~LOOP DE LOU~ FIRST GIVEAWAY!! (CLOSED)

Loop De Lou, if the name wasn't enough the product just gets better. Who doesn't love stationary!? However, this just isn't any kind of stationary. Loop De lou creates personalized note pads, cards, gift enclosures, bag tags, labels, and more. I fell in love with their stationary when I found their website. It's fun, creative, and personal. Their website is just as fun as their stationary. You get to be a part of the creative process and add your own personal touch to the design that you love. What I love most is that Loop De Lou was started by four friends creating a business that they love so that they can work and take care of their families at the same time. Loop De Lou is providing a great giveaway to a blogger or a non-blogger. Whoever wins will get to choose one product of their choice. Please check out their site and share with me what product you would choose and share with me how you think you might design it; with your name, initials, etc. I love details! This giveaway will close Monday April 7th. The winner will be emailed and posted on the blog. Thanks. Enjoy JP & the boys first bloggy giveaway and keep posted there is another one on the horizon. Good Luck!!!

MY SON IS GOING TO MARRY HER!!!

**singing** "Secret lovers that's what they are... " 


I am totally kidding. More then anything I like to joke around to torment Don, it disturbs him that Sarah and I joke about these two hooking up one day because he thinks we are serious. Seriously though take a look at my adopted neice... yep miss sassyfrazz.. I am adopting her. Isn't she darling. Look at those eyes... what a doll baby!!

I love little baby butts, especially in jeans! Isn't that the cutest.. what a peanut. :)

UUURRGGHHHH!!!

WHY AM I STILL UP??? DOES ANYONE KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS?? MIS ARE YOU OUT THERE? ARE YOU AWAKE?? SHOULD I TRY CALLING?? OK.. I AM JUST KIDDING BUT SERIOUSLY I WISH MY HEAD WOULD SHUT UP... ACTUALLY THAT'S NOT NICE... BE QUIET!! PLEASE!! I NEED SOME SLEEP.

??????

I don't really know what to call this entry... Jennifer's Ramblings... blah blah blah.... or yeah... really don't know. I have been busy in my head this weekend. It's been a weird weekend. Good in some ways for sure but still hard overall. I guess this weekend I have thought a lot about relationships. I have been reminded this weekend of friendships past and friendships that have always been there but maybe somewhat taken advantage of. When I say it was taken advantage I guess I just mean that you get used to be able to call someone when you want or maybe see them whenever, or you think you will. So for some reason you make less effort. They are still important to you but there is an idea that they will always be there. Somewhere along the lines I realized today that I have grieved over friendships that I need to finally let go. However, I am reminded of amazing friends, friends who love me, who have always been there and have been almost waiting on the sidelines to recognize who is a true and genuine friend and who is someone that God only intended to have in my life for a brief time period. I think that it's important to be able to have the discernment to recognize the ones that no matter what trial you go through your friendship is strong enough to withstand it because it's built on something that is bigger then the both of you. I told you I am rambling. I saw a friend today that I haven't seen in a long time and I have missed her so much. I guess I just didn't realize how much I missed her until she had to leave and I didn't want to say goodbye, someone who has always been there for me and I am confident always will be. I guess that is my point... I have put too much energy into people who aren't the same kind of friend to me and yet don't put enough energy into the ones that have always been there and always will be. Why do relationships have to be so hard. I have never been someone who lets go of people very easily but I think that when relationships aren't healthy we need to be able to let them go and move on. When I look at my friends I truly am amazed at the women that God has brought into my lives over the years but it truly has been the ones that I have known the longest who have always been there for me, always supported me, and again even though there may have been trials our friendship has withstood. I praise God for you. I am so thankful to call you my friends.

"Pray Pray Please"

I have typed these words many times. They were spoken from 2 year old Anna Meg's mouth after she was diagnosed with stage III Neuroblastoma cancer. I am asking again in her own words to "Pray Pray Please" for her family. At the age of three March 28th, 2008 Anna Meg went home to Jesus. They are grieving tremendously of a loss of a courageous beautiful young girl. I know many of you have been following this story and praying for our friends. I praise Jesus this morning as I know that he is holding her, she is no longer hurting but has been healed as we have been praying for this for so long and so hard. Thank you for praying and supporting our dear friends.

