Glory in the midst of Tragedy...

I'm writing this down so that maybe I'll actually remember to watch, too....

Would you please join me in praying for the Chapman family? I just saw on MaryBeth Chapman's blog that there are some big media things coming up.... praying that even in the aftermath of the horrible tragedy of losing their daughter, Maria, that God may somehow and in many ways receive much glory.

The dates as of today (I guess that they could still get bumped....)
Good Morning America- August 5
Larry King Live- August 7
People magazine- hitting news stands on August 13

Thankful Thursday...

Today, I am thankful...

1) That naptime is COMING! HOORAH!
2) That I have an Aldi close to my house.... as well as a Farmer's Market. I was able to run out and get groceries for the weekend and didn't have to burn a ton of gas in the process! HOORAH AGAIN!
3) For my hubby's ability to be a do-it-yourselfer when it comes to projects around here. He just went to get a building permit, so that the deck building can begin one day soon! After talking to some of our neighbors and hearing them all mention how much they had been quoted for decks and patios, I am THRILLED that Scott is willing to tackle this project one of these days!
4) For my boys' long eyelashes and big blue eyes!!! :)
5) For a day of "wins" as a mom. Moms out there in the blogging world: do you ever just feel like you need a day that you can look back on and say, "Hey, that was a GOOD one...." I feel like many days as a mommy are cluttered with baggage and guilt....
"I should've played more"....
"I shouldn't gotten more done around the house"....
"I shouldn't have let him watch one more episode of The Wiggles"....
"I should've read more kids' books"....
"I should have done one more puzzle"....
"I shouldn't have lost my temper"
.... ahh, all of the "SHOULD HAVE'S" STINK! BUT..... this is "Thankful Thursday" so my point is THIS: I am thankful for an amazing day with my kids on Monday, being a FUN mommy.... loving on my sweeties.... doing what they wanted to do! We spent 5 hours at the Children's Museum.... we went on bike rides (and I allowed Aaron to get completely covered with mud.... up his back, into his hair even!).... we both had fun as I sprayed him off with the hose.... I watched them splash in the little pool for over an hour.... we read books.... and I didn't "lose it" once that day. Trust me when I say that there were moments that I could have.... but the Spirit was greater than my FLESH that day. Praise God for growth.... praise God for fun.... PRAISE GOD for my kids and a MUCH NEEDED day of "WINS" as a momma!!! Now, I probably shouldn't mention how today has gone.... did I mention that I took both of my children grocery shopping?!! :)

Have a blessed day!

Fun at the Museum

If you have little ones and you ever find yourself in Rochester, NY, you have to check out the Strong National Museum of Play. What a fun day! Aaron's "Clifford Class" from preschool had a little reuinion to go see the Clifford exhibit.... the entire day was fantastic!

Wow....

....I love my kids. Deb captured this picture while we were in Indiana, and I just LOVE IT! The precious matching shirts (hey, give me a break.... they won't let me dress them alike forever, so I have to take advantage of these fleeting moments, people!).... the color that brings out their beautiful blue eyes. Just love 'em....

Flashback to the Weekend!

Just some fun family shots from this weekend. We had such a great time.... checking out Niagara-on-the-Lake and Lake Ontario! We also had a lot of fun just hanging out at the house this time, too! Thanks for visiting Mom, Dad, and Deb! We loved having you!

Big news from Buffalo...

Did that title make your heart skip a beat?!! Okay, the news isn't THAT big.... but it's big for this mommy. Aaron lost his first tooth on Sunday! As much as I've tried to slow him down, my oldest baby is growing up.... whew, kindergarten is coming QUICKLY.... the tears can come just as quickly these days if I let myself, too....

P.S. What is the going rate from the tooth fairy at your house?! :)

I'm still here....

Just a QUICK update to let you know that we are alive and well here in NY! We had a fabulous visit with my parents and sister over the past couple of days. We also had a great afternoon of fun with some new friends from The Chapel. Tomorrow, I'm headed to Rochester, NY to "Strong's Museum" with my boys and some kiddos from Aaron's preschool class. Should be fun.... I hear it is an amazing place.

I'm sure that it will be a MEGA-POST of pics once I find a minute!

Blessings to you today! Have a great week!!!

Thankful Thursday...

Okay.... it's really still Wednesday.... BUT.... today, I am thankful....

1) That my mom and dad and Deb are here visiting! HOORAH!!!!!!!!!!!!
2) That they brought their Wii. Aaron burns so much energy on that thing.... so fun!
3) That my mom bought Isaac a box of diapers at the store tonight!!! YIPPE! I think that he was down to about 5 diapers left.... such a blessing! THANK YOU, GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!!!
4) For gorgeous, cooler weather this evening. The windows are open in NY, and it is almost chilly! PERFECT SLEEPING WEATHER (without the A/C!!!)
5) For a fun time at The Chapel's staff picnic today. It was moved inside because of weather, but we had a great time interacting with other staff.... and I even met a few new people, too.

Have a blessed day! Much love!

