books, quotes and Jesus
gosh it's been a long time since i've blogged.
so much has happened since my last post. the first thing is that i read an awesome book called "the circle maker." LOVE IT. Thanks Polly!
wow, it has encouraged me and challenged me. i'm not good at explaining books. i'd never make it writing spark notes (or cliffs notes in my day!)
but this book has challenged me to write down BIG dreams and prayers for myself and my family. the things i wrote for myself i'm too embarrassed to say/write out loud :) but they are BIG things that only God could do. that's what he encouraged the readers to do.
another cool thing i remember from the book was how he encouraged me to rest/sit on past miracles while praying for new things. so sometimes (when G isn't home) i will do my quiet time in his room bc he was certainly a HUGE miracle for us.
sitting in there last week i remembered that i also sat in his nursery (LONG before it was HIS) and did my quiet times and prayed hoping for a baby. love that.
this book encouraged me to believe for BIG God things and not stop praying until i see an answer.
i'm picking (back) up Praying Circles around your children and hope to finish it soon. another great one, thanks again Polly!
a couple weeks ago in church i was journaling and taking notes. i saw some TA girls names and began praying for them. then out of nowhere i felt God lay my nieces on my heart.
so i prayed for them as well. then i knew He was telling me to start writing them weekly.
i obeyed and the next morning i pulled out my stationary and wrote Ava and Allie. i delivered them to my brother at work later that day.
every monday i will sit down and write those precious girls. (addison too! i originally thought i'd wait til she was older but the first thing she said next time i saw her was, "i heard you are pen pals with ava and allie." i asked if she wanted to do it too and she smiled and said yes!)
i am excited about it. i love those girls so much. i wish i could walk beside them every day and keep them from any harm or hurt. but i trust God to be all they need. i just want to do my part to love them, encourage them and guide them towards Him. same for Vasa and Julianna :)
speaking of my precious family...this weekend was our Fall Family Fun Extravaganza in the North GA mountains. Y'all there's just nothing like family.
we left at noon on friday. we left separately but then met in Canton and switched kids around. jay and i got to ride the last 45 mins or so just the two of us. we were just as silly as always. being with him is my fav.
the first night is almost always roasting hot dogs, chili, and typically smores but they came saturday instead. we ate mom's homemade pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing friday. i could just lay my face in that pan.
lots of fun laughter, complete chaos of loud kids, laughing adults and sharing a great meal. i love it. my mom always said she wanted a huge loud family like the italian ones on TV. we may not be italian but we are all the other parts. it really is fun.
i think poppy and the girls played phase 10 that night. i was so tired i skipped it and slept :) i have no idea what the adults did, ha.
the next morning it was raining so we took our time eating breakfast and getting ready. josh made his wonderful pancakes (plain and chocolate chip...which g wont eat b/c he thinks the choc chips are bugs.) i drank wonderful coffee and took my precious time being lazy in my pjs.
saturday was filled with hayrides, funnel cakes, popcorn, a pumpkin patch, apple orchid, jumpy things, zip lines (for ava, addison and claire) and some yummy italian food for lunch. it was a lot of fun.
ps - God totally blessed us with a beautiful day after a yucky start!
we normally grill out that night but with a big lunch and getting back later than expected we just ate sandwiches, watched the Auburn game & Bama game and made smores. g wasn't impressed. he only wanted "uncooked" marshmallows. ha!
g was soooooooooooo tired that night. he saw his bed and said..."is that mine?" and jumped in.
he was going to be our family talent for the night. so jay and i gracefully bowed out of the show this year. we really were going to be his back up dancers/singers but homeboy went to sleep.
which ended up being fine b/c Josh's family KILLED the talent show. they did the best video of them dancing/lip syncing to taylor swifts shake it off. y'all, i'm talking costume changes, perfect timing on every part, hilarious dancing, as well as talented dancing, creative costumes and ideas. it was AMAZING. i bet i watched it 6 times before we left sunday.
my parents were cute too :) they acted like they were hosting a show on the food network making rice crispy treats...but not plain ones! these were rolled in crushed shredded wheat which made them look like bails of hay! then the kids got to decorate them with orange icing. i must admit it was precious.
