bittersweet

may 27th. this day is never an easy one. four years ago-it's a day that will never leave me. the day my sweet daddy left this earth and entered eternity. i am so very thankful for the gift of eternal life. i am so thankful that my Father provided a way for me to meet my daddy again....that this life is not the end. praise God! i miss my dad SO much. i hide it a lot. i cry in secret. i bury the pain sometimes. i think so often "i wish dad was here seeing the boys do this. do that."
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

i trust that. i believe that. and i am thankful for that. thank you, Jesus, for picking out the daddy you did. he was perfect FOR ME. he showed me how a man should treat me. he reminded me that he was given the gift of being my earthly dad, but my Father is in heaven. for this, i give thanks.



dad, you are always with me. i see you everyday in these 2 sweet boys i have. i love you, so much. i wish you could have seen your sweet first grandson graduate from kindergarten yesterday. you would have been so proud of him. (he inherited your singing skills by the way..thanks for that. :) ) i can still hear daniel bursting through your door yelling "gandad, gandad!" "Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal."

Some pictures of Daniel Abraham graduating Kindergarten-bittersweet.

Daniel's wonderful teacher.

To my sweet Daniel,
Your daddy and I are so very proud of you. You are an amazing young man who loves the Lord, and I could not be more thankful for that. I make mistakes everyday in being your mommy. Thankfully, we have a Savior who covers my mistakes. Trust in Him always. He will never let you down. We love you so much!
Love, Your blessed Mom and Dad

this and that

wow-it's been a while since i've blogged. oops. so this post will be a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

easter was a few weeks ago, and once again this year we headed to wss (white sulphur springs in pa.) it is a very nice, relaxing place. it is also kind of technology free. they do have a computer in the hotel if you want to check your email, etc... but the point is to step away from all of that. not really my thing. so, i decided this trip was going to be a time i could step away from all "that" stuff, and just have time with God. quiet time. and i did. and i noticed how much changing my expectations and attitude affected the trip. now of course the devil was going to do what he could to interrupt this time. he tried. my sweet second born was quite a handful. i have never seen him (in his short 21 months on earth) act the way he did in that 24 hour period. wow. but, that's okay. i got through it and am all the more patient for it. (patience is a very slow learning process for me.) daniel loves going to wss, and i love that he loves it. it makes the trip all the better.

at least daniel enjoyed the trip. ^easter morning^

again, easter morning. i told you-pleasant he is.

jump ahead-mother's day, 2011. i'm still waiting on my mother's day gift- should be arriving via fed ex any day now. can't wait! :) my hubby and kids served me breakfast in bed. we then headed to the mall after church, and i got to run in and shop in my favorite store. next stop, outback. then comes the best part. we came home and i got to NAP. ahhhh, wonderful. it was a good day. we celebrated our moms also. abe's mom came over for dinner on saturday evening, and we went out to eat with my mom on monday. good times.

^my mother's day gift- eeek! :)

some other exciting news- my friend and MOPS director had her sweet twins yesterday. we are all praising God that everyone is doing great. He is so good, and so faithful.

and to once again jump to a totally different subject, we are on a car hunt. we sweet hubby was in an accident last thursday, totaling his car. i don't care. i am so thankful that he walked away injury free. praise God. so we are now looking for a car for him. thankfully, my mom and abe have almost identical work schedules, so they've been carpooling; and our sweet friends are loaning us their truck. again, we're trusting God to guide us in this decision.

my sweet boys continue to bring a smile to my face and joy to my heart. daniel only has 2 more weeks of school left, and then he will be a 1st grader. yikes. elijah is creeping up on the big "2" and living up to the expectations of a 2 year old temper. i heart that bugger. life is good.



well, i think that about catches me up. :) happy may!

dare to live

i'm currently reading a book - one thousand gifts by ann voskamp. wow. i mean, wow. this book has given me a whole new perspective on life. on eucharisteo. on the fact that every 'horrible' thing we are dished out can be turned into praise and thanksgiving. the terrible two's that my not yet 2 year old is going through is an item of thanks- thanks that i am blessed with him and his temper. thanks for the teaching moments. thankful because Jesus is the same no matter what is changing.

