Monday, May 23, 2011
I'm lovin it!
We went out with our friends for dinner the other night - we had a great time of course! At the end of our time together, thier baby was crying in her car seat. James and I were like 'awe, the poor baby!'. The parents were in their groove and put the other kids in the car and carried on (like ya do!). James and I drove home in amazement - that we made it. It's been close to four years of baby stuff and we are out of the woods (for now), enjoying some non baby moments. Children are a blessing. Babies are a blessing... But I'm enjoying this time were both children can walk beside me, climb into the car by themself, play on the swings, go down the slide - alone. Without me holding on to them. It's fun :0) My kids like to dress themself. I find it interesting to see what they pick! Erin is always in some sort of princess garb :)
The fun we have!
Conor made a sign for his bedroom door that says 'No Fighting with Erin!'.
He has asked before if he can make a sign that says 'No Erin's Allowed!'.
We told him no so he made this sign thinking Erin would obey the rule and not fight with him in his room. Ha - Erin likes to come in and play in Conor's room. She likes to take the toy that Conor is playing with (that doesn't go down well). They have a great time together and are the best of friends... most of the time! This summer will be so much fun bc Erin is a little girl and not a baby. Erin says she is a princess and wears her princess clothes all the time. Last week she wore her princess dress and high heals to church - she makes me laugh! James and I are very blessed to have these two treasures.
He has asked before if he can make a sign that says 'No Erin's Allowed!'.
We told him no so he made this sign thinking Erin would obey the rule and not fight with him in his room. Ha - Erin likes to come in and play in Conor's room. She likes to take the toy that Conor is playing with (that doesn't go down well). They have a great time together and are the best of friends... most of the time! This summer will be so much fun bc Erin is a little girl and not a baby. Erin says she is a princess and wears her princess clothes all the time. Last week she wore her princess dress and high heals to church - she makes me laugh! James and I are very blessed to have these two treasures.
McAfee Knob - awesome hike with the hubby!
Our friends went on this hike/date last summer and we/i have been wanting to go ever since. Wow - going on a walk/hike - just me and James... Hours together out in the great outdoors. This sounds silly to those of you who are not married or without children. But for those of you in our shoes you know how rare and wonderful this sounds. We enjoyed seeing the shaddow of the clouds on the mountains. It was fun to drink the spring water and it was alot of fun to have quiet peace for a few hours. This year we have been taking time out for the two of us and it has helped me alot to feel like my own person. I love being a mother but I kinda like being Aisling too (without snot on my shirt and toddler issues inside my mind constantly). Call me selfish/dramactic but it is keeping me sane :) It was a beautiful day and I came back refreshed! I love making memories with my man.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Mother's Day Treasures
Conor came home from school on Thursday with this precious Mother's Day gift for me. He put it behind his back and told me to close my eyes. It was so sweet! The card made me smile because he put a pic of me and him on there. And then he put a circle and a line through it - that means no drawing on walls -ha! yes, we have that problem once in a while! What a special gift! I put my flower in the kitchen window and he said that was a good idea. He said Mrs Jones said the mommys would prob put it beside their bed or in the kitchen window :) He has been making sure the flower gets sunshine and water. That was my precious gift that I will remember fondly. It is sweet to see your child so happy to give you a gift. I'm so thankful God allowed me to be a mother. Thank you family, for making my day so special!! The flower got to be our center piece for sunday dinner that daddy made. James asked Conor to mention how he was thankful for mommy and Conor said she takes care of me. Erin was there too but she is still on a dif planet :0) Conor's pot had more flowers but Erin pulled them off and handed them to me - a not so funny ... funny moment!
Mother's Day was sweet.
Mother's Day was sweet.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Love and War study - week 5
This week's lesson was sobering. We have an enemy... and it is NOT our spouse. We live in a love story set in a world at War. We have an enemy - the devil.
Other things affect our relationship such as personal brokenness, our personal style of relating. But the biggest 'issue' is the enemy. 1 Peter 5:8 'Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings'.
The authors of the book 'Love and War' said, " Pressed to choose our top three things that would most help our marriage, we would come down to this list:
1. Find life in God.
2. Deal with your brokenness.
3. Learn to shut down the spiritual attacks that come against your marriage.
Practice this and nothing else, and you will be amazed at the freedom, love, and joy that will begin to flow."
Don't make agreements with the Devil. "A neighbor confided in me one day that he believed he married the wrong woman. 'I realised it on my wedding day'. 'Really', i said. 'How?'
