Indiana and LoK Giveaway!!!

We took the girls to Indiana last weekend. Uncle Joe and Monica got engaged (!) and they threw a joining of the families party. It was fun to get to meet Monicas family however it was weird to be a minority for once... her family is so big and they weren't even all there!!

We had a great time with family, played with cousins, the girls enjoyed their first hayride and since it is all Annie ever talks about we even took a chilly gator ride down to the creek.
I know I have talked about it before, I have been enjoying the creek ever since Grandpa took me when I was a little girl and would show me how to skip rocks and now he is doing it with my girls and that is SO special to me!

Everyone was super excited that Joe could make it up as he has been scarce on our trips for the past few years while he was in school and working on the weekends.

 

I love having my new I phone but one of the downfalls is getting it out to take pictures and then having my picture collection in two different places. I need to set it up to send them to my computer also bceause I have some CUTE hayride pictures on there!

I hate that we have missed the window of beautiful fall foliage to take the girls pictures. Carly will be due for her 6month pictures in December so Ill just wait till then. I am really hoping that I will win a photo session with my talented friend Lauren at LoK photography! How fun would that be? She does a great job, especially with kids and my girls are kinda shy around photographers, plus every time I take them to the local portrait place I swear Ill never go back... and then end up doing just that!

Pictures

The girls realizing that the tree out front had lost some leaves were very excited to play in them.
Annie is always surprising me with how good her memory is, however she didn't remember ever playing in the leaves before.

Without being able to see her grownup features she looks like she did as a baby with the fat little cheeks and dimple chin :o)

 

 

 

I prefer projects to imaginative play although I am learning to play along in the world of make believe.

However this is my idea of a fun thing to do with the girls, as long as I can keep my OCD at bay and just let them have fun. Annie got her very own rolling pin from Aunt Kara and Uncle Ben for her birthday and I told her we would have to make daddy an apple pie. However I forgot about the fact that I am terrible at making pie crust and I can't even roll it out so I didn't want to involve her in one of my biggest frustrations of baking. So we broke out the fall mini cookie cutters (and one valentines day heart) and made suger cookies!

 



In tutu's of course!

Annie came up with the idea to make the tye dyed looking ones... isn't she a creative genious?!? Makes her mother proud! The oak and maple leaf ones were my favorite but for some reason I failed to get a picture of those.

She is my precious "baby wawa"

His Ways Are Higher

Isaiah 55:8-9

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

When my church announced a while back that we were launching a Multisite church I didn't think i had any interest in it. I was actually pretty judgemental about the fact that my church leaders were even choosing to go with a multisite, which is where the congregation will watch a video feed of the preaching pastor on a screen. There will be a campus pastor and staff however it will still operate under the same umbrella as our main campus.

See I can be a pretty judgemental person, I think that God gives us the ability to assess a situation analyze it and come to a conclusion. Its one of the things that we are taught how to do from infancy, its something that fascinates me as I watch my own children learn to do. I actually get to witness the formation of their thoughts, opinions and judgements. This is very easy to see with children because they are so basic, they see shadows and think monsters, it is up to me & the rest of their world experiences to teach them that shadows don't mean monsters but instead show them how to look around the room for what is really casting the shadow.

However being human, in my finite little brain I make rash judgements based on little information or a limited understanding and will often come to a biased conclusion.

I like our church, I trust our leaders, I think they have a pretty rock solid group of people assembled to shepherd each other and us as a congregation. I think that our missions and goals as a church are built on basic biblical principles and work well. I agree with our doctrines (because they are all derived from the bible) so I didn't see why they weren't just starting a new church with a new pastor that used the same doctrines and ran the same way. I think Pastor Brad is a good speaker but he is not the end all, there are many other gifted pastors and a video screen pastor is sooo impersonal.

However after it was explained to me that Grace Fellowship isn't looking to church plant, however to simply reach out to more people. Our church has a fairly large congregation, I being one of the people who is willing to drive across many counties to attend every Sunday because I have a love for the people and the mission that God is doing there. So the goal in a multi site is to simply break that down and have a place where we can reach out to a different community without having to ask a neighbor to drive across 3 counties. Multisite churches have a history of being very successful and my heart began to change towards the idea however I never thought I would want to attend.

When it was announced that the church was going to be in Newport Ky God immediately laid it on mine and Joes hearts to go. And I Couldn't Believe It! It was an immediate knowledge that we would attend and I don't think I have ever had such a quick peace about a situation.

