Our Ever Changing Life

Merry Christmas To Me...

2009-12-20T19:00:00.002-06:00

Brent made a new blog for me!!!

Starting today, if you want to keep up with our fam, please check us out on

www.minterlife.com

If you subscribe to the feed for this site, you will no longer receive anything. Please subscribe to the new blog. On the new blog, you can also subscribe to receive an email every time I post...

Well, what are you waiting for? Hurry and check it out. =) Brent did an incredible job with the site!! Feel free to leave comments telling him how fantastically gifted he is =)

I love Christmas presents!!!

Family Fun Day

2009-12-18T20:29:00.006-06:00

We took the trip to see Santa today. It went much better than last year. Here are the kids all excited with the anticipation of sitting on Santa's lap.

Elliana wasn't so sure about this whole thing once she saw Santa up close...notice her eyes!
She put on her fake smile though when she saw the bucket of suckers next to his chair!We rewarded the smiles with some dollar hamburgers at the food court...
Then after naps, we took some dinner to friends and then drove around and looked at Christmas lights. We came home and surprised the girls by pulling out lights to put on our house. I love Avery's reaction in this picture! Christmas is such a fun time of year!

To Twitter or Not Twitter

2009-12-16T15:50:00.005-06:00

My husband, the technology guru in this household, has tried to convince me to use twitter for a few months now. He even created an account for me...something about branding and getting my user name or something or other.

I wasn't too sold on the idea. I mean, who wants to know what I'm doing all the time. For example, if I had tweeted this morning, it would have said something along the lines of

"just pulled into the parking garage at the urologists and heard my 2 year old throw up all over the back of the car"

Followed a few minutes later by...

"as soon as the elevators closed, my 2 year old said she needed to potty really bad. No potty in site...slow elevator!"

I might have even ended with

"2 yr. old running around doctor's office in younger brother's diaper and nothing else. Extra clothes were used after the throw up incident."

Really, who wants to follow me and know all that? I'm not even sure I want to know all that.

Regardless, Brent seems to think its a fun thing so I thought I would give it a shot. Feel free to follow me or not. We'll see how well I do at this whole twitter thing.

Good Friends Are Hard To Find

2009-12-15T19:40:00.002-06:00

My best friend from college came down a couple weeks ago. I just love her to death. We were childhood friends but then I moved away in Jr. High. We lost contact sometime in High School and then reconnected Sophomore year of college when we happened to live on the same floor in the dorm. The University of Northern Iowa is a pretty big college so I like to think God had something to do with bringing up together again =)

Hanging out with her last weekend was a breathe to my soul. Its not often you get to hang out with someone who you knew way back in grade school but still loves you anyway! Thanks Jaimee for making the trip...I'm thinking Feb. in Minneapolis??? Maybe we can convince a few other girls to ditch some kids for the weekend =)

My Spiritual Journey

2009-12-14T21:12:00.007-06:00

Finding Joy in the Simple Things.

My theme for the holidays =)

In the midst of a weekend of pain, a trip to the ER, canceled plans, and fun but busy holiday events, I'm determined to not miss the joy the little things bring to my life. The joy of listening to my 4 yr old sing the completely wrong words to every Christmas Carol, the joy of my 2 yr. old chasing my 4 yr old saying "wait, come back, I don't even know your name" as she plays Cinderella, the joy of my 8 month old giggling everytime I crawl towards him, the joy of having a husband who drops everything to sit with me in the ER on one of his busiest days of the week, the joy of having friends who change all their plans so that they can come take care of my kids, the joy of a beautiful day where we could get sunburned, the joy of having people to love.....the list could go on, but we'll just leave it at this. The Lord has been so faithful to give me joy in the simple things of life. I'm so thankful for joy.

Goals:

Pretty much the same. I'm still reading and re-reading the book of Daniel.
Still meditating on Ezekiel 35. The image of God giving me a new heart and his Spirit has become so real and powerful. I just love that image of a new heart. Such a great visual picture for me!
Still sitting down and going through the prayer of Examen twice a day. I've had people ask why, so here's my thinking. If you've never done the prayer of examen, you should try it. You sit down and evaluate yourself in front of God. Its a great way to keep yourself focused on how you are keeping God the center of life. I do it twice a day because I usually lose it at least once in the morning and need to be refocused and confess and then usually lose it at least once before I go to bed and so need to sit and confess again =) What can I say...kids are my refining fire!

Question of the Day

2009-12-11T15:06:00.003-06:00

(Brent is getting ready to go hunting)

A: "Do deers hurt you?"

B" No."

A: "Then why would you hunt them?"

We're struggling a bit to come coming up with a good answer to satisfy a 4 yr. old. =)

More Dance

2009-12-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

As promised, here's Aves recital.

Can you believe we have 8 Christmas obligations/events this week?!! 5 down and 3 to go. Maybe that's why my kids went stupid with the babysitter =)

I Never Thought It Would Be Our Kids

2009-12-10T22:46:00.002-06:00

Tonight we had the kids that all babysitters dread....you know the ones who take advantage of the "nice" babysitter.

I never thought our kids would do it

Tonight they did

Wow, they are not going to like what tomorrow brings =)

Dance Recital Time

2009-12-09T08:37:00.003-06:00

I've been internet free for awhile. It just started working again so I thought I would post E's dance recital for all the grandparents. Today she was definitely more concerned about staying on her dot than she was with dancing which made it even cuter to watch. You gotta love 2 year olds in tutus!

Aves has her recital on Thursday so I'll post hers then. Have a great day!

New Rules

2009-12-06T16:15:00.009-06:00

Rule #1: You may not stick things up your brother's nose

Response to rule #1 by A: "really?!!!! I never knew that. I'll stop doing it then."

I guess this occurrence was more common than the one time I caught them.

Rule # 2: You may not call other people poo poo

Response to rule #2 by E: "OK!!!! Can I call Avery __________"

she picked random sounds and came up with the Spanish equivalent to the word poo poo. Of all the syllables she chose to put together! And no, neither Brent nor I speak Spanish or have used that word before! =)

Family Fun Day

2009-12-04T17:01:00.003-06:00

This pretty much sums up the activities for the day

Other than a quick trip to the gym and some house cleaning, our day pretty much consisted of dancing and playing dress up. You gotta love having little girls =)

And now Brent is taking the girls up to the Journey to the Manger at the church while I put Justus to bed. My best friend from college is flying in tonight so I'm off to finish cleaning up the house before going to the airport to pick her up. Its been 3 years since we've been able to hang out in person and I can't wait to spend the weekend with her! Enjoy your weekend =)

Cinderella

2009-12-03T09:26:00.003-06:00

Elliana kept getting in trouble this morning for using mean words. She kept saying things like:

"Avery that's an ugly dress."

"I'm going to rip that dress."

"Avery you're going to cry."
Finally after the 4th time of her getting in trouble, I finally realized what was going on. She's trying to play Cinderella with Avery! She wants Avery to be Cinderella and she wanted to be her fairy godmother.

You know the scene from the garden where Cinderella runs out crying because the mean step sisters have just ripped her dress to pieces and the fairy godmother tells Cinderella that her dress just won't do and gives her a new dress. Elliana was trying to act out that scene; the rest of us just didn't know what she was doing and so interpreted her actions as using unkind words to her sister.

I think I need to start asking questions before I give out discipline!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

2009-12-02T13:02:00.002-06:00

You can't beat waking up to a snow covered yard!

My Spiritual Journey

2009-12-01T14:17:00.005-06:00

Do Holidays bring out the best in you or the worst in you?

I would have to answer that question with the worst.

The stress of traveling with 3 littles and the pressure of trying to keep the family sane all while operating on very little sleep overtakes me.

I don't want circumstances to overtake me.

I want the Spirit to overtake me.

Romans 7:15-8:4 "For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

I guess the holidays are the "law" in my life that points out my sins. So for the month of December, I am waging war against the "law of sin that dwells in my members."

No books, no new disciplines, no new anything. Just God's Word and me. Nothing fancy and no grand plans. Just need to get out of the way and live according to the Spirit more. Back to the basics.

How, you ask? Great question with maybe not a great answer yet. I'm sure God will open my eyes as I walk forward. Its a journey that I've been on for awhile; one of dying to myself and allowing Christ to live in me, and I have no great answers or magic formulas for how to do it great and quickly. But I will keep pushing forward knowing that the battle has already been won and Christ already has the victory, and He will give me the grace I need to submit to His Spirit today.

So here's my plan to keep me submitted in the midst of crazy holiday stuff:

Continue my time in the morning in the Lord. Right now I'm reading through the book of Daniel
Read through the Psalms before bed so my thoughts while sleeping are of God's word and not of anything else

During afternoon naps and during the evening after the kids are down, stop and do a prayer examen. This helps me refocus and immediately confess and repent of any "sin that dwells within me" so that it does not linger or take root in my heart.
Continue to "pray without ceasing" by assigning my daily tasks a prayer request so that my heart and mind are continually focused on Christ.

Its funny. It takes the holidays to get me serious about denying everything I want to do with my time and replacing that with pursuing Christ.

What are you pursuing this holiday season?

Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2009-11-30T14:56:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T07:00:00.001-06:00

Over the last few weeks, the girls have been adding what they are thankful for to their Thankful Tree. (Click here if you have no idea what I'm talking about) I thought I would share their list of things they are thankful for as we all celebrate Thanksgiving today. So in their own words, here are the things we have been thankful for over the past 2 weeks.

Avery's new book
Elliana
Having Friends over for dinner
Daddy is home from his trip
Justus, Daddy, Mommy, and Avery
Trees and Flowers
Daddy's home
Balloon
Peanut Butter Sandwich
Butterflies and Balloons
Gloves
Pink Plates
Daddy, Mommy, Justus, Elliana, and windows
Freedom
Cold Weather
Stickers
Being Home
Susan and Andrew
Thankful tree
Daddy coming home
Friends
Thankful tree
Grandma and Grandpa's house
New Spoons
Coke (which neither one of them has ever tasted!)
Thankful Tree
Carson, Tyson, and Jansen
Trees
My Family
Friends
Flowers
Family and Bread
Thankful Tree
Justus
Date Night with Daddy
Dance School
Cookies and Mr. Andrew
Connor and Bryce
Going on a date with daddy
Thankful Tree
Family

Such a Girly Girl

2009-11-25T09:34:00.005-06:00

"I'll help you with the pumpkin pie but can I have a napkin? I don't want my hands to get messy."She was not convinced when I told her the best part about cleaning pumpkins was the messy hands and she cleaned that entire half with a napkin in her hand.

My Spiritual Journey

2009-11-24T07:00:00.001-06:00

Instead of my personal journey, let's do something a bit different and try to create some dialogue =)

My favorite way to review the scripture I'm memorizing is by taping the verses to the outside of the shower (ignore the soap scum. Who invented glass showers anyway? Certainly not the person who had to clean them!)

Even if little faces are pressed up against the outside of the shower(which they often are), I can't hear what they're saying over the water, so I can still concentrate on the verses I'm memorizing.
So now its your turn. How do you memorize scripture?

He's Sick....Again

2009-11-23T14:51:00.003-06:00

We have been stuck in the house a lot over the last few months because Justus has had so many sinus infections and colds.

Today I decided to teach him a new trick to help pass the time. You might not be able to tell from the video, but I taught him to blow his nose. He only does it into a Kleenex every once in a while, but he loves blowing his nose on my shirt.

Kind of gross, but at least it gives him something to do besides cry!

And that, my friends, is the glamorous life of a mommy =)

Observations of the Day

2009-11-23T07:32:00.004-06:00

Elliana: "if you throw up on yourself, just tell mommy and she'll give you the medicine and a trashcan." (this was said very seriously to Justus as if teaching him a very important lesson)
Avery: "How deep is your tummy? I think it starts here (pointing to her throat) and goes all the way to your belly b. Which means I need more to eat because my tummy is pretty deep"

Family Fun Day

2009-11-22T15:31:00.002-06:00

No pics of our day this week, at least not yet =)

We spent the afternoon taking family pictures so I'll post those as soon as I get them back. Other than that, we had a relaxing day as a family eating breakfast at McDonalds (nothing but the best food for my kids =) ), playing board games, and running errands.

So sorry about the boring post, but to quote a line from the movie "UP", "I know it may sound boring, but its the boring stuff I remember the most". (You know the scene...where the little boy is telling the old man about all things he remembers doing with his dad, and all his fond memories are the ones where him and his dad are doing nothing together)

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Messy Again

2009-11-18T09:52:00.003-06:00

This floor had been scrubbed and mopped less than 24 hours earlier...Anyone else out there feel my pain =) I think my kids must have holes in the bottom of their lips!

My Spiritual Journey

2009-11-17T12:56:00.003-06:00

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you
Ezekiel 36:25

Meditating on God's word is powerful and life changing. This week I spent the week meditating on vs. 25

"from all your idols I will cleanse you."

Idols. Those things that you worship in addition to or more than God. These words were clearly impressed on my heart, so I knew God was calling me to take time to sit with him so he could reveal some idols I had formed in my heart. I was expecting Him to tell me I had started making my kids or my house or my ministries an idol. I wasn't expecting Him to tell me this, but plain as day, He said

You are your own idol.

Me? How could I be my own idol? I am sacrificing everything I used to want or desire in order to stay home and raise and disciple my children. I'm giving my life to what God called me to. How can I be an idol?

As the week has progressed, the answer became pretty clear. Why do I get frustrated when nap time isn't what I want it to be? Because I feel I have the right to some down time during the day. Why do I get angry when fits are thrown or toys aren't picked up or when sleepless nights begin to become the norm instead of the exception? Because I feel I have the right to expect perfection from others and sleep and alone time for myself.

My dissatisfaction with things comes because I believe deep down in my heart that I have the right to have an easy life full of fulfilling opportunities for myself.

My desires, or what I feel are my rights, have become my idols. They have become the thing I chase after more than I chase after God.

My rights have been submitted to the proper authority and my focus is on chasing after God even in the midst of a life full of dirty diapers, tantrums, messiness, no alone time, little money, an adoring husband, kids who love me, a house with very little things that need fixed, friends who call to check on me, a mom who drops everything to support me, and sisters who bring great joy to my heart every time we talk.

Idols make it really easy to focus on what's missing in life. God makes it really easy to focus on how much He has blessed my life.

Meditation on God's word is powerful.

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8

Goals for this week:

Finish Life with God by Richard Foster
Continue memorizing and meditating on Ezekiel 36:25-27
Focus on daily submitting my rights and chasing after God.

We Finally Made It

2009-11-15T19:17:00.003-06:00

I saw this idea on another blog I read a few weeks ago and thought to myself "what a great idea. I should do that with the kids."

But the thought of making and cutting out leaves was enough to keep pushing the project to the back burner...it became a "maybe tomorrow" type of project.
Until tonight! We finally made our thankfulness tree! I think the motivation was some leftover cutout flowers I had from a breakout session I taught yesterday at church which meant I did not have to trace or cut out leaves with the girls. For some reason, the thought of making leaves exhausted me =)So here's our tree. So far we just have a few flowers and hearts added with things we're thankful for. Hopefully we'll get a little deeper as we continue over the next 2 weeks. Right now we're still just thankful for balloons and trees =) But even if it never goes any deeper than that, at least they're learning what it means to be thankful. And hopefully having a bit of fun in the process =)

Family Fun Day

2009-11-14T07:19:00.005-06:00

A trip to the zoo with Grandma
The weather was perfect and the animals were active. The girls showed no fear getting up close and personal with this tiger!
The elephants and giraffes were a big hit as well. I've never seen them run in the zoo before. Usually they just stand there and eat. I think Grandma and I had just as much fun as the girls!What makes a trip to the zoo even better? Riding the train!
The girls even put on a little show for Grandma and practiced their dance routines. Well, Avery danced; Elliana giggled and "skipped" through the living room.
It was a great day!

Getting Big

2009-11-12T19:48:00.002-06:00

This week...Justus has tasted his first lemon
It took 3 sleepless nights, but his first tooth has finally broken through!
And he learned to say the letter d. Daddy is going to feel special to hear "da da da da" greet him when he gets home next week!

I Miss Him

2009-11-12T07:45:00.005-06:00

7 1/2 years ago I moved into an apartment 2 buildings away from him. There was never a day where we weren't together.
6 1/2 years ago I walked into his apartment to find this and a ring for my finger. 6 years ago we said "I do" and began our married life together. Right after we got married, we used to joke that it was like a slumber party every night. We would just lay in bed and talk for hours about absolutely nothing. We have always just loved to talk to each other. And now he's gone for a week...

After 7 1/2 years of sharing every moment with someone, not being able to talk to him is hard.

I really miss him this week. Every time the phone rings, my heart starts beating fast thinking it might be him only to remember he can't use a phone this week. Every time something happens, I go to reach for the phone only to remember I can't contact him this week. This week, 1 week seems like an eternity!!

My Spiritual Journey

2009-11-10T13:06:00.005-06:00

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

The past few weeks have been long weeks. The kind that twist and turn your emotions and just wear you out. God has used these long weeks to teach me so much.

The one thing that has been evident in everything that I've been learning is the fact the God is living and active and working in me and all around me. Not that I would have ever denied that fact, but God has been opening my eyes and my mind to be constantly aware of God's hand and the fact that He is working. Its a lot more fun to walk through difficult situations when your eyes are keenly watching for God's hand among all circumstances. I truly believe that has been God's gift to me the past few weeks...the ability to constantly be aware of His presence and his purpose in all things so that life does not have the ability to get me down, but rather encourages me and spurs me on.

Why the verse at the top? The past few weeks, I've just been keenly aware of God's working in my heart. He has been cleansing me and removing some stuff but at the same time satisfying me and speaking to me. The more I am aware of Him on a continual minute by minute basis, the more dependent I become on the Holy Spirit working in my life. This verse speaks to me about how active God is and reminds me to be thankful that we don't serve a passive God, but an active God who is continually speaking to us and drawing us unto Himself.

Hope the ramblings make sense =) Brent is gone for the week, so this week my goals are a bit smaller. I'm not a good single mom!

