Are you an Invisible Mom?

catapillers to butterflies and the mysteries of metemorphous

Our Nonni (David's mom) caught two catapillers in a jar for us. Dustin killed one of them and we have been patiently waiting for the butterfly to emerge. So while i was giving the girls there medicine I walked over to the sink and noticied "we have a butterfly". Wish we could have seen it through the whole process. We have been watching its cacoon change a little each night. Honestly I thought Dustin killed this one too. So we hurried out to our butterfly garden to let him go. We watched for a few minutes and he just sat there on the flowers. Then a slight crakling of the mulch and what do I see, a baby snake or maybe an adult snake that was just small. I screamed like a girl and danced around the yard. It was so close to touching my feet. I don't know what i would have done if it had gone across my feet. I am so glad my neighbors aren't home and that no one saw that besides my girls.

Hope you enjoy a laugh on my behalf as you imagine my terror.

Its been a while...

It really has been a while since I've had time to post. Last week, i was out of the home, running errands and numerous other things I can not remember now. Today was filled with a doctors appointment for Brooklyn. How come one little appointment seems to take the entire day? Is it because getting 4 of us ready takes a while and loading up in the car takes a while and then getting there takes a while and getting out of the car takes a while and on and on it goes.

So pretty much everything in my life takes a while to do. Apparently even posting to my blog takes a while. :) One day it won't take as long, but I'm sure that I will wish that the girls were little again.

My mom and dad are vacationing in Alasksa right now, so david has been particularly busy the past two weeks.

Love you all!

Ignite 2008

Here are some photos from our youth retreat a few weeks back. I have more pictures to show, but i can't find them on my computer right now. When i do, i will blog them because they are great "after" pictures from the food fight. Hope you enjoy these in the meantime.

80% off at Restaurant.com - TODAY ONLY

If you all like to eat out as much as I do you'll want to stock up with this deal.

Today only at www.Restaurant.com you can get 80% off of your total using the code FIRST at checkout.

I did it for us and we bought $150 worth of gift certificates for $12. We stock up when they offer 70-80% off. Its a great way to try new restaurants in the area.


Happy Eating!

Our little Meredith turns 4 Today!

It is really hard for me to believe that Meredith is already 4. Today is the day 4 years ago, the story goes something like this...

Little Meredith decided to join us a little earlier than most babies. Her initial attempts began at 30 weeks just like her big (15 month old -at the time) sister, Alyssa. After 5 weeks on bedrest, I was still progressing too much so my doctor decided I needed to stay in the hospital. If I recall it was a Monday morning. We went in for a normal weekly visit and the doctor said "you have to go straight to the hospital. I will call them and tell them you are coming". So i got there and got shots and IV fluids. It helped, but they wanted me to stay in the hospital to keep monitoring me. So then i called my mom and dad and sister...told them the story. They waited a few days and then after talking to my doctor we all decided it was time for them to come if they wanted to be there in time. So 6 hours they drove (I think they had to leave a pastors retreat to come). And about that long that sat and waited. Then the doctor said I'm not going to do anything to make you progress so we will just wait and see. At that point, Dad and Kristen decide to make the 5 hour drive home - and wouldn't you believe it that our little Meredith decided to make her debut pretty much right after they got back to Orlando. So we called and said, you should come back now. I had progressed enough to prove i was in active labor so we got ball officially rolling and broke my water. A few hours later... our little Meredith joined our family.

(nice hair cut right :), they didn't tell us before they did it. The nurses were having a hard time finding a vein, so they thought they would have to do it in her head. They cut her hair and decided to try one more time and they found a vein in her arm after they cut her hair. My poor little girl, good thing hair grows back quickly on little babies.)

When I was pregnant, people told me - just wait until they are 3 and 4 and things will get easier. I don't know if that was the case, but now they are 4 and 5 and things are easier in some ways, harder in others but I wouldn't trade them for anything.

What a joy she brings to our family! She is hyper to say the least, but she brings excitement and joy wherever she goes. We couldn't imagine our life without her.

Ignite 2008

Well we had a full weekend! It was because we were over in Brooksville at the Lakeside Retreat Center for Grace Church's first youth retreat. It was for our middle school and high school groups. So much like back in my days of Extreme. We loaded up early with a few minor attacks from the enemy, but we overcame them and only left 1/2 hour late, we hit the road to set up and transform a woodsy camp into a beautiful meeting room where we trusted we would all encounter God this weekend!

