Lucky

In case you were wondering..........he's doing great! So many have asked about Paul and he really is in his element (I think). Not 100% sure about man's opinion but I'm proud of him and I know that his heart pleases God..........enough for me! Thanks for the prayers and encouragement! xoxo

I Cherish Now

"Hey now, this is my desire, sue(consume) me like a fire, cause I just want something beautiful to touch me I know that I am in reach cause i am down on my knees waiting for something beautiful" These are lyrics from Needtobreathe, Something Beautiful. As you can see, I'm great at botching up lyrics. I thought he was saying "sue me like a fire". My husband is quite amused as we sing together in the car and I sing a totally different tune. For example, I love the song, Benny and the Jets. Just heard it in the movie, 27 Dresses, last night. I always thought he was singing "electric boobs", which makes no sense!!(please excuse, not trying to vulgar) Well then I had a 'duh' moment and thought "how dumb am I?". He is really singing "electric booTs!" oh yeah!! Well, one day while singing in the car with my love bunny, he informed me that it was "electric moves!!". Oh gosh! I also found the correct title for the song "Beast of Burden" by The Rolling Stones. It's the song that Jack Nichol's wife, in the movie Family Man, is singing in the shower. Anyhow, I thought it was "I'll never be a big suburban". Then I thought it was "I'll never be your piece of burden". Well when you don't know the right words, it makes it awfully hard to find and buy on itunes. urrrr

Well, anyhow, I love Needtobreathh and their song Something Beautifull. I feel like God is trying so hard to make something beautiful out of our family. I am finding myself looking at things through a different lense (I never was one to look at things through rose colored glasses!!) However, I find myself feeling a little more grateful and finding less and less to complain about. Really people, what have I ever had to complain about? God has bestowed amazing blessings upon our family. And you know what.........no matter what happens tomorrow, I must praise Him and find nothing to complain about. This past year, God has allowed me to personally look into some lives of others and well................I am grateful. I sit here in the mornings, drinking my coffee, reading the Word, listening to the kids play, and looking into the 'forest' in our backyard. I think "why are we so lucky?". I am just going to enjoy today for what it has to offer. Tomorrow is not promised. I cherish now.

She Obeyed the First Time!

I just made a new friend the other day. While visiting her, I noticed a jar of rocks that had writing on them. I inquired and she mentioned that whenever there was a "win" or something to celebrate, they wrote it down on a rock. I loved it!! I've been wondering what we were going to do with the 100 shells that we brought back from Mexico. I hate to be such a copy-cat; but it really is a simple and yet novel idea. So......we've been trying to get our kids to obey the FIRST time. Well, KK had her moment today and I thought I'd write it on a shell and put it on the table for her to see tomorrow morning at breakfast. Let's see what she says. I couldn't sleep tonight and I sat and stared at the shells and decided to make them into something cool. I really am proud of Kennedy. She obeyed right away today. Mia did not suck her thumb tonight. Lincoln actually went to bed without getting up 16 times to yell "Good Night!!" or "I'm tursty (thirsty)". He stayed in his big-boy bed and went to sleep. We are going to start the day of celebrating tomorrow morning. Thanks Denise for the great idea. Already, God has added wisdom to my life through a new friend.

14 Years of Joyfulness, Junk, and Jewels

Well here we are at 14 great years. Starting off was rocky for us but God had his hand in our lives the entire time and knew the future. He guided us gently through some junk that we each brought to the partnership called "marriage". Thank you Mike Davis, Dan Shows, and Laakes for stearing us towards hope. We can now celebrate with complete joyfulness, even after we saw one another's darkest moments. I think we love each other even more for that. I don't want fancy diamonds or jewels as gifts of love from my hubby. I just want him. Anyone, with the right amount of mula, can purchase a gorgeous jewel but only the lucky have husbands like Paul.

As you can see, we celebrated at a great restaurant, Canoe. We loved the food and were greatly surprised as we went to pay our bill. The waiter informed us that our meal had been paid for. A wonderful man, that Paul works with at North Metro, took care of our bill. What an amazing gift. Thank you to all that have taken care of us in one way or another. We know that many pray for us each day. Thank you!

Surprises This Week

Let's start by quoting my oldest daughter. Kennedy and Mia were sitting at the table eating lunch and Mia was chewing with her mouth open. (something younger siblings do to annoy the older ones)Paul and I both endured this torture when we were growing up. Anyhow Kennedy looked over at Mia and said, with tears in her eyes and with a very winey voice, "Mia, stop chewing with your mouth open, it hurts my feelings and makes my eyes embarrassed and it's not mannorly." I don't think mannorly is a word and how are her eyes embarrassed? I couldn't help but chuckle. Today I was practicing stealing kisses from Lincoln. He so rarely gives them but wanted to give me fishy kisses today. As he was diving in to give me a fishy kiss today, Clifford jumped in and licked me on the lips! Ewww, then Lincoln bulldozed Clifford in the side, as if to say "Hey, that's my mommy and that kiss was meant for me!". Well, one more surprise. We received a beautiful plant today from one of the small groups at North Metro. Today is our 14th wedding anniversary and I just love the large house plant and the thoughtfulness. How can I ever find anything to complain about? I'm even enjoying the humidity, grey skies and rain today. :-)

We Made It!!

Well the movers showed up over a week ago and packed up all of our earthly belongings. I quickly found out how "unattached" I was to my stuff as they shoved and yanked and threw things into boxes. It about crushed me but........it's just stuff. We then drove 27hours across the country and it was actually, no lies, quite fun!! We watched 2 videos a day, did school work, read books, ate lunch at picnic areas, and played dolls. We arrived to a clean and freshly painted home. Then the moving continued as the movers slammed the items into the home, bumped into everything, and couldnt' figure out up from down. Of course, God reminded me that "I don't really care about my stuff", as I always chant. So.........I don't and didn't say a word to them. It's just STUFF!! I did also realize that we have ALOT of stuff. Time to downsize again. Well, 2 days later our friends from IN and TN showed up to help hang, organize, and play games!! We had a blast. We played poker, Catan, watched movies, played freeze tag at night, little girls took baths together, painted toe nails, itched from mosquitoes, cooked pizza, etc..............ahhhh......I feel completely blessed. Thank you friends in AZ for sending us off in love and thank you GA for receiving us in love. We've had everything from meals, flowers, candles, towels/pillows, and cards delivered here to our new home. Thank you friends!! We are undeserving and so appreciative!!

Leaving AZ and Entering GA