Valentine Family Weekend ~ Pt. 2

Can you see my little fish and her Daddy?

The hotel we stayed at was amazing, definately one we will keep in mind when we do this next year!

See the happy open mouth coming off the slide?

She just wanted to swim swim SWIM!

Very happy off the slide again!

"All by myself Daddy, you watch!"

"Love you Mama"

Going up the stairs to do the slide AGAIN!

Floating on her back, all by herself!

She was all smiles the two nights we went swimming!

Back float again

Motion picture...she then learned that jumping in was TONS of fun!

Splash!!!

She wanted to go again and again! I think she kind of tired Daddy out that night! Brave "Big Strong Girl" (as she says)

Brother wasn't as fond of the water as Sissy, in fact the second night him and Mommy sat on the sidelines and cheered on Daddy and Sissy! And he was okay with that...so was I, it allowed me a chance to take some fun pictures!

Valentine Family Weekend

So I have not been taking many pictures because our camera in on its last leg, and I have not reached my weight loss goal...nor have we saved the money for the camera we would like yet...so please bear with the terrible quality of the pictures in the posts from now on out!

BUT, we did enjoy a great family time on Valentines weekend...we stayed at a GREAT hotel for TWO nights (thanks to a great couple a friends who decided instead of gifting eachother on V-Day they wanted to buy us a second night so we could have more family time!  Thanks Jason & Lex!)  We of course did LOTS of swimming since our hotel had a 130 ft water slide and then Saturday we went SHOPPING!  We kind of spoiled our kids...since Grandpa & Grandma do it all the time they are SPOILED but we as their parents really do not so it that often, it was kind of fun! 

But our newest tradition is that every time we go to the mall we get to pick one ride on the way out...that day they wanted the SPEED boat!  They enjoyed their ride (and I am thankful that they are no longer deathly afraid of these things!)

We also went to Pottery2Paint and let the kids paint their own ice cream bowls...BooBear LOVED it because he doesn't mind getting dirty, but the Princess had a little trouble with it because she kept wanting to wash her hands because, "Mama, I'm MESSY!" 

lol

All in all they enjoyed it and would like to go back an make more...of course the Princess has her eye on the $54 life size puppy, and just what would we do with that?!?!?

And here is the finished product:

Handsome and I realized how much of perfectionists we were as we were just to 'assist' the kids and let them do WHATEVER.THEY.WANTED with the paints...it was killing us to not step in and help them 'stay in the lines' but we managed and now we have a great keepsake.  I did carve the date into the bottom of the bowls before they fired them so as to remember this day forever!  Seems like the kids want ice cream all.the.TIME. now!

*Check back tomorow for pictures of our little fish!

BooBears 2nd Birthday Party

Because we celebrated BooBears birthday at Grandpa & Grandma's house over Christmas we decided to have a little get together here a month later to celebrate with our 'West River' friends!  This is Handsome and the kids ready to go to the Gorilla Restaurant!

Cutting the cake...

The crew...apparently my Handsome was telling a very interesting story!

It must have been funny!

They sang to Boo and some how Eric ended up wearing the sombrerro!

Another cake cutting pic

~BRING ON THE GIFTS~

Thanks to Mr. T & his bride for this fun Noah's Ark!

Thanks to the lawyer and his bride for the fun JohnDeere semi & combine!

Thanks to Mr. & Mrs. G for the fun Elmo blocks along with Milo & Ottis!

In a strike of insanity Mom bought him this NOISY guitar from the family...however, he doesn't get to play with it often, the door frames thank me!

Eric showing Boo how it should be done!

And Eric finally getting to play with the toy he bought and kept himself from opening!

~After looking at this post, if I didn't know better I would have thought Eric to by my son's father...I guess I just didn't get very many pictures of the kids with people other than Eric! 

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for the opportunity to serve God in the free country we live in!  It is a great way to spend your life and I look forward to watching my kids grow up {prayerfully} with a servants heart too!  Not all people in all parts of the world are so blessed with the opportunity to serve and worship with such openess...so I see fit that it is something to be thankful for!

What are you thankful for today?

He had FUN?!?!?

