a weekend trip to Montana

Sweet blogger friends, will you please lift me up in prayer this weekend? I am flying out to Montana for a few days for my sister-in-law's baby shower. I get VERY anxious, nervous, and think of every worse-case scenario when I fly...especially without my family! Please pray for me tonight (Friday) and Tuesday...those are the times of my flights! Also, please pray for a relaxing, fun-filled weekend for me as well as for my husband while he is here with the 4 boys...Is it bad that I just typed that with a little bit of a smile?? Bless you!

Birthday with my mom

me and my beautiful mom Rita (isn't she hot???)

I posted pictures on Wednesday of my birthday celebration with some friends, but I haven't posted any pictures of my birthday celebration with my mom. She took me out for the day! We had lunch at a great restaurant in Tulsa, The Local Table, and then got pedicures. It was such a nice time with her. When I lived out of state and SO FAR from my mom, I really missed just hanging out with her. She has always been such a great friend to me! It has been such a blessing to be able to go to lunch with her...and it's an especially nice treat when it's just the two of us w/out kids!

Skillet concert

I never actually wrote about my experience at the Skillet concert last week! It was SO CRAZY and SUPER ENTERTAINING!! The FIVE, yes I said FIVE, opening bands were ummmm, interesting and took a long time. We all loved 2 of them, but I quickly passed around the cotton for everyones' ears on the one screaming one. It was quite an experience! THEN, when SKILLET came on stage, it was AWESOME!! I had so much fun! I loved being so close to the stage (I am very thankful for the cotton in my ears, for sure)!! The lead singer gave some of his testimony, in which he spoke about their desire to share and live for Jesus. It was great! I will definitely see them again when they come back to Tulsa.

our friends Kelley and Jarrod

Lisette's baby shower

I'm sure I have mentioned my friend Lisette before. She is my good friend here that got put on bed rest when she was about 23 weeks pregnant and ended up being on bed rest in the hospital for 33 days before she came home. I am so excited to write that she has definitely made it full term!! We had a baby shower for her last weekend; we showered her with gifts and prayers over her family. Lisette already has 3 sons and this will be her first (and only!) daughter. Little Bella is due any time now!

the cake

Martha and Aimee, hostesses

me and beautiful Lisette!

I know that she wants Bella to come any day, but I am hoping that she doesn't make her debut until after I get home from Montana next Tuesday!

boost of confidence, not

Today in the van we were listening to some Hillsong worship music. Darlene Zschech was belting out ever so awesomely "Shout to the Lord," when I hear these words from the back of the van:

Kyle: Is that mom singing?
Nate: No, mom's just a little good, but this lady is REALLY good.
Kyle: Well, I've heard mom sing this song before. (Just a side note since I know I have some newer readers...I used to lead worship at our church in Maine. I am humbled that God could ever use little me in that capacity.)

Wow! Thanks for the boost of confidence, Nate, hahaha! Of course, Kyle even thinking it could possibly be me singing was very sweet of him. However, I totally should have switched the music because this conversation happened again almost word-for-word when the NEXT song played. Nate just continued to say that I was "just a little good." Awesome.

Wordless Wednesday-B-day with friends!

Saying goodbye to the 20s

On the eve of my 30th birthday, I have decided to write a prayer of thanksgiving for all that God has done in my life in the last 10 years and I want to share it on my blog. (You know, you don't have to read it all because it's pretty long. The gist of it is that in the last 10 years, God has blessed me with an awesome husband and 4 awesome sons. He has moved me from Oklahoma, to Idaho, to Maine, and back to Oklahoma again! He has brought into my life some of the most awesome friends...I just praise Him and thank Him for my life and who I am becoming in Him, only by His grace, mercy, and power! I am looking forward to what He has planned for me in my 30s...I am SURE that it is bigger than anything that I can imagine!)

