Tales of MEEE!

Peanut praising the Lord in Song

2012-01-29T12:48:00.000-06:00

Peanut was imitating her kids club leader, Mrs. P (we meet for our Women's Bible Study on Wed. am at our church) in leading the kids in worship to the Lord with her guitar. I'm so glad I captured this sweet song on video to remember for years to come!

Bean is 7 months old

2012-01-27T19:33:00.000-06:00

Where in the world has the time gone? I honestly look back and feel at times we just brought our sweet little newborn bean home; and now she's putting together sounds like MAMAMAMA, BABABAB on her own; rolling (but in no hurry to crawl or roll that often), and almost sitting up on her own. She also loves grasping her toys and adores her big sister so much! She's very assertive, loves looking around and seeing new things and giggles ALL of the time! She's such a happy, sweet spirited, tender-hearted and content little girl and we are so thankful for her blessing and addition to this family! Here are my favorite from our 7 month photo shoot! She's VERY sick here and this was the only smile I was able to get out of her with the help of her big sister, Peanut! We're praying she heals quickly and is back to her joyful, smiling self very soon!

We're still alive

2012-01-27T12:26:00.000-06:00

No worries we haven't fallen off the face of this earth but we've been quite busy and very ill for the past three plus weeks! I'm ready for this illness to be over with and for it to vacate my body, but now my little sweeties are sick!:(

Bean just wasn't sure what was happening with her voice and kept making noises to try and figure out why she sounded so differently!

365:365

2011-12-31T23:49:00.001-06:00

FINAL PHOTO OF P365 CHALLENGE COMPLETED!

365:365 - Peanut with her cousin L having a blast together tonight! We spent the final evening of the final day in 2011 together with Michelle's family! It was a wonderful evening of fun and fellowship together at Cici's pizza with my parents and my sister and her family! The girls LOVED playing the demos on all the different arcade games together! We are SO thankful to be back closer to both our families and get spontaneous time to be together like this meal together! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Another BIG day!

2011-12-30T23:08:00.001-06:00

Bean rode in the front of the shopping cart today for the FIRST time! She was such a BIG GIRL! She loved sitting up and watching everything around her. She did an amazing job too! I'm not clipping her car seat into the front of the car anymore due to numerous articles I've been reading about the extreme dangers of doing so. Here's a recent article about a little 3 month old boy who died after falling off the cart in his infant seat clipped to the front.

Peanut wanted to play with her sissy so badly today; so she set up bean's new picnic basket shape sorter toy and they played "picnic" together! Isn't this sweet? My heart just melts every time peanut wants to spend special time with her baby sister!

365:364

2011-12-30T11:09:00.000-06:00

365:364 - We are BLESSED beyond measure with family and friends surrounding us! This is our fun Christmas Card/letter wall covered with many of our family and friends! We love to pray for the family and friends throughout the day and week as we see them here on our pantry! May the Lord RICHLY bless you and your families in the coming year! (all names were blurred out to protect our family & friends)

365:363

2011-12-29T16:40:00.002-06:00

365:363 - My two sweeties early this am! Peanut just begs to hold her baby sister everyday and I love it!

365:362

2011-12-28T22:17:00.000-06:00

365:362 - Peanut made a really special memory today with Michelle's parents! They came over to our house and cut out sugar cookies with her and then they frosted and put fun decorations on each of the 3 dozen cookies they cut out! She had SOO much fun making this memory with them! THANK YOU Mimi and Papa for coming over and spending some special time with the girls today!

Here's the finished product:

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-28T16:42:00.000-06:00

365:361

2011-12-27T16:09:00.000-06:00

365:361 - Look who turned SIX MONTHS old today!? I can hardly believe we've been blessed with this precious little sweetie in our family for half of a year already! I put her in front of the Christmas tree to remember her 6 month birthday fell two days after her FIRST CHRISTmas with our family! We love you Bean and are enjoying watching you try and learn new things each and every day!

You are starting to roll over from your tummy to your back, grab at toys, hold onto things for a much longer period of time, sit up almost unassisted, love to laugh, love being tickled, you love to stand holding our hands, you are starting to make consonant sounds (mamam, bababa, dadadad) eating rice cereal and trying veggies now, and continuing to sleep through the night (you have basically since the day you were born)!

365:360

2011-12-26T22:52:00.000-06:00

365:360 - Peanut and Bean had SOOOO much fun spending the weekend with ALL of our different cousins in town! Here's a picture of our nephews, great niece and the girls together at our immediate family Christmas celebration today!