Goals from last week:

I'm still reading Life With God. Great food for thought!
I'm finish with Isaiah and am now reading Ezekiel. What a great book to teach me how all things, even destruction, has a purpose in God's kingdom.

Goals for this week:

Continue reading and meditating on Ezekiel.
Memorize Ezekiel 36:25-26
Have morning devotions with the kids over breakfast. With Brent not here in the evenings, I know the devotions won't happen at night unless I start doing them in the morning.

Saturday Fun

2009-11-07T19:08:00.008-06:00

So no posts for a week; needless to say, its been a busy roller coaster of a week!But today was the highlight of the week, Avery's b-day party. Her actual b-day was last week, so she got a full week of birthday celebration! Fun times. For her birthday, she decided she wanted to bring cupcakes to school, a castle cake and to play Simon Says and Red Light, Green Light with her friends. So we...

took cupcakes to school on Monday

And then today at her b-day party, we played Red Light, Green Light

Simon Says

Rock, Rock, Be A Rock

Ate some castle cake

Opened some cool presentshit open a pinata full of candy

Ate some hotdogs and fruit

played a little Wii with our best friends who now live in Austin.

fell into bed exhausted

and then we ended the evening with a great dinner and a little ice cream for the two birthday girls! (Brent's mom's b-day is today as well!)Who could ask for a better 4th birthday =)

Happy Birthday My Sweet Girl!

2009-11-01T07:00:00.001-06:00

Its so hard to believe!!! She's 4 yrs old today!

Wasn't it just yesterday that we were making decisions about buying a house and quitting my job so I could become a stay at home mom? Wasn't it just yesterday I sat in the hospital looking at my daughter thinking to myself "am I really a mom now?" Wasn't it just yesterday that I suddenly learned how much my heart could love another being? Wasn't it just yesterday that you learned to smile and then laugh and then crawl and walk and talk and develop a personality?

Now here you are, the most tender-hearted person I know. You take care of your brother and sister with a maturity and love that overwhelms me. And you still have the ability to crawl into my lap, bury your head in my chest, and make my heart melt.

I'm often shocked at your ability to learn new things and analyze ideas, and then forced into laughter when I see you writing your name, whistling like a pro, counting in Spanish all with your shoes on the wrong feet. We just can't master those shoes =) When I point out the shoes to you, you just laugh and say "those silly shoes. Why does Elliana always know what foot to put her shoe on?" Because Elliana sees life in shapes and colors. So far, you see life in letters and numbers. You are my problem solver and there isn't a problem out there that you don't think you can solve! Oh the places you'll go with that determination and those thinking skills. This is one proud (and maybe a little biased) momma saying I love you more than all the pink ice cream in the world. Happy Birthday my beautiful girl!

Here's a little video of my big girl being a great big sister this morning.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T20:05:00.004-05:00

From our little pumpkin
and our two fairies...or butterflies...or princesses...or tinkerbells...or whatever it was they felt like being at that particular moment.Hope you had a great day!

Family Fun Day

2009-10-30T20:51:00.004-05:00

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins. Everything today was about pumpkins.

Pumpkin chocolate chip muffinsBaked some pie pumpkins and scraped out the good stuff

Pureed the good stuff and made...the best pumpkin pie in the world =)

And to top it all off, we carved some pumpkins too.I love the fall!

Reminds Me of the Cosby Show

2009-10-29T20:19:00.004-05:00

Avery talking about how Connor and Bryce were going to come to her birthday party.

Me: "Do you remember that Connor and Bryce moved away? Its a long drive to come to our house. I'm not sure they can come."

A: she got sad for a minute and then said in her excited voice, "I know. Can't we just find 2 kids and call them Connor and Bryce and bring them to the party? They can just pretend to be my best friend and at least I'll have a Connor and Bryce at my party. "

I probably should have been a good mom and talked this through with her. But I couldn't help but picture Rudy from The Cosby Show telling Kenny his name was now Bud.

Anyone else remember that episode? How could you forget the line "my name's not Bud, its Kenny."

Okay, maybe its just me that loves that episode. But I bet everyone loves this one. Click here to see one of the greats =)

A Great Deal

2009-10-29T07:08:00.001-05:00

I don't normally post about deals, but this one may be too good to pass up =)

If you complete the following steps, you should end up with 20 Christmas Cards and 20 envelopes for a little over $2. Who doesn't want to save a bit of cash around the holidays!

Go here

Then click the red button that says "Get Your Free Gift Here"

You enter in some info and they'll email you a promotional code good for $15 off any item. The email comes in minutes.

Then go back here , click on "shop photo cards" and put together your fabulous Christmas card. To get the 20 cards and 20 envelopes for $2, you'll need to choose one of the cards that says it comes in sets of 10. Mine was 10 for $4.99.

At checkout make sure you state you want 2 sets. The total for the 2 will be around $14.00. Enter in your promo code that was emailed to you and you get the cards free. You just pay the $2 for shipping.

Pretty fun right =) I love getting free stuff!!

The Best Invention Ever

2009-10-28T18:15:00.004-05:00

There is nothing worse than a still quiet morning, a hot cup of coffee, spending time with Jesus, and then an ear shattering scream of

"I'M AWAKE!!!!!!! I'M AWAKE, I'M AWAKE, I'M AWAKE, I'M AWAKE....."

Enter the best invention ever!
Yes it looks like a normal clock but...
We set it to turn yellow when its time to go to bedand turns green when they can get out of their bed!

Its the little things that make me happy =)

My Spiritual Journey

2009-10-27T14:50:00.006-05:00

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5

Last week I wrote about wounds. This week I'm writing about the blessings of the wounds.

See last week I would have told you about certain areas of my life that needed to be refined. Areas that were clearly evident to me as I observed my day. I would have laid out my spiritual journey for you completely differently if the wounds had not occurred.

This week my journey took a completely different turn that what I expected. I have seen completely different areas that need to be refined. Wounds do that. They pull back the scales from your eyes and reveal sin. Not the type of sin that you try to hide from yourself or other people. The type of sin that you don't even know exists until God chooses to reveal it to you.

Yes, wounds are good. Wounds are refining. Wounds prove that God is alive and active and cares enough about you to keep working on you.Goals from last week:

I lost the book Life With God! I've started reading Prayer again in preparation for a session I'm teaching over prayer. I know the other book is in the house somewhere! I'll keep looking this week =)
I've failed on the TV thing this week too. So You Think You Can Dance is my downfall!
Still reading Psalms at night and working on meditating. I have really enjoyed working on the discipline of meditation. I'm not good at it yet, but its a fun journey!

Goals for this week:

No TV except for So You Think You Can Dance. For the kids of course. The girls look forward to watching it during our Girls' Night =)
Find and continue reading Life With God.
Review Meditation
Start memorizing scripture again.

Dedication

2009-10-25T13:26:00.004-05:00

Justus, this morning we stood before the church and declared that we would raise you to walk in the faith of your family. We desire to remain humble and dependent on the Lord in order that He may use us to point you to Him. I know we will fail at times, but I pray the Lord's grace will reign over this household so that His strength will prevail even in the midst of your parent's weakness. We prayed this morning and will continue to pray that you will come to faith in Christ knowing that He alone will bring you joy, contentment, and life. We love you buddy.
(the verse we are praying over you)

the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
Ephesians 1:17-19

Family Fun Day

2009-10-24T19:41:00.002-05:00

Just a little glimpse into some of our family fun day. Pretty sure Brent may kill me later for posting a video of him in his PJs playing the accordion, but it was too good to pass up =) Enjoy!

Happy Birthday!!

2009-10-24T10:13:00.002-05:00

It Makes My Heart Smile

2009-10-21T13:10:00.002-05:00

I bent over to give her a kiss on her forehead at nap time. Suddenly I felt two little arms wrap around my neck and pull me down to the bed.

"Mommy, will you be my stuffed animal at nap today?"

Who would have thought being asked to be a stuffed animal could bring me so much joy =)

Quote of the Night

2009-10-20T19:08:00.003-05:00

(this was said after Avery got in trouble for disobeying)

Me: "Mommy and daddy love you too much to let you disobey"

A: said perfectly innocently with a wide eyed disbelief on her face "Being in trouble isn't loving!!"

She then looked at me as if I were lying to her. This evening, she was definitely not buying my reasoning for why she gets in trouble!

My Spiritual Journey

2009-10-20T07:00:00.002-05:00

This past week I've been dealing with some disappointing situations.

Over the weekend,
the disappointments
turned
to wounds.

Deep wounds.

Wounds that penetrate the very depth of your soul.

Wounds that bring tears to the eyes with a mere thought.

Wounds that won't heal overnight.

But the fight begins.

I refuse to allow these wounds to stay open and fresh.

No they will not fester bitterness.

Through God's grace, the wounds will heal. They may leave a permanent scar, but they will heal. It may just take time.

God never promises we won't get hurt in life. He only promises He'll never leave us.

For he wounds, but he binds up;
he shatters, but his hands heal. Job 5:18

Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for your good.” Job 5: 27

Goals from Last Week:

Reading Psalms before bed has been great. I haven't succeeded every night, but working in that direction. Meditating on TRUTH from scripture has been life giving this week.

