Polar Express

So many fun things have happened this December and I am really behind on updating the blog about them. This post is about the Nona/Papa adventure weekend the kids took the first weekend in December. They did their traditional Gingerbread House making and then went on a fabulous trip to the Polar Express.



Here they are with Santa on the Train. Abby and Will each got a very special Santa Sleigh bell and only those who believe in Santa can hear it, it was very cute. They also got to eat hot chocolate and get their tickets punched just like the movie.



Here is Will with his Papa!


Abby with her Nona!



I think I have more picture of the kids with their grandparents then I do of all four of us. One of my goals over the next year is to get better about taking family photos of all of us together.

Mike and I are so grateful for the free time we were able to have while the kids were away. We got some much needed Christmas shopping done, slept in and had a great meal out.

More December fun to come!!!

Be the Match!!

A little over a week ago our church hosted a bone marrow donor drive. It was very powerful as 70+ people from our church signed up. I have always toyed with the idea of being a donor, I know from several blogs I follow how critical the need is but I never felt that "God Moment" telling me to pursue it or maybe I did but I chose to brush it aside. It was interesting when our pastor first mentioned it to the congregation, as he had become aware of a mother who knew someone in our congregation who was in need of a bone marrow transplant. I prayed about the choice God would have me make that day and then relaxed down to watch Extreme Home Makeover that night. Wouldn't you know that on that very episode a woman who was cured by a bone marrow transplant was featured and they brought her donor to help rebuild their house. It was truly a moving moment and a prod in the right direction.

Later when they announced the date of the actual sign up it happened to be the Sunday our kids were with the grandparents, allowing us to take the 15 minutes or so to fill out the paperwork and do the cheek swabs without two kids begging us to go. So I anxiously await to see how God uses our church to literally save a life. Thankyou God for the clear signs pointing me to your character and your desire for me to give something that isn't really mine to give. I pray that more people will pray about the decision to be a bone marrow donor. I pray for those who continue to battle bravely severe illness and those heroes who give of their time, energy to help them fight that battle. Thank you for your son Jesus Christ and the ultimate gift and sacrifice he made for all.

Greatest Gift

Today I received one of the greatest gifts a mom can get. It was presented to me in a conversation with my 5 year old son today.

Me: Will, what is the true reason for Christmas?

Will: Jesus was born

Me: Why is it important that Jesus was born?

Will: So Jesus could die on the cross

Me: What does Jesus death on the cross mean for us?

Will: That we are able to live

Yeah God, thank you for all the people placed in Will's life who have taught and modeled a life of Christ for him. There is no greater gift than the gift of Christ, and a close second is being able to witness that someone accept Christ and his message. I am truly blessed.

FYI: I asked Abby these same questions this evening and she got it as well, the comfort in knowing that the seed has been planted. In BSF we talked about God enabling people to understand his word, thank you for enabling my children to understand the most important truth of your precious word

If at first you don't succeed.......

This past friday I attemped to get a signed copy of Sarah Palin's book "Going Rogue". I started my morning by taking Abby to school, then raced like a mad woman to buy 2 of her books at the Kenny Rd Borders, because Borders website said they were out at their Dublin Location. I then dropped Will off at preschool and zoomed over to the Borders on Sawmill to wait in line for a wristband. Originally they were going to give out 1000 wristbands that would allow you to come back in the evening for the book signing.
When I showed up the line was all the way down the front and back of the shopping center. I heard from someone in line that now they were only giving away 500 wristbands as Palin's crew had requested this. I enjoyed chatting with the nice people in line with me, it was comforting to be with those who appreciated the same conservative values that I believe in. After over two hours of waiting we were told that they were out of wristbands. I was disappointed but I knew in the big scheme of life it wasn't the end of the world. I went on with my day but I just couldn't let go that I felt like I really wanted to get those two books signed.
I called Borders at 530 that night to inquire about the line for those without a wristband and the worker said not to come because I wouldn't be able to get them signed. I felt defeated, Mike came home and I told him I knew I was being a baby about this but I really wanted to see her. So Mike said just go anyways and see what happens. So I went back out and waited in line and 2 and 1/2 hours later I had two signed copies of her book. I got to shake her hand, she asked me my name and I said Thank you so much. I was super pumped after that. I got one book for me and one for my father in law for Christmas.
So in this case persistence paid off. I had prayed about this a few days before because I didn't want to spend God's time doing something that might be frivalous. I feel like God ordained my schedule so that I might go. So that I might be encouraged by others who share similar values and that I might share my faith in Christ with others. I know that 4.5 hours is a long time to wait to meet one person, but I also see it as a reminder that if I am willing to do this to meet Sarah Palin I should be able to commit that amount of time and more in serving Christ.