it rained that night too. so again we enjoy sleeping with the sound of rain.
g woke me up at 5:30am sunday.............. i'm sorry, what?!
i tried putting him in bed with me but he wouldn't stop talking. "mom, i hear crickets! hear em? ... mom, is it daylight? mom, whats that noise...is it dad?"
i gave up. we went to the porch and listened to the rain. that was sweet. we snuggled in a rocking chair and listened to the rain and thunder. after 10 mins he said, "i'm done listening to the rain." ha, ok.
so we went inside and ate pancakes (what else?!) and watched some mickey mouse. i tried to sleep but again he wasn't having it. he did, however, rub my head while we laid there.
finally at 7 i threw him in my parents room and tried to go back to sleep. no luck.
gave up, went out and hung out with the family. another lazy morning...good coffee!
we didn't attempt a corn maze sunday since it'd been raining. so we headed for home. we did stop in Atlanta for lunch at La Paz. YUM.
can i just brag on Vasa for a minute? he was PRECIOUS with g. he took such good care of him this weekend. i told him several times how much i appreciated him. he said, "i'm just doing my job!" so cute.
the girls were amazing with him too. it's sweet to watch them look after him. they are thoughtful too! they didn't ever leave him out or just do their own thing bc they are older. they included him in everything. great kids.
oh and vasa told me josh was his best friend. y'all, thats precious.
G cried for vasa when we got home. then cried for uncle poopy and aunt hannah.
the ice cream truck helped. but i did have to hold him, calm him and love on him for 30 mins of uncontrollable tears. it was heart-breaking.
sweet family time. i have missed my family every minute since. true story.
ohhhh i have SO much more i want to share... but our small group is about to be here.
tonight we are celebrating 3 months of Luke not smoking!!! we're having brownies and maybe candy cigarettes :)
maybe tomorrow i'll blog about some quotes i love. but REMIND me to tell you what God told jay to tell me yesterday...y'all...too sweet. i simply love Jesus.
so much has happened since my last post. the first thing is that i read an awesome book called "the circle maker." LOVE IT. Thanks Polly!
wow, it has encouraged me and challenged me. i'm not good at explaining books. i'd never make it writing spark notes (or cliffs notes in my day!)
but this book has challenged me to write down BIG dreams and prayers for myself and my family. the things i wrote for myself i'm too embarrassed to say/write out loud :) but they are BIG things that only God could do. that's what he encouraged the readers to do.
another cool thing i remember from the book was how he encouraged me to rest/sit on past miracles while praying for new things. so sometimes (when G isn't home) i will do my quiet time in his room bc he was certainly a HUGE miracle for us.
sitting in there last week i remembered that i also sat in his nursery (LONG before it was HIS) and did my quiet times and prayed hoping for a baby. love that.
this book encouraged me to believe for BIG God things and not stop praying until i see an answer.
i'm picking (back) up Praying Circles around your children and hope to finish it soon. another great one, thanks again Polly!
a couple weeks ago in church i was journaling and taking notes. i saw some TA girls names and began praying for them. then out of nowhere i felt God lay my nieces on my heart.
so i prayed for them as well. then i knew He was telling me to start writing them weekly.
i obeyed and the next morning i pulled out my stationary and wrote Ava and Allie. i delivered them to my brother at work later that day.
every monday i will sit down and write those precious girls. (addison too! i originally thought i'd wait til she was older but the first thing she said next time i saw her was, "i heard you are pen pals with ava and allie." i asked if she wanted to do it too and she smiled and said yes!)
i am excited about it. i love those girls so much. i wish i could walk beside them every day and keep them from any harm or hurt. but i trust God to be all they need. i just want to do my part to love them, encourage them and guide them towards Him. same for Vasa and Julianna :)
speaking of my precious family...this weekend was our Fall Family Fun Extravaganza in the North GA mountains. Y'all there's just nothing like family.
we left at noon on friday. we left separately but then met in Canton and switched kids around. jay and i got to ride the last 45 mins or so just the two of us. we were just as silly as always. being with him is my fav.
