And The Winner Is...

The winner of the $25 Gift Card for Ecostore USA is

#33 - Fiddlchic Jennifer

Congratulations and don't forget to e-mail me ASAP to get your gift card!

Thanks to everyone for participating.  Make sure you check out their site even if you didn't win.

Maybe I'll be able to do some more of these soon...that would be fun!

The Perfect Ending To A Perfect Day

Today was jam-packed!  We started off the morning with a 4-year check-up for Areyna.  She is steady around the 50% mark in both height and weight.  So, a denial to take an eye exam, 4 shots, a finger prick and a passed hearing test (we've been wondering about this one since Zeke and Rainy like to hang out by the sub-woofers during band rehearsals) later we came home fully loaded with stickers and a sucker, smiles and all=)

Next on the agenda, a trip to the Billy Graham Library.  Josh and I had gone with the kids before, but we wanted to take my parents.  After the tour the guys dropped me, my mom and Areyna off for a walk-through of IKEA.  My mom was pretty impressed I think=)  While we were looking around the guys headed over to Bass Pro to check out the fish and other animals.  Zeke had a blast.

After the full day we headed home for dinner and a fun night of stories, stuffing the newsletter HOUSE and 24.  

What a GREAT day!  And I just have to say...my dad is smarter than Dr. House.  He called the diagnosis 30 minutes into the show!=)

So, what was your Monday like?

Full

Josh and I are home.  It's 1:15 pm and we just got home from a great morning of worship at Ridge Church.  We are resting up for a full Evening Of Worship at Ridge's facility tonight at 6pm.  We have to be there at 3pm so we're catching a quick bite to eat (compliments of my mom's wonderful cooking) and sitting on the couch to catch our breathe for a minute before heading back.  We'd LOVE to see you there!!!

I'm already predicting a severe case of "Gig-butt" in the morning!=)

Only Once Or Twice

What's only once or twice?  The number of times I get to see my parents in a year.  They flew in last night and don't have to leave until Tuesday.  They'll be heading to Ashville for some meetings for a couple of days and then they'll spend the night here Friday night before heading back to Colorado Springs next Saturday.  

It's always so good to see them.  This morning/afternoon has been full of sleeping in, relaxing, a quick trip to the grocery store and resting some more.  It's been GREAT!

We have a few activities lined up though, like taking my mom to IKEA (she's never been to an IKEA before, gasp!) and heading to the Billy Graham Library.  

I'll keep you up to date on our week(end) activities=)

Baby Names

Josh and I have been trying to find a good boy name for the little guy wiggling around in my belly so we decided to ask the kids what they thought his name should be.

Areyna's Picks:

Marsha - after the elephant we saw at the zoo over Christmas

Taxer - not sure where she got that from

Zacktocky - hmmm, maybe not

Carson, Samuel, Daniel, Joseph, Connor

Zeke's Picks:

Baby Daddy

Baby Tasha

Clearly Zeke is NO help at all=)  And I think Areyna is just stating all the names she hears at her school, HA!

Blessing Your Husband - Challenge 3

Go back and review Challenge 1 and Challenge 2 and lets move on to this week's challenge.

This next week we are going to focus on Praying For Our Husbands.  

That's it? No, that is not it, by doing this we are relinquishing our want and desire to control our husbands, as if we actually had control in the first place.  By praying for our husbands we are confessing our need for a Savior in our marriage and proclaiming that God knows what is best for our husbands!

If you don't know where to begin, start by saying, " Oh God, help me to pray, because I cannot pray by myself."  "Such a prayer helps us to recognize how prayer expresses our deepest need before the kingship of God."  Dr. James Houston

Through prayer we can "receive the patience, accept our limitations, and ask for steady help, sustenance, and direction, especially when our influence approaches its limit."  Debra Evans

Don't get discouraged if you don't know what to pray.  The Bible says "We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express," Romans 8:26  Did you catch that, the Holy Spirit will help us, He is interceding for us.  He knows how we ought to pray in accordance with God's will!  Praise the Lord, because a lot of times I don't know what to pray or how to express my heart.