My First Frugal Friday!!

Frugal Fridays is going to be a wide range of tips on saving money... some of them are just concepts that I have learned. They may be things that you already do, or somethings that you already know but might be a good reminder. So I hope that you enjoy reading what I am learning and I hope you will share your tips with me!!

So my first tip I have learned from a good friend of mine, you know who you are, is being o.k. with saying no. Sometimes it's hard to say no to friends. Maybe someone will come up to you after church and say hey let's go out to lunch, someone calls you up and wants to go to a movie. I think often we think well we really shouldn't but then we talk ourselves into it. This includes taking into account how much your driving. I am learning to stay home more, not visit everyone all the time. I don't want you to think I don't do anything but I limit what I am doing and how much I am doing it. Recently I had an experience with some girls I know who wanted to get together. The majority of what they wanted to do involved spending money. It was so hard. I said once I can't do anything that is going to cost money, then there were more suggestions based on spending and I had to say no again. I felt somewhat embarrassed and then one of the other girls finally agreed with me and made some suggestions that weren't going to cost any money. So we are getting together for a picnic. :) (If the weather cooperates.) So stand firm, don't be embarrassed to say no. Once you start saying no you realize that it isn't a big deal and you can still spend time together without spending money. Have a great Friday and a great weekend. :)

Who knew I was so mysterious!??

Hahhahaa... I am so not mysterious but I think it's soooo funny that 4 people have voted on my poll. (I have sooo many friends.. ) All 4 people have voted on something different, I find it amusing.

TOTAL SURPRISE!!!!

If you read my blog I wrote a love list not too long ago, among that list I stated that I loved surprise phone calls from people I haven't heard from in awhile. Today I got something WAY better then that.
I was in my kitchen, trying to photograph bubbles in the soap. Yes that's right, I am an audio visual nerd! :) Anyway, all of the sudden a knock on my door. Brody was sleeping and I thought for a brief second, should I answer it?? I opened the door.....I stood with my jaw dropped to the floor.. I rubbed my eyes... she was really there.....JUNE!!!!! My darling beautiful friend June is in town for a wedding and came over to surprise me. See June and I were roommates awhile back! We used to lay in bed together at night and sit in the dark and tell jokes. :) Hehehe... it was fun and we would giggle like little school girls. June stood up for me when I got married. I haven't seen her in a YEAR!!! I have been thinking of her so much lately and have missed my friend terribly!!! SO YEAH! Not only did I get to visit with her today but I will get to see her again over the weekend. YEAH.. for wonderful thoughtful friends who take the time to stop and say your important. :)

coming soon!!

I am excited that one of the companies I contacted got back to me and I will be hosting a giveaway. It might be a couple of weeks but you can certainly spread the word. I think it will be a great giveaway!! Stay tuned........

Some new things...

I want to start doing some new things on my blog. It's sort of going to be a trial but I hope that it will be fun and can be a blessing to anyone out there who is reading. :)
I am going to introduce frugal fridays! I have been really trying to make a some changes in our lives with how we spend our money. Clearly now that I am not working our financial situation has changed. I have been researching online how to save money or be more frugal. So I thought it would be fun on Fridays to share with you a tip on being frugal! :) I would also love for you guys to feel free to share with me and other people reading what you do!! At some point I am going to have a day where I share recipes as well, it might be a meal that is quick, inexpensive, or just darn right tastes good but I love recipes and trying new recipes. :)

As I was thinking about Frugal Fridays it came to my mind that one way I have seen bloggers blessed is through bloggy giveaways! What I have noticed through these giveaways is that a lot of times the companies featured are small businesses and the blogging community is helping to promote and support these companies. So the people that recieve the giveaway are blessed and the companies are being supported. So I am currently looking into connecting with some companies and do some giveaways myself. My only issue with this is that I do not want this to overtake my blog. I started it to share my life with other people and continue to keep this as my main focus. So my plan if possible is to try and do this once a month. Hopefully I will be able to make it happen and will keep you all posted. So I hope that you will share my blog with others. I am hoping to have all sorts of giveaways for moms, singles, marrieds, etc. Not just moms with kids but hopefully I will be able to offer something for everyone at one time or another. Like I said I am planning on doing this only monthly or bimonthly but I hope it happens and will be a blessing to others out there. :)

