A boy and his daddy. And a chess game.

I just cannot get this game. No matter what I do, I cannot remember how the pieces move, and what I can and cannot do.  Anyone out there with me on this? How do you know what the right move is?  I often find it very overwhelming.


   



I think we can all say we relate to this sometimes when we think about God's will for our lives too. I have no idea where to go next and it frustrates me, not only in chess, but in life. I like to know where I'm going. Don't you?  But sometimes we need to sit back and let God teach us some things before we can ever make a move to begin with.



If we really begin to realize that we cannot move at all without His guidance and knowledge then we are able to beat our opponent. Just the same as I cannot play chess without asking Derek a bazillion questions and allowing him to guide me, we have to rely on Christ for guidance and instruction.


Are you listening to the voice of God?   Are you hearing his instruction and direction for your life?


I know that I don't want to live my life stuck in one spot though, I want to see God move me. I want to know what He knows and feel what He feels. I want to walk where He walks, and see what He sees.



I want to know that I'm walking in His ways, and I want to know that I'm making the right move.  Sure we may try to lean on our own knowledge and understanding, but what if we're wrong.  What if we make a mistake?   What if we get defeated because we didn't heed the advice and knowledge of our Teacher?


Lord, show me how to walk in your ways. Teach me to trust solely in Your voice and Your direction. Help me to see the move you have planned for me. Lord help me to be obedient and purposeful in my next move. Amen.



And who knows, maybe after looking at it this way, I'll let Derek try to teach me to play again... and try a little harder to understand this time.

Asher is 3 months old! (and a few days)

I cannot believe how quickly time is flying!

It seems like just yesterday he was not even here yet (and we still thought he was a girl!)

Just a few things because I don't want to forget this time.

At 3 months, he can roll over anytime he is laid on his tummy.

He smiles and is just now learning to giggle at us, and I absolutely adore it!

He wants to sit up and see all the time, he loves to know what's going on.

He likes to hold his teething toys and chew on them and he loves to chew his fist also

He is wearing more and more 3 month clothes and we're beginning to have to put away some of his newborn/0-3 now.

He sleeps great at night still, but during the day forget about it!

He loves Kyley, he will smile anytime she talks to him almost.

Elijah still can't leave the boy alone, he wants to pull on his arm or kiss him or pinch his cheek etc ALL. THE. TIME.

I absolutely cannot believe how big and strong he is getting.

I don't want to miss this

I love the way his big brown eyes light up when he smiles.

and I love the way he loves me.

I love when he still asks me to "hold me mommy" when he is feeling down, and how he insists that I put Aasher down RIGHT NOW.

I love the way he calls a bandaid a tattoo.

And grandpa is grandpa, and grandma is grandpa too :)

I love how when he prays, he always wants to pray for Jesus, and for God and won't stop until you say those.

And how when he wants to leave the house, he says "mommy let's go home"

I love the way he shares so many kisses with me, how he jumps on and off of almost anything, and how he knows no stranger.

I love the way he loves his sister, and his brother, each in his own unique way.

I love the way he can fall asleep in an instant (like in Asher's bouncy seat apparently)


   








I love that he embraces life, how he loves others, and most of all loves Jesus.

Man I love this kid.

What's my favorite word???? (Review & Giveaway!)

edify

–verb (used with object), -fied, -fy·ing. to instruct or benefit, especially morally or spiritually; uplift:

 

If you ask anyone who knows me what my favorite word is, this would be it.  I love to teach my kids, my youth, whoever it is what this means. 

 

Romans 14:19
Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

There are many Scriptures that tell us how important it is to lift each other up, or to edify one another. 

Do you ever just long for someone to say something uplifting and encouraging to you?  What would your life be like if you walked around all day long, everyday, and no one ever gave you any edification?  I don't know about you, but I wouldn't hold myself together very well. One day of just negative things and I'd already be shaken! 

