The "Welcome Home Fairy"

A few months ago I wrote a post about how I wish I had a personal Fairy who would come and prepare my house so I wouldn't be so overwhelmed when I got home from a retreat or conference.

Well my friends, today my fairy has arrived!!!!  I'm not joking!  We drove up to our house and my newspaper was off of our driveway and all my flowers were happy and watered.  THIS is what usually happens when I leave my poor plants for an extended period of time=)  Then I walked into my house.  The rooms were spotless, my laundry was folded, my dishes were all put away, I had clean sheets on my bed (and the kids beds), all my coupons were cut, and I had sweet notes from the "fairy" and her family to us!  What a welcome home surprise!!!  I could hardly hold back the tears when I walked in and realized what had happened.

Josh's brother, Jonathan, and his wife and 2 girls came in to "borrow" our house for a night because Jonathan was going to a conference here in Charlotte.  It was cool to know that we could be of service even though we were out of town ourselves=)  But I NEVER expected this.  Kelly thank you SO much!!!!  She knew that Josh and I only have 2 days together before he heads off to another week-long event.  Now, she didn't light the mood candles, but that would have been a little scary, as they would have probably burned our house down by the time we arrived but what a blessing=)

No Lie - Our Little Evangelist

Leelee Burgess went to go get the kids from their class last night after the revival. On the way up the stairs she and Zeke walked by a filing cabinet with a cross on it.

That is when Zeke looked at Leah and said:
Zeke: "That cross means Jesus died. He is alive now. That means we can go to heaven. Isn't that wonderful!"
Leah: (in shock that a two-and-a-half year old just said all that she replied...) "Yeah Zeke, that IS wonderful."

I think he was listening during Holy Week=)

So Nice

We've really had a great time here in Henderson for so many reasons!

1- Hotel time has been SO relaxing. I know, you usually don't think of the word "relaxing" to describe a 4-year-old, a 2 1/2 year-old, a pregnant lady and a worn out husband, but it really has been nice. The kids have been GREAT! Both mornings here in the hotel we've ALL slept in until about 10am. It helps that the kids have been exhausted from the days activities=) (For some reason Areyna wouldn't sleep in the bed WITH Zeke. She preferred the sleeping bags on the floor=))










2-Henderson Pace Of Life. I love it here in the country. It is so crazy living in fast-paced Charlotte. It's been nice to get away. It helps to refocus sometimes. Less distraction for sure. For some reason all the things that seem to matter in the city just don't matter out here=) *sigh*

3-Family. Well, not exactly family, but the Burgess family might as well be family. Pastor Tim is the Pastor of the church Josh used to work for before we moved to Charlotte. We lived next door to them before we moved and they are known as Grammy and Papa to our kids and the Burgess kids are like brother and sisters to us and the kids can't get enough of them!

Rainy and "Leelee" Leah Burgess

The revival meetings have been so sweet this week. We only have one more night before we head on home for a couple of days.

Take A Journey

Leading worship Sunday morning at Journey

Our weekend was awesome. We lead worship on Saturday night and on Sunday morning for Journey church in Raleigh, NC. Our trip didn't end there though. We are in Henderson, NC right now. Actually, I'm sitting here in our hotel room after our second Great night at Blessed Hope's Youth Revival. It has been awesome to see so many familiar faces and even more awesome to see God show up each night speaking so clearly. I know I've learned a lot!

Cousin Kayil and Zeke "Air Worshiping" at the end of the day!

It's cool being in this area because almost all of Josh's siblings live here in the area. Friday and Saturday nights were spent at Jonathan and Kelly's house. Our kids had some great time with their cousins Cana and Kayil. Then, today I got to spend the day with my sister-in-law, Danielle, who graciously let my kids terrorize her house=), and one of my best friends, Jenn, who surprised me and the kids!

Alright, I need to leave the room so my kids will stop talking to me and go to sleep!!!

Any tips on what to do with yourself while you wait for your kids to fall asleep in a single-room hotel room?