Will's Fifth Birthday!!

Wow, Have I been taking a major blogging hiatus. I meant to post more on our Disney trip but life has been very busy at our house. Will was very lucky to get to spend his fifth birthday at Disney World. He wore a special shirt, got a button, got into the park for free and of course got a birthday dinner. We were at Hollywood Studios on Will's birthday and had a wonderful time there.



Will got to see the Power rangers, which was way cool. He dressed up as the Blue Power Ranger for Halloween so it was great to get a picture with him and his autograph.



Will got to wear a special Birthday Chef hat at dinner. We ate at Mama Melrose's and it was very good. Will got a special birthday sundae and he loved it. They also gave Abby a chef hat since her birthday was only two weeks past.

I can't believe my baby is 5 years old, he is such a big boy in so many ways, yet very tender still. He is super excited that now he is five he can do the climbing wall at the workout place now. I am so grateful for this silly little boy who keeps me laughing all the time. He is great at soccer, wrestling with his daddy and has become quite good at is Batman leapster game. I feel so blessed to call this little boy my son. Thank you Lord for the blessing of being a mother, or as Will calls me, Mama.

Magic Kingdom

We spent most of our time at Disney World at the Magic Kingdom. We spent all day Monday at the Kingdom, including a special Princess Lunch for Abby. It was really a special event. Abby got her picture with almost all the Disney princesses, a special meal and a magic wishing star complete with wand. She was over the moon.


Abby was the first girl that each princess visited which made her feel super special. It was fun to eat lunch with my precious daughter, my mom and my sister-in-law. The boys had a character lunch at the Crystal palace and got to meet Pooh and friends.



The first ride we rode was the Dumbo ride. Will rode with his mama and it was fun to get to ride this classic ride with my little boy. The funny thing about this ride is I think we waited longer for this ride than any other ride in the park that day. Will still loves the movie Dumbo so it was neat that this was our first ride of the day

On Tuesday evening we headed back to Magic Kingdom for a special Halloween Party and Parade. The kids dressed up and got to go trick or treating at the Park. They also had fireworks, a parade and a little dance party. I got to try out the fireworks setting on my camera, I still need to learn how to use my camera more but the portability of it was awesome.







More pictures from our big Disney adventure soon. Including Will's birthday.

Disney World

Pictured above are my lovely parents and the reason we were able to go to Disney World last week. My mom and dad took my family, my older brother, my younger brother,his wife and son all to WDW last week. It was amazing!! It was the first time for my kids and their cousin Colin. We had great weather, although a bit on the hot side and everyone was healthy. I prayed before and during our trip that we would remain healthy. With the swine flu, strep throat and colds making the rounds I feel so blessed that our family was protected for this past week.

We had a 6am flight on Sunday morning so we left for the airport at 4am!! We arrived at our hotel around 1pm and ate some lunch and walked around before we could check in. That night we went to Downtown Disney and ate at a great restaurant called Rainforest Cafe. They have simulated thunder storms every 20 minutes and we celebrated all three kids October birthdays with an awesome brownie dessert.



Also in Downtown Disney they have a design-a-tee store by Hanes. Abby and Will each designed a tee on the computer and then an hour later we went back to pick it up. Abby chose a purple tee with all the princesses on it. Will chose blue shirt with the Incredibles on it and we wrote "I was at Disney World on my birthday" on it. My brother Brian bought Abby and Will the famous mickey and minnie mouse ears with their names embroidered on the back. We had a great first day to our trip. Despite the long travel it was so nice to relax and have a meal together. We all went to bed early so we could be up and ready to go for the Magic Kingdom the next day.

I'll update on that tommorrow.

She's Seven!!

Well my little girl turned 7 today. She was so excited this morning for her special day. Daddy took in special cookies that I made and he stayed and ate lunch with her too.