New Brody pics

Ok. It's been awhile but trust me I haven't been slacking. Here are some new pics. :)

Best Friends :)

Brody and Sophie are definately buds. Sophie, however, adores Brody!! If he cries she sits outside his bedroom door if she is in the house. If she is outside and hears him cry she lays outside his window. Isn't that the sweetest. She loves being by him. They play together, and she makes him laugh so hard. I love watching him to get big enough to find a friend in Sophie girl. I couldn't have asked for a better dog for my son.

I wonder how dog food tastes??

Ok.. not really, I don't wonder but in case any of you do? Just ask Brody he can tell you. From the look on his face and the gagging sound that he made... well I don't think he liked it much.

Easter.... hmmmmm...

Well our weekend was kind of uneventful. As I have been looking at everyone's blogs and their Easter pictures I realized that I didn't take one picture of Brody on his first Easter!! Does that make me the worst mother ever or what?? Ok... I know I am exagerating a bit but still what planet was I on. (This is not for answering... just making a statement.) So here is the deal... Easter was VERY low key. Seriously our whole weekend was pretty laid back. However, Sunday morning I woke up feeling horrible. Don let me sleep and we ended up not going to church. We didn't get Brody anything for Easter. We did go to his mom's for lunch but we were there for only about two hours and then came home. I was feeling a little better but still not great so we all took a nap. :) I love naps..... ( just wanted to say that.) So that was it. We didn't have any Eastery egg hunts, we didn't do baskets or anything. I wish we would have but I think that when he is bigger it will be more fun anyway. I wish we would have gone to church. I look forward to sharing the meaning of Easter with him, of course it's more then the chocolate and the baskets! It's about our amazing Lord and his resurrected son! Praise God. It's truly an amazing holiday!!

5 MONTHS... YEAH RIGHT!!!

Hahahahaha.... I am surprised it took Don and I a month before we kissed let alone 5 months!!! Have you ever heard of Ado Annie?? HAHAHA... from Oklahoma, the musical. She sings a song and it goes something like this " I'm just a girl who can't say no, I'm in a terrible fix... I always say come on let's go just when I outta say nix... when a fella tries to kiss a girl ... something something yada yada yadaaaaa.....give his face a smack, when a fella tries to kissssss meeee I some how sorta wanna kiss him back....!!!!!" Basically that was me in my younger days.. my lips liked to kiss and be kissed. It wasn't really like me to wait a month.. to date for a month before kissing but he was worth the wait. He kissed me in a very cheese bomby fashion, but it didn't really matter because he won me over. :)

Just call me Rainbow Brite!!

I don't really have a favorite color.. I used to and it was blue but now I have several. I love orange, green, brown, pink, blue, red... those are probably my favorites. Hmmmm... now what can I come up with next??

3 yrs old. 12.9 lbs.

Anna Margaret. Barely moving, Isn't talking, not interested in anything. :( She currently weighs 12.9 lbs and is very weak. She isn't doing well, please continue to pray.

Oldies but goodies!

Ok. soooo what can I say about these pictures. The outdoor pictures were taken by my wonderfully talented friend Melissa. The picture of Brody laying in the grass on his tummy? Do you see it? Don says that the expression is due to Brody'd disgust that we laid him near dog poop. whoops. :)

I was looking for a family picture the other day and looked at some older pictures and thought it would be fun to share them with you all! ENJOY.... :)

Book Meme

I was tagged for a Book Meme. The rules are that you must pick up the book that is the closest to you right now, go to page 123, go to the fifth sentence down and post the next three sentences of your book. No cheating! It must be the book closest to you at the time that you are reading this. It gives us a glimpse into what each other is reading. :) So the book closest to me was " The power of a praying parent." I have to admit I haven't started reading it yet!! I am working on the "Battlefield of the Mind." Joyce Myers! Really good. Ok so here is a glimpse into my book

"And although we can do much to teach our children about living purely in the ways of the Lord and model this to the best of our ability, the real teacher is the Holy Spirit. Holiness begins with a love for Him. "Keep yourself pure" (1 Timothy 5:22), the Bible instructs us. That's a hard assignment for anyone, but especially for a child."

