challenges

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had some questions going through my mind.  As I have been seeking to create a healthy balance in our home and praying to create an environment where Jesus leads us and is central to all we do,  I feel that the Lord has been putting some challenging questions on my heart:

Am I glorifying the Lord when I _________?

Do I bring Him praise when I __________?

I feel as though the Holy Spirit has put them on my heart in order to take some assessments and evaluate some things in my life and I have been really challenged to do so.  

I am sure changes are coming...

On that note, I hope that you all had a wonderful day!

I am off to finish party plans for Eden's birthday/dedication on saturday!

special days...

My mom comes out on a regular basis to be with us and we always have so much fun.

I love how much the kids love her and how connected they are...

When she comes, Ryder wakes up so early and can't wait until she gets to our house.

Ryder is learning how to do a thumbs up.  

(He always uses his index finger too so it always looks like he is pointing a gun at you... 

I absolutely love his little face!)

On this particular visit, we went back to La Habra  Children's Museum to see an exhibit on pirates.

Everyone got bundled up in the coats that she had gotten them for Christmas.

We were ready for an adventure!

We did some water color...

 And Eden just enjoyed watching Ryder play!

 The day ended with Eden having her first sippy cup and devouring humus!

I love each moment that we get to have our family together!

 Thanks Mom for coming out and sharing a special day with us, because any time you are with us, it's so special♥.

cinnamon/sugar strips

Ryder and I tackled this recipe last week while Kit was gone.  We have made this before but this time Ryder pretty much did the entire thing (with quite a bit of supervision!)  So I wanted to share it again with you...

Notice a very patient little sister in the background...

 I was so proud of my little baker!

(He was so proud of himself too...)

These taste like the center gooey part of a cinnamon role and they could not be easier!

Go here for the recipe.  Enjoy!

Our baby girl is one...

Yesterday Eden Marie turned one.

We still can't believe it...

So we got birthday doughnuts to start her on our family tradition.

We walked to our favorite little doughnut shop around the corner from our house:

(Ryder has been doing so great on his balance bike!  

He is so fast...)

 I love these faces:

Then we had a little celebration at home:

 She tasted it...

 and loved it!

 We had lots of special moments just being together.

Cuddling in bed, eating tasty food, playing outside, just watching our kiddos play with one another.

(They love each other so much.  

Watching Ryder sing happy birthday was so precious!  We did get it on video♥.)

We ate tasty burgers and fries at Brea's Best.

They were so good!

We did our little monthly photo shoot...

 It was just yesterday that we were here:

What a little munch!

We can't wait to celebrate our baby next weekend!

almost one

Our Eden Marie turns one years old this weekend.  I just can't believe it...

She has brought so much joy to all of our lives and we are so honored that we get to be her parents and are thrilled that she is in our family!  I could cry how thankful I am to be this baby girl's mama!

I can't wait to share with you how we plan to celebrate this little one's life!  

Have a great weekend and I will see you next week!♥

purging

First, let me say that giving things a way is REALLY hard for me.  I want to keep what's "mine" and I feel such an unhealthy emotional connection to inanimate objects, it's just so silly.  (I blame it on the movie "The Brave Little Toaster"♥)  So knowing that I had stuff that needed to be thrown out or given away was a really a hard project to start.  All that to say, the Lord did some amazing things in the process!

So in hopes of  making some changes in our home, I have been able to go through 90% of our closets, cabinets, and drawers in our house.   They are not all organized but there is so much less STUFF to have to deal with!  (I am not going to lie, I only went through half of the garage and realized that I needed Kit to help me.   I quickly got overwhelmed and have decided to tackle that area when we are together, because isn't stuff like that so much more fun when you are together?♥  I think that Kit is hoping for more space for his fish... good God!)  

I was so surprised at how many things made it into the trash.  I had junk that had made it's way all over the house! The Lord did some really cool things!  He opened my eyes to needs around me, he showed me a glimpse of what living generously can look like, and I felt that it cleared some spaces that felt really chaotic and that allowed me to clear some space mentally.  (I am feeling less chaotic, which was a huge goal!), so that i can focus  ore on Christ.  

I want to remember how good it feels that things are cleaned out and when what is left is being used, and that things are going to good homes rather than sitting, unused, in my closet.  (By the way, I gave several bags of clothes away and my closet feels bigger!  I know what I have and I wear what I own and I have been having fun getting creative with what is there.  Who knew!)

