A Day of Thanks

The kids and I have been studying various things about Thanksgiving the past couple of days and today we read the first proclamation given by George Washington after the House of Representatives requested that he declare a public day of thanksgiving and prayer. Here was his response a few days later in October of 1789. 

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
 And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

What a blessing to read about what a strong foundation this country was established on! But at the same time saddening to think how far we've come. We also read that the Pilgrims dug seven times more graves than they built huts......but still chose to set aside a day to be grateful and praise God. How discontent and ungrateful I so often am in comparison! While going over some of these things the verses in Colossians came to mind that say...."all things were created by Him, and for Him; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." What a reminder of why we should be thankful to Him, not just tomorrow but every day....because without Him we have nothing and are nothing anyway! Just the thought of Him loving us enough to give us Jesus should cause us to praise Him. And I know most of us have WAY more to blessings in our lives than that! I'll leave you with just one more verse of scripture that's been on my heart a lot recently that sums up how I want to feel tomorrow perfectly: Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. I looked it up and one of the meanings of selah can be to pause for praise or worship. That's what I want most for our family on Thanksgiving, is to take time to stop and acknowledge everything God has done for us! I hope you and your family will be doing that as well.

                                                   Blessings,
                                 Tyra

No Complaining?

I saw this 10 day challenge on facebook yesterday and was very intrigued by the idea. Mostly because I recognized it as something I SO need to do! Health issues, extended family problems, and just every day circumstances sometimes pile up and I tend to find myself being negative over everything. Not exactly following the verse in the Bible about being thankful no matter what. Anyway, after reading about it and deciding to try it I promptly became involved in the stress of dealing with 3 out of 4 kiddos having a nasty viral bug and kind of forgot about the challenge. (oops!) So I can't honestly say that last night was totally complaint free. But I'm determined to do better (and today has been pretty good so far I think) and am praying that God will use this to help me see what a bad habit I've gotten into in this area. I'd love to have you join me! No matter what life may be throwing at us these days I KNOW that we all have so much to be grateful for. Here's a verse I found a few weeks ago that's really been sticking with me: "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah." Psalm 68:19 The BIGGEST blessing in my life is that God saved me, not to mention that He has given me so many added benefits since then. So there is ALWAYS something for me to be grateful for. I'm hoping this challenge will help me stop complaining about the not so great things in life long enough to remember that!

So what do you say, can we do 10 days of no complaining? I think we can with God's help!

                                
                                Tyra 

                                     

Things I Love {Thursday}

Well, obviously this isn't a baby arrival update since yes we are still waiting for him to get here! Until that unknown future date that may never actually arrive then I figured I might as well share some other things around here that I'm loving. You know, since I can't honestly say that about the waiting stuff. Or the contractions. Or not sleeping. Ahem, okay, I'll stop now. On to the real point of this post which seriously is going to be telling you about the things I do love..........

~ Baby girl arms wrapped around my neck and early morning snuggles with just the two of us.

~ Big boy hugs given just because without momma even needing to ask.

~ Little girl cuddles in bed while she's feeling yucky. Sleeping between momma and daddy makes everything better! :)

~ Answered prayers to not let fevers get too high during the night.

~ Finding a good deal on a new van before the baby got here. Such a relief to have that decision behind us!

~ Back rubs from the hubby when I'm sore and tired from all these contractions.

~ Celebrating 9 years of being blessed with our first little boy.

~ Hearing exciting news from a sweet friend that they've been blessed with another new life!

~ Parents who step in to help out and bring food when the whole family gets sick.

~ Friends who check in with me and give encouragement in this last stage of pregnancy.

~ Scriptures that speak to my heart and feeling God's sweet spirit in the middle of sleepless nights.

~ Singing around the piano with the family and hearing a sweet baby voice as she learns the words.

~ Delancey working hard to teach herself new songs on the piano. Independently of course. :-)

~ Watching Dathan use his imagination to build something neat. From a box.

