Entrenched..

Right now I am entrenched in life. Not just going about my days(though that's partly it.), but just getting into a flow of enjoying the every day things. I have had a tendency to dislike all that is habitual about my life(dishes, laundry, schooling, diaper changing, meal making...) But I'm learning how to see the Lord in them..

Jesus sure did have to do a lot to wash me clean, carrying a load of laundry,folding them, and doing some dishes isn't much.

The Lord sure has to be patient with me as I learn to live in Him, so teaching my children isn't too much.

The Lord provides for my every day needs SO well and beyond what I probably even give Him credit for, so taking care of my children and husband's needs(the ones I can!) is so little in the grand scheme of things.

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News you can use:

So, I fell down the stairs yesterday. Got a huge ugly bruise on my back, elbow and knee. Olivia was so concerned that she attempted to call 911...I felt so bad that I had scared her bad enough for her to think she needed to call, but thankful she even thought to call when I was in need. She's such a big girl and I can't believe how growny she is becoming.

Starting to train for my second 5k! I'm excited though nervous because I gave up running to let my shin splints heal and I'm wanting for them to not come back..so my training may be slower this go around..

Noah's almost 4. What?! Stop that sweet boy!!

Luke was blessed with a TRUCK!! We now own a beautiful F-150 that is paid for and its perfect for him and being able to put all of his tools in the tool box and such. God rocked our socks off in His provision for it and we are just so thankful to have it.

My car got an upgrade by getting two new tires, new windshield wipers, and our brakes replaced, only need it aligned now and its good to go again for a while. I love Honda's...they like never need work, and when they do its not usually huge..

Got our taxes filed this week and I am just flat out amazed at how little we lived off of this year. Its astonishing. Makes me wonder what the crap we were doing with our money when Luke had a steady pay check! So sad....haha

So my friend K. called yesterday and wanted to know what size diapers Kate wore and the place she worked had some extra's to get rid of and she brought me 8(!!!!) packs of diapers in her size for us. We won't have to buy any for a little while for sure. So thankful, and K., the diapers work great so far, so THANK YOU for thinking of us!!

Its Valentine's day this week and Luke and I were trying to plan a date and realized its been almost 3 months since having a date night. So lame! So we are trying to make it work where we can go out this week. We have a Chili's gift card to use...:)

Moments

Luke stays up with me to watch Teen Mom 2..I don't feel well and I'm not ready for bed and he humors me. We watch, huddled together in front of my Dad's laptop at a kitchen table in a very retro room in which the fridge looks like a upper cabinets. Literally.

The house is quiet while my parents and our children are asleep and in their beds, we brush our teeth in familiar comfort with each other and walk down the hall to the room we are sleeping in and try our best to sneak into the room like teenagers afraid to be caught by parents, only our "parent" is a sleeping 18 month old in a pack-n-play by the bed...we squeeze together in the double bed and stifle back outrageous laughter as Kate lets a toot go in her sleep.

As Luke quickly falls asleep after a long day of working hard for our family, I contemplate how in the world I got so blessed to have each one of them in my life.

Vote for Noah..!

He's in the running for a free print, so please go vote for his picture..! Its easy, just put his number/name in the comments section at the bottom of the page! I would greatly appreciate it!

Vote for Noah Here!

Thanks guys!

My sweeties..

Olivia is now 6...I can't believe it. Every year she gets older, I think "Really?! Already?!"....It feels like she's been with us forever and I can vaguely remember life before her, and yet it seems like only yesterday when I first became her mama and she opened up a new world to me. She's unbelievably creative, wonderful, carefree, has a musical ear, super smart, funny and has made such strides in the past year on how she relates to her siblings and us...

Noah is just about to turn 4. Again..wow..Noah's an old soul..he's quiet, super sweet, caring, thoughtful, very helpful and it just blow me away thinking he'll be pre-k this fall. What?? How can this be? You are my sweet only son and you are just as cute and loving and you can be...always willing to offer out hugs and snuggles. He has a quiet strength about him...

