Family Photo Book

I got this free offer for a photo book and had to complete it in one day. Here it is and the grand total was....FREE! :)


Photo Book

Shutterfly Rocks!

I can't believe that Christmas is literally just around the corner! We put our tree up and all the decorations on November 13 just because I had the "itch". (I think come December 26th, I'll be so ready to take it all down!)  Then I started thinking about Christmas cards...

The picture I'm going to use this year is from a hayride we took this fall. It's hard to get 3 kids all looking at the camera at once, but this one is a good one - I think the only one from ALL of 2010! I also plan on using this picture and buying some other shutterfly gifts for the family such as t-shirt, coffee mug and maybe a mousepad...

A friend told me of a great deal through Shutterfly where I could blog about them and get 50 free Christmas cards! I love shutterfly and have used them for photo books and other gifts such as the ever famous Papa t-shirt with the grandkids' picture on them...:) Since I had not ordered my cards yet, I J-U-M-P-E-D at the chance to get FREE cards, especially since I was probably going to order from them anyway!!!  Yea!  So, all I have to do to get 50 free Christmas cards is post a blog about it.  Not hard to do, thank you Shutterfly!

My Favorite's from Shutterfly are their Holiday Cards! You can check them out here: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards or just click on "Holiday Cards" above.

I also print a holiday calendar every year from Shutterfly. You can check those out here: http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/desk-calendars or just click "calendar" above.

Almost done...

As I approach the last few days of nursing I'm actually a little emotional about it. I can't believe that I spent almost 3 years of my life "attached" to my boys in this way.

It was a REALLY rough start...first with not even knowing for sure if I could (my grandma couldn't and my mom didn't)...but REALLY wanting to, then not having the best start, but I was very determined and stuck through it even in VERY hard circumstances.

Josiah and Malachi both were difficult starting out and I spent almost the first 2 months in actual pain...but pushed through...then my SO EASY third child made it seem like a piece of cake (either I finally got it figured out, or he was just much better at adjusting to it). This along with him not getting teeth until 11 months old made it really easy to continue nursing him.

Now as he approaches his first birthday, has started to get teeth, and he REALLY enjoys Vitamin D Milk, my time of nursing is ending...and it's hitting me harder than I thought. This is it, the last one... In one sense I'm excited to be done, have myself to mysef again....to be on "this side of the fence" does feel good...knowing that we're heading to the next stage of parenting...

Can it even be that it's a harder stage?
With the many sleepless nights and painful feedings behind me and the difficult times of mothering it is to have babies, I think of how God has brought me through and changed my life with these kids...just imagine what He has in store for this next stage...

Boldness...

"If you actively engage yourself in every message you hear or read, you will never hear or read an ineffective message". I just love Beth. She's been challenging me daily as I've picked up (again) this devotional book called "Beth Moore Jesus - 90 days with the one and only". I started it in July but without much vigor....I've now started it again with a whole new attitude and I'm thouroughly enjoying it! She's encouraging me to be bolder - I just have to quote her again: "Shake our assmeblies, Lord God, and fill us with Your Holy Spirit, that we might both speak and receive Your message with boldness"! (Acts 4:29-31)

It's so easy to be "bold" with our kids...things like when the rain is coming down hard, "see how mighty and powerful God is", or to just stop with them and pray in any and every instance...even the small stuff like when Malachi's pillow pal got a boo boo! I pray that I can take this bold approach in my adult conversations - to speak of God's greatness in my every day words and to be able to stop and pray at any given moment about any and every thing! (And to let my kids see me do this so they too will continue it as they grow up!)

Let's start at the beginning...

Here we go Lord...reading through your Word starting in Genesis...
The last time I read through the Bible I did it chronologically...and have to admit I got lost in the Psalms...
What's my best excuse? Life Happened??
This time, no excuses - it might take 2 years, but I'm committing to make it through this time!!
Would you like to join me?

Boo at the Zoo

 Went to the John Ball Zoo Boo in Grand Rapids and had a great time!
Lot's of animals were up and moving around. The bears were the boys' favorite.

Isn't Judah SO cute?!

Nottawa Fruit Farm

Family picture on the hayride at the Nottawa Fruit Farm. It was HOT and we had a great time!