365:359

2011-12-25T15:16:00.000-06:00

365:359 - One family tradition that Michelle's family started and we have carried on to use as one of our family traditions is opening stockings on Christmas morning together. We brought our stockings and all the fun individually wrapped stocking stuffers along with us this year to open at Ernie's parents house (we even included them in this fun tradition)!

365:358

2011-12-24T15:05:00.000-06:00

365:358 - It's Bean's first Christmas this year and we're soaking up every single part of it to remember together as a family! She received some fun little toys that I think she's going to really start enjoying soon! We opened with Michelle's side of the family this morning (Christmas Eve) and with Ernie's Grandma and mom's side of the family this evening.

365:357

2011-12-23T22:33:00.000-06:00

365:357 - We celebrated our immediate family Christmas at home tonight before traveling for the weekend to see both sides of our family for various celebrations! We finished up another one of our fun traditions, called "What God Wants For Christmas" by Family Life Today. We finished box #7 tonight and you can see the sweet video below of peanut participating in this tradition.

365:356

2011-12-22T10:19:00.000-06:00

365:365 - MERRY CHRISTmas from our family to yours! May we stop and reflect on the reason we celebrate CHRISTmas Day - A Savior has been born to us! PRAISE GOD for the gift of His son to us! Praying you have a blessed holiday season with your family and friends!

"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved". Acts 4:12

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-21T23:07:00.000-06:00

365:355

2011-12-21T22:54:00.000-06:00

365:355 - I took the girls to a photo studio here in town today to get a Christmas picture together in their matching dresses a sweet friend (Sheri) let us borrow! The girls did absolutely AMAZING and this was the pose I ended up chosing for our package deal! I was so excited when I saw the photos, it was difficult choosing just ONE pose!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling down the river....

2011-12-20T20:45:00.000-06:00

Bean rolled over for the first time last night (12.19.11) from her tummy to her back; but I didn't capture it on video. The whole family was in the room and experienced it for the first time though which was so special!! This is her second time to roll over and I quickly captured it on video! You can see we make a PRETTY HUGE DEAL out of things like this in our house; but she's not 100% sure what to think! Enjoy! I can't believe she's turning 6 months in one week!

365:354

2011-12-20T20:42:00.000-06:00

365:354 - Bean LOVES the exersaucer but can't quite support herself for long periods of time in the seat yet! It's a great change of scenery for her though! It's so much fun watching her experience new textures, sounds and toys!

365:353

2011-12-19T21:36:00.000-06:00

365:353 - Bean tried rice cereal for the first time tonight! She REALLY loved it and did amazingly well for it being her first ever experience with solid foods! We're excited to watch her experience more flavors and textures throughout the next few weeks and months as she grows and develops!

365:352

2011-12-18T20:33:00.000-06:00

365:352 - The girls are all dressed up and ready for church this morning! Their two dresses coordinated really well, so I had to get their photograph in front of the Christmas tree together!

365:351

2011-12-17T23:28:00.000-06:00

365:351 - Ernie and I were able to pick out some new specs tonight thanks to the vision plan he has at work! It was fun picking out new frames together!

365:350

2011-12-16T17:17:00.000-06:00

365:350 - Bean is really starting to observe things around her, as well as her hands and feet much more frequently! She got these adorable hand/feet rattles for a shower gift and loves them so much!

365:349

2011-12-15T16:01:00.000-06:00

365:349 - Peanut made this beautiful masterpiece today in her MOPS class! She was so incredibly proud of her Nativity scene she made for Ernie and I! I love capturing her beautiful pieces and saving them for her to look back on later!

365:348

2011-12-14T19:28:00.000-06:00

365:348 - Peanut with her friend "R" getting ready to leave a fun play date together! We had a groupon to Jumpin' Jax in Papillion and invited "R" and her mom & baby sister to join us! The girls had so much fun together! We're so thankful for sisters in Christ!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-14T12:20:00.000-06:00

SeeHere.com: HOT! 20 Photo Cards (With Envelopes!) Only $1.49 Shipped

2011-12-14T00:00:00.003-06:00

Too all of my frugal friends out there still looking for some awesome Christmas photo card deals, I have a great one for you! If you are a new member to SeeHere you can get 20 Free photo cards shipped to you for a total of only $1.49! Thanks to my dear friend Elisabeth (my frugal soul mate) for passing on this amazing deal to me! Check out the link here for all the details from Hip2Save!

365:347

2011-12-13T17:08:00.000-06:00

365:347 - Peanut was so excited when she saw Master Chief from Halo in NFM today! She knows Daddy really enjoys Halo and his favorite character is Master Chief, so she asked me to take her picture and text it to Daddy.

