A Little Backyard Fun!

Jesus Paid It All!

We sang this song the other night for our family worship time. 
I love it.  What hope there is when we look to the Cross!

Jesus Paid It All!

I hear the Savior say, Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper's spots And melt the heart of stone.

And when before the throne I stand in Him complete,
"Jesus died my soul to save" my lips shall still repeat

O Praise the one who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead 
O Praise the one who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead 

O Praise the one who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead
O Praise the one who paid my debt
And raised this life up from the dead 

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Happy 8 years, Steve!

8 years ago I was so excited that I was about to become your bride. I could not have been prepared for what life would be like over these past 8 years. I would never have imagined all the places we would have lived, jobs you would have, children we would be raising, trials and joys we would walk through, adventures we would take, the lessons we would learn together. Today I am even more excited that I have been your bride over these last eight years.

Here are eight areas I've seen you grow in this year. Thank you for pursuing the Lord and pursuing change. And thank the Lord for changing us even when we aren't even pursuing change in certain areas. How grateful I am for His faithfulness! Thank you for loving me, putting up with me and making me laugh.

1. Patience with me!
2. Consistency with the girls!
3. Encouraging the girls and me!
4. Personal discipline - with pursuing the Lord, exercise, reading!
5. Spending "quality time" with me - talking, praying together, reading, playing games!
6. Being generous with others!
7. Putting thought into date nights!
8. Personal and Family Worship!

Celebrating 8 Years With My Love!

This weekend Mama came up to watch the girls so Steve and I could get away and celebrate our 8 year anniversary! We had so much fun! We went hiking and camping on the Appalachian Trail. It was a total stretch from me, but I loved it! We left our house at 6 AM on Saturday morning and started hiking about 8:30. The views of the mountains were gorgeous, the weather was beautiful and it was wonderful to have no distractions. We hiked and talked and hiked and hiked! We were so blessed by some friends of ours with great hiking and camping equipment! About 4:30 we found a great little creek on the Trail and pitched our tent. We ate our fun dinners (I had vegetable lasagna!) which were actually really good and Steve built a campfire and we had hot chocolate (well, mine was pink!). We were whipped, so we went to bed pretty much as soon as it got dark! I hardly slept at all. I heard at least 4 animals by our tent throughout the night. I was too scared to open the tent and look out, but I didn't want to wimp out and wake up Steve!! But we could see straight out of the top of our tent and I could see what seemed like thousands of stars. It was breathtaking! We got up about 6:30 the next morning and oh-my-goodness were we sore! I can't believe how many muscles I could feel! We started hiking again and I didn't know if I'd make it! But I did! I'm so grateful we got to get away and try something new together! I love adventures and I love going on them with my hubby! I'd definitely do it again...sometime down the road! For now I think I'll be popping Advil for the next few days!!

Sydney is 3!!

Sunday was Sydney's 3rd birthday, but we celebrated on Friday night! Mama came into town to watch the girls so Steve and I could go camping (more on that shortly!) and we were excited she was able to celebrate our little monkey's birthday with us! I made pink cupcakes with sprinkles and we had a really yummy dinner! I don't think that Sydney has ever eaten as fast as she did. She could barely wait to eat her cupcake and very seriously tear into her presents! She got lots of fun pieces to go with her doll house and a Barney video.

Sydney, I am so grateful to God for giving you to us. You make us laugh so hard. You bring us so much joy. You cause us to seek God for much wisdom! You have grown so much this year. Your chubby cheeks have slimmed down and you look more like a little girl than a baby. God has been changing your little heart. You are sweeter than ever before. I love to watch you greet people in the grocery store or at church. I love your little personality and how you can play by yourself for hours. You can put together puzzles in no time flat without even looking at the boxes! You know all your colors and can say your ABCs. My favorite, though, is when you dance when we are having family time and when you pray for your sissies. Happy, Happy Birthday, my silly, fun-loving darling!!

Jordyn's 11 Months and 1 Week!

Our baby girl is getting so big! I can't believe in less than a month she'll be a year old! Here's the skinny on what's going on with her over this past month...

*Still only 2 teeth.

*She's getting around a little more. She's really speedy at getting from point A to point B when food is involved.

*Table food is all she's getting these days and she loves it! She really likes grapes, cheese, green beans, sweet potatoes, bananas, goldfish and raisins.