"Prayer does not fit us for the greater works;

prayer is the greater work"

Oswald Chambers

$25 Gift Card Giveaway

I had the opportunity to try a few products from Ecostore USA for a product review and a give-away on my blog (see below).  I thought, sweet, free products and give-away on my blog, why not=)

The Ecostore foundation is "No Nasty Chemicals".  All of their products are made from plant- and mineral-based ingredients, free of toxic chemicals that are environmentally safe.  

I was so excited when my package showed up with all 3 of the samples I requested to try.

Here's what I thought...

Baby Sleepytime Bath - The smell is so calming and relaxing.  It reminded me of a spa.  It was very gentle on the kids skin and eyes and I LOVED it so much that I stole a little for my own bath the other night=)

Baby Moisturizer - This stuff was amazing.  Areyna has been battling eczema since she was born.  She never had that soft baby skin.  We've tried everything for her breakouts and settled on a strong steroid cream which we weren't even sure worked but thought it was at least something.  Well, the past two times we've given her a bath we have put nothing on her except for this moisturizer and she hasn't complained ONCE about her eczema or itchy skin.  This one product has sold me for sure!  It smells great too.

Citrus Spray Cleaner - I was anxious to try this stuff.  I've cut back on all of my cleaning supplies and was just using a vinegar/water mix to do all my cleaning so that I could get my kids to help with the cleaning (they LOVE to help me clean).  The Citrus Spray Cleaner works well and is environmentally safe but if you are looking for something that is kid-safe I don't recommend this cleaner.  The back says to keep out of reach of children and to keep out of eyes and try not to inhale the spray.  So, although it works I probably will just stick to my vinegar solution for cleaning.

Thank you Ecostore for the opportunity to try your products!

***NOW, on to the give-away!***

Ecostore is giving away a $25 Gift Card to use toward their on-line products.  Here's how you can win!

1. Leave a comment with your name and e-mail address
   
2. I will randomly choose a winner next Tuesday
3. I will e-mail the winner and post their name on my blog that morning
4. You have 24 hours to contact me back with your address before I pick another winner.

You can check out the Ecostore USA blog HERE to get even more details about their merchandise.

Thank You!

My sister had the most brilliant idea for my kids for Christmas.  She got these tackle boxes and filled them with pom-poms, stickers, buttons, Popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners and other goodies to make art boxes for each of them.  My kids have been carrying their art boxes around the house ALL week and making some pretty unique art pictures.  
It has literally left them with HOURS of fun and me with occupied children for long enough to get just about anything done around the house!

Now, if I could just get all the sequence and eyeballs vacuumed up off the floor in every room of the house at the same time we'd be in business=)

I Guess I Can't Judge Him...

...but I can smile at him.  Our good friend/neighbor is a landscaper.  Every day we drive in and out of the culdisac and we have to fight back our envy.  He has the most BEAUTIFUL lawn.  We often wonder if he looks at our yard with that same distorted face that Josh and I get when we hear horrible music or an out of tune instrument=)  Anyway, back to the post at hand, we never know when he makes it look so good!!!

Well, at least not until tonight.  Now I know!  It is 10:35pm and we still have our windows open from a beautiful day and I heard the distant rumble of a lawnmower.  Oh yes, Jerry is outside making his yard exquisite by the light of the moon=)

BUSTED!

Zeke has finally learned how to turn doorknobs.  Guess where this new found freedom keeps bringing him?  He is fine with closets that I tell him to stay out of but the pantry is a constant temptation for him.  Not only that, but he goes in the bathroom and retrieves his big stool to get the things that are normally out of his reach, you know, like an extra biscuit off the stovetop or the granola bars on the second shelf in the pantry=)

A Little Concerned

You may remember my post last week about my kids having ear infections.  Since Zeke is allergic to Penicillin he was on a different anti-biotic that only lasts 5 days but works for 10 days (don't ask, I don't know how that works either) and Areyna was on a 10 day anti-biotic which should have ended today.  On day 7 of her anti-biotic she started complaining about her ear again and it was getting worse by the hour.  By day 8 she would actually walk around with her hand covering her ear and dinner time was a balancing act between eating with one hand and propping her head up on the table and holding her ear in pain with the other one.  

