~~ Weddin' Bells ~~

Things have been crazy busy around here! Hoping things might slow down after next weekend... (fingers crossed) :)

Anyway, I do have a quick little announcement...
My "little" brother proposed yesterday - and she said yes!

So excited - truly couldn't have picked a more amazing woman for him! Congrats Ryan and Tracie!

An Afternoon in Bricktown...

I took the kids to Bricktown today for some pictures. I confirmed that Hadlee is still in her funky smile stage. (as well as smiling off into space instead of at the camera!) I also discovered that Tanner is scared of everything. Grass, dirt, concrete - he didn't want to sit on ANY of it; and he was terrified of the fountain! :) All in all, it was an eventful day, but not very productive.

Here's a few pictures that I got around the chaos...

A Short, "Mommy break time" post...

If the title doesn't make sense, then you're probably not a mommy - at least not of small ones. :)

Have several things to do today, but we're waiting on Tanner to get up from his nap. Hadlee's finishing lunch, and I thought I'd set down for a quick update!

I'm still working on the "Couch to 5K" - actually a good friend, Stephanie Calderon, has come over the last two times to run with me. That's nice - although we can't exactly talk; too busy trying to breathe! ;P

My goal for today is to take the kids to get some pictures... I'm horrible about this. (any fellow perfectionists will understand!) I love having pics of them, but I usually want to wait until Hadlee's hair is perfect, we have nicely coordinating outfits and accessories, etc. (That's why I don't get 'em done very often! HA!) BUT...I decided that's ridiculous! (right??? Excuse me while I try to convince myself....) The weather is going to be scorching if I wait much longer - and outfits and hair won't matter. We'll have hot, grumpy, sweaty kids!! IF I'm successful, I'll be posting some pictures next time!

We're also trying to get ready for Easter! We've got outreach events happening at the church, and we're wanting to do some in our park as well. Tanner's birthday is the day before Easter, also. The week of Easter is shaping up to be very busy! Trying to get the house very clean this week - hoping that will be one less thing to worry about next week.

Trust everyone is having a great Wednesday, and maybe (fingers crossed) I'll have a picture post next time!

Exercise!

There are a few things that I have been wanting to post - but since I just started back to some morning exercise this morning, that topic won out. :)

I think I might have mentioned working out before Christmas (or perhaps that was just on facebook), but those days have been long lost in the craziness of housework and mommy stuff. With my almost completely melancholy personality, I tend toward depression occasionally. Nothing serious enough for medication, but sometimes it can be bad enough to affect my profitability. I admit to having a few days where just staying up and going took effort. I really don't like this (I know, nobody does!), and I'm determined to rise above this as much as is in my power. (also if there is anything I am not, it is a morning person!! Seriously.)

Working out really helped - I was doing anaerobic exercises in the morning. I was feeling better physically and emotionally. However, I'd about die before I'd let Timothy watch me work out. See...his version of crunches, push-ups, weight-lifting, etc. is all fine-tuned. He can do it all and look great while he's doing it. Me?? Yeah, well let's just say I'm not one of those girls with six-pack abs. I was waiting until he'd leave for work, and there just wasn't enough time between that and the kids getting up. So...it fell apart.

I decided a few days ago to start running (I know, I know...I can't do a push-up but I think I can run a mile...). But seriously a friend shared on facebook last night about the "Couch to 5K" running program. Now THAT sounded like something I could do - I CAN sit on the couch! ;) Timothy (bless his heart) agreed to get up early with me, in order for me to have time to run, have my devotions, and get a shower. (he even emptied the dishwasher!) And, I made it! I LOVE having a plan, and I thrive on schedules. Really liking that there is a schedule to tell me exactly what to do, how long to do it, and how to do it! And I feel really great right now! It's by far the best morning I've had in a loooong time.

Anyway, my kids are waking up....gotta get moving. I promise not to blog my daily walk/run, but I don't like to "fail" - hoping blogging this will keep me motivated!