*She still has a terribly loud scream, but thankfully she isn't screaming quite as much!

*She enjoys her play time with her sisters every morning, likes to watch Barney and likes rolling balls!

I can't wait to see her eat cake next month!!

Play date!

See those big teeth?!?!

When She's Not Screaming...

She's actually super cute!!!

Here are a couple of shots from the park today!Thinking about Cheerios!
Drooling for Cheerios!
She's got her two front teeth now...other ones are trying to come through!
Finally...Cheerios!

My little beauty!

Hey Tia...

Look what I caught today!

Thanks, Miss Kathy!

We are loving our crafts and stickers, but we miss you! Thank you, Miss Kathy!!

Time with Spurgeon

I've been reading Being God's Friend by Charles Spurgeon (one of my favorite authors) and I thought I would just breeze through it. It's a small book, but so meaty. Actually I've read the first chapter probably five times now. I'm praying that the Truths in it will truly cause my heart to change! The first chapter is called The Obedience of Faith. The first time I read it, I was thinking of my girls and how this applies to them, but then I felt the Lord was showing me that I need to be seeking Him on how this applies to ME and my relationship with HIM. Here are some quotes...

He draws from Hebrews 11:8

"By FAITH Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went."

Obedience that is not cheerfully rendered is not the obedience of the heart, and, consequently, is of little worth before God. If a person obeys because he has no choice in the matter, and would rebel if he had the opportunity, there is nothing in his obedience. The obedience of faith springs from an internal principle and not from external compulsion. It is sustained by the mind's most sober reasoning and the heart's warmest passion.
It happens in this way: A person reasons with himself that he ought to obey his Redeemer, his Father, his God; and at the same time, the love of Christ constrains him to do so. Therefore, what argument suggests, affection performs. A sense of great obligation, and understanding of the justness of obedience, and a spiritual renewal of the heart produce an obedience that becomes essential to the sanctified soul. Therefore, he is not relaxed in the time of temptation or destroyed in the hour of losses and sufferings. There is no trial of life that can turn the gracious soul from his passion for obedience...

We must have faith in the rightness of all that God says or does. I hope that you do not think of God's sovereignty as tyranny or imagine that He ever could or would will anything except what is right. Neither should we admit into our minds a suspicion that the Word of God is incorrect in any matter whatever, as though the Lord Himself could err. We will not have it that God, in His Holy Book, makes mistakes about matters of history or science anymore than He does about the great truths of salvation. If the Lord is God, He must be infallible; and if He can be described as being in error in the little respects of human history and science, He cannot be trusted in the greater matters...(That also means that Romans 8:28 is TRUE and that what He has ordained for our lives, even when we don't understand why, is for our GOOD and His GLORY...even if it doesn't seem so at the present time.)

Our service to our LORD is FREEDOM. We want to yield to His will. To delight Him is our delight. It is a blessed thing when the inmost nature yearns to obey God, when obedience grows into a habit and becomes the very element in which the spirit breathes. Surely this should be the case with every one of the blood-washed children of the Most High, and their lives will prove that it is so. Others are also bound to obey, but we should attend most to our own personal obligations and set our own houses in order. Obedience should begin at home, and it will find its hands full enough there...

As gold is to inferior metals, so is our trust in God to all our other trusts...You must have a paramount faith in God, or else the will of God will not be a sovereign rule to you. Only a reigning faith will make us subject to its power, so that we will be obedient to the Lord in all things...

Abraham immediately responded to the command of God. Delayed obedience is disobedience. Continued delay of duty is a continuous sin. If I do not obey the divine command, I sin; and every moment that I continue in that condition, I repeat the sin...

Obedience is for the present tense; it must be prompt, or it is nothing. Obedience respects the time of the command as much as any other part of it. To hesitate is to be disloyal. To stop and consider whether or not you will obey is rebellion in the seed...

Obedience may appear difficult, and it may bring sacrifice with it, but after all, it is the nearest and the best road (see Proverbs 3:17)...

Faith that produces obedience is a kind of life that needs great grace. Those who profess faith but who are not diligent in practicing it will not live in this way. Maintaining the faith that obeys in everything requires watchfulness and prayer and nearness to God. Beloved, "he giveth more grace" (James 4:6). The Lord will enable you to add to your faith all the virtues.

Happy Easter Weekend!

