frantic

I got the chance to read this post today from Femina girls...

http://www.feminagirls.com/2013/11/19/frantic/

At times I seem to forget that I do have three little girls under age 3 (at least for one more month... then Livie turns 4!).  I know I can expect a lot out of Liv and Em at times - expecting them to act more mature - when in actuality they are THREE and TWO.  What am I thinking sometimes?!  My time in the "middle years" is yet to come... And yes, many times right now I am frantic trying to meet all their needs!

But I loved this part from her post, "...continue to rely on Him.  Live in Joy.  Believe His Mercy.  Know that your trials, lived in obedience, are yielding more profit and fruit in your life than anything else could, at least in part because investments from you are being taken against your will, and probably against your better judgement.  You couldn't be who God wants you to be without this.  Your children would not be who God wants them to be without this, because this is what He has given them.  And when you know all these things, and you believe all these things, just hang on like crazy, and laugh."

 

Just needed to write that out today...

thankful...

As Thanksgiving is upon us, as well the thoughts of the many that lost so much yesterday with the tornado in Washington, I have a thankful heart that my family and friends have been protected.  Yet a heavy heart for those that have lost so much.  May God use this event to draw our community to himself at such a time of distress and need!  

This month seems to have flown by.  It's hard to believe that these pictures from Halloween are already almost a month old.  It was a rainy night spent in Morton with good friends and, of course, lots of candy.  Livie dressed up as "Doc McStuffins"...a TV character she came to love after our trip to Gulf Shores ;)...and Emma was a cow.  I asked her what she wanted to dress up like and her first answer was "a cow".  Completely serious.  And completely hilarious.  Turns out, she was one cute little cow!!  And at the end of the night, she was the one with the most candy too.  After all the kids got their loot at each house, she would keep standing there at the door with her bag open...with her sweet little face begging for more!  And to our dismay...of course they would give her more!

For the past few weeks in November, we did do a thankful tree and it was so cute to see what the girls chose to be thankful for.  Some of Livie's were her bike, mermaid, bedroom...and some of Emma's were God, Neiko :), her blankie.  And then a few nights ago, I heard Livie saying over and over to Mercy..."I'm so thankful for you Mercy, I'm so thankful for you".   Melt my heart...

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At four months old, Mercy is LOVING attention.  And she continues to be such an easy baby.  I'm thankful for her too :).  And actually, we ALL are.  

Emma particularly is probably her biggest fan.  If Mercy is around, you can pretty much guarantee that Emma is nearby...trying to touch, hug, kiss her...tell her: "hello little girl!"...read to her...bring her toys.  You would think Mercy would cry and pull away, but she just endures it with a smile (most of the time).

Livie continues to love preschool.  The friends, her teacher, the snacks, the crafts ;)...she's in heaven.  And at home, she's loving writing and crafting too - any kind of cutting, gluing, coloring, painting.  She would do it all day if I let her!

We're almost 2 months into hunting season, and this guy cannot get enough.  The smile on his face says it all...

He tries to get the girls into it too ;)...yes, they are watching a hunting show on the ipad here...

But when he is out, we remind him often that he has 4 red-headed girls at home that need him too ;)...

But honestly, we have SO much to be thankful for.  Most of all, for a God who loved us enough to send a Savior to rescue us from our sin.  And then for Him to give us all we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him (2 Peter 1:3).  We are so thankful...

a break

Almost a month ago, we took a little break and vacationed in Gulf Shores for a week.  It was AMAZING.  We had just the perfect amount of sun, rain, beach, pool, fishing ;), and hanging out as a family.  And much of that was because Chad's mom was around to help us out with the girls!  Such a blessing.  We couldn't have asked for a better vacation with our little family...

Rainy day painting...

And Livie learned out to swim the width of the pool!  After 1 week with Grandma she was doing so good :).  She was so proud...and we were too!

The last night, I asked Chad's aunt Judy to take a few pictures of our family on the beach.  (Because I'm always up for a family picture!).  Anyway, she had this great idea to take our supper leftovers (french fries mostly) and feed them to the sea-gulls and get some good pictures with the birds all around us.  Well, the seagulls really liked the food because they were soon EVERYWHERE.  We could hardly get away from them!  And one actually hit Chad in the face!  So funny.  Got some good pictures out of it too :)...

Back home, our "break" has continued as we've all been sick at one point or another the past 3+ weeks.  Being sick just kinda stops everything :(.  But we're hanging in there...and loving fall...

On my birthday, the sickness continued as Livie puked after church right as we sat down to eat brunch at a restaurant :(.  Poor girl.  But it still was a good day :).  Best part was that we witnessed this amazing double rainbow with Chad's brothers and sisters (you can see it better in the second picture).  It was breathtaking.... and such an amazing reminder of God's faithfulness!

Other things we've been doing to fill our sick time?  Painting and crafting ;).  Livie would paint EVERYDAY if I let her...

And there's been lots of snuggling going on...which is probably why we ALL were sick!

Tired, sick girl...

Sick, but still smiley :).  She seriously gives the BEST smiles.

And I love it when she falls asleep in my arms :)...

And yeah...sometimes I just don't ask questions.  I'm just glad when they find things like this to entertain themselves for a few minutes!!