A night off

I am trying to give my wife the gift of rest tonight. As most of you know she has been the most faithful blogger being 1 month straight every day. Tonight she worked all through our community group making the meal ready for everyone keeping the kids, and cleaning so that our house is back in order. I know this all makes her happy but she did run 19 miles yesterday, take kids to a princess party, and did all the morning duties for the kids while I went to church early. In writing this I sound like a loser husband, but she does so much to serve me so I can feel free to serve others. This is another reason why we instituted mandatory Friday date night! She's awesome and I need her to know that I know it all the time. So her gift tonight is to sign her name and hopefully enjoy the rest! (She'll probably do more)

Perfect Princess Party

I took the girls to the princess party this afternoon at the Disney Store in the mall. They LOVED it! They made tiaras and got jewels for each princess activity i.e wave, courtsey (sp?), posture, and drinking tea. It really was just too cute! Their friend Emma came with us, and they all ended up having a blast:)

I know I'm still posting Christmas pictures, but there was some really cute ones and it's a shame not to share them!
Well, the girls are better now. They both went to school today. I missed them. Davis REALLY missed them! He has so much fun playing with them. We are moving into another weekend, and I want so badly for time to go in slow motion! The weekends fly by so quickly! We don't have tons, but I have to run 18 miles in the morning, which is a good chunk of time. We have date night tonight, so that's always fun! The Disney store is having a Princess party with food and drink and teaching some princess manners:) We would love to take the girls to that if we get around to it, but it will not be mentioned to them until we are in the car on our way;) You can't say stuff too soon in our house because if it doesn't happen, then a meltdown may ensue! Sundays are kinda workdays in our house because Scott works at the church, so sometimes that's a little hard, but we are pretty used to it. If I could just slow down the time just a little, that would be just fabulous! Oh well, I"ll just try to enjoy the time we have as a family and be grateful:)

The Tooth Fairy

Paige lost her sixth tooth a few days ago. That is unbelievable! They came in two by two and she has steadily lost them two by two. It's kinda funny! Well, we don't do the tooth fairy, or at least not how most think. Because we don't do santa, it would be a little ridiculous to do the tooth fairy. So, I still let her put her tooth under her pillow, and I sneak in and leave money under her pillow, However, when she asks if the tooth fairy came, I tell her she ablsolutely did, and her tooth fairy's name is mommy:) She's totally fine with it and just as excited. Well, I had my first tooth fairy slip-up! I'm slacking on the job! I FORGOT about it! It was the night the girls had fever and I was tired and totally forgot! The next morning Annalee said "Mommy, Paige's tooth is still here!" Shoot! The girls were in the living room watching a movie so I snuck back there and put a dollar under her pillow and told her to go look. She said "Momma, I didn't get any money for my tooth this time." (Knife in the heart) I told her to go look again and when she did she found a bag with 4 quarters where a tooth once was. She was excited, but then said, "I didn't get a dollar this time!" I explain that 4 quarters equal a dollar and eventually she gets it. So, not only did I forget and have to back pedal to make it work, my child also realized ho bo-bo I was that I didn't have a paper dollar so I used coins! She's gotta learn someday I gues:) One day she'll really appreciate that all those coins are REAL money too! I know I do:)

Sick babies:(

My little girls are sick:( Paige woke up with fever this morning and Annalee was not far behind! They stayed home, obviously, but it was actually a little more enjoyable than I originally thought! Annalee said, "I like staying home mommy! Can we stay home just one more day?" Love her. I hate to see them miserable with a temperature. Davis doesn't have it yet, but there is a fever/cold virus going around so I figure his time is coming. Personally, I'd rather just lock them in a room together and let them lick all over each other so they can spread germs as rapidly as possible, so we don't end up keeping this in our house for weeks on end!

Refreshing...

I lead a group of women and we are meeting every Tuesday night this semester. We are studying Respectable Sins, and while it is not pretty to have to see our own personal sin, it is good. It is simply refreshing to meet with other women and live out life together as the Lord takes us down individual paths.

24

24 is about to come on! We LOVE 24 and are big fans of Jack Bauer:) So needless to say, I will not be blogging much tonight! Kids bathed, fed, and in the bed! Now it's time to relax with my husband and enjoy whatever Jack throws our way! Happy Monday!

