It's a Golden Life

Chi and Haly are getting so big. I love when Haly brings me a baby and wants me to play with her. I love that Chi often goes in his room and gets specific toys and makes up an entire scene with them. I love when Haly draws back from a hug and pokes my eyes, nose, mouth and ears-telling me what each of them is in her little voice. (I's, noose, mowt, ers). I love when Chi wraps his arms around my neck and gives me a "big kiss" without me even asking for it. I love that every time the door opens during the day, they both run yelling, "daddy!" So, the past couple of months have been trying. Doesn't it seem like every time you feel comfortable and have a groove, something throws you for a loop? I forget this happens often- far to easily. I have prayed about this much and come to the conclusion that nothing is ever going to just be. Our lives are constantly changing and evolving into what is from what it was. God doesn't want us to have a perfect life w...

My little guy is getting SO big. He has beautiful hands (Just like his daddy). He loves his "airplane hat" and will wear ONLY this particular hat in the cold. He loves to dig in the dirt, collect rocks and would run around outside in his Buzz Lightyear underwear in 30 degree weather-if I didn't stop him. He's very smart and loving. I love spending time with him. He has started to play independently. I can often stand outside his door without him knowing of my presence. He pretends all sorts of situations for Buzz Lightyear and Ironman to undergo. Just yesterday he rushed Ironman to the hospital because his arm fell off. He's starting to remember dreams and tell me about them. I love listening to his little voice. He brings such joy in my life.

While daddy was working on his Jeep this afternoon, Ms. Hbug and I took a walk around the neighborhood. I cannot believe she is already at the curious age where she wants to go everywhere and is so unaware that there are things that will hurt her. She is focused on looking at what's in the sky or across the street instead of what is directly in front of her. This reminds me of how God saves us. We are constantly focused on what is ahead of us. We look across the street & in the sky and are distracted so easily. We stumble over things & run through things. It's a good thing God can see what lies immediately in front of us. I'm sure he intervenes far more than we could ever imagine. I love this about God. He is constantly interacting with us in our lives. He doesn't just sit back in his easy chair with popcorn & some orange soda and watch us make mistakes. He is present. He is living in us and around us and through us. I love that I have this picture of God th...

It's that time of year again when I am searching through all my photos from what's gone on in the past year. I'm hoping to find a decent picture to use for a Christmas card! I've found some really awesome ideas on the shutterfly website. These are some of my favorites: Adorable Stationary Cards I love this one because it has room for multiple pictures ! Cute party invites I also found some good gift ideas. There are calendars and mugs and much more. What grandparent wouldn't love a calendar with all the grandkids filling up the months? Mugs and Calendars I love using shutterfly. They will even send cards to individual addresses if need be! We've used shutterfly for our engagement announcements, save the dates, past Christmas cards and birth announcements. There are always chances to earn free prints. They are already so cheap, too! The prints are always in great quality and very worth the money. It saves writing tons of holiday wishes in every card! Look out for...

I'm putting together our holiday meal menu and shopping list this week. I would have put this information together sooner, had I realized that next week is already Thanksgiving! It seems the days are going by faster and faster. Days, weeks and months are flying by. While putting together this list, I can't help to think about my family gatherings when I was younger. In looking at how much of the ingredients I need to feed everyone adequately, I imagine how hard it was for my families. My parents are divorced, and have been since I was in kindergarten. This means that we always had two big family gatherings. Two places to be at two different times during the day. Twice the amount of food to consume. My mom's side of the family was huge! My nanny has 4 kids. Each of the kids have kids that equals out to 13. Now, each kid has kids-I can't imagine how the gathering would be now if it were still occurring. Times change. People move around and move on. There have been divorce...

Halybug after the piercing Donovan and I decided that we were going to wait until Halynd was 5 to get her ears pierced. We were going to make it a special day. Yesterday we were enjoying the nice weather and walking around the Promenade when we walked by Claire's. There was a little girl who was about 5 years old holding tightly to a teddy bear and waiting for her ears to be pierced. On a whim, Donovan says, "Let's get her ears pierced". I was in shock and a little nervous! We went inside and Haly was unsuspecting even when she saw the little girl wincing in pain from getting her ears pierced. We got her prepped and ready to go, picked out the earrings and went for it. We decided that if we were going to torture our princess that it would not be at different times, so both ears were done at once. There was a five second delay, but she screamed and cried for about 2 minutes afterwards-mostly because we had to clean them and then turn them. She was a champ and looks bea...

My little lamb Ladies and gentlemen, Buzz Lightyear was in the house! Yesterday was Halloween! Beyond the obvious reasons of enjoying yesterday, i.e., trick or treating, dressing my children up in adorable costumes, consuming mass quantities of sugary treats :) There was reason for celebration beyond the enjoyment of all those things listed. Yesterday was a celebration of Reformation day! This is the first time it has been brought to my attention of this day. This dates back to the days of Martin Luther, (not to be confused with Martin Luther King, Jr.) I'm talking wayy back! October 31, 1517. Luther revolutionized religion. He brought light to the fact that the popular religions of the time were basing salvation on works. Now, up until yesterday, I misconstrued the passages on faith based on works. My understanding was that we MUST perform certain "things" to earn the grace and merit heaven. Now, I understand that because we are chosen to be saved, the fruit(not "s...