Our leaders were ready to go as early as October however God had yet to provide a building for us to meet in. He was growing us as a body to rely on Him and His timing and His providence. As a church we fasted and prayed one week and in that week He showed us His faithfulness in providing a movie theatre on the Levee to meet in.

During this time of waiting I offhandedly wondered about who would coordinate the nursery and thinking I had a little experience in working childcare I would email the pastor to offer to coordinate that very small task.
Upon hitting the send button I was immediately struck with the fact that I have 4 other people in my life namely Joe that I should probably think about before I committed to this. When I told Joe what I had done his initial reaction was just as I thought it would be and he was slightly annoyed. However leaving him alone with just the suggestion he very quickly got behind me 100% and even started to get involved. He started talking to Pastor Peter about it and Pete informed us that he and his wife Sarah had been praying for a couple to fill this position.
Now the position that I volunteered for was nursery coordinator, babies... infants... toddlers... easy peasy. Give em a story and a snack and play with blocks and change diapers...however here it is a month or so later and I hold the paid position of Children's Ministry Coordinator, preschoolers, children, 5th graders for heavens sake! How did that happen? I have no idea other than to say that it did and I am OK with it. God will definitely grow me through it. He already is, I am learning that I will have to be very organized and step outside my comfort zone. I am learning to rely on Him for His guidance because clearly He has got this under control however I really wish I could fall back asleep in the middle of the night instead of laying there thinking about what on earth I am going to do with 30 kids in a movie theatre for over an hour other than popping in a Veggie Tales and handing out popcorn :o)

We are not pioneers on this though, movie theatre churches actually already exist and I am going to go and see them and be taught by them and find out what they do with 10 two year olds in a movie theatre because as Joe said "have you ever seen a little kid try to sit in a movie theatre seat? They fold up and fall right through the back!"

My prayer in this is that God would increase our excitement level. Joe's mentality is "somebody has to do it so we might as well do it" mine is "I would be pretty good at it and I could get the job done". I want God to make us excited about the ministry and that we would actually enjoy doing it. So pray for me if you think about it and if you are joining us at Grace Fellowship Newport go ahead and sign up to be blessed by working the nursery!!!

What God is Teaching Me

New thoughts, ideas, and ways of thinking become much more concrete for me when I say them out loud or get them all out on paper (or blog) to see or hear if its actually truth. I have found lately that sometimes I will say something out loud and as soon as it comes out of my mouth I want to take it back or reword it because simply hearing myself say it makes me realize that is not exactly right and God has given me His truths and a brain for a reason so that I can decipher these thoughts.
Because I get so excited about new things that He is teaching me I have decided to try to write them out here, to give Him the glory for what He is doing in my life. I have become one of those people who wants to ask everyone I come into contact with "what is God doing in your life?" because I am so excited about Him in mine that I want to hear what He is doing for others.

So here is one topic I have been mulling around lately...


What a work God has been doing in my life lately. Pastor Brad has been preaching sermons on Idols of the Heart and in addition to that our bible study has been reading the book he just had published on the same topic. Through this he encourages you to examine your heart for things you might be idolizing. An idol doesn't have to be something bad and its especially not the first thing that comes to mind like a statue of a golden calf or a totem pole (at least those are the things that come to my mind when someone says idol) that you bow down to and worship. By his definition an idol is "Anything or anyone that begins to capture your heart, mind, & affections more than God."

My easiest ways to look for them so far has been at his suggestion of what makes you angry, what do you spend your time thinking or worrying about & what do you spend your money on. Also asking myself "would you sin to get it, sin to keep it?".

It has brought to my attention many different areas in my life that I was trying to force a good thing like obedient children. I have been able to see myself in a new light that when I get angry or impatient with the girls it is because they are not doing things fast enough with a cheerful attitude. I get angry with them and start yelling when they are slow to respond or seem to be ignoring me completely. I have realized a few things
 1)I need to constantly be teaching them what is expected of them instead of demanding them to jump when I say jump. I need to get down and look them in the eye and hold their hands & attention and explain to them daily what I am expecting them to do (clean up the blocks) and even why (we are getting ready for lunch and then naps so if we clean up first then all the toys aren't all over the house and when you wake up we will be ready to play something new) It gives them a purpose for what they are doing instead of marching when the dictator says so. And taking time to do this will give them a foundation of obedience because sometimes I do need them to do something quickly with obedience just because I said so!
2) They must acknowledge that I have spoken. Simply turning and walking away or continuing on with what they are doing is rude and says "You are not important & I don't care what you are saying" and I have no way of knowing if they even heard me because lets be honest, when the TV is on I doubt they do!
3) They are KIDS and kids are not adults. Deep, I know. I have had 30 years of learning and an OCD personality to go along with the fact that when I want to clean a room I have a system that works and agility to get it done. Kids are slow & clumsy and spill the full bucket of blocks twice before it makes it to the playroom and they get distracted & want to twirl and jump and crawl around the room instead of walking a straight line and its just takes time. And I have learned that if I slow down and let them crawl to me barking like a dog when I ask them to come get dressed they are not being disobedient they are being kids. And also that I have to allot for a whole lot more time to get things done. Kids can't clean up breakfast dishes and get dressed in 10 minutes.

