ms. C teaches Language Arts and Social Studies and she goes next door to have Math and Science with (a different) Ms. H.  They are loving it so far.

While we were watching the Wimbledon Men’s final replay on ESPN Classic between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick, A walked by and looked at the screen.  It was showing the match statistics for each player under their country’s flag.

A : “There’s the United States and hospital.”
Me: “Uh no, sweetie. That’s the flag for the country of Switzerland.”
A: “Oooooohhhh.”

Some tennis players probably feel like they play for the country of Hospital as often as they are injured.

I can’t believe how behind I’ve gotten on this blogging thing.  I will try and update you all on our happenings over the last few months in another post very soon.  In the mean time,  here’s a few pictures from our vacation to Inks Lake State Park and San Antonio.  I found a really cool program called Smile Box and had a great time creating a photo album with it.  Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Ok, so the hurricane hiatus has been a little too long.  The 6skinnyfeet have been too busy to blog.  But I’ll break into the monotony of non-posting to bring you this weather update from Aggieland.  Yesterday’s high was 75 degrees.  Here is what we woke up to this morning…Yes, that is snow on the roof and ground in our part of Texas.  Usually we have trouble getting A out of bed to get ready for school.  L ran to tell her it snowed and A got up and dressed in record time.  She had plenty of time to eat breakfast and play out in the snow.

Finally, a use for the snow mode on my camera!

Snowflakes are yummy!

So what do snowflakes taste like anyway?

The girls were very excited to see the snow.  This was A’s first snowfall.  L last saw snow during a Christmas visit to Grandma and Grampa’s home in Oregon when she was 4 years old.

Around 3 o’clock this afternoon the snow really started to fall and accumulate.  We have over an inch outside now!  I had forgotten how much I enjoy watching it snow.

Now the waiting begins.  Ike is coming.  Sometime tonight we should really feel its effects.  I suspect I’m going to be up at 4am watching the non-stop hurricane coverage on the Houston TV station.  This one case where being a very light sleeper is not an advantage.

We are ready for it though.  Cars are gassed up.  Flashlights have new batteries.  Canned food is stored.  Bathtub is full of water.  Cell phones charged.  Emergency radio located.  Clothes and dishes are all washed.  Containers are filled with fresh water.  Outdoor toys stored in garage.  Kids asleep.  Now if I could just get myself to go to sleep……….

Hurricane Sunset

Father God,

We have seen your glory in the clouds and light of the sunset.  Please watch over us and quiet our anxious hearts and minds.  Keep us safe during this hurricane.  Watch over all the people who have had to leave their homes.  Keep from harm all the people who chose to ignore all the warnings and stay in their own homes.  Give us your strength and help us to find ways to help others in this stressful time.

In your glorious Son’s name, Amen

The Heavens declare Your glory

School started in August for us. A started kindergarten. So far she loves school and wearing a uniform like all the big kids. She loves her teacher Mrs. Rickaway and is glad to be in class with many friends from Sonshine School. She even takes a nap every day during rest time. As recently as June, A wasn’t interested in going to Kindergarten. But when we started shopping for school supplies and clothes she really got excited about school.

Kindergarten girl

Third grade is going well for L. She is enjoying getting to know her new teacher, Mr. Hawkins.

Ready for School

I’ve gotten a bit behind on blogging about the 6skinnyfeet. So here’s an update of the last month’s happenings. L spent the 1st week of August at Grandma and Grandpa’s house going to music camp every day. Their church, High Pointe Church of Christ, hosted a music camp every morning. The kids learned and performed a musical called Livin’ Inside Out in an Upside Down World. A and I drove up to see L perform on Friday night. L loved it. She was in her element – singing and acting. She had a speaking part as well as sang with the chorus. She said her lines perfectly. She said she was a little nervous, but I certainly could not tell. During the last song, she led all the little kids around the stage skipping. Looks like she’s got the musical theater bug like her mom and Aunt K.

L delivers one of her lines at the mic.

A star is born!

L remembered her lines perfectly.

Here is a video of one of the songs form Livin’ Inside Out in an Upside Down Word.

I so love that L loves to sing. I love to listen to her sing at church. What a blessing to listen to. Not only can L carry a tune and belt out the songs she knows, but she really sings with genuine emotion and feeling. Not something most of us adults do. She really loves to sing to God. What a joy to listen to her joyful noise!

We finally finished swimming lessons for this summer. A and L both enjoyed them this year. L has has made quite a bit of progress in the pool. She can actually swim some and has learned to dive while sitting on the side of the pool. Here’s a few pictures from the fun day.

L braved the Lightning Falls slide

A still can't bring herself to put her whole head and ears in the water.

A was a little reluctant to cross the lily pads, but with a little help from her teacher, the exceptional Miss Ellen, she bravely crossed.

Resting on Slippery Sam