someone thinks i'm prolific

i received this award from andrea @ arise to write. i am honored you chose me! thank you, precious friend. for those of you who do not know andrea, please hop over and check out her blog. she is a prolific blogger herself.

a prolific blogger is one who is intellectually productive… keeping up an active blog that is filled with enjoyable content.

1. every winner of the prolific blogger award has to pass on this award to at least seven other deserving prolific bloggers. spread some love!
2. each prolific blogger must link to the blog from which he/she has received the award.
3. every prolific blogger must link back to this post, which explains the origins and motivation for the award.
4. every prolific blogger must visit this post and add his/her name in the mr. linky, so that we all can get to know the other winners. (click here for the mr. linky page.)

i know so many prolific bloggers. i visit them often. knowing them through their blog has made my life much more enjoyable. i would encourage you to stop by and meet them. i believe that they will enrich your life as well with their prolific blogging skills.

 i'm passing this award on to the following prolific bloggers:
1.kelly @my voice, my view
2.mich @mich
3.teri @the mighty m family
4.debby @just breathe
5.debby @heavenly humor
6.tara @keeping up with the kellys
7.lidj @crown of beauty
8.kathleen @sassy granny
9.susan @this day
10.rosel @off the beaten trek
11.wylie @shout a joyful noise
12.darcie @life's unfolding story
13.jackie @ homestead wannabes 
14.elaine @peace for the journey
15 krisitn @ these little girls of mine
16 julie @wife.mom.nurse
17. maryleigh @blue cotton memory
18. nan @moms the word
19. mimi @ he & me + three
20.alicia @ yaya stuff
21. mary @ my new 30

someone thinks that you are a prolific blogger too! me! :) i know! I know! that is way more than 7. three times as much! i could have kept going and going. i am spreading the love! well, i think that is a good start to promoting some great prolific bloggers. please, go meet them all! you will not be disappointed, i promise!

happy birthday mom

yesterday was my mom's birthday. Isn't she cute? we had her and my dad over for dinner and some cake. nothing fancy, just a normal meal around here with a couple added guests. i fixed a turkey skillet with fried rice and vegetables, and homemade bread sticks. then later we had a coconut cream cake.

               we had some silly time along the way. olivia went around taking some pictures of everyone. this is my dad.

"give me that paci!"

ewwwwww!

                        not sure what amanda is doing here. i think she is talking to josiah and rachel on skype across the table. LOL

cute outfit josiah!

the cake is always jacob's favorite part of birthdays

mmmmmmmmmmm!

ooops! not this time! he did not like the coconut in the frosting. LOL

                  gross! sorry!

happy birthday mom! we love you!

my boys (oh my how they have changed)

my boys

jacob 6 weeks, josiah 14 1/2 years old

16 months later

josiah's 16th birthday, jacob 20 months

oh my how they have changed!

just wondering...

just wondering.....

what is church supposed to be like anyway?
how important is it in our lives?
can we be saved and not go to church?
what is God's thoughts on church?


just wondering.....

and seeking Truth!!!

do you go to church? 

you fabulous sugar doll you

i received this fabulous award from tara at keeping up with the kellys a couple of months ago and i am attempting to catch up on my award acceptances. tara has a fabulous blog herself and an adorable, almost two year old, son that she is the stay at home mommy to. she is a great blogging friend. please stop by and meet her some time, you will not be sorry. i mean it when i say she is a fabulous sugar doll!

to accept this award, i am supposed to tell 10 things about myself then nominate 10 other fabulous bloggers to receive the award for themselves.