This had never happened in the middle of an anti-biotic treatment so I wasn't sure what to do.  I called the pediatrician and they gave her a stronger, more potent anti-biotic.  When I talked to my mom that day she said "Oh I'm so sorry!  I always hated it when you kids were on anti-biotics.  You all acted so weird.  Andrew (my little brother) would get extremely hyper and I was so thankful for him to be done with his medicine."  

I really didn't think anything of it until about 2 hours on her new medication, Areyna is bouncing off the walls.  She is a maniac.  She has more energy that I've ever seen her have.  She is jumping around, intentionally running into things, talking REALLY loudly, laughing obnoxiously and, well, acting more like Zeke!!!  So, mom, you called it.  I hope these next 9 days go by VERY quickly, and if you see us in the next couple of days please know she doesn't need "help", she's just heavily medicated=)!

Why Not

This past week, for various reasons, has been full of emotional ups and downs.  So, in order to retain composure and tranquility for my family (this pregnancy has made me crazy and obsessed to keep things in order and clean and to "re"organize every little thing in the house!  Poor Josh can't seem to find anything.  He even asked me where he could find the paper towels last night), I decided to let some things go that normally would absolutely drive me crazy!  

For example, the clean laundry has been sitting on a pile on our bedroom floor for over 3 days, I think that's a record for me!  The kids toys have overtaken every room of the house, the dishwasher STILL needs to be started and I haven't made my bed yet today.  But in a strange way it has been nice to just let go of all that stuff for awhile and sit around and glue googly-eyes on paper with Zeke, make birdies for Areyna out of little pom-pom balls, go on multiple walks a day and paint my toenails.  

When the kids come up to me and ask me if they can do something I usually make my decision on whether or not the activity will make mess or if I just don't think it's all that necessary.  But this week has been a little different.  They have heard a lot of this phrase from me instead, "why not".  Not to something that will hurt them, of course, but to things that really don't matter in the first place like, carrying their art boxes ALL over the house leaving a trail of sequence and sticker backings behind them=)  Or pulling the couch cushions off to roll onto them on the floor, or bringing Babydoll in the sandbox, or playing musical chairs at mealtime, or killing the worms that came out after last nights rain with the racquetball racket.  I mean, why not!  The kids have enjoyed playing a lot more this week as I've let them explore out of the box, which I believe I need to do more of.  I'm working on it, anyway.

So, this afternoon I'll work on straightening up our house again, but I think I'll leave some toys around, just to remind myself that it's OKAY to just let it go sometimes=)

Just Look At Her=)

So, apparently I missed that Areyna had pictures again for the spring last week. (Yes, I got a notice a few weeks ago but it completely slipped my mind!)  It was a day she picked out her own clothes. At least they match in color=) She didn't even tell me when she got home that she got her pictures taken.  The only reason I found out was the notice that I could now view them on-line!  Not only that, but I can't even take credit for her cute hair style because all I did before she walked out the door was clip it back to stay out of her eyes!  Her teacher must have thought, "Poor child, her mommy sent her to school on picture day looking like this" and fixed her hair really cute.

Just a quick confession of an absent-minded mommy, HA!

Would You Rather...

Would you rather have a Summer baby or Winter baby?

I am pregnant with my second summer baby.  People keep looking at me with pity saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry.  You are going to be miserable!!!"  But I don't feel that way at all.  I get swollen face either way and I'd much rather not have a layer of sweaters and/or snow coats adding to the swollen look, you know what I mean?=)  Not to mention having to stuff swollen feet into close-toed winter shoes?!

There is nothing that feels better than being 9 months pregnant and throwing on a flowing tank top or sundress!  Or just jumping (well, I didn't say it would be graceful=)) into the kitty pool in the back yard.

That's just me though.  How about you?

Timely Imaginations

I'm just wondering if anyone else's children have the sweetest and cutest imaginations when it's time to get ready for bed?!