365:346

2011-12-12T10:55:00.000-06:00

365:346 - I'm busy working on Bean's baby book, adding birth weight, some fun firsts, photos and more! I love putting these together for my girls to look back on when they get older! Peanut still asks to look through her baby book all of the time!

365:345

2011-12-11T23:09:00.000-06:00

365:345 - Tonight we participated in the second week of Advent. For Christians, the season of Advent serves as a reminder both of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting of Christians for Christ's return from Heaven where he now sits at the Right Hand of God. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ whereby all of creation might be reconciled to God. That is a process in which we now participate, and the consummation of which we anticipate. Scripture reading for Advent will reflect this emphasis on the Second Advent, including themes of accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life.

I am so excited about starting this new family tradition each year for Christmas. This is really helping us to get our hearts prepared to celebrate the TRUE meaning of CHRISTmas by dwelling on the coming of our KING!

365:344

2011-12-10T21:05:00.000-06:00

365:344 - Our family of four had the priviledge of kid-sitting some dear friends children today while they were able to get out for some Christmas shopping and a date together! We had such a wonderful time hanging out with their kids and enjoyed our fellowship with their parents before they headed out as well!

365:343

2011-12-09T18:00:00.000-06:00

365:343 - Michelle before a fun Girls Night "Prom 2011" party! It was fun curling my hair for this fun night!

365:342

2011-12-08T23:00:00.000-06:00

365:342 - Whoo-hoo I got to pick Ernie up at the airport tonight! He's been away on a work trip for the past two weeks and it's wonderful to have him home again. His three girls missed him like crazy!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T23:19:00.000-06:00

365:341

2011-12-07T19:00:00.000-06:00

365:341 - Peanut and Bean out in our big snowfall together! This was the first experience for Bean to be out in the snow and she seemed to really enjoy it!

365:340

2011-12-06T22:26:00.000-06:00

365:340 - Bean with her little friend "A" hanging out together! These sweeties are only one month apart in age and I have a feeling they are going to be great friends!

365:339

2011-12-05T18:18:00.000-06:00

365:339 - Peanut loves trying things on, especially when it has anything to do with girlie accessories! We were out Christmas shopping together and she wanted to try this headband on! I had to snap a photo!

365:338

2011-12-04T22:11:00.000-06:00

365:338 - Peanut was blessed with a couple of beautiful Christmas dresses this year, so today was the first Sunday to wear one as it's the first Sunday in December! You can tell in this photo how excited she was to wear it! Thanks to all of you who gifted us with clothing for our girls throughout the past year - you have been such a blessing to our family!

365:337

2011-12-03T16:14:00.001-06:00

365:337 - I took this photo looking out our back door using the Instagram photo program! This is our second snow of the season and imho, it's much better looking at it from the inside of our house! It's very slick out on the roads today. It seemed like many weren't in the slick snow driving mindset yet.

365:336

2011-12-02T23:57:00.000-06:00

365:336 - Peanut, Bean and I were able to join my parents and my sisters family tonight at a "Walk Through Bethlehem" put on by Brookside Church! Here's peanut wearing her head covering, bracelet she made and eating the bread she learned how to make there. Each child receives a bag of "shekels" they can than use to purchase items throughout the town of Bethlehem to make and take home with them.

It's a wonderful production and you can register online here to attend tonight and tomorrow (the final two days available) for $1/person! We highly recommend it for a wonderful family memory.

Blogger Opportunity to earn a $10 Shutterfly Gift

2011-12-02T15:55:00.001-06:00

Snowflake Sprinkles Christmas Card

Turn your favorite family photos into Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Check out Shutterfly's great promotion! If you own a blog or website you can get a FREE $10 Shutterfly Gift Certificate just for sharing any of your Shutterfly photo card projects on your blog or website. I posted our 2010 Snowflake Sprinkles Christmas Card. Here are the instructions to for the promotion:

Sign in to Shutterfly
Click on "My Shutterfly" in the top menu.
Click on the "View All Projects" under "My Projects"
Select a photo card project by clicking on the circle above the project title that you want to share (don't click on the project itself, this promo appears to only be tied to photo card projects this year)
Click on "Share Project" in the right hand menu options
Type in the "Title" and "Description" of your card (this won't be included if you just embed the photo widget code on your blog or website)
Go to the "Next" step
Now you'll see all the details of this promotion, including the email address to send your blog post link to in order to get your $10 gift certificate from Shutterfly.
Pick your embed method: Blogger or Widget Code (I used the widget code so I could include extra information).
Don't forget to email Shutterfly after you post your project on your blog and/or website. You'll receive an automatic response message immediately and should receive your $10 code within 10 days.
The $10 codes expires on January 31, 2012. Thanks goes to Heather with Freebies4Mom for this Freebie this year! I'm glad to see they are doing it again! Thanks, Shutterfly!

