Fort Haus

This weekend began with a tour of the Sam Houston State Bearkat's football facilities. One of our good friends, (shout-out to #51!) gave us all a tour- complete with some practice equipment:

We finished off Friday with a dinner-date to Olive Garden. Phiona has a new purse that she got for helping me with some work around my office, so she had the giftcards in her purse and took us out to dinner. Here's a couple of pics from that night:

Saturday was spent running some errands, going grocery shopping, getting Phi's new Bearkat dress (to be revealed next weekend) and just some general pick-up. School started today, so we didn't want to do anything too crazy this weekend... except for a special request for some fort building.

In preparation of the first day of school, I introduce you to- Fort Haus.

And yes, all three humans, plus all three animals slept in Fort Haus Saturday night. My hips, knees, and back were extremely unhappy with me on Sunday morning.

Sunday at church we had the annual kick-off Sunday where everyone wears their favorite jersey. Against my will, we were sporting coughDallasCowboycough jerseys. So sad. We also decided to do a bit of crafting for some Christmas gifts. This is Phiona, hard at work on one of the gifts:

And, in true Best Baba Ever fashion, Mike allowed for Phiona to paint his fingernails.

She was mortified when he told her that he was keeping the polish on, and immediately made him take it off when he told her that he was going to wear his nails like that when he dropped her off for the first day of school. "No, Baba! Everyone will laugh at me. You look like a girl! You a boy!"

Since this was Phi's first day of The First Day of School with us, we let her choose her dinner. We gave her the option of having whatever she wanted, whether it be something at home, or something out of the home. Her choice? Church's Chicken. Obvi.

This morning, the excitement in our house was uncontrollable. Between the zebra print backpack, and the leopard print lunch box, I have a feeling that this will be a fierce year of school. Mrs. Allen, you'd better be prepared!

Gosh, I can't believe our baby is in first grade! And to think, it barely even took me 7 years to get my pre-baby body back! ;)

Day Dates and Graduation

How impressed are you, Reader?! Two posts in four days has got to be some sort of record over in BlogLand. As a woman true to her word, complete with Scout's Honor, I am doing my best to keep you up to date with the happenings of Team Hausinger. It's been three days since we've made the decision to go Facebook-free and while it has been weird to feel so out-of-touch, it has made me to be more intentional with the time spent with my family.

We had a super fun, super packed weekend and it was so nice to be home, and enjoying it together. Friday night, we went down to Houston as part of the Bridge Ministry from our home church. It's a ministry in which we take food, clothes, water, and the Love of Christ to the homeless population of Houston. It happens every third Friday, and this last Friday marked 9 years that this ministry has been pouring out to Houston's homeless community. Phiona and some of her friends were able to serve and let me just tell you: never have the people we are serving had such polite manners! Usually there is a bit of cursing, a bit of pushing, and a whole lot of attitude. A few people in our group joked that we should have the kids serve all the time, because of how smoothly it went and how everyone was so polite!

 

On Saturday, Mike decided to take us on a date! We went to this cute little place called 7 Acre Woods in Conroe. You pay and admission fee (uber cheap) and then they have all kinds of stuff for the family to do: Petting Zoo, train rides, pony rides, Ladder Golf, ziplines, scooters, rock wall, putt-putt golf, volleyball, a mini football field, puppet plays, and more! Here's a few pics from that day:

 

 

 

Finally, on Sunday, Phiona graduated from the kindergarten ministry at church and got to go up on stage to receive her new Bible. The pictures are a bit blurry, but she was so proud.

 

While I can't say for sure how long this Facebook break will last, I can tell you that I am loving the freed up time that I get with my family! It's only been three days, so let's not get too excited, but it feels so good to be intentional with my time.

 

Until next time!



 

 

 

 

 

 

Priorities

Welcome to the blogosphere, my friends! We I recently decided to deactivate our Facebook account and thought that we would hop on over here to keep the updates rollin'. I can't guarantee you how good I'll be at keeping y'all updated, but I promise to try my very best. Scout's honor.

For those of you wondering why on Earth we're finally doing this (I've done it twice before, but only for like, an hour), the answer(s) is/are simple. I want to get back to what's important: doing life with my family. This isn't to say that I can't live my life with my family AND have a Facebook account. But honestly, it's become quite the addiction problem. And besides, who doesn't want to spend more time with this:

Instead of doing things that invest into our future as a family, I constantly find myself checking Facebook to see who's doing what or who just got the new _____, or who's going where on what vacation. It's disgusting actually, this problem of mine. Instead of making memories, I'm checking to see how many "likes" I have for the picture I just uploaded 15 seconds ago. To be completely honest: my priorities are out of whack. Quite frankly, my family doesn't need a wife/mother who is more preoccupied than she already is. They need an attentive, focused, hands-on, contributing member to the family. Too much of a good thing, is a bad thing. And sorry, Facebook, but I'm quitting you.

Like I've said: I need to get my priorities in order and if this isn't my order, it's not good enough and something has got to change:

1. God
2. Husband
3. Family
4. Ministry

Confession time: Did you know that I spend more hours on Facebook than I do at church, bible study, reading my Bible, and personal time spent with our Lord combined? Yikes, sister. No wonder things seem to have a higher degree of suck to them lately. My husband actually told me that he thought I was falling away from God/church. How's that for a loving slap-to-the-face?

And speaking of the best husband and father to our child that I could have ever hoped for:

Who wants to miss out on times like this?! These memories are precious and once the opportunity is gone, there is no getting it back. Lord, I pray that I may seize every opportunity You give me to make the most out of every situation. I know that you aren't supposed to pray for patience, because let's be honest, nobody wants to be tested. However, I pray that I could be half as patient with my husband and daughter as he is with me. I'm not the easiest person to be around and have probably been a total buzz kill lately but you know what? My husband still loves me unconditionally, tells me I'm beautiful when I have snot running down my face and mascara smeared half-way across my forehead, <--- don't ask how it got there, I really don't know, and am just plain mean-spirited. THAT, y'all, is a God-fearing man who has been sent by a merciful, loving Father, to shepherd my heart and to teach me how to be better. My husband makes me want to do better, to be better. Not just for him, but for our family.

Ahh, yes. My family. I mean, not to be vain, but how cute are we?! I wonder how many moments I've let escape us, how many conversations I've killed, and how much nurturing and love I've let slip by because I've had my head down, totally tuned out to the world around me, checking up on the latest status updates. My husband didn't marry me so that he could be a single parent until I've returned from scrolling through the endless amounts of status updates. My daughter doesn't want a mom who doesn't listen to her day-time stories of triumph and tribulations on the playground because I'm too busy getting involved in the latest drama on Facebook that doesn't even concern me. My family needs me and I need to give them that. We need to be a cohesive unit, doing life together. We need to teach our daughter the values of life, the excitement and beauty surrounding her, and how to love and love well.

This is her, serving food to the homeless community in downtown Houston.

 

How could I not nurture her desire to help others who are in need? You can't teach that kind of compassion and for her, it comes as natural as you can get. You want to know what is so cool about her love of helping others that almost brings this momma to her knees? She gets it. She knows what it's like not to have a roof over her head, just the clothes on her back, and wondering where her next meal is coming from. She understands how much it means to have a helping hand, a welcoming smile, and a warm meal in her belly. She can identify with the very same people that she's ministering to. That's incredibly valuable and I just wonder: how many of us can love with such compassion and vulnerability? She's a blessing for sure, that one.

 

And as much as I love to see the postings on Facebook, I'm challenging myself. To be a better follower of Christ, a more loving wife, a more attentive mother, and to love those that need it the most, just like my daughter has taught me to do.