Thankful

Today, I am thankful. I am thankful for many things, but today I am specifically thankful for my husband. Sometimes life is just not always a bed of roses, obviously;) The truth is, it's not even anything specific or traumatic. Just everyday life struggles. Today I just felt very inadequate. In everything. Whether it's being a good mom, or wife, or friend, or community group leader, etc. Knowing the big pictue, that it's the Lord who equips me to do anything, I frequently lose sight of that. Today for example! I was also not well rested, so those feelings overwhelmed me. Again, no good reason to be emotional! It was just the trend of the day! My husband, as I've said many times in the past, loves me really well. He just knows me. He loved on me, helped me, and let me take a nap, which was a HUGE deal:) I desperately needed it! Sometimes I realize that I'm no different than a toddler when I don't get enough rest;) Back to my hubby though, he really is a spectacular man, and I'm glad I'm blogging daily so I can document this frequently!

Birthday parties...

We had a birthday party to go to today. We love birthday parties. Well, my kids love birthday parties:) Today, Paige went on a date with her daddy while I took Annalee and Davis to the shindig. Davis woke up on what I thought was just the wrong side of the crib. He was a little clingy at the party which is not so characteristic of him. Annalee had fun, other than the occasional falling down and skinning a knee! So, needless to say, at the end of these "fun" birthday parties, mommy is pooped! Well, Davis still was not being himself, so I decided to just call and make a quick doctor visit to make sure nothing else was going on. Well, low and behold, his "waking up on the wrong side of the crib" turned out to be a raging ear infection in his right ear! SAD! So, go ahead and nominate me for the worst mom award, because I would've won it today! The good thing is that we have antibiotics and pain relievers on board and he is sleeping soundly, so hopefully he will be feeling much better very soon.

Precious Paige

This is Paige and I on a "girls day". Annalee was there too:), just not in this pic! We all shared a yummy milkshake and talked about girl stuff!


As Paige grows more and more, we continue to see evidence of the Lord in her life. He gave her a tender heart, that I pray characterizes her for life. She is a precious soul, and even as I type, I get teary thinking about what a wonderful blessing she is to us. She has a sacrificial heart as well, and that is not what our innate human heart does. Hence the reason we know the Lord is steadily revealing Himself to her. Sometimes it's just little things like, she sees someone by themself that she may not even know, but senses that they are lonely. She sacrifices her comfort zone with her friends and reaches out to the lonely. Maybe some of it is being the firstborn and having 2 younger siblings to have to share everything with. But she is certainly a gift. She is genuine and loves with her heart wide open. One day she'll be hurt because of that, and most likely more than once. But, I pray that as she continues on her journey to know her God, that He will show her that He created her to be that way and she doesn't have to be afraid to let others see her heart. Because hopefully, when they see her heart, they will see Christ.
This week she got in the van after school and was talking a hundred miles an hour. The conversation went as follows:

P: Mommy, do you think I could bring like a dollar or a quarter, or whatever we have to school tomorrow?
Me: Why?
P: Because, momma, there are people in Texas who need our help! Their houses are broken, and they don't have any food and their clothes are all gone!
Me: Texas? You mean Haiti?
P: No, Texas!
Me: I think you mean Haiti.
P: Oh, ok. Haiti. Well, can I bring some money PLEASE!
Me: I think we can do that!
P: Oh momma, I have my tooth money I can give!
Me: You don't have to give what's in your bank. Mommy can help you.
P: No! I want to give them my money!

Really? How in the world did she get so big? We talked a little bit about that God is still ultimately in control and we are thankful that He stirs our hearts to give and help others in their time of need. And one day, we might be the needy ones! And we will trust our God just as much as we are trusting Him to heal a broken country right now. I am grateful that the Lord uses my little ones to show me my sin and show me more of Himself through the process.

Funny Girl

If you didn't know already, Annalee is a funny little girl! She really cracks me up on a daily basis! She doesn't try, she just says some of the funniest things sometimes! This is the most recent quote from yesterday:

A: We had cookie cake at school today because it was Michael's birthday!
Me: Who's Michael?
A: You know...he has shoes like mine, and he has blue socks...you know...Michael!
Me: (Trying not to laugh) Oh...Michael!