Abby got to pick what she wanted to do for dinner and she chose Boston Market. She loves to eat there but her little brother is not a big fan so this was a big treat for her.


Here I am lighting her candles. Notice Will the multi tasker in the background. He can manage to pick his nose and provide me with instruction at the same time, my kids are truly gifted.


Here Mike tried to take a picture of the birthday girl but Will wanted to make his presence known. Abby got a pink snuggie, a custom made CD from her cousin, an invitation to make cupcakes with her other cousin and a vera bradley sunglass case. I know that last one seems strange but when she saw it in a store she was obsessed with it. It was a great day for all. On Saturday we will take 4 of her friends to CiCi's pizza followed by attending Dublin Coffman's version of HSM 2. It should be a blast.

Thankyou Lord for this precious girl. She is so tender hearted and such a friend to all. I am so grateful for how she is growing up and know I will be amazed by the plans you have for her.

What we've been up to

Well we have had a busy week. Here are some pictures of Abby at gymnastics and when we went out to get a blizzard treat while Will was with our babysitter.




This was the first time she had done a handstand on the beam, it is so fun seeing her get to try so many different things at gymnastics. She has made real improvements over the past 7 weeks



We love Blizzards and they were buy one get one free!!

This past friday was a tailgate at Abby's school. We took the whole family for pizza, cheers and some face painting. It was crowded because the weather did not cooperate but it was still fun. On Saturday the kids had soccer games and my parents and Mike's sister came over for them. Will was a soccer maniac, he was scoring goals like crazy and even dived once to block a shot on goal. Abby did a really good job of hustling up and down the field all game, no goals but she still did great. After the soccer game my in-laws picked up the kids for a fall adventure weekend. They went to a corn maze and decorated pumkins, they also got their birthday gifts from them. They were totally wiped out on Sunday.

Abby will turn 7 this wednesday. I am making some sugar cookies to take in and I think we are going to take her out to Boston Market. She always begs to go here but we usually don't as Will is not a fan. I hope to post pictures of her birthday and a birthday outing we have planned for the weekend.

Thank you Lord for a full life. Thank you for my extended family who loves to be so involved in my kids lives. I am truly blessed.

AMEN!!

**Remember to pause the music at the bottom left, then enjoy**


One of my facebook friends posted this today. You will be blessed by listening to it. What a great way to start off your week. Thank you Lord for this country and thank you that you will not abandon us despite the world rejecting you.

Proud

Well I took Will to get his haircut at Great Clips(where his daddy goes) and I was so proud of him. He sat so still, asked the stylist lots of questions and of course came home looking very handsome. We walked next door to subway and he sat quietly while I ordered. On the way out the cashier gave him a free cookie. I almost teared up when he was getting his haircut because he looked like such a big boy. It was a fun afternoon with my little guy.



Abby scored the first goal of the soccer game this saturday. She was so excited that she scored a goal and that she was the first one on both teams to do so. She is getting better each game, adjusting to the bigger fields has been a little tough on her but she is getting the hang of it slowly but surely.

I am also proud of my big brother Brian who completed the 60 mile walk in San Francisco this weekend for Breast Cancer awareness. It was rough on his body but he said it was a life changing experience. I can't wait to hear more about the amazing people he met.



I am proud of Abby and Will and how well they got along this weekend. Here they are watching Scooby Doo together while Mom and Dad watch the Buckeye Victory. It is so fun to capture these tender moments.



Lastly I am proud of my little fireman. Today was an open house at the dublin fire stations so Mike took Will over while Abby was at a birthday party. He looks so cute!!!

Thankyou Lord for a fun family weekend. Thank you for allowing me to focus on the good my children did this weekend rather than the frustrating parts. They truly are a blessing to me.

Crazy Love Ch. 2

Here are just a few quotes I highlighted from reading Ch. 2 of Crazy Love by Francis Chan.

*On the average day, we forget that our life truly is a vapor.(James 4:13-14)

*When I am consumed with my problems...I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities.

*The point of your life is to point to him.

*A.W. Tozer once said "A man by his sin may waste himself, which is to waste that which on earth is most like God. This is man's greatest tragedy and God's heaviest grief."

