Eating Corn on the Cob

 See Joanna with her little pinky finger up? She is so proper! LOL!

 She can smile for the camera!

I fixed corn on the cob the other night and our kids LOVE it! Thought I would let Joanna tackle a cob all by herself. She really enjoyed this, can you tell? Corn on the cob is one of Elijah's favorite non-chocolate foods! I also have a picture of Isaac and Sarah eating a corn on the cob, just don't have them on the computer!

Time with Big Sister!

Our three little kids love playing with Sarah (Big Sister)! She does such a good job of playing with them and makes sure they are having a great time! Although Sarah is with her siblings all day every day she never complains about being with them. Monday she was palying with Timothy and Joanna and when they came down stairs this is what I saw.

Isn't she cute all dressed up?

Timothy will dress up in whatever is available and loves every minute of it!!

These two are so funny! They even ask for Sarah to play with them!

Big Sister even got in on the action and was dressed up too! I love that she still has a child like heart! I pray that they will have child like hearts for a LONG time!!

Big sister loves reading to the little kids too! She reads atleast once a day to them and they enjoy it so much!

Sarah loves to have her picture taken with Joanna. She even has requested I put a new picture of them on the side of the blog (which I have not done yet).

Words

Saturday night we let the children go out and play for just a moment. It wasn’t long until Joanna had fallen and skint the bridge of her nose and top of her forehead (can you see her booboos in the picture?). She was crying and I was trying to doctor her booboo when I heard another cry. This time it was Elijah. He had fallen on the concrete slab out back and the side of his face was skint along with his knees and hands (see his booboos in the picture?). They were hurt and I was trying to comfort and help.

Joanna and Elijah fell and were hurt and will have scars I am sure, but those hurts and scars are not as deep as the hurt and scars our words can cause. Tuesday night at revival the Preacher was preaching the first part of Ephesians 4:29Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Corrupt words are dirty words,

Colossians 3:8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

Pretty point blank there, filthy language is curse words, slang words, vulgar words, etc. As Christians these kinds of words should not come out of our mouths! I fully believe that if these words are not to come out of our mouths then we shouldn’t allow them in our homes either.

Corrupt words are destructive words.

1 Timothy 5:13 And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.

One of the ways I have noticed people gossiping is through sharing "prayer request". Ouch! If that is the case then we should know that God knows the need and all we should do is share that there is a situation that we would like others to pray for but DO NOT share ANY details!

Corrupt words are devastating words.

These words are words that tear down and destroy. Words such as "your stupid", "your dumb", "your not my child", I think you get the picture. Ask ourselves how would it make us feel if someone said these words to us.

Christians are to prevent corrupt words.

The command in Ephesians 4:29 is to NOT let any corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. God was not asking us to try or telling us that every now and then is o.k. If the words from our mouth do not glorify God or edify others then we must keep our mouth shut! If someone around you is using corrupt words in any form, walk away or let them know that you are not going to listen to that stuff.

I am very ashamed to admit it but I have been guilty of not watching my words with the kids or Bryan. There are times that I am real short in my speech, or have a rough tone in my voice, and times when I have used discouraging words. I have been convicted for some time that this is an area in my life that needs work and God is working on me. I have seen evidence of Him changing me and molding me to be the Mom and wife He wants and needs me to be. With our words we have the opportunity to mold our children’s character, thinking, how they perceive themselves and others, even the way they act. I have noticed when my words are kind and edifying that my children are more kind and edifying to one another. Same goes for our marriage or our church family, words can make or break that marriage or the church. Sarah and I were talking about the sermon on the way home Tuesday night and she said that hurtful words are like writing with a pen, they can’t be erased.

Will you commit with me today to memorize Ephesians 4:29 and to allow God to use our words for His glory and for edifying others?

Joanna is 15 months!

I took Joanna for her 15 month check up today. She weighs 23 lbs. and is 31 inches long! We were right, she is growing supper fast! Bryan said yesterday that he believes she has grown the fastest out of all the kids. :) Right now she is cutting 3 of her molars, she is trying to say more words, and she loves to be outside.

When I took her at her 1 year old check up her iron was low so they retested her blood level today. At the 12 month visit they stuck her little finger to do the blood work and I assumed that would be the procedure today. Not so! They took 3 vials of blood out of her arm today! I was NOT prepared for that!! It broke my heart but I knew they needed to do the blood work. :( The Dr. called yesterday after lunch and said her blood is still low so she will be getting vitamin drops 3 times a day. They will test her iron and blood levels again at her 18 month check up. I am really praying that it is just another finger stick next time.