365:335

2011-12-01T12:30:00.001-06:00

365:335 - Bean is starting to hold onto things more and more and enjoyed chewing on these teething keys while in her Jump and Go today! She loves sitting in this while we're working in the office! Thanks Carissa for passing this onto us, she loves it!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-30T12:12:00.000-06:00

365:334

2011-11-30T12:11:00.000-06:00

365:334 - Our Christmas tree is finally complete! It took a couple of days to put the entire tree, decorations and finishing touches on it due to some illness that hit our family over the weekend. We're VERY thankful for this beautiful tree that my parents passed onto us. They had it up for many years when I was growing up and it's really special having it in our home now with my children! I decided to not just do my color themed balls tree this year and let Peanut put up many of my childhood ornaments and I'm so glad I did! It was such a wonderful memory decorating the tree together with her experiencing all of those fun little ornaments for the first time.

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Thirty

2011-11-30T11:19:00.000-06:00

Today is the final day of my 30 Days of Thankfulness posts. I am thankful for contentment and joy that the Lord fills me with! Being intentional about writing down the things for which I am thankful each day of November really gave me a contentment and peace! Journaling things down here on my blog or in my prayer and praise journal is such a wonderful reminder that I will have to look back on for years to come and share with my family!

Here are some verses that serve as a great reminder that we will be taken care of and we have nothing to be anxious or discontent about:

(Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
(1 Timothy 6:6-10 ESV) says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."

365:333

2011-11-29T11:21:00.000-06:00

365:333 - Peanut and I are both not feeling well today, so I decided to head into the Dr. as we have a big week and weekend ahead of us. She was diagnosed with strep throat and I have a sinus infection. I'm thankful for the medical attention and medication we were able to receive today! We'll be on the mend and back to 100% in no time at all!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Nine

2011-11-29T11:07:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful to the Lord, our ultimate healer! I'm thankful for the healthcare we receive and the medical attention that peanut was able to receive to be diagnosed with strep throat today. We got her the medication needed and she's quickly on her way to a full recovery! Thank you Lord for always taking care of us even at our weakest moments.

365:332

2011-11-28T18:13:00.000-06:00

365:332 - I put Bean in Daddy's suitcase this morning and surprised him when he came into the room to close it up! He walked in the room and I said, "Daddy, can I go with you too?" :) He laughed so hard and thought it was the cutest thing that she fit perfectly inside! We missed you while you were gone Daddy!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Eight

2011-11-28T11:07:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for a very hard-working husband! He has been through some ups and downs with his career, but he continues to seek wisdom and guidance from the Lord through it all and lead our family with strong determination and diligence, always looking upward.

Thank you honey for all you've done and continue to do to provide for our family and look to the Lord for wisdom! The Lord has granted you the knowledge and wisdom to make the decisions you have needed to lead you exactly where He wanted you to be. We're so grateful for the journey along the way to learn more about God's character and grow together in this process. There's no one else I'd rather be walking hand-in-hand with on this journey the Lord is taking us on!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Seven

2011-11-27T22:22:00.000-06:00

Today I'm expressing my thankfulness even for the trials we have been experiencing as they have molded our family and grown and stretched us in ways we never could have imagined. We have been reminded often of God's Sovereignty, perfect plan, love and provision for us time and time again! God's grace is sufficient for those of you suffering through trials, calamities, insults, hardships, persecutions, and weaknesses. We know from first-hand experience that God's plans are PERFECT and we need to give THANKS in all things according to these passages below:

(Philippians 4:4-9 ESV) "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV) "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Our family verse throughout the past year that we memorized together and continue to go back to was:

(Proverbs 16:9 ESV) "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."

365:331

2011-11-27T19:25:00.000-06:00

365:331 - Happy FIVE MONTH Birthday to our sweet Bean! She is such a joyful, easy-going, giggly little girl! She ADORES her big sister already and giggles and smiles whenever peanut comes around her! We're SO THANKFUL for you sweetie and praise the Lord for the five months He's already given us to enjoy you! WE LOVE YOU Bean! We can't wait to celebrate your first Christmas!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Six

2011-11-26T20:04:00.000-06:00

Today I am SOO very thankful for this beautiful rental home the Lord has blessed us with! We've moved around a few times, and finding a home with a large backyard for the girls to play in, and have their own rooms for now has been such a wonderful blessing for all four of us! We are so thankful for the landlords the Lord has graciously given us that take such great care of this home and our family too!

