It's official... my babies are growing up!

My baby is slowly but surely slipping away and becoming a little boy! I'm not ready! I guess I better brace myself 'cause it's ain't going away! On Friday, we set up his toddler bed. Was a little bit of a last minute decision as to when to do it. He did great for his nap. Just laid there and napped as usual. Same with Friday evening.

Here he is Friday afternoon at nap time. So proud of his big boy bed! And, of course, Dani had to be in on the whole thing! What a hoot!

And I had to sneak in and take a picture of him while he was sleeping Saturday at nap time.

Oh, I have to tell ya'll the funniest story! Tyler has obviously realized since Thursday's gloriously wonderful stay-in-bed time, that he can get OUT of his bed as he wishes. So, he got up once or twice at nap time yesterday but stayed in bed from then on. Last night was another story altogether! He got up once and just ran out of his room! Um, I don't think so! Tyler, you STAY in your bed, okay? Tyler: "Okay!" Next thing we know, his door is opening and he is on his hands and knees peeking out around the corner. Keven and I could not help but crack up! It was hilarious! We eventually put a gate up at his door so he cannot get out! He will learn. Funny how I have forgotten how this whole process went with the girls!

This afternoon he got out of bed (we were downstairs) and was sitting in the recliner reading a book! The gate went right up! He is now in bed, leisurely kicking the wall and singing to himself! Oh that child!

Now, to add insult to injury... I was watching Jimmy and Karen Evans on t.v. this morning. I love to listen to them on Sunday mornings if I get a chance. If you've never heard of them, here is a link to their site. Anyway, somehow he got on the subject of when you should have "THE talk" with your kids. His suggestion? Between the ages of 8 & 10! HUH?! Marlie will be 9 in a month! This cannot be happening! I feel like she is nowhere near ready to have that information. But, Jimmy Evans made a good point that we need to get to them before outside influences do. We need to approach them with a godly, biblical perspective before the world does with their misinformation! YES, that's right... but I'M NOT READY!!!!!! I've had the series called "God's Design for Sex" in my nightstand for quite some time. I guess it's time to get it out! YIKES!!!!!

CO Blizzard of '09

Our area was hit with a significant amount of snow on Thursday morning for about 24 hours. According to the news, our area got a little over a foot of snow! All I can say is FUN!

I woke up Thursday morning wondering where all the snow that I was warned about was. But it didn't take long before the snow started while we were getting ready for school on Thursday morning. After listening to the local AM station for school closures, of which ours was NOT one, I reluctantly made the executive decision to NOT take the kids to school. We live 25 minutes away in a different town and just wasn't comfortable with the prospect of having to go out later to pick them up when school closed early. Of course, the school was supportive of our decision.

To make things even better, it was Keven's first day off for a week. We all went outside, IN THE BLOWING SNOW, and had a blast. But, it didn't last long as it was pretty brutal weather. So, we went in and had just a wonderful family day. Friday we woke up to sunshine and still LOTS of snow on the ground to play in. Keven went out with the kids and this time it was an hour and a half of pure snowy fun!

Thursday's snow:

Early morning

About 2 hours later:

Our birdbath and bench, lots of snow:

Having fun?

Now for the sunshine and snow of Friday. As you can tell, was much more fun!

The tiny snowman... he has since become somewhat of a hunchback heading steadily for the concrete!

Tyler helping scoop snow!

FUN!

Hammerin' it home!

It's funny how the Lord really just slams me with things sometimes. This time, He's really hitting me from all directions... my Bible study, a book I'm reading, other blogs... you name it, He's not leaving me alone!

So, what am I being hammered for you might ask? Quite simply, for not relying on Him! In my Bible study we are talking about how obedience is a way that we show God that we love Him. And, that there are two parts to obedience or holiness. There's dependence on God and our discipline. You could look at these two things as two sides of a scale with dependence on the one side and our discipline on the other. Dependence will never be outweighed by our discipline. In fact, it is the only thing that will counter-balance and make things fall in line. Hope that makes sense. So, without complete dependence we are just as completely unable to do anything of significance for Him. I am extremely guilty of doing things in my own strength. I am somewhat of a control-freak you could say! Ask anyone that knows me, they'll tell ya!