My new challenge is to try to let them express their personalities and not squander who they are and shove them into my little box of who I think they should be (i.e Me).
Annie is my emotional one. She is passionate about everything and I don't encourage that enough because I can't relate. But I am looking forward to jumping in alongside her and getting excited when she is excited. Last week she came RUNNING (you know when kids run its RUNNING) across the yard screaming Mama! Mama! holding "her very first feather!" I wanted to say "eww yuck, birds are gross and feathers are gross put that down!" but instead I examined it and praised her for finding it and was excited with her and let her brush its sofness on her cheeks (ack!) and even helped her look for it when she lost it 5 seconds later. I cared, because she cared, and I'll admit it was fun!

Mia is my crazy woman. I haven't yet decided what it is about her that I need to embrace other than the sticky fingers, messy hair and endless supply of "play clothes" because there comes to a point when you just have to give up on stain treating every single spot every single day!!! I can encourage her weirdness and quirks easily because she gets them from me and I think she is hilarious :o) I have a hard time with the fact that she does not reason well and when I say "come" she turns and runs the opposite direction laughing and tripping over her pigeon toes the whole way. She is the little sister but she is not so little anymore and so I am still trying to figure out what to allow her to do and how to teach Annie that she is her equal.

So I can say that I have been enjoying them a lot more lately because I no long have disobedient little soldiers who are constantly out of formation and not saying "Yes Ma'am" when I bark an order. I have children with dimples in their chins, cheeks (and bottoms:o) I have girls with as many emotions as I do who need help reigning them in and directing them into passions instead of flinging themselves on the bed every time their Tutu is in the dirty laundry because you can still dance and twirl on laundry day you just have to suck it up and know that sometimes life gives you blue jeans! :o)

Wake up!

As a mother you never know what is going to be your wake up call in the morning. Around here we seem to go through seasons. For a while it was Annie coming into our room a little too early pulling her pillow and blanket behind her and she would simply lie down on the floor next to our bed for a while. I liked that one. That practice was a quiet slow transition from sleep to the busy day. Then she became impatient and would stand next to my bed and say "Im Hoooouuuunnnggrrryyy" and whine. That got old very fast and I explained to her that it was rude to come in and start the day by complaining. So instead she would come in and stand with her body pressed against the side of our bed which puts her nose level with me and just stand there until my eyes opened and I jumped out of my skin!

Then I had Carly and my hubby graduated school and was no longer leaving the house every morning and Annie was so excited that he was there that she started going to his side of the bed! Since Mama was recovering from surgery and up during the night with Carly he was getting up with them for a few weeks and letting me sleep in and get up and shower and dress and everything before coming downstairs for the day. I will NEVER in all my life forget the feeling of getting to do that. That was a very pampered kind of feeling.

Then Joe started something I don't think would have ever occured to me to do, when Annie came into our room he simply said. Good morning, now go play and let us sleep... and she did!!! What!??! She knows she is allowed to get fruit out of the fridge so she would help herself to an apple for breakfast and so I started leaving her a cup of milk in there too. It was brilliant! We were sleeping or even just leisurly waking up and it was nice!

Until Mia started waking up a little earlier and figured out how to get out of bed so she was no longer content to quietly play in her crib in the morning. Now she is the one at our bedside in the morning and you never know what she will do... or has done :o) She usually comes in stealthly and picks up my glasses off the bedside table and then Jabs me in the face with them saying "come ONNN Mama!" or "I watch Tarzaaan" sometimes jamming the DVD into my hands. Or all of the sudden shes doing a belly flop onto your back which is fun. This morning she was standing in my room stark naked asking for milk like there was nothing amiss. Crazy woman!

From now on Joe will be getting up and leaving the house hopefully before they are awake and I will go back to the more normal routine of getting up with him and being up before they get up which isn't as good as sleeping in, but its a different kind of good. Its the good of enjoying a quiet morning alone before there are demanding little people all around you asking you things like "when will we do school?" "When can we go to Big Uncle Joe's House?" "When will we sleep at vacation again?" "When will PorterBeth be here (x6!)" "if they will be here after nap then when are we going to sleep?" "Can I have a cookie?" "When can we look at pictures of me when I was a baby?" "Can we go for a walk?" "Where are we going today?" and I have only been up for 48minutes :o)

 

Say What?