Ok.. so I am going to be checking your blog to see if you read!! hahaha.....

The race is on.

Brody is in the lead. He is moving at a rapid pace towards the door, will he get there in time? Jennifer is up from her chair and is slowly gaining on him. This is becoming a very close race ladies and gentlemen! You can hear the anticipation from the crowd, who will get to the door first? In the last second Jennifer reached the door just before Brody and it was shut just in time. A slight whine escapes Brody, he looks around and once again is off, the race seems to be never ending..... oh the excitement where will he go next? What will he get into, will he get there in time? Stay tuned to " The race is on".

My love list

I love faith, hope, and miracles; I love feeling strong masculine arms holding me securely; I love the smell of Hugo Boss cologne; I love the laughter of a baby; I love kissing chubby thighs, feet, cheeks, and tummy's; I love listening to the sounds around my home in the morning; I love the smell of coffee; I love the smell just before it rains; I love a surprise phone call from someone I haven't heard from; I love the sound of receiving a new email; I love snuggling up and watching a good movie; I love slobbery open mouth kisses from babes; I love the look of light as it's streaming through the window; I love early morning sunrises; I love the feel of water around my body as a jump into a pool; I love the instant click of the camera when I know I got a good picture; I love watching people when they don't know you are watching; I love the sound of ocean waves as they crash on the beachfront; I love the swish sound that a basketball makes when it goes through the hoop; I love the sound of iceskates stopping on the ice; I love the feel of a nice breeze on my face; I love BREAKFAST... mmmmmm, especially fancy ones; I love cooking and trying new recipes; I love a good margarita, or a glass of red wine, or a good beer; I love the smell of campfire in the fall; I love the changing of the leaves; I love lazy days; I love the sound of rain as it hits the window; I love sitting in the dark and watching thunderstorms; I love baths, especially baths in whirlpool tubs; I love snuggling up with a good book; I love pedicures; I love new clothes; I love 3 minute laughs; I love seeing a mom with her brand new baby or a daddy for that matter; I love a good heart to heart; I love chips and gaucamole; I love seafood; I love surprise presents; I love getting personal mail; I love the feel of sand between my toes; I love flowers; I love family time in our bed on Saturday mornings; I love worship; I love singing when no one is around; I love listening to music really loud in the car; I love going for drives and talking; I love walking around barefoot in the grass; I love the smell of barbecue; I love the feel of catching a fish; I love being challenged; I love the smell of ocean air; I love driving through the mountains; I love feeling the warmth of the sun; I love hearing kids playing outside; I love the sound of wind chimes; I love the feel of kissing a freshly shaved face; I love the smell & feel of a clean house; I love cheesecake; I love a good date; I love a juicy cheeseburger; I love being a blessing to other people; I love laying in bed and talking in the dark; I love my life.

*I stole this idea from http://www.someonebeingme.blogspot.com/ who stole it from someone else and who knows maybe they stole it from someone. Please feel free to write your own love list. The rules are that you can't include a single person you know on your list. No "I love the way my husband laughs" or "I love hearing my little girl call for me." But this particular little exercise is about stripping away everyone who defines you and figuring out what you (not his partner; not their mother/daughter/sister/friend) love.

The Unsolved Mystery

I am convinced that the dishes in my house multiply. Throughout the day I wash the dishes but no matter how much I wash the dishes there are always more. It seems that I find them everywhere. I go into the kitchen I fill the sink. The water is slowly filling to the top and I believe that the dishes must hear the water and they hide, under & behind the furniture, in the cracks in the wall, behind pictures. I finish the dishes, drain the sink and they all come out to play. Where do they all come from, for pete's sake it's only Brody and I during the day. I use paper plates frequently... this is one mysterious I can't figure out. It's like the loaves and fishes. I am wondering if anyone else has multiplying dishes?