Joanna is such a joy to each of us and we can’t imagine life without her! Her smile, her laugh, and her sweet little babbles are so precious! She is not just walking, she is running! Last night I was watching her play in the yard and when she looked up and saw Timothy coming toward her she just lit up and she had the biggest smile! So thankful for this blessing that God has blessed us with!!

Here are a few pictures of Miss Joanna over the past few months! :)

Nature Walk

There is an old road bed beside our house and the little boys have been begging to walk it. So I decide that that would be one of our nature walk days. It was so nice but I think it was longer than the little boys thought it would be. :) The big kids took their camera and took pictures that I hope we will get around to blogging about soon.

Here are a few pictures from our latest nature walk.

 Some kind of moth on the side of the house.

 A bird pirched on a tree branch. I think birds are so pretty to look at and watch!

 Another view of the bird!

These our the two guides on our nature walks! Very good guides, they just get a little too ahead of us at times! :)

A Party for Timothy

We all had a hand in making Timothy's birthday cake. The kids always love helping out. This is one reason I have always made their birthday cakes, making memories.The end result! Bryan even pitched in and made the road. He is always willing to help out and he is a big help!A very Happy boy! :)He loved all of his gifts. Sarah and Elijah helped him open them. Sarah is a big help!We got him a water gun. Isaac has a big water gun and Timothy is always wanting to use Isaac's, so I thought he might like to have his own water gun.He loved everyone singing "Happy Birthday"! Timothy even sang along with us, it was so cute!Blowing out his candle!These two are so funny! They like being silly for the camera. :)Joanna has made us laugh so hard with her smile! If the camera is out she can work up a smile! She had everyone laughing with this smile! :)The kids with Paw and Maw! Our children are crazy about their grandparents! I would say that is one of the hard things about living a good distance from grandparents. :(Saying good-bye to Maw and Paw. :( My parents left before we put the kids down for their nap.This girl figured out how to drive this thing herself! Gigi was right there to help if she needed it!After naps Bryan and his Dad palyed some basketball with Isaac and Sarah. The little boys were riding bikes and playing too!
Pop and Gigi with the kids! Pop and Gigi stayed and went to supper with us! We don't get to see them as much so we always love it when they come and we get to spend some time with them!!

We celebrated Timothy’s birthday this past Saturday with my parents and Bryan’s parents. They came at lunch so I wanted to fix something special. I asked Timothy what he wanted for lunch and he requested Spaghetti. His comment was "They will love it mom". Then he had been wanting a Cars 2 birthday so I made him a Cars 2 cake. Timothy was one excited boy! He had talked all week about his birthday party. We opened presents first and then ate lunch. After lunch we brought out the cake, sang "Happy Birthday" and ate cake and ice cream. It was so nice to have grandparents here to help celebrate Timothy’s birthday!! He is a very special boy! Timothy is so loving and kind hearted. He does have his moments but for the majority of the time he is such a good little fella! Last night as we were getting ready for revival he came up to me, hugged me around the legs and said "You are the best mommy!" Melt my heart!! :) I am excited to see how God uses Timothy to be an encouragement to others and I believe he already is!

Great Job!

New bikes for Isaac and Sarah.He is so proud to have a new bigger bike!Sarah and her new bigger bike!Can you see the excitement on his face?

Ride Sarah ride!

Our kids love to ride their bikes! Isaac and Sarah have had their bikes for a long time and have put LOTS of miles on them. They were in need of some new ones so we decided to get them bikes for their reward for doing such a great job and makng it to the Final Four! We are so proud of them and wanted to do something special. Isaac and Sarah were supper excited and surprised!

Resurrection Day 2012

I am real behind on my post! I have this LONG list of things I really need to get on here, but serving my family and spending precious time with them comes first!!

We had a wonderful Resurrection Day! My parents were here and were able to attend church with us. We didn’t have church services that night so we got to spend some time together. My mother and Gigi (Bryan’s mother) brought the kids new clothes for church. My mother picked out the boys and Bryan’s clothes and then Bryan’s mother picked out the girls’ dresses. Everyone looked so pretty and handsome! The picture above is our family picture that day and you can see everyone in their clothes. Thank you Gigi and Maw for the clothes! I had posted that Timothy’s birthday fell on Easter this year and that we had Two Reasons to Celebrate.

When I think about Jesus rising from the dead I can’t help but rejoice!! I pray that each of you had a worshipful Resurrection Day!!