Father,
I am amazed by You. I praise You for my life and everything that You have brought me through and how You have blessed me so much. I praise You for my awesome husband who I met when I was just 20. I do not deserve someone as awesome as him, but in Your mercy and grace, You gave him to me. He is more than I could ever have hoped for or imagined. You truly have blessed my life through him. I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined You having a plan for my life that included a husband that was all the way from Idaho, from a town smaller than my hometown!
What an adventure the last 10 years have been!! My fours years in Idaho when Mike and I were first married were sweet years. I graduated from college there. I had my first and only "real" job there. Although You have since taught me that being a mom is more than just a "real" job; it is a high calling!! In Idaho, You blessed my life through an awesome church and great friends. You especially blessed my life through my dear friend Kecia. She has been more than a friend to me. She has been a role model, a mentor, and an example of the type of mom that I want to be. When I first met her, I remember thinking that I hope I will be a godly wife and mom like her. In Your divine plan and I think even in Your humor, I became a mom sooner (and later I would find out more often) than Mike and I had planned! In Idaho, you blessed us with Nathanael. When Nathanael was just 7 months old, You blessed us with another pregnancy!
In the next 9 months, our lives changed drastically. I praise You and am amazed by Your constant provision for our family. Your ways are definitely higher than our ways. As part of Your plan and as Your way of providing for us, You moved us from Idaho to Maine! Wow! What a move that was!! Just a month after moving to Maine, You brought Kyle into our lives. Through Kyle, You taught me just how different 2 babies can be. I remember thinking, "We are so done having children." In Your divine plan (and once again I believe, humor), You blessed us with little Ian just 18 months later and then with Caden just 21 months after Ian. Often, more times than I can count, I have told You that You picked the wrong gal to have 4 boys in 4 years. However, sweet Father, I wouldn't change it for anything now. Even in all my craziness and in the chaos of my life, You have blessed me through them and taught me so much through them. You continue to mold me and refine me into who You want me to be. Oh Father, I so desire to be a living sacrifice to You, holy and pleasing in Your sight. Thank You for my life. Thank you for my Michael, my Nate, my Kyle, my Ian, and my Caden. I am truly blessed.
Father, our time in Maine was hard, but sweet also. I was ready to move from there, but I miss it more than I ever thought I would. I praise You for growing me so much there. Once again, like Idaho, You blessed us with a great church family who truly became our family. I praise You for Pastor Mike, Sue, Jordan, and JonJon. I don't think we would have made it our first couple of years in Maine if it weren't for that family! I cherish our time spent with them and all those times at their house watching the Red Sox!! You also blessed me through close friends who were like sisters to me. I praise You for my friend Lisa, who was my sanity over and over and over again. I miss her. Please provide a way for me to see her soon! I praise You for my "coffee center" friends. I praise You for Angela, who I believe You may have moved there just because I SO needed a friend! I praise You for teaching me how to truly WORSHIP You through music there. Wow! I am humbled that You could ever use me to lead others into worship. You grew me, stretched me, and strengthened my marriage so much in those 4 years.
Father, again, You blessed me more than I ever could have hoped for when You provided a way for our family of 6 to move to Oklahoma, just 2 hours from my parents. Now, once again, You are surrounding us with awesome friends and have provided an incredible church home. Much to my surprise and to the surprise of many of our friends, You have called us to homeschool. It isn't easy. Help me to remember that this is Your will and that You will provide the means! Thank You for my homeschool co-op. I couldn't do it without those moms!! Father, I praise You for all You are doing here. I continue to lift Michael's job up to You, but again, I know that Your ways are higher than our ways and that You can do more than I can even imagine. I trust that You are working it all out.
Again, I just praise You for my life. Help me to trust You more, love You more, depend on You more, rejoice in You more. Help me to spend more time with You and to truly live a Spirit-led life. Grow me into a prayer warrior. Help me to never doubt You and to always remember that You work all things together for the good of those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. Help me to trust in You with all my heart and to not lean on my own understanding. Help me not to be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, to present my requests to You!! Help me to smile at the future and to seek You daily for wisdom in my mothering and in my marriage. May I truly be pleasing to You in everything I do. May I be joyful! May I be a loving, kind, gentle, caring, compassionate, peaceful, and fun mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend.
Father, I am excited to see what You have planned for me in my 30s. I am sure that it is more than I could ever hope for or imagine! I love You and praise You! In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

I am a kid

While pushing Ian and Caden on the swings in our backyard, this is the conversation that took place:

me: I want to swing.
Ian: You can't swing; you're too big. You're not a kid.
Nate: You are too a kid.
me: Well, I don't think I'm a kid anymore. I'll be THIRTY on Monday.
Nate: Moommmmm, yes, you ARE a kid. You are God's kid.
me: Oh, I guess you're right. (Duh.)

