Happy Birthday To Me

Happy Birthday to me!

 Can you tell I love my birthday?

 We don't usually do anything super exciting. Just a quiet night at home watching movies and eating pizza {the perfect night}.

 I usually drag it out for at least a few weeks. 

That's just how I roll. 

So I'm 36 now. I know what you're thinking..."She only looks 25!" Well stop, you're embarrassing me. Things have gotten entirely too serious here on the ol' blog so I thought I would give you a giggle.

 Here are some pictures that I think explain a lot about me...

 Clearly, I have always loved a good nap. Who doesn't?

  I have always told Hubby I am a princess, now I have irrefutable proof. 

  This clears up a lot about why I hate clowns.

   

 This must have been a sign that I was going to have 4 kids. 

Mom, I can't believe you didn't see this one 

coming.  

 Obviously I loved fashion. Also, I wish I still had those boots.

   

 Let's just take a moment with this one...Please tell me someone out there has a picture like this, with the creepy silhouette in the back ground. I look like I'm about to take another nap.

  Now because I love you all, I'm ready to give you all a truly good laugh. My instagram friends had plenty of spectacular things to say about this picture.

 I'm not sure if I'm more concerned about the hair or the fact that I wore an outfit straight out of  "Miami Vice" in the 4th grade.

 A red button down shirt and a black blazer? Really?

I remember always loving my perms. Obviously this picture is making me rethink this.

 Hubby says he doesn't think this hairstyle was ever legal. Luckily he didn't see this until after he was already madly in love with me.

   

Obviously I LOVE to laugh, and I don't mind one bit laughing at myself. Hope you got a giggle. 

 So another year under my belt. God has been so faithful.

 I am excited to see what he has for me and my family this year. 

Also want to give a huge "thank you" to all my friends for your birthday wishes and  happy mail I've been receiving. 

Love you all! 

PS: If you want to send me a personal note about how seeing these pictures changed your life, feel free.

 

Mini Me

If I ever needed proof that my kids are watching my every move. 

That they are paying close attention...

This girl has been giving it to me lately.

A lot of the things are small...

Wanting our nails to match.

Suddenly asking me to make her a healthy shake for breakfast like the one I'm drinking.

I love these little things. I feel blessed that she looks up to me.

But what about the important things?

What about my attitude?

Am I showing her love, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control?

Not always, no.

But I did see something the other day that really spoke to me in a new way.

Some of you have seen this print from Jessi that hangs in my living room.

I'm in love with it.

As I turned the corner of the hallway to go into the girls' room I saw this hanging on their door...

That is when it hit me.
I make many mistakes daily as a mother, and it would be very easy to focus on those. The things I feel guilty about. The things I wished I'd done differently.
But this piece of paper made me realize something.
She is seeing my effort.
She is seeing me try to keep our family in God's Word.
It is everywhere.
She is seeing me try to eat healthier and exercise. Not diet, but live a healthier lifestyle because I believe that is what I'm called to do.
She sees my effort in trying to look pretty and feminine for my Hubby.
Even though there are plenty of days when I never get out of my work-out clothes or a "full face" of make up doesn't quite happen, I still try.
I will never stop trying to improve on this job and blessing that God has entrusted to me.
I will always try to model for my children a godly woman who lives a life full of joy because of her love for the Lord.
And I will continue to fall short.
But I'm thankful for the grace my children show me.
They see my effort.
God willing, it will take hold in their hearts.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9

I'm Choosing Gratitude

My Uncle passed away.

I'm heart broken.

As an adult I only saw him once a year and of course now I am wishing it was more.

As I was grieving I began to think of all the wonderful memories I have of him.

I felt the need to choose gratitude for the many years I had him in my life.

I'm grateful to my Uncle Carl for...

Letting me watch "Halloween" at far too young of an age. At the time I felt so cool.

Introducing me to Fairy Tale Theatre, and always having a vhs tape full of episodes for me to watch when I came to visit.

Always saving me his cigarette boxes. He smoked a brand of cigarettes that came in a blue box. He saved them for me because I liked to collect things and he knew I could hold my little collections in those boxes.

Schooling me on the whole "Blair Witch Project" thing. I'm super grateful for that because I'm sure I would have thought it was real. That would have been embarrassing.

Helping with the Christmas puzzle every year even though he knew there was a piece missing and it would drive him crazy.

Teaching me how to play Yahtzee while simultaneously explaining the statistical improbability of me ever getting a "yahtzee".

Always having his bag of "goodies". Whatever I needed, it was in there. Toothpick, nail clipper. clothes hanger, band aid or any kind of medication. You name it, he had it for you.