Quick and Easy Cressant Rolls

OK I will have to admit that as much as I like to cook I struggle with coming up with a meal every now and then. This is especially true if it is just me and the kids eating together. It was one of those nights and I just didn't want to fix anything real big, it was just the kids and I and I didn't have much time...the kids were hungry! So this is what I came up with and the kids were crazy about it!

1 package of cressant rolls (I used two for us)
Sliced cheese
Sandwich meat of your choice (I used turkey)

Preheat oven to degree on package of rolls. Place half piece of cheesse and one slice of meat (half if it is one of those rectangle slices) on dough and roll up cressant rolls as usual. Do this for each roll and then place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until done. Cool off and enjoy!

Yummy! I will be making these again! Hope you enjoy as well. If you try these leave me a comment and let me know what you think! :)

Two Paths

Isaac and I were talking yesterday about "two paths". The conversation came up after he had gotten in trouble and was needing to do what was right. Instead of continuing to play with the others and make the right choices he wanted to just quit. He began to say that he wanted to choose the "safe path". The "safe path" is the path that there are no rocks to step over, no trees to move out of the way, and no broken bridges to cross. I was thinking about this conversation this morning and I realized that we all have "two paths" to take. Let me take you back years ago when I was wanting to take the "safe path" and not get married. Yes, I believed that marriage was not a good thing and instead of taking the chance of getting hurt I would just not get married. Then God changed my heart and I decided to take the "other path" and I am so glad I did. In marriage Bryan and I have had some rocks that we needed to step over, some trees that we needed to move out of the way and some bridges that we had to fix before we crossed over, BUT had I chosen the "safe path" I would have missed out on so many blessings!! I would have never seen the beautiful flowers, the awesome sunsets, the breathtaking waterfalls, and the relationship that Bryan and I have. So thankful I didn’t choose the "safe path"!

When Bryan and I first got married he was a high school teacher and a bi-vocational Youth Minister. Our first year of marriage he would have signed his tenure and would have been set with a job. That same year God called Bryan to seminary and that meant he would have to leave teaching and we would be going into the unknown. Not a "safe path", right? Bryan did leave teaching, he started seminary, and he began to pastor our first church. Again there has been rocks to step over, trees to move out of the way, and bridges to cross. Had we have chosen the "safe path" we would have missed out on so many wonderful friendships God has given us along this path, many chances for growing in our faith, and the countless times we have seen God do great and mighty things. I thank God that we didn’t choose the "safe path"!

There are other examples that I could share of not taking the "safe path" and the blessings I (we) would have missed. I won’t share details but the number of children and home schooling are two of the times we have not chosen the "safe path" and I am praising the Lord that we didn’t!! My prayer is that my children will not take the "safe paths" but take paths that lead them to a deeper walk with the Lord and causes them to have to depend on Him more.

Two Reasons to Celebrate!

We had two reasons to Celebrate today! First of all today is Resurrection Day! We rejoice that we serve a Savior who is ALIVE! Because Jesus is ALIVE then we have hope, not just hope for today but hope for tomorrow and hope for eternity! It was so awesome to worship with our church family today and to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection!!

The second reason for celebrating today is Timothy’s birthday!! He is 3 and I just can’t believe it! On April 8, 2009 we welcomed baby #4 and much to our surprise it was a BOY!! I am so thankful Timothy was a boy and I know that God knew exactly what we needed! Timothy has brought so much joy and blessing to our family! At first Sarah was so disappointed but it was not long until she was so in love with him she didn’t care that she didn’t get her sister! Timothy is such a joy and so much fun to be around. He has been our most vocal boy yet! When I look at him I fall in love all over again with that baby boy that came into our lives 3 years ago. Last night we took him to Chucky E. Cheese’s and he had so much fun! All the kids had a blast! My parents were here so they got to come along with us. On the way home we each told Timothy what we loved about him. Sarah said she liked it that Timothy was so sweet and cute, Isaac liked that Timothy always wanted to be on his team, Elijah liked that Timothy played with him, and I love the way he is so cuddly. He was so funny on the way home and we laughed at him so hard, he would say stuff like "Me not cute."! He really is a hoot!! Today his Sunday School teachers had him some green cupcakes (green is his favorite color) and they celebrated during Sunday school. Next weekend my parents and Bryan’s parents will be here for us to do cake and ice cream!


BIRTHDAY BOY!!Sarah deciding what prizes to get with her tickets!Isaac deciding which game to play next.Joanna LOVED being a big girl at Chucky E. Cheese's!The little boys stop for a picture!Let's check this mouse out!Timothy and Joanna ride together!Bryan and the little boys having some fun!So thankful to have Paw and Maw with us!