Back in January Handsome had some things he needed to check out under the house and wanted to clean it up a bit too, so he thought that BooBear might be interested in being Daddy's helper.  The Princess and I were doing good girlie things (dance class & shopping) and when I walked through the door I see this happy little boy sitting on the kitchen floor with his tools eating some fruit snacks....it may not look bad from this side but check this out~

He was having fun being the spider web cleaner...I made Handsome take his clothes off and clean him up right away when they were finished and he also did the laundry too...that just grossed me out.  Handsome did report that BooBear had a fantastic time and really did help him out!  Glad my husband has a son to share these experiences with now...it used to be me!

Baby Love

We are in total baby love right now!  The Princess LOVES any baby she can talk to, hold, play with!  She is a big helper at The Patch and I am thankful for her...we would totally be okay if God saw fit to send Baby E.D.H. or Baby O.O.H. or Baby A.D.H. at any given time (A.D.H. will only be used if we end up with two more boys!)

All the girls at the Patch just love little Pumpkin A!

A Mamas Reminder...a.k.a "Thankful Thursday"

Yesterday I was so busy having fun with the Pumpkins I didn't take time to write a post!  But here it is!

As many of my Thankful Thursday posts have been lately...this one is about ♫ Music ♫!  Sorry if it is boring to you, but I just cannot help it!  I have a music book called FAMILY.LOVE.NOTES ~a.collection of songs for the Christ-centered wedding and the true Christiand home by Cathy.Corle~

I bought it while I was in college planning my wedding to the most amazing man in the world {Handsome.}  We actually ended up picking a song out of it for the wedding and in the hopeless romantic state that I am, I pulled it out around Valentines day to remind myself of the words to that song...but in the mean time found a song that felt like a knife to my heart...that is the song I want to share with you:

~Please Take Time~

Mom and Dad I know you hurry though each day of work and worry.

But this is a reminder that I bring.

Just a little time I'm small,

Seems like hardly any time at all.

Soon these precious years will pass and so I sing.

Please take time to play,

Take the time to pray.

So quickly time will pass and I'll be grown.

Take time to take my hand time to love and understand.

Please take the time before the time's all gone.

When my life was all brand new,

God gave the job to you

To teach my how to love and how to live.

Teach me how to kneel in prayer,

Believing Christ will meet me there,

Trusting Calv'rys price my sins will all forgive.

Please take time to play,

Take the time to pray.

So quickly time will pass and I'll be grown.

Take time to take my hand time to love and understand.

Please take the time before the time's all gone.

Now while my heart is tender you can teach me to surrender,

For I look to your example and long to please.

But the time will someday come when opportunity is done,

And as the twigs were bent will grow the tree.

Please take time to play,

Take the time to pray.

So quickly time will pass and I'll be grown.

Take time to take my hand time to love and understand.

Please take the time before the time's all gone. 

Please take the time before the tim's all gone.

I do not know about you all, but I sure needed that reminder!  I often talk about how I cannot believe my babies are already 3 and one of them is getting VERY close to 3 1/2!  Where does time go?  It slips away second by second and those seconds turn into minutes, minutes to hours, hours to days, days to weeks and so on.  Our children are only under our roof for 18 years and how often to we get frusterated with them because of the 3 year old version of "20 questions"  Why?  But Why Mama?  Why?  and so on are constantly being asked in our home...do I take the time to explain or show or do I just say...'because, now go and play.'

Guilty

Far to often I find myself guilty of giving a quick answer with hopes of not having to take the time to explain or show because 'there is always tomorrow.'  But pretty soon we are going to be wishing there was a tomorrow and if the guilt I feel today is even a tiny fraction of the guilt that would be then...I need to change my ways! 

Proverbs 31:26

"She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."

Wait!  What?!?!  When I open my mouth it is always to be used for wisdom, and/or teaching, and/or kindness...hmmm

Grade I give myself: F for big, fat FAILURE!

So I have now decided that each morning I am going to read this song and sing along in my head so that it is there for the day.  Do I want to be the one teaching my children?  Or do I want them to learn it from someone else and it may not be what I would want them to learn...easy answer says that I want to teach them a godly way of living, but why is it so difficult to execute?

So what am I thankful for through all of this?  Well, my children, an understanding FORGIVING God, a wonderful godly supportive husband, and music...to name a few!