here goes...
1. i got married when i was 25.
2. i had my first baby, josiah, when i was 27.
3. he got to the ripe old age of 9 months and then i found out baby #2 was on her way.
4. i had my second baby, rachel, when i was 29.
5. she got to the ripe old age of 7 months and then i found out baby #3 was on her way.
6. i had my third baby, olivia, when i was 30.
7. she got to the ripe old age of 18 months and then i found out baby #4 was on her way.
8. i had my fourth baby, amanda, when i was 32. (four babies in 5 years) and i loved every single minute of it, until they started hitting their teenage years. JK
9. i had my fifth baby, jacob, when i was 41. (josiah finally got his baby brother)
10. i love being a mommy! (most of the time)

now to pass on this fabulous sugar doll award to some of my fabulous friends. the last award that i passed on, i did a random selection from my blogroll and regular commenting friends. because i think all of you are fabulous, i want to do that again. i liked doing it that way. it felt like i pulled the names out of a hat, kind of like a lottery. so, i am going to do that again. without further adieu and in no particular order, the award goes to....

jackie @ homestead wannabes
valerie @ from our front porch looking in
stacie @ a firefighter's wife
bridget @ among the chaos
alicia @ yaya stuff
angela @ free spirit haven
mimi @ he & me + 3
julie @ jewelz sightings
joanne @ blessed
lesli @ one day at a time

enjoy! you fabulous sugar doll you!

too smart for their own good

i just came across this photo the other day from an old neighbor friend. and along with it came so many childhood memories flooding through my mind. this is the neighborhood that i grew up in. i am standing here on the far right with my sister and the two neighbor friends that we played with most of our childhood. i think that i am about six and my sister would be four. as i sit here and look at myself so many years ago, i can still remember so vividly some of the thoughts and feelings that i experienced at this age and even younger and how those memories of my childhood formed who i am today. sometimes, i think we do not realize how much of life that children are aware of. truly, they are probably too smart for their own good. we think, "oh they are just kids, they do not really understand what is going on." but, let me tell you they understand so much more than we think that they do. i can remember how i thought at age six and when i think about it now, i realize we do not give kids enough credit for how intelligent that they are concerning awareness of the people in their life. i could see through people's masks even then. i knew who was for real. i knew who lived in lies. and, i knew it when someone just needed to be accepted and befriended. all that i am today is the result of the learning experiences of friendships and life that i had as a kid. i need to remember that the same is true for my own children. they are so much smarter and more aware that i have realized. definitely, too smart for their own good.

i am strong

when i am weak, then i am strong!

i  have exhausted all of my own resources and emptied myself of the "me" answers. i have recognized that i  am incapable of fixing me. all of the hindrances that dam up His power in my life lie dormant in me and His grace is now able to flow freely and powerfully in all of the areas of my life that i have recognized as so very weak. because i know that i am weak, i can receive His strength. His strength is perfected in my weakness! so, when i am weak, then i am strong!

and when you see me walk in glory and power, you will know that what you see is not the result of my strength but it is the result of my weakness depending upon His strength. the glory you see in me is not mine but His! because i am weak, therefore, i am strong! 

oh yes! i am strong!

"i can do anything through Christ who strengthens me." (phillipians 4:13) i am strong!
i am strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (ephesians 6:10) i am strong!
the same power that raised Christ from the dead now flows freely through me! i am strong!
i am strong through the grace that God gives me in Christ Jesus! (II timothy 2:1)  i am strong! 

thank God that He made me weak because then it became possible that I could be made strong by depending upon Him.  and, His strength is perfected as i, in my weakness, surrender to Him. then, His glory radiates in my life when i am strong in His perfect strength!


because of Jesus,

i am strong!

i am weak!

i am weak!

i get frustrated and raise my voice to get my point across with my kids. i yell at them. i have tried and tried to change this so many times. i just keep reverting back every time. i am weak!

I get defensive when i feel judged by others. i defend myself, either by pointing out their issues or trying to make mine not look so bad. i have tried not to do this so many times and just not let what others say or feel about me affect me, but i can't. i am weak!

i do not always use my best judgment when spending money. i spend when i shouldn't sometimes. then, i feel frustrated with myself for not being disciplined. i have tried to change this in me and i make promises to myself to change. i do well for a while and then i seem to fail again and again. i am weak!

i am not always disciplined with my time. i leave the things that i do not like to do until the last possible minute. cleaning is always the last thing that i want to do and usually i put it off until i can not put it off anymore. i have tried to make myself schedules and goals but i never stick to them for long. i am weak!

