this is the old blog...

Here the new one...

http://reflectionsofhumility.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday DADDY ( Stunt Monkey)

Happy Birthday to my Stunt Monkey who I adore and love!!!
Daddy was greeted by a Monkey in his car before he left for work at mid-night. And the kids where busy making homemade gifts to show their love to their Dad.
The kids painted all of Dad's golf balls and puffed painted some of his sock for cute slippers. And they made him a giant chocolate chip cookie with Happy Birthday Daddy on it.
HAPPY 39TH BIRTHDAY!!! ONE OF THE THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT YOU IS HOW YOU MAKE US LAUGH AND BRING JOY TO OUR LIVES!! WE THANK GOD FOR YOU!!!




Daddy said he felt loved!!!

What I learned from a toilet

David and I have had a toilet that has been running on and off for a couple years. Talk about putting something off. Tonight I fixed it with 3 dollars and 5 minutes. I had to think back about how many times we avoided that bathroom in the middle of the night to not have to get up and jiggle the handle. Or how many times I would ignore the sound and not want to get up to jiggle it and then think about how much water I was wasting so I would get up and do something about it. Like I have shared in older post I'm learning why putting things off if wrong. Think about it for a minute..How much time did I spend training myself to use the other bathroom or how much time did I train myself to not hear the toilet? Too much time...I say all this to make the point that if we aren't working on putting things off then we are putting something on...The girls where watching a show tonight and after they watched it Ayla and Holly where talking in the bathroom...Ayla says to Holly I think you shouldn't watch that show because you are acting just like her" bossy"...What we fill ourselves up with will come out...I want to glorify God with my life every step of the way, but I can't do it on my own. Below is a posting from blog a visit often..http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org

The To-Do Lists Are Never Done
by C.J. Mahaney 3/26/2009 2:46:00 PM Only God gets his to-do list done each day.

This simple sentence informs how I begin my day, what I expect to accomplish during the day, and how I close each day.

When I step out of my office and turn the light off at the end of my day, and the list of to-dos is incomplete, I say to my secretary, “Nora, we will try again tomorrow.” This brief statement is an acknowledgment of my limitations, and is my way of saying that—once again—I didn’t get everything done. It’s a moment for me to cultivate humility.

No matter how much planning, scheduling, and discipline is present in my life, I will never completely redeem the time. I am a finite creature, limited in what I can accomplish, and further limited by my sin. So it should surprise nobody that I leave to-dos undone each and every day. My joy is not derived from the flawless execution of my goals. My joy each day is derived from the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Only God gets his to-do list done each day. I need the cross of Christ each day.

Soups On!! (plus extra updates)

Where do I start...with the soup. Last Friday we went to the pumpkin patch with our homeschooling group and brought back pumpkins. The minute I put the pumpkins in the garage Ayla said mom your not going to forget about them like you did last year and throw them away. I decided that I wasn't going to and that I was going to make a plan to do something with them. And I know how good I am at putting things off. So later that night I got some recipes online and wrote down a date to do something with them. Today was the day and we made soup. Tomrorrow is our family night and we will also finish with the pumpkins by making cookies. It was fun but lots of work to cook from scratch...usallly I buy the can of pumpkin..While we where busy in the kitchen I thought about how much time they spend way back the in the old days. The kids did complain about having to put their hands in the pumpkin, but we worked throught it. At one point we had to pray and ask for a right heart additude. They all seemed to enjoy it but they didn't like the taste of the soup. Silas didn't seem to mind it since he can't share his opioin with words yet. And whatever he threw on the floor the dog licked it up. I didn't like the taste of it eather but I was proud that I did something with the pumpkins this time. I have always talked about it and now I can say I did it. The one thing that I have been praying the most about is putting things off...this has been a big struggle and the Lord is faithfully showing me where the roots of sin are in these areas of my life and pulling them out.

No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. Accomplished, they are full of blessing, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand threatening and disturbing our tranquility, and hindering our communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it. -Alexander MacLaren (1826–1910), Scottish preacher

I have this on my frig and read it repeadedly. If you want to read more on this topic you can click the link below...http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Blog/post/Biblical-Productivity-Series-PDF.aspx







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My husband is a gift from the Lord!!!