Ready Or Not

And we're off!  We are heading out today after Areyna gets out of school.  We'll be at Journey Church in Raleigh, NC on Saturday night and Sunday morning.  Then, we're heading up to Henderson, NC for a Sunday-Wednesday event at Blessed Hope.  We'll be back home again on Thursday just in time for Josh to leave again on Saturday for several more days.

So, our summer schedule has officially begun!  I really will be excited, I promise...just as soon as I get us all packed!=)

Don't worry, I'll have internet access all week so don't worry, I won't be leaving you;)

P.S.  Let me leave you with one thought to process and ponder over.  Maybe you have an answer because all I could get out was an open-mouthed laugh, HA!

***Disclamer - The names have been taken out of this story to protect the real identity of the characters within***

Picture, if you will, walking in to go get your children out of a rather pleasant room-time.  Or so you thought.  Now, open the door and turn your head right.  Your son is sitting on top of their art table, buck naked, with a purple pocket book.  The handles are made of purple feathers, the kind that float all over the house and you can't catch them!  Next to him, cheering him on, is his big sister, telling him to "keep pulling them out!"  No, Areyna no longer wanted the purple feathers on her purple pocket book and got her brother to do the dirty work of making an absolute mess of the playroom, which is STILL covered in purple feathers as we speak!  Why he was naked, I'm not sure.  Any takers?

The Skirt That Just Doesn't Match Anything!

Areyna absolutely loves skirts and tank tops.  They are her favorite articles of clothing, besides princess dresses of course=)  But this skirt is her FAVORITE!  We have a problem though.  We don't have a single top that matches it!  Every time she comes out with this skirt on Josh and I have to just bite our tongues and try not to laugh at the tops she has picked out to go with it.  Yesterday it was a horizontal striped T-shirt with light blue, dark blue and pink stripes.  The other day it was some kind of floral print top.  It sure doesn't seem to phase her though.  She still feels beautiful in it, matching or not=)

I'm Just Wondering...

...why we pay $80 every 3 months for the bug guy to keep our house bug FREE when we continue to find lines of ants in our kitchen and kid's bathroom every year!  I promise I keep a clean house, but those pesky little guys will NOT go AWAY!!!  I mean, our guy was just here a couple of weeks ago and not 2 days later is when we started the ant sightings.

...why there is always a potty accident AFTER I've just finished the last load of laundry.

...why there are special designated "Cell Phone Lots" at the airport when everyone walking around or driving is already talking on their cell phones.

...why my kids seem to have MORE energy on rainy days when they don't have anywhere to run!

...why asparagus pee always smells SO BAD!

...why the kids like to wait until I'm seconds from sound check at rehearsal to have to go to the bathroom!

...why the ice cream truck that came by today was playing Christmas music?

...why the 13 dogs that surround our backyard like to bark ridiculously loud at 6:30am EVERY MORNING!!!

What are you wondering?

Sugar Drinks and Donuts

Today was my day for the "sugar drink" at my baby appointment.  I made sure to pack an extra big bag of fun, quiet things for Zeke to do in the waiting room and for the hour of waiting to get my blood work done.   

As soon as we dropped Areyna off at school we rushed over to my appointment.  When I got there I asked if we could leave for that hour and come back to draw my blood and they were fine with that.  So I sat down to drink that oh-so-yummy stuff.   Zeke couldn't understand why I wouldn't let him have a sip of it=)  I promised him a special snack when we were all done.

Then we headed over to Target to get a couple of things.  (They gave me a cute re-usable bag with my purchase to celebrate "Earth Week".  Maybe your Target is doing that too?)  Pretty sweet!  Then made it back just in time to get my blood work done.  I tried to prep Zeke for the needle that would "only hurt for just a second".  The whole way back to the Dr.'s office he kept reminding me that "it will only tickle for a second."  I think Zeke was pretty impressed with how "bwave" I was and he let out a nice cheer for me when the nurse put a band-aid on my arm=)

Since he did so well I took him next door for a Mommy Date at Dunkin Donuts.  It is Coffee Day and they're giving away Iced Coffee's for $.50!  Zeke was in sugary heaven eating his donut and drinking his milk.  It was a fun morning out with just him=)  I always enjoy my one-on-one time with each of the kids.  He talked the WHOLE morning!  A lot of times Areyna will dominate the conversation when they are together so I think he felt pretty special today doing things with just his mommy and her undivided attention.

