34 Never Felt Better!

Today is my 34th birthday. It's a great day.

 And I have never felt more loved by my family and friends!

I just don't feel worthy and deserving.  I just have to breath in and let it sink in.

The truth is I am not worthy, but God is a gracious, kind God. 

I have received such beautiful cards from dear family and my favorite dessert from dear friends.

This morning I was surprised by a beautiful tribute!  My MOPS friends showered me with their kind words and a gardener's dream gift: herbs, tools, pot, gloves, and apron.

And this beautiful bouquet was at my door this afternoon from a neighbor.

With all the love and attention, today I almost forgot that life is short and fleeting,  and I am only one in billions that walk on the Earth each day. But the truth is one day I will be long gone and long forgotten.  The hope that I cling to is that these few years and my life will add up to one thing: a legacy of God's grace.   My purpose I strive for is to share the real, true power of God's Amazing Grace through Jesus Christ.  Only by His grace, I live.

I would love to hear your purpose for living.  What's yours?

Staycation April 2012

Life has been a little busy lately, and we were in need of  a good relaxing vacation that was free.  So we had a staycation this past weekend.  The rules were NO WORK, just FUN and FAMILY TIME.  We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and hung out around the fire in the backyard.  We got up early to go garage saling on Saturday.  The boys scored some Star Wars light sabers and Star Wars pajamas for free!    Then we went hiking at our favorite place--"the Blue Hole"!  The boys threw rocks in the water for over an hour.  Even Levi got into the rock throwing fun!  After we came home to camp in the backyard.  All five of us roughed it.  :-) We wrapped up our weekend staycation with a bike ride along the Tennessee River on the River walk and picnic.  Clark and Michael rode tandem, and I pulled Joel and Levi in our bike trailer. 

Sometimes you just need to take a break from it all.  Amen???

My little Darth Vader

Baby Levi and Princess Leia

One of many dangerous Jedi battles

Easter Day at Our House

After spending the past two weeks discussing and learning about Easter, we were glad that it is finally here! 

We made several crafts and projects that revolved around the cross and the tomb.  The boys especially enjoyed acting and telling the story of redemption to anyone who would listen.  Clark has been telling everyone he meets that Jesus loved them and died for them to rescue them.  That is so sweet to my ears.

Today Michael and I taught children's church.  When we got home from church, Joel started throwing up in the yard.  So we canceled our Easter lunch plans and stayed home.  A tummy bug is going around, and we were not sure what was going on with him. 

So we ate a little lunch, and then we had our egg hunt in the backyard!

Levi loved putting the candy straight into his mouth--wrapper and all.



The best part: Eating all the chocolate!



My Littlest Buddy

My poor third child will have less pictures taken of him and less fuss made about everything. So I decided to honor him in a post all his own today.   Sorry, Levi.  Mommy is so busy now days. 

Levi turned one a few weeks ago.  Two days before his birthday, Michael had to rush him to the children's hospital ER because his oxygen levels were so low even after breathing treatments at the doctor's office.  They predict he has asthma, but they can't diagnose until later. 

Because of wheezing and low oxygen, he now has to do breathing treatments quite often.  Only time will tell if he will out grow this or grow accustomed to this new challenge of life.

Here's a list of interesting facts and accomplishments for our littlest buddy:

Walks forward and backward for months now

Running fast

Has only two teeth

Climbs stairs when no one is watching

Eats two slices of pizza (no problem)

60th percentile in weight

50th in height

says a few words like mama, dada, jaja (Jack our neighbor)

his eye color is a mix between blue and green and hazel (so we are still waiting for that to settle)

hair color: light brown

Has extreme separation anxiety now

afraid of most dogs

Loves Goldfish