Sweet Pea Turns Seven!!!!!!

Like the Crafty Princess's Homemade Pinata!
The recycled cereal box pinata up close!
Sweet Pea putting the final touches on her very pink princessy cake!
Best Friends!


Can hardly believe it! My little Sweet Pea turned seven last week. I'm seriously trying not to think about it or I could cry! She is my youngest baby. Not sure if she'll be my last. So I'm drinking her in each day and soooooo thankful to be with both my babes every day. Here are a few snaps of her seventh b-day party in the new house. Our sweet friends didn't care at all about our ugly walls and the lack of furniture. They are good that way! After a trip earlier in the week to Build-A-Bear workshop to pick out a pink monkey and lots of accessories (thank you to all the awesome grandparents who pitched in for that!) it was a small gathering at home with the usual party refreshments. Sweet Pea said it was the best party ever...she's still pretty easy to please :) Knowing I'm having a difficult time accepting her growing up, she was kind enough to ask the Lord to "help Mommy to deal with me being seven now" during her prayers that night! She's too much :)

God IS AWESOME!!!!

What more can you say about someone Who IS: Good ALL the time, Faithful to His EVERY Word, Love itself, Always for you and Never against you, Who has already Won Every battle and only asks you to just stand your ground, Who gives liberally and does not withhold ANY GOOD thing, Who sacrificed His Son to die for you, even if you were the only person on the earth!

Wow! His greatness is unmatched and He has proven His love for little ole me in many big and little ways. I am so reminded of that love as we have just moved into our house this past weekend. After a year and a half of looking for a house that met our needs and that we could actually afford on one income, I'll admit there were days I thought it not possible. I loved our little, cozy, cottagey home that we brought our two babies to and enjoyed watching them grow, but for the last few years felt so cramped and claustrophobic.

Even once we found a home we felt we could afford, there was the task of selling our existing house in the weird market funk that took place this past fall. But God is NOT subject to the weirdness of this earthly realm. He supersedes the markets of this world and brings our vision (which is REALLY His vision) to pass in our lives.

I have realized even more just how much He loves ME and wants me to have every desire of my heart. He has placed those desires in there in the first place. It is not selfish to want or to enjoy nice things. He LOVES to see His children blessed. What He despises is greedy children who do not give Him the glory for their blessings and do not share those blessings with others.

So, this new home will not only be a more spacious haven for our little family, but we endeavor to give God all the glory for it and will enjoy having the room to be a blessing to all of our friends and family.

We have much updating to do, as the decor is currently a blast from the past! But that is the fun part of making it your own. Lots of before and after photos to come. Until then bloggy friends, remain blessed and KNOW how much He Loves You!

Oh My Love...

Because we are moving today and tomorrow I haven't had much time to blog. But as tomorrow is Valentine's Day, one of my favorite days of the year, I wanted to dedicate this post to my husband, Chad. Valentine's Day has always been special to us, as it is the anniversary of our first date! 16 years ago tomorrow, it all began. No longer me and you, but forevermore, WE, began.

I can honestly say that it has been nothing but sweetness each and every day with this man. He is so good to me and where I am weak, he has strength. Chad is the most loving, compassionate, caring man I know. Watching daily how he tries so hard to BE a blessing to all those around him, blesses me just as much as if he were doing something nice for me.

There's just something about Chad, aside from his handsome looks, that is attractive. Before we even started our courtship, I only wished I could find someone just like him! Everyone in his family was crazy about him and I soon learned why. He's fun and silly, likes to play and sometimes just relax. I love it when he's adventurous, which is often! And when we we go on a vacation he LOVES exploring and traveling. He turns into this different person when he is free of responsibilities. I LOVE it and call his alter ego "Vacation Chad". How I love Vacation Chad! We went to Italy a few years back for our tenth anniversary and he dragged me, on foot, throughout the entire city of Florence, everyday! We couldn't possibly leave until he was satisfied he had scoured every last inch of that magical place and memorized it, until we return one day! He does the same at Disney World. He can tell you ANYTHING you'd ever want to know about that place and every ride.

I love to hear him preach God's Word! The last message he spoke on was about LOVE! And I still have so much to learn! I also love to hear him worship. He rocks it out and when we were first married I never knew that my husband loved to rock! I learn new things about him everyday. He's one of those people that is always acquiring new interests and usually masters them. He dedicates himself until he is really good at it!

I especially love the Dad that he has become to our children. He has SO much patience with them! He is tender and compassionate to their needs and does not shy away from the hard parts of parenting them. I see the Father God in him when he has so much fun blessing them with something they want, for no reason other than he wants to see them enjoy it!

