Lots of Wind and Rain

We started with the basics...water, a gallon of milk, homemade pizzas, peanut butter M&M's (for me), hot chocolate (again...me) and flashlights.

We watched and waited...seemed to not be too bad.  Some rain and some wind.

We watched movies and stayed inside all day.

The kids opened a spa...and used lots of powder and lotion.  In fact, I am finding powder all over the house.

Then Monday evening, in the middle of Tarzan, the lights went out.  

And they are still out tonight due to this right down the road from our house.

Thankful that my parents have electricity and don't mind us camping out till its back on...we are warm, safe and having fun!

Life Lately

Enjoying a new home, family, friends, summer and God's faithfulness.

Patience or Lack Thereof

I have been struggling with patience these past few weeks.  A lot.
I have felt it rear its ugliness all throughout my day.

During outfit picking time.
While trying to get out the door.  On time.
Watching them fight over a game of Memory.
During ear-piercing screams when he doesn't get his way.
While giving them a bath.
When I try to show how to write the letter 'k' and she doesn't agree.

It's not pretty, my heart.
For a few weeks I have been trying to figure out what God is trying to teach me, 
how He is stretching me, how He is helping me grow.  
I think this is it, right now.

As I am trying to love, teach and train my kids, 
God is trying to teach me patience.

So far...

So far this week...


My favorite hair product, Argan oil, was spilled all over the floor and left there for me to find.  (Might I add it was fairly expensive and a Christmas gift?)


Oliver would rather be naked than wear clothing.


We left Target with Anna screaming crying, allowing for every person in our proximity to stop and look at a mom staring straight ahead, trying to remain calm, eyes on the door.  When we got to the car she proceeded to tell me that 'I ruined her life and killed her heart!!!'  What five year old says this?


I got pelted this morning in the neck by a rolled up dirty diaper.  The thrower shall remain nameless but claims he wasn't trying to hit me but be funny.  Hilarious.


Oliver dove all over my couch with newly washed slipcovers with fruit shake, containing berries, all over his mouth.


Oliver bit Anna's side while they were playing on our bed and it needed a bandaid.  She proceeded to stay in her room until he apologized while yelling, 'You will never be my brother ever again!!!'


Finger painting ended with Oliver's entire face being blue.

Lots of timeouts, apologies, hugs and forgiveness.

How is your week going? :)

Our Story

In honor of Valentine's Day tomorrow, I thought I would share our love story.  I will let Philip share his take on things, too. :)

First time I saw you and first impression: 


Carrie:  It was sometime in 6th grade, at church.  Philip was a pastor's son, sang lots of solos in church and was the boy everyone thought was hilarious.  I am sure I laughed right along with everyone else in the youth group when he was silly.  No fireworks in 6th grade, though.


Philip: I remember being in a youth home group together and always thinking she was super cute.  Unfortunately, I was super chubby.  I also remember a youth retreat where I let her have an Out Of Eden cd of mine (I was pretty hood back then).


When I started looking at you differently:


Carrie:  It was the spring of my junior year of high school (yes, we had known each other for 6 years by now), and cuddly, huggable, silly Philip turned into quite the little hottie.  It was like all of a sudden I looked at him as a possible boyfriend. :)


Philip:  I was always attracted to Carrie, but when she invited me to her homecoming that made me really start to think about possibly dating her.  I think that I also heard from some of her friends that she had a crush on me.  


Who asked out who?


Carrie: (ahem) Yes, it was I who called Philip first.  Not only did I call him first and ask him to come to my Prom with me, I was shot down.  I repeat, he said no.  I was first, in shock and then it turned to tears.  (No, I didn't let him know how upset I was...never.)


Philip:  Let me clarify.  I was dating someone else when she asked me to the dance.  So out of respect I said no.  A couple months later I was the one who called her up and apologized and asked her on our first official date.  


First Date:


Carrie: He came and picked me up at my house in his Dad's blue Skylark.  Then, he asked me to drive. :)  He says it's because he was too nervous...but I think the Skylark was too much for him to handle.  I drove us to Border's bookstore where we talked for hours over steamers and magazines.  As I sat there sharing things with him that I had never shared with my friends, I knew that this was going to be something different.


Philip:  When I pulled up to her house I was so nervous that getting out of the car I lost all control of my body and accidentally beeped the horn.  I quickly ran to the front door so that she didn't think I was a jerk.  I remember thinking to myself that I would marry her without a doubt in my mind.