365:330

2011-11-26T14:46:00.000-06:00

365:330 - Peanut is old enough to help me decorate the tree this year with our fun variety of colored ball and special family ornaments! I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face watching her dig through all of my childhood ornaments, get excited about every single one of them for a different reason and than hang them all in one small area on the tree! I left many of her ornaments where she placed them, but had to spread a few of them out to fill up the tree! :) Seeing moments like these through the eyes of a child is so wonderful and makes things so much more precious!

365:329

2011-11-25T20:23:00.000-06:00

365:329 - Here we are putting up our Christmas Tree together as a family! Can you tell Peanut was just a LITTLE bit excited to put up our Christmas decorations!? :) Bean even got to be part of "Decking the Halls" with us! Each year we add to our family I'm more grateful for family traditions and memories we can build together like these!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Five

2011-11-25T16:29:00.000-06:00

Today I'm taking my Thankfulness cue from my sweet Peanut! I am so thankful for our warm beds that the Lord has given us to sleep inside on these cold Fall evenings! I've learned so much from her joyful spirit during these more trying past twelve months and we are not in need at all, thanks to the Lord's provision and the generosity of dear family, friends and even amazing people who we've just barely met! Thank you ALL for giving of yourselves to bless our family.

Peanut, at four years old, drew this photo of herself in her new big-girl bed and told her MOPS teacher she was thankful for her bed and her mom and dad and sister! I can't save every piece of artwork, but I'm scanning my favorites in and saving them in a digital folder to someday make a precious digital scrapbook of her beautiful masterpieces!

365:328

2011-11-24T17:13:00.000-06:00

I'm a little behind in posting my P365 photos and 30 Days of Thankfulness, but I'm about to get caught back up right now....so enjoy!

365:328 - Ernie's aunt's and cousins are diehard Black Friday shoppers! Every year on Thanksgiving they scope out the Black Friday ads while we're at Grandma's house celebrating Thanksgiving and make their lists in order of when the stores open! This year one of Ernie's cousins, Shannon, actually made them all t-shirts and I had to get a picture of the shirts she designed for their whole crew to wear. She found an Angry Birds t-shirt design she liked at Target and edited it in Photoshop to create this shirt!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Four

2011-11-24T10:13:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for the two vehicles we have that allow us to go places, run errands, take Ernie to work and to visit people. I'm especially glad we get to drive out to celebrate Thanksgiving with both my side and Ernie's side this weekend and celebrate ALL that God has blessed us with and provided to our family throughout the past year! Thank you Lord for your constant care, provisions and watch over our family and vehicles. We are truly thankful for ALL you have done for us.

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Three

2011-11-23T15:18:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for the motivation the Lord gives me to be productive in my home! I've been able to knock out quite a few tasks on my to-do list today to get ready for our Thanksgiving tonight and tomorrow with both sides of our family and I thank the Lord for the ability to work!

365:327

2011-11-23T15:13:00.001-06:00

365:327 - I'm excited to celebrate Thanksgiving a little bit early this evening with my side of the family! I made these two awesome Chocolate Pies for our meal to go along with the rest of the trimmings that my mom and sis are providing! Thankful for another blessed year in the Lord!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-23T14:53:00.001-06:00

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Two

2011-11-22T22:56:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for the amazing privilege I have to be able to stay at home and serve my husband as well as teach my girls from God's Word, by example (Lord willing) and educate them in the ways of a Titus 2 and Proverbs 31 woman from day-to-day! I am also really enjoying the preschool teaching I get to do with Emily from day-to-day as well!

365:326

2011-11-22T19:49:00.000-06:00

365:326 - Peanut put together her entire outfit today from head to toe and I LOVED watching her match everything herself! She's really growing up and I can hardly believe how much she's maturing and learning as well. She was such a huge helper to me today while we ran errands to pick up our Thanksgiving baking items list.

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-One

2011-11-21T17:10:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for the amazing new full-time position the Lord blessed Ernie with! He was hired by a large organization here in town and will be working in their Information Technology (IT) Department! Today is his first day and we are rejoicing and praising the Lord for His continued blessings and provisions to our family through this new job! Ernie is very excited about this opportunity, as am I! Please join us in praying that Ernie can be a light shining for Christ in his new place of employment, and that he can be a valuable asset to them in his diligence day-to-day! Rejoice with us in this answer to prayer on the start of this Thanksgiving Week!

365:325

2011-11-21T10:19:00.001-06:00

365:325 - It's a BIG DAY in our house today! Our second vehicle is missing from the garage because the Lord blessed Ernie with a Full-Time position working for a large organization in their IT Department (Information Technology); and he started today, 11-21-11.

