Choosing to Count

When life feels overwhelming...when you feel like you can't come up for air...when you get hit from every angle...


choose to count.


Instead of dwelling on the negative and giving in to my fears and worries...I will choose to count His blessings.

Big boy underwear, super hero style.

Anna reading her Bible out loud...shocked at the words she is reading

{excuse the little sweet boy getting frustrated in the background :) }.

A laugh out loud movie and a few quiet moments on the couch with my husband.

Coffee in the morning...lots of coffee.

Oliver just looking at me, out of the blue, and saying endearingly, 'Mama...'.

Anna singing her heart out during Philip's worship practice, hands raised high.

Warm weather, sunshine, blue skies...and cousins who swing with you.

Mommy dates and first time pedicures.  

Family who supports and loves you.

This girl.

And this boy.

Choosing to count, today.

The Day That My Faith Hinges On

Yesterday was beautiful.   


All week long I was anticipating it. All week we talked about and were reminded of His sacrifice.  I was longing for Sunday...to celebrate His resurrection.


Our service was outstanding...as my husband led us in a time of worship, my heart soared.  I sat there beside my grandparents and parents praying for the patriarchs of my family...thankful that they came to see Anna sing (which almost didn't happen...thank the Lord for Miss Sharon!!!).  


I thanked God for His stories of transformation that were shared...knowing that He didn't just conquer death, He conquered our sin as well.  How can we comprehend His love?  

"Father, forgive them," Jesus gasped.  "They don't understand what they're doing."  "You say you've come to rescue us!" people shouted.  "But you can't even rescue yourself!"   

But they were wrong.  Jesus could've rescued himself.  A legion of angels would have flown to his side - if he'd called.  "If you were really the Son of God, you could just climb down off that cross!" they said.  And of course they were right.  Jesus could have just climbed down.  Actually, he could have just said a word and made it all stop.  Like when he healed that little girl.  And stilled the storm.  And fed the 5,000 people.

But Jesus stayed.

You see, they didn't understand.  It wasn't the nails that kept Jesus there.  It was love. 

(From my daughter's Bible...The Jesus Storybook Bible, italics mine) 

So thankful.

Family Easter picture.

Right before a huge meltdown...and naps.

A Little "Pinsperation"

Oh, Pinterest. I really do love you.
You have brought many, many creative ideas into my world that would definitely never have been.


Already completed

These are actually hanging in the kids' bathroom and you can find them here. Free printables, too cute.

I did a variation of this cake for Anna's birthday (the ombre layers) and Oliver's cake (the sprinkles) and it wasn't as much work as I anticipated.

A version of this is hanging in Anna's bedroom, just need to find fun lanterns like this.

To be completed

How cute are these bracelets? The tutorial for these is here.

And this makes me want to have a summer party.

And this recipe...with fresh blueberries?! Yum.

And I remember Philip's mom making these. So good.

What has Pinterest inspired you to do?

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.

The Zoo

Our first trip to the Philadelphia Zoo   

Top three memories from the zoo:

1.  Watching a huge Galapagos turtle enjoy being scratched on the neck by a zoo keeper (see picture above).

2.  In the bird house, Philip was the only one who needed a wipe for bird poop that landed on his wrist.

3.  And last but not least...while we were observing an orangutan, he peed into a toy and then drank it.  This was all caught on video and witnessed by Anna and Oliver.  This is all Anna seems to remember from the day.

A Little Getaway

We started our trip in beautiful Ludlow, Vermont.

 We had never been but it was exactly like I imagined.  

Cute shops, organic farms, tons of skiers and sweet people.

Our cabin was nestled in the mountains about 2 miles from a paved road.

We literally were in the middle of nowhere.

We were having lots of fun with some good friends, when we just happened to look at the weather forecast...

up to 10 inches of snow was headed our way.

Oh, how we wanted to be snowed in!!  But we knew we had to be back on Sunday so we made the hard decision of leaving early.  

We were bummed.

Then we made a very spontaneous decision of heading to NYC.

We took a carriage ride around Central Park

Stopped at The Plaza to visit Eloise's home

  

 Did a lot of walking

  And the highlight of the day, for Anna, was a visit to the American Girl store.

Can I just say...oh. my. word.  That was quite an experience!

That store has all a little girl could dream of including a hair salon for their dolls 

with a 2.5 hour wait.  What?!

And although our getaway looked a lot different than we had planned...

(and Vermont only ended up getting 3 inches of snow!!)

we were thankful we could share our love of NYC with our kids!

It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect

I love The Nesting Place.  Love it.  So inspired by her decorating.  When she posted today about how our houses don't have to be perfect to beautiful...I looked around our home and agreed with her.

From an uncontrollable toy basket...

 A fridge cluttered with magnets and art...

 Wipes left on the table and play glasses hidden in pottery...

 A crack in my lantern from the move...

A bed unmade...

 To a sister and brother both wanting the same thing...

This is our every day.

Our un-perfect, beautiful life.