Choosing Joy

Have you ever had to choose joy? I went to a Women's conference last weekend and one of the messages was on choosing joy. I've had to choose joy a lot this week, to let the God that is in me be stronger than the weight of this world. I've had to renew my mind, to reposition my focus on Who HE is and What HE can do when my obstacle appears to be so much bigger. I've had to claim joy for Joe as he still struggles to find joy when physically he feels worn out. What a concept, choosing to be joyful despite the circumstances that surround.

This week Megan Joy has decided to exercise her freedom to use the word "no." She is stubborn, and is emphatic with her "nos." It made me think of how stubborn we can be to the Lord. He cries out, "trust me" - "no" ; "give me your burdens so I can carry them" - "no" ; "come here and just sit with me" - "no." How often do I cross my little arms, throw on my pouty face and declare "no" to Him. So when He asks me to "choose joy", "just laugh", "enjoy the ride" - maybe I'll answer "ok!" and see how that goes!

Tomato soup and ritz crackers

Megan wanted to join in on the soup tonight. She asked for soup and then asked for crackers. I crumpled the crackers into her soup and then she spent a good couple of minutes making sure they were crumpled just right. She was so cute and so determined. Then she enjoyed every bite and declared, "I like soup!" I love passing on crazy traditions, like tomato soup with ritz crackers!

Ice Cream and Cake

Erin's favorite part of the ODU game is by far the Ice Cream and Cake dance done by the cheerleaders. All joy breaks out across the arena when this dance starts and Erin joins right in!

Conflicting Emotions

Have you ever done something you didn't necessarily want to do, but felt the Lord telling you to do it. Completely an act of obedience, yet still trying to hold onto some control of it? We are attempting to sell our home. Last year, didn't really think it was an option or a need. This year, felt the Lord telling us we needed to put it up for sale. Don't know at this point if He just wanted to see if we would do it, or He really wants us to move. That's the waiting part, that's the hard part. I'm trying to detach myself from this home and think of all the things I don't like about it. Just when I think I'd be thrilled to move on, that little voice inside tells me that I will actually be heart broken to leave this home.

Which brings me to the point of this post. We are holding an open house at this very moment and several people have come through that absolutely love my home. Makes me wonder(and them) why I want to leave it. One lady just said she can feel love in this home and she didn't want to leave. WOW, someone else may soon be loving my home the way I thought I always would. Am I really ready and willing to let that happen? To be honest, I just don't know. Many conflicting emotions, many tears...but in the end, obedience will win. Faith will prevail...He didn't bring us this far to let us go and He knows exactly where He wants us. Our home is where our family is and when we are together we will fill any space with love and warmth.

Tutu and Boots

Who couldn't love this one of a kind girl? A tutu and boots...and she's saying "yeehaw!"

Happy Birthday Mr. Washington

Anna is a history buff in the making. She fell in love with Washington D.C. this past Summer and asked for the Washington Monument for Christmas. She has 3 W.M. figurines, a book about D.C., a photo book from our trip which she counts among her most treasured possessions. We couldn't let President Washington's birthday pass without a celebration. It was crazy hat day at school so we created a hat with all her favorite D.C. monuments. She was also leader at school so she was able to take her books about D.C. and show them to her classmates. In the afternoon she watched Charlie Brown goes to Washington D.C. while I prepared all of George's favorite foods for dinner. We had fish, green beans and cornbread. We threw in some mac n cheese because we're sure he would have loved that too! We topped it off with cherry crunch and vanilla ice cream since we all know he loved cherries. It's a small thing to do for the joy that it brought to Anna. You would have thought it was her birthday! We love our little history girl!

This is not a mistake....I am blogging!

Oh my, oh my...where can I even start? It has been exactly 9 months since my last post. I don't think I intentionally decided to stop blogging, it was kind of a slow fade from this world. I guess with the popularity of facebook and being able to tell hundreds of people what I was doing within seconds, I lost the desire to actually think about what I wanted to say and maybe have some purpose behind it. For the last few weeks though, I've felt the urge to resume blogging. Seems like many people felt that same urge as I've received several notifications of friends who have resumed their blog.

