One handsome man, and a pretty little girl...

Sweet. sweet babies! *Notice how they have the same exact smile!

The greatest gift...

Give a child the greatest gift for Christmas. Be a sponsor!
With World Vision...
*Be sure to turn off playlist*

Or Compassion International...

So much to do...

OMG! {As my beautiful littlest sister would say. And John Luke}. I am drowning in 'things to do'! It seems I haven't been home in ages but just long enough to grab another diaper, a paci, and some juice and head back out! I am not that kind of 'traveler'! But since sister is now a married woman, maybe we can all take a deep breath. {Or maybe some day --- soon. When we get all this wedding cleaned up!!! WoW! What a job! John said yesterday he is much more appreciative of those nice little Marriot Burgers he was ordering every hour in Hawaii! Now he knows what all the rest of the family was doing while he was ordering burgers and I was relaxing by the ocean!} But the sister and new brother are worth it. The wedding was beautiful. The bride was even more beautiful. And the reception was awesome! And can I just say that I am super, super proud of my two precious ones! They were PERFECT! So, I have been a busy little Mama Bee. Monday---clothes---9 loads!!! Can someone please explain to me how a family of 4 can accumulate so many dirty clothes so quickly?!?!?! {I'm afraid this job will never be 'done'.}Tuesday---floors---disgusting! I'm hoping that tomorrow I can catch up on bills. Otherwise we will be roughing it with no lights. No water. No vehicle. No phone. And possibly no house! It seems like they could understand it's been a really hectic time, and just give me a month off! It would save them paper and stamps! Unfortunately they don't see it my way! So as bad as I hate it, the agenda for tomorrow is bills, bills, bills! And to clean this mountain off my desk!

On a more joyful note, my sweet little family remembered my birthday...inspite of all the chaos of the weekend! They surprised me with a nice new camera and 3 most precious cards! Here's one of them. I love it!



And my precious husband even added it to the calendar!

While the busy Mama Bee continues to work into the wee hours of the morning, the others are sure to get their beauty sleep.



***If anybody got any pictures of the wedding/reception, I would love to get copies. I didn't get a single picture! Thanks!

Now, I must find the bed! If not, I will be a bigger zombie than I already am! Good Night!

Life...

Life is stressful. Life is exhausting. Life is disappointing. Life has trials. Life has tribulations. Life can hurt. Life is hard. We cry. We worry. We fear. BUT I am FULL of HOPE in knowing HIS way is always perfect!

"And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from mine enemies. When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented [confronted] me; In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears." II Samuel 22:2-7

"For thou art my lamp, O LORD; and the LORD will lighten my darkness. For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him. For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a [the] rock save our GOD? God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect."..... II Samuel 22:29-33

Weekends are for sharing...

quality time with a precious, pretty little hunter like this.

Naps, muscles, and spells...

Nap-time is sacred! To me it really is! I will even admit that on occasion I have been known to take the phone off the hook. When the afternoon rolls around, I mean with all my heart that two little ones are going to go in their rooms, lay in their beds, stay there, and hopefully go to sleep. At that time, I am going to go in my bedroom take a very deep breath, sit at the computer, read, have my devotion, and enjoy the silence. Very, very seldomly do I actually sleep, but just the time alone does wonders for my sanity! Some days lots of days unfortunately I also have to take care of things that are not so much fun such as pay bills, etc. etc. Anyway, like I said, nap-time is serious business for me! I NEED it! My family needs me to have it! BUT lately John Luke is not feeling the same need. We are working on this small issue. If things don't turn around soon, me and Mr. "I'm not tired" are going to have a "come to Jesus meetin'!"



Although me and John Luke are not seeing eye-to-eye right now on the nap situation, in all other areas he is a super sweet boy! He really does have a sweet spirit and I'm really thankful for that! {His sister---let's just say---is another story!} It seems that in the last few months they have started to actually enjoy one another. It is fun to watch them "play". And the strangest thing is not only can they play but they can also fight like you wouldn't believe!

Now the "not so sweet" little girl I mentioned earlier is also a "she-man"! She is a pee-mite in size, but her attitude is huge! And her muscles are even bigger!

She is literally pulling him across the floor!


This would belong to the "not so sweet" little girl. There has never been any truer words!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the sky?

I heard an encouraging speaker the other day {during the infamous nap-time!} As wife and mother we are constantly serving our families. It can sometimes be a struggle. Nancy Leigh DeMoss says, "You are never more like Jesus than when you are serving."

Sleepy?

We "lost" Allie Beth and Heath the other night. This is where we found them...