It is 7:30, normally by this time we are in our jammies and about to have our family devotion time but Rainy and Zeke are being so doggon cute that I just can't bring myself to tell them to stop playing so sweet and start getting ready for bed=)

Tonight they have been glueing little eyeballs on paper to make monsters, going to restaurants in every room of the house and coming back to me and telling me if "that's a bad one" or not, cleaning up their toys in pocket books (yes, Zeke too!) to go to meetings, playing in the elevator (their bathroom), going to the zoo and petting all sorts of imaginary animals and putting their babies in bed...waking them up...tucking them in again...

Do your kids do this?  

Confession time:  How long will you go before you just have to put an end to the cuteness and finally put them in bed?

Good Idea/Bad Idea

Good Idea:  Scrubbing the Sink with your old toothbrush

Bad Idea:  Scrubbing The Sink With Your Current Toothbrush

In an attempt to "help" me clean last night, Rainy and Zeke thought it would be a great idea to scrub the after-you-brush-your-teeth spit from the sink with their toothbrushes!!!  I caught the toothbrushes right before they went back in their mouths for round 2 of brushing!  Good thing I had a back-up toothbrush for each of them.  The old ones went straight to the trash can.  I don't think this would be of any benefit for their oral hygiene=)

Smoothie Recipe

*First of all, thank you for your overwhelming response to my post about becoming more healthy.  I learned so much from you all, and plan to implement many of your ideas!  Josh is just thrilled, HA!=)

**Secondly, ya'll are really sweet to boost this pregnant momma's self esteem the way you do.

Now, upon request:  Here ya go Tonya=)

Here is what's in the smoothie pictured above.  I tend to switch it up every time depending on what I've got in my refrigerator, but this has been our favorite one so far!

• 1 Kiwi
  
• 1/4 Tomato
• 1 Carrot
• 1 Banana
• 1 Orange
• 1/4 Mango
• Handful of Strawberries
• A few pieces of Pineapple

Mix together and refrigerate until it is chilled to your liking!  ENJOY=)

Almost 20-week Belly

Here is the almost 20-week belly.

I do believe I see a little prego-face already!!!

It's just inevitable I suppose=)

Blessing Your Husband - Challenge 2

***If you are a little behind click HERE to get your first challenge on how to bless your husband and catch up!=)

This one is simple yet hard but VERY effective, so here goes.

When your husband walks in at the end of the day lay your schedule and agenda aside (completely) to catch up with him.  He may even want to take a long leisurely walk outside, so just fight the urge to say "Sure, after I get ______ done."  This one is going to be so hard for some of you, including me!  I get so caught up in my little projects or with whatever I am doing that I am totally distracted until the task is complete.  This is a simple way to honor our husbands and to show them that we truly value them and want to hear about their day with our full attention.

So, my challenge to US is to try this for a week and just see what happens=)

"How many opportunities for blessing and 

celebration have I missed with my husband because 

of my determined choice to stick to a schedule or 

remain preoccupied with my daily work?"

Debra Evans

Organic, All Natural, Whole Wheat...

***This is for you Jennifer McMurray=)  Don't go buy that Juicer just yet...

When we went over to Wes and Jenn's house last week Jenn and I talked the majority of the day about a health food class she had just attended.  I had a MILLION questions and Jenn answered just about every single one of them.  I learned so much (seeing as I hardly have a grasp on the difference between organic, all natural, etc.) and am now motivated more than ever to try my hardest to eat healthier and buy better food for my family while still maintaining our grocery budget.  We both decided that there has to be a good balance between the two.

Here are some things I am going to try to implement into our diet:

• No more sugar - I will supplement honey and raw sugar instead. (Does anyone know where I can find sugar in the raw at a good cost?  I am going to look at Sam's and see)
  
• Brown Rice instead of white
• Wheat bread instead of white (this one's gonna be tough=))
• More veggies and fruits - I've been working on this for a while.  My kids don't do well with snacks.  Especially Areyna, her stomach is too small and she won't eat the next meal.  So, I've been cutting back on snackie foods such as gummies and snack bars and that way I have more money for healthier snacks such as fruit, carrot sticks w/ ranch, apple slices and dried fruit, so at least her snacks are good for her.
• Milk without the hormones - Now I don't know if this is the same as organic but I do know that Target milk is less than $3 a gallon and they don't have any added hormones.