Have a good day everyone - and if you'd like to join me in this little effort, check out http://bit.ly/Couchto5kPlan. (Sorry, can't get it to post a link - you'll have to copy 'n' paste)

Under Construction

So, I started messing around with my blog today....but my parents are coming in this evening. I didn't have the time to be tweaking it today! :) (but of course i started anyway!) So...my blog is "Under Construction - please excuse the mess!" I'll be back next week!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Psalm 37:25

Hey, everyone! I'm having an extremely unusual moment here at home - both kids are in their rooms resting! :) Tanner is napping, and Hadlee wanted to rest also. So I'm sitting here with a piece of cake and an icy mug of milk. lol Now, on to my post...

I'm a normal mom I think... Current events, world news, Middle East rioting, terrible natural disasters - all of this is all over the news. Then there's also the U.S. issues (which is what my current story is about!) - the financial gurus who say that the dollar is going to collapse, our whole financial system is going down, and honestly, it looks like it's very possible. These people make a lot of sense! Our government has spent and is continuing to spend itself into oblivion. This house of cards has to fall soon, right?? (I promise the point of this is not to add my voice to the million other depressing voices you've heard this week....keep reading!)

Okay, but really, it's still not too "personal" to think about the economic collapse of our nation...but my mommy brain takes it to the personal level. If/when all this happens, how are we going to feed our children? How are we going to survive?? These are the questions I was totally worrying about the other night. (Yes, I said worrying...I admit it!) Literally, I'm not a freak-out person normally, but this was keeping me awake! I wasn't sure how I was going to sleep that night. My dear husband wasn't being much help either. :) I told him I was worried, he said I wasn't the only one (indicating he was worried too), but soon I was listening to his even breathing - yep, he went to sleep on me! lol (sorry, but he doesn't know what real "worry" is when he can just crash like that....;))

Now, is where the title to this post comes in. I haven't heard that verse recently, and I haven't read it recently. But these words started going through my head: "I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor their seed begging for bread" I was so struck by the words, I had to get up and look it up. Here is the whole verse: "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." Now, I realize that there are Christians around the world who struggle with daily survival, and I'm definitely not claiming to be above them. But this mommy is standing on Psalm 37:25. My mind continued to review other Bible passages - Elijah: yep, God could even feed us by the birds if needed! And if he knows every time a sparrow falls (umm...even the ones that guys in my family have probably brought down...lol), why can't I trust Him with these two beautiful children that He created and gave to us?? I'm sure the worry will try to resurface, but I now have ammunition - after all, isn't that the right response to Satan - the Bible?

Hope everyone's having a good week - we're having gorgeous weather here in OKC! 82* currently, and Tanner's getting better. Maybe we'll be able to take advantage of the weather this weekend. Enjoy yours!!

Crawling...

Tanner's been crawling for a while now, but Grandma hasn't got to see him yet. :) So here it is....

Little Laughs...

Tanner has an infectious laugh - and occasionally Hadlee will get him going. He laughs at her, she laughs at him laughing, etc. This time Hadlee sneezed, and he got extremely tickled. She continued fake sneezing to make him keep laughing. I got out the video camera for the last part.

It was extra nice to hear him laugh so much, because the poor little guy has been rather sick - I'm thinking Rotavirus. He's still having diarrhea, but thankfully the vomiting seems to have stopped. We're on day 10 of sickness, and I'm hoping it will go away soon! :)

I'm back! :) Timothy has had some unexpected time off work over the last few weeks, and when he's home, other things get done, but blogging doesn't. :)

Anyway, in explanation of my previous post, we are trying - make that God is trying - to change the whole focus of our lives. We are both reading "Radical" for the second time, and it is just as gripping and convicting as the first time. Not to elevate the book too much, but the content of the book is very biblical. Unfortunately, sometimes I think it's easy for us to assume that God has changed his overall purpose for the Christian life since he called the disciples to "leave everything" and "follow Him". After all, we're in America, and a certain lifestyle, income level, house, vehicle, etc. is to be expected - basically a "necessity"...right?? We're supposed to plan for the future...thus our 401(k) must be full...right? We need "our time" and "our space"...right?? (Umm...if you're a mommy you do!! lol) So....how do we balance all of this with Christ's commands to "give up everything, take up our cross, and follow Him"? That's what we're trying to establish in our lives right now. It's SOOO easy to get caught up - extremely caught up! - in the "American Dream".

