Some of our favorite things that start with "J"
1. JESUS-He rocks!
2. Jenn- One of my best friends in the whole world! She is pretty awesome.
3. Jill- One of my other favorite people in the world. She is also awesome.
4. Java Chip Frappuccino (From Starbucks...I LOVE it)
5. Jeans- I can not imagine my life without jeans.
6. Joy- Seriously if you have #1, your life should be overflowing with joy.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Love these two:)
I love these girls. I just look at them and smile. Now I only wish I could actually get some good pictures of them. They never want their picture taken and never will look at the camera. Sigh. Oh well.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Retirement Savings
OK serious question....
DO you think that saving for retirement is biblical when so many around us are in true need TODAY? Why or why not? (Please use biblical references!)
DO you think that saving for retirement is biblical when so many around us are in true need TODAY? Why or why not? (Please use biblical references!)
Busch Gardens
When the girls and I went up to see Matt we had the chance to go to Bush Gardens on one of his days off. We had a great time (well they did, I was bitter all day because of the very few rides I could actually get on:), and we even got in free! Awesome!
The girls were SOOO excited to get their picture taken with the horse.
Naomi is becoming quite our thrill seeker! This was a ride in the kid area but Matt said it really was fun! Gabby did not like it so much:)
All the rides I DIDN'T get to ride:(
Gabby fell asleep for about an hour in the stroller. She slept so hard and Naomi had an ice cream cone during Gabby's nap. Shhhh don't tell her!
The girls were SOOO excited to get their picture taken with the horse.
Naomi is becoming quite our thrill seeker! This was a ride in the kid area but Matt said it really was fun! Gabby did not like it so much:)
All the rides I DIDN'T get to ride:(
Gabby fell asleep for about an hour in the stroller. She slept so hard and Naomi had an ice cream cone during Gabby's nap. Shhhh don't tell her!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Our oldest daughter:)
Naomi Reese Major
Born Feb 1st, 2006
You are such a beautiful girl. I have thought you were perfect since the first moment I saw you. I just feel like your life is going by so fast. I can hardly believe in a little over a year you will be in kindergarten. I love watching your little personality develop. You are such a nurturer. You love animals. You are becoming so aware of who Jesus is to you. It is such a delight to watch you grow an learn. I love hearing recite the word of God. It comes so easy to you. I know sometimes mommy and daddy are harder on you because you are the oldest. We do have higher expectations but with those comes great rewards. Today for the first time you told me. "mommy, I didn't want you to have another baby." It is the first time I have ever heard you say something negative towards this pregnancy and it about broke my heart. My beautiful Naomi, you will always be special to us. You are our first experience at parenting . You are a true joy. Don't ever think for a moment that having more siblings will take a way from our love for you.
Born Feb 1st, 2006
You are such a beautiful girl. I have thought you were perfect since the first moment I saw you. I just feel like your life is going by so fast. I can hardly believe in a little over a year you will be in kindergarten. I love watching your little personality develop. You are such a nurturer. You love animals. You are becoming so aware of who Jesus is to you. It is such a delight to watch you grow an learn. I love hearing recite the word of God. It comes so easy to you. I know sometimes mommy and daddy are harder on you because you are the oldest. We do have higher expectations but with those comes great rewards. Today for the first time you told me. "mommy, I didn't want you to have another baby." It is the first time I have ever heard you say something negative towards this pregnancy and it about broke my heart. My beautiful Naomi, you will always be special to us. You are our first experience at parenting . You are a true joy. Don't ever think for a moment that having more siblings will take a way from our love for you.
Monday, May 10, 2010
I Heart Faces-Celebrating Moms
This week over at iheartfaces the theme is "Celebrating Moms" in honor of mothers day. I chose this lovely photo of my best friends and her three adorable kiddos. Jill is such a wonderful, fun, and loving mommy to these little muchkins. It is also only mildly annoying that her baby is only 3 weeks old in this picture and she looks like a rock star:) I hope that when our third girl comes in September (yes I did say 3rd GIRL) that I will half as awesome as she is!