We just got home a few hours ago from our fun, full trip to Orlando! We headed out early Thursday morning, but before we left we had fun with our Easter Baskets! Wednesday night we had pizza and then let the girls loose (well mostly ;)!) with their candy. They got to eat Peeps, Whoppers (which Reagan calls Whoopers!) and jelly beans. They had a quick and crazy sugar rush and then crashed! We stopped at two rest areas for breakfast and lunch. We hadn't done that before, but man, it was the way to go! We were able to save a lot of money and run around and play for a little bit. It was a great break! We'll definitely be doing that more! It took us 8 hours exactly to make it there. Not bad with 3 little girls!! (They did amazing, by the way!!) We stopped by and said hi to Mama and then headed to the Roberts. We enjoyed hanging out and a super yummy dinner. Then Friday Sissy and the girls and Mama came over to hang out for a while while Steve went to do some work and meet up with a friend for lunch. It was so relaxing and the girls loved playing with their cousins! Mama took the girls to her house for the night and Steve and I went on a double date with Derek and Dena. We went to Tijuana Flats, then to Baldwin Park (Coldstone!) and then back to their house. I can't believe we didn't even play one game! We talked the entire time! Saturday I slept until I woke up on my own. It was wonderful! Then we went to Mama's for another wonderful dinner and egg hunt! The kids had so much fun sorting through all their candy and goodies! I was so excited about Sunday! I love celebrating Easter! We went to Metro and saw lots of people =), and missed lots of people =(! It was such a treat to be with our family and friends! Mama had Children's Ministry Admin, so she watched Jordyn so I was able to actually listen to Benny's message! When we got home we ate real quick and then Mom dyed Easter eggs with the girls! Sydney was super fast and Reagan took her time. They both did so much better than I thought they would and their eggs came out so pretty! We went in to get dinner ready and Sydney and Reagan sat down to watch Nemo. So, we were banging things around in the kitchen, the movie was on, Jordyn was screaming and Sydney still fell asleep. She was so exhausted that she even rolled off the couch onto the wood floor and never woke up! Sunday night we had another wonderful dinner (I think we ate a lot this weekend...back to the gym tomorrow!) and then sat around and talked and laughed. Steve's cousin Alex was telling us all about the pets she's had...can you believe pet stores sell de-funked skunks?!?!

On that note, I'm going to have to say "goodnight"! Have to say I am quite exhausted from our fun-filled weekend. Although I did so much less than I normally do!

Here's lots of pictures...

A Quick Visit!

The other day one of my new sweet friends called to see if I wanted to go with her and a couple of other ladies and lots of little children to visit an assisted living facility down the street from our house. So yesterday the girls made adorable little cards, some of the other children did, too, and one of the moms bought eggs and filled them up with sugar free candy! The children were so sweet! They talked to and hugged everyone and gave them their cards and candy! We were only there for about 40 minutes, but I really think the children were a blessing to all we visited! When we were leaving they were asking us to please come back again! Oh, and before we left the children sang 3 songs (that was pretty funny!). They sang Father Abraham, Jesus Loves Me and Holy God. It was precious! I wish I could have gotten my video camera to work! Oh, and I don't know what in the world I did to my camera, it must have been on the wrong setting, and I was holding Jordyn. Soooo...I did get some pictures, they just aren't that great!

Oh, and I can't wait to celebrate our Savior's resurrection on Sunday!!! Praise God that He sent His one and only Son to take away the sins of the world...my sins, your sins, all sin! Praise Jesus that He rose from the dead and gives us everlasting HOPE!!

OK, now I really must pack and clean!!

Pictures in My Mind!

There were two things that we've done the last few days that I sure wish I would have had my camera ready for! Sunday afternoon Steve had the idea of us all going hiking on one of the trails that goes through our neighborhood. I wasn't too excited at first, just because lugging Jordyn isn't the easiest thing to do through the woods and her legs are too fat to strap her into her Baby Bjorn. BUT I was able to rig up her B.B. and fit her in it! The girls did amazing!! We hiked to the Etowah River and it was so cool! Reagan has become quiet daring...she even walked across a log over a creek all by herself and tried climbing this really cool tree! Reagan and Sydney were so cute. They each found a "walking stick", which worked great until they started running with them. I think I gasped a few too many times on this little hike! They found nuts and rocks and "flowers" and Reagan killed a nice juicy bug that landed on her! We tried hiking a different trail when we first moved here and Sydney didn't make it too far that time. This time, though, she did GREAT! She didn't even whine! It was a beautiful little hike - I love that everything is turning green again. Hopefully we'll be able to do it a few more times before the bugs start coming to life again!