thankful that Monday-april 11th, 2011- my 6 year old asked Jesus to live in his heart. eucharisteo- i am thankful.

so here's the dare: live fully right where you. as the high powered executive at a top law firm. as a stay at home mom- longing for a 30 minute nap in between the endless poopy diapers, snotty noses, and constant "don't touch that's." live fully.

part of the book is making your own list- one thousand (and beyond) things to be thankful for. things you don't even think are worth making the list, but they are.
1) the smell of clean laundry
2)watching my boys hug
3)a clean house
4)my husband's patience with me
5)watching Daniel read Elijah a book
......

allowed to be proud

this man:





may just kill me.

i've really been trying to do more exercise here lately. we have a treadmill in our house, so i really have no excuse not to. there's just one problem. i hate doing the treadmill lately. it's just getting plain old, and i'm kind of over it. :-/ unfortunately though, that "reasoning" doesn't take away the fact that i need to exercise. so, i have gone back to my billy blanks workouts. i have 3 or 4 of his workout (boot camps is really a more fitting description) dvd's. suprisingly, in betwenn the intense pain, i'm really enjoying them! the time goes by so much faster than the treadmill. i've been doing them pretty much every night (except yesterday since we walked a gazillion miles around the zoo- more details on that trip later.) so even though it's never good to be prideful, i think i'm allowed to be proud about this. :)

keep it up, amanda, keep it up. (yes, i am talking to myself.)

date night

We are very blessed to be able to have a good amount of date nights. I know for some couples this is a twice/year occurrence. For some, never. So, I don't take for granted that we are able to go 'kid-less' about once a month. I have to say though, it. is. vital! Marriage can quickly spiral into only being parents.

Well, this weekend I had an extra special date night- with another guy. (Yep, Abe knew.) He held my door each time. He let me pick the restaurant. He let me sit down first. And, he kissed me. It was one of the best dates I've ever had (ONE of.)








I told Daniel last week that we were going to have a Mommy/Daniel date night, and he was so excited. He told Abe many times "Daddy, you are not going on this date. It's just for me and Mommy!" We went to Red Lobster for dinner and had a great meal and dessert. It was so nice to have an uninterrupted conversation with Daniel; and for him to know he had my full attention. I think it meant a lot to him, and I KNOW it meant a lot to me! We then rented "despicable me" to close out the night. Had a great time laughing with him to finish out our date night. He was such a gentleman (just like his daddy) on the date. I could just bottle this kid and keep him forever!

Some highlights of the evening:

Daniel: "Date night is hard- especially for the boy."

Mommy: "So Daniel, what kind of girl do you think you want to marry?"
Daniel: "Hmm....I know I can't marry you, but what {who} would be the closest thing to you?"

Daniel at dinner: "I will have the popcorn shrimp with fries on the side." (When did this kid get old enough to order for himself??"

a first

I have an almost six year old. SIX. SIX! I say it time and time again, but where in the world does the time go?? All these "firsts" are flying by. First time they say your name. First step. First day of preschool. First day of Kindergarten. And this past Friday, his first sleep over. It wasn't totally traumatic for me because it was at our house. Still totally weird to know I have a child old enough to have a sleep over. Daniel and Vic had such a great time playing together. I love 'em both!

*It's his cousin for everyone wondering why a girl would be sleeping over. :)

I cannot put into words how much I love Daniel and how proud I am of him. He is such a kind hearted, sweet boy. (And smart to boot! ;) ) Daniel, I love you more than you know. No matter how old you get, you are always my sweet little boy!

Valentine's Day

this Valentine's day, I'm thankful for:

these two boys that I am head over heels in love with

I'm also thankful:

to be married to my best friend

but most of all, I'm thankful:

that the ultimate sacrifice was made for me....because of His great love!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw6Gj6FdGUk