~ Making memories with our 3 kiddos before welcoming a fourth.

Well, I'm sure I could go on and on but there's just a few of the things I'm loving around here these days. What kind of things are lovely around your house? I'd love for you to share them with us in the comments!

(On another note, before wrapping up this post that I started last night, let me just share that I am now having hard contractions that are about 10 minutes apart. Waiting to see if they turn into the real thing this time! Hoping my next update will be that this little boy has finally arrived!)

A Baby Shower!

As I've mentioned in a couple of previous posts, some friends of mine generously offered to host a baby shower for Daxton last night. They worked so hard to put things together, especially considering that even planning the food was a challenge between my allergies and gestational diabetes! We had so much fun getting together to celebrate his upcoming arrival though and I was so blessed at the gifts everyone brought as well. And I even splurged with a small piece of cookie cake (which I had been craving like crazy!) without totally driving my blood sugar up. Well, okay, actually I forget to take my moniter and check it so I'm not sure how high it really got but it wasn't too bad when I got home so I think I did okay. Possibly due to the fact, I also ate alot of nuts and cheese to try and balance out the protein and carbs. lol
Very thankful to all the ladies who helped out with it and made it a special time. Here are a few pictures of all the fun. I think we might have ended up having more girls there than mommas! :-)

Praise, Prayers, and Pregnancy

The morning of my midwife checkup started out pretty normal and routine. Got up early (can anyone say "pregnancy insomnia"?!) and had a snack to keep my sugar level okay. Had some quiet time before the kiddos woke up then fixed breakfast and got everyone ready to go. The checkup was great (more on that in a minute) and we all enjoyed getting to see the midwives again. Seriously, it is the best thing ever to have such a more personal experience than you get with using a doctor. After hearing the baby's heartbeat she held the doppler on Darcey's chest so she could hear hers too. So fun! Then the kids mentioned being hungry before we left so she gave them all snacks and juice for the trip home. How awesome is that??!!

So anyway we head for home and make a quick stop at Kroger for a couple of things before driving through the main part of town. Traffic was heavy and we have to pass by the hospital which means there are almost always ambulances to watch out for. While coming up on the last intersection of that area I saw one pulling up to the red light to the right of me but didn't think it had its' lights on. (it could have and I just didn't notice when glancing over) It suddenly flashed them and sounded the siren at the same time obviously letting us know we should stop even though our light was green. The person in front of me went on through and although my stop was kinda last minute and meant I was going to go over the line a little I felt like I shouldn't just ignore him inching out there and keep going. About 5 seconds after we came to a stop and the ambulance was about to cross in front of us we were whammed from behind! Talk about scary!!

Thankfully no one was seriously hurt other than Delancey getting a small bump on her head from hitting the thing on the bottom of the head rest. We aren't sure about the damage to the van yet but at the moment our rear door refuses to open so that's a little frustrating to deal with. But we know vans can be fixed or replaced so are choosing to just be glad everyone's safe and praising God it wasn't any worse! Prayers for the insurance issues to be resolved quickly so we can hopefully make a decision before the baby comes is appreciated.

Now on to the pregnancy news which I will try to be short with since this post is already so long. :-)

~ I am 35 weeks 2 days.

~ The baby's position is still great and his head has dropped down even further. Yay!

~ Having contractions off and on most days and especially at night. I'm thinking I've made a little progress already but that's normal for me around this time. Just getting things ready for the big day!

~ Everything looked great other than a very slight amount of ketones in my urine. They thought it was probably due to my diet more than anything and encouraged me to eat more if I could and definitely drink more. I'm pretty much floating from all the water I'm having these days! lol

~ I've gained about 25 lbs total which is a little less than the other times so far but I weighed more starting out so it ends up about the same I guess.

