Coming Fast!

What have I been doing today? The morning started out with fixing breakfast for us all, fixing lunch for Chris, doing a few dishes, making beds, you know...the usual. By 9:30 we found ourselves outdoors and Dylan was already in shorts and a t-shirt. In the past, we've started out in blue jeans and migrated up to shorts by the end of the day. It was too beautiful for that today. The sun has been shining and there has been a light breeze occasionally. We played in the sandbox. We kicked a ball around, we drove his car down the driveway and back and he rode his tricycle. I vacuumed the car and washed it. I swept off the front porch and the area around the garage door entry to the house. We ate a popsicle at 10:30 for our snack instead of something healthy. That was fun!

But, this afternoon, after Dylan went down for his nap, that's what I'm talking about. I have been pulling out all of Dylan's 0-3 month clothes and clothes loaned to me that are 0-3 month. I have been sorting them into piles or spring clothes and winter clothes. Winter clothes are going back in the box. Spring / summer clothes, I am washing, drying, folding, and YES putting them away. "Where", you say? That's the good news. We picked up Eli's furniture on Saturday. Chris's Mom and Grandma came over yesterday and put up the wallpaper border for us. Then, we moved in the furniture and Chris already put the crib together. It's so exciting! It's all coming together. Two weeks ago we got in the crib bedding, valance, diaper stacker, clothes hamper, some wall decor, and a rug all in the Moo Moo Baby Theme. It's cute and Dylan loves it. It has a tractor, barn, cows, sheep, and chickens on it. Dylan likes to count the sheep and point to every tractor. I'm glad he's excited about it. We're just praying he'll be that excited when Eli comes home with us.

You think it's too early to be doing all this. Well, don't tell me that. I'm way too excited and for me getting everything together and in order this much in advance in great. The thing we don't have right now is Dylan's bed rails to convert his bed. Once we get that we can get Dylan a new mattress and "Yes", Eli is going to get his first Dylan hand-me down. He's going to get Dylan's crib mattress. In the long run it will save us about $130. Although, up front we have to spend about $350 to get a new mattress. You know, the second child is a little cheaper because you have some of the stuff, but you still have to buy some furniture for one of the two kids, and some clothes because they are inevitably different sexes or born at different times of the year, and then there's the usual expense of diapers, diaper cream, formula or breast-milk storage bags. The list goes on! And, I don't think life is going to get any easier. I think life is going to continue to get more difficult and much more busy.

It sounds like my first load of laundry is finished in the dryer. I better get to it. Thanks for stopping by! Leave me a message. I love to chat!

First Missionary!

So, last night we started our Annual Missions Conference. I've been in church all my life and never have I heard Mark 5:1-20 preached the same way before. He talked about the man who was possessed with demons and how Jesus cast the demons out of him and into 2,000 pigs. The pigs ran down the hill into a sea of water and drowned themselves. But that wasn't the point of the message. When the people of the town found out what happened to their pigs they asked Jesus to leave. The man who was possessed was now in his right mind and clothed where as before no man had been able to tame him or keep him locked in chains. And he asks Jesus to stay there with him. but Jesus sent him away, saying, (Luke 8:39) "Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him. (Luke 8:40) And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him. So, basically, Jesus told him to spread the good news and tell everyone how great God is and the man did it. When Jesus returned, the people were ready for Jesus and excited to see him because now they knew the change he had made in someone else's life. The point of the message..."If God can use a maniac, crazy man, then God can use me".

What does that say about my life? I don't work outside of my home. My husband works with all Christians for his full-time and part-time job. We don't really have many friends that don't go to church and claim to be Christians. What can I do? Well, I can hand out tracts when I'm out shopping. I am shy and not big on confronting people so maybe I can just leave them around in the store like my Dad taught us to do when we were little. Or, I can go out on visitation on Thursday night and go door-to-door with a flier to invite people to church. I can write about God and Jesus and church on my Blog and hope someone reads it and it makes a difference in their life.

