this and that

events over the past couple months:

*went to a marriage conference and met the duggars!

*saw veggie tales live (almost equivalent to the experience above- well, for E!)

*elijah used the potty for the first (and maybe last) time!

*daniel has started soccer, and his coach is just the best ever- daddy!

*we made the kitchen a much more cheery place to be.

and apparently, it was exhausting.



spring has sprung! i'm not sure how exciting it is considering the winter of 2011/2012 was m i l d, to say the least! we went from about 6 inches of snow in the morning, to 50 degree weather by 2pm. weird!

i do love spring though. my flowers start blooming, and the weather goes from cold to cool (it's supposed to anyway.) we just celebrated daniel's 7th birthday this week. he had some fun at bounce n play with his cousin, then a birthday party at his favorite pizza place (equipped with an arcade! i think i heard "mommy, i need another dollar" about 25 times.) then on his actually birthday, march 26th, we ate dinner at "the cook out" and took him to the mall for a couple more gifts. it was a great birthday; and a great celebration of seven wonderful years with our sweet first born!


**Daniel, you are such an incredible blessing in our lives! You made me a mommy seven years ago, and I am so very thankful for that gift. You are smart, kind, loving, goofy, and so much more. We love you so much, and that will never change. Happy seven years of life, sweet boy!**

i've also been preparing to say goodbye (for now) to one of my dearest friends as she and her family head to texas.

kathleen (and her family) has been such a blessing to us, and we're sad to see them leave; but so excited for this journey the Lord is taking them on. we had a little goodbye dinner last night..such good times!



while i was sitting at the table, the phone rang- it was abe. he called to tell me he was texting me a picture of elijah; but first assuring me that he was fine. yeah, never good when you have to be warned. -boys- i have to admit i'm becoming a little numb at this point. no concussion? don't need stitches? okay, you're good..keep going! :)

this past weekend has been a tough one. this earth lost an incredible woman of God. mrs. norris was someone who just radiated God's love. she was kind, loving, giving, and so much more. if you came in contact with her, she touched your life in some way. she is one of my dearest friend's mom, and she was also daniel's kindergarten teacher last year. we were so saddened to hear of her passing, but rejoice that she is at the throne of the One she loved the most. daniel's comment today showed me that Jesus shows Himself in many different ways and through many different people.
daniel with pure joy: "it's snowing, it's snowing; nothing could be better! except to go to Heaven." wow, that'll bring you to your knees.
we are daily praying for the sweet norris family as they endure this most difficult loss.

Psalm 30:5
"Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."

blessed by mrs. norris and her love for the Lord. we will miss her so.

Joy to the World

last post was mid october, and we're now 12 days away from christmas-oops. things have been crazy busy, as this time of year tends to be. making sure all the decorations are up, and the house is full of christmas cheer. making sure you've bought everyone a (desirable) gift for the big day. throw in a hubby who is busier than he's ever been at work and 2 c r a z y kids (and a cat that'll make you wanna pull every last hair in your head out b/c he can't stop climbing the tree)...it's insanity. funny that this is when we should be taking a break to remember why we're even able to stress over these things- b/c of God's indescribable gift: Jesus. God has shown me over the past few weeks just how true His truths are. He always keeps His promises, and i do not deserve that. but He loves me that much. it seems trite to say "thank you, Jesus" b/c He deserves so much more. nevertheless, thank you, Jesus!

being that it's christmas, i should post a nice "christmasy" song-like "joy to the world." but this one is just where i'm at right now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0N6DMUJK5o

and finally, some christmas 2011 pictures for ya:

^^whoops..how'd that one get in there. and if you're wondering if we're potty training, the answer is NO. he just likes to sit there and sing songs. is that weird?

we're in full swing school mode now, and it's unfathomable that daniel is in first grade. time-you are not kind. my "little" boy is becoming more and more independent as the days go on; and my "baby" is not a baby anymore. elijah hit the 2 mark a couple months ago. he's still a mama's boy though, so i'll hold onto that for as long as possible. i was asked to sub at the preschool i used to teach at, with elijah in tote. i wondered how he would do in the 3 year old class, and if the teacher would actually get anything done. he did great. i peeked out of my room a couple of times, and he was standing in line like a big boy. we met on the playground during recess time, and he ran right to mama to push him on the swing. so sweet! :)



daniel and i went on our second date night yesterday. i noticed a real need for one on one time with me, so off we went. i so cling to those moments with my first born. uninterrupted, sweet moments. i sound like a broken record, but that sweet little man makes me swell with pride. he is smart (so smart,) kind, loving, and most importantly-he loves Jesus. i was taken back tonight when we were doing the bed time routine. after i finished reading the Bible to him, we starting discussing what he had just heard. i reminded him that when he did naughty things, it's very important to ask Jesus to forgive him. his response- "i know, i did that twice today." wow. how many times did I do that today? maybe i'm the only one who notices this, but parenting is one job that can make you feel like a hypocrite at the drop of a hat. we try and teach our children the right way to live, and find ourselves directing them with words instead of actions. Christ definitely uses this to speak to me. sometimes i have to step back and realize the job He gave me-to bring up these 2 human beings to serve and glorify Him with everything they have. that's big, and i fail daily. thankful for grace.



