See You at the Pole... 2011

Whenever two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you.  Matthew 18:20

Today students all across our blessed nation gathered at their school's flagpole to pray for their school and

their community.

 

 Dimples was so excited to spread the word at his elementary school.

 Jesus said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."  Mark 16:15

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done.

1 Chronicles 16:8

 I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.  Proverbs 8:17

Dimples eagerly lead his school in prayer.  Words cannot describe how proud we are of him!  He is confident in who he is in Christ.  May he and his siblings always walk in the knowledge of the Lord!

Afterward, Nurse Boy showered the kids with doughnuts and juice.

 We pray all of the kids from this morning will come to know Christ in a personal way. May He shine brightly through each and every one of them!

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.  And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ...  Colossians 4:2-3

Where to Begin... Again?

I miss blogging.  I miss recording the silly things the kids say and the silly things the kids do.  I miss recording the little things God does in our lives and the big things God does in our lives.  I miss posting my favorite pictures and I miss posting my favorite recipes.  Yep, I miss blogging. 

Alas, it is summer time.  The computer tends to collect dust while the pool and the laundry seem to get my undivided attention.  Every summer I spend far too much time in my least favorite outfit... my swimsuit.  (How ironic is it that I first typed "fat," instead of "far"?  Nice.  Stupid, unforgiving swimsuit.  It always encourages me to spend more time on the treadmill... I guess there is a plus to my least favorite article of clothing.)  All the trips to the pool also lead to lots of quality time with my washer and dryer.  Quality time that I could really do without.  I need another load of laundry like I need a hole in my head.

Last semester was Nurse Boy's toughest semester yet.  And, by "tough," I mean we hardly got to spend time with him.  He was amazing and never complained.  Good thing, too.  I think I did enough complaining for the both of us.  Seriously, it was so hard.  We are still recovering.  This summer he is only taking one credit hour and we are trying to make up for lost time, both as a family and as a couple.

God has been so faithful during this stressful time.  He has been doing amazing things in our lives over the last 2-3 years and this year has been no exception.  He continues to bring amazing people into our lives.  People who have lifted us up in prayer.  People we could call in a time of need, anytime of day.  People that have showed us support and love.  People who love our kids and value our family.  People who challenge us to be better Christians.  I am so thankful for the friendships that God has brought along the way.  Each and every one of them is an answer to prayer, literally. 

Each year we take time to reflect on our priorities and the direction our life is headed.  This is when the rubber meets the road. This is when God challenges us to make some changes, rethink our direction, and seek HIM even more.  This is always so hard for me. I really am a creature of habit.  God is determined to change that.  One of these days I will stop fighting Him.  I think we are at an exciting turning point.  It is always so stinkin' hard for me as we are rounding yet another corner.  We can't see exactly where we are headed.  We know we are suppose to round the corner.  We have to practically close our eyes as we put the pedal to the medal.  The reward is always right around the corner, but we can't see it's full potential until we make the turn.

Yep, we are turning.  Again.

This fall promises to be exciting and challenging.

I am reading Beth Moore's book, Believing God, with a friend.  I'm only on chapter 4 and I already love it.  I found a couple of her quotes to be amazing.  I knew I needed to have them posted in the house as reminders for all of us. 

What's not to love? 

I am off to fold laundry.  And, burn the dreaded swimsuit.  Maybe I'll even go crazy and spend some time on the treadmill...

Happy 4th of July!!

a day late, I know.

But, I am going to dust off my blog a bit and share some pictures of my favorite kiddos.  If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE dressing my kids up for the 4th.  LOVE!  It is finally rubbing off on Sweet Pea.  She planned to wear 4th of July outfits the entire holiday weekend, rocked her flagged bows each day, and spent the morning of the 4th searching for undies that matched her red, white, and blue.  Yep, she is definitely my daughter.  I have trained her well.  My apologizes to her future husband.

We had a bit of a quiet 4th of July this year, but it was kind of nice just spending time with our family.  Hope yours was blessed as you celebrated your freedom.  We are so thankful for ours!!

God bless each and every one of you!

Feeling Proud... & Blessed!

Last week was the annual Open House at the boys' elementary school... otherwise known as take home ALL of the wonderful crap your kids have made all year and good luck figuring out what to do with all of it, cuz a good mom doesn't throw any of it away.

As I was going through the enormous pile of paper late into the evening, I came across a gem.  It was one of those moments when you know you must be doing something right as a parent, or that God is watching over your children.  For me, it is all God!  So I give Him all the glory as I share this simple little assignment that blessed me and my mommy heart.

Assignment:  Bio-Poem; All About Me!