Goals for this Week:

Keep reading Psalms before bed.
Keep meditating on the truth of scripture throughout the day
Continue reading Mastery and Life With God
No TV this week

Family Fun Day

2009-10-18T21:24:00.004-05:00

Pumpkin Patch Time!

Avery loved posing for pictures
Elliana loved searching for the perfect pumpkins
Justus wasn't so happy about the whole experience

We did get a fairly decent family pic at the pumpkin patch though. Check out the new picture in the header if you're interested. All in all, it was a fun afternoon and evening!

(on a side note: I tried to top off the experience with a "pumpkin" pie made out of butternut squash. Allrecipes.com swears it tastes the same if not better. It doesn't! We'll have our real pumpkin pie next weekend =) )

Happy Fall

2009-10-14T17:21:00.002-05:00

I think pumpkin pie is the next thing we'll make...yummmmm. I love fall =)

My Spiritual Journey

2009-10-13T13:39:00.003-05:00

I'll just say I failed on my goals from last week. I did really well for 2 days and then everyone got sick and stopped sleeping. Instead of calmly reading the Psalms before going to sleep, I simply fell into bed exhausted and sick. We are all finally healthy (except for Justus) and hopefully we'll make it through this week without any more sleepless nights! So no new goals this week. I'm just starting where I tried to start last week. We'll see how it goes!

This song has been playing through my mind as I deal with some disappointments this week. Thought I would share. I attached the lyrics below as well. Hope you enjoy!

You Are Still Holy - Kim Hill
Navigation: K \ Kim Hill \ You Are Still Holy

Holy, You are still holy
Even when the darkness surrounds my life
Sovereign, You are still sovereign
Even when confusion has blinded my eyes

Lord, I don't deserve Your kind affection
When my unbelief has kept me from Your touch
I want my life to be a pure reflection
Of Your love

And so I come into Your chamber
And I dance at Your feet, Lord
You are my Saviour
And I'm at Your mercy
All that has been in my life
Up 'til now
It belongs to You
You are still holy

Holy, You are still holy
Even though I don't understand Your ways
Sovereign, You will be sovereign
Even when my circumstances don't change

Lord, I don't deserve your tender patience
When my unbelief has kept me from Your truth
I want my life to be a sweet devotion
To You

And so I come into Your chamber
And I dance at Your feet, Lord
You are my Saviour
And I'm at Your mercy
All that has been in my life
Up 'til now
It belongs to You
I belong to You

You are still holy
You are still sovereign
You are still holy, Lord
You are still righteous
You are all-knowing
You are still holy

You know Its Been a Long Few Days When...

2009-10-10T20:10:00.003-05:00

Half way into Wal Mart tonight, Avery looked at my feet and said "Are those your slippers you're wearing?"

"ummmm, yes they are." As I looked at my feet, I suddenly realized not only had I forgotten shoes, I had also forgotten to put on a bra, brush my teeth, and comb my hair. The window of opportunity to get out of the house without all the kids is so slim that I guess I jumped at the opportunity tonight a little too quickly!

For two seconds I thought about going home, but the thought of having to come back to Wal Mart with all 3 kids next week was enough to motivate me to just go in the store regardless of my appearance. I walked through those automatic doors praying I wouldn't see anyone I knew!

So yes, from now on I will never judge another disheveled looking woman who looks like she is wearing her PJs while shopping at Wal Mart. Maybe she had been stuck in the house for 2 days with sick kids and was just anxious to be out too.

Family Fun Day

2009-10-09T19:41:00.004-05:00

Or maybe its better titled "Family Sick Day". Yup, we're all sick this Friday. Even Justus has this pitiful little cough and fever.So we didn't leave the house.

This picture was taken at 6:30pm and notice everyone is still in their PJs. And yes, those are the PJs we slept in the night before. Everyone needs those kinds of days every once in a while =)
Playing make believe, board games, movies, and telling stories in a tent were some of the highlights of the day.
Lucky for us, there were some glow sticks left over from last night's home makeover rally. They made the tent even more fun!
I mostly included the above picture because its not very often you can capture on camera both girls picking their nose at the same time. We'll just say we're still working on the whole hygiene thing =)

First Day of School

2009-10-08T13:00:00.001-05:00

Its official. Avery has started preschool. Deciding to let her go was pretty easy. Actually letting her go was hard!!!
She was so excited. Little sister wasn't so excited. E hugged Aves tight in the parking lot and then said, "I want to go to preschool too."I bought a special activity book for E and I to do together on the days Avery is in school. It was fun to just sit with E and have no one else compete for attention. The house was so quite though. When big sister isn't home, there's no chase happening, there's no screaming and laughter filling the house, there's no huge messes from hours of playing make believe. It was weird. I think we're all going to have to adjust to this.
The decision to send Avery to school came down to the middle child syndrome. I was a middle child so definitely have sympathy =) We realized that this next year will be the only time that I will ever get alone time with Elliana. With Avery at school and Justus taking a morning nap, I can spend my morning investing in Elliana. That fact was enough to motivate me to send my baby off to school for the first time.

This watching your kids grow up is going to be hard for me!!

Our Week

2009-10-07T16:46:00.003-05:00

Check it Out

2009-10-06T12:07:00.001-05:00

Whenever you have time, you should read this blog.

Her journey is inspiring.

My Spiritual Journey

2009-10-06T08:31:00.003-05:00

I think we all go through different seasons in our walk with the Lord. Sometimes we need intense study, sometimes we're holding on for dear life, sometimes we just immerse ourselves in prayer and meditation. There's a time for all of it as we walk our journey with the Lord.

The past 6 months I've been in a season of survival. I always get that way after having a baby. I immerse myself in prayer throughout the day and short tidbits of scripture to fill my mind with truth; however there is very little structure or rhythm or goal-setting. If I were to do that, my time with the Lord would simply become something to check off. Instead I know that it takes me about 6 months to get back to normal after having a baby and so during that 6 months, I am way informal in my time with the Lord.

But its now been 6 months and I'm feeling the push from the Lord to no longer just float through life. I know he's calling me back into structure so that I have the disciplines set up that He can use to teach me and change me.

This past week, I've gone from just reading short scripture passages to reading through an entire book. I've been stuck in Isaiah this week. For some reason I can't put it down. It has been speaking truth in my life like crazy and giving me tons to think about and meditate on.

I've also decided to try to deepen how I meditate on scripture. In the book Meditation by Jim Downing, he suggests that you begin your personal time of worship right before you go to bed. You read the Psalms or whatever you usually read first in the morning right before you go to bed. He suggests that by doing this, you're allowing your subconscious to meditate on that scripture all night while you're sleeping. Then when you wake up, you're already familiar with the passage and can begin to experience deeper personal worship times in the morning. So here's to trying new ways to meditate!

Goals:

No TV at night this week. I want the last thing my mind to think about to be God's word instead of CSI or Law and Order =)
Read through a chapter of Psalms before my head hits the pillow at night
Continue to read through Isaiah every day this week

I know goal setting and structure isn't for everyone and it definitely has its seasons where its not useful to me, but now is the time where God has called me back to structure so that He can use it to teach me and draw me closer to Him. Pray I make the transition back into spiritual discipline quickly. As I tell my kids, I want to obey right away, all the way, and with a happy heart =)

Garage Sale Day

2009-10-03T14:59:00.005-05:00

Wednesday I woke up and decided this weekend I was going to do a garage sale. I advertised on Craig's List, threw everything into organized piles in the garage, and got ready.

Almost everything sold! Praise God. One quick trip to Good Will with all the stuff that didn't sell and all of the junk is out of the house!The perfect end to the morning was some friends dropping by with lunch for the family. Lunch with friends and some extra cash...you can't get a better morning than that!

Family Fun Day

2009-10-03T14:39:00.003-05:00

Mini Train Ride and picnic for the family
Double date with great friends at Joe T. Garcia's for mommy and daddy

A little bit of fun for everyone =)

Where's my Apron?

2009-09-30T15:25:00.004-05:00

10 years ago I would have told you I was going to be a high profile lawyer who was unmarried and had no kids. I would be traveling the world telling others about Christ and making a huge difference. I majored in English Education for the sole purpose of having the freedom to live anywhere in the world I wanted to and get a job.

5 years ago I would have told you that I would soon be moving to China with my husband. We wouldn't be having kids anytime soon; we were going to tell others about Jesus and change the world. To quote my best friends and I from college "life is to short to live boringly" would have been my mantra.

Currently, I am married. I have 3 kids, I stay home, I drive a mini van, and I have found a new love for cooking things from scratch. My how dreams and life choices change in 10 years!

But as I sit here enjoying my home made granola bars and my home made whole wheat bread while listening to my girls giggle at each other, I wouldn't change it for the world. Well, maybe I would change taking out the poopy diaper trash, but other than that, praise God that He leads my life and not me =)

Book Review

2009-09-30T08:19:00.003-05:00

When I first began reading this novel, I was a bit skeptical. "Another cheesy way to share the gospel" was my initial thought. Let me just admit up front that I was completely wrong.

Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart is a cleverly written story about a young Knight to the Prince. The story parallels the life of a Christian in service to our Savior. Throughout this knight's journey, he is faced with a lot of doubt about who exactly the Prince is, why bad things happen in the world, the authenticity of the "Code", and many other important questions. This knight attempts to ignore the doubt and fears he has about his service to the Prince and so eventually is overcome by Lord Drox, representing the evil in the world. It is only through an encounter with Mister Sejus (the Prince) that the young knight becomes strong enough to fight and overcome Lord Drox.

This novel eloquently deals with the doubts and fears that most young Christians have. It shows such a vivid picture of what the Christian life looks like when you live in apathy and what the Christian life looks like once you have truly encountered and submitted to Christ. While it targets young adults, I couldn't put the book down. My husband made fun of me more than once as I tried to sneak into the back rooms of the house to read without disturbance.

Overall, I personally think this story is so well written and the message it tells is so important that I hope parents buy it for their teenagers. It shows the spiritual battle involved in Christianity in a way where even the most apathetic teenager will understand. I loved the novel, and I hope you get a chance to read it!

My Spiritual Journey

2009-09-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

"For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" Matthew 12:34

Meditation:
I've been meditating on these verses over the past few days. I think these were some of the first verses I learned as a kid, but yet, this week they have spoken so much truth into my life.

Its almost like the Lord has taken such a simple concept I've learned a million times and given me a visual in my mind as I walk through the day. The visual picture of submission to the Holy Spirit in the midst of the pressures of life. A vivid reminder to get out of the way and let the Holy Spirit refine my heart.

Such a simple truth....

Such a freeing truth...

Family Fun Day

2009-09-27T20:58:00.009-05:00

I think we failed on the "family" part of the title! We generally try to make Friday a day where we enter into the girls' world and just have fun at their level. Not for the complete 24 hours of course, but for most of the day, we just relax and play.

Not this week...the dreaded stomach virus attacked me on Friday so all plans were forfeited. Instead Brent finished some home improvement projects that have been on the back burner since little guy was born.

Yup, this week our house got a face lift with some new wood and a fresh coat of paint

and Brent finished it off with the trees on Friday. The girls had a blast "helping" daddy, and the little guy and mommy had a blast sleeping through all the noise of the chain saw. Definitely a "Fun Day" but not necessarily a "family" day!

Saturday we went to Day in the District and tried to be a fun family but I was still a bit sick, the kids activities stopped early, and a tumble into an ant hill by Aves made us all eager to just be back home. Oh well...can't win every time =) We'll try again next week!

Tender Hearted

2009-09-24T09:44:00.004-05:00

2 am was when the drama started.

After a bath, a couple trips over a trash can, and some fresh PJs, E was finally asleep in a sleeping bag next to my bed.

Not for long though. The drama persisted every 30 minutes until about 4:00am where she finally fell asleep for an hour without throwing up.

About 6am, she stood up next to my bed, grabbed my hand, gave me a hug, and said

"Sorry for waking you up in the night mommy."

In all her misery, she was thinking about me.

Makes me hope I'm that selfless when I'm dealing with them all day

My Spiritual Journey

2009-09-22T10:30:00.000-05:00

Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth

I Corinthians 5:7-8

Repentance, spiritual growth, testing, spiritual growth, conviction, repentance, spiritual growth.....

This seems to be the cycle in my life so far. The Lord brings me to a point of conviction and repentance. Immediately afterwards, I begin to walk through a season of intense spiritual growth. This growth usually results in some circumstance where what I am learning begins to get tested. The testing results in more spiritual assurance and growth. But the closer I get to the Lord, the more my eyes are opened to my own sinfulness...and the cycle continues.

Its a good cycle. Its a cycle of sanctification, becoming more like Christ. Becoming more like Christ is so desirable; the path to get there is just sometimes not as attractive.

I think the past 2 months have been one where I'm walking through the testing cycle. Its been tough at times, but I'm beginning to see the growth as Christ continues to draw me to himself. I love being drawn closer to Him.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing
James 1:2-3

Groceries, Groceries, Groceries

2009-09-21T20:15:00.000-05:00

I have an issue with our grocery budget. Since we started buying diapers for Justus, I always seem to go over budget. This is the week I decided I was going to figure out how to spend less on groceries and come under budget. The google searches began....

After searching out ways to reduce grocery spending, it looked like my 2 options were going to be to give up shampoo or to start making more things from scratch. I know giving up shampoo seems a little extreme, but apparently its all the rage now. Something about using baking soda and water and eliminating chemicals from your body or something like that.

I went back and forth between the two options. Initially I decided to try giving up shampoo. It would take less time than baking huge stockpiles =)

But pretty sure my husband would not be too thrilled about this option and would eventually insist on counseling for me which would probably be more money than our grocery bill currently was so I decided to tackle making things from scratch. Monday after everyone got up from naps, they all got cooking T-shirts on, we played some music and we made 2 dozen banana muffins, a dozen blueberry muffins, and 2 loaves of banana bread (I had just bought a large supply of bananas on sale that I needed to use) The mixing everything up only took about 40 minutes so it wasn't too much time. The flour fight, the sugar dropped on the floor, and the nursing Justus was what made the experience a little lengthy.

We now have a nice little baked good stockpile in the freezer. My thought is to use these for snacks and breakfast and see if we can reduce our bill that way. I'll let you know if I actually follow through or if in 3 weeks I suddenly remember all the baked goods in my freezer that I forgot to use and then end up throwing them out b/c they've gone bad.

So if you happen to see me with greasy hair, you'll know this whole freezer stockpile thing didn't work for me.

Good Night

2009-09-21T19:46:00.003-05:00

Said while getting off the potty after going #2

E: "Good night poo poo"

she turns around to wave good night to it and says

E: "Oh look, it has its own blankie. Sleep good poo poo with your blankie"

(the "blanket" was the toilet paper in case you were wondering)

Family Fun Day

2009-09-19T13:47:00.010-05:00

The morning hours consisted of Imagination Land. We built "houses" and then just played.

Alphabet Puzzles

"Singing" lessons with daddy

"Swimming" lessons (the blanket was our swimming pool if you couldn't tell)

and Hide N Seek.
After naps, we used the rest of a gift card we had from Elliana's birthday to take a trip to Incredible Pizza where we ran around, played games, drove race cars, ate pizza, and finished the night off with ice cream. What could be better than that =)

Gentle Reminder

2009-09-16T20:00:00.003-05:00

Dinner Tonight:

Me: "What was your favorite part of the day today?" (fully expecting to hear how wonderful a mom I was b/c I took them to this incredible 2 story playland place and let them play for a couple hours)

A: "Running and riding bikes with you this morning."

E: "Yeah, that my favorite too."

Me: "You liked that better than the playland?"

A: "That was a lot of fun, but I liked just playing with you best."
My gentle reminder of the important things to my kids...30 minutes of individual mommy time trumps 2 hours of playland time. Thanks Father for using the gentle voice of my kids to remind me of this valuable fact.

North or Be Eaten

2009-09-14T14:03:00.005-05:00

Our family's favorite kid CD is Slugs, Bugs and Lullabies.

We all enjoy this CD by Andrew Peterson so much that I decided to get on his website to see what else I could buy of his. I was so excited when I discovered that in addition to writing music, he also writes fiction! He is such an incredible word smith that when I was asked if I would review his latest book, I knew that if his fiction was as clever as his CDs, I was going to be hooked!

His latest novel is the 2nd book in the Wingfeather Saga. Here is a short synopsis of the novel.

Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby thought they were normal children with normal lives and a normal past. But now they know they’re really the Lost Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea, and suddenly everyone wants to kill them.

Their escape brings readers to the very brink of Fingap Falls, over the Stony Mountains, and across the Ice Prairies, while villains galore try to stop the Igibys permanently. Fearsome toothy cows and horned hounds return, along with new dangers: a mad man running a fork factory, a den of rockroaches, and majestic talking sea dragons.

Normally, I don't gravitate towards fantasy. But this book I couldn't put down. There's fantasy elements mixed with drama mixed with action/adventure all put into one. This whole series will definitely capture the attention of any age kid or adult. If you are looking for a good novel to read aloud to your family or just looking for a book to hide away in for a couple days, I would highly recommend this novel.

You can order this novel for $12 or you can order both book 1 and 2 for $20 by clicking here.

I hope you get a chance to sit down and read this series. I'm definitely going to be one of the first in line to buy book three when it comes out!

(sidenote: I do not earn anything from the sale of this book. I just simply enjoyed it so much that I wanted to pass on the info to all of you)

Family Fun Day

2009-09-12T15:23:00.006-05:00

Family Fun Day was relaxing and low key this week. And believe it or not, I took no pictures the whole morning =) But we started off the day with Norwegian pancakes. If you've never had Norwegian pancakes, you'll have to invite yourself over next time. You can't have a bad day when you start it with Norwegian pancakes!

We then took a trip to the gym to work off those pancakes =) Then spent the rest of the morning at Dunn Bro Coffee. Twice a month they do free kids activities in the coffee shop and this Friday was card making day. The girls had fun. I was even talked into getting them this Vanilla Crema something or other for them to split. I clearly did not think that decision all the way through however. While it did not contain coffee, it contained tons of sugar. The time between the coffee shop and nap time was spent running the kids in the backyard =)

After naps, we went over to our great friends house for dinner. Not only are they are friends, but our kids are the best of friends. We got in the car at the end of the night and Avery got really quiet. Suddenly she said, "I'm gonna miss Connor." He is her very best friend.