No No God

Zeke: (while coloring next to Josh in the office) "No, No God!!!"

Josh: "Zeke, those are not kind words to God."

Zeke: "That is what Pharaoh said to God...and then he got lots of bad booboo's."

Gone

Josh and I have been preparing for our spring/summer schedule to kick in this weekend.  We totalled up the days that Josh would actually be home from this weekend until the baby is due in August and it's less than 2 weeks all together.  I'll be in and out with the kids depending on how they/I do with all the traveling.  It's a little overwhelming to look at it that way but we are just going to go one week/event at a time.  I've been mentally preparing for this for a over a month but due to some unforeseen circumstances the time apart has begun a few days early.  

I just got the kids in bed and the dishes washed from dinner.  I'm tired tonight.  As I write this Josh is on an airplane to Memphis, TN for a funeral of a 25 year-old friend.  We dropped Josh off at the airport after dinner tonight.  My mind was consumed all the way home with thoughts about life...death...the choices we make...the consequences that occur...

*****

During dinner tonight Josh was giving the kids a pep talk to "Obey your mommy", "Be big helpers", "Have happy hearts" and so on.  He knows I have a lot to get done before we head out of town when he gets back and he's heard how crazy they've been today.  Then he did a really sweet thing that I'd like to start implementing more often!  He asked Zeke to think about something that he really liked about Areyna and vice versa.  Then he asked them to tell each other things that each other did to make the other laugh.  It helped change the mood and now I have something to fall back on when they start bickering at each other=)

So, if you think about it pray that I can think about the things I LOVE about my kids and the things they do that make me laugh over the next few days=)

Picture Impossible

Last weekend was a blur, not to mention the package with the kid's outfits didn't arrive until this week, so we didn't get any Easter pictures at all last week as a family with our kids.  So as soon as I got home from church yesterday and saw how incredibly cute my kids looked in their new outfits I figured, better late than never;)

Not only were we sitting in between two very busy Azalea Bushes filled with very distracting bumble bees, Zeke was way too ready for lunch and Areyna had already taken her tights and hat off.  Oh well, the pictures are complete!

So, without further ado, here are our AFTER Easter Pictures.

Invasion of the bumble bees

How handsome does he look!

Zeke was DONE!

Tights 101

So, today was a first.  Josh was leading worship at one church while I was playing at another.  It was really weird not having my man to share the stage with.  He said his morning went GREAT as did mine=)

Here's the weird thing...the kids went with Josh!  After careful consideration we thought it would be best to keep them together, for Zeke's sake, and to keep them at a more familiar church, for Zeke's sake as well.  Areyna was a little sad that we decided to split up the girls, meaning me and her.  She's really into the girls doing one thing and the boys doing another these days=), but I think she did fine after I explained that she was going to have to help me out and be a BIG helper for daddy with Zeke.

So, last night while Josh gave the kids a bath I tried my best to get everything in order for him so all he had to do was slip their clothes on (that I had laid out) and grab their bag (with breakfast already packed).  While I was laying out their clothes Areyna reminded me that I said she could wear her new pink tights to church this week.  Oh man, I had forgotten that Josh had to get them ready this week!!!

Hence the title of this post.  Josh took a quick little lesson on how to put tights on.  I can't imagine what the tights would have looked like if I wouldn't have given any instruction or the tears that would have been shed during the process by both him and her=)  He just stood there, staring blankly, as I tried to explain why you have to wait to put your legs in until you have the whole leg scrunched up and your thumbs in place at the toe to shimmy them up the leg.