Jenn and I were also discussing the thought of buying a juicer.  So, I decided to give my blender a go at it before purchasing a juicer.  So, I went to Aldi and racked up on all these fruits and veggies for under $10 to start making healthy smoothie snacks.  (Just for a comparison, I had gone into Harris Teeter earlier in the week and just 1 pineapple was $4.99!!! {$1.89 at ALDI})

I've already made 3 Large smoothies and still have TONS of fruit and veggies for several more.  It tastes GREAT and it gives me just as much of an energy boost as a soda or cup of coffee in the afternoons.

Now I know that we've all grown up fine eating these foods, but I figure with us being on the road and having to eat whatever is offered to us (usually pizza and fast food) that I'd try to stay as healthy as possible when we're at home.

So, here's what I want to know...

How do you maintain a balance of health and budget with your family?  Any ideas on some healthy habits to incorporate into our diet?  I'd love to get some feedback as I'm pretty ignorant about this topic=)

Weekend Results

Well, the weather kind of put a damper on our weekend anniversary celebration plans.  I was really wanting to explore the streets of Charlotte and get a hotel UpTown and just hang out there for the entire weekend, but after we realized that just wasn't going to happen, it didn't take long to get into our "game"=)

We kept saying how much fun we were having with NO agenda and only us to worry about so it didn't matter what we were really doing!

Here's what we did and how much $ we spent...

FRIDAY

• Baskin Robbins - BOGO coupon- spent $3
  
• Walked around in a few stores while we got hungry for dinner - FREE
  
• Drove UpTown to Brixx Pizza for an amazing dinner - BOBO coupon - spent $13 (this includes a GREAT tip for our waitress)
  
• Starbucks - Gift Card - FREE
• Smelly Cat Coffeehouse - we wanted to check out the scene and got some FREE entertainment and a brownie inside - spent $2
• Came home to sleep in peace in our own bed - FREE

SATURDAY

• Slept in and got a late Breakfast - Harris Teeter gift card - FREE
• Starbucks for coffee and a long, uninterrupted quiet time - Gift Card - FREE
• Target for lunch - Gift Card - FREE
• Snacks for the movie - Target gift card - FREE
• Josh and I average about 2 movies in a theatre a year.  We didn't have a coupon but it was the cheap theatre so we figured this counted=)  $2 movie theatre to watch Valkyrie (GREAT movie by the way) - spent $4
• Drove to IKEA to return some shelves and walked around in peace without the kids.  FREE
• Panera Bread for dinner - Gift Card - FREE (I must add that this is one of my favorite places to eat.  I ALWAYS used to get the soup in a bread bowl but the last 3 times I've been there they have been OUT!  I'm a little disappointed.)
• Came back home to spend the night in our own bed and to read and just "catch up" (and get out of the rain!!!) - FREE

TOTAL SPENDING:  $22

***We did get $20 worth of gas in the car so even if you add that in we only spent $42.00 and had a GREAT romantic weekend together=)  We are TERRIBLE, this is the ONLY picture we took all weekend...=)

So Far...

Josh and I are having a blast this weekend!  We've found a new strategic dating ritual that may stick around here.  It's called The BOGO Date!  You can read Josh's explanation about it HERE=)  Basically, the only rule is that we have to have a Buy One Get One Coupon (or other GREAT deal)  and/or a gift card to indulge.  We've been spontaneous and non-systematic so far.  For example, we ate Ice Cream before partaking in dinner.  

