It's a Golden Life

Strange title for a post? I think not. Considering I was just doing my daily vacuum spree around the house-you know, the bedrooms; next onto the living room for the couch and the rug in there. There was, I kid you not, a dried booger on my couch cushion. Before I realized what it was, I did what you always do when there's a dried spot on the couch-use my fingernail to pick it off. Well, dried boogers are very sharp when they dry. Instantly my memory was jogged of the 12 running nostrils in the house when blood trickled from my middle finger. I've been struggling with a few things for a while. I feel like I am constantly cleaning the entire time I am awake. I have attempted to make a schedule of chores that need to be done weekly/daily/every other dayish. This, you see, does. not. work. Not with multiple children under the age of 3 running around. I am not exaggerating when I say that I can meticulously clean the kitchen while they are eating breakfast, diligently have the dishw...

Three Two One Newborn I can't believe my baby is three. He had a "birthday weekend" since his birthday was on Saturday and his party on Sunday. We rented a bounce house and did a Toy Story theme, as per his request. He is tuckered out and enjoying the sweet gifts from his friends. Three year Stats: Weight-29.8 lbs Height- 39 inches Sleeping-STILL wakes up at least once a night. Vocab-Says anything, has a slight impediment. Likes-Cars, Trains, Planes, Dirt, being naked, peeing outside, watching movies with daddy and mommy, painting, matching games, counting, singing. Dislikes-The word "No", spiders, snakes, streets, large crowds and sharing. Malachi James, You are and always be my sweet baby boy. It has been fun this year raising a two year old, but I'm sure we're both glad that the tough times of two are over. Now, it's on to three! You are learning and growing everyday and I love seeing you change before my eyes. You are very smart now and say every...

As I sit and watch a video of a church choir recorded, I can’t help to think about my church home, The Metro. I see the children’s choir in the video is bigger in numbers than our church all together. This sheer difference in numbers makes me ponder about the body of our church. Breaking free from the constraints of men is always difficult. People ask, “What is that church doing? Because they are clearly reaching people”. I have to sit back and think about this statement for quite a while. Coming to a conclusion is not easy to digest and is difficult to comprehend. There is no way I can know the hearts of the people attending “mega churches” (a church of 200 is mega compared to our community of 50 or so), but the result seems to lie somewhere within the message. It seems there are so many that do not want to go to church for myriads of reasons. The top of the list seems to stay, “Church is full of hypocrites”. I have news for everyone who thinks this. Come closely to listen, b...

Last weekend, we were able to leave the kiddos with Donovan's parents and go to Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo! We left early Saturday morning around 7 am while the kiddos were still snoozing and headed to the outlet malls. We couldn't check into the hotel until 3 pm, so we had to fill some time before the park opened at 10 am. After some successful shopping I joined the trend of "skinny jeans" at the request of my husband. He said he was going to pick out my clothes from now on. I guess I don't dress "hip or cool" enough for him :) I felt claustrophobic just putting the pants on. I can't imagine how it's going to be to actually wear them longer than 3 minutes. I just kept telling myself that I would get used to it. I remember trying on my first pair of flare jeans in the 6th grade. The way they didn't hug your ankles was strange, but I was determined to be just like all the other girls in 6th grade. So, now that the old look of skinny jea...

Do you ever have those days when you feel like you are vulnerable? Let me explain :) You know that you are loved and that your husband and children adore you. Heck, they may even appreciate you! :) But there's that taunting message that resonates in the back of your mind. "Maybe they don't love you as much as you love them. Maybe they don't really want to spend time with you. Maybe..." Usually, you are able to push that aside and with reaffirmation of that love, you continue on with your day. For me, it seems I am able to control that taunting voice that lingers, but every once in a while, I become vulnerable. I allow what others say to influence what I already know about my life and myself. I open my heart and mind to dwell on situations and subjects that I have already faced and placed neatly on a shelf in the back of my thoughts. During the course of being married for four years, Donovan and I have been so busy trying to get our life set up. We have been...

I know this is a little late, but we've been a little busy :) July 10th, 2009 at 12:36 a.m. 6 lbs, 12 oz. I cannot believe my little girl is already one! It seems like she's still just a baby, and she is my baby! Going through the parenting with Malachi, I didn't realize how much they really change. It seems like in just a few weeks, she exploded into a new person. *She is 18.4 lbs. and 27.5 inches long. *She has a head full of hair now that can be fashioned into rubber banded pigtails (horns). She will NOT keep bows in. She will eat them. *She is walking all the time and everywhere. *She is climbing on the couch, our bed, up stairs and any chair she can reach. *She has 6 teeth, 2 bottom and 4 on top. *She has kicked the bottle except for night time. Even then, sometimes she's so tired she just rolls over and goes to sleep. She's having a hard time drinking from a sippy cup because of how fast it comes out-she always spits it everywhere. *She eats ever...

To celebrate H-bugs first birthday, we went to the Gentry Zoo on Monday! She loved it. Both her and Malachi are big time animal lovers. I'm not sure where they get that from ;) Haly kept her eye on the Emu's the entire drive. She did not like them. There's this look she gives when she's not sure of a situation, and the birds definitely got that look. We named this guy Ted. Doesn't he look like a Ted? We aren't sure what he is, so we named him. The kids and I flipped out when he decided to stick his entire head in our car before we could roll up the window. He drooled on my skirt. The nerve! This Camel also stuck his entire German Shepherd sized head in our window! The best experience by far was the Zebras. Malachi just puckered up and laid a smooch on this guy. When we told him to do it again he informed us that it was "yucky" and then proceeded to scream "IT'S A WOLF"-or an Alpaca...with his head in Donovan's window with the most hil...