There have been many statements made by my children that cause Joe and I to look at eachother and shrug our shoulders and ask them to repeat themselves. Between lisps and made up words and words that only a parent can understand (sometimes) its just difficult to follow them quite often. We coined the phrase "thats not english" once Mia started talking because she truly has her own language. And I have convinced myself that some day she will tell me what "sha bah dah bah die" or "sha bah die" means. Because I will die one crazy person if I never figure it out, she STILL says it and she can talk pretty stinkin well for a 2 year old!

So while riding in the car this week we were not surprised to hear Annie in the back seat singing a song that made absolutly NO Sense! I laughed and commented that she was just like her father singing all the wrong words to a song. Well it turns out she was singing all the correct words after she had me laughing so hard at her I got home and immediatly googled the words with a hope that maybe part of them were right and wouldn't you know she was spot on!
The song?

"Brown girl in the ring"
Tra la la la la
She Looks like a sugar in a plum PLUM, PLUM!" (which mia likes to scream)

Now, much to my chagrin my children have been watching "The Wiggles" at Joe's moms house when she keeps them on mondays. And I have 1 rule about Grams house. When I am not there she is allowed to feed them anything and let them watch anything (except sponge bob cause I hate it!) because she is a reasonable christian lady who has standards and knows mine and Joe's and she watches 5 chilren under 4 for 8-12 hours on monday. If watching The Wiggles gets her through the day with sanity then I say go for it!
So it is the weird creepy grown men mock turtleneck wearing childrens song singing group The Wiggles that have taught my children this traditional song originated in the West Indies that I kind of find about as offensive as Ring Around The Rosie. I wondered if it was ok for a couple of white girls to be singing about a brown girl but... whatever Ill call it cultural and check off social studies as accomplished for the day.
 :o)

 

Pink & Stink

It's a pink kind of morning here at our house. Annie gets to celebrate her birthday a day early with Joe's family and for the occasion she requested a pink cake, with pink icing and pink sprinkles of course. So I pulled a recipe out of my brain cookbook for Paula Dean's strawberry cake and looked it
 up. I figured all that pink should taste like something besides red food coloring. So last night the girls and I whipped up the cake and then this morning we iced it. I didn't have any more pink sprinkles as they are the most commonly used around here and the store didn't have any, so she chose pearl white and I have to say it is one beautiful cake! It sits now in the fridge awaiting the party.



As I sit here and type this I have this bundle sleeping in my lap and you can't tell me all that pink is not the best most squishiest pink you have ever seen!

I am big into the nickname thing. I don't mean to, these names just come to me and I feel that they are divinely appointed they are so very appropriate every time! Except for the 2 years in High School when I called Kara "Fletch" that was funny, but not at all divine. However John Patrick is my little chuchy face. If you had known the little cherub faced thing as a 2 year old you would understand. Porter is Mr Bojangles. If you have ever witnessed the child exist you would understand. I have a friend who's baby has the softest jiggliest fat ever and I call her "Flubby" My list is endless. So lately I have been calling Mia "Stinky". The name is so fitting but I don't like it I don't want it to stick, I don't want to be calling her Stinky in front of her friends when she is in high school. I just think its mean :o) However I decided last night that Oxy Clean needs to hire Amelia as their best spokesperson. Every time I think a certain stain will never come out it does!

Annie just informed me that she wont get a blister if she wears her flip flops on a walk because they have princesses on them. Which makes total sense in her head!

Speaking of princesses they are taking over my house. I don't have a big problem with Disney princesses, sure they are super girly, pink and ditsy looking in all their pictures but I have a hard time believing that Annie will still want to be a princess past the age of 8. Joe is super supportive of the princess thing. He keeps buying her princess paraphernalia. She now has a pink disco ball-esq night light, bed sheets and dolls among many other things.

So while typing this post I decided to stop and explain to Annie that I am a princess and she could be one also because my Heavenly Father is the King. I also told her about her castle in heaven that he has for her if she believes that Jesus died for her sins also. She is very receptive when I explain to her that we are to model our behavior after His and I think that is one of the first steps with little children understanding the Gospel. She asked me if this was heaven to which I replied "no, we are here right now to tell everyone about Jesus and our Father the King and that they can live in a castle in Heaven too" and she very excitedly said "ok will you help me tell everyone!" :o)