Some days...

This picture makes me laugh! Paige was super duper tired that afternoon, and her eyes reflect it. Annalee was obviously pouting over something. The benefits of having a small camera that fits in your purse and you can take everywhere, resulted in the capturing of this moment;)

Life lately has been kinda busy. We are starting everything back up. That includes the weekly womens time that I lead, and mens time for Scott. Community group every Sunday, tutoring on Wednesday, working at the hospital on Thursday, women's bible study Thursday mornings, gymnastics on Monday evenings...and the list goes on. They are all "good" things, but life sure creeps up on me very quickly and I can get overwhelmed in no time flat! I usually have everything pretty well thought out and scheduled, down to making lunches for the girls for the next day and laying out pj's and clothes for the next day, the afternoon before. I plan out all our meals so I don't have a hundred grocery trips to make. I work out daily to help me feel well and reduce stress. I am spending time with the Lord (although I could ALWAYS use a little more of that in my life!). But some days are just harder than others. Some days my kids are harder to parent. Some days Scott and I don't communicate very well. Some days outside circumstances throw a wrench in my "plans". Some days my sin just gets in the way of everything I'm doing.

I try not to complain, because I have MUCH to be thankful for. I also have to really watch what comes out of my mouth, and evaluate my heart often. Because, here I am telling my kids not to complain and to practice having a thankful heart today, and just like that I can be doing the very thing that I am asking them not to do! And not just because I don't want to hear them whine, but because God's word says to do everything without complaining or arguing! And that includes mommy:)

The good news is, we are about to go through the book Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges in our womens time. The bad news is...God's about to show me more sin! Well, really that's good news too, it's just not easy;)

The Boys

Aren't they cute? I am keeping Jude today. He and Davis love one another, but they can also fight like brothers as well! They are both at the same possesive stage and there are several "no"'s, and the occasional shove/sitting on one another. They are sweet boys though. They just like to make life interesting here and there;) We had a fun day and they both took a whopping almost 3 hour nap, so no complaints here! Happy Tuesday:)

15 Miles

Well, we are back at it! Training for our marathon that is! Today, Morgan and I did 15 miles. We are tired, but it wasn't a terrible run. Our training goes up to 20 miles and the marathon is in New Orleans on Feb. 28. Wish us luck! Or really I should say, pray, pray pray:)

Community group

At our church, we have community groups. They are small groups of men and women collectively, who meet together weekly or bi-weekly. We eat together, laugh together, and share life together. Scott and I have led a group for the last several years and it has changed from year to year. It's a great way to go deeper with a small population of the church. It's not sunday school. It's really better than sunday school. It's real life lived out before one another as we continue the day to day journey walking with our Father. It's for all ages and groups are not age based necessarily. They are a mixture of old, young, single, married, families with young children, families with children in college or better. It is instrumental in the life of the church as we connect with our God, with one another, and with the community around us.
We had a leaders meeting tonight and God just reminded me of how blessed we are to have such sweet relationships with the people He's put in our life, and right now, our group specifically. I look forward to walking with these precious people as we continue to serve our God together!

I Love Him!

We had date night at home last night. Scott wanted to plan it all so I just "showed up"! He sent me on a few errands and when I had gotten home he had made dinner! He got some stuffed chicken breasts from Fresh Market (which I LOVE), and we had baked potatoes and salad. For dessert he had fresh strawberries and melted yummy chocolate for me to dip them in...mmmmmm! We talked and talked and it was so good for our hearts. We so often go through our day to day activities, and are so tired by the end of the day, that we just don't communicate. Last night we just had TIME, and that my friends is hard to come by! He let the girls help set up for our date and even let them have some strawberries and chocolate;) They thought it was the best! He wanted them to see that he has to take timeout sometimes to take care of mommy too. He does a really good job with that, but usually it's after the kids are in bed. Last night he just let them stay up a little later so they could see this time. He is a good man. The best I know. He is wonderful to me and loves me better than I deserve. I know, however, that the reason he can love me so well, is because of his love for the Lord. He is eager to serve, loves with a wide open heart, and is quick to confess sin and repent. Long story short...I Love Him!