~ Trying to get some things done and tie up loose ends before he gets here. I still can't believe it's going to be so soon! I'm so looking forward to meeting him and also very excited to see what kind of experience this birth will be with my lovely midwives. Something else I'm excited about is some ladies we met through our homeschool group offering to give me a baby shower! Gonna be so much fun getting to celebrate with them before he arrives.

I think that's about it for now. Prayers for mine and the baby's health are always appreciated as well as for my other children (especially Dathan) who have alot of health issues going on at the moment that are challenging to deal with. I'll post more about that seperately though so I can end this short story for now! :-) I'm linking up over at My Joy Filled Life again this week so don't forget to click through and read about the other pregnant mommas too. Until next time....

                                          Tyra

Things I Love {Thursday}

Haven't done one of these in a couple of weeks so I wanted to take time to share some things I'm loving around here. Yes, some days are discouraging right now, but no matter the hard times I've come to realize there's always lots to be thankful for. So here goes some of our loveliness.....

~ Spontaneous hugs from my (big) little boy who is growing up way too fast.

~ The whole family watching my stomach move into weird shapes and everyone taking turns trying to figure out what body part it is. :-)

~ Hearing Darcey's vocabulary multiply every day.... especially when she says things like "I love you" and "momma's baby".

~ Listening to funny, crazy music and "dancing" around the living room together. The kids love it even though none of us actually know how to dance! (which is just fine with me:)

~ Delancey helping clean up something, cook with me, or doing other things....without even being asked.

~ Buying the exact same father's day card as my brother did. Priceless. :-)

~ Snuggling on the couch with the kiddos.

~ Heart to heart talks with Blake about life stuff.

~ Love notes from my biggest girl, baby arms wrapped around my neck, and seeing how excited Dathan is to be having a little brother.

~ Riding in the van by myself singing about the Lord and feeling the Holy Spirit right there with me. Totally worth whatever the people I passed thought if they saw my raised hand or tears. So very thankful to serve such a wonderful Saviour.

~  Going through little baby boy clothes and getting them ready for a new one to wear. (can't believe it's been almost 9 years since we had our first!) Best part was seeing how excited Delancey was about them all. :-)

~ Hugs from my hubby, just because. Back and shoulder rubs when I'm hurting. And the special times with his hand on my stomach feeling our baby kick around.

~ More food and clothes than we need. A nice, cool house in the heat. More blessings than I can really count or could ever hope to deserve!

Well, there's my list for today. It's amazing how much stuff I end up taking for granted when I let myself get caught up in all the bad instead of looking at the good. Thankful that God is still faithful and merciful though and just keeps blessing even when I'm not grateful for it!   

What do you have that you're loving at the moment?! Please feel free to share! :-)

Things I Love {Thursday}

This is a crazy, busy week around here for us but I wanted to take a minute to share some things I'm loving in the middle of all the other stuff going on.

~ Starting therapy for my hip pain and looking forward to getting some relief hopefully!

~ Sharing scriptures with the kids and us all working to apply it in our every day life.

~ Almost being finished with this school year and looking forward to picking out new curriculum for the next one.

~ Finally having Darcey's 1 year old pictures made even if it is a little later than we planned!

~ Rocking one baby to sleep in my lap and feeling her little elbows in my stomach, while also feeling little elbows poking me from the inside. :-) 

~ Being reminded again about God's grace and forgiveness and how faithful He is no matter what. Also how much I desperately need His help to be a mom to these kiddos and how He always stands ready to give it when I ask!

~ Enjoying the sunshine and playing outside with the kids. Especially drawing all kinds of stuff with sidewalk chalk. :-)

~ Blake getting to little projects around the house that have needed finishing for awhile and kept getting put off while we did other things.

~ Seeing how much Delancey loved getting her ears pierced and how excited she is to start picking out more pairs after they heal up.

~ Planning a birthday party with friends for this weekend and looking forward to how much fun everyone will have!

~ Counting down the days til we meet this little boy growing in my belly. :-)

So there's a few things I'm pretty fond of around here lately! I would love to have you join in and tell me some of your own things. Until next time.....