last weekend my sweet friend Joy and I attended the extraordinary women's conference in lynchburg.



sarah palin was the highlighted speaker, but there were so many wonderful women of Christ. testimonies that would bring you to your knees.

there was also some amazing music- jeremy camp, francesca battistelli, meredith andrews, and more.


i was blessed with time shared with my sweet sister in Christ (and made it through w/out a breakdown. explanation: first time in 8+ years of marriage i have been away from my hubby overnight!) my sweet man had the boys at home, and he's just amazing. i came home to a clean house, and no broken bones. i'll take it. :)

below are some fall pictures we recently took.




i find it's the not-so-posed-for pictures that turn out the best ;)

it's hard to believe we are approaching the end of the summer already. school starts in 8 days-yikes. daniel had his 1st grade orientation this evening, and met his teacher. can't believe that my kindergärtner is now a 1st grader! the first thing he said to his teacher was "do we do division in 1st grade?" :) i warned her that D would not have a problem with any of the work. his problem (or hers rather) is letting the teacher teach, not him. that's just his personality (gets it from his dad.) ;)


in august, we celebrated elijah's 2nd birthday. his "talking" cracks me up. we joke that he's either fluent in chinese or jibberish-not sure which. he loves veggie tales, and torturing the cat. yes, i said cat. we are SO not cat people, but we found this abandoned kitten and fell in love. well, i fell in love, begged abe, then abe fell in love. we voted on names and abe remembered who he sleeps with at night, so he voted with me. "peyton" it is! we're still teaching the boys-specifically elijah- that it's a living thing, not a toy.


this past sunday we celebrated abe's 28th birthday. we played a guess his age game in sunday school, and one of the girls guessed 36. ouch! he handled it well. i may have jumped across the table and smacked someone-church or no church. let's face it, the man does not look 36. granted, these boys are aging us a bit faster than we would like-seriously! i think abe liked his birthday gift. we tested it out this evening, and it works great!



today, we celebrated our 8th anniversary. hard to believe it's been 8 years. and here we are, 2 kids later and still very much in love. i am beyond blessed to have abe in my life. God sure was good to me when he picked out my husband. he is loving, kind, giving, a provider, a wonderful father, and the list goes on. i am so thankful to have him by my side. i pray we have 8(0) more blissful years. i am blessed indeed!

1 love made possible by one perfect sacrifice

2 sweet blessings

3 moves

a family of 4

now a family of 5 (including kitty ;)

6 years of parenting

7 hundred thousand "I love you's"

and 8 amazing years of marriage

it's been far from perfect, but I wouldn't change a thing! happy anniversary to my Love!

will i make it?

although we are one month away from my sweet youngest turning the big 2, he is living up to the age already. i love that little guy to pieces. he has a big personality that i wouldn't change for anything. he's a momma's boy, and yep, i love it. he loves his dadda, and his "bubby" is his best friend. *wikipedia defines "bubby" as brother* he's just straight cute. he's also a h-a-n-d-f-u-l. there have been a few days where i was sure he was going to put me in a place with padded walls and no shoe strings. i know they say that every child is different; but i think once your second comes along, you can't help but somewhat compare to the first. daniel had his moments, but nothing like E. i know, know, know there is a lesson in this stage of life. patience is definitely one of the lessons. breathing when what you want to really do is spit fire is another lesson. i'm learning. slowly, but surely, i'm learning.


while crying out to one of my dearest friends (who is also like a mom to me,) she poured out this priceless advice to me- "remember that discipline means to teach! he is not born knowing what is acceptable, he is looking to you for that! disciple!" wow, powerful. thankful for godly council, and thankful for the 2 sweet blessings pictured above!

sneaky

yep, this is what happens now at least a few nights a week. this video doesn't do it full justice. the first time it happened, he never looked up;he was army crawling as slowly and quietly as possible. he's gotten a bit braver now. how can you not love that face though? :)