technical difficulties

Strange things are happening to my blog and I am trying to figure them out. It basically stemmed from running out of storage space so I am in the process of fixing that.

In the meantime, head over to Cari's blog and spend time in prayer for this family. We are praying for a miracle. In times like this all we can do is hold on to the promises of God.

He is faithful.

He is gracious.

He is compassionate.

He is merciful.

He is holy.

The list could go on and on.

But it's also important to remember that His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Is. 55:9). He knows what is best and even if we can't understand it we have to trust in Who God is.

Please...don't waste any more time over here. Go pray.

Thanksgiving week

We've had lots of fun this week hanging out with friends, playing outside in the warm weather, and eating yummy food.

 

Evangeline doesn't stop being a little homemaker. Even in the outdoors she is picking up, organizing, or cleaning.

 

I'm so glad we went out the other day because the temp has dropped so much that it is not enjoyable to be outside anymore.

 

 We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year and this was the only picture I managed to get all day. I guess we were too busy playing and eating that I didn't think to get the camera out until the end of the day.

 

We usually like to get our Christmas decorations out right after Thanksgiving. We didn't waste any time this year, especially since weren't going to shop or get out in this weather.

 

Hope your Thanksgiving week was full of family fun!

time with daddy

So I have managed to go two posts without any pictures! It was probably good since I have not been very diligent about taking them lately.

I made some fire starters with egg cartons, dryer lint, and wax. I bought a 2 lb. bag of wax for $10, which I might have been able to get cheaper if I shopped around. But $10 was all I put in to this and I got 42 fire starters out of it.

I melted the wax on the stove then poured it over the dryer lint inside the carton.

Very simple and about half the price of the fire starters we used to buy at the store. So far they have worked great!

AJ had the kids for an evening while I was out and he did a great job of taking pictures. Like I said, I haven't been very good about taking pics lately so these are all we have from the past couple weeks.

He took them to a park and Ari flew his kite while Evangeline picked flowers.

And of course you can't go to the park without playing on the playground or going for a hike.

Looks like they had a blast while I was away, which is no surprise to me since these two just absolutely adore their daddy. Every morning they look forward to seeing him before work and then count down the hours until he gets home.

for the gray areas

AJ and I have helped for the past several years in serving the youth at our church on Wednesday nights. Even though the lessons are predominantly focused towards youth, there have been lots of times that I have walked away feeling convicted or in awe of what I just learned. The last lesson I heard had a bit of both. And it was too good not to share with you all.

The Bible provides us everything we need know in order to live a godly life. Some of those things are very black and white (such as the 10 commandments) but others seem to fall in a gray area (such as music, tv, etc.) God's Word is sufficient in all areas and there are answers to what we may think are "gray" and not so black and white.

These questions should be applied to everything we do in life: what shows we watch, the music we listen to, our language, how we spend our time, the relationships we are in, what we expose our kids to...

The list could go on and on, but those were the main ones that came to mind when I was being convicted of studying these questions. :)

Question 1: Does it help me or hinder me in living a surrendered life to the Holy Spirit?

Galatians 5:16-17 "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want."

Question 2: Does it bring glory to God?

1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Question 3: Does it help me or hinder me in avoiding the appearance of evil?

Ephesians 5:11 "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."

2 Timothy 2:22 "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart."

Question 4: Does this cause me to become a stumbling block for another believer?

1 Corinthians 8:9-13 "Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall."

I hope this is an encouragement to you. Trust me when I say that there are things in my life that need to change because they are not "gray" anymore. It is clear what needs to happen and I ultimately have to decide who I want to serve. Myself. Or God.

what's in a name

AJ and I decided to find out the gender of this one so we would have the maximum amount of time for figuring out a name if the baby happened to be a girl. Boy name, no problem. Girl name, anxiety attack.

Once it was confirmed a girl we surprisingly didn't need the rest of the pregnancy, only a few weeks. I honestly thought this child was going to be nameless until birth...or even worse, that we wouldn't be able to take her home until she had a name. (Not sure if that is true or not, I had heard of someone able to bring their baby home then naming it 3 weeks later.)

We also have a certain way we chose our other kids names...so I wanted to stick with that and not just pick a name for the sake of having one. They are by no means "normal", but not completely wacky either. Their first names have some Biblical connotation and their middle names are from a family member.

We had finally made a list of 4-5 names and decided it was time to make a decision. The problem was that only one of those was Biblical and none of them had a good middle name to go with it. Ah. We naturally were searching for female middle names from the family and couldn't settle on one. When AJ and I were driving to Madison for a wedding it suddenly dawned on me that I could use my brother's middle name! It also seemed fitting that this little one is due just a few days after his birthday. So anyway, I threw out the name Selah Rhea (pronounced Ray) and he instantly like it. Problem. Solved.

Now I don't have to worry if my child will remain nameless for the rest of her life...at least with this one anyway. :)

18 months

This little ball of energy is on the go ALL the time. It's amazing the opinions and preferences they form at such a young age. She went through a phase where she was obsessed with wipes. She would cry for one until she got it and then would carry it around clenched tight in her hand until it dried up. Then she would cry for another one.  Thankfully she was content with a partial wipe that would just be re-wet down.

Sometimes she would loosen her grip on the wipe to actually wipe things up. I was secretly hoping this was a sign of things to come! :) Here she is picking up all the trash from Ari's party. It is not uncommon to find her cleaning up toys or putting away things in her spare time.

She loves to help put the trash can back in the pantry. I could really get used to having a little helper that is willing to do some cleaning up!

She also enjoys wearing things on her head and feet. She will find random socks and shoes and will insist that I help her put them on.

She loves to go bye bye because that means she gets to wear a jacket, shoes, and sometimes a hat.

In the mornings she will tug at her pajamas and try to put on her clothes for the day. She will also come find me when she wants her diaper changed. It doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing she will lay on the floor where I'm standing and will tug at her diaper. Hopefully this is also a sign of things to come when we start potty training!

I rarely find her without a purse in tow...or two or three.

She still only has 4 teeth and I'm hoping she gets more in soon so we can expand her diet. Her vocabulary is limited to about 4 or 5 words, she is able to communicate exactly what she wants. Her comprehension is great and seems to understand everything that we say to her. 

Her favorite time is when daddy gets off work and she gets to jump on the bed. She loves any and all things pertaining to babies. 

Her brother brings her the most entertainment and she loves to climb all over him until he gives her a pony ride. 

AJ and I often describe her as feisty. She likes to scream and then instantly put her finger up to her mouth and say "Shh!" 

Even though she is independent most of the time, she likes to be held a lot (only at home) and likes to be cuddled with her blanket.

We love our little girl and can already tell that she will be a great big sister. AJ and I enjoy talking every night about the funny things our kids say and do. They bring us more joy and entertainment than we ever imagined!