So, I have started re-reading The Power of a Positive Mom (and am hoping to finish it this time!). The last chapter I read was about staying connected to the power source. It was all about how we must be connected with and abiding in Christ before we can even hope to accomplish anything.

Then, there was a post on the LPM blog a few days ago that dealt specifically with this issue! It was primarily with keeping up appearances and essentially putting on a happy face and the lack of transparency but also spoke of parenting issues. With that it talked about how we have to stay on our knees and rely on God before we can hope to get through this thing called parenting!

So, I am trying to remember to pray for help rather than just take control myself. I've seen where that gets me!

Just for the record...

I have not changed my current memory verse on purpose! While I do have it memorized... I need more time for it to burn into my heart! I am finding that it is coming to mind quite often. Too bad it's mostly when my kids are saying not-so-kind things to one another and not when I am spewing off at the mouth... usually at my husband! OUCH! Did I just admit that?

Anyway... had to set the record straight! And yes, please feel free to ask how I am doing!

More Spring Break Fun!

Wow... we've had quite the week, especially for us home bodies! Wednesday was a trip to the Children's Museum of Denver. It is really more of an extravagant play place than a museum but oh so fun! It has different places or areas throughout for the kids to visit. For instance, there is a room set up like a mini grocery story complete with aisles, little shopping carts, play food, a couple of play check out lines, etc... There is another room completely set up like a vet's office, a room for doing artwork, a room for puppet shows, one for dressing up, one with a magnetic wall to play with letters, on and on... it was a blast! Poor Tyler didn't really get too into it. He was tired and hungry so Daddy catered to him so the rest of us could have a good time. I think the two boys weren't really all that into pretending anyway.

Then today we met my cousin, Tracy and her kids and went to the Martinez Park/Farm. It was a bit chillier than we expected but was bearable. There were baby goats so they weren't selling food for you to feed the animals as usual either. That was really a bummer because that really gets the animals to flock to you but... we still had a great time together as usual. Then we went to the mall, had lunch and played at the "mall park" for a while. This kids always have such fun together!

So, I am one beat mama! No... it's not bad... just more going all in one week than I am used to but so fun!

And... no post would be complete without pictoral documentation of some sort! tee hee!

Butterfly Pavilion

This week is Spring Break for the big girls! It is great having them home! Keven does not go back to work until Thursday so we hoped to squeeze in a couple of fun things before then. Yesterday we went to the Butterfly Pavilion. It was so fun. Tyler was a bit of a pill since it was naptime but all in all he was pretty good! Keven ran into an old acquaintance from his days with another company and his daughter, McKenna, and Hannah were fast friends! Very cute!

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the Children's Museum in Denver and Friday we will go to a petting zoo with my cousin and her three little ones. A fun week! So, so glad to have them home!

Here are some pics... it's a little overboard but you know me and pictures! Oh,and they are totally backwards but until Blogger has an easier way to move pics around (or I figure it out how if they already do) this will just have to do!

LOVE this one! ha ha ha!

Tyler in the bee's honeycomb!

Hannah "petting" a starfish

These things are like 4+ inches long for reals! EWE!

Hissing cockroach. Not so little either!

Tyler letting Rosey the tarantula walk on his hand. What a brave little boy! No thank you!

This precious creature was 11 inches legs and all! BIG MAMA!

We've been to the Butterfly Pavilion before and it still amazes me the creativity of our Creator. That sounds kinda weird but you know what I mean. It's pretty obvious in this pic but this stick bug blends is so cool. The ridges on his body look just like any ole twig!

Can you see this guy in the middle of the picture? He is HUGE and his markings look like the dry ends of a leaf. AMAZING camouflage. Natural selection? I don't think so. An amazing Creator... I KNOW so!

A bettle of some sort!

Tyler and a centipede. I don't think he's so comfortable with this, what do you think?

Before we went in!

I'll be back soon with pics from the museum I sure!

Cruise Control Obedience

Cruise control obedience is the term coined by Jerry Bridges and he illustrates it in his book "Discipline of Grace" which I am studying with a group of ladies at my church.