We're heading back out for another day of kid-less fun.  Don't worry, I'll be highlighting our whole weekend soon=)

Shout Your Love

Somewhere along the way of our almost 7 years of marriage Josh and I picked up a phrase..."That shouts your love". We use it when the other does something, even if it's super small, that shows love in the form of the other's love language. Hmmm, that doesn't really explain it. Let me just give you a few examples:

• When Josh makes the bed in the morning...that shouts his love to me
• When Josh sees that the sink is overflowing and that the dishwasher needs to be unloaded and he goes in to clean it up without me even asking for help...that shouts his love to me
• When Josh sees that I'm a little frazzled in the morning just trying to get myself ready on time and he goes to get the kids dressed and ready...that shouts his love to me

Now, I love flowers and gifts just as much as any other wife out there, but these are the kinds of things that absolutely fill me with love for my husband because it shows me that Josh is thinking about me and loving me in a way that Shouts it out!

March 23rd is our 7-year anniversary but we are celebrating it this weekend.  Joy, Josh's sister, is coming in for the weekend to watch the kids and Josh and I are going out on the town with no other agenda than to spend time together learning the things that shout love to each other.

What shouts out love to you?

4 For 4

That would be 4 little ears in my house that are infected.  My kids have had a rough couple of nights so I took them into the Dr. today.  (I still don't understand why I have to pay 2 co-pays when we are all already in the room and it only takes a second to look in the ears of my second child!!!) 

Areyna has 1 ear infection and another one filled with fluid well on the way to an infection.  Zeke has a double ear infection, another nasty, runny nose watery eyes and both of them have swollen throats.

To top it all off Josh isn't feeling so well today either.

Makes me tired just thinking about it.  I think we'll be cuddling and watching a lot of movies today=)

"When I Get Bigger..." - Continued

You may remember my post a couple of weeks ago about Zeke's favorite "pre-phrase".  Well, here are a few more as of late=)  A new twist has come about this past week though; if Josh is around Zeke adds an alternative for Josh ..."and when you get small..."

"When I get bigger I will...

...have a big hat like you."

...not fit in my batman jammies anymore."

...be able to write with highlighters."

...have a big packetball goal."  (that would mean Basketball goal=)

...have a big beard."

"Daddy, when you get small..."

...you can wear my batman jammies."

...you can play on my little packetball goal."

...you can play my little silly guitar." (his electric guitar=)

Time To Tell The World

This morning we loaded up the family in the car to go see Stephanie, our awesome Ultrasound Technician and...

The kids did awesome and Zeke has been awaiting the magic appearance of the baby all day now=)  Stephanie, our technician was so fun and took TONS of pictures.  She is pretty confident in her predictions.  She's been doing this for over 20 years and has never missed.  In our case it was VERY obvious;)  If she ever has a question she won't say the sex, and when a client ever has any doubt she promises to pay for their college education.

We couldn't be more excited!

Blessing Your Husband - Challenge 1

I just started a book called "Blessing Your Husband" by Debra Evans.  I'm going to be posting an  idea for us, as wives, to work on every week.  

This week I want us to focus on the expectations we have for our husbands.

"It is a foolish woman who expects her husband to be to her that 

which only Jesus Christ Himself can be, always ready to forgive, 

totally understanding, unendingly patient, invariably tender and loving, 

unfailing in every area, anticipating every need, and making more than 

adequate provision.  Such expectations put a man under an impossible strain."

Ruth Bell Graham

"A woman defines herself by her relationships, and a man defines

himself by his accomplishments."

Deborah Newman

If you add these 2 statements together you will realize that we are setting our men up for failure just by our expectations.  D.Newman also states that we, as women, "have a great opportunity to call the men in our lives to greatness..." by "giving them room to fail and always call(ing) them back to be the best they can possibly be."

Let's encourage and bless our men by allowing them to be who they are, by laying our expectations aside, and by loving them...even when they mess up.

A Conference and A Gathering

Today we are heading out (way too early, I might add) into the great world of Charlotte, NC.  Josh will drop me and the kids off at our friend's house for the day so the kids can play together and so I can catch up with my friend, Jenn McMurray, and have some much-needed adult interaction=) Josh will then hop in the car to go help our friend/co-worship leader speak at a conference.  They will lead a few songs of course but their main objective is to speak to Pastor's about "What Every Worship Leader Wishes Their Pastor Knew".

After the conference Josh will head back to pick me up for CharlotteONE, which we're leading tonight, while the kids stay with Wes a Jenn a little longer.  We always LOVE playing at CharlotteONE...SO...if you live in the Charlotte area come join us UpTown at First United Methodist Church at 7pm!