***So who are you pointing to? What direction is your life pointing at? Are you consumed with things that reveal the glory of God or only things that complete your own agenda? I know I need daily reminders to stop being selfish and living a life that is all about me. What a great chapter to remind me of how easy I can lose my focus. I pray Lord that my thoughts,actions,words and time would be guided by you, that your will is done and not just squeezed into my check off list. Help me to be, as Francis Chan's book says "Overwhelmed by a relentless God" every day.

**For more discussion on Crazy Love check out this website http://bloomcommunity.ning.com/

I love it when a plan comes together!

Any A-team fans out there? Well I am not talking about my plan but of God's. I had mentioned earlier this week about studying the book of John for BSF and how my pastor taught on the same book at church on Sunday. Little did I know after that post that God was not done re-affirming the importance of the book of John in my life.

Today I went to the bookstore to pick up two books. I have recently re-discovered the joy of reading books again, that is books that aren't geared towards a 5 and 7 year old. I had heard about a bible study going on at Angie's blog called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. I had wanted to participate in it but thought with BSF starting I would not have time. So I didn't get the book but I have watched bits of the video portion Angie and her friend have posted on the first two chapters. So today as I am looking for the book "What Difference do it Make?" by Ron Hall,I came across what else but Crazy Love. I thought to myself, God must want me to read this book so I might as well get it.

Fast forward to tonight, I decide to go ahead and read the first chapter of this book. First of all, if you think you are in awe of our God now, please go to the crazy love website and watch the video called "Awe Factor". If you thought God was big, you haven't even scratched the surface. As I read the first chapter I came across this verse, Colossians 1:16 "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." While the verse is amazing itself, even more amazing is that I just studied this verse this morning as part of my BSF homework. This was not a coincidence or chance, it was a total God thing. How great of him to confirm to me that I am inside of his will. Being in God's word is blessing enough but that he would take the time to guide me to the passages he wants me to be in is simply breath taking.

I can't wait to see what God is going to reveal to me over the next few months. I am only two weeks into BSF and 1 Chapter into Crazy Love and I feel like shouting from my rooftop all that God has taught me. God is good, all the time, all the time he is good. Thanks God for being ever present in my journey to know more of you.

Perfect Timing?

Well today Abby had school pictures. Normally this is a very exciting today, but since last night Abby had a crash on her scooter and caught herself with her face, not so much.


This is how Abby's face looked last night after we cleaned her up.



This is how she looked today for pictures. Luckily they have retakes and class pictures do not take place until the Spring. It really could have been alot worse so we are so grateful that a few scabs is all she ended up with.

Abby was a real sport about it. She was worried about her pictures and I told her that she would have a chance to have them redone. She scuffed up her knee pretty good as well and she had already had scabs on her knees from a fall last week. Needless to say she is not allowed to play chasing games with the neighbors any more to ensure we do not have any more incidents for a while. I will be grateful for pants weather, her poor little legs are all scabbed up.

In other news I have found a great new salad kit by Dole. It is called Southwest salad and comes with dressing, cheese and seasoned wonton strips. I add fritos to it and some additional cheese and it is perfect. Tonight I made taco meat with it and we had a great taco salad. So if you are looking for something easy with a little zing then I definitely recommend it.

I guess some things don't go together

My kids love brownies. My kids love peanut butter chips. I get great idea to bake brownies with peanut butter chips in them. My kids decide that baked peanut chips in their brownies is not a good thing. So much for trying to combine the best of both worlds. Luckily Mommy thinks they go together great and will be eating the rest of the brownies by herself this week.

This weekend we had alot of fun. On Friday night we went out to The Montgomery Inn and had a fabulous dinner. Mike ate way more barbecued meat then should be allowed. After dinner we walked over to the toy store. Mike decided that purchasing a whoopie cushion would be great fun. We brought it home, each kid tried it once. Then Will thought it would be fun to jump on it, whoopie cushion busts completely to threads. Abby starts crying because she no longer has hours of entertainment before her. Will starts crying because he feels bad that he busted it. Mike and I are laughing that a whoopie cushion could cause such extreme emotions in our children.

