Seven years ago

It was 5 minutes to 2 p.m. that I was anxiously awaiting walking down the aisle to my soon-to-be husband. I had no doubt in my mind he was the one I was to spend the rest of my life with.

We had a beautiful wedding surrounded by people we love. I cherish the photos with Lucas' dad marrying us, and our best friends looking on.

The wedding party took a ride on Molly the Trolly over to the reception place at Wilderness Ridge.

Seven years later and I'm so thankful for how our family has grown, and for where our family is headed. I love you, Lucas, with all of my heart.

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
Ephesians 3:14-19

Grab a comfy seat :: It's gonna be a long one

Don't pass out. Yes, I'm finally writing a post. In my defense, I have some good reasons for my absence in the blogging world. I've had some health issues I've been battling lately, and while I'm still seeing doctors and doing research of my own, I'm so thankful to be back at it and feeling a little bit more like myself again!

Lots of changes have been happening over the last month and a half (has it really been Easter since the last time I blogged???)

:: we put down wood flooring throughout our downstairs and tiled all of the bathrooms and laundry room. Lovin' it! Still need to take a picture to share.

:: I'm transitioning to a vegan diet. Yep. I need all of the prayer I can get on this one, but our hope is that my health will flourish because of it.

:: I finally made homemade laundry detergent. Super easy.


:: little Miss has one tooth.


:: little Miss has two teeth.


:: we've reached the baby food stage. She doesn't quite get the eating part just yet, which makes a frustrating time for mommy and daddy. I don't ever remember wearing the food after feeding N when he was a baby, but with this little girl I end up with it all over me.


:: it's hot here. What do you do when your child wants to play outside and it's about to reach boiling point? Send him out with a spray bottle.


:: we created "the spot." With it being SOOO hot outside here, N has very limited time to go outdoors. When it is deemed cool enough, he gravitates toward his spot. Perfectly shaded and a great place to just chill and do your thing. I'm beginning to think I need a spot...

Oh, and the hose nozzle in his hand serves as his microphone. All of the neighbors get to hear his daytime show.

:: M loves to play with her little piggies.


:: something about sibling love. A little push here, a little shove there. Would you ever guess she is the one who starts it all?


Don't worry...they usually end up like this. They luuurve each other.


:: can you believe this sweet girl is almost 7 months old?


:: she hit the 18 pound mark a couple of weeks ago.

:: her FAVORITE song is Jesus Loves Me. Her face lights up every time you sing it.

:: she has the same amount of hair that N does.

:: my big baby boy is creating all sorts of new parenting challenges for us. We're working on lots of new things.


:: his favorite song to request is "Jingle Bells." My husband is to thank for this.

:: after much heartfelt searching, praying, and seeking wisdom of others, we've decided to fully commit ourselves to giving homeschool a go. What a huge leap of faith but we're oh so excited for the rewards we believe it will reap for our family. While N isn't quite school age yet, it was important to make this decision now since it will impact conventions and conferences we will go to this next year to prepare. I'm starting to get my feet wet with some pre-school lessons this summer. I'll let you know how it goes!

Sigh. It's amazing when I look back at all of the changes just within a little over a month's time. New challenges to face and new adventures to begin. So grateful we get to do them all as a family.

Easter weekend

We had a wonderful, sunny Easter weekend together as a family. I had wanted to do some fancy egg dying but settled for a late night of dipping them in solid colors so little man could get to bed. Bad planning on my part, but I was determined he'd at least get to dye some.

We're still trying to figure out exactly how our family wants to celebrate different holidays. I LOVE tradition and want everything to have meaning and memories behind it. This year we decided to ditch toys and such (don't they have enough of those anyway?) and opted to fill the Easter baskets with new books for spring! And baby girl got her pink bunny I had been looking for. N has a matching lamb from when he was born.

I have no idea what we'll do in the future, but if you have some great traditions I'd love to hear them. And if you have any tricks for getting a little man to keep his shirt tucked in, I'd love to hear those too!

Our desire for our family is to really focus on, and teach, what Easter is all about -- the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We decided to do a Resurrection Easter egg hunt this year which N loved. He was excited to get to collect all of the eggs and open each one up as they revealed the story of Easter in a tangible way.

Since it was just our little family this year, and the weather was beautiful outside, we cooked ham and pineapple on the grill for lunch. Yum! The cheesecake birds nests I made were from this new blog.

Thank you, Jesus, who died and rose again on Easter to break us free from our sin, and nothing else.

Deep and Wide

We've been working on teaching the kids some of the typical Sunday school songs. You know, the ones with the marching and motions that make you work up a sweat? These are the expressions I received while I marched to "I'm in the Lord's Army."

