Make a List Monday

Five Things I Love About Being a Mom:

1. Watching my children learn new things each day.
2. Learning new things myself through teaching/watching them.
3. The unconditional love that only children can truly offer.
4. Hugs, kisses, snuggles and extra lovin' just when I need it.
5. Sharing the love of Jesus with my children and then seeing them share it with someone else.

One of my current favorite songs

Beautiful, truthful, thought provoking, humbling words.....


Chris And Conrad - Lead Me To The Cross

Savior I come I quiet my soul
remember Redemptions hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom

Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I Tempted and trialed Human
The word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you're risen
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross
Lead me to your heart
Lead me to your heart

Sarah's Sunday Spill

Today we visited a church in Round Rock. It was so refreshing to actually TALK to people instead of being ignored. Whether or not this church is "the one", there was definitely a reason for us to be there today. As I mentioned Wednesday, I've really felt attacked this week as we began our first week of learning at home. That exact thing was a topic of discussion in Sunday School this morning (James 4:1-11). I found myself literally giggling (quietly) as the class leader began this particular part of the discussion and hearing other people share definitely made me feel a lot better. It seems so "churchy" to say "the devil is attacking me" but that's exactly what he has been doing. He is ALWAYS there looking for a way to separate us from God. His hope is that we'll focus so much on the world, that will take our eyes off the cross.

We begin our second week of "somewhat structured learning" tomorrow and character trait of the week is "obey". This should be a very interesting week!

Hanni lounging with Belle & sipping yogurt

Being silly before church (amazingly we had time to kill)

I thought it was funny that Barbie grabbed Aidan.

Wordless Wednesday

Respect

I started "school" with the kids on Monday. Each week we have a plan for learning but it's all accomplished through everyday activities and a few worksheets. I want it to be a fun experience for the kids and my goal is that they don't even realize they are learning through the process. Each week we have a specific character trait and corresponding Bible verse and story to discuss. This week's character trait is respect (I'm sure you guessed that already) and the verse we're using with it is 1 Peter 2:17 - "Show proper respect to everyone."

What's amazing to me is how much I'm learning through this experience called parenting. For a long time, I had this idea that parenting involved a lot of just being right and kids molding to that. Sounds like a good idea right?! I say "no" they say "yes ma'am". "I'm the adult, you're the kid, you just need to LISTEN!" "I can scream at you but you better not even THINK of raising your voice to me." Just a few examples of how I thought parenting worked and I just couldn't figure out why I was ALWAYS so frustrated and angry and why my kids wouldn't listen. I've learned A LOT from my kids over the course of the last few years. Their NICU stay taught me that I am a lot stronger than I thought I was, juggling the needs of two tiny newborns taught me to multitask efficiently and attempting to teach my children how to be considerate human beings has taught me that it really is more about leading by example than I ever thought it was. If you don't believe me, try explaining to your 3-4 year old what "respect" means. You'll probably tell him/her that we show respect by saying yes ma'am, using kind words and not hitting or raising our voice. If your 3-4 is like my two, he/she will undoubtedly start asking questions. "Why?" is a favorite in our house. With my two, the questions were very humbling. They began to point out little things they notice I do and asked why it was ok for me to do that. Ouch! Some might say that because I'M the adult, I should have just told them that I'm their mother and they don't need to worry about me. But what does that teach them? What does that teach me?

I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father, that He has made such drastic changes in me over the course of the last year. God has really opened my eyes to what it takes to be the type of wife and mother He wants me to be. Hearing my children say their Bible verses is such an awesome experience. Making a pact with my daughter to work really hard at controlling our outbursts, is very humbling but it strengthening both of us. I can't imagine what I've done to deserve the blessings that God pours out each and every single day.

Through all these positive changes and growth, there has been some negative. Really though, negative isn't the right word. Satan has really tried to trip me up the last couple days. Yesterday I came really close to loosing my temper with the kids for the first time in a REALLY long time. I just couldnt' figure out why all of a sudden they were throwing tantrums and arguing with EVERYTHING I said. Then it occurred to me, I've been trying to live out and teach my children respect this week. The Bible says that Satan is always there trying to find a way to get his foot in the door and it's not a big secret that patience can be a huge weakness of mine. After a lot of prayer, a talk with Aaron and a little venting, I felt 100% better and I know that God will give me the strength I need to continue to teach my children and to learn from them.

Under Construction

I'm in the process of updating/redoing some things on the blog.

Out with the old, in with the new!

We got a brand new dining table today!! We've been wanting a bar height set for awhile now but a new table isn't exactly a necessity. Aaron came across a deal he couldn't pass up today and viola', new dining digs.

Our old hand-me-down "retro" table.

The new pretty one!!

Make a List Monday

Things I admire about my husband:

1. His love for the Lord.
2. His work ethic.
3. His outgoing personality.
4. His dedication to his family.
5. His love for me even when I'm not so loveable.

Let the games begin!

Today Aaron and I signed the kiddos up for soccer. I'm having a really hard time grasping the fact that my babies are old enough to play organized sports but I'm also really excited for them. I'm not sure they really know what to expect but so far they seem to be looking forward to playing. I think Daddy is secretly the most excited out of all of us. This is exactly the type of thing he's been waiting to do with the kids. He's even talked about trying to arrange his schedule so he won't miss practices or games. The kids are so blessed to have such a loving Daddy.

We should find out in a couple weeks what team they'll be on and when their games are. Aaron thinks it'd be fun if they were on different teams and of course I'd rather them play together. I can just see it now, me running to practices at the same time in different places or games at the same time on different fields. Gosh, what am I going to do when they're teenagers running 100 mph in different directions?

"Not Me" Monday

My first "not me" Monday and it's going to be brief.

It is not me who has realized she has become completely obsessed with things going in their proper place. I would never get aggravated with guests (especially family) who obviously cannot read my mind and know where every little thing goes.