It is so important as a body of believers that we lift each other up. That we encourage one another, and love one another! You never know when one word of encouragement can turn someone's entire life around. A pat on the back to say, hey I've been there, things do get better. A high five to show someone you appreciate the great job they've done. Sometimes all it takes is a moment to brighten someone's day and let them know they are loved. 

I often bring the word edify into conversation with teenagers. I find that at their age a lot of the "norm" is to cut each other down and make fun of one another. What purpose does that serve? Do you not realize how your words affect others? Jokes, whether you mean it or not, hurt. Harsh words, hurt. Even something as simple as not believing someone's motives when they speak to you, that hurts.  I'm sure we've all dealt with this in our own lives. When I've faced these issues in the past, I've let them dig holes in my heart and it's hard to pull away from that. It's hard to forget. Thank God for His amazing grace because He gives me strength to move forward even when I'm hurting the most. He wants us to love each other as He loves us. 

Psalm 3:3

 ³ But You, O LORD, are a shield for me,
         My glory and the One who lifts up my head.

If God loves me enough to lift up my head and be a shield for me, shouldn't I try to do the same for others, realizing that I am not God, I am man, but that I can still strive to lift others up?

If we are going to move forward as a body of Christ, we must acknowledge that there is no place for negativity in our lives. We need to step out of our comfort zone, stop picking on people, making jokes, etc and begin to lift one another up in love.

This month I have the privilege of sharing with you guys a beautiful piece of work that I received from DaySpring, through (in)Courage 's (in)spired deals. Each month they pick a theme for the month, and this month's theme is: Encouragement

I was sent a beautiful picture frame to review that I absolutely love.


   




Isn't it cute?  I absolutely love the bright vibrant colors, and the fun decorative numbers.


I haven't found just the perfect picture of it yet, but I plan to put a picture of my three sweet blessings in it.



It's made of VERY durable material (in fact my 6 year old has already dropped it, without a scratch to be found) And the best part of all, it opens up an opportunity to tell anyone who enters my home and sees it about the blessings God has given us, not just in our kids, but in all things.

In addition to being able to review this great product for you guys, I also was given the opportunity to share something with one of you. One person who comments on this post will win a Coupon Code for $20 to spend at DaySpring!

All you have to do to enter is :

1. Be a follower of my blog

2. Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite way to encourage others.
You must do both to qualify for an entry!

You can get bonus entries for:
Tweeting/Facebooking about this message, leave a separate comment for each (1 extra entry per social networking site)
and 2 bonus entries for writing your own blog about encouragement in your life and linking back to this giveaway! (please post two separate comments)

I will leave this post open until Friday the 24th  at midnight and at that time I will draw a winner using Random.org and post the winner here on my blog!

I cannot wait to hear the great things you guys are going to share with me!

 

 

In full disclosure, I was given this product at no cost to me by DaySpring to review as well as the giveaway code. All opinions within this post are my own.

4 of a kind

My sweet babies are all growing up so fast!!! 

Elijah, Kyley, Krissy, Emily

Missing from this photo is obviously Asher :)

Puzzles & Braids

Kyley wanted me to take a picture of her finished puzzle and put it on my blog. She was so proud that she finished it all by herself (it wasn't a hard puzzle and she's done bigger ones on her own, but for some reason this one made her happy to finish)
Yesterday , I french braided her hair for the first time.  I've tried in the past but he hair was either too short or too thin at the time, we never had any success. It's not perfect but it's a start!


Any tips you can give me on french braiding and cute hairstyles now that her hair is getting longer? 

Babies

This weekend, we welcomed a sweet little girl into our quickly growing family of friends. 

Welcome to the world Juliet Arianna. You are so loved by so many already.

June 12, 2011   

   

Congratulations to Will and Angie Rus. We are so excited for you guys and can't wait to love on her more and more and watch her grow. We love yall!

Kyley's new Bible!