Head on over the website to check all the other awesome entries!
Head on over the website to check all the other awesome entries!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Praise Him!
Last Monday morning the girls and I left for Virginia! It is no secret that I don't really enjoy interstate driving. For one, I am just not an aggressive driver, and secondly, ever since I became a mommy, even the smallest things scare me. I like having the feeling of control over my kids, and yes I can control my own car, but I can't control the thousands of others we drive by.
So anyways, driving down the road was quite exciting. Well not really. The girls just did not understand why I could not just entertain them the whole way. They kept asking me for things that I could not give them while operating a vehicle. This in turn, made them a little grumpy:( We ended up stopping for lunch around 11:30 (about an hour before I really wanted to stop.) FYI (Every time Matt and I or either of us get in the car for a long trip we promise to not be in a hurry and just take our time...however we always end up trying to get there faster. I just hate dilly dallying.) We stopped at a one of the gas station/ fast food combo's to get everything done at once. I wanted to get in and out but of course we were there WAY too long. The girls took forever in the bathroom, Gabby insisted on washing her hands 8 times, the kept grabbing chips and drinks while I was trying to order at Quizno's, the were not listening to me at all, I think they knew we had to eat and I could not beat them in public (I am just kidding about the beating for all of you who are wondering!!....well kinda), we finally got our food and they knocked over a water cup all of the floor, an so on and so. Truthfully it was unusually bad behavior from both of them. I was beyond annoyed and frustrated. The car actually seemed pleasant compared to our lunch experience and I was eager to get back on the road. So anyways, about an hour later, we finally got back in the car. I buckled them in, told them sternly to sit quietly, and turned up my Casting Crowns CD so I could not hear their complaining.
Things like this happen every day. Our lives are filled with "normal" experiences, and some not so normal. But for the most part, days are kind of monotonous when it comes to raising kids. We do a lot of the same things every day. We have routines, disciplines, and so forth that come up regularly. How easy is it in the "mundaneness" to forget about God? We LOVE to praise Him in the highs and we LOVE to cry out to Him in our lows, but what about the 90% of our lives that exsist in the middle? Why do we so easily push Him to the side when things are going "normal"?
Back to my car trip......fast forward about 30 miles down the road, (ie: 30 minutes after we left lunch/gas/miserable frustrating mommy experience) I see in the distance, lots and lots of flashing lights. As I approach, my favorite song right now "At your feet" by casting crowns was blaring in my car. You can listen to it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN7GjwAbBbs.
Here are the the words to the chorus:
Jesus, Jesus,
at your feet, oh to dwell and never leave.
Jesus, Jesus, at your feet, there is no where else for me.
Cause I am free, here at your feet, all I need, is at your feet, and I find peace...
So anyways, there was a huge grassy embankment with a truck flipped over on its top, and about 5 or 6 other cars involved. There were probably 10-15 people strapped to stretchers laying in the grass. There were roughly 4 ambulances, 3 fire trucks, and 5-6 police cars. It was bad. Tears started to form in my eyes as I thought of all those people and their families. And then it was like an electric shock went thru me. THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME AND THE GIRLS. The wreck definitly looked fairly new. There was not much traffic build up yet, but the police were already there. It was probably about 30 minutes ahead of me. I am well aware the my life and the lives of my children are no more valuable to God than those people laying on the grass. But for some reason on that day, God chose to protect us. He ordained some grumpy girls who could not wait any longer to eat, He orchestrated a pretty good scene at lunch involving the water, and He did not allow us to leave.
So many things ran thru my mind over the next few minutes, like how faithful our God is, that His ways are always perfect, that truthfully I have NO control over my life and my family's. But the biggest thing I took out of this incident is how little I praise my King. I am so distracted by my measly inconveniences, that I forget that HE is always at work. I fail to recognize His mighty hand when things don't "appear" like they are going my way.