Kate. Oh my....I realize now why babies of the family are spoiled. ;) She has everyone just wanting her happy and quiet so she is given whatever she desires and it shows. Although, in turn she is super compassionate and caring...if one of her siblings is crying, she will come and pat them in comfort or bring them a favorite toy of theirs..She has her Daddy and I(and just about everyone else) wrapped around her little finger.  She is still full of snuggles and is getting to the age where she really enjoys playing with her siblings and tries her best to keep up. She and Liv now share a room and they do pretty good together. I was thinking having them together would make it so hard, but its gone surprisingly well.

My last blog...

Was really depressing sorry.....

On to something way way better. Body Life..

We've been part of church's our whole lives but there is just something different about this time around and our sweet group. Its so blissfully wonderful...so new and different and to overuse the term, very organic. Its not something I think man could just do..its so God. Within weeks of meeting everyone(and praying heavily) we just knew this was where God wanted us. All our relationships already feel like family and we've only known them 6 months. Not that you don't notice quirks or frustrating things about each other, but somehow it doesn't matter and you know these people are YOUR body...they are with you IN Christ and everything else pales. We have been loved on SOO much. Its so awesome to see the Lord at work in all of us.

Those of you Gainesville peeps that read this, know we are SOOOO appreciative of all you do for us. From people who help give us stuff, shovel our snow, offer to watch children, feed us, give rides and tons more under the sun. We love you...and I've told people before, its not cause of what you do for us, its because we know you care about us so much and you are offering up yourselves for the sake of Body life. Luke and I hope that we can return all these wonderful favors....

"The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me"- Matt 25:40

No paid vacation/pity party.

I try to stay positive..I'm naturally kind of a pessimist, but I know God is good and I try to remember that He gets final say and not the rest of the world. Having said that....I would say that for much of this January, Luke hasn't been able to work due to different circumstances. It sucks..When you're self employed you have to work when there is work because you never know when there won't be. Today is Sat, and Luke is out working...which is great, but it still feels weird not having him here on a day that is designed for chilling, and when everyone around you has the day off. It also sucks because we haven't been able to get out of our driveway till just yesterday due to all the snow and ice that was on our road(its almost all cleared up now thankfully), so I haven't been out of the house really in a long time because before the snowcalypse we were sick with a cold, and then managed to pick up pink eye and I am a firm believer in keeping germs to yourself, so we stayed home. I missed our church meeting, the sister's group meeting got moved...so needless to say I'm feeling high strung and having a hard time dealing with just even the day to day stuff.

Then we can throw in the fact that Luke not working for almost 2 weeks,which means NO money coming in for 2 weeks. We live literally from one job to the next and so its not like we have stores of money we can use for times like this...its SO amazing how much a lack of money can effect your life, or least your view on life. It also sucks, because there isn't much I can do to help the situation out, and to be honest I feel guilty about it. I know I shouldn't and Luke has told me many many times that I'm doing what's best for all of us by just caring for kids/house and schooling them...but still.

To top things off, I hate being a charity case.  I know that we've paid for stuff for friends and family lots, but there is just something so humbling and hard about being on the other side of that scenario. I never want people to think that when I share how our life is going that we are expecting or looking for people to take care of us. We know that's God's business to provide for us..and we know sometimes He does it through the Body but still, and its not like we mind people loving on us that way, its just hard cause I don't want people to feel that they HAVE to..ya know?  I can't even count the number of times I've asked the Lord.."Can we please be done with this experience....?"...

Anyways, I'm off my soapbox now and done venting.

Luke is considering going back to school to learn a new job not in his field of expertise. Still praying about it and which avenue he should go and we've also been in contact with some people at our local hospital and seeing if they will pay for him to go to school while he works there...interested to see how it all turns out.

Still alive..

I feel like I've neglected my blog recently, but its ok. We've celebrated the new year, had lots of family visits, Olivia and I are back in the swing of school, celebrated and thrown her a 6th birthday party, fought pink eye, and enjoyed lots of snow..we've been busy. All this and enjoying getting to host and have people over who actually live within a short driving distance of us. So wonderful....

Although January has been kicking our butts and I just haven't felt up to blogging because I know that word vomit may happen and I'm trying to be positive..God is good. No matter what and I trust Him.

Blogging will resume more normally I'm sure at some point soon....