                                        Tyra

Catching Up

Life has been busy, busy around here and I just realized I haven't posted in a whole week! We traveled to KY for a camp meeting last Wednesday and got home on Friday night.  It was nice to be in the services and hear some great preaching, but I have to admit the trip was a little rough for me. The kids did good on the drive back and forth, especially Darcey who is at that age where sitting still for long is never fun. Dathan's allergies have been a pain lately though and causes some emotional/spiritual problems for him as well so dealing with that was harder when away too. He actually got ready to come back home earlier than we had planned and I can't say I blame him since I know how bad he was feeling! We were glad we took the trip but more than glad to get back home. :-)

Saturday morning I went to a pregnancy class that was put on by a local therapy place. It was fun and very informative, plus they told me I should ask my doctor to write a prescription for therapy to help my chronic neck/shoulder pain and some hip problems I have that get worse when pregnant. Definitely looking forward to trying that and hopefully getting some help!
The rest of Saturday we spent with my parents eating out to celebrate my mom's birthday and then just visiting at their house. We were all super tired from the trip but it was nice to have a relaxing day just taking it easy.

Through the night found me sick with a bad allergy attack so needless to say I didn't rest which ended up for a rough day Sunday. I think the week just caught up with me too after being around so much I was sensitive to, eating different, etc. My dysautonomia had kicked in several times so that had my pretty wiped out too. I mostly just laid around and tried to feel better while Blake helped out with the kiddos. Thankfully he wasn't preaching anywhere and we just had our own devotions here so I could rest.

Today was starting back into a new week with doing a little around the house and getting some school work this morning. My check-up with the OB was this afternoon and I was a little anxious but also ready to find out if there was any change with the placenta previa. Thankfully it has totally moved and everything looked great! Praising the Lord for answering prayers in that area. I appreciate everyone else who prayed as well. And although God had really helped me with it and given me peace over trusting Him, it's still a relief to not have to worry about it anymore.

Tonight we drove over where my Momaw lives and visited with her and my aunt for awhile. We hadn't seen them recently so it was good to enjoy spending some time with them. Finally made it home and got all the kids washed up and into bed. I grabbed a minute to get on here and update but I'm gonna head that way myself now! 

I'll probably do another pregnancy post soon with more specifics and hopefully update a couple more times before we leave to go out of state again this weekend. (yes, we are crazy for taking two trips this close together! haha) In the meantime, prayers for all of our health and especially mine and Dathan's would be greatly appreciated. We really need the Lord to help us with some things that we're struggling with! Thanks so much and now I really am going to bed. :-)


                            
                              Tyra

Things I Love {Thursday}

It's been awhile since I've taken the time to do one of these posts. But it's definitely not from there being a lack of things to be crazy about around here! So today I'm sharing a few of those lovely things with you all.....

~ Early morning snuggles with Darcey while waiting for the other kiddos to wake up.

~ Sharing verses of scripture with Dathan and Delancey and hearing them ask to be read to out of the Bible every night before falling asleep.

~ Feeling little baby kicks and knowing that Daxton is growing inside me. :-)

~ Actually having enough energy to clean the house some and feeling so accomplished even though I didn't get it all done.

~ Watching the kids act out their own circus performance that Dathan planned for them. And laughing so hard at some of the stuff they come up with.

~ Friends who check in with me pretty much every day just because when they know I'm having a hard time. Not to mention all the prayers they pray on our behalf!

~ Parents who care about us and are always willing to help out when we need it or just like spending time with us even if we don't need something!

~ Practicing new hairstyles on Delancey and seeing how excited she gets when it turns out cute.

~ Hearing Darcey learn new words/phrases and seeing how her own little personality is coming out more and more.

~ Singing and playing the piano either alone or with family. And most of all the times when the Holy Spirit touches my heart through the words of a song.