On Demand

This is a pic of my 3 kids plus 2 more kids of some friends of ours that we were keeping one evening. Davis and Jude are about 3 months difference in age and Emma is 4 which is about right smack dab in the middle of Paige and Annalee. 5 kids 5 and under! Fun times! We did the assembly line "speed bath" as we call it, and had all 5 of them bathed, dressed, and hair dried in about 20 minutes flat! My philosophy thus far is that after 3, you can really add as many as you want into the mix. You're doing the same stuff and it doesn't feel any more or less overwhelming!
Anywho, the point of this post does not really have much to do with the pic, but they are all really cute, right? The subject of the post has to do with our cable. Scott's mom got us cable a few months ago, for football season for Scott. It was his birthday present. We got it at the end of October and will have it through the end of January. January is obviously approaching its latter days! Now, we have not had cable or satellite for about 2 years. It was an expense that we couldn't justify if we were having trouble making ends meet elsewhere, and ultimately we just didn't NEED it. It was kinda hard to give up at first, especially coming from satellite with a DVR that we were spoiled rotten with! So, now here we are with all these channels and fun kids stuff to watch as well. As a matter of fact, when we first got cable, Paige thought we had gotten a new t.v.! Sad! Not really though. They were better off without it ,and playing and using their imagination and talking were the only options. Our neighbors, whose kids we were keeping in the above picture, also got cable for a limited time and theirs ends this month too. She just recently stumbled upon a little known realm of On Demand the other day and shared the wealth of knowledge with me. You see, I always thought On Demand=you pay to watch something On Demand! That's logical, right? Well, apparently that's true for movies to rent and unsubscribed channels, but everything you're subscribed to is FREE! Which means, I can go to ON Demand, click on "Kids", then whatever kids channel, lets say "Disney", and then "Handy Manny", and like 5 episodes of Handy Manny pop up and you can click on any one of them and play it whenever! What?! How did I not know about this! And now that I'm in the know, I'm also very aware that we better milk this for all it's worth because it's gonna be gone in t-minus 16 days:( I'm sure some of you are thinking, what a slow girl I must be to not have known about this treasure of an option, but it's true! And next time I find out someone is installing cable, that is the first bit of info I will pass on!

Random...

This was my random thought of the day today. I L-O-V-E cereal! I could eat it all day everyday. I really love it. Any kind. From the really healthy to the ultimate sugary kinds. I like them all. Truthfully, I like the kids cereals alot, and I sometimes buy them under the guise of "I'm getting it for the kids", but it's me that really wanted it:)
I know this is totally random, but very true! Today was a busy day, and I didn't eat until almost 2 pm, so I guess I thought about cereal a little more than normal today:) Blogging every day brings out the randomness evidently. Sorry.

Date Night

I love date night! We don't have date night nearly as often as we should, but when we do, it's always so refreshing! We actually have alot of home date nights, as we call them;), because we do not have the funds to go out on a date plus pay a babysitter most of the time. I am a part of a babysitting co-op but since I have 3 kids, it takes more points for me to have someone keep them, so I have to be very strategic when I want to use it. Which brings me to the reason I'm posting. I'm interested in others' thoughts and ideas for some fun creative things to add to our home date night collection. Obviously, there's the cook something special and fun for dinner and rent a movie routine, but I know there are more creative people than me out there, so I'm asking for your ideas/suggestions! Let's see what we can come up with:)

Little Sidenote...

This is the guy that won the marathon. Nevermind the fact that he finished like 10 minutes behind us, who only did the half! We straight up almost got lapped! This was his first marathon. That's right...his first. He not only won it, he set a flippin' record for that race! What?! Did I not mention at some point that it was FREEZING? To top it all off, his goal, was just to finish. Really marathon man? Is that all?

Half Pics

Katie Nelson, Morgan Spivey, and myself! This pic doesn't
give insight into just how cold it was!

Morgan and I just before we crossed the finish line! Woop! Woop!

"Stick A Fork In Me..."

