Deal of the Week!

OK, so I have to post my "Deal of the Week" tonight!! We went to Stevie B's Pizza (like CiCi's, but better!) and Steve, all three girls and I ate for a grand total of $3.49. Yep, no typo there - $3.49!! Oh, and I gave the girls a quarter each to play a game - so actually it cost us $3.99!! AND we all had a great time! Jordyn out ate her sisters by eating two pieces of pizza and a half a breadstick, but others made up for it when it came time for dessert! Sydney was wired in the car afterwards! She kept singing "Minnesota Cuke, Minnesota Cuke...". It was a fun night!! Now time for a movie with my man and an early night to bed!

Geocaching!

Last week Steve took me out to a super yummy Mexican restaurant - La Parilla - and then we went geocaching! I do believe his Love Lets Live shirt even got us a free dessert! When we sat down the manager came over to him and told him how much he liked his shirt and when the check came so did a dessert! That was a fun treat! We love doing things outside for date nights, but it almost always seems to rain when we go out, so we were so excited when it was beautiful out - hot, but beautiful - the other night! We found 5 out of 7 caches and ended up in the quaint little downtown area of Woodstock! I even found a couple of them!! I love going out and having fun with my man! (Tracy - I finally saw the bookstore you've been telling me about - I look forward to going to it when it's open!)

Oh, and here are some pictures of Jordyn playing the other day!!

Family Time and Celebrating Father's Day!

Friday night we had a fun family night with the girls! We just signed up for Netflix, so we've been catching up on some movies! We had homemade pizza and pepperoni rolls and I ran and picked up Slurpees for dinner and then we let the girls stay up late, snuggled on the couch and watched Wall-e!

Saturday was pretty mellow and Jordyn was actually happy and fun all day!!! She is starting to laugh more and want to be involved with what we are doing!

Sunday we had fun celebrating Father's Day! I made some pretty sad chocolate chip muffins for breakfast...but hey - I did make breakfast! =) After church we went through McDonald's (we haven't done that in a long time) and after lunch we put the girls down for a nap and Steve played Xbox for a little while! Then we went to the pool and had some fun! Eric, Ansleigh and Hannah met us down there and Steve and Eric had fun racing each other on the water slides. It was actually pretty funny watching these two big guys going up and down the slides! I took Jordyn and Sydney home a little early and the guys stayed and played with the "big girls"! Then Brande came over with the other two babies along with David and Cindy and we had a good steak dinner!

Ahhh...I love weekends like that!

To You From Me!

Happy Father's Day, Steve!

You are the Daddy I dreamed of my children having. You are strong and gentle and funny and patient. Thank you for training our girls. Thank you for playing with them and making them laugh. Thank you for giving them hugs and kisses and tucking them into bed every night. Thank you for loving them so much that you take time to discipline them. Thank you for doing fun things with us and that our family is one of your highest priorities!

I know it is a lot of work many days and I am sure there are times you would much rather be doing something other than playing house or littlest pet shop, but God is being glorified by how you are investing in our children. And those little girls respect and love you so much! Thank you for getting up with them every Saturday and Sunday morning and feeding them breakfast while I have a few extra moments to get ready for the day. Thank you for random Slurpees and treats. Thank you for family worship time and snuggly movie nights. Thank you for taking Reagan on dates. I hope you are the only one she dates before she meets the man of her dreams!

I hope and pray that you will be so blessed on this Father's Day! I hope you are overwhelmed by the gifts God has entrusted you with and that they make you laugh today!

Love you, babe!

P.S. I don't have any of the 2009 pictures on my computer so these are only through last year and when I put these up they went into some wacky order and you got home before I thought you would! But hope you enjoy looking back at some of your "daddy moments"!

This Week!

This week has flown by. Reagan went to VBS for the first time and has had a blast. She sang her cute little song she's been learning all week for us after dinner tonight and she's been meeting new friends, learning new games, eating some interesting snacks and of course making crafts! I couldn't believe how hard it was for me to drop her off and leave her the first day! BUT Sydney and I have had a good time while she is gone! We've gone shopping, done puzzles, played, washed the van, and she has talked and talked and talked! Our air conditioner went out yesterday and we didn't think it was going to be fixed today, so we made the most of the day! We washed the van and then Steve came with the girls and me to pick up Reagan and we went to Chick-fil-a. Then the girls and I played for a while when we got home and once Jordyn was down for her nap Sydney, Reagan and I went to the pool for a couple of hours. It was a rough start with Sydney...but after she pooped in her pants she had a great attitude (I had to work on mine, then!). Thankfully she went outside of the pool and had a swimmer diaper on. After that we all had a blast. They actually prefer to go to the "little pool" (it's really a big pool and kiddie pool - just no slides at this one!) because there aren't any lifeguards so they don't have to get out for that 10 minutes out of an hour! They are smart little cookies!