God was so faithful! First of all, David did a fantastic job. I wish you all could have been there. He preached three of the four messages and lead all the meetings. I think Wayne was seeing what his capacity is and he passed with flying colors. The focus of the meetings was the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit showed up! Secondly, Chris Jessee was able to come and lead worship for us! That was such a blessing. He did a great job as always, it was such a joy to hear him lead. When I closed my eyes I felt like I was having flashbacks to Metro's firt youth retreat at the Woodlands.

So what were the highlights...

#1 - a young women seeing her need for a Savior and responding to Him.
#2 - a 10 year old girl, being filled with the Spirit praying for all her friends, young and old alike, this girl had no fear! It was so cute!
#3 - ministry time at the meetings,
#4 - prophetic words brought,
and
#5 - the nastiest "Nasty War" (food fight) I've ever seen.

I'll post pictures in the next few days!

Organizing 101...

If any of you know me well, you know I have to try really hard to get and stay organized. Well, with all this CVS, grocery game coupons stuff I've just kept all my extra supplies in a rubbermaid tote. Well my bathroom has been overrun with disorganization. This morning, I asked David if i could take some time to organize our closet and bathroom. 2 hours later this is the result. I also switched our sides of the vanity in our bathroom.

No more rubbermaid tote and an inventory list. This list is brand new, unopened products...

4 mouthwash

11 toothbrushes

6 tubes of toothpaste

7 razors

8 Mascara

5 Lipsticks/Lipglosses

4 Foundations

6 Eyeshadows

2 Pressed Powders

7 Shampoos

8 Conditioners

5 Sunscreen

6 Body Wash

13 Deoderant

2 Air Fresheners

3 Air Wick Plug ins


I wish I had written down the retail prices of all these products and how much I actually paid for them. What a blessing it is to buy these things for so cheap.

A Harsh Word Stirs Up Anger

This morning David and I were talking about how we are both so often tempted to speak harshly to our little girls when they are not doing as they should. In effect we are trying to motivate them by fear instead of by grace. Then I did my devotions... I am reading through Matthew right now, in my attempt to read through the Bible in a year. So today I read in Matthew 12:34 and 36-37, it says...

"For out of the abundance of your heart the mouth speaks", "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned."

By grace the Holy Spirit has shown me a few times today when I was tempted to speak harshly to the girls and as a result I was able to speak with grace and peace to them. There were also a few times that the Holy Spirit showed me afterwards as well.

I am a great sinner, in need of a great savior! And I want to raise my girls, motivating them by grace and not fear.

Through the Years...

An anniversary is a good time to look back on how we have changed through the years. We went out for dinner last night and to Barnes and Noble and then we watched our wedding video. We cracked up!!! I thought you all may like to see some pictures of David and I from the last 7 years...

7 years ago today...

So its almost 1pm and 7 years ago today at 1pm I was seeing the man of my dreams (for the first time that day) who in a few short hours would be my husband. These have been the best 7 years of my life. My what a journey we have had. We have lived in 6 homes/apartments, had 3 children, 3 vehicles and countless memories made that we will cherish the rest of our lives. I am thankful for David. How he loves me, cares for me, provides for me and our family, how he loves our Savior and loves the people God has entrusted to his care.

I love you David! And I look forward with much anticipation about the years ahead that we will spend together. God willing that will be a really long time!

On a funnier note, I had to get a filling today. Oh yea! So my face is still numb. David is cracking up laughing at me and he has refused to kiss me. Well, we took care of the later, but he is still laughing at me. I told him he hurt my feelings cause what if something happened and I had a half smile all the time (Pouring on the guilt is a specialty of mine). He told me he was going to post a picture of me. I don't think that will happen. I'm sure any of you who have had a filling know just what I am talking about.

the animals of Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom

Family Vacation Day 4

We started out Thursday by heading to the lake. We rented a paddleboat and thought the girls would love it. Well about half way through the 30 minute ride Alyssa said, "can we just go back now". We laughed and made a game out of touching the bouyies (I don't know how to spell that word).

After the lake we went to the Fountain Pool. It was the girls favorite of all the pools at the resort. The girls had naps and we had an early dinner and then went back to the pool until bedtime.

One of our family vacation traditions, is that at least once we eat dessert first instead of last. Now this does mean that the girls won't eat as well. But we figure they can handle it once in a while. And they love it and that is what is most important.

We also worked in time for craft time with mommy.

One of the major highlights was that one of our regular babysitters went with us for a few days. It was so nice to have an extra hand in the pool and at Animal Kingdom, which I'll post tomorrow.