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty

2011-11-20T20:45:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for technology! That may sound bizarre, but it has really allowed me to stay in touch with SO many more friends and family near and far than I ever thought would be possible! I use it to communicate via email, text message, Skype, Facebook, Our blog, Cell phone, Instant messenger, the web and facetime! Keeping in touch with family & friends is very important to me.

365:324

2011-11-20T20:25:00.001-06:00

365:324 - Peanut's room is now 100% complete! We were finally able to hang the rest of her things up in her room! Her name is over her bed, her shelves are hung and her growth chart is up with her newest measurement placed on it today! She was SOOO excited when she came in to see the finished product today! It feels so homey now!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Nineteen

2011-11-19T22:00:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for the opportunity to be part of a couple of Mystery Shopping companies! It has given our family the opportunity to eat out at a few chain restaurants in our area, rate their service and the food and get reimbursed for this information. It's a blessing to us to be able to go out to eat and be compensated in return for our services!

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2011-11-19T21:50:00.001-06:00

365:323 - Here is a portion of the final leaf pile I finished blowing after Ernie raked a huge portion of it under the tree in our front yard (thanks to the generosity of my parents letting us borrow their leaf blower & saving us a tremendous amount of blisters and pain)! It wraps almost completely around this tree! I cannot believe how many leaves we have in our front and backyard from the four HUGE trees surrounding our rental house! It's our first Fall here and we've really enjoyed the beautiful trees changing color, but had no idea what to expect after all the leaves dropped off!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Eighteen

2011-11-18T20:48:00.000-06:00

Today I am extremely grateful for the generosity of others! We have seen others be used by the Lord to bless us in amazing ways throughout the past few years! We truly have amazing family and friends who are not afraid to put themselves out there and give generously to those they see with a need! We are SO very grateful and thankful for all of you who have given so generously to our family, words cannot express how much your thoughtfulness means to our family! Thank you dear family and friends for everything - we love you all dearly!

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2011-11-18T20:33:00.000-06:00

365:322 - The girls in our HUGE pile of leaves together outside! Peanut had a blast jumping into the pile with Daddy's help over and over again all afternoon! I love watching her enjoy things for the first time and making fun memories like this together!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Seventeen

2011-11-17T20:23:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for the new MOPS Group I'm getting plugged into here in town with the girls! We've really enjoyed getting to know some new Mom's and making friends! Peanut loves the group she's in every other week and has learned some awesome lessons about Moses and makes some of the cutest little crafts!

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2011-11-17T20:12:00.000-06:00

365:321 - Peanut has been begging me to straighten her hair for the past week or so! I finally had a chance to do it and she was SO PROUD and EXCITED to show Daddy her straight hair! She loved how long it felt and when she looked in the mirror she said , "Ohhhh, it looks just like Anna's hair" (her cousin with straight hair)! She looks so grown up with her hair straight like this!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Sixteen

2011-11-16T19:07:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for both sets of Grandparents in our girls' lives! We are so blessed to be able to live close to both sets of our parents (within an hour of both). We don't take this precious gift for granted now that we've lived out of state more than once with our girls! I really cherish the time that I get to spend with each set of parents as well as the special time the girls get with them as well! Mimi and Papa (Michelle's parents) and Grandpa and Grandma (Ernie's parents) both have such a wonderful relationship with the girls and adore them so much! Thanks for playing such a special role in our lives and the lives of our girls - we love you so much!

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2011-11-16T19:00:00.000-06:00

365:320 - Look who is OVERLY anxious for the cold weather to arrive! She came out in these Pajama's tonight and I told her she'd be too hot in them and that she needed to change into something cooler. She so badly wants the snow to arrive and stay. I have to say she's extremely adorable in these footed PJ's, but I'm not quite ready for the cold, windy, snow-filled winter months to arrive! I'm soaking up every last one of these beautiful 50 degree, no coat Fall days!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-16T18:30:00.000-06:00

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Fifteen

2011-11-15T22:44:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for the precious couple of hours Ernie gave me this afternoon to just go and run errands alone! I adore my time with the girls each and every day, but this was a very relaxing time for me today! The times away make me appreciate and enjoy the time with my family at home even more! Thank you love for this special "me" time you blessed me with unexpectedly this afternoon! Thank you also for being such an amazing Daddy to our two sweet girls and for caring for us all so well!

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2011-11-15T22:39:00.001-06:00

365:319 - Bean is really starting to enjoy her daily tummy and back play-mat time! I captured this adorable shot of her shortly after putting her down this morning! She's getting stronger each time she's placed on her tummy too. Peanut loves play mat time with her baby sister because it means they can lay on the floor together and interact!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Fourteen

2011-11-14T21:55:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for the amazing privilege I have to study God's Word! I am really enjoying my study through the book of James this semester with my Women of the Word (WOW) Bible study at my church! The Lord is teaching me so much about myself and revealing areas of sin in my life that need to be repented of. I am eternally grateful and thankful for His continued work of sanctification in my life from day-to-day.

