Talking with God

Recently the Lord has placed on my heart the importance of teaching my children to have daily quiet times. My kids are young and are not independent readers but I can't help but think about how most habits in life are established from an early age. Think of habits you have had since childhood. Now think about how blessed you would be now, as an adult, if from an early age you began the habit of spending time with God first thing in the morning. It would be a part of your day. You couldn't start your day off without talking with God first. Do you brush your teeth every morning? How about make your bed or make a pot of coffee? Teach your children while they are young to talk with God on a daily basis especially first thing in the morning. If you need more inspiration on this, visit my new favorite inspirational blog friend Joy and one of my favorite inspiring Moms, Teri

So I have talked with my oldest child about this topic this week. She has always had a heightened awareness of the Lord and daily seeks to know more about the Lord by asking her Daddy and I questions. This morning when she got up she came downstairs and sat with me. We snuggled for a bit and I said good morning and we had this conversation:
Ella: Mama?
Me: Yes
Ella: I talked with God this morning
Me: You did?
Ella: Yeah and He said something to me
Me: HE DID?
Ella: Yes, He said, "You are strong and mighty....
Me: now she hasn't finished at this point but my heart was melting and I was all smiles
Ella: So He said, "You are strong and mighty...and you will carry your sister around in a wagon"
Me: Smiling
Ella: Kissed me and went on her merry way
Is she not the sweetest thing? So back to my original thought. I am not sure how I am going to implement bible time with Ella yet. We have family devotional time and we do a short study at breakfast every Monday, but, I want her to start a habit of spending time alone in God's word. She isn't an independent reader yet so I think I will take Joy's advice and do a bible reading on tape during her afternoon quiet time where she will picture journal what she learns from the story. I am hoping to have her reading from a NIV bible independently soon...maybe when she is 7 or 8. For now I will anxiously await hearing what the Lord says to her each morning as she begins her day praying to Him.

Home school convention

The MidWest Home School Convention is coming up soon. I encourage you to check out their website. Even if you do not home school you should really consider attending. In fact, they should change the name of the conference to MidWest Parenting Convention. My husband and I leave feeling refreshed and ministered to every year. You will not be disappointed. Every year they have an incredible speaker line-up and an exhibit hall that offers pretty much everything you can think of when it comes to raising children. Oh, and did I mention that it is very affordable? Don't wait until summer to buy your curriculum. Hit the exhibit hall at the convention and save!!

A giveaway

Are these cards not the cutest things ever? They could be yours.
My friend has a giveaway this week on her blog and since another friend of mine(whom I haven't met in real life, only in blogland, but really wish I knew in real life) has told me how to insert a link, I am I going to send you all over to here for the giveaway!

Monday Inspiration

I am writing this post with fresh baby vomit covering my PJ's and a croupy coughing 2 year old on my lap. Man it has been a tough week, and by the looks of it, it is going to be another tough week. But do you know what? I am thankful that I have another week with my family and loved ones to post about. Tough or easy I praise the Lord for giving me another day. Our tomorrow is not guaranteed. God never told us that following Him would be easy. It has been amazing so far, and I am thankful that I have had the Lord to follow this entire time. Following has always been easier for me than leading. Thankfully, I have found The One to follow. May your week be filled with lots of God moments. Don't forget to take time to breath in the midst of your chaos and listen carefully for God's whisper. He is there....listen carefully...and follow Him, He will make your path straight.

If you need a bit of home making inspiration for this week, check out Jeanne Winters. She is someone new I found in blogland. She has great inspiring ideas when it comes to making your house a home. Please check her out. She is having a great give away for celebrating her one year blogaversary!!!

Remeber my last few post?

