Love the Lord our God

January 10, 2011 marked the rebirth of Samantha Jane Reeder as our sister in Christ. That's right folks, our dear Sami asked the Lord to be her Savior and for the Holy Spirit to fill her heart! It was nothing short of amazing and completely inspiring to see the innocence and trust of a child. I don't know that she even fully understood what had happened, it was completely Spirit inspired and led. Sami had actually been in a little bit of trouble that evening. Cory had taken her into her room to talk to her about her behavior. A little while into it I saw him come out and get his Bible. Finally, 30 minutes after that, Cory emerges with tears streaming down his cheeks. I wasn't quite sure what had happened, almost scared to ask. But when he started telling me what had unfolded in that room...I was amazed and full of joy. The two of them had a good conversation and when it was done Cory had told her to go ahead and pray on her own that night. She asked if he would just stay with her while she prayed, so he did. They knelt by the bed and she began praying. Before Cory knew it, she was asking the Holy Spirit to "come into her heart." After hearing what had happened, I went into her room with tears now streaming down my face and gave her a huge hug! She looked a little confused....I told her, "honey, you're my sister in Christ...we'll be together forever in heaven now." She says back, "I wasn't going to heaven before?? I've always loved Jesus Mommy!." Oh...how I love that girl and even more love our Lord who chose Sami to be part of His flock!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We have had the most wonderful past 2 weeks celebrating the holidays with family and friends! We had four different Christmas celebrations, 2 holiday parties, a trip to Hartland Christian Camp and New Year's with family we hadn't seen in too long! My Grandma Horton (who lives in North Carolina) has been here for the last couple of months and has been able to spend the holidays with all of us, not to mention meet the kids for the first time! We spent the weekend before Christmas celebrating with my brother and his family, Christmas Eve at my parents, Christmas Day at our house and the next day with the Reeder's. The kids were spoiled rotten, we all ate to much and laughed even more. It was wonderful! A couple days later we then went up to Hartland Christian Camp and spent 2 days there before heading home for New Year's. An old friend/family Lars and his mom (from Denmark) were able to spend New Year's Eve with us as they traveled through the area to cap off a month full of celebrating and memories! We are so blessed...and exhausted!

Drama King

Selfless

As Christmas season was approaching, we knew we wanted to do something to help show our kids that there is more than toys and gifts. It was also the first Christmas without my Grandma. So we came up with what turned out to be a wonderful event! We invited over several family friends and all the cousins for a "Cookies, Crafts & Christmas" Celebration that was all about giving back. We had a table set up for decorating cookies, a table for decorating ornaments and my Grandma's Christmas tree that was always set up in her room at Westgate Gardens, where she had lived for the past couple of years. The kids had so much fun decorating the tree and filling a tray with beautiful Christmas cookies. There were a few moments of the "I wants" since we made a point that the kids could not eat any of the cookies decorated or keep any of the ornaments. But they were actually the perfect moments to teach about being selfless and putting others before ourselves. Gotta plant that seed at some point, right?! We all then drove over to Westgate Gardens and presented our gifts to the residents there and many of Grandma's close friends. We all held hands and Cory prayed a blessing over the gifts and people gathered. With tear filled eyes we hugged and celebrated this holiday. It may have been our first Christmas without Grandma, but it was her first Christmas with the Lord - and that is a reason to celebrate! And the kids, whether they liked it or not, began to learn the true meaning of CHRISTmas!

Give Thanks

Thanksgiving has come and gone...once all of the commotion settled down I realized I did not take even one picture! How did that happen? Maybe because of the cooking, cleaning, eating, crafting....and just plain fun! This was the first year that I made myself not stress over every little detail and just enjoy the day. There was no fancy place setting, instead Sami wrote a note to each guest stating why she was thankful for them. There was no elaborate centerpiece, instead a crafted banner the kids and I made the night before. No sitting in a turkey coma, instead we made a Thankfulness tree that each guest had a part in and played memory until everyone had a turn to win! It was the most relaxed Thanksgiving I can remember...I let go and just enjoyed the wonderful blessings I am surrounded by! Now we are already on to Christmas...the trees are up, decorations out, present wrapped under the tree-and maybe I'll even extend this stress free idea to Christmas?! Maybe.

Money Intervention

OK...the life of a stay at home mom is not all bon bons and soap operas! I am so exhausted I think I need to go to work for a vacation! Don't get me wrong - very, very thankful to have to opportunity to devote 100% of myself to my family! I have been a stay at home mom in the past but never with 2 kids going different ways, this just puts a whole new twist on things. Between laundry, dirty toilets, piano, AWANA, projects, cooking...whew! Since we made the decision to make this change, so many people have asked why now when both kids are in school. Valid question, this is the time when a lot of moms would go back to work...I struggled for a bit to come up with the "right" answer. But honestly I have come to understand that they need me now for different reasons than when they were babies but no less important reasons. The value of volunteering at the school
and seeing their social interactions for myself, being there to hear those first stories after school, making dinner for us to all sit together and enjoy - priceless!!! I have missed the calm that comes with life being in order, or at least as orderly as it gets with 2 wild monkeys running around.
With that said...here comes the money intervention. I am trying to completely readjust the way I have been shopping and spending our money. I have found so many great blogs and resources for cutting costs and living frugal - being good stewards of the income the Lord has given us. I am working towards slashing our expenses by at least 10% in the next 6 months. That means comparison shopping, coupons, lots of home cooking and homemade gifts! I wanted to share a few of the blogs I have found that I can't get enough of, doesn't everyone love a good deal?!

www.moneysavingmom.com

www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com

www.mommsavers.com

www.frugalmom.net/blog

My Favorite Season

I LOVE fall...everything about it makes me happy - the cooler weather, falling leaves, first fire in the fireplace, hot stew on the stove! The change in season has been more than just weather and leaves for us this year. After much prayer and discussing, we decided that I would give up my position and the surgery center and focus 100% on our home and family. This has been a long time coming and the Lord has been working on us to show us His plan, we just weren't quite ready to take that leap of faith. So silly really....of course He will provide a way for this if it truly His will. Sure enough, He provided the perfect opportunity at the perfect time! I have a few more days to orient those taking over my position but I am already, for the most part, at home. I thought I would breathe this big sigh of relief and feel nothing but joy. Not exactly how it is playing out...I must admit I feel a little lost. I have kept myself SUPER busy to try and feel as productive as humanly possible and I know that over time I will come to really appreciate all that this offers. Among the many busy tasks is finally updating this blog!!! So much has happened and is happening - pumpkin patch, carnivals, Halloween, soccer awards - I will let the pictures speak for themselves! Happy Harvest!