Happy Resurrection Sunday

We had a great day of church and then time with friends this evening! 

A close up of the dresses that I made for the girls…

Happy Easter from the kiddos....

Thinking Spring….

Last week when the season changed to spring, we were doing some wishful thinking that this weather would indeed look like spring!  After reading some books about spring, I drew some pictures on large pieces of paper as the kids told me their favorite parts of spring.  Then we got out the finger paints and let them get messy…and paint their pictures!  They loved it.. well, Josiah likes being messy for a few minutes and then he turns into a grump….

I really like this kind of finger paint… it is actually washable, unlike some of the others that claim they are.  I may have to try a recipe that I saw on Pinterest about making my own….

The finished products….ready to hang in a gallery, well, our gallery anyway!

Tired Timeline….

One thing is true about being a mommy…. when you have children YOU ARE TIRED!!  I mean, really tired – you are up early and you stay up late; you run around the house cleaning things, doing laundry and picking up toys; you drive the van from store to store or from doctor to doctor; you cook breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks; you craft, paint, do puzzles, read, make Lego creations, build castles, and sample “snacks” your kids made with play food; you teach and disciple and mentor; you listen to their stories, excuses and problems; you settle arguments and repair relationships…. and MORE!  I hear it doesn’t get better when they get older because they stay up later, make you worry more and you as the mom is getting older as well!  Oh, boy!

A few weeks ago a friend who has four children about the same ages as ours, asked me about being tired.  It got me thinking about my own tiredness.. yup, I am right their with her.  But why?  I decided that a Tired Timeline was the best way to explain my conclusions! 

In June of 2006 we found out that I was pregnant!  We were delighted!  I had the usual 9 joyous months of pregnancy….before Grace Elizabeth was born in February 2007! I nursed her for 10 months.

Then in July of 2008 we found out that we were expecting!  Once again we were so excited…. we truly felt blessed since we wanted more than one child and were so thankful that our two children would be about 2 years apart.  Hannah Joy arrived in March 2009… just 2 weeks after Grace’s 2nd birthday!  I nursed Hannah for 11 months until…

We found out in January 2010 that we were expecting baby number THREE!  WOW!!  We were surprised but so thankful!  I had another great pregnancy even though we moved half-way across the country and had to change doctors and hospitals and now knew NO ONE at our new church! But another healthy baby – a BOY, Josiah James – was born in October 2010. I nursed Josiah for 11 months until ……

in September 2011 we discovered that we were going to have NUMBER FOUR!!! WOW!!!  Blessed… that is exactly what we were thinking!! We were so thrilled that our quiver was filling with arrows!  In May 2012 Caleb Andrew was born…. and I am just about done nursing him! He is 10 months old. No, I am NOT pregnant!! 

But as I look over this timeline, it becomes pretty obvious why I have been so tired: I have been pregnant or nursing since June 2008!  That is almost 5 years!!  That is SURE to drain you and be physically demanding!  I AM NOT COMPLAINING!!  I have the BEST job in the world and I LOVE my co-workers! :)  I think it is such an honor to be a mom…. to be the mom of the best kids there are.  They can drive me crazy and I can get frustrated at times, but I love them and I love being their mommy!  But since I figured this out (5 years of pregnancy or nursing), I have been able to give myself a break… to take a nap if I am tired… to go to bed early if I need to…. I have been busy…. I am a crazy busy mom and I have 4 rugrats to prove it – ages 6, 4, 2, and 10 months!!!

Oh, Dave Ramsey!

It is no secret that our family loves Dave Ramsey… we just call him Dave around here like an old friend/uncle.  We have been living by his principles and the principles about money from God’s Word for several years now, and it has made A HUGE difference in our finances.  We were not in tremendous debt and we didn’t have gobs and gobs of credit card debt, but we were not really saving either.  We were not budgeting so that we were able to go to Florida for vacation or get that present for some one who was getting married.  We were just living month to month without planning…. we were not telling our money where to go!  We were paying our bills and our tithe, but not a lot else. That needed to change and now were are excited to be crossing baby steps off the list and helping others by encouraging them to take Financial Peace…. or counseling them using the principles from that program!

BUT, DAVE RAMSEY, I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOUR SYSTEM!  YOUR ENVELOPE SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE LAMINATED SO THEY WILL LAST!!  IT IS NOT A GOOD INVESTMENT TO KEEP BUYING THEM!!!  I carry several envelopes from Dave’s system with me at all times and I use them on every purchase that I make since we are a basically cash only family.  BUT the envelopes that he has in his system are flimsy and don’t last.  I have been through a few sets of them and have even taped them and re-taped them as needed.  This last set that I got I taped them before I even put my money in them hoping that they would last longer!

I HAD TO DO SOMETHING!!!

After thinking about the envelopes and checking out what other people had made on Pinterest, I decided to try it for myself with a few changes.   I used an extra envelop as a guide, tore it apart, traced its shape onto cute paper and then cut it out.  I also printed out labels for each envelope for the front and the back and glued them into place. Then I laminated that paper and cut it out.

Then I took the pages and folded them to make the envelopes.  I decided to secure them together with packaging tape instead of glue like some of the other girls I read about did.  I think this will make them really sturdy!  The toughest part was finding a way to get them to stay in the same spiral-bound set that they came in.  I had to do a lot of hole-punching but they are adorable!  I think I will have to investigate a new way to do it if I make more some day….maybe with string?!

I think they turned out  SO CUTE!!  I may have to send this picture to Uncle Dave to encourage him to get better envelopes!

Sit still, already!

Yah right!  There is NO WAY I was going to get this boy to sit still for a photo session… unless I tied him down (which I thought about)!  This baby boy is on the move, like any strong and healthy 10 month old should be!  He is growing and climbing and eating and cruising and talking and doing everything he is supposed to do!  What a delight… what a joy…. what fun!

I LOVE the drool on his chin!

He was determined to get on this table, but he settled for just his foot, apparently it is a comfy way to stand for a photo shoot with mama.

My favorite one…

This is a very common happy face for Caleb! Ok, maybe THIS one is my favorite!

What a goofy kid!

CHEESE!

 

 

Resurrection Sunday Ready!

It really bothers me when people ask my kids if the Easter Bunny is coming to our house!  My kids just look at those strangers like they are weird!  We don’t do Santa at Christmas and we don’t do the Easter Bunny at Easter… we do JESUS at Christmas and JESUS on Resurrection Sunday!  Some people don’t get it, but Jesus is the real reason for both of those holidays and we have DETERMINED that we will proclaim that to our children.  We WILL make Jesus the center even if the world doesn’t. 

Our official Easter season started in our home this week with decorating these crosses to hang in our front windows.  It is a great testimony to our neighborhood about our dedication during this holiday season. 

I love his concentration….

We decorated both sides and added a ribbon to hang them in the windows…