So anyways, driving down the road was quite exciting. Well not really. The girls just did not understand why I could not just entertain them the whole way. They kept asking me for things that I could not give them while operating a vehicle. This in turn, made them a little grumpy:( We ended up stopping for lunch around 11:30 (about an hour before I really wanted to stop.) FYI (Every time Matt and I or either of us get in the car for a long trip we promise to not be in a hurry and just take our time...however we always end up trying to get there faster. I just hate dilly dallying.) We stopped at a one of the gas station/ fast food combo's to get everything done at once. I wanted to get in and out but of course we were there WAY too long. The girls took forever in the bathroom, Gabby insisted on washing her hands 8 times, the kept grabbing chips and drinks while I was trying to order at Quizno's, the were not listening to me at all, I think they knew we had to eat and I could not beat them in public (I am just kidding about the beating for all of you who are wondering!!....well kinda), we finally got our food and they knocked over a water cup all of the floor, an so on and so. Truthfully it was unusually bad behavior from both of them. I was beyond annoyed and frustrated. The car actually seemed pleasant compared to our lunch experience and I was eager to get back on the road. So anyways, about an hour later, we finally got back in the car. I buckled them in, told them sternly to sit quietly, and turned up my Casting Crowns CD so I could not hear their complaining.
Things like this happen every day. Our lives are filled with "normal" experiences, and some not so normal. But for the most part, days are kind of monotonous when it comes to raising kids. We do a lot of the same things every day. We have routines, disciplines, and so forth that come up regularly. How easy is it in the "mundaneness" to forget about God? We LOVE to praise Him in the highs and we LOVE to cry out to Him in our lows, but what about the 90% of our lives that exsist in the middle? Why do we so easily push Him to the side when things are going "normal"?
Back to my car trip......fast forward about 30 miles down the road, (ie: 30 minutes after we left lunch/gas/miserable frustrating mommy experience) I see in the distance, lots and lots of flashing lights. As I approach, my favorite song right now "At your feet" by casting crowns was blaring in my car. You can listen to it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN7GjwAbBbs.
Here are the the words to the chorus:
Jesus, Jesus,
at your feet, oh to dwell and never leave.
Jesus, Jesus, at your feet, there is no where else for me.
Cause I am free, here at your feet, all I need, is at your feet, and I find peace...
So anyways, there was a huge grassy embankment with a truck flipped over on its top, and about 5 or 6 other cars involved. There were probably 10-15 people strapped to stretchers laying in the grass. There were roughly 4 ambulances, 3 fire trucks, and 5-6 police cars. It was bad. Tears started to form in my eyes as I thought of all those people and their families. And then it was like an electric shock went thru me. THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME AND THE GIRLS. The wreck definitly looked fairly new. There was not much traffic build up yet, but the police were already there. It was probably about 30 minutes ahead of me. I am well aware the my life and the lives of my children are no more valuable to God than those people laying on the grass. But for some reason on that day, God chose to protect us. He ordained some grumpy girls who could not wait any longer to eat, He orchestrated a pretty good scene at lunch involving the water, and He did not allow us to leave.
So many things ran thru my mind over the next few minutes, like how faithful our God is, that His ways are always perfect, that truthfully I have NO control over my life and my family's. But the biggest thing I took out of this incident is how little I praise my King. I am so distracted by my measly inconveniences, that I forget that HE is always at work. I fail to recognize His mighty hand when things don't "appear" like they are going my way.
"Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.
I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live."
Psalm 146: 1-2
OH God, may I set my eyes only on you.
May I praise you when I rise and I when I sleep.
You my King are worth it.
You are worth all of my praise.
May I never fail to see you at work.
Praise you Jesus for our protection, and your faithfulness.
You alone are good.
OH God, may I set my eyes only on you.
May I praise you when I rise and I when I sleep.
You my King are worth it.
You are worth all of my praise.
May I never fail to see you at work.
Praise you Jesus for our protection, and your faithfulness.
You alone are good.
*I promise my next post will contain pictures:)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
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