i catch myself saying things that are not always true, sometimes before i even think it through. I lie. how does that happen? i only want truth to come forth from my mouth so i have determined in myself to always think completely through my thoughts before i speak. but, i still always seem to fail. i am weak!

i try to figure things out too much. i want to see if i can make life work the way that i want it to. i try to master life and then it masters me. i try to just trust God and rest in His will but i seem to always find myself back in the "trying to figure it out mode" again and again. i am weak!

i glory in my weaknesses! recognizing them and acknowledging them is necessary for me to receive His strength. emptying me of my own efforts, of the "me" solution, in trying to change myself prepares me for being filled with His power. "for the sake of Christ, i am well pleased and take pleasure in distresses; for when i am weak, then i am strong." (II corinthians 12:10)

my efforts only dam up His power in my life, stopping the flow of His grace to empower me to overcome. but, when i recognize my weakness and helplessness to overcome and look to the Overcomer to empower me, the dam that stops the flow of His grace is broken and the power rushes through to rescue me, unhindered and freely able to revive me from futility to make me strong. "for God sets Himself against the proud, but gives grace and power to the humble." (I peter 5:5)

none of my weaknesses are so big that God's grace cannot take care of them. His power does not diminish in any way. It is sufficient to meet me in every area of my life. and, as i surrender them to Him so that all can see the power of God's grace dwell upon me and strengthen me to overcome my weaknesses, His strength is perfected in my life and radiates His glory. "My grace is enough for you; for My strength and power are made perfect and show themselves most effective in your weakness. therefore, i will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses, that the strength and power of Christ may rest and dwell upon me!" (II corinthians 12:9)

i glory in my weaknesses so that i can rid myself of them and live in His strength!

i am weak!

gorgeous bloggers

i am so behind in accepting and passing on some of the awards that i have gotten over the past couple of months. so, i thought i would take today and pass one of them along. kat, from heart2heart passed this gorgeous award on to me several months ago and it is so darn cute. i definitely wanted to pass it along to some gorgeous blogging friends as well. by accepting this award I have to tell you six things about me that you don't know and then pass it to six other gorgeous friends.

1. i am the 1st born of three in my family. i have one younger sister and one younger brother.
2. i grew up in washington, illinois.
3. i moved to tulsa, oklahoma to go to rhema bible training center when i was 22 years old.
4. i lived in tulsa for 11 years. i got married and had 4 babies in a pink hospital called st. francis hospital.
5. i now, once again, live in my home town of washington, illinois. my kids attend the same schools that i        
   did when i grew up. they have had some of the same teachers that i had too. that is kind of weird!
6. my last baby was born almost 2 years ago, here in illinois, in a hospital called st. francis hospital too. it was
    not pink though.

ok, all of you gorgeous bloggers. i think you are all gorgeous! but, i am a rule follower. so, i want to pass this award on to six of my friends that i have randomly chosen from my friends list.

and the award goes to......

kelly
mimi
annie
tara
alleluiabelle
melissa

please accept this gorgeous award and pass it along to 6 of your gorgeous friends.

a birthday celebration

last night we took the kids out to alexanders, aaron's favorite steak house, and celebrated his birthday with them and some of our extended family. we all enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner grilled by the birthday man himself. don't feel sorry for him, he insisted!

                                 
                            josiah and amanda enjoyed their steaks

                                                           jacob still seems to always steal the attention for some reason!
                                                                                        i wonder why?

                                                              aaron's brother got him some lottery tickets for his birthday.

as soon as he started looking to see if he had a winner, everyone was on pins and needles to see if he won a million dollars. nope! only $10. but that was fun!

                                               



                    we came home to open presents and have cake.















    

                           the cake was jacob's favorite part!

                                     the kids all thought daddy needed a little help with his golf game in the putting department.

                                                                                       jacob loved daddy's present

we had a wonderful time celebrating aaron's birthday with all of our family. aaron's favorite gift was this card that josiah got for him.

i cry every time i read it.

it was a great evening laughing and celebrating!