A Life of Gratitude

I have a Facebook friend that is about 3 weeks further along than me in her pregnancy. She is absolutely beautiful and works out non-stop. I see pictures of her doing push-ups and lifting weights almost every day. As much as I admire her stamina and determination even with that big pregnant belly, I must admit that I do not follow in her foot steps. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way putting her down, in fact I am jealous of her energy and her figure (even while pregnant) every time I look at her photos. I'm just sayin' this Momma is doing good to make it up the steps in my house or take a walk around the neighborhood.  For weeks I've let the pictures she post make me feel poorly about myself. You'll see photos of me posted on Facebook as well but instead of me doing a one handed push-up, I'll be eating chocolate chip cookies with my kids. Instead of a photo of me lifting a 40 pound barbell, I'll be baking a cake. A couple of times I've thought, may

We've had a very busy day today. We got up at the crack of dawn and had a pretty successful yard sale. I'm not sure if I'm happier about the money we made or the the fact that so much junk is gone! Our garage almost looks like a garage now, yay! This afternoon we went to Sam's Club and Walmart. That is a whole lot of walking for someone who's now in her third trimester of pregnancy! So, needless to say, when we got home we were all exhausted. We ended our day with a family movie night! These are so much more fun in our new house! The boys picked "Planes" and we all enjoyed chocolate chip cookies while watching it our new TV. They were so sweet. When they weren't eating their cookies they were laying all over Bryan and I. It was a much needed, relaxing evening with our little guys! Today I am thankful for such a great day with my family. Although it was busy and my body is yelling at me, I love spending days like this with my

I am happy to announce that our littlest guy is fully potty trained!! He has been working on this for a while but he is doing so good! He has been telling us when he needs to go potty and even been staying dry all through his naps and bedtimes. I'm so proud of this fella! I cannot believe he is big enough to be potty trained!!! This picture shows his personality! He just had to wear that hat outside to ride his jeep on a 92 degree day! I said, "You're potty trained now, Evan." He said, "I did it!!!! YAY! I'm a big boy now!" Today I am thankful for my spunky little Evan. He has the biggest personality of anyone I know! He has grown up so much over the past 6 months and while I'm a little sad that my baby is growing up, I am so excited to see who God created him to be. I am also grateful that Evan is fully potty trained! We'll be buying a lot of diapers again very soon for our baby girl, so I'm glad Evan is finished with them.

We've been unpacking the remaining boxes, changing light fixtures, hanging curtains, and putting the final touches our new home. It's really coming together! Until today, our homeschool room has been the drop off location for any box or miscellanious item that we didn't know what to do with. Well, I tackled that room today! It took almost all day but its done! I am so excited about our homeschool room! For the past two years I've taught Dylan from a closet or a box so having an actual classroom is going to be wonderful!  Today I am thankful for our finished homeschool room! It turned out even better than I imagined. When Dylan and Evan saw the finished product, they were super excited. Dylan kept going in to get books and look through all of our supplies. Evan just loves the little desk (which I hope he'll sit at and color or play with stickers while his big brother learns!) I am also grateful for the opportunity to homeschool my kiddos. W

Dylan has been wanting to drive by our old house for some time now. Tonight, on our way home, we took a drive past the home we lived in for 9 years. Its amazing how different things looked in just 7 months. As we slowly drove through the neighborhood, talking about how much we love our new home, I just couldn't help but praise God for all He has done for us. He has brought us so far! I would have never imagined He would bless us so abundantly. He is such a good God! We have had a lot of negativity in our lives the past few weeks. Satan has been trying to use some things to distract us from the many blessings God is showering over us. Tonight as we came home to our new house, and began enjoying the new furniture, TV, decorations, etc, I decided that I will not let these negative things take my joy. No matter what others say and do, regardless of what is happening in life, no one can take my joy unless I let them.  "The Lord has done great things for us and we are fille

Today was a big, big day! For those of you who know Dylan, you know that he is a HUGE fan of all types of history but especially anything pertaining to the presidents! He can name all 44 presidents in order and tell some pretty interesting facts about each one. He has 4 specific favorite presidents, for very specific reasons. So, as you can probably imagine, going to Washington DC today was pretty exciting for our little Historian! We rode the train into the city, which was little Evan's favorite part of our day! Then we took a trolley tour through the city, visited the Air and Space Museum, and walked the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Abraham Lincoln is one of Dylan's favorites. He was in awe as he stared up at the memorial. He even quoted a large portion of the Gettysburg Address because he figured that "it would make Ol' Lincoln proud." Evan could have stayed on the train all day! He loved it! My fellas with Abraham Lincoln! For our last stop