~ Knowing that God's grace, forgiveness, and love is unconditional, all-sufficient, and never ending. Cause there's so many days I've needed that lately!

Well, there's some of my stuff to love! Hope you enjoyed reading. I would also love to hear you share some things of your own with me so don't forget to leave a comment below. :-)

Things I Love {Thursday}

This has been a busy, crazy week and I definitely have some things to share that I've loved about it! So let's get started, shall we? :)

~ Feeling much less nauseated for at least part of every day. (YAY!!!) This is a huge thing really and I'm so thankful for the Lord helping me with it. It's been alot more manageable the past few days and I've actually been able to do much more than before.

~ Seeing a missionary friend for the first time since he came back from a long stay in Brazil. He is such a great man of God and the kids love him to death. It's awesome to see Dathan have that kind of hero and role model!

~ Getting to attend some campmeeting services and hear wonderful preaching from the Lord. I was so thankful to feel like going and get to be there with my family! The best part has been seeing how much the kids have really wanted to go and enjoyed being there.

~ Darcey sleeping a little later than usual (which gives me more rest) and the older kids sleeping through the night for several nights in a row. At our house, getting good sleep is rare so I am always thankful when some of us do!

~ My parents helping out so much with the kids when we need them and also just enjoying spending time with them.

~ Blake having a steady job and working so hard when he has overtime without complaining. (which has been alot the past couple weeks) We are blessed to have our needs provided for and I'm doubly blessed to be able to stay home with my babies while he works.

~ And last but never least always so thankful that God loved us enough to send His own Son to die for us. I don't ever want to get over being amazed at that!! Our older kiddos have been asking lots of questions about being saved and I think the Lord has been working in their hearts. I can't wait for the day that they each get to experience salvation for themselves. :)

Well, there's some things I'm loving! Won't you join me in sharing some of your things? I'd love to hear them!

Things I Love {Thursday}

After the last post I did you might think it'd be kinda hard to write this one since there's definitely been plenty not to love around here the past couple weeks. But as I've learned (and God so patiently keeps on showing me) there is always something to be thankful for and love about your life. If you just take the time to look for it. So here it is, some things I'm loving around here.........

~ The kids sleeping all night again after several rough ones while sick.

~ Parents who helped out by bringing us stuff we needed when we couldn't go out.

~ A husband who doesn't just love me when I'm sick but still tells me I'm beautiful......dirty hair, red nose, swollen eyes, and all. :)

~ Mom cooking homemade soups and bringing it to us.

~ Seeing the kids feel well enough to start playing again. (even if they are going a little crazy in the house!)

~ Darcey spinning in circles 'til she's dizzy and laughing like she's done something great. :)

~ Getting to pick out a Christmas tree and decorate it with the kiddos.

~ Knowing that God's listening when you pray. Although you might not see changes or feel different at the time.

~  Getting to experience the wonder of Jesus coming to this sinful world for us all over again as we share the reason we celebrate Christmas with the kids.

~ And listening to lots and lots of Christmas music, while singing along through our stopped up sounding noses! :-)



Yep, we definitely still have plenty of stuff to love going on around here! What about you?!

Things I Love {Thursday}

I almost didn't take the time to do a post today, but here I sit waiting for the kiddos to fall asleep so I figured....why not?! Before I get started with some of the lovely things around here I do want to be honest and say that there's been some not so lovely moments lately too. One reason for this post is not just to talk about how good things are but also to remind me to focus on those good things more and not just the bad. I won't get into all that since that's not the point of what I'm writing here but I just wanted to be real with ya'll first. Okay, now that's out of the way so let me share some of this stuff I'm loving. :-)

~ Warm, sunny days that we can still enjoy playing outside on even though it's getting closer to winter. (in which we may or may not have gone barefoot. ahem.)

~ Kids camping out in the living room just because and me realizing all over again that it's the little things that make them happiest.