Apparently it went well though and the tights stayed in tact.  Josh even made it to rehearsal on time, with BOTH kids and made it home safe and sound before me!  Way to go baby...I KNEW you could do it=)

This Man Is Passionate About His Food

To say that Zeke is a very passionate eater is an understatement!  This boy LOVES his food.  I think his food comes to life for him which is why he gets so emotional when his taco falls apart or why he just couldn't bring himself to eat this little Peeps Bunny at lunch today.  He cuddled him and played with him.  As soon as he'd bring him up to take a bite he would re-group and change his mind.  His little bunny is still sitting on the table waiting for him=)

***UPDATE - I wrote this post yesterday and he ended up carrying his bunny around until bedtime last night before thinking it was okay to eat him=)  Can we say sticky hands!***

I'll Take It A Step Further

My friend posted about how her kids cannot have food on their plates that they don't want to eat.  My kids do the exact same thing.  For some reason it isn't good enough to just tell them they don't have to eat it and to just put the food in the corner of their plate and leave it.  They have to pass the food, half-eaten or not, onto me!

Well, I'm noticing a trend around here and I'll take that idea a step further.  My kids can't even be in the same room as something that they don't want to play with.

Example 1:  I'll go to get the kids out of room time and find a pile of little things that they've stuffed under their door that they simply DID NOT want in the room anymore.  They couldn't just NOT PLAY WITH IT!  They had to push it out of sight.

Example 2:  If we give one of the kids a tissue before putting them to bed we KNOW it will end up in the hallway within a few minutes of closing the door.  As soon as they're done with it they'll go over to the door and push it underneath into the hallway.  It's not just a tissue though.  They can't just NOT sleep with a "friend" or a blanket or a toy that was left in their sleeping room.  They will try to cram it under the door NO MATTER HOW BIG IT IS!

This is what just slid under the door a few minutes into naptime today=)

See, What I Had Meant To Say Was...

Josh and I were on a date a while back when I realized we were out of pull-ups for Zeke.  (He still needs them at night-time)  So, we made a stop at Wal-mart to pick up some cheap pull-ups.  I mean doesn't everybody spend a romantic evening with their man searching for cheap pull-ups at the local Wal-mart?!

Anyway, as we were walking down one of the isles we ran into someone we knew but hadn't seen in a while.  He took a double take when he saw me and said, "Wow, you're really getting out there...(pause)...uh, close to your due date." (followed by an awkward smile)  

After he left we completely busted out laughing!!!  I could tell he felt so bad and was trying to quickly recover from the first half of his statement.  Poor guy.  Good thing I'm not too easily offended by pregnancy comments=)  

Be Very Afraid

Check out the new "monster" that has invaded the Via household

A Whirlwind and 29

Man, I have a HOT husband!  

This is from one of our Easter services from the weekend

Wow, what a weekend!  Our little family is pooped=)  With all the rehearsals and services for Easter we're still catching up from the weekend.  Not to mention we had most of Josh's family here overnight.  Yes, we crammed 8 adults and 3 children in our little house and all slept comfortably.  It was SO much fun.  I don't think I could have done it for a whole week or anything, but it was a fun sort of chaos=)  Thanks family for driving down to spend Easter with us.  We LOVED having ya'll here!

This week doesn't slow down for us though.  We have CharlotteONE tonight and Josh is teaching at church on Wednesday then we have rehearsals for our Sunday services during the week.  Josh and I will be helping lead at different churches on Sunday.  It's the first time we're splitting up for a weekend so it should be interesting.

Now, on to the IMPORTANT news for the day.  It's my man's birthday=)  Yup, he's 29!!!  Go over HERE and wish him a Happy day=)

Our Friend Charlie Hall

Our kids have been obsessed with the Passion '06 music DVD for the last few months.  Zeke will stop everything to clean up the living room so he has plenty of room to air guitar and dance around and sing.  He studies their every move and then mimics them.  Areyna has even joined in on occasion.  

The funny thing is that they are always wondering "Who sings this one?" as if Josh and I should personally know all musicians on TV and the radio.  Right now we're on a first name basis with Charlie, Matt and David (whom, according to Zeke needs a hair cut=)  He likes his "silly beard"!).