This picture captures exactly why Bryan is such an amazing father! I took this picture just yesterday while at dinner. Instead of watching the games that were playing on the televisions all around us or messing with his phone, Bryan was interacting with his boys. This is typical for our family. I know there are so many mommies who play the role of mother and father but I can't relate to that. The daddy in our family is just as involved as the mommy. Our boys (and soon daughter) will never know the stereotypical lazy, absent, self-centered, or workaholic dad. They have a daddy that is just the opposite! He is involved in every aspect of their lives, does all he can to provide for them but never lets that take him away from being present in their lives, and is actively teaching them to be responsible, godly people.  Today I am thankful that my little ones have such an awesome father. I always thought Bryan would make a good dad but he has far exceeded my expectations. I am al

We're having such a fun time on our family vacation in Williamsburg, VA. We have some big plans for the week ahead but today, we just relaxed by the pool, went to Yorktown beach, and played putt putt. The boys had a great time! They were swimming like little fish in the pool and then spent hours playing in the sand. Bryan and I were amazed at how well they were playing together. They often play together for a few minutes but they spent the entire day together without arguing or complaining! They even cheered for one another with every shot during putt putt. It was such a nice day! Today I am thankful for family vacations. Our family is fortunate because we are able to spend a lot of time together every week but there is just something special about family vacations. Doing exciting things together for the first time and enjoying new places with one another make for some very special memories. I am also grateful that the boys have each other to play with. The old

We have really been enjoying our new house! Things are slowly coming together around here and we're definitely feeling at home. There is a pond right beside our house and today, for the first time, the boys got to feed the ducks that visited the pond. They have been so excited about the possibility of feeding the ducks in "our" pond so this was a real treat! The boys also spent some time lounging in our sun-room, eating ice pops. I just can't think of a better way to spend a sunny afternoon! Its hard to see the ducks but there was a mommy and about 5 babies in the middle of the pond. That white house behind the pond is our new home! Enjoying some ice pops in the chase lounge! Cheers! Today I am thankful for our new home and the nature that surrounds it. The boys loved feeding the ducks today and at night, we get to hear a beautiful symphony by the frogs that live in and around the pond. It is such a soothing sound.  Its just so peaceful here! I am i

The past couple of weeks have been crazy for our family. Moving into our new house has been fun but also a huge transition for all of us. Bryan and I thought it would be nice to do something special just for the boys since we've had to spend so much time working on the new house. While meeting some of our neighbors this week, we realized that several of the kids in the neighborhood like to ride their motorized cars around. So, we decided the boys needed one too! We surprised the boys with a Jeep this afternoon! They were so excited. They couldn't wait to drive it around the neighborhood. So excited!!!! Aren't they adorable??!!? Driving through the neighborhood.... It was hilarious to watch Evan driving it. He couldn't figure out how to steer. He just kept going in circles. I was literally laughing out loud! It was adorable! Dylan, on the other hand, looked like a pro! Bryan and I really enjoyed watching them drive through the neighborhood in their Jeep!

Three days ago we spent our first night in our new home. We woke up here for the first time on mine and Bryan's 10 year wedding anniversary. This week has been an amazing week! There have been a lot of obstacles this week as well but nothing could diminish the amazing gifts God has given us this week! Five years ago, when I first got injured and taken out of work, I remember being frustrated and annoyed that things weren't going as I had planned. Around that same time I began reading my Bible daily, getting involved in Bible study, and praying much more often. As I grew in my walk with Christ I remember feeling as though He was telling me to hold on, that He had a plan.  I felt as though I was in the wilderness awaiting my "promised land" just as the Isrealites did in the Old Testament. It took five years but I've clearly seen God's plan unfolding in the past few months. As I waited all those years for our "promised land," I've constantly fe

Today as I was reading my morning devotions I was really touched by this thought: "I want to be central in your entire being. When your focus is firmly on Me, My peace displaces fear and worry." There has been quite a lot going on in my life lately and at times, my focus does tend to wander. I know I need to keep my eyes and my mind on Jesus but this life makes it so hard sometimes! Fear and worry do start to creep in when I'm not focused on my Lord. I laid the book and my Bible down to check on the boys and when I came back I read the pages that the book had accidentally flipped to. There were two more sentences that really stuck out to me. On May 21st it said,  "The only remedy [to your problems] is to switch your focus from the problem to My presence." And on May 22nd the devotion said, "Don't let the impact of the world shatter your thinking or draw you away from focusing on Me. The ultimate challenge is to keep fixing your eyes upon Me, no mat

We got to spend the afternoon with friends at the pool after church today. Its been a long time since the boys have been swimming. They were a little nervous a first but it didn't take long and they were swimming around like little fish! Even Evan didn't want any help. I was so proud of my big boys! Dylan had so much fun! In and out of the pool....over and over again! Super happy boy! This little fishy didn't stay still the entire time! He kept jumping in and swimming all over the place! Today I am thankful for a fun afternoon with friends at the pool! Dylan and Evan had a great time playing with their buddies in the water. I am also grateful that our little guys enjoy being in the water so much! Some children are really afraid of the water but our boys have always loved it. I'm so glad they're learning to swim! We had a terrific time at the pool today! What a wonderful way to end the weekend!