And it's so much more than money! Our time, for instance. Wow...we are extremely selfish with that!! I totally don't even realize how much until I go through my day thinking about how I use it! And then I think about eternity, and the literally billions of people who don't know Christ - not to mention those who haven't even heard of Him! How exactly are we going to get around His commands to take care of the widowed and the fatherless, the poor, the sick, etc.? I'm afraid the truth is - we aren't!

And this is only a brief summary of what's going on in our heads and hearts right now. For more, read the book!! ;) So, what are we going to do about it?? Not totally sure - but one thing we have established, we don't want to "hear and walk away" without changing. Our lives - not to mention our children's! - depends on what we do with this. I don't think there's another option. We can settle for "nominal Christianity" (ya know, where we go to church three times a week, put 10% in the offering plate, and live the rest of our lives and spend the rest of our money for "us".) and risk losing our own spiritual lives, plus the hearts of our precious children. Or we can get serious about this.

Not much has been left out. We've talked about where God wants us - is that here or maybe in another country? We've talked about what God wants us to do - short mission trips? foster care? adoption? international adoption? etc. etc. We've talked about what we can do right now while we wait... all of which frankly scares me a little, and excites me a lot. :)

Now, Satan has also apparently been made aware of our plans. Not to give him ANY credit, but he has fought super hard - especially the last few weeks. Our marriage, our finances, our focus - he's not going to let this go without a fight. But with God's help, we want to find and follow what a "radical life of Christian discipleship" looks like for our family!

Changes...

Our home is in the middle of a lot of changing...all good! (and no, we're NOT pregnant!!) God is using His Word, along with some messages we've watched and a book we've read, to seriously change our direction as a family - or maybe simply CREATE a direction! I've changed the mechanics of my blog, but soon the content will probably be changing some as well. I'll still definitely be posting pics and giving family updates, but I'm hoping to let you in on what's happening on a deeper level in our home. Stay tuned! Gotta get ready for church now. Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

Anticipating Spring!

So, I didn't step foot out of the house until the snow was beginning to melt. :) We finally got out Friday - Taco Bell and Wal-mart never looked so good! lol Here's some snow pile pictures... and a few of the kids.

Snow out our window...




















Horrible roads...




Snow piles...





Bundled up...















Hadlee & Tanner watching a DVD...







































Yes, we're ready for SPRING!!! Tired of snow, tired of being stuck in the house, tired of having to bundle up... :)

In other news, Tanner has decided he loves food! :) He can put away 5+ "Gerber 2nd foods" packs a day! But he also thinks he should be able to feed himself, as is aptly illustrated below.




Have a good Monday, everyone!

Update soon...

I know, I know! I said I'd be back soon with "snow pics". But Timothy didn't work at all this week, and when Daddy's home, it just tends to throw the whole schedule off. I think with the extra help, I just relax TOO much. :) Anyway, he's working today, but I've got catch-up to do! WILL be back soon with some pics!! Later...

Blizzard-ready!

So, today I saw something that I must say, I don't think I ever remember seeing in Oklahoma. But first, our weekend! Anthony (Timothy's brother) and Adrian along with their two girls got to come down for a visit this weekend. The weather was in the high 70's Friday, and Saturday was very nice as well. Here's a few pics (I didn't take very many)...

The girls fed a whole loaf of bread to the ducks at Bricktown - and Ashlyn was quite taken with the ducks!!
















































And of course we had to stop at Marble Slab Creamery! (For the record, I gave Tanner the tiniest of bites...twice. For anyone concerned, he barely got any! ;))





Now for the "something"... We are officially under a blizzard warning! The "blizzard" is supposed to start around 3 a.m., and I've also heard some talk about expecting power outages, even though we're not supposed to get ice. So...here's my kiddos, "ready" for the action! :)

First my little "woodsman"...with our inside woodpile.