Heavy Hearted

Today my heart is heavy. I have been weeping off and on this morning. I sat on the floor with Brody and held him, not wanting to let go and just weeped. My heart breaks as I write that Anna's cancer has gotten worse. Anna is 3. I am sure that you have all prayed as I have asked for prayer in the past but today I ask that you not only pray but I beg that you will ask others who you know that pray to pray.

August Rush

I think anyone who knows me knows that I love movies. I grew up on them. :) Right mom? I can get lost in a movie, it relaxes me. I don't know that there have ever been too many movies that I have ever felt compelled to write about but I highly recommend the movie "August Rush". One critic stated that "it sang to his soul". I loved the way he wrote about it. He also stated that if you are going to go to a movie to critique the story and look for flaws this may not be the one, however, if you want a movie that you can get lost in, well this would be the one.

I love the characters. Robin Williams plays a butthead, there I said it, however, this is the best acting job I have seen him do in a long time. Regardless, his character isn't the one you will fall in love with. The boy who plays August is captivating. I had goose bumps through the majority of the movie. The story line is heartbreaking, but it's sort of like the "Pursuit of Happiness", there is hope and the idea to always pursue your dreams. Yes it's one of those feel good movies but it's a REALLY good one. The music is amazing, I loved the music.

Now without giving it away I will say that I was a bit disappointed in the ending. I felt the need to say this so that maybe if you expect to be disappointed you won't be. :) I will say though that even though I was a little disappointed with the ending the rest of the movie was so good that I didn't care. Which personally I think says A LOT. I can kind of see why they ended it the way they did but...... well I better stop I don't want to say too much. If you are looking for a good movie to watch this weekend I recommend August Rush. Enjoy. :)

New Little Things...

Here are a few new little things that Brody is doing.... some of these you may already know and some you may not.. so I would stay tuned!!

1. Plays in his room by himself. He loves to go into his room and pull the books off the shelf, sit in the middle of all of them and talk to them. Yes that's right, he talks to his books.

2. This is one of my favorites. Brody now SAYS and SIGNS "ALL DONE". However, he thinks he can say this when he doesn't want to do something. Examples: He hates to have his diaper changed or his clothes changed. Sometimes he can be preoccupied and sometimes not so much. SO now he has started to tell me that he is "All Done" while I am in the process of changing him. I can't help it but I think it's kind of cute. He also has just started to tell me this when I put him in his car seat. He doesn't like his car seat.

3. Brody refuses to wear a hat. I need to just duck tape one to his head. So when we go out I put blankets around him and over him. Well he has started to peak out of the blanket when we are outside, look at me and laugh. Hahahaha... very cute.

4. He LOVES to watch tv. To be honest the way our week has gone we have been watching A LOT of tv. So he loves it. His favorite thing is to walk up to the entertainment system, pull himself up and crain his head all the way back to look up at the tv. It's really quite a site.

5. We love to give Brody zerberts! (sp) you know?? I have no idea how to spell it, another name might be raspberry's... when you blow on their skin. We blow on his tummy and he laughs. Well he also likes to do it. For a little while now he would blow on the furniture!! HAHAHAHAHA... He does it to our leather chair and to the end table, which I think is hilarious. However, he has started to do this to Don and I more and more and laughs about it. Which is so adorable. The funny thing is he does it on our clothes so it doesn't work. :)

6. Most of you may already know that he is walking along the furniture. :) Maybe I already posted that. hmmm???

Well I can't think of anything else, but he is constantly growing and changing. More and more his personality comes through. Like I have said previously I have enjoyed each stage. I love watching him grow and develop but I LOVE how he interacts with us now. :) He is so much fun.

Anyone?? Anyone??

I went to Target today and I had the best intention to get pizza. I don't want to cook tonight to save my life. :) What's easier and cheaper then throwing a frozen pizza in the oven. :) So I find myself walking out of Target and realizing that I FORGOT the pizza. I had a strict budget and needed to get the most important things on my list so I couldn't turn around and go back for the pizza. Needless to say I was bummed and started to wonder if I could talk anyone into coming over and making dinner for us tonight? Or maybe just bringing us dinner?? Anyone?? Come on now I am sure that you don't have anything better to do!!? ;)

UFF-DA!!