So, don't get excited (or jealous) if our kids seem to be BFF's with the Passion Crew, we have only met most of them at Conferences and concerts=)

Acting With Purpose - Holy Week

Tonight for our last day of Holy Week we told the Resurrection story.  You know, the part where Jesus rose from the dead!  The reason for Easter.  The most amazing part of history that sets us, as believers, apart from any other religion!  Our God is ALIVE and presently at work in our lives!

After reading the story we acted it out.  We built a fort which we made into a tomb.  I was the angel that rolled the stone away and the kids took turns coming out and saying "Jesus Is Alive!"

I hope you and your family have had a GREAT Holy Week remembering what Christ has done for you and for me.

Remember, if you are in the Charlotte and you need a place to worship come meet us at:

Southbrook Church Weddington Campus - 7am, 8:30am, 10am and 11:30am - This Sunday morning

Playing With Purpose - Holy Week

Today for Holy Week we've talking a lot about Christ's death, remembering what He did on the cross and why He did it and who He did it for!  The kids have been absolutely mesmerized by the story, especially the crown of thorns.  

Last week when my parents were here we went to the Billy Graham Library.  In one of the rooms there is a BIG cross with a crown of thorns on the top.  My mom stayed in that room for several minutes explaining it to Areyna and answering all her questions and she's been asking questions ever since so today has been a GREAT day to tie that in for her especially.

Since it has been rainy outside with the occasional rumble of thunder in the distance Josh pulled out the art stuff.  Kids need visuals to help them learn so we made pictures about Good Friday and read from their Devotional Bible about this special day while we crafted away.

Now More Than Ever

After we woke up this morning I went out to get the newspaper.  I brought it inside and as Josh and I started flipping through the articles we realized that there wasn't a single mention of Good Friday!  It is so sad to me that America has come so far removed from religion that we don't even make mention of one of the most historic days in history!

I'm motivated now more than ever to make a point to teach my children the true meaning of Easter and the time surrounding it during this Holy Week.

Cleaning With Purpose - Holy Week

Today we have had an all day family cleaning day.  Well, I did most of the work, but the WHOLE house is clean=)  (Josh was working but did take a break to do a little cleaning and cleaned out the fire place!)  We did this last year and the kids really enjoyed it, plus I'm never one miss the chance to do a little cleaning with some "help".  The kids cleaned in spurts as they helped me scrub windows, sweep the floor, and help daddy clean the fireplace.  We prepped the kids yesterday for the day we'd be having today for Holy Week and Areyna was already asking about it this morning at breakfast so we dove right in.

This day signifies the preparation and anticipation for Christ's Resurrection.  The cleaning itself represents the outward example of how we should have the desire to have clean hands and a pure heart before our Lord.

Areyna asked why the house gets dirty again right after we clean it (I've often wondered that myself!), that lead right into an example of how we constantly have to work at "cleaning" our hearts before the Lord.

Here are some pictures of the day=)

Now, I'm off to go make sure I've got my part down for a song we're doing for Easter at our church.  I often wonder how I get stuck learning a WHOLE ORCHESTRA part with just my ONE violin!=)  It's gonna be awesome!

You won't want to miss it:

Southbrook Church Weddington Campus - 7am, 8:30am, 10am and 11:30am - This Sunday morning

Did You Know...

...that there really used to be a religious connection between Easter Eggs and Christ's Resurrection story?  The Easter Bunny, on the other hand, not so much=)

Here's what I've dug up so far:

"In many ancient cultures, eggs were a common symbol (of) new life and immortality.  In medieval times, Christians adapted the egg to their own religious devotions by giving up the eating of eggs during Lent and resuming it after Easter.  Eggs came to represent the Lord's resurrection -- just as Christ broke out of the tomb on Easter morning, the yolk of the egg breaks out of its shell when cracked.  The decoration of eggs for Easter is part of the folk traditions of many clutures, although it has little orno religious significance any more."

This is also why Easter baskets are so big.  They were used to celebration of the end of Lent.   Whatever was given up on Lent was put in the basket, such as eggs, candy or coffee to make it an even more celebratory day.

This is basically what I explained to our kids while we were decorating our eggs for our neighbors yesterday.  I just used the Egg to symbolize Jesus burial (putting the egg in the dyed water) and then the new life (the egg coming out of the water brand new).