~ One night of good sleep in the middle of numerous sleepless ones. (which by the way is something I would seriously appreciate prayers about for all of us....Blake and I are exhausted and these kiddos need better rest for their growing bodies!)

~ Little baby arms wrapped around my neck and hands that pat my back. Just when I need it the most.

~ Talks and prayers with the kiddos when we know we've all blown it with our attitudes that day. And being able to tell a difference afterward.

~ A God who doesn't fail me, even when I do Him. Over and over. So thankful that when He sees me, He sees the blood of Jesus instead of my sins.

~ Reading books with the kids before bed....and hearing them ask for just one more chapter.

~ Baby jabbers that are quickly turning into more words and even sentences!

~ A warm house, food, clothes, and so many other things we don't really even need but are blessed with anyway.

~ And a fun time with Grandma tonight at the Christmas celebration at Bridge Street! :-)

That's just a few of the things I love today. What about you?

She's 1 Today!

It's almost impossible to believe that a whole year has passed since we welcomed this beautiful baby girl into our lives, but time has flown by and we are definitely celebrating her 1rst birthday today! I could go on and on about her and how special she is to us but I think I'll just let some pictures do the talking for me. Mostly anyway. :-)

Holding her for the first time!

Meeting the big brother and sister!

                           (fast forward a WHOLE year!)

Birthday Party!

Opening presents....she learned fast!

She had the most fun with the paper!

Taking a break to read her card!

Loves baby dolls....what a cute smile!

Wasn't sure what to think about her first cake!

What is this?!

She figured it out pretty quick! (altho she didn't end up eating much)

The 3-D's!

Waking up happy on her birthday!

We've had a fun weekend already celebrating and I'm sure today will be full of it too! Happy Birthday to our Darcey Ella! She's a wonderful, sweet, lovable addition to our family and we are so thankful to have spent the past year with her in it. Good times and bad I wouldn't trade a moment of it for anything!

Things I Love {Thursday}

I've missed doing these posts for a couple of weeks so I am more than ready to share some things around here that I'm liking. A lot. :) Hope you enjoy reading and maybe you'll share some things you love in your life too! So here goes....

~ Dathan getting excited about pulling his first tooth all by himself! (the others have either gotten knocked out or pulled by me)

~ Delancey learning to ride her bicycle without training wheels!

~ Darcey blowing her first kisses. So sweet!

~ Blake taking Delancey on a daddy/daughter date that she loved. (and then coming home with 2 goldfish!)

~ Dathan enjoying his end of the season party with the football team. (and what a great surprise that they gave Blake an awesome gift card for being the coach!)

~ Answered prayers while Darcey was sick. So thankful God kept her safe and she's already getting well!

~ An amazing husband who helps out with a sick baby (and everything else!) when I'm not feeling good either.

~ Spending the day with Grandma and taking Darcey on her first trip to the safari zoo. (although she was a little scared of the bigger animals...like those slightly  horrendously ugly emu's that peck at the windows!)

~ Being reminded that we have a God who loves us so much that He became man so that He could know exactly what we're going through and help us with it. Every day.

I don't know about you but there sure is lots to love around here! Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you're loving these days. :)

Things I Love {Thursday}

I have a confession about this Thursday post......I get so excited writing about the things I love so much around here that I just had to get a head start this time! I've been updating  as I go so I won't forget any of the fun and crazy moments in our family that happens daily. 'Cause you know after 3 kids the memory part of your brain just doesn't function the same anymore for some reason! :) But anyway now that I have that off my chest, here goes the list of things I love for this week.......

~ Running foot races in the backyard with the kids. (and realizing that it won't be too long until they can actually outrun me!)

~ Watching Dathan play flag football and have fun doing it.

~ Having serious conversations with the kids about important things and seeing them really "get it".

~ Darcey learning how to "rock-a-bye" her baby doll and her bringing it to me so I can do it to both of them.

~ Getting back rubs from Blake cause I'm hurting....without even having to ask.