Their oldest kid is 3 months older than Avery.

Their middle kid is 1 week younger than Elliana.

And their baby is 2 months younger than Justus. We have so much fun when we're all together!

They move on Tuesday and we had to spend one last night as families together. We'll just say I only cried once at their house, twice on the way home, and three times on Saturday. But more about that at a later time! We love you McManus family and will miss you greatly! Thanks for spending Family Fun Day with us!

Girls Night

2009-09-09T20:45:00.005-05:00

Every Wednesday, we have girls' night at our house. Brent has rehearsals so he doesn't come home until 10pm which means its just me and the kiddos for the evening. Out of pure laziness, I decided to create Girls Night. See Girls Night is our excuse to put Justus to bed early, make hot dogs or peanut butter sandwiches, pull the table in front of the TV, watch a movie together, eat a special treat, and just be lazy. This summer we skipped the movie and danced to So You Think You Can Dance every week. We're all waiting for the fall season to kick off again! I didn't think the girls were all that into girls night until last week when my parents were here. Avery told grandma and grandpa that it was our girls night and that we usually dance together. She then told grandpa that she thought it might be okay just this once for a boy to be there =)

I guess my laziness has turned into a fun night for all 3 of us. I don't have to do baths and a big dinner and playtime after dinner by myself and the girls get a fun treat in the middle of the week.

My Spiritual Journey

2009-09-08T06:42:00.002-05:00

The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
Psalm 45:6-7

Lots of things I'm praying for this week. Lots of things that are heavy on my heart. Friends are moving, mentors for all the women who need mentors, my kids, my husband,... But as I trust God and keep walking, my prayer is Psalm 45. To approach this week with gladness, the gladness that God is more than able to give.

If you see me this week, ask if I've been living as if I've been anointed with the oil of gladness. I think I might need the accountability =)

Goals for this week:

Get up by 5:50am to spend time in the word (I'm slowly getting back to the 5:30 wake up time)
Finish reading Meditation by Jim Downing
Get back to consistently spending time in prayer in the afternoon once everyone is down for a nap. I think this is crucial for me to be able to continue to leave everything at our Father's feet so that I can walk in trust, gladness, and thankfulness throughout my week.

Just Because...

2009-09-05T14:00:00.000-05:00

it made me smile

Family Fun Day

2009-09-05T08:56:00.009-05:00

Yeah for parents! My parents drove down from Iowa on Wednesday evening and have been spending the weekend with us. I think the older I get, the more I desire to always be around my parents. I thought the opposite was supposed to happen =) So needless to say, I was ecstatic to share the weekend with them.

For some reason, we have never taken my parents down to the stockyards, so that was our adventure this Friday. My dad loves stuff like this so I was surprised when we discovered they had never been.

Avery, my little animal lover, loves the chance to pet all the horses. She is so enamered with animals, I know the endless requests for a dog or a pony are never going to stop. Its always fun for me to watch her interact with animals though!

We had fun walking through the little shops and seeing all that Cowtown has to offer. My dad even posed for some good touristy pictures! The weather was perfect and overcast and not so humid too. It was a perfect day to tour the stockyards.

After naps, we stayed close to home so the kids could just play with grandma and grandpa. My dad is the legendary story telling to the kids. He sits with them for hours and makes up stories. The girls will just sit wide eyed and listen to him forever. Whenever they hear he's coming to visit, they start talking about building forts so that grandpa can tell them stories.
Grandma is the girls special friend. Anytime something exciting happens, they want to call grandma so she can hear about it. When she's in town, they know they will always have someone to color and play with. Have I said I love my parents yet =) I love watching my kids interact with them as well. What a great way to spend family fun day!

Sweet Moments

2009-09-03T20:51:00.004-05:00

Its times like this where I'm so thankful I get to stay home with the kids so I can witness these moments.

You Know Your Kid is Stubborn When...

2009-09-02T12:07:00.004-05:00

Let me set the stage...

Walking through Walmart. Both girls are in the back of the cart. They start pushing and arguing. I give them their warning and tell them if they argue again, they'll both be walking.
10 minutes later...

Pushing and arguing begins again. I pull them both out of the cart and tell them they made a poor choice and they would now be walking. They both start screaming. Elliana thinks about falling to the floor while screaming but sees me walking away and decides to run after me screaming instead.

10 minutes later...

Avery's screams have weakened to a whimper. She's old enough to know that I'm not going to change my mind. Elliana is still in full volume.

Walk up to the cash register. The nice checker hands both girls a little gift card with some cartoon something or other on it. I think he felt sorry for me, and it was his way to get them to stop crying.

Me: "Avery, what do you say to the nice man?"
Avery: "Thank you"
Me: "Elliana, what do you say to the nice man?"
Elliana: Silence and a stare that could kill
Me: "Elliana, say thank you or you will have to give the toy back."
Elliana: Silence as she hands the toy back, raises her chin, and looks the other way.

Yup, she would rather give the toy back than let momma win...that's my Elliana =)

My Spiritual Journey

2009-09-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another.
John 1:16

Disappointment. Definitely been battling disappointment lately. Shattered dreams, canceled getaways, squashed plans...

I don't say this to evoke pity. Life happens. I write this to explain my battle. My battle with FEELING what I KNOW is true. After so many disappointments, its impossible to feel "one blessing after another." But its still TRUTH.

So this week, actually its been a few weeks, but especially this week, I'm moment by moment reminding myself of the TRUTH of eternity and not allowing myself to live in the disappointment of temporary circumstances.

Yes, mediating on John 1:16 has been good for me. God has been more than good to me.

Family Fun Day

2009-08-31T09:33:00.005-05:00

Is it too late to post last Friday's happenings? =) I spent the whole weekend at the church for the Mentoring stuff so this is the first time I've had a chance to sit down and post this...I found this great little play place in Colleyville a few months ago called Antz in Your Pantz. We never went because it was a little pricey, but when I looked on their site Thursday night, I discovered they were having a half price weekend deal! Which meant we could all go for $9.
The place was split into 9 different rooms. There was a stage with a closet full of dress up clothes. Avery loved all the dress up stuff!There was a sandbox room
An art center
A fire truck room
a Kitchen rooma Veterinary Clinic room, a Puppet Show stage and room, and a grocery store room complete with grocery bags and a cash register.

The girls had a blast playing pretend all morning. I think I'll be keeping my eye out for more half price days!

Happy Birthday Laura!!

2009-08-29T16:59:00.002-05:00

Mentoring Ministry

2009-08-28T08:01:00.007-05:00

Just wanted to share a new blog I'm developing.

I currently organize and run the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry at our church. This weekend we are kicking off our fall mentoring program. If you attend Northwood Church, we would love to have you join us on either Saturday or Sunday and learn more about this incredible ministry!

Check out the blog below for more information, and I hope to see you all there!

http://northwoodmentors.blogspot.com/

Memorable Moments

2009-08-27T17:04:00.004-05:00

Dinner last night
Avery: "My tummy said its not hungry. Can I just put my plate in the fridge?"
Me: "That's fine." (Important to note that she was eating spaghetti!)

45 minutes later I was nursing Justus on the couch when I hear a clunk in the kitchen. This clunk was followed by Elliana running into the family room to see me. Suddenly I notice RED footprints on our WHITE carpet.
I guess Avery had pulled her plate out of the fridge and put it on the ground in the kitchen only to have Elliana run through the kitchen and step in the spaghetti. Still trying to figure out why she put the plate on the floor. I guess it made perfect sense to her 3 yr old brain.

Needless to say, I did not demonstrate Christlike behavior when I saw the sauce on my carpet!

Fast forward to this morning...
I read Avery a verse from I Thes. 5 and then explained what it meant and how mommy needed to apologize for last night. I was all prepared to have this big teachable moment with Avery. She interrupted and said...

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now that you've learned all that stuff can we just go play?"

I guess the moment was way more meaningful to me than it was to her =)

Bad Parenting Moments

2009-08-27T17:03:00.000-05:00

Blood curling screams from the bedroom during nap (all of the following was said in between cries and sniffles)

Elliana "I was running really fast and my head hit hard!!!!"
Me: "You were running in your bed?"
Elliana:" Yeah...next time I no run in bed!!!" (keep in mind, she was running on the bottom bed of a bunk bed...only Elliana could figure out how to accomplish this!)