Proposal:


Carrie:  I went with his mom to drop him off at the airport because he said he was going to Florida to visit his dad.  So I said my goodbyes and his mom took me back to my house.  As I was going up to my room, Philip met me in the hallway.  I was in shock and I think I only said, 'What are you doing here?', like a million times.  My room was covered in my favorite flower, daisies, and he proposed.


Philip:  I remember planning for months to propose to her.  I wanted it to be perfect.  When I arrived to Carrie's house to set her room up with flowers I remember walking in the front door and seeing her dad with my arms filled with more flowers than I could carry.  I think he just shook his head and laughed.  I planned adventures for the next couple of days.  We went to expensive restaurants and to New York to see a musical.  


Funnest memory during the first years of marriage:


Carrie: Maybe it's because our Christmases (is that the plural form of Christmas??) look so different now with kids, and because we are smarter with money, but I loved our first couple Christmases because he would buy me tons of presents. :)  For example...diamond earrings, a down featherbed, and my favorite DVDs, all in ONE Christmas!  Or another year...designer jeans, Tivo, and makeup.  I like presents :).


Philip:  I used to love our trips to King Of Prussia.  We always had such good memories shopping and eating together.  We would always eat at our favorite restaurant Maggiano's.  For some reason in the early years of marriage we thought our money would never run out (we were sadly mistaken). 


How have kids changed our marriage?


Carrie:  Well, even when we were dating we talked about having a family.  We always knew that we wanted children.  I knew that he was going to be a really great dad and I was thrilled to start a family with him.  Kids have brought so much joy and love into our lives...and also exhaustion, not as many date nights, and t.v. choices limited to Nick Jr. and Sprout.  It has been so much fun and I am thankful we have each other to go through it together.


Philip:  We were so excited to be parents.  It has been an honor watching Carrie be a mom (she's amazing).  I miss our dates and alone time and some nights I can't wait until 9pm when both kids are finally asleep.  But I love being a dad more than anything and think Carrie and I make a pretty good team.  


What do you anticipate for the future?


Carrie: I expect lots of laughter, fun times and more kids.  Our life hasn't been dull yet and I don't think it will be in the future either! :)


Philip:  I think we'll probably be millionaires in a couple years :)

A Drink

We went to the youth retreat this weekend that Philip was leading.  Me and the kids.  
I knew that Philip was going to be busy but we wanted to be with him and the teens.
Philip and I used to go to this retreat center when we were teens, before we started dating.
We were in the same youth group. :)
I have so many fun memories there with my friends and life changing, tear-filled weekends.


I went as a youth and then as a youth leader and now as the youth pastor's wife.
And my first retreat with my kids.
I stayed in the director's cabin instead of with the youth.  
We had our own room and our own bathroom. :)


We went to the evening session.  Both the kids were exhausted but were troopers.
We watched the cabin skits and laughed hard.
Anna thought Daddy was so funny acting up there with the guys.  He was.


Worship time started.  Anna stood beside teenage girls and was singing her heart out.  
I held Oliver and was worshiping, too.
Philip started leading one of my favorite songs.  
There is something about singing love songs to my God.  It's one of my favorite things.
The song had barely started and Anna turned and told me she needed a drink.  Now.  She was dying of thirst.  
My attempts to have her wait made her eyes well up with quiet tears.  


Couldn't she see I was singing to the Lord?
Should I demand patience of her? To wait until my favorite song is at least over?
Isn't this what the Lord wants me to be doing? Singing to Him?


And then I looked down at her again.  Her eyes were full of tears.  She was thirsty.
And I heard Him whispering to my heart.


Give her a drink.
Tell her you love her.
Teach them about Me.
You are serving Me when you serve your kids.

We walked out of the room and they drank their hearts out. 
And it hit me.  Again.  I am where He wants me to be.  I am worshiping Him in the small moments of being a mommy to my kids.  


We went back into the session until the message.  It was time for bed.
The three of us left all of the youth, said goodnight to Daddy and walked back to our cabin in the dark, in the snow.
We talked about how funny Daddy was.
We got pajamas on, prayed together and, exhausted, they were asleep within minutes.

'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'   

Matthew 25: 35-40

Time

How do you go from this

and this

to this

and this

in two short years?

And how do I make it stop? :)

Books

I love to read.  

I don't have as much spare time to do it these days...but I so enjoy finding a good book.

