Project 365 - Week 6 and 7

Once again, I have two weeks worth of pictures saved up for you. Cause it has been NUTS here and I have had no time to blog ... which I HATE! Sorry!

Anyway, here is a look at the last two weeks...

Sunday: The girls wanted to play in the snow out back, so hubby took the opportunity to light up the chiminea!! Our shredder broke a few months ago, so he took all the papers he had been saving up and set 'em ablaze!

I must say, junk mail, credit card applications and old bills make some nice kindling!

Monday: Alexis, a Boppy and a blow up ball ... pretty sweet combo!

Tuesday: Time for a new memory verse!!!

Wednesday: Lots and lots of snow.

Thursday: Buddies! Sophie can make Eli smile like no one else!

Friday: Yep ... that is my girl eating a turkey sandwich! And, if ya look close enough you can see her black eye. Poor baby!

Saturday: We had a date with Sophie's Mama Kim at McD's - Hattie loved the slide I loved what it did for her hair.

Static anyone?!

Sunday: Sophie - seriously, that face? Who could resist that?

Monday: I LOVE sweet friends who love my children well! These were notes and goodies sent to my girls to encourage them on some big steps that they have taken recently. LOVE that!

Tuesday: A package ready to go out for Joanne!

She is doing amazing things, by the way. SOOOO proud of her!

Wednesday: Icesicles ... they fascinate me!

Thursday: Alexis is NOT a fan of the rice cereal ... this is her giving me a dirty look. Think it's time to try something a little more fun!

Friday: Sophie is trying so hard to be a big girl like her sister ... even trying to write her name.

Saturday: A little lap top in the windowsill. Love this!

Sunday - a Valentine date with my love! One of our fave places to eat (with leftovers for later too!) ...

... and a little bit of reliving our past. For our first valentine's together, he brought me here to meet his family. We took a drive and ended up at the lake where we were able to walk out on the ice. So, today, we went back to that spot and remembered.

I do love that man!!!

So, there ya have it. A look at our lives! Thank you Sara for hosting us again! I LOVE this project!

So ... how was YOUR week?

Project 365 - Weeks 4 and 5

OK, I missed last week, so I have two weeks worth of fun for ya today! But, before I get started, I just wanted to thank all of you who have been praying for my friend Joanne. She is doing great - more and more alert each day! As of yesterday, she has moved to a center where she will recieve intensive therapies to regain motion and motor skills. Please continue to pray for this, as well as for her family. Thanks so much!!!

So, now let's get started ...

Monday: My poor Hattie came down with the flu that Sophie had had the week before. Sophie had it for about 36 hours and vomited once. Hattie was a little worse off. She missed the entire week of school and did not keep ANYTHING down from Monday to Thursday.

Tuesday: If we have apples in the house, this is what I find in random locations through the kitchen & family areas. Sophie LOVES apples!

Wednesday: Three houses ago, we had a game room. It was decorated in Americana motif and this pillow sat on a small couch. When we moved from that house it was packed away and I had not seen it since. For some reason, it suddenly showed up about the same time as Joanne's stroke. Since that day I have found myself kneeling and/or face down on the floor in prayer more than I ever have before. And this pillow has become my official prayer pillow. Thankfully, I have also had many reasons to use it for PRAISE too.

He is FAITHFUL!

Thursday: This was the day that the bug hit me. Hubby stayed home from work and helped with the kids and I spent the day in bed. Sophie broke one of my favorite necklaces and, lucky for her, I was to sick to care.

Friday: Hubby had tried to do some cleaning while I was sick and found some scent beads. He thought he was replenishing what was already in this warmer, but A: he put in too many and it over flowed. And, B: he ended up mixing two different kinds of beads.

And, I LOVE him soooo much for trying, but pumpkin spice and pink lemon aide are NOT a good combo...

Saturday - I woke up to this BEAUTIFUL sunrise and just knew that God was up to something big.

A few hours later, as I walked the aisles of Target, looking for a laundry basket, I got the call that Joanne was opening her eyes. And, right there in the home goods section, I fell on my knees in praise and cried.

PRAISE HIM!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday: Behold ... the laundry basket! I will never look at laundry the same way!

Monday: This is where Alexis has the most fun when she is here. She can get that ball FLYING too!