~ Hearing good news from a friend about something we're praying for her about.

~ Sharing the only slice of lemon icebox pie with my sweet husband.....and him giving me the last bite. :)

~ Watching Darcey decide to just take off with her walking all of a sudden.....and hearing her laugh because she's so excited about it!

~ Me and the kiddos eating supper, going to the park and visiting with Grandma.....and hearing her say it made her day better.

~ Feeling God deal with my heart over things I need to change and knowing that it means I'm His and He loves me and wants what's best for me.

~ Several hours of uninterrupted sleep last night! (which is a RARE occurrence around here I assure you)

~ Looking forward to another chance to volunteer at Choose Life again today!

Well, there's my list! Now it's your turn......what things are you loving this week? Be sure to leave a comment and share them! :-)

On This Day....

I'm sure there have been many things that have occurred on the twenty-nine different September eleventh days I've had in my lifetime. Some that I simply can't recall and some that will always be remembered vividly.

Ten years ago today I was a nineteen year old young lady who still lived at home with my parents. I was dating a young man who would eventually become my husband and he was hours away at college when we first heard the horrible news that our country had been attacked. I can't say that everything about that day is totally clear in my memory but I do know that there was shock, fear, and disbelief as we realized what had happened. I waited anxiously to be able to talk to Blake and meanwhile just watched the news while crying and praying with my family.

Life did go on for us after that day and I guess to be honest in some ways it was easy to forget the seriousness of it rather quickly since the loss didn't directly affect our daily lives. It wasn't that I didn't grieve for what this meant to our nation or worry what it might mean for our future, but I also probably didn't allow it to cause me to turn to God like I could or should have after the initial shock had worn off.

The following years have brought many changes and experiences on this date which have sometimes taken precedence over the anniversary of what happened on that day in 2001. But as we spent the morning here at home, watching the memorial service, hearing names of those that were lost read, and talking to the kids about something that happened before they were even born......we remembered. Not only the events that took place on this morning ten years ago, but also how much we still need to seek the Lord for mercy and grace. In our own family. And for our nation. May God help us to never forget how important that is.

So on this day in 2011 I am more thankful than I can say for freedom, family, friends, faithfulness, and the footsteps of our baby girl as she finally let go and walked all around the house. There are good memories mixed in with those that are sad and I want to remember that there's a purpose for both. Many verses came to mind as we thought and read today, but I'll just share a couple of them with you. Although they are familiar the words still touch my heart every time I hear them.

If my people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.......a time to born, and a time to die......a time to weep, and a time to laugh......a time of war, and a time of peace. (Ecclesiates 3)

May God grant us all His perfect peace tonight as we rest in the assurance that He has everything under control. Today, this day 10 years ago, and however many more "this days" we have left.

Things I Love {Thursday}

It's Thursday! And I'm super excited to be sharing some things I'm just crazy about around here. The hard part will be limiting myself to only a few! :-) Here we go and I hope you enjoy....

~A warm, dry house to stay cozy in on rainy, cold days.

~Watching my two girls play with baby dolls together.

~Waking up to gorgeous sunshine and blue skies after so many dreary days.

~Seeing the kiddos be brave enough do show n tell at the homeschool group get together......even though they were a little nervous.

~Finding another tooth Darcey cut through that I didn't even realize was trying too!

~Long weekends that are spent at home with the family.

~Reading books and things out of the Bible together and then discussing it.

~Hearing my kids ask me to buy them more school books. (yeah, this one still surprises me a little too! lol)

~Knowing that Jesus loves me, cause the Bible says so. :)

Well, there's some things I love this week! Won't you join in and share some of your things?!

Things I Love {Thursday}

Although I fully intend each week to write other posts besides this one I am obviously not getting around to it since this has been the 3rd one in a row with this title! That's okay though... we definitely have plenty of other stuff going on around here that's more important than blogging. :) That being said, it's still nice to check in at least occasionally to just keep up a little so this is a fun way to do that I guess. Here's my list for this week. Hope you'll join in with sharing things you love too!