Saturday Abby and Will had their soccer games. Abby scored two goals, she was super excited. During the second half of the game, Abby was lolli-gagging around and I told her she needed to pick it up. She tells me "Mom, I already scored two goals". We had a little talk afterwards about what it means to be on a team. Later we all headed to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It was very cute and very short. It had a nice message about being who you are and about telling your kids you love them and are proud of the them. It was well done and we were so happy to have a family friendly movie to see.

We were all happy that the Buckeyes won, USC lost and the Bengals won. Will and Mike played football today and Mike taught Will how to fake. Abby and I went shoe shopping and got her some cute black dress shoes as well as some skecher twinkle toes that she just had to have. How could I resist purchasing tennis shoes with rhinestone studded toes and charms hanging from the laces.

Our weekend wouldn't be complete without attending church today. Our pastor is teaching from John, the same book we are studying in BSF. I love it when God does things like this. I know I am supposed to be paying attention to what God is revealing to me about Jesus Christ through the book of John. Now I will be sure to get it. Thankyou Lord for allowing me to worship you today, thanks for always being present in our lives. Thanks for the blessing of being able to call your son my savior!!!

BSF the Gospel of John

So BSF(Bible Study Fellowship) started this week and we will be studying John. I am so excited to be learning more about this particular Gospel and to have the structure I need to really be in God's word daily. I have heard that John is an excellent place to start for those who are not familiar with God and his son Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that this year many women who have never known the love of Christ will acknowledge it and recieve it. I pray for myself that I will see what God wants to reveal to me about himself. So if you haven't yet found a bible study please check out the BSF website for a class near you. I can't wait to see what God reveals to me about his son Jesus Christ thru John.

Stationary Giveaway

I am already thinking about what my Christmas Cards will look like this year. Over at Polka Dot Mom there is a giveaway for some great stationary by Pea Pod. Even if you don't win the giveaway they have some really cute stuff. Also you might want to follow Polka Dot Mom as well, she always finds the neatest things.

Hoping to blog about Mike's recent trip to India soon. He should have some great pictures from the trip but we are waiting for his co-worker to email them. He was there for two weeks and got home this past Friday night. We then went to the OSU vs USC game. What an exciting place to be until the last minute of the game. I took some pictures with my phone but I am not sure how they turned out.

Will is a monkey!!

Today was Will's first day of Pre-K. He is in the Monkey class at school. His sister was in the frog class when she attended pre-k so it will be fun to see what the monkey's do. Will was a little nervous for school so we prayed about it last night and this morning. He was perfect!!! He let me take pictures, which he did not want to do last year and he walked right into class without any hesitation. I even had to pull him back to give him a good luck hug.



Unlike his sister, Will could care less about a back to school outfit, so I let him pick out what he wanted to wear.



Here is a close up of my little man outside his classroom. His teacher was so cute, before they could enter class they could give her a handshake, high five or hug. Of course my boy chose the leaping high five.

Abby has had alot of fun with dress up lately. She was a flower girl last May and so she decided to try it on again for size. She decided to add a little Indian flare by wearing the jacket her daddy brought home from India. Does she have the modeling pose down or what.



I am so blessed to have these lovely little children to keep my life full of so much joy. What a gift God has given me in motherhood.

Labor Day 2009

We spent Labor Day weekend at the lake again this year. The weather couldn't have been better. We were able to play in the lake on both a calm and wavy day as well as get in a great boat ride. Abby and Will played with their cousins of all ages and had a blast.


Abby and Will played really well with each other. It was nice to be able to actually sit a little on the beach and watch them entertain each other.




There was tons of bird poop on the pier so some of the adults started the process of washing it all off. Will decided he wanted to help so he went and got a bucket of water from the lake and walked it over. I am not sure how much water was actually still in the bucket by the time he got it there but it was really sweet to see him wanting to help with out my prompting. Abby decided she wanted to help too and brought over a bucket as well.

We feel so grateful to get to spend several weekends up at the Lake. It is a beautiful and relaxing place with lots of family and good friends. I know we are making such precious memories for our children.

We drove home early from the Lake on Monday to meet my side of the family for a special lunch. My grandparents have been married for 60 years, what an amazing milestone. It was nice to see everyone get together to honor them and their commitment.

We are back to school today for Abby and tommorrow Will starts preschool. Looking forward to all that the approaching fall season has to offer.

