Easter Recap 2011

I have always loved Easter.

It is just a happy time for a child and holds such deep meaning for me as an adult.

I can still remember the coloring sheets as a child of Easter bunnies and eggs.

I always thought it was so fun to make them colorful.

Holidays are such busy times and the busyness makes it hard to keep things into perspective and to truly reflect on the the real meaning of the celebration.

I am so thankful that my God is ALIVE and I can talk to Him anytime I want to!!

Before I show you anything, let me first apologize that my camera is the pits right now.

It was not focusing on anything and the settings are all messed up.

I see camera shopping in my future!

Here are a few of our Easter activities. 

Coloring eggs is always one of my favorite things to do.

My girls were so excited and asked me ALL DAY on Saturday when we were going to get started.

Tim always looks so excited that he could just pop in all of our holiday pictures.

The Easter bunny left the girls a few surprises.

They loved the Bambi movie he left them to share.

They even left some food out for him to eat (strawberries & bananas).

They were so surprised and excited when they saw where the Easter bunny had nibbled!

Oh....this picture is terrible but I wanted one of the girls and me.

Kacie Beth at my Mom and Dad's.

There's the return of the lovely black spot that is showing up in all my pictures. 

Uuggghhh!!!!!

Finding the lucky egg(s).

My parents made sure both girls were able to find a lucky egg this year because Kacie always find the lucky egg and Megan is always sad.

We had to do the hunt inside because it was so wet and muddy outside.

We had a fantastic day.

After lunch and the egg hunt at my parents' we went to Tim's parents' and had another egg hunt and dinner.

Life is good and we are blessed!!!

Bring It On!!

Yesterday was...let's just say...interesting.

The weather around here has been c-r-a-z-y.
Lots of storms and my sweet little preschoolers couldn't go outside to play.
Let's just say there was lots of energy that needed to be expended.

It turned out that most all the teachers were frazzled by the end of the day.
I don't know what kind of effect the weather has on children's behavior, but let me just tell you, IT DOES AFFECT them!

So I was exhausted last night.
I prayed this morning that we would have a good day.
Now I know that God hears all of our prayers but I thought I would do my part to help Him out.

I am an emotional eater.
I take care of stress by eating and drinking (chocolate and coke that is).  :)
I told my assistant that I could go swimming in a bowl of brownie batter last night.
I didn't though.  :(

This morning I loaded up my pockets with change (that may or may not have come out of my husband's "fishing fund" jar).

I went to my favorite spot for this.
This is heavy ammunition for me.
I rarely do a 20 ounce but that seemed to be the only thing that would do the trick.
I had visions of myself sipping on it all day.





As I heard it come out of it's spot and fall to the bottom of the vending machine, I started getting happy.
When it hit the bottom and was in plain view, I actually heard the words, "Come to Momma" come out of my mouth.
You see, it was my worst fear that I would hear it get hung up in the machine and this dream would never become a reality.

I knew that Coke would get me through the day.
As I walked into the building, I almost felt giddy.
I said to myself, "Bring it on, Preschoolers!"
And I meant it.

It was a MUCH better day today!!!

My Gallery Wall

The wall in my living room has been causing me anxiety.

We filled in one of our doors and the arrangement on my wall that was previously there had to go.

Everything was now off center.

I have oodles and oodles of framed photos.

I played around with some of my favorites and arranged them on the floor.

I finally had a design I liked.

I went to work hanging them on the wall.

I didn't hang ANYTHING the way I had arranged it on the floor.

It just didn't transfer from the floor to the wall they way it was suppose to.

SO....I just said forget it and put 5,023 nail holes into the wall.

Yep, I did.

I told my husband that whatever he did, DO.NOT.LOOK.AT.THE.HOLES.

He happily obliged because I'm sure he didn't want his blood pressure to rise.  Ha!

I'm still not finished tweaking it but this was the best I came up with for now.

As always, I'd love to hear any suggestions!!

Please try to overlook the black smudgy circle on the right of my photo.  It must be an issue with my lens and it won't come off my photos.  I really need a new camera!

I didn't do so good with my Make a List Monday last week. 

I will update my progress on my list later this week.

Have a GREAT week!!!!!

Linking to Debbiedoos Newbie Party

Amaze Me Monday

Storms of Life

It's been stormy here the last 24 hours.
Last night we had a tornado warning for our county.
It happened pretty quickly.
My girls were spending the night with Tim's mom.
Tim was in one room and I was in another watching Lifetime.  :)
My mom called and told me to turn on the TV.
Before I could even catch what the news was saying Tim's mom called and asked if we had the TV on.
It was kind of scary for about 5 minutes.
I knew when we were right in the middle of it.
We went to our safe place.
My heart started beating faster.
I began to pray.

