Rethinking Poverty.

It's really easy for me to get caught up in my own hard times to remember what real poverty looks like. About 8 months ago, Luke and I decided to sponsor a child through Compassion. There are some months where money is tight and I don't know how we'll pay it on top of all the other stuff, but then I remember. I have a large house, food on my table, running (mostly) clean water ;) , and lots of other things to be so thankful for and it reminds me that I am not even close to poverty. Sure we may have it hard every now and then, but I have so much to be thankful for. Our little lady that we got assigned is from the Philippines and is 8. She's adorable and I've REALLY enjoyed exchanging letters with both her and her mother. Its humbling when they tell me they are praying for ME, for my family. Its so sweet to hear about her school and all the things she enjoys. A team of bloggers and fellow sponsors are on a Compassion tour through the Philippines. You can follow along as they blog about their time there..(just click the link to the right!)...

And consider sponsoring a child yourself. It will bless you so so much!

My kiddos

So after getting several notifications from our insurance company stating that my kids were due for a well check visit, I finally scheduled one. Its taken me a while to find a pediatrician I like. When you find a good one and have to leave them, its a daunting task to get another one. Tried out 2 different places before finally finding one where I felt supported. Took my kids and all was well, all the kids are on the normal spectrum as far as growth and such and developmentally where they should be.  Did make note that Olivia may need her eyes checked if her next eye exam there was any worse, but they said its hard to tell at this age...so we shall see.

Luke's parents are moving to the North GA region. I am pretty darn happy about that. It will be so nice to have them so much closer and available for the kids(and us) to get to enjoy having their company more often. Never hurts to have all the grandparent reinforcements you can get..haha..We will get spoiled having my parents AND Luke's parents around again. :)

Kate's birthday is next week! We are just doing a small little get together for her, but hoping its special. The two older kids took some of their money today to Target(dollar section) and each picked out an item for her and paid for it...they were so proud..Glad they are coming around to the idea that giving a gift can be just as fun as getting one.

Did awesome grocery shopping this week. Under 100's for a week's worth and that includes Kate's big birthday dinner...not to shabby! Trying to get better, although I do miss the days of just grocery shopping without thought as to what I was really buying. haha...Plus, I would love to be able to buy more produce and the such...

Growing in my decisions.

Lots of mama's ask me what I think about child-rearing. Not that I'm a mother genius or anything, but I do some stuff differently then most mainstream so I kind of stand out like a sore thumb..thus the questions. I used to be so defensive about them. I used to think that is was crazy that people would say I was doing things wrong when at the time I felt they were so in the wrong. I've grown a lot in the last couple months concerning this. I have learned that I have made all my choices based on what I knew at the time. I've formula fed, I've vaccinated, I've allowed my baby to cry it out, I've circumcised,  I've hospital birthed, I've homebirthed, I've breastfed, bed shared and held my baby for hours because it was the only way they'd sleep. I've run the gamut. I made decisions based on what I knew. I like educating myself. I like knowing that no matter how much I learn, I will never arrive, and I may look back and see some decisions that I made and shake my head at them, but I made/make the best choices for me. For my family. For my children. Knowing what I know in that moment and looking towards what I can learn to better those choices.

Let us not look down on mother's for the choices they make based on what they know. In the end the only thing I have to worry about are my own choices and decisions and that's enough to deal with! We mama's have it hard enough without someone breathing down our necks about raising our children. A friend of mine wrote an awesome post on this and it was great.

--Keli's blog--

I promise to try my best not to presume my choices are the right choices for you...If all mama's did this, we'd be way better off.

New time..

My mom's birthday was this week and we  went to lunch on Monday at a burger place with my sister and niece. It was fun and the kids did pretty good for it being so close to naptime. Its nice to get out and enjoy time with family when they are so close to us. I used to think an hour drive was so long, but now its nothing in comparison to how far we used to have to drive to see them!

Its been an interesting week. Luke's parents came up last Thursday, but I got a really bad stomach bug and didn't end up seeing them till Friday afternoon. We enjoyed their visit and time...Luke also got a call last week about a possible job opening. It wasn't in his field or line of work at all really so initially I wasn't too thrilled about it, but I knew at this time in our lives it wasn't about that anymore. Plus Luke has been saying he was open to stuff he wasn't trained in as long as it would pay enough. So on Monday he rode along with the owner of the company to do...well..stump grinding. Who knew there was such a market, but they say that they stay pretty darn busy. Pay wasn't ideal but there is room for growth and it would be steady as opposed to how we've been living the last 2 years. We haven't had a steady income in a long time...it will be nice knowing how much money we'll bring in each week and being able to plan accordingly. Luke was super excited about it all and after praying and talking we decided it was best. So he took it! I'm kind of naturally a realist, so I'm still not sure how I feel about it yet since he just started, but he's happy and thats what I'm going with for now. :) Don't get me wrong, I'm happy he has a job...FOR SURE, but it means a lot of change ups. Like he has to be at work at 6:30, so no more late nights like we are used to..that was hard even though I know it was selfish, and possible weekend working(though its optional and not required)...