As you can probably tell, I'm a little bit crazy about this man! He is my true love and handsome prince and I pray a very special Valentine's Day for us this year! Earlier in the week, when we found out our actual moving day was on Valentine's, he said, "Will you like the Valentine gift I got you this year?" I said, "The house? Yep! But you're really gonna have to work hard at topping that next year!"

Sleepless in Rochester!

My Sweet Pea has never been known to be a good sleeper. This came as quite a shock to us because big brother slept through the night at 12 weeks and unless ill, never wakes up in the night. Even as an infant, if he woke up to nurse in the night, I would try to keep him in bed with me to snuggle a bit. He would toss and turn until I got up and put him back in his bassinet.

Sweet Pea was a different baby all together. She had colic for the first 3-4 months of her life and from day one slept with me. I'd do anything to keep her from crying all day and night and waking everyone else up. This method has backfired on Mama, as she still prefers to sleep with me. But hey, she's not going to do this when she's grown up, so I enjoy her snuggles while I can. At least I don't think she will?! :)

The last few weeks her sleeping habits have become even more strange as she has been having weird dreams and sleep walking. She has freaked us out on occasion with her wide-eyed look as she saunters into the living room where we are hanging out before bed and we try our best to make heads or tails of the nonsensical gibberish that comes forth from her lips.

The other night I was awakened to hear crying and more gibberish about not wanting to be "chubby"anymore. I tried to wake her and assure her she is not chubby in any way! I tried to fix her bed and make her more comfy. When she rolled over her belly looked huge! Inside her one-piece jammies were a lot of stuffed animals she must have put in there before she fell asleep! Oh my silly girl! No wonder she was dreaming of feeling chubby!

The Leaning Tower of Laundry, UGH!

It has been so busy here with trying to pack all our stuff as we will be moving in a couple of weeks to our new house...exact date still unknown. And I am still trying to keep up with homeschooling the kiddos and keep this house somewhat clean, which is always more difficult in winter. Not sure why, maybe because we are all cooped up, with very little room for all the extras like bigger coats, hats, mittens, wet, snowy boots that we constantly trip over because there is only a two foot square area in which to remove all that junk when you come in and you do very carefully so as to not fall down the basement stairs! All of that just makes this little house seem even smaller.

Many have said, why don't you take a few days off of school to catch up on the packing and stuff, which we might have to do a day or two before the actual move. But I am reserving time off for when we actually move. So I can have time to set up my classroom again and library and get the kids acclimated to their new surroundings and maybe do some needed painting while the kids chill out and play games for a few days.

In the midst of all the chaos, some things have been put on the back burner some days. AKA: the laundry! It is a sad day when my nine year old comes up from the dungeon, I mean basement laundry room and says, "Wow! Mom! You've got to DO something about that LEANING TOWER of darks down there!" So, it's Saturday and mama is FINALLY getting caught up on stuff, especially LAUNDRY! Happy Saturday Bloggy Friends!

The Shack by Wm. Paul Young

I kept hearing about this new book, The Shack, by Wm. Paul Young, everywhere I went. It is a best-seller so it wasn't so surprising. But I'm usually a bit leery about books that "seem" so popular. I am very careful about what I choose to spend time reading. But I'm also an "eat-the-grain-spit-out-the-sticks" kind of girl, so I thought I'd give it a try.


This is no light-weight read here. To be completely honest I did not read the inserts to see exactly what was contained. I had heard it contains some pretty heavy, heart-wrenching things and wasn't sure if I would read it knowing too much about it.


Without giving too much away, because this book is truly an emotional journey, can I just say check it out. Once you get passed the Great Sadness that this family endures, the rest of this book portrays beautifully the heart of the Lord toward His children. With vivid and captivating details of how the Lord reveals Himself to one man, it will leave you with a sense of His goodness and a longing to sneak away with Him to commune each day.

Basement Super-Fort!!!

We've had quite a few days of weather that is too cold to play in the snow. The kids always love making forts in their bedrooms with blankets, pillows, etc... but after a couple of days of trying to navigate the the gauntlet without getting barked at for wrecking things, I usually make them take everything down and return their rooms back to normal. Pun'kin Head whined until I said, "How about making your fort in the basement play area? Then, as long as you keep it neat, I don't care how long you keep it up!" Hooray for Mama! Construction began immediately and he has created a cozy spot where he has now requested to have his "resting times". It is complete with carpet, blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, books, flashlights, spy gear, weapons, (one never knows when an enemy might attack!) boardgames, tv and video games. He may never come out! As proof in this pic, even his four-legged friends approve! He even occasionally invites his little sis to join him :)