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2011-11-14T21:41:00.000-06:00

365:318 - Ernie grew a beard for a few weeks until he had to attend a meeting this week. I was actually getting used to it and really starting to enjoy it, but he shaved it off this morning! I'm so thankful for this loving, handsome man the Lord has blessed me with! I love you babe!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Thirteen

2011-11-13T23:49:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for the many loads of laundry I will be working on this week! Looking at these many loads reminds me of God's continued provision for my family and that we have SO MUCH to be grateful for in the way of material items! Thank you Lord for the clothes on our backs and the many beautiful items you have blessed our family with thanks to the generosity and thoughtfulness of others in our time of need!

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2011-11-13T23:25:00.001-06:00

365:317 - Bean LOVES her bath time! It makes bath time so enjoyable when she loves it so much! I just want to kiss those adorable cheeks and hug that smiley little girl! So thankful for this baby girl the Lord has blessed our family with!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twelve

2011-11-12T23:02:00.000-06:00

Peanut had a blast trying things on!

Today I am thankful for Mama-Daughter dates that I can have with my girls 1:1! I took peanut on a quick errand tonight that turned into about an hour! I enjoyed EVERY single minute of our time together as we walked up and down the Christmas aisles looking and enjoying every single little ornament, glimmer and stuffed animal on the shelves together! It's amazing how much more I see through the eyes of my sweet, energetic and joy-filled four year old! She gets sheer joy out of some of the simplest things and it's such a wonderful reminder to me to be filled with JOY in all things for the Glory of Christ above all else - no matter what our circumstances may be! Thank you sweet peanut for such a fun and memorable spontaneous Mama-Daughter date together tonight! I love you dearly.

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2011-11-12T12:38:00.001-06:00

365:316 - I guess we're getting new gutters today! They showed up unexpectedly this morning and just started tearing off our old gutters and replacing with all new gutters! The house is going to look awesome with a new roof and new gutters! This will be wonderful for the upcoming winter months. Thankful for a Landlord who really takes care of our house!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Eleven

2011-11-11T23:53:00.001-06:00

Today on Veterans Day, I am thankful for all of the men and women who have fought and protected our country over the years! Word cannot express my gratitude for all you do for our country! THANK YOU!!

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2011-11-11T21:30:00.000-06:00

365:315 - It feels great to get our fall/winter clothes unpacked and our summer clothes packed away in the bins. It's always such a huge project - but productivity feels great!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Ten

2011-11-10T23:30:00.000-06:00

Today I'm thankful for fellowship with my sisters in the Lord! I was able to get out for a much needed girls night tonight and came home encouraged and re-energized to be a better wife and mother. I love fellowship with my sisters in Christ and the way that we can share our joys, sorrows, struggles and triumphs with each other. It's great that we can encourage one another in our roles as wives and mothers and to remind one another that our ultimate goal is to bring honor and glory to the Lord in ALL was say and do throughout our day!

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2011-11-10T22:53:00.000-06:00

365:314 - Bean is changing like crazy! It seems like she's growing everyday and gets more hair on her head each morning I walk into her room! We're so happy with her weight gain and growth and thankful that she is doing so well! Praising the Lord for her great health!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Nine

2011-11-09T21:39:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for the power of prayer and for God's continued provisions to our family! We continue to seek His will for our family and trust His perfect plan for us from day-to-day! I've been amazed at what He continues to reveal to me personally, and to us as a family about Himself and teach us more about His character daily! Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow! I would encourage any of you who have not kept a prayer and praise journal to do so! We have kept one going since November 10, 2010 and we are in awe of all God has done in and through our family to bring sanctification as well as to bring us to our knees over and over again and give Him ALL the Glory!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T21:28:00.001-06:00

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2011-11-09T20:24:00.000-06:00

365:313 - Thanks to another amazing DailyDealOmaha coupon, peanut was able to enjoy some fun exercise this evening at an open bounce indoor play area for about an hour! She had a blast and really got some wonderful running around in! She could hardly even stand up with these HUGE boxing gloves on and was cracking up just trying to stand still here! We had a wonderful time watching her as a family have so much fun and make new friends!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Eight

2011-11-08T22:17:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for the most incredible Fall we have been blessed to experience! I am just in awe of all the gorgeous colors the Lord created the trees and bushes around us to change into as they are dying before winter. It has been absolutely breath-taking to experience this year. It has been such a wonderfully warm and enjoyable fall with so many awesome days to just have the windows wide open to experience the sunshine and cool breeze too! THANK YOU LORD for blessing us with an amazing Fall to be in awe of ALL you have made and given us to experience day-to-day with your amazing creation.