Remember my post on Monday? It read, "Today is a good day." Well, today has not been a good day. It has been totally chaotic....to the point of laughter( is that spelled correct? These phonics lessons with Ella are totally screwing up my spelling ability). Anyhow, it started off with a trip to the grocery with four hungry kids. Can I get an Amen from all those Mama's with multiple kids who dare to venture to the store? My kids usually run around and get some energy out, snack on some cheese from the Deli (after listening to the Deli lady tell me how full my hands are and how I look like I need a break or some cheese), argue who gets to push the cart or sit in the cart, ask a million times if they can have a cookie from the bakery(why do bakery ladies do that to us Mom's?), and pretty much touch every piece of candy in the checkout. And can I ask why Meijer got rid of their penny horse rides? That was my saving grace. After I checked out I realized that I forgot diapers...darn-it. So, we left our cart and off we went to get diapers. All the kids wanted to help carry them so Ella and Darren carried one box and Graham helped me carry the other. Have I mentioned that Graham LOVES diaper boxes? He likes to sit on them and pretend that he is flying a DD (aka airplane) which is the other thing that he LOVES. Well he decided that he did not want any help from any one while carrying this box. He could carry it, but it was a bit heavy and it made him walk super slow. Graham is a ham but he is also strong willed. Oh, and he only has like five words which makes it all the more difficult. So here I am with four kids and wanting to get back to my cart of purchased groceries, all the while Graham is yelling MINE to everyone who walks by....even complete strangers. I am laughing just thinking about his little determined self. We finally made to the car and off we went. I forgot to mention that I left about ten loads of laundry for myself back at home, so I was a bit on edge at the store just thinking about the monsterous mountain I had to conqure at home. Remember that poop explosion of Eden's? Yep still haven't washed the clothes. Why you ask? Well, my laundry room is getting a makeover.
You can usually stick a fork in me after we go to the store. It just takes everything out of me. But today, I had to be strong because no one had clean underwear. I put the kids down for a nap, started my first load of laundry, did school with Ella, and then....I got to lay my head down. Wait....what is that sound? It sounds like water.....hmmmmm....I should check it out. What was it you ask? Remember my post about my sad little laundry room getting a makeover? Well, it has gotten more than a makeover. I opened my laundry room door and water gushes out!! Water is EVERYWHERE. It is going out the door and down the vent in the floor. All I could say was.....well I won't repeat it but I said it a lot of times and then had another school lesson with Ella on what words not to say. This was not the worst of it. I walked down into the basement to the storage area. I opened the door and it looked like it was raining. Water, again, was EVERYWHERE!! So much stuff got ruined. Pictures, old letters, some of Darren's old photography stuff...I won't say any more cause I will probably cry. Water was even coming out of the can lights in the finished area of our basement!! By this point I was just about...laughing. It was hard to believe that all of this was really happening.
I won't go on any more about the rest of the day, which believe me will be good for another post. But I must share one last thing. In the midst of this craziness, God was with me. I felt a calmness that I have never felt before. Normally I would be my pesimistic self and complain about the situation. This time, it was different. I felt the Lord telling me that He is here and all of this "stuff" that is soaking wet is just "stuff". I felt Him saying, "put down all of this stuff that you haven't looked at in years, get rid of this stuff that you have been carrying around for years. You don't need it! All you need is me." Wow...deep...and I'm not referring to the water I was standing in. Isn't our Lord awesome? Once again I am hearing the sweet whisper of my Savior in the midst of my daily, somewhat chaotic, life. I love you Lord.

Its a good day

I am reading through the book, "Blue like Jazz" by Donald Miller. If you haven't read it....you should. It is...pretty cool. I haven't read anything like it.
I thought I would share a quote with you on this Monday. I hope it gets you thinking:)

"What I believe is not what I say I believe, what I believe is what I do. We live for what we believe. Dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory. Living for something is the hard thing. If I live what I believe, then I don't believe very many noble things. My life testifies that the first thing I believe is that I am the most important person in the world. My life testifies to this because I care more about my food and shelter and happiness than about anybody else. I am learning to believe better things. I am learning to believe that other people exist, that fashion in not truth; rather, Jesus is the most important figure in history, and the gospel is the most powerful force in the universe. I am learning not to be passionate about empty things, but to cultivate passion for justice, grace, truth, and communicate the idea that Jesus likes people and even loves them."
We talked about this somewhat at church this Sunday. Making my behavior match my beliefs. Changing my "whens" into "nows." Putting my intentions into action and living for what I believe. Make this Monday a day to serve the Lord with all your heart. Start living for the Lord today, serving Him in all that you do. Share your passion for the Lord with those around you today. Let them know the amazing God that you Love and serve.

I WON!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I have been waiting to tell you all about this for so long. I entered my first giveaway here in blog land a few weeks ago over at Simplify(I can't figure out how to insert a link to her blog but it is in my side bar). This is one of my most favorite blogs. Camille is.....well I have never really met her but she seems like just the sweetest person not to metion that she has mad talent when it comes to quilting and photography. She and her Mom have their own line of fabulous fabric called Thimble Blossom by Moda. I love fabric like I love to paint my walls, and you all know how much I like to paint my walls. Oh, yeah so back to the giveaway. Well, I entered the giveaway and I WON!!! What did I win you say? Check it out!!


A totally awesome quilt hand made my none other than my new blog friend Camille. Thanks again Camille, you made my birthday extra special this year. Don't forget to check out Moda's new blog(again can't get it to link but it is in my side bar-Moda Bake shop). They have great ideas on how to use all of Moda's fabric, including my new favorite, Thimble Blossom. Hey Lexi, Kim, Jill, and Sonya, check out the baby play pad at Moda's bake shop. I may be baking up a few of these for the little buns in your ovens.

Laundry Room Before

Here is shot of my pretty sad and tiny little laundry room before we started on it this weekend. We have done a little switcher roo in the hopes to have more space. I will share the after.....well after we finish it:) I love before and after shots.

Blow Out!

This weekend we have been doing some stuff around the house. Paint touch ups, painting the laundry room, and other painting that I will post about later. The house has been a total mess all day so why not throw in a totally disgusting and messy baby. While we are making our own messes with paint and...what ever that stuff is that you use to patch holes in your wall, Eden desides to add one more mess. My sweet little girl has been waiting to poop for the past two days. Finally she decided it was time. She had some force behind this blow...poop was everywhere.