Mark 1:35-37

"It was very early in the morning and still dark.  Jesus got up and left the house.  He went to a place where he could be alone. There he prayed.  Simon and his friends went to look for Jesus. When they found him, they called out, 'Everyone is looking for you!'" - Mark 1:35-37

During Beth Moore's study at 6:30 this morning (alone and in the dark) she encouraged me to read this passage, then she asks: "What thoughts or activities interrupt your ability to escape the way Jesus did, intent on spending time with the Father, desiring Him more than anything else?" JUST THEN, Malachi turned the corner and said "Can you find my bus?". Awake already? I normally get 7:00, so thinking getting up at 6:30 to have 30 minutes with the Lord just wasn't going to pan out this morning. So I asked him to sit quietly while I prayed and I had a whole 5 minutes with God this morning.

Lord I pray that you'll help me find more time to hear what you are telling me. I know your hand is gracious to all who seek You. Help me seek You while You may be found and call on You while You are near. Help me abandon my wicked, sinful thoughts, and let me return to You, Lord, so that I may know Your heart and receive Your compassion. (Isa. 55:6-7)

I love what PG had us envision in church yesterday - that we are laying back and resting our heads on God. Help me to be able to close my eyes (even if it's in snippits throughout the day) and rest in the arms of my loving Lord, calling out to Him and listening to Him.

Beek!!

I forgot to share about Malachi's "Beek"!! This is his blue blanket that if you knew him at all this last year, you knew about this blanket! He "needed" it to sleep with by putting it in his mouth and sucking...this was his pacifier...it was a horrible habit and just downright gross!! We had I think 6 of these blankets at one point - you see, he wasn't too picky...as long as it was blue and had the cotton/shiny sides he was happy to shove it in his mouth and start sucking away!!

Well, a couple months ago we sent beek away to the beek fairy. We boxed all of them up and left them for her. She then left him a fun new elephant to sleep with. This was a long week to 2 weeks afterwards as he would cry and cry and stay up until midnight sometimes wanting beek back. But Isaac and I held firm and we made it through. NO MORE BEEK!!! I will never forget that blanket and of course still have them, so I'll bring them out at his high school open house! :)

My middle guy is 3 today!

Crazy how time flys..."They" warned me, but you just can't comprehend how fast the years go until you have children and watch them count away their precious years (in my 5 1/2 year olds case, almost daily as he approaches 6). SO Malachi is 3 today. WOW, I feel like I "missed" this last year of his life with having a baby at the start of it. I had Josiah all to myself when he was 2 going on 3....a very wild year...so different did Malachi have it sharing with older brother AND younger brother. But we made it!! Let's see, can I recap his last year? Right at the start of it he got glasses. 2 weeks into it, he had a little brother born. What a way to start! Then he lost his room and started sharing with Big brother. That was a challenge!! He still at this point couldn't have milk, dairy, egg or peanut, so basically, he couldn't eat anything "fun". What a trooper!! Some fun things happend in the spring though! He was then able to eat ANYTHING - had no reactions to ANYTHING! That was huge and we probably hit the ice cream place a little bit too often, but we had to make up for it!! Then on June 1st, he let me know that he wasn't going to wear diapers anymore. He really didn't want to wear underware either, but I talked him into it. He basically potty trained that very week...there were accidents of course, but boy was that easy!!  He had a great summer playing outside alot with Josiah and finding his place in "the middle". He started "tot" school in September where he gets to be with other friends his age and we celebrated with them as well as lifegroup friends at Chuck E Cheese for his birthday. He loves Doc Hudson, Buses, animals (Loves his pillow pet), reading books and singing. He moved up to the 3's room at church and LOVES song time.  His loves playing with Josh at MOPS setup and talks about Marshall all the time (although when they are together they don't really play together!) He loves going to the farm and playing with Gramma and Papa. He loves his brothers - playing with Josiah is probably the best part of his day - too bad fighting with him is probably the biggest part of his day! He tries to tackle Judah quite a bit (Judah's going to be one tough kid!). He loves wrestling with Dad and brothers and watching football with all the guys! What an amazing little man - we love him so much and pray the best for this next year!

Bumps in my socks...