Here is cruise control obedience in a nutshell. We as Christians tend to set the cruise control of our obedience to God. We reach a certain level of "acceptable" obedience, usually determined by our Christian peer groups. Then we just kinda cruise along in life. We become comfortable. Not that we are doing anything "wrong" necessarily but we are not loving God with all of our heart, soul and mind as commanded in Scripture. Therefore, we are not obeying Him as such either.

With that said... here is something that Bridges wrote that hit me like a ton of bricks:

God is not impressed with our worship on Sunday morning at church if we are practicing "cruise-control" obedience the rest of the week. You may sing with reverent zest or great emotional fervor, but your worship is only as pleasing to God as the obedience that accompanies it.

Does that strike anyone else? So, I guess my question or challenge is... are you/am I a cruise-control believer. I think to a large degree I am. I am comfortable that I am obedient to "the biggies". And, you know the ones I'm talking about. But what about the "little" stuff? The stuff that no one sees but God Himself? Am I obedient or actively working toward obedience to those things out of a love for my Creator and Savior? Generally speaking... I don't think I am. I may wish I were or have good intentions but is my foot on the accelerator with the pedal to the metal? Most of the time not!

Forgive me Lord! Do a work in me. Show me how! I am unable on my own.

Scrapbooking Frenzy!

If you can believe it, I had the house to myself all day Friday, all day Saturday and all day today. My family should be home around dinner time.

If you're wondering how in the world I managed this... My birthday is coming up and I told Keven that all I wanted for my birthday was for him to take the kids to his parents' house so I could have time to get some real scrapbooking done. And... here are the results. I got 19 total layouts done. Most of them are from WAY back! Doesn't seem like a lot but I guess I'm a little slow at it. Picky is probably a more accurate assessment really! It feels good to have made a dent in my list of pages to be done! I could use another 1/2 dozen weekends at least to catch up. I'll take what I can get! I hope the slideshow works. All 19 layouts should be included.

My little poet

Marlie has been working on a poetry unit in school and brought home "Marlie's Antholigy of Poems" this afternoon (her spelling by the way). Some of the poems were hers and some were not. Here is one of my favorites of hers. It's the one that is typed out (in the larger font).

I just LOVE it! Bless her little pea-pickin' heart! I love that so much of it has to do with Christianity or Christian character! God is doing a mighty work in my little girl's heart I think. Poor thing... I've not been feeling well for a few days and she was so worried that she came out of her room crying about it last night. Daddy prayed with her and that calmed her down. The night before last we were talking about end times stuff. She got so worried as we read what it would be like during the tribulation. I assured her that her daddy and I believe in the pre-trib rapture but that no matter what, God is in control. She was still so overcome with fear. Then there is Hannah who says, "Yeah Marlie... if we are here during the bad stuff and get killed or something, we get to go staight to heaven so..." and shrugs her shoulders. It really is amazing how two kids can be so very different in every way. Anyway, after going over some Scriptures, Marlie was better. What a girl!

The poem in her handwriting is based on the smaller typed one and says:

Love That Mom
Inspired by Walter Dean Myers

Love that mom,
like a sister loves to boss.
I said love that mom
like a sister loves to boss.
Love to call her in the morning
loved to call her
"Hey there, Mom!"

Isn't that funny!? "Like a sister loves to boss"... HILARIOUS! Can you tell her birth order? Oh my goodness! I LOVE my kids!

Is this not the cutest?

My doorbell rang this afternoon and I opened the door to find a young boy, I would guess around 11 or 12 years oldish. I was thinking, "Oh no, I don't have any canned goods to donate, don't need anymore Boy Scouts popcorn or Girl Scouts cookies, etc..." But I was polite and smiled and said, "Whatcha got for me?". Little did I know...

This young boy explained to me that he is starting his own business and was just out trying to drum up some customers. He explained to me that "Basically, we pick up where your dog left off." Here is his flyer!


Made me kinda sad that we don't have dogs! And, I'm tempted to call the local newspaper to suggest a write up on him. I think this is awesome!

Hannah's Birthday & the Grans... FINALLY!