We're not trying to "spiritualize" these little things, but we can certainly teach our kids Christian values and meanings behind everything we do, because as you can see, there once used to be real, true meanings behind a lot of the generational traditions that we have taken part in since we were children ourselves.

"Dying" With Purpose - Holy Week

While researching what we wanted to do with our family for Holy Week this year I ran across a couple of cool traditions that we combined.  Some people go around to their neighbors and instead of singing Christmas Carols they sing Resurrection songs door to door.  Then, others, like most Americans, participate in dying eggs.  

We decided that we would make this a day long adventure with our kids and dye eggs for our neighbors and invite them to our Easter church services at our home church.  

During the whole day we have been talking about what Holy Week means to us and why we celebrate it.  We have talked about what dying Eggs symbolizes (Christ's death, resurrection and new life) and the need to share this gift with others.

Step 1-Target Dollar Spot to get Easter Baskets and Egg Dye

(I was totally shocked to find NO religious Easter Egg Dye kits!)

Step 2-Dye the Eggs

Step 3-We let the eggs dry during nap time and then we decorated them

Step 4-Put the baskets together

Each basket included:

A note from our family, a church invite, an Egg and 1 of our CD's

Step 5-On our way=)

Step 6-A Pit Stop (Zeke had to go potty)=)

I was surprised at how into it the kids were.  They kept asking for "One more house."  It gave us another chance to talk with some of our neighbors that we hardly ever see.

Words Of Wisdom - Headache

Zeke:  "Hi mommy."

Me:  "Hey, buddy."

Me:  "My head hurts SO bad today.  Zeke, why does my head hurt so bad?"

Zeke:  "Because you play on your computer too much.  And I'm ready to eat lunch."

OK, I get it.  

I think I'll go fix us some lunch=)

The Preparation - Holy Week

Last year we started a really sweet tradition as a family.  We celebrated Holy Week.  You can check out what we did last year HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

We enjoyed it so much, and the kids still talk about it and sing the songs so much that we decided that this tradition is gonna stick and we're going to do it again.  We'll be implementing some new ideas this year and I'm really excited to face the challenge of teaching our children the REAL meaning of Easter and trying to help make it stick!

This week we've begun our Holy Week by starting at the beginning of the Crucifixion story for our Family devotions at night time.

I Think It's Time

Areyna, I mean Tinkerbell, missing a nap and being very 

content watching the rain while writing in her journal.

Areyna is now 4 years, 1 month and 2 weeks old and I think she is to the point of no more naps.  Before she was taking a nap consistently for a week or so at a time and then missing 3 in 1 week.  Just very inconsistent.  But this week I've noticed that the days where she did get a nap were the days that it took her a ridiculously LONG amount of time to fall asleep at night.  Which makes for not-so-fun mornings on school or church days!

I have really enjoyed my napping days!  My "me time".  My get-caught-up-on-anything-and-everything time.  My alone time.  I need that time a lot of days to relax and build my patience back up for the second half of the day.  I know it sounds selfish, I'm just being honest.  I don't feel ready for this next stage in life where I don't have that time anymore.  I'm not even sure what that looks like.  

Like in the picture above, Areyna is very content during this time, but she gets really chatty=)  She wants to tell me EVERYTHING!  I give her some "rest time" in her room to play by herself for a little bit but on the days when I have a lot to get done for the ministry, or violin lessons to give I am just not sure what to do.

What do you do with your kids during this time?  I'd love some simple ideas.  I've thought about incorporating a little "school" into the afternoons with her.  Any suggestions?

There's More To Him Than Just His Music

I'm talking about Zeke.  It seems like everything in his little world revolves around music.  Except for his love for basketball that is=)  When he has his "ball clothes" on, (which he would wear everyday if I didn't make him throw them in the laundry after countless peanut butter hand wipes down the front of his shirt) he is "packetball boy".  Areyna is always trying to get him to play along that he is her husband or baby or daddy or prince, or whatever else she is imagining at the time, but when Zeke's ball clothes are on he refuses to partake in these imaginary shenanigans.  He is simply a baller and nothing more.  Okay, he's still got his mad air guitar skills with his ball clothes on, but he sure as heck doesn't want to be Rainy's Prince and he lets her know it=)!