Yep, I can't tell you how much those joyful faces give me the motivation to keep on going and not feel like a dork. But don't worry, N was up and moving for "Deep and Wide."

Have you seen?

Have you seen the newest clothing and home line carried by Target called Liberty of London? Super cute!

And I love that they carry the clothing all the way from baby to women. They have a little Anthropologie flare to them at a much more affordable price. I know Anthropologie is all the rage in the blogging world. I'll probably get shot for saying this (trust me, I love all of their stuff), but I always had a hard time justifying paying the price for non-sale Anthropologie clothes because they just didn't seem like they were all that well made. I did have something fall apart on me after it was washed. Who am I kidding? Even if they were well made I couldn't justify paying their price. Please don't send me hate mail for saying that. So I was excited to see some of the new things Target is putting out there for prices like $9.99. I was desperately trying to think of a reason why I needed some of the home decor line but came up with nothing.

I did however come up with this reason...

...to come home with this.

I've had to take a little break from the computer over the last couple of weeks due to some health problems. But hopefully I can get back in the game and you can forgive me after seeing these photos of my cutie-pies.

Baby girl started to roll over two weeks ago. She wasn't thrilled when she did a face plant into the carpet.

But once she realized her accomplishment and saw mommy's face she was all smiles.

We headed to the Ostrich Festival in Chandler a couple of weekends ago. We just made it in time to see the end of the ostrich and camel races. Hilarious.

All it takes are some weird looking animals to keep this two-year old entertained. And the weather couldn't have been better.

At the festival there was also a petting zoo, which N loved. We couldn't believe how excited he was to get to feed the goats (although he called them dogs at first).

He even let them lick his hands and munch on his little fingers.

Rainy and lazy days mean bringing out the creative projects and games. I kept trying to teach N how to line them all up but he'd knock them down after a few. I eventually gave up.

I'm not sure there is anything sweeter than a content baby just happy to be next to you.

With our little girl's excitement to roll over and sit up she's pretty much done with being content to just lie around. It's time to bring out the monstrous exersaucer.

The intentional life.

Are you living an intentional life? And most importantly, are you living an intentional life that is pleasing to the Lord? This is what the Lord has really laid on my heart as to what the "theme" for my family's life will be in 2010. I'm not a New Year's resolution kind of gal (hence the fact that it's March and I'm just now writing this post). I do love the thought of the new year bringing freshness, changes and self-evaluation though.

My hope is that throughout this year I can share with you ways the Lord is showing my family how to be more intentional with the various aspects of our lives, and to share some resources that are helping us pursue them. I know this won't go without struggles, and am quite positive this will be a lifelong process and not just a year-long one. But I'm excited to grow and change, and to do so with my family.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2

I came about this theme after being tired of living in a rut. Being tired of wanting to be somewhere else when I am forced to be in the present. And I was just plain tired of being discontent. Thinking that if this would happen, then I'd be happier. I began to ask myself, what are you going to do about it?

I knew I didn't want the answer to be buying more things or immersing our family into the land of busyness. Over the course of a couple of weeks I began to think about the thought of living a more intentional life. What does that look like? What does that mean?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, intention means a determination to act a certain way. In my own words, to have a purpose behind it. I like how intend can mean to have in mind a purpose or goal. I find I am the type of person that life runs more smoothly for me if I have some sort of plan and routine that I'm following.

Are you being intentional with your children?
Are you being intentional with what you read to your children?
Are you being intentional with what toys are brought in to your home?
Are you being intentional with how you spend your time? (gulp)
Are you being intentional with how you spend your money? (double gulp)
Are you being intentional with what you read?
Are you being intentional with what you watch?
Are you being intentional with what you listen to?
Are you being intentional with how you celebrate holidays?
Are you being intentional with how you celebrate birthdays?
Are you being intentional with your job?
Are you being intentional with your spouse?
Are you being intentional with your family?
Are you being intentional with your friends?
Are you being intentional with your home?
Are you being intentional with God?
Are you being intentional with what you eat?
Are you being intentional with your physical health?
Are you being intentional with what you wear?
Are you being intentional with your words?
Are you being intentional with your talents?
Are you being intentional with the environment?

Wow. Seems like a lot of items on the list to self-examine, but as I've been beginning this journey, and if you journey with me, I think you'll realize they're all mostly connected. If I'm working on being intentional about what I am watching, I'm most likely going to be more intentional about what my child is watching. And if what I'm watching is wholesome and good for me, my thoughts and words are most likely going to be pleasing to God.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14.

Do you want to live a more intentional life? If so, I hope you'll join me on this journey. I look forward to the end of this year when I can compare notes and see how my family's life has changed from the beginning of 2010 to the end.