....I'm Done! We finished the half marathon today! Katie Nelson, Morgan Spivey, and I, ran it together. We finished in 2:32. Not too shabby:) It was definitely freezing! Morgan made the comment that, you know it's cold when we passed the water station at mile 3 and they told us they didn't have any water because the pipes were frozen! What?! All in all, it was a pretty good race. It would have felt 100 times better if it had been about 20 degrees warmer, but its over and done with now! The picture above was as promised from the previous post. Davis' shirt says "Go Mom", Annalee's shirt says "My Mom Rocks", and Paige's says "Run Mom Run". They were too cute. They also made t-shirts for Morgan's kids that said "Go Mommy", and "Get Your 1/2 On Mom!". They were too cute! Thanks Scott! Your the best hubby EVER:) Now, we take 2 weeks off running and start our marathon training!!!

Nerves!!!!

I don't have a picture for this post, but hopefully I can capture it tomorrow and post it. My half marathon is tomorrow and the temperature is forecast to be in the teens with a windchill from 0 to 10! Yep. We are praying that the Lord would somehow make us feel exceptionally warm anyway! Scott, being the sweet creative husband that he is, got his students to make little t-shirts for the kids. Those are the pictures that I will hopefully be posting soon. They are too cute and funny! The kids were originally gonna be with him, but my mom so very graciously offered to keep them tonight so Scott could support me and tend to just me! Yay! Anywho, I'm just gonna have to put them on the kids tomorrow to make it a little keepsake for myself and the blog world to enjoy:) Wish me look! Pray that we don't freeze and that it is an enjoyable race for us!

Brrrrr!

These are the kinds of things that happen to me often. Davis and I got home from the gym this morning, only to find several power trucks in our cul de sac. On the coldest day of the year in DECADES in our area...the power is out for a few hours. Really? Of course it is! Thankfully, power is back on now and the heater is going strong:) Davis and I just kept our hats and coats on and did a little running around to stay warm. It made me very thankful for the provision of heat, and realize there are many who don't have that luxury. Thanks God!

Blah...

This picture makes me smile:) They are really sweet sisters, and best friends. Well...most of the time:)


Today has been one of those blah days. It's rainy, cold, and all in all just gray outside. I'm scheduled to work tonight, which is great money wise, but sometimes at the end of the day, after being mommy and taking care of everybody all day, I just don't feel like going to be a nurse and taking care of more people. I'm thankful for my job, and it could DEFINITELY be worse, but I think it's just one of those days as a whole. I needed a little something to make me smile, hence the sweet pic above! Enjoy! Until tomorrow...!

Ahhh Wednesday...

This is a pic of Mary, Joseph, one of the wise men, and of course, Paige who read the story and brought all the characters to life;)



So, I'm definitely one of those people who thinks that a picture with the post just makes it better. Even if the pic has nothing to do with the actual post.


I also, definitely put my kids to bed tonight at 6:30! Is that bad? I mean, their normal bedtime is at 7, so it's not that far off. They started back to school on Tuesday and are having to readjust to getting up early again after 2 weeks of sleeping in. As soon as I picked them up from school, we went to the Communtiy Center, which is what we do every Wednesday. We have a tutoring program that Scott is in charge of and my kids LOVE it. The girls do pretty good because they have homework they can work on or can just color. Davis, however, is the wildcard! I end up running after him on several occasions! I help with the younger kids and Scott helps with the middle school and high school kids, so it's easier for me to be interrrupted. There are other folks from the church that volunteer as well, so it works out ok. Some days, though, like today, I was just spent! After tutoring, Scott had a meeting so he wouldn't be home until late. I brought the kids home, bathed and fed them, let them wind down for a few minutes, and put those little munchkins to BED!
Which brings me to now! I've showered and am cozied up in my brand new Florida Gators Snuggie. That's right folks! My husband got me a snuggie. And not just ANY snuggie! A Florida snuggie! The truth is...I LOVE IT! Really! I judged and made fun of it on tv for a while, but really down deep, I wanted one;) So, I'm signing off for the evening and am going to take in the quiet of my home for a little while.

This is a picture from Christmas Day. Paige read the Christmas story...that's right! All by her little self! Annalee dressed up as Mary as you can see and was quite intent on the greatest story of all time! Priceless.