And, Hadlee is ready with her candles. lol...of course, she doesn't have a clue that a power outage would mean no computer, no DVD's, etc. :)



Be safe everyone, and we'll be back with pictures soon...if there really is such a thing as an Oklahoma blizzard...???

Play-doh and PJ's

Very random post...there! you are forewarned!! :)

Hadlee got this neat Play-doh set last week. (like 80% off - $3.00!) I must admit I found it quite cool...the detailing of the little presses are quite realistic. We both spent a good amount of time playing with it. ;) But (note to self!) we're not playing with play-doh on the floor anymore - even on the mat! Play-doh doesn't sweep out of carpet well!






























































Just a couple of random pics...Hadlee was entertaining them both by putting this bowl on their heads and faces. Whatever works, right??





ORNERY!! :) I asked Timothy the other day, "Is it just that I know he's a boy and expect him to be ornery, or does he just LOOK ornery?" Daddy's reply - "He IS ornery!!" lol




Happy! These kids LOVE each other (for now...lol)




Silly!



Hope everyone has a fun weekend! (P.S. We're planning on enjoying the 70*+ weather this weekend! :))

Radical

This is a book Timothy and I are currently reading. It is getting a lot of attention, and chances are, you've already heard of it/read it. But, if you haven't - it's a must-read. Extremely challenging...actually more like convicting. :) Go get it now and read it!

Home Improvement & Thankfulness...

We were blessed to have Daddy home again yesterday. Saturday and Monday (yesterday) he made two shelves for Hadlee's room, installed the trim around our bathroom mirror, and gave a "face-lift" to the kitchen and living room windows. I painted the trim, shelves, and "face-lift" material....and now, I'm itching to start painting my kitchen!! (the green color gets a little more annoying everyday...lol) Hoping to get started on that in the next week or so. In the mean time, I'm still trying to stick to my new "cleaning schedule". It's going well - I think once I get "in the groove" it will prove very helpful!

Now for some thankfulness... :) I'm very thankful for a talented - and more importantly - WILLING husband. :) The "face-lift" thing, the new trim, and the shelves were all my ideas, but that's as far as I go! He can somehow go to Home Depot, know what he needs when he gets there, and do it when he gets home. And, he told me while he was doing it, that he enjoys it! I promised him that I'd try not to take advantage of his abilities.... but it might not be easy. :P

Hope everyone is having a great week! I'll get some more pics up soon.

Well & Happy!

Hadlee and Tanner are finally both well at the same time. :) SO nice! Now, I'm almost afraid to take them out of the house, even though we've had some wonderfully mild temps here in Oklahoma. Once again, we're all ready for spring, but I'm just trying to be thankful that we're not "up North"!

Here's a couple pics of my happy kiddos. First, my beautiful baker...Hadlee got a very cute baking hat and apron from Ryan's girlfriend Tracie for Christmas. And...can you see the "all boy" personality coming through in our handsome little guy?? He smiles and just exudes orneriness!

Organization! :)

As I've stated before, organization is one my favorite things. So... here are a couple of very simple yet extremely helpful things I have put/am putting into practice.

1) I've mentioned that we've been working specifically on our finances over the past year. Paying the bills has basically always been my job - I'm home all day, and I'm the number-crunching nerd in the house. :) So, one of the simplest yet most helpful things I've done is establish a computer spreadsheet listing all of our monthly bills, their due dates, their amount (or approximate amount), payment method (online, by phone, etc), and a checklist for Jan-Dec. It's all on one page; I keep it in the front of our "finance" binder, and I (or Timothy) can see at any time what needs to be paid and what has been paid. I guess I'm a typical woman and can basically keep a running total of all this in my head, but I'm also a typical mom and a few times a bill has gotten misplaced, didn't get sent off in time, etc. I started this last year about this time - right before I found myself in the hospital with my pregnancy. It was SO nice to know that Timothy (who is definitely involved in our finances, but doesn't "hands on" pay the bills, etc.) could easily see where we were, what needed to be done, and how to do it (payment method and log-in info is all right there). It also helps with budgeting - we can look at due dates (the bills are listed in due-date order) and see what needs to come out of which check. I know there are MUCH more advanced ways of keeping track of things, and some people use a lot of auto-withdrawals. However, this works the best for me, and I like to be the one to tell the money to go out - not someone else! :) (does that make me old fashioned???)