Why do they put "bumps" in your socks? It's been sock weather now for a few weeks and EVERY morning I get a whining almost 6 year old complaining about the bumps. I've searched and bought several different socks for him - finally broke down and had him come with me and we opened the packages and tried them on...you see, he also likes "slippery" socks, so they can't be the ones with traction on the bottom....picky...picky!!! We ended up with what I thought was a winner, but alas, there are still bumps... Finally this morning I whipped out my foot and showed him that "look, even mine have bumps....everyone's socks have bumps"!! He felt my bumps to make sure I was telling him the truth and then just looked at me like, huh... I guess it's just something that I'm going to have to deal with. Then he put his shoes on and didn't complain again. Strange how showing him that he's not alone in this "trial" put him at ease with it. This made me think of MOPS. That is what MOPS is all about - showing moms that they are not alone in their trials, that we all share similar "bumps". And isn't it a nice feeling to know that we are not alone? To then know that God is with us is the icing on the cake! We actually prayed this morning about the bumps in his socks!!

Heading towards "heart"burn...

I was so moved by the Holy Spirit yesterday through our pastoral candidate... It's been a while since I've had such a God experience. I was literally blubbering right there in the pew. I looked up at Isaac (my rock) and when I saw tears in his eyes, it was over for me and I started weeping... We were challenged to move from being an "Ichabod" to having our hearts on fire for the Lord - or "Heart"burn for God!!
I'm really challenged....God has placed me in this role with MOPS where I can be making HUGE differences in mom's lives...I know I'm supposed to be doing more than just making sure the speaker shows up, managing childcare, having a nice craft and the like...I want the moms to see my heart and desire to have a relationship with God. I know where it starts...it starts with my heart. I need to be more in God's word, listening to Him and talking with him. Then it will hopefully "leak" out and I can show God's love to others around me. That is my prayer. Pray with me!!

Josiah Hula Hooping at the St. Joe County Fair

Josiah was the best Hula Hooper at the St. Joe County Fair....it was hilarious!!! This was a fun fair - Malachi likes the horses the best and Josiah like the gobbling turkeys!! Judah was good as always and just stayed in the stroller the whole time happy as can be! What fun! We might make this fair an annual tradition!

Happy Birthday Gramma!

We had a surprise birthday party for Gramma on September 17th! Here are all her grandkids!

Little Judah

Me.....Running a 5K......Really???

Over the years I've noticed more and more friends running. I can be quoted from even just a year ago saying "I am NOT a runner and will NEVER be a runner"!!!  Well, you know what happens as soon as you say "never"! I printed out a "couch to 5K" training program in July just out of curiosity....I found a friend from MOPS who was also trying it out for the first time so together we encouraged each other to try it. The goal really wasn't to actually run a race, but just see how long I could run. The first week was walk 5 min's, jog 2 min's, walk 5 min's...and I won't lie...even that was a challange at first! But then it was 3 min's of jogging, then 5, then 10, 15, 20, 25, 30....and then I actually ran a race! I completed the Active Water 5K in 33 minutes. I was thrilled as it was the fastest and longest I had run yet!! I think I might do another one in the spring...or maybe even sooner! I loved it!

First Day of School

So it's been a few weeks and we are into the swing of things, but here are some pictures of that first day. Josiah was so excited about going to school and getting on the bus, but when it came pulling up to our driveway he started crying and running towards the garage. Malachi then started running towards the bus and I looked at Isaac for help, but he was juggling the camera and the videocamera trying not to drop them! We managed to get Josiah on and then I was off to follow it and wait to see him walk into school. He was fine. I was fine. It was all going to be fine. And now that we are a few weeks past it and he LOVES school and loves riding the bus we're going to survive. I just can't believe this is happening already!! Now the only struggle is that Malachi REALLY WANTS to ride that bus and we go through that dissapointment every day, so it will be nice (in 2 years!!) when he gets to join big brother on the bus!

Castle Queen

So after much prodding I've decided to start a blog. I'm NOT a writer and don't really think I have that much to say, but think it will be a good "release" for me. It will also provide those friends and family who we don't get to see that often with a view into our life. I will post pictures and little stories about our day to day life as well as share prayer requests and hopes and dreams for our future. I've named this the "Queen of the Castle" because that is what I am in my family of all boys.....there are those not so queenish moments, but I love all my men so much and they truly do treat me like a Queen. I hope you enjoy!

-Adrian