David and I had a wonderful time out together a couple weekends ago and what a blessed time it was. I was able to have dinner while it was hot and I could spend time looking and tasting the food I was eating. Plus their were lots of times to have a conversation without someone stopping me in the middle. Before I went out I had the joy of getting fixed up with the help of some friends. I was able to get my hair done, and my friend Hannah gave me a makeover and helped me shop for a dress. It was a fun girls night out. Before I got ready for this event I spent some much needed time in prayer about going out and preparing. It is so easy for me to put the focus on myself and be concerned with how I look more on the outside than in the heart. It always seems to be an even bigger struggle while I'm trying to work on getting the extra baby fluff off. And I did want to run away with the feelings of thinking I'm not their yet...before I could even give myself time to entertain such thoughts I took these things to prayer. As it says in..."For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" Matthew 6:21....I can honesty say that the Lord was faithful to answer my prayers. I was so relaxed and enjoyed myself that I don't remember feeling anxious about how I looked, I just remember feeling proud of be with my husband for the evening and enjoyed his company alone. And even after the evening as I look back I see that by God's Grace alone I can see more beauty in how he wants me to think of fixing myself up for my husband.
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The kids are growing in their relationships towards one another.

What a joy it has been to see the kids really bonding with one another.
Holly has been giving Liam make overs with her lip stick on her own.


Ayla has been playing dinos and cars with Liam without being asked. And reading books to the others and helping with teaching Holly her school work after I've asked her to help.

Silas is just following everyone around and playing right along side them. He is turning into a toddler and getting out of the baby stages. He doesn't miss anything. He pulls on the frig door and says uh uh uh when he wants his milk cut. And he just started throwing food off his high chair..we have some traing sessions coming up. I have lots of helpers to keep him in order. Even Liam is now telling Silas what to do and what not to do.

Liam is talking up a storm with words that we can all understand. WOW!!! What a blessing this is. We are all thankful that he doesn't scream like he use to. He now tells you what is happening. And its so cute to hear the words that he puts together. Today he sang, "Happy Birthday to me ( no it's not my Birthday) and then he told me to smell out the candles on the fake cake. The other day I told him that Ayla and Holly are doing school in the kitchen and his response was...Mommy I have to be quite.

And for the first time I've seen Liam hugging Silas with real affection when he was crying about something. These have all been hugs from the Lord.

I could go on but my brain is fading.....fading....gone....



I found this picture and remembered that Holly made a card for her Dad and gave him her own homemade money with it. Daddy asked if he could really use it and she said not Daddy it's fake.

Happy 6th Birthday Holly

Holly is now 6 and what a fun day it was. Her day started with Grandpa and Grandma taking her out for breakfast, shopping for a new dress, and getting her nails done.

Then she did some school and took a nap in time for her Pajama party.



I think I had more fun than the kids did. They did relays and made ice cream Sundays and just played. It was a very laid back simple party with low cost frills.

Silas

LOOK WHO IS WALKING....Silas has been walking for the past two days. He spreads his legs way out and has the hands up and toddles along...it's past my bed time...bye

Treasuring Memories

It all started out very simple, Holly wanted to watch some princess videos that she had never seen before. Now in the last three days she has changed into about 2-3 dresses a day. God has used the opportunities to talk about what beauty is and isn't. As she asked me about weddings so I told her that she could see mine and daddies sometime. Well that some time was tonight and it was a fun spontaneous evening. It turned out that our video didn't work as well as Grandpa and Grandmas so they came over and watched it with us. We all ate pizza and reflected on the memories that we had. We here sad that Daddy wasn't here to join us, but The kids had questions after question about who so and so was and how they are now bigger. Tonight we had new memories and old memories rolled all in one.

There is a book that I have been wanting to read that was highly recommended by a close friend. I'm going to start it and maybe share what I've learning as I go. It's called, " Helper by design God's Perfect Plan for Women in Marriage." My prayer is that David will know that he comes before the kids and that he will see good fruit grow in this area.

1Peter 3:4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.


The book below is something I might read in the future. It looks like it might be good so I thought I would share it.


Gospel-Powered Parenting: How the Gospel Shapes and Transforms Parenting
by William P. Farley

Parents who claim the gospel as their own have an enormous effect on their marriage, their integrity, and their love for their children. Keeping the gospel at the forefront of every aspect of marriage helps parents fear God, sensitizes them to sin, motivates them to enter their children's world, and causes them to preach the beauty of the gospel to their children through their marriage.