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

My sweet little girl, who's learning to read (slowly but surely!) was in desperate need of a new Bible, because the binding was coming off of her old one. That kid can wear out a Bible, and I'm not sure how, but at least she's learning to carry it with her to church and is starting to look things up and try to read them and learn the books in order. 

So far she's learned all the way to Ecclesiastes! I'm so proud! (and her little brother is giving her a run for her money because at 3 yrs old he can already say the first five books in order and almost pronounce them correctly!)

So anyways, we looked all over  for the perfect Bible for her, and she kept coming back to this one, it was her absolute favorite, so we finally ordered it (yay amazon!)

So here are a few pictures of the day she got it, she was so excited to get her own mail!

 

Re-designing

So I'm in desperate need of some re-designing around these parts, seeing as how the pictures in my header are over a year old (and not great to boot).

So any suggestions on color schemes/headers? What would YOU like to see on my header? I'm working on some things, but I wanted some outside ideas as well, so hit me up!

2 months old!

Ok so I'm 2 days late, but hey at least I remembered :) 

Stats: 

Weight 10 lb 13 oz (25%)

Height 23 1/2 in (75%)

Head Circumf. 15 3/4 (50%)

Just this week Asher has been rolling over a ton!

He holds his head up really well when on his tummy and loves to "talk" and smile at us.

He's still wearing 0-3 month clothes (thankfully, that means we've gotten good use out of them!) and a size 1 diaper.

He sleeps well and loves to eat but what infant doesn't?

I just can't believe how quickly time is flying!

Who's the star?

 I found this bib last night at target. I found it VERY fitting and decided Asher had to have it. Yeah yeah, I know, it's just a bib, but I thought it was hilarious.




   

Lead me Lord, I'll follow

oh how I just love sweet baby feet

My Famous Chef

What do this...


this...


and this...

(crushed cornflakes btw)

have in common?



This sweet girl made up her very own recipe and specifics for what she wanted with it.

 Dip chicken tenders in Zesty Italian Dressing
Then roll in crushed corn flakes and put on your baking sheet.
Bake 20 min at 400 degrees (more or less depending on your chicken, this is what worked for us) or until golden brown and done
Serve with crinkle fries and greenbeans w/ potatoes

Thing's I've learned today: Second Edition

Asher can roll over from his tummy to his back, repeatedly.

And he gets mad when he gets to his back and can't flip back.

He also loves the swing. Why didn't I bring that inside sooner?

Elijah does not like peeps. At all. Ok, he likes to smoosh them but not to eat.

Kyley apparently has decided she has an aversion to wheat bread. Just today. Never had a problem before.

Asher likes to talk. He is always cooing and trying to tell me or Kyley something (depending on who's playing with him at the time)

Elijah doesn't like for Asher to sleep, AT ALL. (oh wait, I have known this a while)

While I'm learning things, does anyone know why Kate is called a Duchess and not Princess?  Kyley and I are going to look that up in a few. Maybe I'll earn some swagbucks while I'm at it!

(if you haven't joined swagbucks you should, I've gotten over 40 dollars worth of amazon.com giftcards. you can sign up by clicking HERE, it's totally free! no strings attached!)

Things I learned today...

Asher sweats. Like a pig.

I love Publix.

Kyley likes ice cream before bed.

She also likes punch bugs.

And she won't let you forget about it.

Elijah thinks if we go to bed he can do what he wants (he told Kyley to go to sleep so he could play the xbox)

Boys have hard heads

Kyley is interested in presidents and queens.

Apparently a Queen Elizabeth costume is in our future.

Today was Theory of Relativity Day (who knew?)

I love getting to know new friends.

My life is still chaotic and I'm still overwhelmed.

But there are good moments :)

7 weeks!

I cannot believe how quickly time is flying by! Little man is 7 weeks old today!  Yesterday he weighed in at 10 lbs 3 oz at the WIC office, after being down to at least 8lb 4oz at one point early on. So he's gained a full 2 lbs pretty much since he started gaining! WOOT!