There was lots of rain, wind, and hail.
I never hear anything inside my house but it got very LOUD.
I HATED that my girls were not with me.
I worried about them every second.

Thank God nothing touched down around here and everyone was safe.
The rain, lightning, and thunder woke me up early this morning again.
More hail.
There is still lots of rain and lightning going on as I write this post.

This is the way it looks outside this morning.

I tried to go back to bed but couldn't.
I kept thinking about the storm.
I thought about how it came with very little warning (maybe because I just wasn't watching for it) and how the tornado warning moved so quickly in and out.

Storms come and go in our life the same way sometimes.
We may not always be watching for them but they have a way of sneaking up on us anyway.
Sometimes they are here and we are in the middle of them before we even know it.
The weather forecaster was on the news warning people to take shelter and go to their safe place in their homes.
I can't imagine enduring storms in my life without my "safe place".
God has not promised us there will not be storms in our life but He did promise He will never leave us or forsake us.
I am so thankful that I have a God I can call on immediately when I have a need or trouble hits my life.
My goodness.
What kind of hope would we have if we had no God to call on?

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7

Storms can be very scary and they are mighty and powerful and we have no control over them.
I see God in storms but sometimes it's hard to see God in some of the storms in our life.
But in every storm I have had in my life, in time, I do see God's hand in it and how He was with me all the time, even though I may not have understood the things that happened.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

It's one thing to praise God when things are going great for us.
Actually, sometimes we (I) forget to praise God when things are going great.
Sometimes we (I) don't realize it, but we (I) don't realize we need Him as much when things are going great.

It's another thing to praise Him when things are scary and sad and confusing and you're hurt and you can't figure out where God is in all of it.
It doesn't always happen this way, but it is my prayer that I will praise Him in the good times and in the bad because I know He is always there.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28

Love this song!!!!!



Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Kacie's 8th birthday was a couple weeks ago.

We celebrated by having a few friends over for a sleepover and some family.

I wanted to add lots of pictures of the sleepover, but I am always hesitant to include pictures of other people's children online.

There are a couple on here, but I tried to be discreet. 

Kacie requested ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

It was YUM-MY!!

The wind kept blowing the candles out, which made all the girls giggle.

I have no idea what was going on here.
Apparently it was funny.  :)

One of the girls' favorite thing to do was paint these little wood boxes I got for them.

They had a BLAST with this!

I wasn't even sure they'd want to stop long enough to do it, but let me tell you, they would have painted those boxes all day and all night!

They were up and at 'em at 6:00 the next morning and were finishing their boxes up by 7:00!!

Pay no attention  to the disaster that has exploded in the kitchen!  Ha!

We settled down at 10:30 to watch Tangled. 
The last two fell asleep when the movie went off at midnight.
Yep, MIDNIGHT!!

Peaches, our cat, was a big hit of the sleepover.
The girls kept bringing her in and playing with her.

These girls were serious artists. 

Some even painted the bottoms of their boxes!

We even had some sparkly "bling" to put on them (which they LOVED of course)!!

And last but not least, our Dog Willy enjoyed some attention Saturday morning.
I can't believe he is getting so old and his poor little face is white.

Happy Birthday sweet Kacie Beth!

Mommy loves you more than you will ever know!!!

Make a List Monday #14

*I had this post ready to go over a week ago.  My computer crashed.  :(  I was without my beloved computer for over a week.  I am going to pick up here where I left off.

I did it last week!!
I managed to accomplish the things on my list.

Here is my list from last week.

1.  Paint and hang chalkboard in the kitchen



I love my chalkboard but it has been a bit of a thorn in my side.
First of all, I bought it as a chalkboard at Homegoods.
The frame was black and I thought it was just too much black
Tim painted it and put tape around the edges to protect the chalkboard.
When he removed the "painters tape", part of the chalkboard came up.
Ugghhh!!!
So...he bought chalkboard paint and repainted it.

I erased the birthday message I had written on there for Kacie and it did not really erase.
I had used chalk-ink pens.
Has anyone else had this problem? 
I really want to use it and change the messages out frequently.

2.  Bring shelf in from the garage and arrange the books and other items on it.

This shelf has been sitting in our garage for over a year. 

We did have the piano in this spot but we are moving everything around, trying to find the best arrangement.

I would like to paint this shelf.

I'm thinking about white.

Any suggestions?

3.  Hang the girls' portraits in the living room that were moved when we did some re-arranging.

These photos once hung here and I have been moving everything around.
They are back.
I wanted something kind of tall and substantial on the top of the bookshelf since the ceiling is high and peaks above here.
These are just some things I found around the house. 
A friend gave me the platter and my mother-in-law gave me the antique trunk.
As always, I am open to suggestions!!

