Happy New Year 2009

We have been so blessed in the last year - we can't imagine what the Lord has in store for us in 2009.  With a new year comes new changes.  We start off our new year with celebrating the birth of our oldest child, Emma Kate.  She will be 4 years old the end of January.  We can not believe how she has grown and that she will be 4 years old.  We sometimes look at each other and say "didn't we just bring her home from the hospital?"  We will continue to home school her - she loves being home to learn and loves her Mommy being her teacher.  Her ability to learn has exceeded our expectations and we will start kindergarten in a few weeks.  Sometime near the end of March we will, Lord willing, have a new addition to our family.  We are excited about the birth of our third daughter, Maggie Ann.  We can't wait to see what she looks like (even though we know she’ll probably look like Brian) and hold our precious little one that the Lord has entrusted in our care.  Caroline will be 2 years old in August.  "Sweet Caroline" doesn't even begin to tell you about her!  She loves her sister very much, she loves animals (especially puppies) and loves for you to just hold her and nurture her.  Brian and Michelle are keeping busy with church, work, teaching youth Bible Study, guitar lessons, teaching our children the ways of the Lord and just being Mommy and Daddy.  We look forward to a great 2009.  Happy New Year from our family to yours.

 

Brian, Michelle, Emma Kate and Caroline

Girl Time

I know, you are thinking "Girl Time!?! What other time is it in the McCollough household?"  Let me explain.  Brian and I have decided that our oldest daughter, Emma Kate, is old enough to start helping with some chores around the house.  We have made a chore chart for her and at the end of the week, if she has completed all of her chores, she will receive a reward.  Now, let me tell you, these chores are not anything hard. We are talking about cleaning up toys, helping to set and clear the table, taking the laundry to the laundry room, etc.  This morning was the first day that we started with the chore list/chart.  I can not tell you how thrilled I am that BOTH of my girls want to help.  Yes, I did say BOTH of my girls.  Even my 16 month old daughter, Caroline is eager to help!  Today is laundry day in our house.  I sorted the laundry and  then asked Emma Kate to please help me take the laundry to the laundry room.  She was very happy to help.  To my amazement, I turned around and there was Caroline carrying her part to the laundry room as well.  I can not tell you how thankful I am to be able to stay at home and teach my girls how to be good homemakers and to love the Lord and glorify Him (even through the housework) in everything you do.  I look forward to may more days of teaching them, not only their schoolwork, but also how to be godly women for Him!  

Michelle

Thankfulness

WOW!  It is Thanksgiving again.  I can't believe how fast this year has gone by.  As I look over the last year the Lord has reminded me of several things I am thankful for - I wanted to share a few of them with you.  I can not tell you how thankful I am for my husband.  Each and everyday he shows unconditional, selfless love for me and his daughters.  His time is very stretched, but each and everyday he always finds time for us to wash us in the Word, pray with and for us and just be a great daddy/husband.  My girls.....wow, how they have grown up.  I am thankful to the Lord that He has entrusted us with these girls.  I am thankful that I have the opportunity to homeschool our oldest child - I love watching her learn and yearn to do more each day.  I am thankful that Brian and I get to teach them the love of Christ and how to be godly women.  I am thankful for the trials that the Lord has allowed to come in our life.  Through those trials the Lord has taught us many things and we have grown so much.  Last but certainly not least - I am thankful for Christ.  It is only through His shed blood that we have life and life everlasting.  We hope that you have a great Thanksgiving holiday.  

Michelle

(Brian, Emma Kate and Caroline)

And Her Name Is........

Hello everyone!  I know you all are dying to find out what our new baby girl's name is going to be.  After countless weeks of searching for the perfect name, Brian and I have finally decided and are ready to share. Our sweet baby girl's name is going to be Maggie Ann McCollough. So, how did we come up with this name?? All of our children are named after family members.  They are as follows:

Emma Kate 

Emma - was the name of Brian's great-grandmother (who passed away the spring before Emma Kate was born)

Kate - was a name that we just really liked

Caroline Yates 

Caroline - was the name of Michelle's great, great, great-grandmother

Yates - was Michelle's mothers maiden name

Maggie Ann

Maggie - was a name that we just really liked

Ann - is Michelle's first name

We are truly excited that the Lord has given us another opportunity to have a sweet little girl.  We can't wait until she arrives!

Michelle

A New President

If I didn't tell you that I wasn't dissapointed in our president elect - I would be lying to you.  However, I am choosing to go a different route this morning.  God is NOT surprised by the new president of the United States.  In fact, HE put him there.  Although we might not be happy with the outcome - the Word of the living God tells us to "rejoice in all things".  As Brian and I were talking last night we came to this conclusion:  the Lord is soverign, HE is the same yesterday, today and forever.  This outcome of president is not going to change the way we live our lives - we will still pray, we will still spread the gospel and we will still teach our children the ways of the Lord.  I encourage you - instead of being grumpy - choose to rejoice and PRAY.  Pray that the Lord would guide the footsteps of our president elect and pray that the Lord might even change his heart.  Just rejoice and pray!

Michelle

It's A Girl!

We went to the doctor yesterday for my 5 month checkup.  Everything is looking good - my blood pressure is still a little elevated, but not as bad as last month.  We also had an ultrasound.....come to find out we are having baby GIRL number three.  We are so excited.  The plan was not to tell the gender until the baby got here, but after finding out we were just about to bust.  We do not have any names for our sweet little bundle of joy yet, but we are working on it.  We are so thrilled that the Lord has given us another child to care for.  We are looking forward to the day that she arrives.  

Michelle

The Joy of Homeschooling

I can not begin to tell you how proud I am right now!  We started homeschooling Emma Kate 3 months ago.  I love her eagerness to learn!  We do several different things for school.  We have a workbook for shapes and colors, one for numbers, one for letters and one for matching.  We also have book time - this is where I will read aloud to her a book and then she will pick some books out and go and sit in her room and "read" to herself.  We also are learning Bible verses and at night Brian gets to participate with homeschooling by asking the Children's Shorter Catechism questions as well as reading our new book "Pilgrims Progress".  Again, we have only been at homeschooling for 3 months.  Today we finished our shapes and colors workbook!  Emma Kate now knows all of her shapes and colors.  She can tell you what they are as well as match them to different things.  While we are out running errands she can also point them out to you. Although we haven't yet completed our letter workbook - Emma Kate knows all of her letters and the sounds that they make.  I am so thankful to have this opportunity with her - to watch her grow and learn.  I wouldn't trade this time with her for anything in the world.

Michelle