We Are The Proud Owners Of...

We finally got to go to our Charlotte IKEA last week.  It is the coolest store EVER!  They have a kids play place.  Zeke didn't meet the height requirement but Rainy went and had a blast.  Then, we all ate at the food court for about $12.  Not too bad for 4 people.  The store ended up being less than 45 min. away.

We did have a purpose in our trip though.  We have literally been saving up for months to get the kids a set of bunkbeds and a dresser/cabinet so we can upgrade for the new baby.  (Which, by the way, we find out is a boy or girl on Wed.=))

Zeke absolutely LOVED helping his daddy put their bed together.  His phrase of the night was "Daddy, where is my 'that thing'?"  He wanted his version of whatever tool Josh was using at the time.  

Areyna sleeps on the top and cannot get enough of it.  As soon as we got home from church yesterday she ran to her room, climbed up the ladder and laid on her bed until lunch was ready "just to rest";)

Saturday night was their first night in their new environment and it will take some getting used to.  Since they can no longer look at each other they think they are farther away than they really are so they were singing and talking A LOT LOUDER than normal and for A LOT LONGER.  They were still up when Josh and I went to bed which made for quite a morning at church, but that just goes with the territory of change.  

Zeke with his THAT (power drill)

Hammering together

The finished product!

(Can you believe this is the only wall in the house that can 

fit a bunk bed besides our bedroom?!)

Their new dresser/cabinet

Slow Me Down

Josh's isn't sure who this person is in his house because it sure isn't his wife=)  I think I'm finally past the NO ENERGY, NO MOTIVATION, LAY ON THE COUCH while the kids climb all over me, CAN'T HARDLY COOK DINNER because of the smell of the first trimester.  I have now entered the CAN'T GET TOO ORGANIZED, HAVE WAY TOO MUCH ENERGY, PERKY second trimester.  

Just today I...

• woke up at 5:45am
  
• got the kids ready to go 15 minutes early!
• lead worship at Ridge Church
• got home and made lunch
• got my CVS scenarios together
• put the kids down for a nap
• went to CVS and racked up!
• came home and cut my coupons (shew, finally caught up for the first time in weeks)
• got caught up on ministry work
• started laundry
• made dinner (I never make dinner on Sundays)
• folded laundry
• posted something on CraigsList and sold it less than 2 hours later
• gave the kids a bath

...and am now about to watch a movie with my baby.  I should sleep well tonight!=)

The Sweetest Thing

Two nights ago we were sitting on the couch after our family devotion time and the kids wanted to kiss and talk to the baby before they went to bed.  Zeke lifted my shirt up over my belly and went on to tell the baby his favorite colors.  Areyna and Josh wanted in on the fun too so they joined Zeke!  Not 2 minutes into the craziness did I begin to feel little movements in my belly in response to the chaos on the outside.  It was a sweet bonding time for our whole family.

Then, last night, the kids were wired for some reason (maybe because of our IKEA trip we went on today!!!).  It was 10pm and the kids were finally calming down.  We'd been listening to them sing, tell stories and giggle for 2 hours!  I LOVE those sounds...

Obsessed

I just finished up Crazy Love by Francis Chan this week.  What a GREAT book.  It has definitely opened my eyes and convicted me to change some things in my own life.  Here is one more take away that I got toward the end of the book.

"A Person who is obsessed thinks

about heaven frequently.  Obsessed 

people orient their lives around

eternity; they are not fixed only on

what is here in front of them."

Francis Chan - Crazy Love

Here is an example of a life obsessed with Jesus:

During the intermission of a play that Francis attended with some family and friends he leaned over to his wife's grandmother and asked how she liked the play.  She said, "Oh honey, I really don't want to be here right now."  When asked "why" she replied, "I just don't know if this is where I want to be when Christ returns.  I'd rather be helping someone or on my knees praying. I don't want Him to return and find me sitting in a theater."

"Therefore, be alert, since you don't know when the master 

of the house is coming-whether in the evening or at midnight

or at the crowing of the rooster or early in the morning.