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2011-11-08T22:07:00.000-06:00

365:312 - This is our insane leaf covered backyard! This is our first Fall in our rental home here and we have four HUGE trees surrounding the house. One large one in the front and backyard's and two on the west side of the house. You can barely see the grass anymore and the tree pictured here still has over half of it's leaves to drop! We've got a HUGE JOB cut out for us in the near future!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Seven

2011-11-07T21:39:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for family memories! I just adore making special memories with my girls and Ernie and capturing them on camera! Family is so very precious to me and I am so thankful for each and every blessing He has placed in my life! I don't know what I'd do without my amazing leader and best friend Ernie and I am so blessed to be able to parent peanut and bean alongside the love of my life on behalf of the Lord while we are here on earth together.

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2011-11-07T21:05:00.000-06:00

365:311 - Ernie and his girls getting ready to carve our pumpkin! We never got around to carving a pumpkin before Halloween; so we decided to take the evening together and do it tonight. Peanut chose Hello Kitty for the character she wanted to carve and Ernie perfected it and made it turn out adorable! You can see the finished product below!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Six

2011-11-06T21:15:00.000-06:00

Today I am thankful for OBC, the amazing church that we have the privilege of being a part of! I am so very thankful for a pastor that submits to God's Will for Him as our Shepherd as he leads us and clearly presents the Gospel of Christ each and every week straight from God's Word! The Body of Christ is also a blessing as we glean encouragement and wisdom from our fellow believers in Christ.

365:310

2011-11-06T20:33:00.000-06:00

365:310 - Peanut wanted to role play Strawberry Shortcake with Daddy tonight. She asked us to make her a hat that looked just like Strawberry's; so Ernie added the red ribbon and one of her plastic food kitchen strawberries to her hat and called her Strawberry Shortcake and she was on cloud nine! I think she looks just like Strawberry Shortcake in this photo!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Five

2011-11-05T21:36:00.002-05:00

Today I am thankful for all my dear friends the Lord has so graciously placed in my life throughout the years. One thing I can honestly say is that I desire to be a Lifelong Friend who honors the Lord in the way I treat my friends! I love staying in touch with friends from all over no matter where we met and enjoy catching up with them from time-to-time via phone, emails, text messages, facebook, blog or face-to-face! True, deep friendships are sometimes hard to build and come by as it takes time to build up a trust and be honest with one another! I have some amazingly honest and open friends that I can share my faults, my triumps, my struggles, my joys and my sorrows with. Some of my deepest, most memorable friendships are with those that I can be truly honest and open with and receive encouragement from God's Word, as well as constructive criticism from them and leave uplifted by our time together! So dear friends - you know who you are - THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU ALL DEARLY!!!! I praise the Lord for each of you and am so thankful for who each of you is to me individually! You have helped me to become a better Wife, Mother, Friend and Daughter by encouraging me to strive to honor and glorify the Lord in EVERY aspect of my life!

365:309

2011-11-05T17:44:00.002-05:00

365:309 - GO BIG RED!!!! Peanut and Bean all dressed up in their Husker shirts to support our team today! Peanut begged me to wear this brown and pink hat so that she could "match her sissy's hat"! I love when she asks to match by wanting to wearing the same colors or same type of headband, I pray this special bond continues to grow between them!

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Four

2011-11-04T23:36:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for my Freedom! My freedom in Christ and my freedom in the United States!

365:308

2011-11-04T22:39:00.000-05:00

365:308 - Peanut was invited (as was our whole family) to a friends birthday party this evening at the play center located on base at Offutt! We had such a great time fellow-shipping with fellow believers in Christ as well as celebrating miss R's 2nd birthday with her family! Thanks for the invitation S family! We're praying for you all!

Tales of MEEE!

Peanut praising the Lord in Song

Bean is 7 months old

We're still alive

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Another BIG day!

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Wordless Wednesday

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Wordless Wednesday

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Rolling, Rolling, Rolling down the river....

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Wordless Wednesday

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Wordless Wednesday

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Blogger Opportunity to earn a $10 Shutterfly Gift

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Wordless Wednesday

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Thirty

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Nine

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Eight

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Seven

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Six

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Five

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Four

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Three

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Wordless Wednesday

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-Two

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty-One

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Twenty

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Nineteen

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Eighteen

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Seventeen

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Sixteen

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Wordless Wednesday

30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Fifteen

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30 Days of Thankfulness - Day Fourteen

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