It makes me feel so good to be able to look around and see all of the things I have accomplished around my house because of my Make a List Mondays! 

Here are my goals for this week.


1.  Finish downloading pictures to my digital frame.  This has been on my list before.  I got some photos downloaded but not all of them.  After our Disney vacation I have more to put on there.  This is the one I will have trouble completing.

2.  Make a separate basket or designated spot for all my exercise clothing.  I've also had this on my list before and never got accomplished.  This was about the time I quit making my lists. 


3.  Make a designated spot in my kitchen for activities for the girls (playdoh, coloring books, water paints, etc.) 

This should all be possible!!

Linking to Debbiedoos Newbie Party

Displaced

I mentioned in my last post that my family is struggling about church.
We have recently felt that God has lead us to leave the church we have attended for the last 4-5 years.
It is hard.
There is no real "reason" we have left.
It's just little things that add up to the fact that we think God is leading us somewhere else.
Some days we really wrestle with it.
Some days it would just be easier to stay.
Getting out of our comfort zones is not fun.
It is not comfortable.
Did I mention it is hard?
I have cried.
My kids have cried.
Still...the same answer.
Go.

I want to have a plan (remember Disney?)
I want to know what will happen next.
Remember my recent comment about faith?
It's putting your money where your mouth is.
It's hard.
(notice a pattern here with the word "hard"?)

We have been visiting the church that we attended once before.
There are some wonderful people there.
The pastor is wonderful.
The children's ministry is wonderful.
We were even invited to attend a wonderful small group.
Is this where God is leading us?
We're still not sure.
We have felt displaced.

God recently told me that He will show me enough.
He'll show us what we need to know when He wants us to know.
His ways are not our ways and we should be thankful for that.

Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet,and a Light unto my path. Psalms 119:105
I have clung to this verse for the last several weeks.
I know that I know that I know that God has not left my family or forsaken us.
I know that He loves us and cares for us and wants the best for my family.
I know He knows what is best far more than I know what is best.
It is my prayer that God will lead us exactly where we need to be.
Most days, I know He will.

On some of my hardest, darkest days I think of this song.
It has two of my very favorite artists from all time in it.

Here are some pictures of my sweet, precious girls this morning.

 When you pray, if you think about it, I would really appreciate you keeping us in your prayers as we seek out God's will for our family.

Thanks ♥

Changes

Yesterday was such an emotional day for me. 
Kacie had a sleepover on Friday night.
I promise I will do a post on that one day this week.
I've already told you that my kids' birthdays are sooooo emotional for me.
I love them so much and appreciate each year I have been given with them.
I just have this weird quirk on birthdays that I mourn the fact they are a year older and that much closer to growing up.

People told me to enjoy my kids when they are little because they grow up so fast.
I knew that but I don't think I ever really wrapped my brain around it.
Eight years went by like a flash.
I think that's what scares me so much now.
I can look back and see that 8 years FLEW by.
Now I know how short 8 more years will seem.
Anyway, this is Kacie around 5 or 6 months old I think.
My dad is holding her.

I do not have a scanner and need one. 
If anyone knows of a good scanner for someone technologically challenged, please let me know!
I ended up taking pictures of pictures.  Ha!

Here she is around 9 months old at one of my favorite photos shoots she had.
She is holding Tim's and my , mine and Tim's, or however the correct form of English is, hands.

Yesterday morning I just kept reflecting on the sleepover Kacie had the previous year when she was a first grader.
Wow.
What a difference a year makes.
She only had two friends over this time (eight last time), but it amazed me the difference between how 2nd graders think and act as opposed to 1st graders.
They are so much more into older things and less little girl-ish.
It made me sad.
I love the innocence of a child.
I teach preschool and think there is nothing like the way little kids think.
I am so scared I will not be able to relate as well when my children get older.
Am I the only weird person out there like this?

Anyway, when the smoke cleared yesterday and the dust settled, I had a quiet time of reflection.
I cried.
I cried a lot off and on all day.
I was so emotional.
I felt like my chest was tight and heavy and I couldn't breathe.
I went into the sob verses just "the cry".
I haven't sobbed in a while.
It feels awful but it also feels good.
Kind of cleansing.

Kacie is one of the most innocent, naive kids I've ever met.
She truly has the best heart and would rather die than even hurt someone's feelings.
I am SO proud of the little girl she is.
See, she's 8 but I will still call her a little girl!

