Wednesday, August 27, 2008

To Thirst


O God, I have tasted of Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more.  I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace.  I am ashamed of my lack of desire.  O God, the triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty. A.W. Tozer

Sunday, August 24, 2008

You've got to love it

A little boy that as he was riding away on his bike to go fishing with Daddy, looks back to see Mommy waving good-bye...  He stops, drops his bike and runs back to give his Mommy a big hug and kiss and yells, "I love you!" as he runs back to his bike.  

Yep.   It does the heart good.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

It may sound strange

I have been anxiously waiting to get this package from UPS....


We've made the plunge.  I may be crazy but there are so, so many reasons I am excited about this new adventure!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

This brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it... Thank you Ashleigh for everything you sacrafice for our freedom.   Enjoy these days with your man home!



Journey from Ashleigh on Vimeo.

Thinking back


When we were expecting our first born we found ourselves eagerly anticipating the day we would hopefully find out if a little boy or a little girl was entering our new family. We would spend hours at night pouring over our baby name book, talking about and playing with different names we liked. The day finally arrived and as I was on the bed with the warm jelly on my stomach the ultrasound tech asked if we wanted to know what we were having. Yes was our eager reply and she quickly replied Its a boy. That night as we lay in bed, we knew his little name. A name that was very special to us. A name that would carry much and would bless. We kept his name a secret until he was born, until he was first introduced to the man that he was named after. Not only was he being named after someone whom we loved, we loved the meaning of his name.

John Alvin
gift of God ... friend of all
***


Our second child was on their way and this time it was a surprise. We poured over boy and girl names. Praying... desiring to speak life into this little one. We were so excited to be welcoming another little one into our family and loved the anticipation of a surprise... it was better then Christmas morning yet somehow, we knew what the name would be if this was to be a little boy and found ourselves perplexed on a little girls name. Even as we drove to the hospital that early morning we had our list of girl names and our one boy name. And then our second son was born...

Benjamin Aubrey
strong, mighty in spirit ... noble
***

Another precious child was joining our lives, our family. We were so excited and decided to keep this little one a surprise as well. For some reason, during this pregnancy person after person kept informing us that we would statistically have another little boy. We would love to have another little boy but a girl... a little girl... As hard as it was for us to find a little girls name when we were pregnant with Benjamin, we gravitated towards little girls names this time. Brent was the one who brought up the idea of this name if it was to be a girl - not only would we be speaking life to her, she would be reminding us, pricking our heart every time her name was uttered.

Faith Elizabeth
firm believer... oath of God
***

We knew that we were going to have another little one but we were still caught by surprise with this new little one growing inside. We were excited and loved that someone new was joining our growing family but we were busy and life was changing quickly. We found ourselves moving before she was born and somehow it just seemed easier to find out what we were having. Do we need to save the baby boy clothes or the baby girl clothes? The ultrasound technician was quite confident in his skills and quickly showed us that a little girl would be joining us. We had many girl names that we loved yet we kept being pulled back to this name. The meaning... how could we step away from this one? The other names just seemed... they just seemed to lack depth when we compared it to this one. This is the name, this has to be her name.

Olivia Grace
peace, she walks with God ... patient, full of grace
***




The names of our children. As I pray over these precious children, I often pray the meaning of their names over them. May they not only be found as a gift, mighty in spirit, a firm believer, walking with God but may they stir up these gifts in each other.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

A funny


Brent has a meeting with a customer tomorrow in a local mountain town so we decided to spend a couple of days up there enjoying the sights and sounds of a town we have yet to explore.  Our van is departing early in the morning so we've been busy cleaning and packing today. The boys have reached that age where they are getting close to being able to take care of their own things and I let them work on packing their clothes today.  :)

I just went to check on what they were taking...

One little boy had WET boots in his bag...  ummm, that's going to make your clothes smell really good.

We also had five pairs of pants...  now we are only going for two nights, do you have something planned that I don't know about?

The other little boy had not packed any underwear...  okay???? The following conversation then occurred:
 
Momma: Hey, said boy, did you pack any underwear?
Said Boy: I don't think so.  haha  
Momma: What would you have done?
Said Boy:  haha I guess I would have worn the same pair everyday.  haha  It would have been pretty silly.  haha


Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!


Wednesday, August 13, 2008

We are getting ready!


We find ourselves nearing the end of summer.  New school books are arriving daily via UPS and trips are being made to the local stores for new school supplies.  Field trips are being planned and schedules are being made.

Faith will have her own "school" bins this year.  They are full of special things such as play- dough, beans and buttons to sort, coloring books...  items that she will just use while school is being done.  

School will be starting soon and we are all excited about it. This will be Benjamin's first year in school although he has been there doing "school" with us all along. The boys are thrilled to be able to work at the table together, learning and growing.  I'm thankful we have this privilege...

Monday, August 11, 2008

Company is coming!

One of the reasons I love the Church community that we are a part of is because they know how to enjoy life together.  They put aside the art of entertaining and just welcome those they love into their home.  They understand that their homes may never be decorated perfect or that with a lot of little ones their homes may not be fully clean and instead they focus on good food and good friends.  

We have always loved opening up our home and bringing in those we love and cherish.  Not only do I love entertaining... hosting a special baby shower or having a big 4th of July BBQ in our backyard and adding all the flare that is appropriate... but I am falling in love with just being able to open our home to family and friends.  We will not always have salmon or steak on the bbq and their may be times when the kitchen floor is not mopped before they arrive but that is not why they are coming.   It's a night to just enjoy each others company.  To learn and grow.  To laugh.  To cry.  To embrace life together.

In the next few weeks - hopefully sooner rather than later - Brent and I will embark on a day. We will each have a dinner invitation to extend to someone who crosses or path or who comes to mind and without telling the other person who that is, we will each extend a dinner invitation for the same evening.  We will then welcome them into our home and will watch with excitement as an eclectic group comes together.  :) It will be so, so much fun to see who is brought together around our table.  Then we plan on letting the boys each carry an invitation for an evening together...  yet somehow I already know who these invitations will be going to - maybe we can encourage them to branch out a little?!?

We have company coming tonight.  The house is clean and the meal preparations are almost done.  We're doing hamburgers, pasta salad, chips and salsa and watermelon.  A fun family dinner, nothing special but I'm looking forward to it.  We are welcoming friends into our home. We are enjoying life together. 


The place setting can be found here

Sunday, August 10, 2008

The cry of my heart


Lord, teach me to listen.  The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them.  Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, "Speak, for thy servant heareth." Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart.  Let me get used to the sound of Thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking voice.  Amen      A.W. Tozer



Thursday, August 7, 2008

Summer Days

Our days are full.  


Full of sunshine and warmth




Full of early morning knocks on the door to see if the boys can play...


and tons of water play





Full of fun projects...


and discovering




Full of morning walks... 


and slow afternoons - laying on the grass, reading books and long talks 




These are the days of summer.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

A breakfast treat

APPLESAUCE MUFFINS  



1 c. butter, softened
2 c. sugar (1 white & 1 brown)
2 eggs
3 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. salt
4 c. flour
2 c. applesauce (pineapple sauce can be sub. if desired)

Mix all ingredients together and fill greased muffin tins or paper baking cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Batter can be stored in refrigerator and used as needed. Freezes well too. Makes 2 dozen.  From Cooks.com

I add chocolate chips and make them into mini muffins.   :)  Yummy!