I guess I treat my blog like I do many other things, if I can't do it well, then why do it. But, I don't think it has to be like that. This is merely my avenue for doing something I enjoy doing, writing. I try so hard to journal, and I've come a very long way, but I can't seem to make myself journal the day to day ins and outs that I so desperately want to remember. The moments that bring me such joy that all to quickly fade from my memory. So with that intention in mind, I am attempting to resurrect my blog. I want to capture more than my feeble mind allows me to. I want to share what the Lord is doing in my life on a daily basis. Even if no one in this present day reads this., I hope that one day my children will and they will find a little piece of me and a big piece of them that brings them great joy! So Erin, Anna, and Megan, my precious angels, this is for you.....

Strawberry Pickin' and Dr. King's Visit

In May the strawberries were perfect. The girls always enjoy pickin and eatin and Megan really got into the eatin part! We were also blessed with a visit from our good friend Dr. King. We celebrated his birthday while he was here and had a fun weekend of activities!

Easter 2011-in pictures

Small Group Easter Egg Hunt

We hosted our Small Group Easter Egg Hunt, and as you can see, when you add all our kids

to the mix, we are not very small. It was a wonderful morning of fun and friendship. The kids listened to the story of the Resurrection Eggs before having 2 separate hunts - 1 for 2 year olds and under and 1 for the older kids. We are so grateful for the friendships we have in our small group and for times like this when we can all be together.

Our 1st Spring Picnic

One beautiful Spring day we took the little 2 to Botanical Gardens for a picnic lunch. Megan and Anna both enjoyed the beautiful flowers and the walk through the gardens!

Anna's 1st trip to the Dentist

Anna did a fabulous job on her first trip to the dentist, couldn't be prouder. She really enjoyed getting to watch mommy have her teeth cleaned!

Our Little Pistol

Somewhere in March, Megan started to develop little curls all around the bottom of her hairline and a slight tint of red is noticeable in her hair....well, she's got the personality to go with it. She is quite a little pistol. She gets in to just about everything, and I mean literally gets in as you can see from the pictures. She loves and lives life to its fullest. She is quite the giggler and babbles endlessly despite making no sense at all. She is absolutely the perfect ending to our family, bringing quite a different personality to the table!

1st Grade Bible Dedication

In the Spring, Erin received her 1st Grade Bible and had it dedicated at church. She was looking forward to this day for a long time. Now that she can read, she enjoys reading her special Bible every night. We are so thankful for her dedication to learning more about the Lord!

Megan is a Walker!

About 3 weeks ago Megan took the plunge and became a full time walker. She is most often seen carrying a purse as she walks around the house in circles. She is always on the go and rarely sits down. We love our little busy bee and have so much fun with her!

Megan is Free!

Megan's arm healed perfectly and she was able to have her cast removed on March 1st. She took it like a pro and didn't cry a bit. She has thoroughly enjoyed having full use of her arm again, and mommy has too! Her cast did help speed the process of her learning to walk. She is a full time walker now and in to everything!

Poor Megan....

On Monday night, January 31, an unfortunate event happened. The only witness to this event is Big Sister Anna, and she ain't talkin! So we'll never know what transpired on that fateful night in the playroom, but we do know how it ended. Megan fractured her forearm in 2 places. It was a long day at the doctor on Tuesday with about 10 grueling xrays. The diagnosis was clear. Luckily the orthopedist got us right in and she was casted within an hour. We chose purple for her cast because it has been deemed her favorite color. Despite the tears preceding the cast, she has been as happy as a bee since getting it on. She hasn't discovered how to crawl with it yet, but is contemplating walking instead. I predict she will be walking within a week. Again, she is a little trooper and it's so sad, but so cute. She finds joy in banging the cast on items to make loud noises. Whatever makes her happy at this point is okay with me! I love her to pieces and am just so sorry she has to go through this. I think she is going to be the closest we get to experiencing life with a boy!

Our Disney Vacation 2011

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