I was born into a Christian family. My Dad was saved 4 years before I was born. He wasn't just one of those people that just got saved either. He was completely changed. I didn't know him before nor do I want to. He's a great man, an awesome example, and the reason I am where I am in my life today. Although, I don't want him to take credit for the bad. I guess I should say, The good part of my life, the Christian I have become and want to become is because of him. From there, I have to go back and thank my Aunt and Uncle. They are the ones who prayed for him to get saved or for God to lead them to their church so they could be assured he got saved. God answered their prayers. I know the list goes back further, but that is where it stops for me. My Uncle and Aunt, my Pastor and Pastor's wife now, are the reason my parents are saved and in church and the reason I had the opportunity to be where I am today and the opportunity to meet my husband in church. My husband leads our home every day and tries to give us Godly direction and is an encouragement to me on a regular basis. That's my missionary story! What is yours? Do you have one? I want to continue to grow. So, if you're out there and you are missing something in your life. If your life isn't complete, it's because you don't have God in your life. He completes me!

Dragging Along!

Bubbles!

Spring time? Not yet!

I know it's been a while since I wrote. Been busy. Seems like for me it's feast or famine with activities. I go some weeks with almost nothing to do and then others where I have something scheduled every day. For me, sitting at home every day of the week isn't as much fun anymore. I enjoy getting out, going to stores, shopping, going to the library, whatever. Five days a week with these 4 walls can drive a woman crazy. Just kidding! Dylan likes getting out as much as I do. He calls it, "Goin' to town?!" We meet his Daddy at least one day a week for lunch if our schedule allows. We try to go to the library at least 2 or 3 times a month for storytime and to check out books. We go grocery shopping every week and when there's nothing else to do, we find something. With the beautiful March weather we went to the park a couple times. Now, we're back to gloomy cold days. We'll get there and there will be plenty of sunshiney days to enjoy outside.

Chris made Dylan a sandbox on Saturday. He finished about 8:15 that night. A little too late for much play but Dylan has been in it every day this week except today. It's like 40 degrees outside and extremely windy. That's not really the excuse, though. We "went to town" today. I got him another shirt for Easter Sunday. I originally bought a short-sleeve, collared, sweater at Children's Place back in March when the weather was beautiful. Now, the prediction for Sunday is VERY COLD. So, I went back to buy a long sleeve shirt to wear underneath and then I saw matching socks. How cute is that? I bought them. Then, I get up to the counter and the shirt was like 40% off and the socks were discounted, also. I love that store. I go there for all his clothes I want to buy unless I want used. If you haven't checked out their selection of kids' clothes, you are missing out. They seem to have sales constantly and if you shop there often enough you will always find something on sale that you can use. It's dangerous for me to go in there with no money, though. I always see something just soooooo cute and I just have to have it. You know what I mean. So, looking at Dylan's professional pictures since he was born...I think every outfit so far has been a Children's Place outfit from head to toe. I'm a huge fan of their socks! They are long enough they didn't come off when he was still crawling and now that he's, well walking and running, they have the grippers on the bottom...perfect! And I bought him tennis shoes last summer. They were a little big on him when I first bought them but they are still in great shape and he'll be able to wear them through most of this summer. I bought them for $12. How cool is that?! Ok, so enough about that.

We've got a busy month ahead with Easter, doctor's appointments, church activities, Mission Conference, birthdays, and so much more. I used to laugh at people who would say, "I'll have to check my calendar". I thought, could anyone really be that busy. Oh my! You can. When people give me a date now. I have to say, "I'll check my calendar". And I never thought I'd tell someone, well that's my only free weekend for the next two months...or, "Yes, I know it's only March, but we already have that week taken in August and, oh yes, that week in October, also". It's crazy! I enjoy having a busy schedule but sometimes it's just too much. Chris and I laugh about it now. When we were dating we would always say, well things will slow down once we get married because we'll be together all the time. And, then the excuse was...well things will slow down when you graduate school, or when we have kids. Yeah, we don't say that anymore. Things are never going to slow down. I look at my parents. You'd think once your kids are out of the house, that's when things would slow down...NOT! I think my parents are more busy now than they ever were. Dad has prison meetings 2 or 3 times a month, visitation on Thursday night and Saturday, work stuff, church activities, personal stuff, family stuff, and it's never ending. Now try taking that and correlating a family vacation for 4 different families to get together. We've done it every year, but I think this might be the Challenge Year. AJ starts kindergarten and Chris has the Missionary Retreat the first week of August. Adding kids makes things more difficult and our family just keeps adding them. Our vacation just might not happen. We'll see!

So, I better go fix dinner for my husband. He should be home before long and then we've got visition tonight. I always said I couldn't go knocking on doors just to say hello but I could hand out a flier on an upcoming event. Well, Pastor had fliers made up about Easter Sunday. I have no more excuses. Off we go!