Tuesday: This is a TERRIBLE picture, she had just woke up and did NOT want her picture taken. But I had to, because this was the morning of the Epic Battle Of The Bedheads!!! It was between Sophie ...
... and Eli.

And, believe me when I say, NEITHER of these pictures do either bedhead justice.

Wednesday: Hattie lost another tooth!! And, I am sorry, but is this not the CUTEST toothless face you have ever seen? Oh, my heart...

Thursday: More and more was happening with Joanne and I was REALLY missing all of my Siestas. So, I pulled out the water bottle that I bought last April when we all went to Atlanta for So Long Insecurity. Somehow, it made me feel a bit closer to them all.

Friday: Eli took about 5 steps right before I took this picture. I wanted to capture him walking, but he was NOT in the mood to perform.

I HEART this boy!!!

Saturday: We got a few inches of snow overnight - FINALLY enough to make a good snowman ... or, in this case, a snowchick! Is she not adorable?!

Thank you Sara for hosting us!

Have a GREAT week!!

Project 365 - Week 3

I am just gonna come right out and tell ya from the beginning that this has been a VERY hard week. In fact, the only reason I even have pictures to post - or am even bothering to post them at all - is for the sheer distraction. I am sorry to be a debbie downer, but as we go through the week, you will see why...

Monday: Sayin goodbye to the Christmas Dishes. I am a huge fan of these pretty plates and HATE puttin em away every year. But, I do love my every day dishes too ... and I get to look forward to next year, right?

Tuesday: This is where it all began to unravel... My sweet friend Joanne (The Simple Wife) was running her 38 year old, EXTREMELY healthy body on the treadmill on Tuesday morning when a blood clot caused her to have a massive stroke. She is a BEAUTIFUL mama of two sweet girls and the rest of the week was spent at the foot of the cross on her behalf.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pray for my sweet friend, who, even now, fights for her life. This picture was taken as a visual reminder that she sits firmly in the palm of God's hand.

Wednesday: Joanne had told us on Monday that she had tried to do her quiet time & homeschooling by the fireplace ... but she had forgotten to open the flue. We all had a great laugh and she, of course, laughed the hardest of all. So, in her honor, on Wed. morning we all decided to do OUR quiet times - and fall on our knees at the Throne of Grace - in front of a nice fire.

I do not have a fire place, so this was the best that I could do...

Thursday: OK, I didn't take a picture on Thursday, so I decided to give you a picture of Sweet Joanne. (taken by her sweet sister Kristen at KHPhotography)

Please, PLEASE, PLEASE pray for my friend.

Friday: Joanne was supposed to host a luncheon for some fellow bloggers on Friday ... so, again, we had quiet/prayer time in her honor. We were supposed to have tea, but I cheated and had coffee. Her family had asked us to pray Psalm 46 over her. So that is what I have been doing. And I wrote her name in my Bible so I would never forget. Ever.

As if I ever could...

Saturday: Homemade chicken noodle soup ... even homemade noodles. It was good to have my whole family at my side. I spent the day watching my sweet girls play and could not help but think about and pray over Jo's sweet girls. Audrey is 12 and Emma is 9. Please pray for them, as well as her husband Toben, her daddy Chuck and mama Kay, her sister Kristen and their whole family. I cannot imagine.

Sunday - This morning my wonderful man was prayed over and ordained as a Deacon. I have never been so humbled and so proud all at the same time. I do so love my man. (mine is the one on the far right ... the one with no hair)

As we stand now, Joanne is still in a very desperate fight for her life. Her sweet, beautiful brain is still swelling. They have had to do a skullectomy on the right side (the stroke side) already, but as the swelling has continued, there is now pressure on the left side. If it does not cease swelling, more invasive measures will have to be taken.

I cannot even begin to tell you what a brilliant, beautiful woman of God Joanne is. I am BEGGING you to PLEASE pray for the swelling to go down and for her healing. I KNOW that my God is HUGE and miracles are His specialty, so I am BOLDLY asking for the BIG - the whole she-bang- the MIRACLE. I am asking that my friend be made well. And yet, I trust His will and His alone. He is not only huge, He is good. And I believe. I will ever believe.

Thank you Sara for hosting us. Have a great week - hug the ones you love, tell em that you do and count every Blessing. Because you just never know.

Project 365 - Week 2

So, I know that it's "Week 2", but seein as how it's days 2-8 of the year, it just don't seem right! But, here we are...