For my birthday yesterday my wonderful hubby took me out to dinner and then we went and did a little shopping! I had been looking forward to this date night for weeks now!! He found a restaurant called Copelands that serves Cajun food. It was as good as eating in New Orleans. I haven't been to a place outside of Louisiana that cooks up Cajun food as good as this was! The red beans and rice took me back to days when my mom and I would go to the French Quarter and I would order them for dessert! Steve and I split this huge seafood platter (fried oysters, fried crawfish, fried shrimp, fried fish, French fries, fried, fried, fried) and the red beans and rice. There was so much food we didn't even come close to finishing it all! (And yes, visiting the gym was a high priority for me today!!) We went to the mall and I was able to find a couple of things I have been needing - and it was so nice to be able to try them on in a dressing room all by myself!!

God has truly blessed me so much more than I deserve. Today I kept thinking about the last 29 years and the family, the friends, the church, the amazing husband, the children whom I love, love, love (even when the Lord is using them to sanctify me =)!), His provision and kindness towards me. Wow!! I could go on and on, but my husband is ready to watch 24!!! I love that even when I don't have pictures from my camera, He still allows me to keep pictures in my mind!

This Week's Publix and CVS Trips!

I think I did pretty well this week at Publix and CVS...praise the Lord!! Last month I went over a little bit, but ended up with a well stocked pantry to start off April!

So, here's the breakdown:

Publix:
Spent: $15.73 Saved: $20.88

CVS: Spent: $33.59 Saved: $54.81 Left with $31.47 in ECBs!

So, I spent a total of $49.39 out of pocket, I saved $75.69, and I have $31.47 to put towards groceries/diapers next week!! Yay!!!

Melodye spoke at the Mom's Mtg. at Metro in March. I listened to her message on Friday and can't wait to listen to it again. (I highly recommend listening to it...especially if you have young ones!! You can go to the Mom's Blog link that is on the sidebar to find it!) OH, and I just glanced over to the site and all the posts are wonderful - encouraging, convicting, etc., but I noticed that today my friend Jenn has joined the team of bloggers over there. If any of you don't know Jenn, she is amazing. We've been friends for 12 years and I have watched her serve the Lord, grow, change, make super embarrassing comments ::wink, wink::, make me laugh until I thought I was going to be sick, encourage, serve, serve, serve...she is real and godly and a wonderful friend! Make sure to check out her post!

Here is just one of the quotes from her message. My friends who are mommies with little ones, I hope you are encouraged today and find much peace in the fact that our God who holds the world in the palm of His hand is also caring for the hearts of your little ones!

“Don’t let the mundane get you down. Right now in your home, there may be dishes piling up, pesky socks that don’t match, a potty training set back, lunches to pack, and a long list of things to do. We start thinking that our job as mothers is little more than one menial job after another. Don’t forget that today has also been full of monumental opportunities. Did you take advantage of them?

We face moral issues today as adults that our parents and grandparents did not face nor dream of facing. What will our kids be forced to deal with then they grow up? How will they possibly be ready to know how to respond? They will respond by building today upon what they learned yesterday. We have absolute truth found in God’s word alone and as we impart that day by day, little by little, we are being used by God to equip the next generation.

One, Motherhood matters because it’s God’s idea; because he wants us to train the leaders of tomorrow; and because he has lots to teach us as moms as we allow him to teach our children with excellence. When you hit the pillow tonight, take great joy in knowing that you can work on matching those socks eventually and finishing the project you started months ago. More importantly, God allowed you to impact your children today as only you can, and tomorrow is another fresh opportunity to be an even better mom to the glory of God alone. May God raise up an army of believers who will change tomorrow’s world. May our children be leaders in that army.”

Mary Mohler

Hey Fam!!!!!!!!!!!!

One week from today and we'll be in Orlando!!!! Yay!!!!

I'm sure if the girls were up right now they'd be doing a happy dance! (But, I do have to say I am glad they are sleeping soundly!)

(Telle, you guys want to come for Easter ;) ?!?!)