Learning to live in the grace that He provides and remember that providing for our family is more important then an extra hour or two every evening..

Trying to decide what to do for Kate's 2nd birthday. I'm SO uncreative when it comes to birthday parties and now that we actually have kids and stuff around us, I feel so at a loss as to what to do. Idea's? Cheap ones? ;)

Running in a 5k on Saturday..! I'm excited and yet scared cause I've really slacked on training for it this time. I cannot run even a mile without stopping, so we'll see how this goes. I've already accepted that I won't beat my last time, so I'm more in it for the spirit of it then anything..plus I already paid for it. :)

Mother's day is coming up! Its always special getting to celebrate my Mother and Mother in law, but also getting to enjoy that privileged myself now..Looking forward to sleeping in and having a lazy day.

Something...

Something has been on my heart some recently..birth. No, I'm not pregnant that I know of, but it has been on my mind recently. I find you still process your children's birth long after they are born.

I am utterly convinced of the Lord's goodness in this area. Sad that I don't feel this way more in other areas but it's true. I know it sounds easy for me to say this when I haven't had any problems concerning my births but it's not. There is always a small freak out that happens midway through my pregnancy but I am quick to be reminded that He is so good. I understand that lots of people have had bad experiences and I am NOT saying that those who have issues didn't have enough faith or that the Lord didn't want them to have good births, so please don't think I'm trying to say that. I can only speak for myself and what I feel and know to personally be true.

The Lord has immensely blessed me with 3 wonderful and non-eventful births. I DO NOT take this for granted. There is nothing in my own power to make these births ok, God must receive the glory for this. He has been so faithful..

I hope to be able to raise Olivia and Kate(and any future daughters) that God knew them before the beginning of time, He knew who they would marry, when they would get pregnant, when they would give birth and who their children will be. He does not make mistakes and He is not surprised by anything. So they need not be concerned. He made their bodies to birth their babies. That He made them capable! I'm so happy that Olivia already is grasping this and believing birth is normal. Also that every horror birth story that I'm sure will be told to her doesn't matter. They don't need birth sugar coated, but they don't need to fear it. It can be wonderful and beautiful and amazingly empowering.

Off soap box.

Warmer..

Its getting so nice and warm out recently. I can't believe its only April. It feels more like July out there! We are soo blessed this year to be around people who have pools. We plan on making the most of them this summer.. :)

I was given a jogging stroller this past week, which made me soo excited. I've been wanting one for a while but just could never justify the expense since we already had a regular stroller...this one is used, but has life left in it and I'm so thankful to have it. I am looking forward to getting to use it more as we start being outside more. Just have to find a place to use it. Our neighborhood is kinda small for it and all Hall County tracks have a rule of no strollers on their tracks. :( Boo....

Luke has had work the last couple of weeks. Such a blessing. I've been there, so I know what I'm saying but its so easy to take work for granted and not appreciate it. The saying is true, you don't know what you have till you don't have it anymore. We've never been super big splurgers but we do like being free to spend if we so wanted to and now we just appreciate when our bills get paid on time. The Lord is continually showing me how to live in the DAY and not the week or month and being thankful if my needs are met for the day. This is hard...just sayin'.

Signed Olivia up for K12 again this year. After applying for both Noah and Olivia to get into a certain school here I kinda got it in my head how nice it would be to have my mornings free and being able to focus on Kate some. But it didn't work out and I'm having to lay down what I wanted and just trust that the Lord knows better then I.  2 families who have recently started coming to our group both have little girls that are starting in K12 this year, so it will be nice to have some other homeschool families around and allowing Olivia to have some more outside social interaction. Can't believe that in another month and a half roughly we will be done with school for this school year. Its been an interesting go and we've had a positive experience with K12 don't get me wrong, but I'm personally just having to learn to be patient with her...Not something that comes naturally. haha..Olivia is seriously a ball of energy and has a very short attention span....so I'm having to figure out how to best work education into her learning style.

2 weeks!

Its been 2 weeks! Busy, full and emotionally charged 2 weeks. Most people think that growing in the Lord is beautiful(and its is sometimes!), but sometimes its ugly as stuff comes pouring out and you wonder how long its been there and why in the world you kept it from the Lord in the first place. So thankful my Honey has been patient with me as I'm growing and learning to die to self...


Went on a retreat with the ladies from The Church we're meeting with. I'm always so amazed how you can take so many different woman, stick them in a house together and things worked out. I love that despite that most of us have similarities and things in common, its not those that bind us. Its knowing we are all a vital part of the Body and we are all sharing and loving the same Christ. That's enough to have great relationships! haha...We had so much fun being teenage girls again, laughing long into the night. We learned you can fit 7 people in a 4 person hot tub, but it will over flow, we learned more about each other we probably wanted to, and that shopping in downtown Helen is a hoot. So thankful for the time, and for the great memories we created that weekend.