Dimples

Kind, caring, and athletic

Brother of Sweet Pea and Bruiser

Who loves ice cream, family, and brownies

Who feels smart, interested, and fantastic

Who needs friends, family, and God

Who fears criminals, guns, and knives

Who dreams of spreading God's word

Who would like to see where Jesus died, Statue of Liberty, and Mona Lisa

Who loves to eat pizza, mac-n-cheese, and brownies

Who wishes to be a missionary someday

Nurseboy

Dimples is quite the young man.  His faith and love for the Lord is such a blessing!  I pray he never loses his faith, that it only becomes deeper and more meaningful to him.  I am so thankful for this young man!

Our God Is Love!

HaPPy EaSTer to all of our family and friends! 

May you know the depth of Jesus' love for you on this Resurrection Sunday. 

I would like to share some of our sweet memories and the lyrics to one of our favorite songs by Hillsong.  Today's message is clear; God IS love. 

A love that is almost incomprehensible.  A love that is amazing.  A love that is forgiving. A love that is healing. 

A love that is YOURS!

Every soul, every beating heart

Every nation and every tongue

Come find hope in the love of the Father

All creation will bow as one

Lift their eyes to the risen Son

 Jesus Savior forever and after

This is love

Jesus came and died and gave His life for us

Let our voices rise and sing for all He's done

Our fear is overcome

Our God is love.

Our God is love.

 Every distant and broken heart

Every prayer, every outstretched arm

Finding hope in the love of the Father

 Age to age let His praises rise

All the glory for all of time

Jesus Savior forever and after

Age to age we will be singing

In the light of all He's done

All the earth, everyone singing

In the wonder of His love

God bless each & every one of you.  HE IS RISEN!!

My Baby...

Today, this little girl...

turns 5!

You are a sweet & kind young lady...

you have a sparkle in your eye...

and a spring in your step.

(Not to mention, the gift of gab!)

I can't wait to see what God has in store for you... this year and for the MANY, MANY years to come!

God bless you, my not so little one!

Things That Make Me Smile

Need I say more?!

Reasons Why I Will Never Be a Travel Agent

Have you ever tried to plan the perfect getaway?  On a tight budget?  Making sure it is kid friendly?  And, only a couple of days in length?

Yeah, I stink at it.

It all started with a change of plans.  We had hoped to get away for a weekend of fun in Branson, Missouri over our spring break.  We had a three day weekend when ALL of us would be home.  The closer we got to the weekend, the more practical our plans had to become.  Yes, we needed a break.  We needed to get away as a family but we needed to be very mindful of the budget.

I had a great idea!  I thought we could just stay at a local hotel for a couple of nights.  Our kids love staying in a hotel room.  Add an indoor swimming pool, and they are in heaven.  The plan was off to a great start until Nurse Boy scoped out all of the indoor pools online.  He was not impressed.  He IS the reason we can't afford to travel.  He has expensive taste... but, we have 3 kids and one income.  Go figure.

We decided to head to a small town about an hour away.  I found an indoor pool with a cool water slide for under $100.  I am thrifty like that.  This town also has a fabulous park with a fancy train and old fashion carousel.  We were set. 

Or so we thought...

The first day was rainy and gloomy, but that wasn't a problem when we headed to the INDOOR pool!

As you can see, we were all smiles!

We swam for a whooping 45 minutes, headed out for dinner, and planned to take in a movie in our room before a nice night time swim.

About 10 minutes into the movie, the fire alarm went off in the hotel.  People were filing out the doors.  We quickly left our room, only to discover that a kid had pulled the alarm AND we locked ourselves out of the room.  Good times.  To top it off, they couldn't get the alarm to stop going off.  Because it was so loud, we couldn't finish our movie.  Nurse Boy and the boys headed back to the pool, hoping the noise wasn't as bad there. 

They returned within minutes.  A kid threw up in the pool.  They closed the pool down for the rest of our stay.  YUCK!

By the time the alarm was finally turned off, it was time for bed.  The park was waiting for us in the morning.  (And this OCD mother was NOT going to let anyone swim in that pool the next day... or ever again.)

The next afternoon, we drove through the park and quickly discovered that the train and carousel had not yet opened for the season. 

Seriously, I stink at planning this stuff!  Nothing seemed to work in our favor.  Truth be told, we did enjoy spending time together without our normal distractions.  It wasn't a COMPLETE failure.

Plus, we found one of these at the park:

An old fashion merry go round! 

You never see these anymore.  I am pretty sure I almost lost my life on these things multiple times growing up.  So, we of course stuck our 3 kids on there and spun that bad boy until they screamed, "UNCLE!"

 

This brought back so many memories!  (And, yes, Nurse Boy and I took some turns as well.  I yelled, "UNCLE!" every single time.  Some things never change.)

 

All in all, it was great spending time together.  But, Nurse Boy gets to plan the next vacation.