Daddy's Helper

We waited all the way until January 6th to put together BooBears birthday gift from Grandpa & Grandma N!  He was so excited to get his tools and help Daddy work!

We had a difficult time getting him to play out of his room (and still are having a little trouble) because he loves playing with this workbench SOOOO much!

Thank you Grandpa & Grandma N!

Not original to me...

I just received an email from FamilyLife.com that was pretty sobering! It was called, "Googling Help for Marriages" and the idea behind it was using Googles autofill setting to see what the most popular searches are when it comes to marriage...so I tried a few of their suggested ones and this is what it said:


I typed "My Husband"
it offered...
...is annoying
...makes movie lyrics
...hates me
...doesn't love me
...is a jerk
...cheated on me
...ignores me
...'s three wives
...is an alcoholic
...is depressed


I typed "My Marriage"
it offered...
...is falling apart
...is in trouble
...is over
...is boring
...is failing
...was a mistake
...is dead
...trouble quiz
...is over now what
...needs help


I typed "How Can I Get My Wife"
it offered...
...to swing
...to shave
...in the mood
...to shut up
...to love me again
...to loose weight
...'s facebook password
...pregnant
...to
...back


I typed "How Can I Get My Husband"
it offered...
...to fall in love with me again
...to be more affectionate
...to leave the house
...to want me
...to be more romantic
...to help around the house
...to loose weight
...back
...to love me again
...to talk to me

Those are the top 10 auto fills for each of the phrases and the top ten are choosen by most popular searches.  What it says about the state of marriages is pretty sad, in  my opinion!


Dave Boehi ends the FamilyLife.com email with this:


"This is just one piece of the picture of American marriage. But it's enough to show once again how many people are looking for help for their marriages and families.

There are answers to these problems--and those answers are found in a relationship with God and in the plan He provides in the Scriptures. Probably you know some people who need those answers.

When I read stories about marriages that have been saved or revived, I often notice that someone in that couple's life was courageous enough to step in and offer help. Perhaps a listening ear and a wise word of exhortation. Or an invitation to attend a Weekend to Remember® marriage conference or a HomeBuilders Couples Series® group.

In your family, in your church, and in your neighborhood there are people who are searching desperately for help. You can look at this as an overwhelming problem, or a tremendous opportunity."

We attended a Weekend to Remember last October and while we have a good relationship and strong marriage commitment, it is something I would encourage any couple (new and old alike) to attend. At our meeting the newest married couple was less than 24 hours and the longest married couple was 55 years! It helped us to understand where the other is coming from a little more, what God expects of us in our relationship and so much more! I reference my session binder where we had fill in the blank answers and homework and "making it personal" couple and individual activities to accomplish throughout the weekend. One of the things I learned there that I still think of almost daily is that when you are have a discussion it is best to meet fact with fact and emotion with emotion. My Handsome is a very factual person and I am an emotional person...he has learned that when I am struggling I do not want to hear all the facts about how to fix whatever the problem may be, but I need tender love and care (ex. hugs, kind understanding.) That turns around, when he is struggling with something I cannot get all emotional...I have to deal in facts (ex. instead of crying, have actual reasons for why that upsets me.) One of the best tools that I could ever have been equiped with! Wish I would have gotten it before 7 years of marriage!

We actually are working with our church in starting the HomeBuilders 'Marriage' series here pretty soon.  If you are in our area we would be more than happy to have you join us!

If you know of a Weekend Remember retreat being help in your area, I highly recommend you to attend! It will be well worth your time and investment!


But as for the google for marriage...I would suggest going to the Bible and seeing what God has to say about the troubles in your marriage. Dr. Google isn't likely to give you Biblical advise in that department!

Heart Cries giveaway!

You should head over to fellow adoptive Mama at Heart Cries and check out her very first giveaway on her blog!  Looks like something that anyone would be able to put to use and I would REALLY love to have!  Check it out!

Thankful Thursday

There is this thing going around FB about putting a picture of your spouse and you in your profile picture and then sharing how long you have been together!  Well as of today we have been married for 7 years, 6 months, and 1 day!  What a ride it has been...to go back over all of the things we have been through together in the 7 1/2 years both good and bad, wow, God has taken us through some amazing stuff.  But the most wonderful thing is that God isn't through with us!  He is going to continue taking us through trials and celebrations until our life on earth is done!  Which brings me to what I am thankful for!