POTTY TRAINING UPDATE:
Sydney has been doing really well potty training. She has been going by herself and hasn't had many accidents during the day. Yesterday I did leave her in her big girl panties for nap time and she peed all over everything possible on her bed...pillows, comforter, stuffed animals. She kind of seems like an all-or-nothing type of girl to me =)!

12 MONTH UPDATE FOR JORDYN:
Tuesday I took Jordyn for her 12 month check up and shots. Thankfully, the doctor said she is perfectly healthy. She weighs 20 lbs (25-50%), she is 30.25 inches long (75-90%) and her head circumference is 46.5 cm (75-90% - she has a big head just like Reagan!). She is not doing things nearly like the other two were at this stage, but she has seemed to be progressing some the last few weeks. After her appointment, I'm not concerned about her progression being a health issue...just more of a heart issue!! We'll just keep working with her, playing with her and praying for her!! She did pass out when she got her shots. It all happened so fast. I was holding her...she started turning blue around her lips...the her eyes rolled back and she went limp. I didn't freak out because it happened so fast. The nurse grabbed her from me and put her on the table and by that time she was already coming back. She just held her breath when the nurse poked her and wouldn't cry...so out she went.

She is crawling around a lot more and likes to play peek-a-boo! She started playing with her little animals this week and loves this little kitten that the girls gave her. Hopefully I'll get her to the pool sometime soon again and get her used to the water before our vacation!

Here are a couple of pictures from the pool today. I didn't get many because I was playing with the girls and they aren't too good because they were moving so fast!

Love Your Enemies

How do I respond in the midst of conflict?

How do I respond when I'm hurt?

How do I respond when I'm sinned against?

How do I respond when someone takes advantage of me?

How do I respond when someone "hurts my feelings"? (I added this one.)

These are some of the questions our pastor, Aaron, started his message with this past Sunday. He spoke from Luke 6:27-36 on loving our enemies. It was excellent and worth listening to and listening to again. I can't think of any enemies I have, but we don't have to have enemies to be challenged by this passage of Scripture. We can simply have friends or children or a spouse!!! (The Lord gave Steve and I an opportunity to put what we learned Sunday morning into practice Sunday evening - over a dumb phone charger!)

Here are just a few lines from his message. And here is where you can listen to it! I just checked and they don't have it up yet, but hopefully it will be on there soon!

The ability to love our enemies is an evidence of God's work and grace in our lives.

Do I allow bitterness to take root in my heart?

What do I do when someone says something I don't want to hear?

When we are consumed with ourselves it is hard to love others.

Jesus is kind to the ungrateful and evil. (This is probably what stood out to me the most...especially in this season of training my girls in being grateful and how I so easily get offended and angry when they don't seem grateful when I think I've done something so wonderful for them!)

God builds His kingdom through forgiveness.

How I respond in these moments reveals how much I really grasp the Gospel.

Love is proactive. It LOOKS like blessing, being kind, doing good, constantly giving.

We must fight to love.

OK, so those are just a few nuggets from the message. You can't wait to listen to it now, right?!?!

Trial #8

A few weeks ago Steve listened to a message for our care group's guys meeting. It was by Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church on Men and Marriage. I've heard of Mark Driscoll but had never heard him speak. Steve had quite a bit to say about the message - as did quite a few of the other men around here.

Mr. Driscoll is very passionate on men being men and caring for and loving their wives. Honestly, his message could be quite offensive, as is anything that challenges us towards holiness and Christ-likeness and blows a wound to our flesh can be (his "tone" is quite different from messages I'm accustomed to listening too). He challenged the men. He defined different men. He preached the Gospel.

Now Steve could have listened to this message, talked about it in men's accountability and that could have been the end to that. But he didn't. He came home and told me about it and then he went even farther. We watched it together and then he asked me questions about how he's doing in light of what I heard in the message. I am grateful that the Lord has given me a husband who desires to grow and change - and I have seen much growth in him over the last 6 or so months in particular!

Listen here if you dare!

Quick Update!

The other day Jordyn had her first bath with her sisters. She was a little worried at first...then she liked it - that was until Sydney dumped a cupful of water over her head! Before long, they'll all be swimming around like little fish in there!
Today the girls had donuts for breakfast, Steve went and worked out and then we went to Swift Cantrell Park in Kennesaw with some of our Care Group for lunch and an outreach. It was a beautiful park and this was my favorite "toy" they had there!
Steve was able to talk to a couple of guys and I joined up with him while he was talking to the second gentleman. After we left there, Steve took Reagan and they met up with Mark and Mika for a "double dad and daughter date" to see Up and since they aren't home yet, I'm thinking they are probably having some dinner, too!! It's amazing how different the afternoon was with one less child. Sydney and I played puzzles and read books and Jordyn played with us, too! I love Saturdays like this!

Is this what Baby on House Arrest Would Look Like?!