It is 10 minutes til 10PM, so I am just gonna dive on in. Buckle up!

Sunday: We took the family to see Tangled - LOVED IT! But, of course the pic I took with my cell phone didn't turn out, so... THIS is what we get!

A sweet family from church have given us BAGS of clothes as their daughter, sweet Olivia, out grows them. This day's treats held a bike helmet. Sophie was too excited to get dressed once this little puppy came out.

(This pic is SERIOUSLY cropped cause the hubbs was NOT wantin his baby girl on the world wide web in her undies!)

Monday: Passion Live 2011 ... Rocked.My.World. I watched as much as I could online and was soooooo Blessed. Hubby ended up buying me the pass to download the messages. I cannot wait til they are available!!

In this moment Christy Nockles was singing a song that I bawled through. I REALLY cannot wait til the CD comes out. SO good!!

Tuesday: Eli ... love him. He wants to walk sooooo bad. And he is not even CLOSE to a year yet. Such a sweet thing!

Wednesday: It was just starting to snow - some big 'ol fat daddy flakes. I opened the back door to take a picture and this one slipped past me to get out there. This is her victory celebration dance combined with trying to catch some flakes on her tongue. I just REALLY wish you could see how BIG the flakes were. They were few and far between, but they were ginormous!

Thursday: Bedtime came and I realized I still had no picture for the day. So, THIS is daddy giving the manicures. It is his job, because he is faster - thus a LOT less screaming. Hattie HATES getting her fingers done. Toes are OK, cause there is the promise of a pretty pedicure, but hands are NOT fun!

Friday: Hattie ... eating cereal ... and drinkin OJ. NOT Sunny D, but REAL orange juice. And she is NOT complaining. If you know Hattie and her food issues, you know that this is huge. In fact, it was a huge WEEK food wise. She ate meatloaf one night and spaghetti another (she doesn't like either), both without a single complaint.

Praise HIM!!!

Saturday: Snow angels ... made by happy girls. Thank you Olivia for the snow suits and Grandma & Grandpa M. for the boots. They are treasured!!

Sunday: Snowflakes frozen to the window on the way to church. Taken by my NEW cell phone with a much better camera. I still have no internet access (we refuse to play the data fees), but it has a MUCH better camera, video capabilities and I got a SMOKIN deal on it! WooHoo!!

Well, that was our week in a nutshell!!

Thank you Sarah for hosing us. You are wonderful!

(Please, do not judge on the typos ... I am in a hurry ...)

How was YOUR week?

Project 365 - Week 1

OK, I am gonna try this again ... and this time I am bound and determined to make it through the year. It is time for a fresh start and what better time than new year's?!

I have two pics for January 1 ...

Hattie lost her tooth. It was the third tooth to come out, but the first time that she was excited to have the tooth fairy come. Here is her tooth in the bag (gotta love Jewel Kade jewelry, love the necklace and the bag comes in handy too!!) just before it went beneath the pillow!

(in case you're wondering, the tooth fairy filled her bag with quarters! I asked her if she wanted to go to the store or put them in the piggy bank she got for Christmas and she chose the piggy bank and even shared a few of her coins with her sister!!)

My first memory verse of 2011! Two years ago my pBFF Beth Moore led a scripture memorization team on her blog. I started off to big (trying to do Psalm 150 ... ALL of Psalm 150 ... for my first verse) and I got overwhelmed and never finished the year. I HATE that, so I am determined to not let that happen again! This year she is presenting the challenge again - even creating these cute little spiral books for us! So twice a month (the 1st and 15th) we choose a verse and work on embedding it onto our hearts.

You're all I want in heaven!
You're all I want on earth!
When my skin
sags and my bones get brittle,
God is ROCK-FIRM and FAITHFUL
Psalm 73:25-26 (message)

I am excited for this year to begin. I really feel like God is stirring some new and exciting things in my life this year and I cannot wait! It is only Jan. 2 and between my devotional this morning, an AMAZING sermon and POWERFUL worship this morning and a challenging book I'm reading (Radical, by David Platt - I will share more on this later), God is already kickin my tail ... and I am LOVING IT!

Thank you Sarah for hosting this again this year! You are awesome ... I promise to do better this time around. We have no plans to move this year, so I may actually get through it!