~ Cuddling with Blake in the same chair and laughing over the fact that it's a little more crowded than it used to be! ;)

~ Hearing a little baby girl voice say "momma" over and over throughout the day.

~ Watching Dathan and Delancey playing outside and giggling over whatever crazy thing they've come up with to do.

~ Seeing Darcey stand on tiptoe to peek out the window trying to see the older kids play.....and then laughing when she does.

~ Knowing that God hears and answers prayers and is working things out in your life for good. Even if you can't alway see how at the moment.

~ The way Darcey crinkles up her cute little nose every time she smiles or laughs.

~ Another good report at the doctor and Delancey being so excited to have her cast off.

~ Planning Dathan's birthday celebrations and hearing him talk about how much fun it will be.

~ The kids having so much fun doing our new schoolwork this year and the fact that even though it might not be what's "expected" by some...it works for us! :)

~ Watching Darcey taking her first step(today) and me and the kids going crazy clapping and cheering for her!!

~ Wrestling on the floor with all 3 kids and feeling blessed all over again to have them.

~ The couple of cooler days we had at the first of the week. (and also the idea that there might be more of them soon!)

So what are you loving this week? Come on, you know you want to join in with me!! :) Just leave something in the comments below.  (please and thank you, of course!)

Things I Love {Thursday}

Is it really Thursday again already?! I have no idea where this past week has gone! But gone it has so I'm ready to share some more stuff that I'm loving around here. Hope you'll join in me this time and share some of your own! But for now here's my list....

~ Greeting the kids as each of them wake up in the mornings and seeing the big grin on their faces.

~ Dathan's excitement as he signed up to play football again.....and the fun we had picking out new cleats together!

~ The fact that Delancey always wants to wear a "fancy" dress, no matter where we're going. :)

~ The way Darcey wrinkles up her nose when she smiles or laughs.

~ My understanding husband who makes late night runs to the grocery store for things like formula. Without complaining.

~ Playing out in the rain with the whole family and then seeing a beautiful rainbow in the sky afterwards.

~ Teaching fun stuff to the kids with our new school curriculum.

~ Watching Darcey start standing up on her own and feeling bittersweet that she's growing up so quickly, but yet excited that she's learning new things.

~ Reading and talking about things in the Bible with the kids.....and seeing them understand it for themselves.

~ Hearing Delancey ask if I really know I'm saved and then wanting me to tell her about when I got that way. One. more. time. :)

Wow, I think this week I could just keep going!! There's so much to be thankful for around here. It's amazing how good the Lord is to us. So what about you? What kind of things are you loving this week? Please don't forget to share about them in the comments!

Things I Love {Thursday}

Since there are so many little things around here for me to share about that I'm pretty crazy over, I thought another post about some of it was in order. I'm also thinking this might become a reoccurring thing....it's kinda habit forming. :) So here's this week's list of things I love.....

~ Good reports at the doctor and seeing my little girl so happy that she can move her arm more now. (Delancey got a smaller cast today!)

~ Darcey getting big enough to play with the older kids and hearing all 3 of them laugh together while they do.

~ Seeing Dathan use his imagination to come up with all kinds of things to do. (we never know what he'll be dressed up like next!)

~ Having the privilage of homeschooling my kids and being blessed enough to stay at home with them. All. the. time.

~ Rocking and singing my baby girl to sleep. (and not just because it's better on me than bouncing..it's also so very, very sweet!)

~ Singing songs about the Lord and feeling His sweet Spirit flood my soul all over again.

~ Reading things out of the Bible that I've heard thousands of times before.....but learning something new anyway.

~ Being able to spend more time with Blake since he doesn't have to work so much overtime anymore!

What are loving about your life this week? I'd love it if you'd share about them in the comments! :)