I hold on to everything and everything has a sentimental attachment so this has been a hard one for me.  For me, I was holding onto stuff with the thought  "maybe I will use that someday..."  If you struggle with it like I do, here is what helped me: change that thought to "SOMEONE NEEDS IT RIGHT NOW...."  It will make me get rid of stuff every time. I am now in the mindset that keeps going through things so that things don't build up again.

holes

We recently decided to move our phone off of our kitchen counter.  The problem was, the previous owners had placed a hole in the Corian to make space for the phone cords.

 

So we borrowed a grinder, used an old slab of our Corian and got enough powder to make a paste with epoxy:

 (Ryder wants to be part of EVERYTHING that his dad is doing.

(We had him stand back when Kit used the grinder.)

Then we let it set over night and the next day we used 400 grit sand paper to smooth it out.

(Of course Ryder helped♥)

 He is such a helper!

 It's not perfect, but it's closed and sealed and Ryder can't put anything down that hole.

It's the little things when you live with a toddler♥.

It feels good to acquire a little more counter space too!

skytown

While Kit was out of town last week, we went with our family to Skytown in Redlands.  It's a warehouse size building of all types of trampolines.  Ryder was in heaven!

 He laughed the ENTIRE time.

 (He was not happy that I wanted a quick picture, but I can't help myself.)

 Look how short his little legs look...

 He loves his cousins and any chance thay they get to be together!

They are so good with him!

Thanks to my mom for making the very fun afternoon possible!  We are so spoiled!

strung out

We have had some visits to our peditrician recently for colds and what I thought were ear infections, that turned out to just be teething.  No fun at all.  With Ryder, when he was 6 months old, he hit a  really fussy, sleepless couple of weeks that I wrote of as teething, but then came to find out that he had a pretty bad double ear infection and I felt horrible!  Poor little guy with a mother who had NO CLUE what she was doing.  Well that whole experience made me THAT mother that calls the doctor and makes appointments for everything because I am so worried that something is really wrong.

(I love my pediatrician and she is always so calm and reassuring.  She is so good with us!)

The worst part is the sleepless nights.  Due to teething, Eden hadn't slept her normal routine of 10-12 hours since the beginning of January.  That is over a month where I hadn't slept longer than 3 hours.  It's been so frustrating to feel strung out ALL THE TIME!  I don't want to be a mom that is just surviving or just getting by.  I want to have  a family (Kit included) that is thriving and growing and being challenged and live in a home filled with joy.  Does anyone out there feel that way too?  I know it's seasons and it's not always this way, but it sure can feel like it sometimes.  

There is nothing like parenthood to put you on your knees.  It's funny, I think when I am praying for balance and peace in our home, I'm realizing that that doesn't mean it will always be peaceful or calm, it just means that I am acknowledging who the CREATOR of peace is, and finding peace and calm in His presence, despite what is happening around me.  What an incredible Saviour we get to be in relationship with!  He cares so deeply for us...  even this strung out mama who sometimes can't put a coherent sentence together...

So all that to say, I am thankful for a family that forgives me and is patient with me.  They support me and help me and encourage me, even on my yuckiest of days.  God sure spoiled me when He put them in my life♥.

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Kit leaves today for a three day conference in San Diego.  I miss him already!  I'd like to tell you that my neediness is linked with my sleep deprivation, but no, I'm this needy with Kit even when I am fully rested♥.

listening

At our house, bath time is one of the best times of the day.  The kids love it and no matter how yucky the day might have been, every one is always happy to play in the warm water and wind down before bedtime.  Kit usually heads up the baths but I obviously do it while he is out of town.

I love to ask Ryder questions about his day and to just listen to what he has to say.

So here is the recent thoughts from Ryder Rae:

Current favorites (toys, movies...): 

Buzz Lightyear and Lightning Mc Queen.

Favorite foods:

(Just some of them) 

quesadillas, strawberries, dino nuggets, broccoli, spaghetti and meatballs, smoothies, and MILK!

Who is your favorite person to play with:

DADDY!!!

What do you like to do with daddy: 

WRESTLE!!

What does he like about being a big brother?: 

Making baby laugh!!!

What do you like to do with mommy?

Dance parties and mowing the lawn

What do you want to do when you are big?:

work at church with daddy

(Can you tell a favorite theme?♥)

 

It makes me think of this quote:

"Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what.  If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff."

~Catherine M. Wallace~

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I hope that you have a wonderful weekend my friends!

May there be sweet moments of listening to people that you love...♥

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day friends!

You are so loved...

I hope that you get to spend today with people that you love!