That's right.. I said it.... UFF-DA!!!! :) What a night. Seriously I don't know what is wrong with my child but I hope that he is getting teeth and that last night wasn't for nothing. I had perfectly good intentions to go to bed early last night. I was so exhausted after getting up so early yesterday morning with Brody. Well guess what I started heading to bed around midnight. Don and I decided to work on taxes last night and work on getting our insurance papers filled out for his job. So at midnight I lay down and guess who starts crying.... no it wasn't DON... it was BRODY!! Poor little guy. Don told me to go to bed and he would take care of him. Brody screamed for 2 hours. :( Needless to say I didn't sleep well. Finally I got up at 2 and took over. I got up and rocked the little guy to sleep. But it didn't really matter because he literally was up every hour to hour and a half last night. The thing is that this little guy has always been a pretty good sleeper. I had one really bad night when he was a new born. That was the first night we brought him home but for the most part he has slept for 3 or more hours at a time since birth. So this is completely out of character for him. So needless to say I just kept rocking him lasting night and praying for him. Either it's his teeth or he feels the way I do. I haven't felt well since Monday. We have had a good combo this week with feeling under the weather and him not sleeping well. Needless to say he isn't feeling well, sleeping well, I am not feeling well or sleeping, and poor Don has to put up with both of us. Regardless emotionally and mentally I am doing great, just completely and utterly POOPED out!

Reflectors

So again I am going to tell you of another story from Sunday. As I stated before the church we attended had a love for one another. One of the church members was celebrating his birthday. They had him come before the church and we all sang Happy Birthday for him. After we sang they asked us to raise our right hand as if we were laying our hands on him and pray. I am not sure why but I opened my eyes to look at Brody and he was sitting there watching us with his right hand raised towards the man just like us. I think I gasped. It caught me off gaurd. As soon as we put our hands down so did he. He smiled so big at me. I know that our children truly are sponges right now. I have seen it in other ways but to seem him raise his hand reminded me that what we show him through faith and love of Jesus Christ he will likely absorb and reflect. It was so cute and precious. I know that he didn't understand what he was doing but it was still cute to see him copying us and to be reminded of how important it is to be concious of what we reflect to him.

simply beautiful

On Sunday we went to a Liberian church. There is one moment from the day that was so precious but first I will tell you a little bit about the whole experience. We were there because Don is currently in a Cultural and Ministry class. For an assignment he needed to attend a multicultural church. So this is where we found ourselves Sunday morning.

This church was one of two of the most welcoming churches I have been to. I will not lie. It was a little awkward. We were clearly a minority and new to the service so everyone looked at us. :) Once church got going it was just fun. It was very simple. They just radiated Christ. There was a hunger for the Word. There was a definate love for one another and any one new. It was a really cool experience. I hope this isn't offensive to anyone but I am going on to explain a little more detail of their worship time. The Lord rejoices in our worship, in our praise to him. It doesn't matter if we are good singers, that isn't the point. Their worship time wounded some what chaotic, if I was to be honest, at times it sounded like screaming. The funny thing is that regardless I understood why, regardless of how it sounds to human ears, the Lord views it as beautiful. I could see the beauty of it and even hear it because of how genuine they were expressing their love for God.

So for one of my favorite moments of the day. The kids were amazing. They were just really cool kids. One little girl, 3 years old, came right up to Brody and I. We were sitting on the floor and she seemed as though she wanted to hold him. She came and squatted right down in front of me and just looked at Brody. Then she moved closer, almost nose to nose, put her hands up on his face and just looked at him. She did this more then once. She just had this adoration in her eyes, you could tell she liked him and it was one of the sweetest moments I have ever seen. So precious.

Perspective

Well I have been sharing some of the things that God is teaching me recently. Most importantly it all comes down to renewing my mind. The book I am reading talks about how as Christians we are born again, however, our minds are not. Our minds must be renewed.