Well, put that way, I guess I'll always be a kid, no matter how OLD I am!!!

John 1:12
Yet to all who received Him [Jesus], to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.

1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Skillet

Check this out...THIS is who we are going to see Saturday night with some friends from church! We have 5th row center seats. It's going to be CRAZY!!



We will probably be the oldest ones there, after all I will be 30 in one week.

Nate's randomness

Totally random at breakfast yesterday, Nate said, "What color is a pickled pepper?" I just started laughing! I mean this seriously came out of nowhere. We haven't been saying any tongue twisters lately or anything. He definitely is my favorite six-year-old! And I guess the answer is that it depends on what color the pepper is!

Flashback Friday

My father-in-law has been visiting us this week, and we have had a great time! The boys sure love him!! He really blessed us this week by helping Mike stain our fence, which was quite a project!! Here is a picture of them bleaching and scrubbing the yucky, gray fence so they could actually stain it. It was a very DIRTY job!! They are working left to right...
Here is Grandpa Bob reading to the boys...
And, since it is Flashback Friday, here is a picture of Bob holding Nathanael in the hospital on February 25, 2002. He was there for the long haul (my labor lasted 30 hours); I'm pretty sure Bob stayed the night in the waiting room. Nate finally made his debut at 7am....
It has been a great visit!

What's going on around here....

We started our second year of homeschool yesterday! Nate is officially in 1st grade and Kyle is in kindergarten. I am excited for a new school year!! It's funny how I was most worried about keeping the younger two occupied, but they have been wonderful! The older two, on the other hand...oh well, let's just say that day 2 was better than day 1. It's probably good that I didn't blog yesterday; it may not have been HAPPY! In pictures.... (By the way, I know that captions are supposed to go UNDER pictures, but it just looks funny for some reason. Therefore, in my blog world, they are going ABOVE the picture!)

Nate writing on the white board...he wasn't pleased with his letters and has basically refused to write since this picture...HE IS SO HARD ON HIMSELF! I am praying for wisdom in this area and am trusting that God will give it to me, as promised in James 1:5!!

Watching our Math U See DVD on the computer and playing with the manipulatives. I LOVED that Kyle put on his swimming goggles...it just gave me joy, made me smile, and made me so excited to homeschool...to be able to witness them learning in their own, comfortable, goggles-on environment! Let's just say I was very glad that we did math last! At least the day ended well and with me smiling!

I wanted to include this picture because of Ian...he didn't take that backpack off ALL DAY! As soon as I said we were starting school-time, on went the "packpack" ...again, finding joy in my children...thank you Jesus!

School time, day two. Today, our preferred classroom was the living room floor!

And here is Ian again with the "packpack." It stayed on all day...what a goof!! He is so sweet when he wants to be! He and Caden colored a lot today, and in this picture he was showing off his work from a Christmas coloring book...go figure!

And in the kitchen, I am currently making my very first chicken stock, using the bones from the whole chicken I cooked yesterday! I put it on before 8am and it will be cooking ALL DAY! It smells yummy!

And also in my kitchen today, is my second attempt at homemade yogurt. I am trying to make a thicker batch using non-instant organic dry milk as a thickener!! Underneath that towel is a little ice chest with HOT water in it and 2 quart-sized jars of yogurt! Hopefully, around 9:30 tonight I will have thicker yogurt! I'll let you know!! (I used a combination of this recipe and this recipe.)

That, in a nutshell, is what's going on around here today!!

finding joy in my boys

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose bathtub, I mean, quiver, is full of them. :)
Psalm 127:3-5 (Margo's version)

Flashback Friday

These pictures were taken in September 2003. I think Kyle is just a couple of months old in the pictures, and Nate is about 18 months old.

Kyle was seriously all lips as a baby!

Handsome boys!

Wow! Where does the time go??