I am running a half marathon this weekend and the colder it gets, the more nervous I get! The race is on Sunday, and the low saturday night is 15 degrees!!!!! Really? We live in Mobile, AL and it's gonna be 15 degrees? We haven't trained in cold weather because it doesn't normally get significantly cold here. Hence the reason I'm getting nervous! My friend Shay let me borrow some warmer clothes/running gear that she had from when she lived in Germany! Thanks Shay:) Now if I could just figure out a way to keep my lungs warm...! I'm super excited about the race just wondering how the X-factor of the weather is gonna be for us! So, if you think about us on Sunday, pray that we finish strong and stay warm enough as we "
...run the race set before us..."!

Coupon Lady!

I'm trying to learn to be a coupon mom. Right now I would be categorized as basically just a Walmart mom, I guess! I am a savvy shopper. I am very frugal. So, Walmart tends to work out well for me. I buy alot of the Great Value brand, and most of the time that's the cheapest even with coupons included for name brand things. Mainly, it's the fact that I have 3 kids and have to take one or more of them with me when I grocery shop, and I want it to be one stop shopping and as fast as possible! I am understanding the concept more and more about using coupons when name brand things are on sale and at their lowest. I believe that it does save money, but it is just so much work behind the scenes to get to that point! Go ahead...call me lazy! It just requires more brain power than I'm willing to give I guess:) I like a good challenge, and I LOVE saving money, but I just wish that I didn't have to really think. Plus, it requires extra time to print and clip more and more coupons! So, what I need is some good encouragement, and a swift kick in the pants so I can really get moving on this! Ok?

Back to the grinding stone...

Well, tomorrow, Scott has to go back to work:( I love it when he has holidays! It's usually not super duper restful, but it's just nice to all be together. With the girls in school now, I very much look forward to them being home with me for a while. While they LOVE school, they too enjoy being home with mommy (and daddy)! Davis really likes having them all here too. During the week, he's an only child for the greater part of the day! Daddy and the girls are the first thing he asks about in the morning. He'll probably be a little sad tomorrow when daddy's not here. As will mommy;) The girls go back on Tuesday, so we will be moving back into our routine again. It's a good routine, but my house is just so quiet, and it takes a little getting used to when they've been home for a while. Don't get me wrong...it's really nice! I think I'm just one of those mommas whose heart is very full when my house is full! I might've had 10 if the Lord would've allowed it!

Great Comment...

I went to dinner tonight with several girlfriends, which is always fun! Our waiter was taking all of our orders, and all of a sudden asks, "Do ALL of you guys have kids?" Which our response is we all have at least two kids! He was super shocked! Best comment of the day:)
It was good to catch up with friends. God is showing me more and more, really almost on a daily basis, how important community is. One of our friends is going through a rough time at this point in life and tonight was a sweet reminder of how He uses His body. He has equipped us in several different ways to be able to make life a little bit easier for her. It was also good to just talk to good friends and know that you can be completely yourself and take comfort in knowing it is a safe place within those friends. The Lord didn't have to make it like that. He could've made us be totally alone with just Him, and that would be enough. But, He didn't stop there! He gave us friends and family to love one another and bear each others burdens, and it is the very picture of Christ when it plays out like He intended it.

Happy new Year!

Happy New Year everybody! I cannot believe that it is 2010 already! I have decided that I am going to try to blog everyday this year. It's a lofty goal, since I have proven to be the most delinquent blogger, but maybe if I make it a part of my day then I'll do better:) We'll see! I do enjoy looking back and seeing the pictures and memories we've recorded, and I really use it as a journal/scrapbook when I keep up!

I don't have any major resolutions in store. I am running in a half marathon on Jan. 10 in Mobile with my friend Morgan! We are also training fo the Country Music Marathon in Nashville on April 24! We are excited! It's been a fun journey thus far. You really get to know someone when you run with them for hours at a time!

We had a great Christmas! The kids were so fun! We don't do Santa, but really try to focus on what Christmas is truly about. On Christmas Eve, we opened our 1 designated present and after that we talked again about why we give gifts at Christmas. Paige was so excited! She said in response, "Momma, I love God! I love Him so much, I just can't stand it!" Now really, does it get any sweeter than that? They all 3 were such a delight as they opened gifts and enjoyed the blessings that God had given us!

So, here we go! Post #1...check! Just 364 to go!