Anyway, my sweet husband built some shelves in the garage yesterday for me to put all my school stuff on.
I didn't ask him to, I guess he was just tired of my junk supplies cluttering up the garage.
So I went out and starting organizing the tubs on the shelf.
I saw a few toys that once belonged to the girls when they were younger.
I cried.
I saw a porcelain doll that once belong to my grandmother Morine.
My children never got to meet her.
I cried.
I saw some books on the floor and realized they were little books that Tim's grandmother Phyllis, Kacie's great grandmother used to send her when she was about 2.
Each month Kacie would get her Animal Babies book in the mail and she just thought it was so special.
She loved her "Granny with the Tom Cat" (that's what she called her) (because she had a cat named Tom).
"Granny with the Tom Cat" passed away early last year.
So every time I looked at one of those books I cried.
This is a picture (of a picture) of "Granny with the Tom Cat".

I was so sad that life has to change.
It is always changing and nothing ever stays the same.
Tim popped his head into the garage to ask how I liked the shelves.
I started dumping all my crazy, irrational thoughts on him.
I was a mess.
I told him I just can't make the time stop.
I think I almost had him in tears at one time.
I even told Tim that soon (my girls are 5 and 8) the girls would be gone and I would just be lost without them.
I asked him what I would do when they were gone.
My heart felt as if it were just breaking.

Then the emotional roller coaster took off and every area of my life that causes me stress just came bubbling out of me.
I informed Tim how much I miss my old friends at work.
Two were not asked to come back to work this year and one was moved to another center.
I miss them.
A lot.
Sometimes I don't think about it a lot and realize it is what it is.
Some days I miss them terribly.
Some days I long to see one of them pop around a corner.

We have recently felt God leading us to attend a different church.
We have not heard a direct answer from God yet about where he is leading us.
We have been visiting a church that we do really like a lot, but only want what God wants for us.
I cried about that too.
Being in limbo is hard but I know that is where faith comes in.
I call it, "Putting your money where your mouth is."
It's hard stuff people.
Anyway, Tim tried to be compassionate but I know he was thinking, "Why did I come in here and how in the world am I going to get away from this sobbing mess?"

I am so thankful that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." ~ Hebrews 13:8
Change may come, but He never changes.

I used to be a BIG 4Him fan back in my highschool and college days.
Here is a song that popped into my mind.
I could not find a good video but here are the words.

Well, I'm pretty much all better today.
For now anyway.

Do any of you have bad days like this?

Linking to Debbiedoos Newbie Party

                Walking in His Grace 

The Happiest Place on Earth

We spent our Spring Break at the Rainiest Happiest Place on Earth, Disney World.
I love Disney World, but let me just say, it is not a relaxing "vacation".
Do not be mistaken, it is FUN but it is work.
To get the most of a Disney trip, you have to do some homework.
You really need to go online and read some of the tips and some of the forums that have the "must do" attractions for your children's age ranges.

My dear husband is not a mover or a shaker.
He believes in taking his slow sweet time and slowy strolling around the park and looking and deciding from there what he wants to do.
Not me.
No siree.
I'm a take the bull by the horns, plan this baby out and milk it for all it's worth, kind of person.
I want to see it all and do it all.
I want my kids to see it all and do it all.
After all, it is DISNEY WORLD and you never know if/when you'll get to go back.

I get the map guides for each of the parks and study it religiously (sometimes even from my hotel before we go in to the park for that day).
Okay, so mistake number one.
I have a 6'5 husband who cannot and will not push an umbrella stroller.
So...before the trip I asked him which stroller we should take.
He said the umbrella stroller because it would be easier to keep up with on the airplane and shuttle buses.
Did he plan this?
I do not know but I do have my suspicions...
I watched my brother-in-laws push their children around in their strollers the entire trip and I may have gotten a wee bit jealous.
On a positive note, even eating all the food we ate, I think I still dropped a pound or two!

Anyway, so I have Megan in the stroller, the camera in one hand, our bag, the map, and any drinks that someone got tired of holding.
Tim....well....he's tired.
He's hot.
His back is hurting.
He needs to stop by every bathroom we pass.
Should I go on?
No.
I think I'll stop. 
I did tell him I may need to rent him a stroller.  :)
I may or may not have told him that I am not going back to Disney World with him. 

Anyway, despite all that "fun", we did have fun.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.



I loved this next picture. 

The lady at the gift shop at our hotel found out it was Kacie's Birthday and she called Goofy so he could personally sing Happy Birthday to her.

Disney is SO good about birthdays!!

I would be remiss if I didn't add a picture of what the weather conditions looked like almost half of the time we were there.

Actually, this is a very mild picture.

It was too bad to even take pictures most of the time.

Tornadoes were popping up everywhere!

If you have made it this far and I did not bore you to tears, I am impressed!!

We really did have a great time!

Thanks so much to Tim's Mom and Dad for taking us all on our wonderful trip!!!