Road to Bethlhem

Last night I took Nacole to a local church that was putting on "Road to Bethlehem". You started with walking past the angel telling Mary she was going to have a baby, then past the angels and shepherds, and then into the city of Bethlehem. Here are some pics of Nacole walking through Bethlehem learning about what might have been going on there. She got feel clay from a lady making a pot, smell herbs, see muscles (she was not impressed), and watch the wood carving people. She loved watching the dancers (when she was not playing with straw on the floor!). At the end she saw Baby Jesus. There was a "wedding" earlier where the flower girl dropped flowers (this was neat for her to see to since she is going to be a flower girl in June!). She ran back over to where we watched that, grabbed a flower and went and laid it by Baby Jesus. She was very mesmerized most of the night.

This past Saturday we attended the Christmas Parade downtown. Nacole brought along a friend, and they had a blast! They loved getting candy and treats. They were very excited when Santa came by on a Fire Truck! They both left with tons of candy.

Jumping at the mall

Making Cookie Cutouts!

Church MPACT Thanksgiving Dinner

On Wed. night's at church we have a girls club called MPACT, the boys are Royal Rangers. I teach the 3rd-5th grade class and Nacole attends the preschool class. Last night we joined all the classes and had a Thanksgiving dinner. I was in the church kitchen cooking, I took out some flowers to use as center pieces. Nacole, of course, was not far behind wanting to help. She had all ready helped me make a corn casserole. So, I found some drinking glasses that could be used as vases and gave them to her. When she asked me what they were, I told her they were vases for the flower arrangements. So I started cutting the flowers and she started her arrangements. I must say, she did very well. Now the funny part.... some how she got it in her head that the vases are called "vasements"!! She told everyone that came around that she was making flower arrangements and not to come into the kitchen, she did not want them messed up. She then told them she was going to put the "vasements" on the tables. She got some very curious looks when she said "vasements"!! I stepped out of the kitchen to do something and left her there making her arrangements. When I got back, she had all the arrangements on the alters and stage in the main santuary!! I am still not sure why she did that since she told everyone else they were going on tables. She was funny and very mater of fact when she talked to people last night about her arrangements!

Buckner's Campus Worship

Sunday Nov. 16th, we took over 20 members of our church to worship at Buckner's Children Home here in Beaumont. For those of you that don’t know about Buckner's, it is basically a modern day orphanage. They house children from 5-18 years. As the children turn 18 and have to leave, they transition them to college and housing. When we decided to do the service, the teens from our church stepped up and volunteered to lead worship and give the message. It was AMAZING to see these 15-16 year old teens witnessing to their peers. It really is hard to put into words how I feel. Jordan lead worship, with Hannah and Annette as her backups. They had a great song selection and really did an awesome job. Lauren gave the message, it was on trusting God, no matter hard it may be. Her message was personal and really touched me. I still need to hear this message. We called for pray at the end, to which several came down for. Hayliegh and Alex saw others waiting to be prayed for and stepped up to help. I really can not get of this high of how great Sunday was. I am so proud of our teens!

Early Christmas Pics

We are getting into the Christmas Spirit here in Texas... that's what a small cold snap will do to you down here! We were babysitting last week and decided to test out some photography background and props we bought. Nacoel was a very good model, and her friends Jerit and Jillian were happy to help also. We are getting very busy with everyone wanting holiday pictures. We love it and are enjoying every minute of it!

The many fashions of Nacole

We are the age now where she is wanting dress herself more and more. From the pictures you can tell she loves this polka dot shirt. She would wear it everyday if I let her. These are just two of the recent outfits she has created, I will have to find more and post them. She is very independent. She loves to play computer games, sing, read books and draw. In the past month she just got over her fear of the battery operated Jeep she got over a year ago on her 3rd birthday! Everyday is a fun and interesting day with her in it!

Renaissance Festival

We took off to Plantersville for Ren. Fest Sat. It was a lot of fun, but very tiring! Nacole really enjoyed herself and even dressed the part... the best she could from what we found in her closet! Pink cowgirl boots, well, it worked for her! She got to ride an elephant, and really enjoyed the big swing. She did not want to leave and made sure we knew it all the way home!

Happy Halloween!!

Nacole had a great Halloween! We went to Trunk or Treat at Wesley UMC, then over to our friends. She was dressed up as Lucy from the movie Narnia - Prince Caspian.

Cupcakes

Last Friday I had to decorate a cake. Nacole wanted to help SOO bad! I decided she could do some cupcakes, which she had a blast doing. After she used this icing, she got her "knife" and spread some icing to.

Dress up at PreK

Nacole's preK class got to dress up for school for Harvest Day. They had to dress in farm related or just anything not scary really. She decided on a butterfly.

A Day in the life of Nacole...

She decided to dress herself today, top pic. In the bottom pic she sat on the box thinking it had somthing in it.... it did not and she got stuck!

Pumpkin Patch 2008

Nacole and I visited the local pumpkin patch this past Sat. She had a great time and picked out a cute little pumpkin. Her friend Shelby also meet us there.

Camping

Last week Nacole went camping with Grandma, GG, and Aunt Christy's family. She had so much fun, even slept in the tent one night! On Sunday, we took her friend Shelby with us to pick her up.

Nacole's first day at PreK 4!

Arriving at Prek4!

Vacation 2008

We took a mini vacation to the Dallas area over this past weekend. Here are a few pics!

This is Nacole and her friend Emma. Emma's mommy and I are old friends.

This is on the Grapevine Vintage Train. We took it to the Stockyards and got to spend a couple hours there. Nacole LOVED the train ride and thought it was neat when the cowboys tried to rob us!

This was great, she had so much fun sitting with these ladies and having them dress her up!

After the train ride, we took her to the Mustangs of Las Colinas, of course she liked this because there was room to run and water!

Swim lessons are in progress!! She was VERY excited to go. I was not able to pick her up, but was told she was crying. I called her and she told me she cried because they made her go underwater. I have been telling her that was going to happen. She then tells me " I thought going under water was my favorite thing, but it's not!" Then she says, " Tomorrow I will stay calm and not cry." We will see....

Nacole's 4th Birthday Party!

Nacole had a great 4th birthday! We held it at BGA again this year, why change when it works so well!

Recital 2008

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day! Nacole made Daddy a couple gifts, bought him a balloon, and added a page to his yearly journal. At church Daddy was able to attend Childrens Church with her, they cut wood and made a project for Grandpa with saw dust! After church we ate lunch and shopped for Daddy's big present! He wants a canopy over the back porch. I am not sure he made his decision yet, but soon. Later in the day we dropped in on Grandpa for a couple of hours. I hope every man out there had a great day!!

PS: Nacole set Daddy up and took this pic all by herself!

First Blog!!

The RHODES Family

Hello Eveyone! I have tried to create webites in the past to keep you informed of our little family, but I never seemed to be able to keep it up. I am now going to try this! I hope you all like it and come back to visit often. Here are a few pics from Mother's Day.