Kids being Kids

Here is a funny video of my kids just because. Will decided to make an invention and of course I had to capture his creativity. Then things went down hill from there. I love that my kids can be so carefree and silly. I love that Will loves to dance. So here are my kids in all their silliness and I loved every minute of it. Remember to pause the music on the bottom left of the blog;)

Wind in their Sails

I read bits here and there out of this book "The Power of a Positive Mom" by Karol Ladd. I tend to read it more while my husband is traveling as I find it harder to be as positive as I would like to be when the day to day activities seem to wear me down.

In reading from her book this week I came across the chapter providing advice on discovering your child'd potential. I am drawn to this topic as Abby has started school now and Will will start next week. As I begin to schedule activities and homework projects are introduced it does make me think about recognizing those areas where my kids really shine. I love in the book where it states "Our challenge is to learn how to be the wind in their sails without blowing them off the course God has set for their lives." I want to be an involved and supportive mom but I don't want to be a controlling mom. Giving thoughtful direction and choosing or controlling the direction are two different things. Of course the Bible provides insight into our parenting duties and specifically how to train them. I really like the author's translation of Proverbs 22:6 "train a child according to his bent."

So it looks like I have some homework as well this school season, according to this book there are four steps to studying your children in order to find their unique skill sets and direction. Step 1: See the potential, this sounds easy enough but I know if feels like some days I have only focased on what they didn't do or say. Step 2: Offer opportunities for Growth, here she empasizes trying a variety of activities for you kids but not rushing. In fact she lists several Olympic athletes who didn't focas on their specific sport until their teenage years!!! Step 3: Set realistic goals, she emphasizes that these be the children's goals and not your goals for them. Lastly Step 4: Support their Endeavors, whether they win or lose, just them knowing you support them no matter what is such an encouragement to them.
So I am excited to really study my kids a little more deeply and find out what makes them truly unique and how I can help them find their bent. Hope you enjoyed this new info as much as I did. Happy Discovering!!!

I have a first grader!!!

Abby started first grade yesterday, I can't believe how brave she was and that she is gone all day now. It is such a huge leap from 2.5 hours a day to 6.5 hours a day but she handled it like a champ.



Here she is with her good friends Regan and Elizabeth, we took a picture exactly like this last year, it is so cute to see how they have grown.

Abby was a little nervous leading up to the start of school because she was worried about being at school so long. Once we got to school though she found her friends and was literally pulled into the building by them, she was smiling the whole time.

I can't believe she is such a big girl. I always hear don't wish away those baby years because you will never get them back. Yet in the midst of having two small children I remember looking forward to the day when they would be able to go to pre-school so I could have a little break. I think you are so overwhelmed sometimes when your children are little that even though you know you shouldn't wish them to get older, sometimes you can't help it. Now as I ponder her going into first grade I tear up at the fact that she won't be little again. I look ahead and instead of wishing her more independent I want her to stay right where she is at. I am so thankful for this little girl and all the joy she brings to my life. I pray for wisdom to guide her to be a daughter of Christ and to always cherish the blessings each day with her brings. Thank you for this gift Lord.

What I'll miss about summer

Well the weather the past few days has definitely made me think about the end of summer. Also the fact that school starts tuesday really lets me know that fall is around the corner. Here our a few things I will miss about this past summer.

LAKE ERIE



CORN ON THE COB



THE POOL



MY HUBBY DOING SOME HEAVY DUTY YARD WORK



Even though I will miss summer and all it's fun I am definitely ready for my favorite season of fall. Looking forward to all it has to offer. Go Bucks!!!

Adversity and Prosperity

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire,
which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which
kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.

-Washington Irving

I came across the above quote at this blog. The woman behind this blog has definitely seen her share of adversity but chooses to reveal the prosperity she finds as well. Please visit her blog if you get the chance.

This quote provided much encouragement and fear at the same time. While I know that God can do the impossible in impossible situations, the fear of having to go through adversity to light the flame with in is a little unsettling. As I pondered this quote I knew that there had to be some bible verses that provided the inspiration. Here are a few scriptures that I came across:

1 Peter 1:6-7 ...though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by the fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus is revealed.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other.

Job 1:21 The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.

Lastly I found this quote by Anne Bradstreet: If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcomed.

