10 Things I am loving right now...

SO I thought i would actually do a post......go figure! Em i know you now only check this once a week but you will be proud, i miss you already!
So I decided to just post about some things that i am loving right now, so here they are in no particular order:

1. my van!!! Since i didn't really post about it, but most of you know, i have a new van. it is not really brand new, but new to us, and it is the most awesome van ever! the best thing about it is that the kids are separated and cannot touch each other which makes for such sweeter rides!

2. the amazing girlfriends that i have. i know that i have posted about this before, but it was refreshed in my mind this week because my dear friend emily was here for the first time since she moved away to orlando in january and it was so amazing to spend even the little bit of time with her that i did, and it is just so hard to grasp that she isn't just on vacation. But along with her i have some other amazing girlfriends that are truly an answer to prayer for me. Each one of them are so special to me, and i love them all.

3. taco bueno. i know this one is random, but i am totally loving this place lately!

4. Old Navy's new summer line of clothing-if you want to know more just ask me, according to Allyson I should be getting paid more for how i love to talk about their clothes.

5. DAVID COOK!! I don't need to say any more, if you don't know who he is, then i'm sorry. And Megan Matthews, i don't care what you say he is the best and he will win!

6. this amazing mix of songs that my husband made for me on itunes of 90's and early 2000's hip hop songs with artists such as Nas, Warren G, Outkast, and others. When i want to tune out the kids whining i put this on, and it also makes a great work out mix. Thanks babe, i love you!

7. On that note, yesterday was mother's day and my husband and children really made it so special for me, and I totally loved it!

8. Our small group is doing this thing for the next five weeks where we get to drop the kids off for childcare and have a date night with our spouse. we are reading a book together called The Love List, and on the fifth week we will all go on a group date together......um, how can you not love this???!!

9. watching Grace and Cole play in their first organized team sport: t-ball. They have only had practices so far, but they are doing so awesome! Especially Grace, she really suprised me with her hitting, she is awesome!

10. This verse from Matthew 5:14-16 from the Message translation:

Here's another way to put it: Your're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers you don't think I am going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand-shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up to God, this generous Father in Heaven.

I am totally loving the Message right now!

Just when you thought you'd never hear from me again...

Hey, I'm sorry about the last month, i have no excuse, i just got behind and then just was too lazy to get caught back up. So here are some pictures from the past month that i have been MIA. Some are from Easter, some are from my birthday which was on April 2, and some are from a trip that Rich and I took last weekend with some high school students from our church to Chicago for a conference there called Dare to Share. It was such an awesome trip!!

First Day of Spring

Well, thankfully the little stomach bug that we had was only a little over 24 hours long. It was pretty bad with both kids having it coming out both ends if you know what i mean, (sorry i know that it gross and probably TMI but it has been our world for the last couple of days. Anyway, like i said i just HATE being cooped up for any time at all, and so I was SOOOO glad that today the kids were feeling better because God gave us the MOST BEAUTIFUL first day of spring ever, and we just had to get out and enjoy it. So we ventured out to the park by our church today to play, play, play. It was full of families all enjoying the gorgeous weather, and opportunity to let the kiddos run and play. I sat on the bench just soaking up all the sun i could, i just don't know how people ever live in places where they get hardly any sun because it truly is one of the best feelings in the world to feel the warm sun on your face, and with the winter that we have had it makes you all the more grateful that God created this big ball of warmth. So here are some fun pics of us enjoying the day.

And now Camryn is throwing up......how much more can i handle??

Just not our week...

So we have had a pretty rough couple of days. First of all last Thursday we had to say goodbye to our beautiful purple plymouth van. The transmission went out on it and it costs more to fix it than it is worth so we had to say a sad goodbye. We have known for a while now that both Rich and I's cars are close to the end of their lives, but we were hoping to push it off as long as possible. God has blessed our family soooo much when it comes to cars, the van was actually given to us as a gift from a family in our church who donated the van in the hopes that a family who needs it would get it. Well, when i got pregnant with Camryn i knew that we were going to need a car that could fit 3 car seats, and so someone on the church staff suggested that we were a family that needed a car. What a huge blessing!! It made it even harder to say goodbye to that van because to me it was just such a symbol of God's provision for our family. Well, again we are so blessed because my grandparents were actually planning on selling their van in April anyway, and so they are now going to sell it to us for a very good price. It is a good van that will get us at least another year if not more, and we are so thankful.

So back to why this is just not our week, this morning I had a friend who had offered to watch my kiddos for a little bit, but when i go to start Rich's car (which i had mentioned earlier is also close to the end of it's life, but we had really thought maybe, just maybe it would help us get by until we get this other van in April) and it wouldn't start. I tried for a about 15 minutes, and then i just gave up. So we just stayed here for the morning. Thankfully, I tried again at about 12 and it finally did start so we got to get out for a little bit, but i am still concerned with how reliable it really is. So then, we were going to try again tomorrow with my friend watching the kids, but Cole started throwing up tonight, and has been throwing up pretty bad all evening. So, I guess this just isn't our week. I feel like God is trying to send me a message that maybe I am just supposed to be spending time with the kids. I just HATE being cooped up in my house for any amount of time. Oh well, it is just part of it. This too shall pass. So sorry that i have not been updating the blog as often as i should. So hopefully all of you are having a wonderful spring break, better than ours. Talk soon!

I'm so excited.......

and I just can't hide it!! I just have to share with you some fun, exciting news that happened to me yesterday. Back in January we were at my brother-in-law's house hanging out one evening and we got this call from a guy saying he was from Wydham Garden Hotels and Resorts and he wanted to let us know that we had won this drawing they did at AMC Studio 30 where one night that Rich and I were there we filled out an entry for. Anyway, the guy had said that we won a vacation package, but that was all he told us, he said he would email us the details the next week. well, we never got an email, and we never got a call. I was sooooo mad! I even got on the website for wyndham garden and sent them an email letting them know how upset i was for forgetting about us, and they never responded!! Then last night I get this call from a woman who says she is from wyndham, and i practically screamed into the phone because I was so excited!! So she proceeds to tell me the details of what we won, and it is roundtrip airfare and three nights and days in where????...........ORLANDO,FL!!!!! I was freaking out! Not only do I get to go on a virtually free, fun vacation with my husband, but I get to see Emily and Keith!!!!! I just couldn't be more excited! These kind of things just don't happen to us. Well, just wanted to share the fun news with you all.

Aquire the Fire

Here are some pics of me and some of the girls at the Aquire the Fire conference that i went to this weekend. It was such a good conference, just like i knew it would be. The worship was so good (Micheal Gungor Band is so awesome), and the teaching was very convicting and inspiring at the same time. I also really loved just spending more time with my girls. I love them all and I am growing to love them more and more all the time. There is so much that I was convicted of this weekend, and I have a lot that I am still processing. I think one of my favorite parts was the breakout session that they offered to the youth leaders. It was really encouraging and informative, and just really cool to be in there with so many other youth leaders from around Kansas City. It was a really great weekend!