Blessing Your Husband - Final Challenge

I finished Blessing Your Husband last week.  It was a refreshing perspective of how we can bless and encourage our husbands through our everyday lives.  I have 1 more challenge for us.  I encourage you to make this last one a lifestyle and not just a 1-week challenge.

Check out Challege 1, 2 and 3 if you want to get caught up with where we are.

So here is Challenge 4:  

Make your relationship with Christ your primary priority

But what does that have to do with blessing our husbands?  Here's how it works.

"Like many women who have walked this road before us, 

we discover that if we're willing to keep seeking our Savior, 

we eventually learn that the Lord's unfailing love for us 

is far deeper and truer and braver than we ever dreamed 

it could be - a truth we learn by heart as we follow the Lord 

with openhearted faith moment by moment, and day by day."

Debra Evans

This allows us to see that in Christ we are complete and that we can now see the example of perfect love by God's example and live that out towards our husbands.  Christ should be the center of that unbreakable 3-strand cord!

Asheville And Back

Well this morning started at an insanely hour!  We got up at 4:30am to get ready for Northview Church in Asheville, NC.  (It was a 2 hour drive so I had my coupons for the week cut AND sorted BEFORE 8am!) It was our first time to be with the church but Josh and I felt a sweet connection with the Pastor and his people.  

After lunch with the Pastor and his sweet family we headed a few miles up the road to see one of my best friends from college.  She just had her 3rd baby (as in, he was 5 days old!).  I hadn't seen my friend since right after Josh and I were married and it was SO good to see her!

After a couple of hours meeting her family for the first time we piled back in the car to make our trek back home.  We made it home around 7:30 tonight.  We just got the kids in bed after letting them run wild outside for awhile and getting some dinner.

Now, I'm gonna sit my bootie on the couch with my man and do NOTHING until bed time=)

Not Without You

Last night for family devotions we were talking about Lazarus being raised from the dead.  Areyna got really interested in heaven and began asking a lot of GREAT questions.  She was wondering how we get there and if we will be together.  Zeke even knew, for some reason, that toys don't go with us to heaven, but we explained that there are even better things waiting for us there!

During our conversation Areyna looked at me and said, (about going to heaven), "That will be fun.  I want to go to heaven.  But not yet.  Not without you."  

That just melted my heart.  That shouted her love for me=)  Not only does it show her love for me but I love seeing her interest in her God!

When God Is Good...

...we REJOICE and Celebrate!  

Which, in this case, we broke out the chocolate chips and milk=)

Last week Josh wrote a GREAT POST about the "Ebeneezer's" in our lives and how we want to be completely transparent to allow our kids to see how God works, even in the rough times.  Well, yesterday God showed up in an amazing way, proving his faithfulness and provision in the most practical way.  

If you've kept up with this blog for any amount of time you know our battle with the kid's snack time.  So, what better way to celebrate than breaking out the chocolate chips (who cares if we spoil our appetites tonight), and a cup of milk which is usually reserved for breakfast and dinner.  The kids definitely understood that something special was going on and that we were celebrating His goodness!

How has God proved His faithfulness to you lately?

Words Of Wisdom

After church last night we went to go pick the kids up from their class.  The first words out of Zeke's mouth were, "I cwied mommy."  I replied with an, "It's alright buddy.  We're here now."

Out of curiosity we asked Areyna how long Zeke cried and this was her reply...

"3 hours or somethin'...maybe 4 minutes."

Hmmm, maybe we'll just ask the teacher next time=)

We Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk In Our House...

...we just suck it up, literally=)

Josh posted a cute video of Zeke in the act.  Go check it out!

Mac-n-CHEE

Do you see it?  The one piece of "mac-n-chee" on the counter?  Zeke seems to think the singular form of Mac-n-cheese is simply "Mac-n-CHEE".