Sharing his big loud laugh, I will never forget it.

And even though tears are streaming down my face, I'm grateful.

Grateful I had the privilege to know him and to love him.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven;
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to seep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiates 3:1-8

All's Well That Ends Well

It was that time.

Time for N to man up and take swim lessons.

{Age 4 is an awesome time to man up right?}

I have the most amazing swim teacher. She taught my older two kids to swim, I love her.

I was very confident this was going to go well. 

It always had before.

The first 5 days went something like this...

Lot's of crying and me prying him off the lounge chair and carrying him to the pool. Awesome.

He was trying to swim way too fast.

No matter what the teacher said he just did his own thing.

Can you say stubborn?

The next 4 days were more like this...

Hiding in his sister's stroller. Less crying. but still me prying him out and carrying him to the pool.
This was a new experience for me. My older two had no problem, and who wants to watch their kid cry for 30 minutes? Not me.

Here is what day 10 {the last day} looked like...


And even a lot of this...

Is that a smile I see?
Yes it is!
Nothing like waiting til the last minute kid.

I'm so thankful he finished strong and happy.
Proud of you little man.

"we encourage" - To My Kids

I promise to love you exactly the way God made you.

I promise to nurture your unique qualities, and not try to fit you into a "box" you don't belong in.
I promise to make you each feel special, because you are.

I promise to let you make mistakes. And to help show you how God can reveal himself through those mistakes.

I promise to give you consequences. To help you learn God's guidelines are there because He loves you.

I promise to support you in your passions and not make you feel that it is a burden.

I promise to laugh with you. To enjoy you and our lives together while I have you under this roof.
I promise to hold you when life is hard and rejoice in your victories.
I promise not to worry {too much} about the messes and let you explore.
I promise to really listen to your feelings and then show you how to operate in God's truth instead.

I promise to love your Daddy. To respect him and follow his leadership of our family.

I promise to show you what a loving committed marriage looks like.

I promise to make it clear that without God, I can do nothing. I am not super mom and I will make mistakes. But I will apologize when I'm wrong and show you grace when you are wrong.

I promise to point you to God at every turn.
I promise to show you that Christ is at the center of my life.
I will show you the importance of serving others, of loving others and of forgiving others.
I promise to pray for you each and every day. To pray for your future spouses.
I promise to write God's word on the doorposts of this house.

I promise that you are each the apple of my eye. That I am still in awe God entrusted you to me.
I promise to trust God with you.
I am humbled by this job of being your Mom and I promise to pour everything I have into each of you until it is your time to fly.

With my whole heart,
Mom

Snack Crate, Where Have You Been All My Life?

I was on Instagram one day and the lovely Cherish had a picture of her "snack crate".

It was this cute little wooden crate with all these pre-packaged snack bags in it.

Let's say it together...BRILLIANT!

My kids ask me for snacks at least 1000 times a day. 

I feel like most of my time is spent making some sort of meal or snack

So I ran right out to my local antique store {like I need an excuse} and found my own snack crate.

Voila

I'm in love, seriously.

Now when the kids want a snack they just go to the crate and they are all set.

There are granola bars, bags filled with pretzels and goldfish, trail mix and juice boxes.

It gets a little tricky trying to keep C out of there. She's a sneaky one. But other than that it's perfect.

This small thing has made such a difference in my day. A half an hour of prep sets me up for the whole week. Now I just need to figure out a system in my fridge for the fruit and veggie snacks. Any ideas?

Get on this snack crate idea friends. It will change your life. I promise.

"we encourage" - Quiet Time For Kids

Today is more of a question really.

I'm wondering how your kids do their quiet time with the Lord, if they do.

We have mostly done Family devotionals during dinner time.

Recently we thought we would try letting them have an actual "quiet time".

The same way that Hubby and I do it. Reading quietly to ourselves. Meditating on the word, maybe journaling.

I realize they do not have the same capacity for this endeavor as I do but I feel a need to impress upon them the importance of spending one on one time with God.

I was thinking about the difference it makes in my day to set that time aside. In the Word. By myself.

I want them to experience that. That peace.

Initially I wanted to wake them up 10 minutes earlier in the morning and have them do it then. 

Hubby said I should re-think that.

Let's just say mornings in our house don't always go smoothly. So I'm am going to think on how I can make this happen. But for now, we are trying it at night before bed. 

We all read from the same book of the Bible and the kids can ask questions, but for the most part it should be quiet.

And of course, sometimes it looks more like this...

We try.

How do you do quiet time in your house?

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