Is it bad that secretly in my head I was saying "kind of glad you got hurt so you'll learn to obey in that bed". Of course this was thought after I knew she was okay and there was no permanent damage =)

My Spiritual Journey

2009-08-25T14:17:00.007-05:00

In honor of working on simplicity, today I am simplifying my house. I know, I know. It may not seem like much of a spiritual journey, but the Lord is really teaching me how to simplify in order to serve Him wholeheartedly. During a conversation at Pine Cove, I was really convicted about not just simplifying my heart's attitude, but simplifying my home as well. So this week is about walking in obedience to that conviction!Today, my kitchen began the simplifying process. I had to beg help for this though. I am not an organizer! I do not see things in organized bins or boxes. I see things in organized piles and drawers (aka why I have 4 junk drawers in the kitchen, a continual pile of "important papers" on the microwave, and a continual pile that Brent needs to look at on the island...organized piles =) ) I also see items and think of a time in the future when I will probably need that item but know that we won't be able to afford to re-buy it, so I keep everything...just in case. So Ellie was gracious enough to come teach me how to simplify...all while our combined 6 kids played together =)Between watching the kids and cooking dinner for everyone, I took us 4 hours to organize and simplify the kitchen, but, 3 bags of trash and a huge pile of stuff to sell later, we finished!

I think next week we'll tackle the laundry room...or maybe the master bedroom...hmmm I think I'm really going to like simplifying my house =)

She still makes me laugh

2009-08-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

Avery: "Here mom, move back and I'll show you how to fix it."

Me: "Avery girl, you are getting a little too big for your britches."

Avery: " Which ones? These?" as she looked at the pants she was wearing.

I was trying to find a recipe online and Avery walked over to me and said

Avery: "Mom how about you come play with me in my room? Or you could just sit here and be boring. No one wants to be boring."

(Yes, she is already learning how to manipulate! She learned the word boring at camp and isn't afraid to use it often. I'm thinking it is soon to become a bad word in our house!)

Family Fun Day

2009-08-22T13:00:00.001-05:00

We played in the rain
Took a trip to Cabela's Made and delivered some get well cards for a friend who had surgeryAnd met friends at Babes to eat dinner. The girls call Babes "hokey pokey Babes" because they get to dance the hokey pokey with the waitresses everytime we go. It was a great day as a family.

It was too Quiet

2009-08-21T09:33:00.002-05:00

My Nemesis

2009-08-19T08:07:00.001-05:00

Remembering PaPa

2009-08-18T06:43:00.004-05:00

Last Tuesday morning we got the call that Brent's grandfather was on life support. We had everyone at camp praying for him but by Tuesday afternoon, he had passed away. He had been sick and had medical issues, but those facts don't make it any easier to lose someone you love. Because we were at camp, Brent and I were able to sit and remember his PaPa, Kirby Minter. He was a great man who lived a great life. Google him sometime. He has his own wikipedia page! Brent was blessed to be able to perform his funeral and honor his PaPa. It was definitely a celebration of his life and the fact that he is now living with Jesus. My day and week is now being spent in prayer for Brent's grandmother. I can't imagine losing my husband after 57 years of marriage. Will you join me in lifting her up this morning and asking our Father to comfort her and give her peace as she grieves the loss of her husband?

Family Vacation

2009-08-16T19:46:00.004-05:00

Pine Cove Family Camp was a blast! The week turned out different than what we expected, but we were still able to enjoy the few days we had at camp.
The week started with Brent and I getting hit by a falling limb from a tree. We were just about to get a life jacket on to go water skiing when we both heard a noise that sounded like a bird rustling in the tree. We looked up to see this limb falling. It hit Brent in the head and me in the back. He suffered a pretty severe concussion and we spent the day/night at the ER to make sure all was okay. He was still pretty loopy and out of it all day Tuesday as well. Needless to say, the grand plans we had of water skiing, rafting, ropes courses, and zip lines were put on hold. Instead we just hung out together and enjoyed our time away.
Brent and I were able to go on a breakfast trail ride and enjoy a great breakfast. The camp has counselors that come to your room and wake your kids up, get them dressed, and feed them breakfast on the mornings that Brent and I wanted to get up and go do something. We loved the freedom to have fun by ourselves and the girls loved all the attention from the counselors!
Brent and I also did a cattle penning thing for a few hours one day. It was a blast! I agreed to do it b/c I thought Brent would enjoy it, and given what happened to him at the beginning of the week, I thought he deserved a little bit of fun =) But it ended up being one of the funnest things I've done in a while. Who can say they've herded cattle into a pen, isolated cows, penned cows, and then taken your horse for a swim in the lake? Brent's horse decided to not just swim, but to roll in the lake so Brent got a bath as well. Fun times were had by all!The girls loved Cove Kids. In fact, one day I tried to convince Avery not to go to "her class" but to stay with mommy for a bit. She replied, "Mommy, I can see you in the middle of the night. I need to be with my class now." I guess that means she was having fun =) The girls got to be in the same class and loved playing together all week. They went on pony rides, went swimming, went on scavenger hunts, learned new songs, and heard many Bible stories. They are already asking when we get to go back!
The time we had was good and I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to go. In fact, we are already talking about reworking our budget to figure out how to get back next summer. I think this may become our new family tradition.

here's a little video recap of the week. Warning: its a bit long, but I included it b/c I thought the grandparents might enjoy =) Also, every time you see Brent in this video, he was still a bit out of it and not quite himself. You'll see what I mean =)

Elliana's Prayer

2009-08-09T13:26:00.001-05:00

"Jesus, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I like plates and cups and forks and mommy and daddy and Avery and Justus. Thank you for counters, and cups, and ice, and water, and milk, and hot dogs, and cheese. Jesus, after church day we're going on family vacation and ride ponies and swim and have soooooo much fun. Help me eat. Amen."

Family Fun Day

2009-08-08T13:07:00.004-05:00

Only 2 more days until Family Vacation! Which meant Brent needed to work this Friday so he could make sure everything that needed to get done by next week was done so we could all enjoy our vacation!

I had a fun day though. The girls helped me make homemade bread, we mowed the yard, we did some laundry, went to Let's Jump with the Kimmels, ate at a fun new McDonalds, napped, and then swam in the backyard.
The best part of the day was date night though. Brent surprised me this week with tickets to a murder mystery dinner at the Gaylord Texan. He even arranged for the babysitter without any help from me. I was impressed =) Our 6th anniversary was last weekend, but I was a bit under the weather so even though we went on a date, it wasn't the greatest anniversary celebration we've ever had. So last night, Brent took me out and we pretended like it was our anniversary celebration and just blocked last weekend from our memory. It was a blast! Thanks babe for a great night and for 6 great years of marriage. Who knew 6 years could go so fast?! We've moved 3 times, finished seminary, I quit my job, you started your job,we bought our first house, and we've had 3 kids in the past 6 years. Hmmmm...wonder what the next 6 will hold for us =)

Can you believe I took no pictures the entire day? I'm slipping in my old age =)

And now I'm packing and cleaning so we can take off after church tomorrow. I can't wait!

New Accountability Partners

2009-08-05T15:21:00.003-05:00

The girls have become my new workout accountability partners. They wake up asking "when are we going to the gym". They love the gym day care. Well, honestly I'm not sure if they love the daycare or if they love the fact that they get to watch whatever cartoon they want while they are at the daycare. Mean mommy won't let them watch much TV at home =)

So their new game is to play "going to the gym". Then they make up all these exercises to do while at the gym. When I work out at home, they are right next to me doing every sit up, push up, and lunge right along with me.

Last night, Brent said they were "exercising" through the whole bath time and this morning I heard Elliana say to Avery "I'll be back to play in a minute. First I need to do some exercising." This video is what occurred next.

Back to the accountability part...I had a meeting for school this morning and as soon as the other teacher left, both girls started asking "when are we going to the gym?" I looked at them and said "maybe tomorrow." I had already showered and didn't want to get gross and was just too tired to go today.

I'll be honest. They were pretty insistent about going so I tried bribing them with Let's Jump. They wouldn't have it. Not even tons of jump houses could deter them from getting me to the gym. They reminded me I promised them I would take them to the gym today. So to the gym we went.

The whole teaching your kids not to lie so now I have to keep my promises thing really bit me in my behind. hmmmm. Not too sure I like living with my accountability partners =)

My Spiritual Journey

2009-08-04T17:18:00.004-05:00

Simplicity...Week 1:

"The Christian Discipline of simplicity is an inward reality that results in an outward life-style" -Richard Foster

The inward reality is what God has been teaching me this past week. I thought that I would try to simplify life for a week and just seek God. God had other plans. He allowed numerous stressful circumstances to be thrown my way all while trying to be a single mom for the week. I quickly learned that I had to work on this inward simplicity so that I could walk through these outward circumstances.

"If what we have we receive as a gift, and if what we have is to be cared for by God, and if what we have is available to others, then we will possess freedom from anxiety. This is the inward reality of simplicity."- Richard Foster

Sounds easy enough, right? Practicing was a bit hard for me at times. But practicing I am. And I'll continue practicing seeing all those circumstances as gifts. I think I'll be working on this inward reality of simplicity for a while =)

Out of the Mouth of Babes

2009-08-02T07:53:00.004-05:00

Said one afternoon as we were driving in the car:

A: "Mom look!!! Quick, look up there!!!! The clouds opened up and the light is coming through. Jesus is looking at us right now!"

Said one morning after I had made homemade cinnamon rolls.

A: "These are good, but when I finish mine can I have frozen vegetables instead?"
Me: "You don't want another cinnamon roll?"
A: "No. I want frozen broccoli and peas and corn."
(what 3 year old wants frozen veggies instead of cinnamon rolls?!)
Said while getting ready for church on Sunday:

A: "Who lives in Jesus' heart?"
Me: " What do you mean?"
A: "If Jesus lives in my heart, who lives in his heart?"

