First Half of June

I’ve really been enjoying watching my kids get creative.  This is them playing “birthday party.”

I found this on the floor.  They decorated their Tinker Toys vehicle with swim diapers….something I never would have thought of.

Haley wanted to help my Mom put on lipstick.

Of course she needed some for herself, too.

This is probably my favorite of Blake’s dance moves…so funny!

While Kiera is singing along to the song, he is busy making faces.

My kids enjoy playing in our backyard with the neighbor kids from 2 or 3 different houses.

One of my favorite of her outfits…thanks Mom!

I caught her fishy face

We went to a fair and it was during her naptime, so thankfully she fell asleep in the stroller.  We reclined the stroller seat after this, so her neck wasn’t like that for a very long time.

We stood in a very long line-up to get tickets so that Kiera could go on a ride.  Blake didn’t want to go on.  I enjoyed seeing her have fun!

These African drummers were really cool and they woke Haley up.

We shared jumbo freezies as it was quite hot outside.

I love that summer has arrived and we can go out and do things together as a family!

May Blessings

I finally transferred a whole bunch of pictures off of my camera yesterday, so now I’m playing catch-up.  Here are a bunch of blessings from May:

Windows that go almost to the floor which means Haley can see out of them no problem

The basket of goodies Jared got for Professional Admin week from his boss:

Cheese, Lindor chocolates and chips

Cookies, crackers, hazelnut spread and chocolate hazelnut sticks

Catching them sleeping

Hats made in Sunday School

Morning cuddles in our bed

Haley was busy on her computer while Jared went on our computer

Indoor beach day

My Mother’s Day gift from Jared

The flowers I got from Kiera

Haley’s favorite book is the Bible and I pray that continues as she gets older

My new pink shower cap, which I used when I gave my hair an overnight protein treatment of olive oil and egg (you can ask Jared how attractive he thinks my shower cap is, ha ha)

Family popcorn time in the morning

Learning Through Trials

I have not blogged in a while because of my arms. A week ago my left arm started hurting and a couple of days later, so did my right arm. I had tendinitis 9 years ago when I was a cashier and I think that's what I'm dealing with again. I see my doctor in a week, so I will talk to her about it. I'm seeing her for a follow-up to find out my x-ray results. I've been having pain on + off by my tailbone, exactly where I had a cyst removed 7 years ago. The doctor couldn't see anything from the outside, so I opted to get an x-ray done. Some days I've been incredibly discouraged by the almost constant pain and having to always think, "How can I do this activity so that I don't further hurt my arms?" On those days that I get discouraged I go to my journal where I have Scripture promises written down about healing, who I am in Christ and fear. When I feed on the Word the fear and discouragement starves. I keep on thanking Jesus so that I focus on all the good instead of all the bad. It's definitely a struggle, though. I'm learning that I can try to eat as healthy as possible, avoiding gluten, most dairy, sugar, even substituting coconut oil for butter, take vitamins, minerals, fish oil, etc. and still not be immune from health problems. I'm not saying that those are bad things to do. I want to honor God with my body as it is where the Holy Spirit lives and I want to take care of it, but I am not ultimately in control, as much as I try to be. I do the best that I can and I need to just trust God to take care of me. The almost constant health issues since last year are so tiring, not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. At the same time, my compassion for those with chronic illness has grown immensely and I pray for those people I know often. I don't want to complain about it but I also want to be honest with where I'm at right now. The tears have come frequently lately and, "Lord, I need you," has come from my lips often. I was reminded of that verse, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 He has overcome and I can rejoice in Him! No matter how much pain I am, I can still choose to praise and look for things to be thankful for. It doesn't mean that I have to keep a smile pasted on my face but even when the tears come I can still worship. I pray that God will be glorified in my body and I pray for healing daily not only for myself but friends and family as well. If you want to join me in praying, you are more than welcome to! :)

March + April Photos

I have pictures from the past couple of months that I haven’t posted yet, so here are some that make me smile:

I have been keeping my eyes open for a Strawberry Shortcake toothbrush since Kiera saw one this past winter and wanted it but I didn’t buy it at that time.  I found these at Wal-Mart for the kids and they definitely like them!

This “after bath” hairdo

She likes the double chocolate spelt muffins that I make.

At the old house, Kiera liked to come with me to get Haley when she woke up in the morning, and she would sit Haley down on her lap and slide her way down the stairs with her and then sometimes sit with her on the couch.  I love how she loves her baby sister!

I tried to get a good picture of Haley in her Easter dress, but she just wanted to move around all the time and not look at the camera.

Kiera came home from school one day looking like this, which was a cute surprise.

It’s hard to get a picture of the three of them together all holding still at the same time, so I got one when they were watching a show.

Blake spilled some iced tea on the counter and this was his way of cleaning it up, funny boy!

The hours they have spent drawing colorful pictures at the counter while I am cooking, baking or cleaning in the kitchen.

Blake’s drawings are really progressing: I think the dinosaur is having a party with balloons.

I can always tell when she has enjoyed a meal because her hair and face are covered in it!

She may have been pretending to be an airplane….not totally sure.

She has a lot of space to push her little stroller around.

Her hair is getting in her eyes and we don’t want her to have bangs, so I’ve been starting to put it in a ponytail on top of her head.  She doesn’t like to leave it in for very long most days, but I managed to get a picture of it before she pulled it out.

I think they were doing sock puppets, but again, I’m not sure.

Kiera painted herself and Blake at school and I thought it was funny and cute.

I came home one day last week to find her fast asleep in her high chair at lunchtime.  I think that’s the first time she’s ever done that!

My favorite flowers are bright-colored daisies, and my friend brought these over as a housewarming gift, having no clue that they are my favorite!  What a blessing!

Our house is surrounded by mud since there is no yard yet.  When we were moving, I was packing the kids up to leave the new house and go back to the old house.  They were all in the van and I had forgotten something inside, so I quickly ran in to get it.  When I got back in the van, Blake said, “Haley is all muddy.”  I was confused as to how she would have gotten that way, so I turned around and this is what I saw:

This picture doesn’t even quite fully capture it.  She looked like someone trying to camouflage themselves in the bush, there was SO much mud covering her entire face!  There was mud all over her seat, Blake’s seat and a couple of the windows.  I asked him what happened and he had quickly gone in the mud before we left the house and had decided to wipe off his dirty mittens all over his sister and the van!  Haley looked hilarious, especially because she seemed quite oblivious to it all but I was not impressed by the mess I had to clean up.  At least I got a picture out of it and now I can laugh about it!