'It just came to me. I made a terrible mistake. I married the wrong person.'
I asked him if it ever occured to him that is wasn't an epiphany from God, not even a moment of personal clarity, but a suggestion fromt he pit of hell.
He looked at me with absolute incomprehension, like a frog looks at you. He had swallowed the bait - hook,line, and sinker. And it destroyed their marriage. They had about fifteen years of shared disappointment, during which time he had mostly checked out. After all, he "married the wrong woman." They divorced last year.
This info is powerful! Powerful if we put it into practise and powerful if we don't. So many marriages/friends/family are living a life of disappointment. Are you beliving any lies from the enemy? Ask God to show you. What are the agreements I have been making about marriage? What are the agreements that I have been making about love? What are the agreements I have been making about my spouse? John 10:10 says the devil is out to steal, kill and destroy. Serious stuff, friends.
On a brighter note though - something my hubby, James says, that I love is, "We have the power of the ressurrected Lord living inside of us and fighting for us. HE is stronger than the enemy and if we access HIS strength, wisdom and power, we will be victorious." Praise God. Come to God together and fight for your marriage. Matthew 18:19 says "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you if two on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in Heaven."
Fight for each other!
Pray together and pray to break agreements made with the enemy. Is your spouse having a bad day? how about saying 'can i pray for you right now?'. emmmmm - fyi, i don't do this. I should. By God's grace - I will. I want to fight for James. And I want him to fight for me in this way. That takes humility and an awkward moment or two.
"Fighting for one another when one is down has proven to be one of the most beautiful gifts Satsi and I have given to one another in our marriage. This can become as normal to a marriage as paying the bills and taking out the trash".
We had our friends over last night to watch the marriage session. James was at a metting and my kids were not being angels so we both missed the video. We watched it after our friends left which was awesome. James had a long day. So did I, but we fought for each other and fought for the info we knew would help us on our journey. We had a nice time together... and then conor started to cough and needed 2 hours of attention - accident? no. Spiritual warfare.
So there you have it. That's what I learned this week. I am blessed by the honesty and growth in all of the relationships in the group. A honor to be a part of it.
Other things affect our relationship such as personal brokenness, our personal style of relating. But the biggest 'issue' is the enemy. 1 Peter 5:8 'Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings'.
The authors of the book 'Love and War' said, " Pressed to choose our top three things that would most help our marriage, we would come down to this list:
1. Find life in God.
2. Deal with your brokenness.
3. Learn to shut down the spiritual attacks that come against your marriage.
Practice this and nothing else, and you will be amazed at the freedom, love, and joy that will begin to flow."
Don't make agreements with the Devil. "A neighbor confided in me one day that he believed he married the wrong woman. 'I realised it on my wedding day'. 'Really', i said. 'How?'
'It just came to me. I made a terrible mistake. I married the wrong person.'
I asked him if it ever occured to him that is wasn't an epiphany from God, not even a moment of personal clarity, but a suggestion fromt he pit of hell.
He looked at me with absolute incomprehension, like a frog looks at you. He had swallowed the bait - hook,line, and sinker. And it destroyed their marriage. They had about fifteen years of shared disappointment, during which time he had mostly checked out. After all, he "married the wrong woman." They divorced last year.
This info is powerful! Powerful if we put it into practise and powerful if we don't. So many marriages/friends/family are living a life of disappointment. Are you beliving any lies from the enemy? Ask God to show you. What are the agreements I have been making about marriage? What are the agreements that I have been making about love? What are the agreements I have been making about my spouse? John 10:10 says the devil is out to steal, kill and destroy. Serious stuff, friends.
On a brighter note though - something my hubby, James says, that I love is, "We have the power of the ressurrected Lord living inside of us and fighting for us. HE is stronger than the enemy and if we access HIS strength, wisdom and power, we will be victorious." Praise God. Come to God together and fight for your marriage. Matthew 18:19 says "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you if two on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in Heaven."
Fight for each other!
Pray together and pray to break agreements made with the enemy. Is your spouse having a bad day? how about saying 'can i pray for you right now?'. emmmmm - fyi, i don't do this. I should. By God's grace - I will. I want to fight for James. And I want him to fight for me in this way. That takes humility and an awkward moment or two.
"Fighting for one another when one is down has proven to be one of the most beautiful gifts Satsi and I have given to one another in our marriage. This can become as normal to a marriage as paying the bills and taking out the trash".