Brody woke up this morning probably around 5:30 or so. I heard Don up with him and got up to help. I offered to take over since he needed to get up to go to work today. Typically I would give him a bottle & he would go back to sleep. Well not today. I am pretty sure he is teething. His nose is running. He is drooling like crazy and he is one crabby little guy. So here we are at 9am and he has had a bottle, eaten breakfast, pooped & still doesn't seem to be tired. At least his mood has improved since this morning and so has mine.

My point in all this is that I was so crabby this morning. Brody cried for about an hour & 1/2. I felt so frustrated. I am not very rational when I am tired. I was reading my devotion when I felt the Lord reminding me that I need to renew my mind. Basically this morning I needed to change my perspective. First off stop thinking about how tired I am and start thinking about what I can do for Brody. Secondly, being tired isn't the end of the world. I have so much to be thankful for today and this is what I have decided to think about and focus on. So I am going to share with you all what I am thankful for today.

First and most importantly I am thankful for a God who loves me with out conditions. Not only loves me but doesn't give up on me.

Secondly my husband. Who is patient, loving, and committed to Brody and I. I was pretty emotional this morning and he was so calm and collective. I hope that I can become more like that. Also I am so thankful for how hard he works & yet he still gets up and helps out with Brody. I am sure that he must be pretty tired today as well.

So on with my list. Today is beautiful. The sun is shining and I think it's supposed to be in the forty's... wahooo! So we may just bundle up today and go for a walk. I think it would be good to get some fresh air. Even if we don't go for a walk today, I am so thankful for some sunshine and warmer temperatures. It gives hope that spring is just around the corner.

Brody played on the floor this morning and I laid on the couch & read a book. Mmmmm... for that I am very thankful.

It really is amazing when you stop & put things into perspective. In my head it felt like the worst morning in the world because I was tired and the baby woke up early. Isn't it crazy the places our minds can go, but when we stop & put things into perspective; well it's never really as bad as it seems.

Bumps & Bruises

Recently I have been around a few newer babies. Newborns are so sweet. I know that it's not everyone's favorite stage but there is something very precious about it. I love their wrinkly skin. I love the way their scrunched up. I love how small they are. I love the way they sleep on you.

I really have enjoyed every stage so far. As the babies grow there is just more to love. The way they grow into their wrinkly skin. The way that they start to become more alert and observe the world around them. Brody since he was a newborn loved to listen to people talk to him. Now he does quite a bit of the talking himself and that is wonderful too.

After they become more observant with their world they start to interact with it. They start to smile. Maybe laugh. It's been amazing for me as I have watched Brody grow. Seeing him develop motor skills. Watching them get big and strong as they learn to roll over, crawl, sit up, stand. You also start to see their personalities. Which of course is wonderful.

I think of these new babies I have held it has just been a reminder of how small Brody once was. He is only getting bigger. He is in the stage now where he falls all the time. He is pulling himself up on anything and everything. Walking along furniture. He always seems to have a bruise on his head. He bumps his head constantly. He actually has an uncanny ability to get a bump in the same place, right at the top of his head in the middle of his forehead. He has a little bruise there right now. :) As soon as I think it is starting to go away he gets another. Today as I was changing his diaper I found more bumps and bruises on his leg. These bumps and bruises really remind me that he is growing up. He is becoming more independent. He wants to try and do more things on his own. Before I know it he will be a year old. I can't believe that a year has snuck up on me so fast. Not only do these bumps and bruises remind me that he is growing up but more then that before I know it my baby won't be a baby anymore, he will be a little boy. :)

Back to the house.

So apparently house analogies is how God is choosing to speak to me recently. So I have another one for you. :) I receive a devotional, "Encouragement for Today". God has used this in SOOO many ways to speak to me. Last week I had 2 days where I was so crabby. Everyone gets crabby once in a while. I had never been crabby quite like this where I was just emotional, sad, and angry for two days. Not quite sure why. So anyway, one day I got my devotion, through email, from Encouragement for Today. Here was the story.