My goodness it's been busy around here! We had a great time with my parents! Tyler absolutely LOVES my dad! So dang cute! He calls my mom "peekong". Emphasis on the kong and with a long "o" sound! I have no clue what that means or where it came from but it sure stuck. I will point and her picture and he'll call her peekong. He would call her that to get her attention. I still need to write that one down. The girls all got turns sleeping with Mom and getting their tickle sessions in, the gently kind, not the ha ha kind.

We celebrated Hannah's birthday with them on Friday. We started out with some fun at Bounce! What a hoot and WORE ME OUT! Then we went to Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse for food and a show. And, a birthday just isn't a birthday without cake and ice cream. Hannah got a slice of cake and a song from the servers at Hibachi. She was so cute and shy! Then we topped the night off with birthday cake ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. Yummy!

Here are some videos of the night.







Saturday we went to Sterling to visit some family. That was a great time but went by too fast. Keven and I finally got to go on our date that we've been waiting for forever! We were so pooped that we just went to eat then came home. We are such party animals!

Sunday was church and a visit with my grandparents. My grandpa was in great spirits despite having only 20% lung capacity. Funny how the Holy Spirit can do that work in a person! He is very recently saved! Love it! His outlook is so different now! It's amazing to have watched God work in his life. Now we're hoping for a trickle-down effect on the family! Pray for us!

The rest of the week was busy with trips to the store, lunch with the girls at school, working in Hannah's classroom, a walking field trip with Hannah's class, a hair appointment, visit with more family, etc.... It was busy but so, so fun! Wish they could've stayed longer but hopefully we'll see them again soon!

A slideshow of the week:

Awesome Blog!

My internet friend Robyn (love ya girl!) posted a link to this blog and so far I love it!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I have so far. Oh, and if you missed the post right before this, please do read it and consider praying for me (okay... AND holding me accountable!)

Memory Verse... yes, I'm a slacker!

Okay, so I didn't do a new memory verse on the 15th of February! I'm a slacker... totally! So, you will find my new verse on the sidebar!

I can recite the first part of the verse already and most of the second part too! For me, though I already "know" this verse in part, it's more about it becoming WHO I AM! This is NOT who I am! I initially think of gossip when I come upon this verse of Scripture. Do you too? Initially? I'm fairly good about avoiding gossip, not perfect but pretty good. But, at home I stink at this! Let me be honest here, I can be a real SNOT! Not just rarely or on occasion. I would say, and I think my family would agree, that this characterizes me more and more. Sad to admit, but true! I let the busyness, stress and cares of this world rule me and that in turn affects my mouth! Do I have a potty mouth? No! But my tone could eat someone alive, especially with Keven. Poor guy. I can't tell you how many times he says to me that it's not what I say but how I say it. You've even said this to your kids haven't you parents? I have too! What's even more sad is that I don't even realize the way I say things most of the time until he points it out to me. Worse than that is that pride gets in the way of me apologizing! Aye, aye, aye... I have some work to do people!

What does Scripture say? Out of the heart the mouth speaks?! So, what we (I) have here is a heart issue! WOWZERS! Okay Lord, I get it already! Now, how do I change it?! Any advice is warmly welcomed!

Oh, and a couple of other things jumped out at me in this verse. First is "according to their needs". How I speak to someone has nothing to do with me and everything to do with them. If Keven rubs me wrong, and we all know he will, we're human... I can choose to not say anything if that's what will benefit him/us OR if I do say something it needs to beneficial for HIM, not satisfy some sinful need of my own to tear him down or be right or something of that nature! Second is the "that it may benefit those who listen" part. I already KNOW this, but what I say IN MY HOME needs to benefit those who listen... who is listening? MY KIDS! I can already see it in the way Marlie talks to me or her sisters that she is picking up on snottiness! NOT GOOD!

I could really go on and on! But, I won't... this is painful enough! ;) The work I have ahead of me sure feels like a tall order! But, I know that God has begun a good work in me in even making me aware of my sinfulness in this area. And, also according to His Word, He is faithful to complete His work. I just hope I get it soon! I'm sure my family would appreciate it too! Feel free to ask how it's going!