Family Fun Day

2009-08-01T19:44:00.006-05:00

I was a little under the weather this family fun day so Brent took over for the day while I slept in the back bedroom. I walked out briefly and this is what I saw.
You gotta love the differences in boys and girls. When I'm in charge, we bake and color. When Brent's in charge, they play video games and wrestle. Praise the Lord I have a husband to teach them some fun stuff=)
As for the rest of family fun day, I have no clue what happened. I slept through it. But we did get some good painting done this morning. Like I said, when I'm in charge we color =)

A First

2009-07-29T16:22:00.003-05:00

Justus got to eat his first cereal this week. He's a pretty big boy and was starting to be hungry all the time, so I thought I would graduate him to some food. Here's a little peak at his first attempt at some rice cereal.

Tea Party Anyone?

2009-07-29T09:52:00.003-05:00

And yes, even Justus gets dressed in his fancy suit for our tea parties!

My Spiritual Journey

2009-07-28T14:41:00.009-05:00

"They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer...their hearts were not loyal to him..." Psalm 78: 35, 37

This morning as I was reading the Psalm, these verses stuck out to me, convicted me, and made me start to think.

Why: This summer has been extremely busy. It seems like there has been something almost every night and every weekend since the summer started. Being busy isn't a sin, but yet I just haven't been able to have this flourishing relationship with the Lord this summer. I've been learning things and applying, but just not flourishing.

What does this mean: This morning, the Lord began speaking to my heart about the busyness in my life. When I'm busy, I still definitely "remember" God. I know and recognize He is my "redeemer", and I thank Him for that. However, there is no way for my heart to be loyal to Him continually because I'm too busy jumping from one thing to the next. My heart and mind can't stay fixed on the things of Him because I'm more worried about schedules and deadlines and activities and traveling and all the other things that cause a busy schedule. It is in the simplicity of life where I find I can walk WITH God moment by moment. Busyness is what causes spiritual defeat for me.

Its funny. Just as I was about to turn to Brent and tell him what I was talking to God about, he walked up to me and handed me the book "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg and said, "read this chapter." The chapter was entitled, An Unhurried Life. Brent then started to talk about what God had been telling him that morning. Its crazy how God choose to speak to both of us at the same time about our schedules. One of my favorite quotes from this chapter was, "You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life." It then goes on to say, "The great danger is not that we will renounce our faith, but settle for a mediocre version of it." A mediocre relationship with Christ is not what I desire. Needless to say, this chapter further convicted me about our schedule these past few months.

What Am I Going to Do: I am slowing down. I know some people think that because I stay home, I probably already live a pretty slowed down life. I'm hoping that stereotype will be true in the coming months. I desire to live in obedience to the Lord. What that obedience looks like, I'm not quite sure at this point. But I do know that I will be spending this week seeking the Lord's guidance on how to slow down but yet still do everything we've been called to do. I desire to be productive, but I don't desire to be busy. There's a fine line, and I pray the Lord will show me how to balance that in the coming weeks.

Goals:

I guess this means I'm going to start practicing the spiritual discipline of simplicity. This week is week 1 of practice time. I'll let you know how it goes =)

Weekends

2009-07-27T09:30:00.004-05:00

We took a weekend trip to Duncan to see Brent's family

We spent Friday with Gramps and Grammy, and we got to swim, celebrate Gramps birthday, play with all the cousins, go to Kiddie Land, and just have fun.Saturday was spent with Nana and Pappaw, and we got to play at the park, play with all the cousins, enjoy tons of new toys, eat lunch with all the relatives, rotate the tires on the van, and just enjoy being with family.
Things I learned on this trip:

Both Justus and Elliana are allergic to something in the Duncan air. Medicate them before we go next time!
While Elliana may sleep in a big girl bed at home, a sleeping bag is still a little hard for her to sleep in. She doesn't quite understand how to keep her legs in the bag part.
When allowing Elliana to sleep in the bed with you, put a pillow between you and her or else you will wake up with bruises along your side from her kicking you all night.
Avery really is getting to be big! She can now sleep where ever I tell her, eat what's put before her, and she understands whats going on so doesn't freak out with every new situation. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! Only 3 more years and all my kids will be able to travel a bit better!
When you don't get home until 10pm on a Saturday night, don't plan on making your kids go to both services at church the next morning. You'll be 45 minutes late.

It was a fun trip, and it was so good to be able to see everyone! Thanks for letting us come visit and for all the fun memories.

New Favorite

2009-07-23T08:05:00.003-05:00

I have a new favorite blog you should check out if you live in the Fort Worth/Keller/Grapevine area.

Frugal in Fort Worth. I've been following it for a few weeks now and its wonderful. Its not inundated with millions of coupon deals or things where you have to sign up and give personal info. It simply picks one or two free events that are occurring in our area and lets you know about them.

It has been a great resource for me as I try to spend little or no money while still engaging my kiddos in fun activities. You should check it out!

Chunky, Chunky

2009-07-21T08:52:00.005-05:00

Look who's 4 months old today!

Height: 90% : 25 1/2 inches

Weight: 90% : 16 lbs 1 oz

Acid reflux is still an issue...maybe he'll outgrow it by 6 months???

Laid back, easy going, sleeps great. He gave us a run for our money at the beginning, but he's turning out to be the easiest of all 3!

Happy 4 month birthday =)

My Spiritual Journey

2009-07-21T08:25:00.004-05:00

Green tea is my friend today. I woke up unable to swallow without hurting, so hot tea will be what sustains me today. All that to say, short and sweet will be this week's post =)

Last week, I talked about how the Lord was stirring up boldness in my heart to share Christ. Here are a couple examples of what God has done since last Tuesday.

Tuesday afternoon I started reading a book my sister gave me last Thanksgiving entitled Still Red by Georgina Sam and David Wang. I've started reading it a couple different times and just never really got into it. I honestly think God was holding me off on reading it until he started stirring up this need to share Him with others. And this book will definitely inspire you to be bold and get up off your behind to tell others about the Gospel!. Nonfiction book about 2 Chinese men and a Chinese woman living in China who have accepted Christ. The result of them accepting Christ was to share Christ, get arrested, share Christ, get arrested, and so on. An incredible picture not only of Christianity under persecution, but the power of Christ as you tell others about him. One of my favorite quotes was as one of the men was sitting in the office of one of the Red Guards and was being asked to denounce Christ and worship communism. "Either God is God or He isn't. If He is, I have no choice but to follow Him and share Him with everyone." The book was perfect for me to read as the Lord continues to challenge me to live a life of evangelism.

Thursday night, our neighbor walks up to Brent and I and starts to talk about her stepdaughter. She proceeds to ask us if we'll talk with her sometime. We schedule for her to come over Friday night after the kids go to sleep. Not only are we able to share our testimony with her, we're able to answer questions and tell her about Christ.

Those are just 2 of the many examples this past week where Christ has challenged me to share my faith. Its fun to see the Lord teach me something and then to visibly be able to see Him use me as I try to implement what He's taught me. Its been a fun week!

Ellianaisms

2009-07-20T13:25:00.004-05:00

She has decided she likes to get warm under the rug rather than under a blanket. Under this particular rug is her new favorite place to lay and read books.

Me: "Elliana, you don't hit your sister. You need to look at your sister and tell her what?"

E: With a bit of an attitude, she turned to Aves and said "what!" Then she looked at me, smiled, giggled, and tried to run out of the room.

Me: "Elliana!"

E: She slowly crept back into the room, looked at me, looked at Avery, and very sheepishly said "sorry for hitting".

Family Fun Day

2009-07-19T20:11:00.005-05:00

This post is a bit late this weekend...I guess it means we had a fun weekend =)

Brent woke up Friday a bit sick, so we just hung close to home and found creative ways to hang out as a family.

The morning began with the boys fixing the bathroom molding, while the girls went to McDonalds to grab breakfast and release some energy in the playland. Its hard for Brent to get alone time with Justus with the girls around, so we tried to accomplish that this weekend.The kids took baths (when its too hot to swim outside, we pretend the bathtub is a swimming pool), we all played dress up, we jumped on the neighbors trampoline (we're definitely going to save to buy one of those this Christmas!), read books, and made popsicles. Brent: "What are we going to use to make popsicles?"
Me: "Water and food coloring".
Brent: "So we're making ice cubes?"
At least the girls thought it was a pretty cool idea =)

Friday night, we spent with our neighbors. Our neighbor asked Brent and I to talk with her daughter and share "our stories" with her. So the girls helped make chocolate chip cookies for them to eat while they were over.

Brent's still sick, so we had a very lazy weekend of just hanging out together at the house. The summer is going so fast and has been so busy; it has been really nice just to be home and do nothing and do it together as a family.

Things are Looking Up

2009-07-16T11:51:00.004-05:00

On a day where where nothing seemed to be going right, a surprise discovery in the back of a bathroom cupboard. A coupon book that I never cashed in on. Look out Brent. Its been a long week of taking care of sick kids. I'm cashing in on this one this weekend =)