One day a man and a woman come home to find a notice on their door from the housing committee in their neighborhood. The notice stated that the outside of the house was in poor shape and needed to be repainted within thirty days or they would be fined. The woman was furious. They have been renovating the inside, working on the kitchen and the living room. Why couldn't they have looked through the window sills that they were complaining about to see all the work that they have done inside the house. She decided to go out to the street to look at the house. From the street the house looked fine. She became that much more angry, they must have had to walk onto the property and look closer to see the outside of the house. Humiliation set in as she imagined her neighbors sitting around discussing the condition of their home.

When it came time to start painting she herself had to take a closer look at the outside of the home. She focused so much on renovating the inside that she hadn't taken notice that due to cold and wind that indeed the paint had thinned. The outside of the home was worn and needed a fresh coat of paint. She became grateful that someone had taken the time to look up close and personal. The outside of the home could have become more damaged and this brought it to their attention so that they could fix it.

Ok so that was the story. Now I think that there are a couple of ways that this can be taken but this is how it spoke to me. During my crabbiness I was informed that I was not viewed as a generally happy person. This made me so sad. I had just recently told a friend that I am the happiest I remember being in a long time, maybe even ever. How could I feel so happy and yet some how portray that I am not a happy person. I am the kind of person who vocalizes my struggles. I think out loud. I started to wonder why it was that I appear so unhappy when I feel so happy. Not only am I vocal but I am very emotional and passionate. The things that are going on in my life that are good I don't think I vocalize as much as I vocalize the struggles. The struggles I am wrestling with, I am trying to analyze and figure out. However, why do I do this? This goes back a little bit to cleaning out the deep corners of our souls, our "houses". I feel like I have been focusing on cleaning out the inside of my house. Renovating it, as they said. I think to some extent we are supposed to be aware of the inside of our homes but maybe what we are supposed to do is relinquish that to God.. Matthew 6 tells us not to worry. Not only that we are not supposed to worry but that it will not add a single day to our lives. It doesn't do us any good. I claim to believe in a God that is bigger then me, knows me better then I know myself, loves me and wants what's best for me. Why would I worry if I am putting my life in his hands, am I really trusting him? So the point is I can't just focus on the inside of my house but I also have to be concious of what I am reflecting on the outside. I am choosing to let God take over the inside and focus on reflecting the things that bring me joy in my life.

Yesterday Don and I went to a Liberian church. This was for his schooling. We ended up being early and catching the end of their Sunday School time. They ended it with " If you're Happy and you know it?" How fitting right? It's amazing that a simple children's song can have such an impact. They sing it like this... " If you're Happy and you know then your LIFE will surely show it, if you're Happy and you know it shout AMEN." So off I go today focusing on the joy that God has given me in my life and I think Brody & I are going to sing that song today. I totally recommend it, because you can't sing it without smiling!! :)

Our trip to Kenyon

Here are some fun pics of our trip to Kenyon and my darling nieces. I think Brody would keep Kendra if my sister would let us. :)

I thought long and hard!

Hahaha... I have been thinking forever about what I could do for a poll. Seriously it took a little too much effort. :) So I will give you all a little background. Brody is 9 1/2 months and he is just walking around the furniture. SO there ya go. It will be fun to see what you all vote. :)

A++

That would be grade I would give my weekend. Don and I played video games Friday night!! hehehe... Saturday I got to see my new beautiful neice! Oh she is just gorgeous! It was a fun day. I got to see both beautiful girls. The oldest seems to adore her sister. I got to take pictures. :) So of course I had fun. Brody seemed to have a ball at auntie's house! Seriously he adored his little cousin, she had him laughing so hard. It was hilarious. Saturday night was a low key night. Basically we just hung out and visited. My nieces visit was wonderful but today was pretty comparable. Diane and I got to see Roxy seen at church in the choir. That was fun. We all visited together this afternoon and then I had my finale. Don and I had a babysitter!! THANK YOU DIANE!! THANK YOU THANK YOU! I needed a date with my husbad. So we had gotten free tickets to the T-Wolves and decided to go out to dinner before the game. I had my husband for 5 straight hours tonight. We went out to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and then went to the game. The Wolves lost but it was still a fun game. It went into over-time. It's too bad they couldn't have pulled off the win. Oh, well... Don and I got to talk, flirt, and connect with each other so I guess you could say WE WON!! :)