Romans 10:9-10

"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."

A verse I memorized in high school to win a 5 disc CD player...but has stuck with me all these years (over 10!)  All we have to do is ask God to save us, accept the gift, and believe it with everything in our heart and we are saved from an eternity in Hell!  I am so thankful that you don't have to be one of a certain number of people, or have to be so close to perfect, or really have to do anything BUT believe and accept!  I can meet those qualifications and have done so!  Now I look forward to what God is doing in our lives!

I am thankful for Salvation!

But now, I will leave you with a picture from 7 years 6 months and 1 day ago...

New Daily Verses

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Please take time to notice the new verses to the left of the blog...I finally updated them and am going to
try to do it at least every other week!  Hope the encourage you!

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Mama Moments...

I know I haven't had one of these for a while, but it seems like every day could be a 'Mama Moment' if I wanted it to be!  But my latest thing that I am IN LOVE with is how my two-three year old children say HOSPITAL!  It is something more like hostibal, and I KNOW that the day they learn to say it correctly there will be tears running down my face!

There is another occurance that is happening regularly that makes me a PROUD Mama!  We have been members at a gym for quite some time now and the kids have always wanted to play on the equiptment while there, the other night we decided that if we took the time to show them how to use a few of the differnt pieces that they might actually be able to enjoy their time there.  Well, my little princess was walking along side her Mama tonight on a treadmill!  She kept telling me to make it faster, but the fastest we allowed her to go was 1.5 mph!  But she did that for over 10 minutes before she was bored and wanted to move on to lifting!  I do not know what all the machines are called, but her favorite is the one that you sit on and push the weights straight out in front of you...if it is left at 25 lbs she can do it!  She also enjoys the stationary bikes.  We are not wanting to brain wash our children about becoming work out freaks, but I guess that it couldn't hurt to have them enjoy it!  BooBear enjoys it some too, but his attention span is not as long as his sisters!  He goes between 'working out' and rolling his JohnDeere tractors all over the place!  What a fun activity to do as a family!

What are your Mama Moments...or if your children are grown what do you remember as a special Mama Moment?  Would love to hear from you!

Trip Home from Christmas

We ended up leaving early for our trip 'home' for Christmas due to weather, and decided to stay on through Monday as planned....well turns out the weather would have kept us there that long anyway!  The interstates and highways we had to travel to get home were not opened until Sunday, and not early enough for us to leave and get home before dark!  However, Monday we were able to have clean roads and enjoy the sights of 20-25 foot drifts the entire way!

This drift that was along the interstate would have easily covered our Suburban!

She devoloped this new pouty face for picture taking while at G&G's house!

Always happy to smile for the camera!

I can see the Hills!

It is amazing to me how much we LOVE being where we are.  Seriously, while we loved spending so much time with my family over Christmas it was just amazing to see the hills and know we were close to home!  I cannot even describe the entire feeling that happened when I saw the hills...but my heart was racing and my eyes teared up!  Seriously!

This was much more amazing IRL, the tiny little dot in the middle of the sky is the afternoon moon!  It was beautiful!

So pretty...but we did not know what awaited us at home!

Welcome back!

An easy three foot of snow kept us away from our home...my wonderful husband shoveled a pathway so we could unload and get in the house.  We then were able to go get a friends snowblower which made Handsome's job LESS but it still took him three plus hours to get things ready for Daycare the next day and so he could get his truck out for work! 

What an adventure!

Thankful Thursday

I just want to say that I am thankful for the fact that my mom WANTS to talk with me every day!  She has been vacationing this week (floating around somewhere between Miami, Cozumel, Jamaca, and the Cayman Islands) and we haven't had our daily chats...short as they are sometimes.  I have missed chatting with her, as a wife I made the decision to 'leave and cleave' and living so far away has made it pretty easy not to cling to my mom....but being able to have a friendship with her has been an added bonus.  Just hope she has plans of coming and visiting sometime inthe near future! 

Oh and Dad, you are missed too...but with your busy schedule we are lucky to talk once a week...and you are MORE THAN WELCOME to join Mom when she comes next time!

Love You Guys and cannot wait to hear from you on Saturday and all about your trip.  (Next time bring me!)  {Pretty Please!}