2) This one won't be nearly as wordy - I'm just starting. :) Haven't even gotten my spreadsheet done! But my other "big thing" to work on right now along with finances, is my time management - specifically with my kids. I very much like and need a clean orderly house, and I tend to go on deep-cleaning "binges" where everything from the kitchen cabinets to closets to the fireplace, EVERYTHING has to be clean. :) That's okay when company is coming, but I've decided to start breaking it up more. Going to take a certain part of the house for every day of the week (Mon-Fri). I'm working to cover everything so all rooms are well maintained without killing myself on any particular day. I think I'm going to like this! Besides, once I have this fully established and up and running - how dirty/unorganized can something get in one week?? :) Yesterday I picked up all of the house, but only cleaned the kitchen - cabinets included. I was able to relax yesterday evening, and feel like I had "accomplished" my goals without stressing about the rest of the house.

Okay, enough of that! :) As for our family, Timothy has been able to have some time off the last week, and may get some more time this next week. Hadlee is getting spoiled by this - she has informed me that Daddy should just be home on multiple occasions! I'm working on my goals/projects for this year - trying to keep momentum and not lose the excitement of a new year. Hadlee is...Hadlee! She's got smarts way beyond her years - sometimes that's great and sometimes that's not so great. lol She is very anxious for warm weather - she wants to wear blue sparkly flip-flops (hope I can find some!), go on picnics, and ride her new bike! Tanner is working on tooth #3, enjoying "big food", becoming very much a mommy's boy, and developing a very "boyish" personality. SO fun!!

We're all finally well - except Hadlee still has a little runny nose. I was very glad to clear all the medicines off the kitchen bar, and put them back in the medicine cabinet where they belong!! :)

I'll try to upload some pics of the kids soon - if blogger will quit being screwy!!

Relaxation...

...not a common word around our house, unfortunately! But as the pics illustrate, we're getting it done today! :) We're having a cold snap here in the City...one of our firsts for this winter. The sun is shining brightly, but the wind chill is not so bright. Thanks to the cold, Daddy is home today. (Customers canceled jobs yesterday and today, due to weather.)

So...as I type, the fire is burning brightly:

to ward off the cold winds outside:


Tanner is "settled in for a long winter's nap" (at least that's what we're hoping!):



















Daddy is reading "Son of Hamas":



















Hadlee is enjoying a Strawberry Shortcake adventure by the fire:



















and I'm planning a nice, long bath soon. (that's why there's no picture of me! lol...no shower, no pics!!!)

I'll probably post some more later about our new year's goals, but for now... we're relaxing! :)

Of Germs and Medications...

As I stated in my previous post, we've had some colds around here. And unfortunately, they don't seem to want to go away anytime soon! Timothy and I could sing first and second bass right now, I'm quite sure. :) Tanner just went to the doctor today, and STILL has an ear infection (he's had one off-and-on for the last month and a half!) and bronchiolitis. (before Christmas it was a respiratory virus) sigh! Anyway, on a good note, Hadlee is well! :) She had a bad spell over our Christmas travels, but has been well since we've been home. It's nice to at least have one bouncy, happy person in the house! Here's Tanner's first go with the inhaler - he actually did very well!


Here's some "normal pics" from the last couple days...












Excuse the messy room! I walked past yesterday, and found her like this totally reading/talking to "someone"...of course the flash made her look.

















Cindrella a.k.a. Hadlee :)




















Mommy's little "Axe man" (We used some of daddy's gel to spike his hair...lol)







































Check out those teeth!! :)






Hope ya'll have a great weekend!!