the first night is almost always roasting hot dogs, chili, and typically smores but they came saturday instead. we ate mom's homemade pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing friday. i could just lay my face in that pan.
lots of fun laughter, complete chaos of loud kids, laughing adults and sharing a great meal. i love it. my mom always said she wanted a huge loud family like the italian ones on TV. we may not be italian but we are all the other parts. it really is fun.
i think poppy and the girls played phase 10 that night. i was so tired i skipped it and slept :) i have no idea what the adults did, ha.
the next morning it was raining so we took our time eating breakfast and getting ready. josh made his wonderful pancakes (plain and chocolate chip...which g wont eat b/c he thinks the choc chips are bugs.) i drank wonderful coffee and took my precious time being lazy in my pjs.
saturday was filled with hayrides, funnel cakes, popcorn, a pumpkin patch, apple orchid, jumpy things, zip lines (for ava, addison and claire) and some yummy italian food for lunch. it was a lot of fun.
ps - God totally blessed us with a beautiful day after a yucky start!
we normally grill out that night but with a big lunch and getting back later than expected we just ate sandwiches, watched the Auburn game & Bama game and made smores. g wasn't impressed. he only wanted "uncooked" marshmallows. ha!
g was soooooooooooo tired that night. he saw his bed and said..."is that mine?" and jumped in.
he was going to be our family talent for the night. so jay and i gracefully bowed out of the show this year. we really were going to be his back up dancers/singers but homeboy went to sleep.
which ended up being fine b/c Josh's family KILLED the talent show. they did the best video of them dancing/lip syncing to taylor swifts shake it off. y'all, i'm talking costume changes, perfect timing on every part, hilarious dancing, as well as talented dancing, creative costumes and ideas. it was AMAZING. i bet i watched it 6 times before we left sunday.
my parents were cute too :) they acted like they were hosting a show on the food network making rice crispy treats...but not plain ones! these were rolled in crushed shredded wheat which made them look like bails of hay! then the kids got to decorate them with orange icing. i must admit it was precious.
it rained that night too. so again we enjoy sleeping with the sound of rain.
g woke me up at 5:30am sunday.............. i'm sorry, what?!
i tried putting him in bed with me but he wouldn't stop talking. "mom, i hear crickets! hear em? ... mom, is it daylight? mom, whats that noise...is it dad?"
i gave up. we went to the porch and listened to the rain. that was sweet. we snuggled in a rocking chair and listened to the rain and thunder. after 10 mins he said, "i'm done listening to the rain." ha, ok.
so we went inside and ate pancakes (what else?!) and watched some mickey mouse. i tried to sleep but again he wasn't having it. he did, however, rub my head while we laid there.
finally at 7 i threw him in my parents room and tried to go back to sleep. no luck.
gave up, went out and hung out with the family. another lazy morning...good coffee!
we didn't attempt a corn maze sunday since it'd been raining. so we headed for home. we did stop in Atlanta for lunch at La Paz. YUM.
can i just brag on Vasa for a minute? he was PRECIOUS with g. he took such good care of him this weekend. i told him several times how much i appreciated him. he said, "i'm just doing my job!" so cute.
the girls were amazing with him too. it's sweet to watch them look after him. they are thoughtful too! they didn't ever leave him out or just do their own thing bc they are older. they included him in everything. great kids.
oh and vasa told me josh was his best friend. y'all, thats precious.
G cried for vasa when we got home. then cried for uncle poopy and aunt hannah.
the ice cream truck helped. but i did have to hold him, calm him and love on him for 30 mins of uncontrollable tears. it was heart-breaking.
sweet family time. i have missed my family every minute since. true story.
ohhhh i have SO much more i want to share... but our small group is about to be here.
tonight we are celebrating 3 months of Luke not smoking!!! we're having brownies and maybe candy cigarettes :)
maybe tomorrow i'll blog about some quotes i love. but REMIND me to tell you what God told jay to tell me yesterday...y'all...too sweet. i simply love Jesus.
Love it!
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