So if you be in adversity or prosperity right now may we always know that God is in control of both and is with us in and through both. Isn't interesting that when things are going well we take the credit and when they are going poorly we can often blame God. Thank you Lord for the blessings in my life and promising to walk with me through it all.

Show us your life-vacation

I have been blessed to be going to Sanibel Island for the past 10 years, it has been wonderful. Sanibel is so family friendly and very relaxed.

Besides the beautiful beach and ocean, there is a pool that keeps the kids entertained.


Of course it is a great time for family as well, our kids have so many great memories and traditions that have been developed there.

Lastly it is a great vacation spot because we have grandparents with us who love to help and so graciously let us stay with them.
I look forward to many more vacations there as well. I also look forward to new vacation spots. In October my parents, brothers, sister-in-law, nephew and my little family are headed to Disney World, I know that will be a special vacation as well.

Get organized!!

I am trying to get things more organized around here. I am getting tired of looking for my son's transformers for the 100th time. I have been inspired by Real Simple magazine who has provided some great ideas and products. I am going through all the kids toys a bin at a time and tossing what they don't use(although I have to do this without the kids looking) and organizing by type of toy. This will be a long process but if I think about all the time we spend searching for toys I know I will come out way ahead in the long run. I wanted to share a website that I found called theorganizedparent.com. I specifically like the wally wall organizer(corky) and plan on ordering it. I saw this in Real Simple but found it cheaper at this website. It also has alot of great ideas for organizing in general. I also got the idea to get 5 magazine files and label them Monday-Friday and placed them in my laundry room. This will help with notes to school, homework and library books. I got my magazine files from Ikea, 2 for 2.99. I decided to use my laundry room as my organizing center because we go through it to get to the garage. Hopefully I can keep up my motivation. Clutter is something I have always struggled with. I wish I could go through the mail each day and then toss the junk and read through the catalogs that day. Oh well, it's a process and sometimes there are more important things(two cute ones at that) to spend my time on. Let me know if you have any great ideas about organizing.

What encourages me

A new site has been launched today, please check it out. Twenty different woman, many known throughout the blogging world are involved in this effort to provide encouragement to all women. They are asking the question "What encourages you?". I find encourgagement is this verse: Phillippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me". My mom recited this verse to me in High School and it has gotten me through many uncertain situations. I also find encouragement in simple blessings that God reveals throughout the day. How can I not be encouraged by a God who allows laughter to follow tears and a hug to follow a child's disobedience. The encouragement is always there, it just has to be on our radar. I also find encouragement in the strength that God provides to myself and others. Now the real task is to take the encouragement I recieve and pass it along to others.

Need Answers?

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? Check out this blog by a Pastor in Arkansas, I have been following his daughters blog(www.kellyskornerblog.com) for a while and was lucky enough to come across her dad's as well. Hope this provides comfort to those in the midst of suffering and prepares the rest of us for when our time comes.

Free background

Just wanted to pass along a cute free desktop background calendar. It was easy to set up and looks really cute. Visit leeloublogs.blogspot.com and check out her August 2nd post, happy backgrounding!!!

Irish Festival 2009

This past weekend was the Dublin Irish Festival. It is attended by close to 100,000 people and is an event we attend every year we can. This year we took Abby and Will on Saturday afternoon and then came back without the kids for Saturday evening.

Here Abby and Will are doing some type of Irish jig to the tune of the hokey pokey


Here Abby and Will are flying high, I am glad they enjoyed it as we waited 45 minutes to an hour to get to do it.

Abby and Will jumped and climbed on all sorts of things and had a blast. I will try and post some video of them on the climbing wall.

We heard some great music that night and we were able to enjoy the evening with some great friends as well. I recommend checking out celtic-tenors.com and brigidscross.com.

Pool Day!!

This past Friday night Mike met us at the pool for an evening swim. Mike has been really wanting to take the kids swimming so I took them Friday @ 4pm and he met us there @6pm. We had a great time, Abby passed the swim test which was very difficult as she had to swim against a current. She was so proud of herself as was I. Here are some picture of our evening. Abby and me, Mike and Abby on the tube slide and Will eating his PB&J. It was a beautiful evening and a great time of family bonding. I am looking forward to many more of these fun family events. Thank you Lord for the blessing of my family. For children who love to laugh and a husband who wants to be there for them at all times. I am truly grateful.