Check out her ankle! =)

In all seriousness, she has been doing so much better! We even went to the pool yesterday morning with some friends and she did wonderful. Hardly heard a peep from her. I took her into the water before we left and she did really well - much better than what I expected. She has been playing and exploring...she's been the first one to go straight for the plugs! =) She gets excited when I bring her to Steve's office in the morning to tell him "hi". She starts kicking her legs and grunting when we get to his door! She's up to four teeth now and she's been drooling a lot this week, so I think more are on their way!

We just keep praying for this little girl! I can tell other people have been praying for us too...Thanks so much!!! God has been faithful to use her to bring out my sin, and for that I am grateful. He is also showing me how real and true it is that His grace and mercy are new everyday and that my joy isn't grounded in whether or not my children are happy or screaming all day...my joy is rooted in Him alone!

Where Were the Balloons?!?!

Saturday we met Danny, Nikki and Bentley in Helen, GA because they were supposed to have hot air balloon races there this weekend. There were no balloons to be seen when we got there! It was a pretty hokey tourist spot, but it was a beautiful day and we had a great time being able to visit with Danny and Nikki! The girls were wonderful...even Jordyn! Also, they didn't know there were supposed to be hot air balloons, so they didn't think they were missing anything! We went to Hansel and Gretel's candy shop and Steve and I had Brats for lunch. We let the girls look in the fountain at the little fish and watched a one man band for a few minutes then we went to the play ground and the big girls ran around and the little ones enjoyed the swings! The drive there and back was so nice, too. It was a super fun week!! Here are some pictures...

Play Day!

Thursday one of my sweet (brave/amazing) friends took all three of the girls for an entire day so Steve and I could have a super long date. It was good timing and we had a blast! I had wanted to try to surprise him for his birthday, but of course he guessed...but I'm glad he did because he seemed really excited about just the two of us getting to hang out all week! We went to Buckhead and went to the Lenox Mall for several hours and had lunch. It was pretty funny because we sat down to eat and we were just talking about how nice it was to not have to worry about the kids spilling things...and I dropped (some) of my food on the floor right about that time! It was good for a laugh! Then we hit some record/CD stores in Little 5 Points (which is like a granola/college area). Steve found a rare Starflyer record he had been looking for so that was pretty cool! Oh, and we had Starbucks and just talked for a while. We went into some funky stores and vintage shops and then went to see to Turner Field to see a Braves game! Someone actually gave us passes before we went and then when we were walking towards the ticket counter someone else walked up to us and gave us seats 8 rows from the field by 3rd base. I was so excited!! Unfortunately it started pouring down rain right after we ate our "ball park" food and an hour before the game started! We waited until 9 o'clock, but it wasn't letting up! So, we took a walk in the rain (which ended up being quite refreshing!) and came home and watched a movie. It was an absolutely wonderfully fun day!

Happy Birthday Reagan!

My little sweet pea is 5 now! Where have the years gone?!?! It's like I blinked and she's this little girl. Thursday was her birthday, but on Wednesday we surprised her and took her to the American Girl doll store and let her pick out her very own doll! She was so excited and so much fun! She ran all around the store pointing at all the different dolls and accessories! At one point she told me it was so difficult to make a decision (on which doll she should pick!). The people in the store were so sweet with her - they gave her a birthday sticker and brushed her dolls hair and wished her many happy birthdays! Then we took the girls and I rode with Sydney and Reagan on the Carousel. They were so cute and tried to yell out sweet and silly things to Steve every time we passed him! Then we went to the Pizza Hut buffet and the girls ate their favorite kinds of pizza! It was a fun and special day for a very, very, very special little girl!! Oh, and then for dinner we had a fun little dinner and Reagan's pick for her cake! She has seen this cake in Target every time we've gone in and is the one thing she asked for for her birthday!

Reagan,

Happy birthday, sweetie! What a joy and a delight you are to us! You've grown so much this year. You are reading and writing and coloring - you love arts and crafts. You are fearless when it comes to bugs - I can't believe how many different bugs you've brought me the last couple of months =). You are such a big helper. You love serving us and I am so grateful. Thank you for how you help me and your sisters. I love when you help me in the kitchen or cheer Sydney on to do what is right! Oh, and how you play with Jordyn when I am making dinner. You are my sweetie pie and I am forever grateful to God for giving YOU to us. We love you, little LuLu!!

Could It Be???

Sydney has gone potty in her potty chair with no accidents (except for early this morning) today! Could it be that we could really be down to one set of diapers soon? Could it be that the big pool is incentive enough for Sydney to start going potty!?!? (She can't go into the big pool until she is diaper-free!) Oh, please pray that she'll stick with it!

Oh, and I think the chocolate could be helping, too =)!

Reagan...

Reading in our room!

First Bow!

Here's Jordyn with her first real hair bow!

Sydney and Mommy!

Last Saturday was beautiful out and so I took Sydney on a little "date" to Bruesters! She was so excited to pick out her ice cream flavor - which she quickly and very decisively said she wanted peach! We just talked and laughed and watched a little bird hop around near us and watched a bunch of motorcycles parade by. It's amazing what a little one-on-one time does!!