We had our friends over last night to watch the marriage session. James was at a metting and my kids were not being angels so we both missed the video. We watched it after our friends left which was awesome. James had a long day. So did I, but we fought for each other and fought for the info we knew would help us on our journey. We had a nice time together... and then conor started to cough and needed 2 hours of attention - accident? no. Spiritual warfare.
So there you have it. That's what I learned this week. I am blessed by the honesty and growth in all of the relationships in the group. A honor to be a part of it.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Strawberry Festival
We went to Roanoke's Strawberry Festival today. It was fun bc we went with the Beckners. We ate yummy strawberries and the kids got their face painted. They love getting their face painted and always look so proud when it's over. Then we had mexican for lunch so to say the morning was one big feast would be the truth :0)
Later today the Hutchinson kids came over to spend the night with us. The great thing about that is Conor and Erin spent the night at their house last night. An awesome way to save money. Swap your kids for date night! Very fun and very affordable!
Speaking of deals - I thought I would post a pic of my 20 dollar trip to Kroger. I spent 20 and saved 19. I was happy with that and delighted to have cereal for the next while (10 boxes will last a while i'd say!) Once again, I like southernsavers.com :)
Later today the Hutchinson kids came over to spend the night with us. The great thing about that is Conor and Erin spent the night at their house last night. An awesome way to save money. Swap your kids for date night! Very fun and very affordable!
Speaking of deals - I thought I would post a pic of my 20 dollar trip to Kroger. I spent 20 and saved 19. I was happy with that and delighted to have cereal for the next while (10 boxes will last a while i'd say!) Once again, I like southernsavers.com :)
Christmas at great grandma Sallie's house 2010
I was supposed to go home ot Ireland for Christmas and James was going to his grandma's with the kids. Ireland had so much snow that no planes could fly into the country for over a week. Of course, that was the week I had planned to go home. Big bummer... but the runner up prize was awesome too. It was such a special Christmas at great grandma Sallie's. She makes it very special. So special that santa himself shows up! I told Conor santa is not real but then when santa showed up at great grandma Sallie's - it made a believer out of Conor :) O well. it was special! Sorry for the festive throw back. I now fully believe I am caught up on here - merry Christmas in may!
random pics from Dec 2010
Looking back over the blog, i skipped christmas 2010. Im putting these pics up so that if i ever make a book out of this blog - christmas will not be left out :)
the kids look so small - it's amazing how much they grow in a few short months.
The pic of Conor sitting by his little tree is so funny to me. That was our tree last year in the apartment. This year it was his tree for his bedroom. He had two trees in his room and liked to bring his christmas stuff down stairs to display them for all to see. It make me chuckle to see how 'into' christmas decorating he was - just like his granny!
the kids look so small - it's amazing how much they grow in a few short months.
The pic of Conor sitting by his little tree is so funny to me. That was our tree last year in the apartment. This year it was his tree for his bedroom. He had two trees in his room and liked to bring his christmas stuff down stairs to display them for all to see. It make me chuckle to see how 'into' christmas decorating he was - just like his granny!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Flat Belly Shake
While mam was here she bought a magazine that gave the recipie for a flat belly shake.... so of course, we made the shake and are waiting on the flat belly! :) The flat belly doc said if you have one of these for your breakfast it will really help on your quest so that is what I have been doing. i used to make my shakes with orange juice but its good with milk - who knew? The protein powder makes ya feel full.
1/4 cup of vinilla yogurt
1/2 cup of low fat milk
1 tsp peanut butter (i put in a bit more)
1/2 cup of frozen berries
1 tsp of wheat protein powder
Put it in the blender and there ya go.
Happy 'flat belly shake' to you all.
1/4 cup of vinilla yogurt
1/2 cup of low fat milk
1 tsp peanut butter (i put in a bit more)
1/2 cup of frozen berries
1 tsp of wheat protein powder
Put it in the blender and there ya go.
Happy 'flat belly shake' to you all.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Easter candy from papa and grandma
The kids got a package in the mail today! :) They were so excited to see what was inside and then to find candy??? They struck gold!
They called papa and grandma to say thank you :) It was sweet to see how excited they were and how happy they both were to speak to their grandparents. Papa and grandma are coming to visit next month - a trip for ice cream is already planned. Yay for packages in the mail and yay for grandparents!
They called papa and grandma to say thank you :) It was sweet to see how excited they were and how happy they both were to speak to their grandparents. Papa and grandma are coming to visit next month - a trip for ice cream is already planned. Yay for packages in the mail and yay for grandparents!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)