John 3:16

"FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE AND ONLY SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE." JOHN 3:16

About two weeks ago was Will's last wrestling tourney. Mike took Will there for warmups and Abby and i joined them later. When I saw Will he was pale as a ghost and on the verge of tears. HE WAS SUPER NERVOUS!! This was the league championship and there were so many people there. I felt sick to my stomach, I didn't want my baby boy to be scared about wrestling or competition, I wanted him to have fun. I start thinking in my head, how do I handle this. Then I look down and I see this written on his hand.



In wrestling the kids get put in brackets and this was Will's for the day. So I told him the importance of that Bible verse and how God loves him so much. I was so grateful for the opportunity to share scripture with Will as comfort. His first match ended in a forfeit and he lost the next two. However he wrestled great despite the fact he had to wrestle the #1 and #2 wrestlers.




Mike got to coach a few of the kids because they were short coaches. Mike is on one knee by the table and Will is on his knees looking a little bored.



Here Will is sitting on Mike's lap as they await his next match. What great Daddy/son bonding:)




Lastly this was God again letting his presence and comfort be known. Abby and I attended church before we headed to the mat. I saw that she got a red heart ornament but I did not read what it said. When we got home after the tourney I looked at it and wouldn't you know it said GOD LOVES YOU on one side and JOHN 3:16 on the other side. Only God could orchestrate the events of that day and how gracious of him to reveal his love to my family.

Valentine's Party 2nd grade

This year I was a co party planner for my daughter Abby's Valentine's Day Party. I thought I would blog about what we did as I am always searching for ideas. Also I am always forgetting what I did in year's past so I thought I would document it hear.




For goodie bags, we filled 4x6 dollar store valentine bags with a few goodies(my co planner scored cute bubbles from target super cheap). We then wrapped an individual microwave popcorn bag in wrapping paper, whole punched the top of the popcorn and bag and tied a ribbon to keep it together. I found these cute free owl valentine printable from living locurto and inserted them in the bags



Here is my own sweet valentine dressed in all pink and red for her party day.



For games we split the class in two and did relays. One relay was putting a balloon between your knees and walking to/from the start/finish lines. The second relay was to race to these index cards with candy taped on them. Each card had a task to perfrom and then the team that performed fastest won, but everyone got to keep the chocolate. We then did a cupcake walk by numbering construction paper hearts and playing music until your number was called. Then you were allowed to go claim your cupcake and get some of the other snacks provided. Lastly we bought large conversation hearts and had teams build the tallest tower they could in two minutes. The kids seemed to have fun. I saw another class do the relay where you try and sit on a balloon and pop it and the team that gets all their balloons popped first wins. I remember doing this as a kid and because I didn't weigh that much I was always the slowest at this task. I had forgotten about that game until I saw another class doing it.

In my son's kindergarten class they did this really cute game where each child pulled a piece of paper out of a bag and it had a picture of an animal on it. Then you had to go around making the noise your animal makes and find your partner. We have also played bingo in the past.

Hope you all had a great Valentine's day. My hubby surprised us each with a small gift when we got home from soccer practice. We typically don't celebrate Valentine's day so this was a very nice thing for him to do.

This makes me happy

I have been reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, it really is an amazing, perspective altering book. I just finished Chapter 4 and am getting ready to start my list of 1000 things that bring me joy so I can recognize the gifts that God is giving me every day. There are so many great points in this book so I encourage you to check the book out for yourself or head over to (in)courage and get caught up. You will be blessed.

So as I start tonight thinking about what brings me joy, I remembered this photo I took on my cell phone last May. I was driving through an unfamiliar neighborhood and I see this cute older couple out for a walk and they are holding hands. It just warmed my heart to see their affection and so I snapped a picture in my sideview mirror. This is what I want Mike and I to be like when we are 80+ and out for a walk. Thank you Lord for the blessing of companionship.

Hobby Lobby

Like I need another reason to shop at and love Hobby Lobby. I picked up this cute canvas for Abby over the weekend at the beautiful new Polaris store.



This is what I want Abby to know every day. That her Heavenly Father thinks she is all these things and sent his son to die for her. I love that I can shop at Hobby Lobby and hear Christian music piped in, score a great deal and be affirmed by Christ all in one visit. Way to go Hobby Lobby

Howdy Partner

This past week the theme at church for the kids was Western. Abby created her own outfit, I love the brownie vest. We borrowed cowboy hats from Mike's cousins and I helped Will with his outfit. He has been dying to wear ripped jeans so this was a highlight for him. Abby actually won best cowgirl and she was very excited about that. I love that Abby wanted to dress up and took ownership of her outfit. I love that Will still lets me help him and that simple things make his day. I am thankful for God's blessing of children, that he would honor me with being a parent. Feeling very fortunate to be called Mommy.

Boys in Action

I came across this blog Link up at Home with the Boys asking bloggers to blog their boys in action. I came across this great picture of my son Will playing the Wii in his pj's, and sporting his ultra cool head band. Will rarely sits still, rarely has a shirt on, let alone matching pj's and is always up for an adventure. So glad I had a reason to dig through some photos and capture him in action.

Hearts Melting!!

Today is just one of those days where you take the time to realize how blessed you really are and how much I absolutely adore my kids. Here our a few pictures of my favorite little people.

Here is Abby eating her chinese with her fancy chopsticks. She is so easy going, so thoughtful and so caring. I love her to pieces and she could not be a better daughter or big sister. Her cheerleading is coming along great, she is throwing her back handspring by herself with a little encouragement. Hopefully she will be completely ready to go when competition starts in one month.



Here is Will last night as he crashed on the couch. What a sweetie. Mike has been out of town(he is on his way home as I type:) so Will has been my little bed buddy, he loves to be with his Momma.




Lastly this picture brought tears to my eyes. Will brought this home from Kindergarten today. They just celebrated their 100th day at school and this is what Will thought he would be doing at 100 years old. God is so good. I am so glad Will's tender little heart gets it.


In case you can't read it, Will's answer is: up in hevin with my savyor

Our Sunday

This Sunday was great. We had a great sermon at church about parenting our kids, which I touched on in yesterday's post. We headed to Will's wrestling match and then out to dinner at the Rusty Bucket. We usually head to the Rusty Bucket in Dublin but since the wrestling tourney was in Upper Arlington we went to the one there. The have this great patio with a fire pit, the kids checked it out before we left and thought it was uber cool. Will has decided to resurrect his peace signs I guess in his pictures, we will see.


Today has been crazy with the ice that came over night. The kids were out of school and the driveways and sidewalks are crazy icy not to mention our cul de sac is like an ice rink. We are in for some additional winter weather tonight and tomorrow so we will see what tomorrow brings. Hope everyone stays safe!!