Otherwise, he might come suddenly and find you sleeping.

And what I say to you I say to everyone: Be alert!"

Mark 13:35-37

I don't know about you, but when Christ comes back I don't want to be sitting in a theatre or caught in the middle of denying him when the rooster crows.  I want to learn this lifestyle of anticipation of our Great God!

5 More Months Of Braxton Hicks

The last 3 months or so of my other 2 pregnancies were full of Braxton Hicks.  It's crazy to me that some of my other friends who have had children have never felt this uncomfortable tightening of the abdomen.  

I just started my 18th week and have already been feeling Braxton Hicks for over a week now.  This may be an interesting 5 months=)

Debunking A Common Coupon Myth

"I just don't buy anything that I see coupons for."

This is the most frequent phrase I hear (and which I even used to believe) when individuals contemplate starting to get into the couponing scene.  But, unless you have a food allergy or are just Brand-partial you can always find at least a few coupons that could save you a couple bucks.

Example:

What I bought this week-

Blueberries, Strawberries and Bananas

2 cans of Diced Tomatoes

1 box of whole grain spaghetti

2 boxes of brown rice

2 boxes of pop-tarts - 12 count

7 boxes of Celestial Seasoning Tea (Josh drinks this before singing)

2 1/2 dozen eggs

32 oz. of coffee creamer

3 kinds of face wash (we've been using free travel sizes and were in desperate need=)

1 box of ziploc baggies

2 boxes of sandwich meat

1 carmel syrup

1 bag of tortillas

1 package of highlighters

The 3 items highlighted in black are the only items not on sale or which I bought without a coupon.

Total before discounts - $95(ish)

I spent $45 out of pocket

Saved $50.10

(about $30 in VIC card sales and $20 just with coupons)

This is not to brag, this is to give you hope that you can do it and still eat healthy within a budget using coupons.  Now, go out there and get some GREAT deals!=)

Just In Case You Thought He Was Perfect

Can you tell where I'm going with this?

This is the bathroom AFTER Zeke peed all over the rug.

Just a few hours later Zeke came out of his room soaking wet.

Oh yes he did, he pulled all the clothes out of this drawer,

climbed in, and peed in it.

Then, after church on Sun. I asked him to go sit on the potty

before nap time.  So, naturally he pulled off his dry pull-up...

looked at me, popped a squat and peed on the carpet.

In desperation Josh picked him up mid-way through his "session"

and decided that the rug by the backdoor would be better?!

(later Josh told me, "At least it wasn't my shoe which I was about to grab for him to pee in!)

Finally, a potty break in the potty, shew!

Zeke started pooping in the potty and then for some reason

he decides to scoot to the back and dangle his feet in the NASTY water!!!

Ugh...BOYS!

Sardines On A "Rainy" Day

Tinkerbell Areyna

Well, we did it. We pulled off the Tinkerbell party of the century, (j/k)=) But we did cram 19 people into our little house on a rainy day. Good thing we had stickers to play with, pizza to eat, juice boxes to spill, lots of presents to open and cake to eat! Several of Rainy's cousins drove down from the Raleigh area along with a few of her local friends who joined us for Areyna's 4-year celebration. Here are a few pictures from the day!

1.Everyone Hangin' Out 2.Making Foam Sticker Doorknockers

3.Josh and Mike staying out of the way=)  4.Opening presents

5.Cousin Cana and Areyna        6.Cake Time

Yup, Again

Thinking ahead because I KNOW the doorbell will ring 

at 9am with a porch full of kids;)

I'm sitting here after a very restful and relaxing Sunday afternoon and watching yet another snow storm.  We've been working on this one for days though.  It started raining on Friday afternoon...I mean really raining!  This morning we woke up to thunder and the temperature has been dropping by the hour.  The wintry mix started this afternoon along with the ice and now it is a very wet thick snow.  It's supposed to snow all night long and not get above freezing until tomorrow night!  I don't think we'll be going anywhere tomorrow;)

Rainy had a GREAT birthday party on Saturday.  I'll post pictures tomorrow...