Books I Finished in 2011

The Help

The GIrl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Mission of Motherhood

Grace Based Parenting

The Ministry of Motherhood

One Thousand Gifts

Sabbath

Same Kind of Different as Me

Crazy Love

Still Alice

Educating the Wholehearted Child

{I think I am forgetting some...}

Currently Reading

What Women Fear

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World

Sacred Parenting

The Velveteen Mommy

Books I Want to Read in 2012

The Hunger Games

Don't Make Me Count to Three

Seasons of a Mother's Heart

Grace for the Good Girl

The GIrl Who Played with Fire

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream

Satisfy My Thirsty Soul

Any recommendations, friends??  I would love to know your favorite!

{And thank you, Nester for having a book link up!  I love to see what others are reading!}

Freshness of a New Year

Christmas came and went very fast this year.  
Maybe it was how busy we were leading up to Christmas and how busy Philip was throughout the holiday weekend.
We celebrated Jesus' birthday by opening gifts with family FIVE different times.  
It started Friday and ended Monday.
The kids were overjoyed. :)

Needless to say, I had a mild anxiety attack over all of the extra toys in the house and went on a get-rid-of/simplify mission the day after Christmas. :)

And I have been on this mission ever since...

But there is something fun about starting a new year, isn't it?
It's exciting and bittersweet at the same time.
Exciting as we move on to new adventures, new dreams we have for our family.
However it's time that will never happen again.  The kids will keep on growing, changing.
Our life will keep changing.

2011 was filled with lots of different changes, surprises and God's faithfulness.  Tangible, real life examples of His faithfulness.  New job, new home, new friends, new vision, new dreams.
This new year I would love to take more pictures, go on more dates with my husband, have more one-on one dates with my kids, take more field trips, organize a few closets, and {maybe} drink a little less coffee. 

My Favorite Things

Ok.  I really am wanting to host a Favorite Things Party.  It sounds so fun to do with friends!


These are a few of my favorite things right now...

Modern Family.  My favorite show.  It honestly is one of the few that make me laugh out loud
every single week!  I think it may have even replaced my first love, The Office?!

We were introduced about a year ago to Pho (a Vietnamese soup pronounced 'fuh')...and have been obsessed ever since.  It has kind of replaced our cravings for Thai food.  If you haven't tried some yet...do it!! :)

And...I think I wear these almost everyday.  Literally. 

My other shoes are feeling very neglected.  But, these are the most comfortable shoes I own!  Gap City Flats.

This book has helped change my focus from what I don't have to the 

thousands of blessings, from God, that I do have.  

Naming and counting your blessings.  Life changing.

Philip makes fun of how obsessed I have become with coffee.  I do not deny it. :)

Actually just last night he made a late night run for this creamer 

so I would have it in the morning.

Good husband.

And, last but not least...this video of a 5th grade public school choir in Staten Island.  It brought me to tears the first time I saw it.  Maybe it's the teacher in me...watching a gifted music teacher do something extraordinary with his students.  Maybe it's watching them not care about anybody around them and singing their heart out.  

I can learn from this.

Thankful

Thanksgiving.

I asked Anna yesterday if she knew why we celebrated it...

she said it was about stuffing and giving gifts to people.

Um...kind of right sweetie.  Do you hear a word in Thanksgiving?  Thanks?

It's all about being thankful.  What are you thankful for?

Well...I love the stuffing.

We then proceeded to discuss all of the many things in our life we have been blessed with...

feathers in our hair...

little brothers who adore you...

crazy Bella...who we love...

being with family...

beautiful works of art...

special relationships...

Does the list end??

Reminding myself to be thankful for the big and the small this Thanksgiving and always.

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.          (James 1:17, NASB)

A Handwritten Note

Anna and I finished our next project on The Happy Day Project schedule.  

Today we had some time to each write a special person in our life a handwritten note.  

She chose her sweet Sunday school teacher. :)

I am incredibly thankful for the wonderful friends that God has placed in my path.  

It seems that at every new season in life, He reveals his faithfulness 
by giving me friendships that are exactly what I need.  To do life together.  
To share our hearts and our funny stories...to share our worries and our fears.  

To be real with each other.

No better investment than finding the time for friendship and the courage to be real and the humility to say we are sorry...Ann Voskamp

The Happy Day Project

When I read about The Happy Day Project from Jess I was so excited to do it!

It is so easy for me to get wrapped up in our schedule, our needs, our life.

I forget about the people right outside my door.

We have only finished Monday's project (we made some chocolate chip banana bread for our neighbors who are expecting their first baby) but my goal is to finish by the end of the month! :)

Here is the schedule:

The other cool thing is that there are links to free printables to make the gifts even cuter!

Check out Joy's Hope for more information!

Let's make someone smile! :)