Soft Pretzels

I think that I might have posted this a long time ago, but at the risk of a repeat.... here is the wonderful soft pretzel recipe that we LOVE at our house! I had a few requests for it awhile back and I'm finally getting around to posting it! We usually cut the recipe in half when we are making it for just our family (and it STILL makes A LOT!) :) They are WONDERFUL with coarse salt or cinnamon sugar on them. And one little tip that we discovered.... when you are ready to form the pretzels, for some odd reason, it works better if you cut off the sections of dough with a pizza cutter vs. pulling off the pieces to roll out (it rolls better). We usually just cut a bunch of the dough at once and then roll them out. Your kids will love to join in the fun! Aaron gets so excited to be a part of it (hmm.... maybe we'll make them while my family is here this weekend.... sounds like fun!) Enjoy!

The joy of worship!

Matthew 19:14 says, "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these'."

Check out this video that Cathy recorded while she was here. It brings me SUCH JOY to hear my kids worship! Love it, love it, love it!

I love it....

Can't wait. I'm not HUGELY into politics, but I DO care about our nation. I can't wait for this.

Just for fun

Scott had some fun on the "Animoto" site the other day, too, and I thought it would be fun to post the "show." The pics are just random from over the past 6ish months.... some from while we were Indiana.... other random family pics!

Creativity....

I love fun commercials. Scott, Cathy, and I were watching trick billiards (is that what it is called?) on ESPN this afternoon and saw this commercial a few times. I just think it's fun, with the Olympics coming up and all (in case you can't read it, yes, that is Michael Phelps).

Another Adventure?!!

The boys, Cathy, and I went on another adventure today.... parts were FUN.... parts were CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!! Cathy's mom had given her an old picture from years and years ago that included a clock made out of flowers and also one with the Horseshoe Falls, and she wondered if we could try to find these spots so she could recreate the photos. Adventure! COOL! Anyway, we all googled "floral clock Canada" and we actually figured out where that was, and Scott and I could both tell from the other pic that I needed to drop Cathy off at a certain spot by the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side for that one. READY, SET, GO!!!!!!!

Our adventure started, and I quickly discovered that the bridges too and from Canada are VERY different on the weekends. We had to wait for a bit to get through customs on our way across, and THIRTY-TWO minutes on the way back to the U.S. (that may not sound very long, but after 4+ hours of driving in the car with two preschoolers, that is a VERY long time! I was getting loony!!! Truly! I came home and took a nap!)

Anyway, it WAS an amazing adventure! We WERE excited to find the clock, and Cathy was able to accomplish the task of recreating both pictures. Very fun! We also drove to Niagara-on-the-Lake.... this is where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario. GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!! Forewarning to my parents and Deb: I can't wait to take you there next weekend! Get ready!!!!!!!!! :) There were TONS of vineyards and fresh fruit orchards along the way; it was just a really neat drive (and I managed to NOT hit any of the men and women on bikes, too! Hoorah!) This was the boys' favorite part.... the fish at the clock!


A little picnic lunch! Isaac was DONE by the time we left Niagara-on-the-Lake and headed to the Falls! What a sweetie!

Because you just can't get enough of the color BLUE!

We had so much fun on the "Maid of the Mist" last night. It was a pretty quick adventure but pretty amazing, all at the same time. We took as many fun pictures as we could, but there were certainly times that we had to make sure the cameras were tucked up under our pretty ponchos in order to save them (and I was still afraid about ruining it still!) Seriously, you cannot imagine how WET you get.... it's an amazing and overwhelming feeling, all at the same time! I included a lot of pics of the pretty ponchos.... I just couldn't pick a favorite!SO COOL to see the Falls from this angle!

That's the Canadian skyline in front of the boys...
Don't you LOVE Isaac's face in this one?!! It's as if he is saying, "Um, mom.... I've always counted you as trustworthy.... but are you REALLY sure about this one?!!"


You can tell by my hair.... we got REALLY wet.... but we REALLY had fun, too!

God's creation is amazing!

Are you "shining your scars"?

Seriously, amazing post over at Stuff Christians Like. Check it out....

Thankful Thursday...

Today, I am thankful....

1) That we are having an incredible visit with our friend, Cathy. Today, we took the boys to the local pool and then headed to Niagara Falls after dinner tonight (pictures of the "Maid of the Mist" to come later.... so cool!)

2) That one of our friends gave us a wireless router (is that spelled right?) Now, Scott and Cathy can sit on their laptops while I am on our personal computer. Pretty cool, too!

3) That a friend who is moving just gave us some pretty awesome outdoor toys for the boys... we're working on being a kid-magnet-kinda-place so these fun new cars and toys will add to the activities!

4) For God's magnificent creation! Seriously, have you seen Niagara Falls recently?!! If not, wanna?!! :)

5) That my kiddos both want to cuddle at bedtime. Sometimes, I forget that the time is fleeting and I need to just treasure these moments.... but tonight, I remembered....

Have a blessed day!

Not sure where I fit....

Hmmm....

Edited to add: I'm okay with the fact that I don't "fit", necessarily.... I just thought that this guy's post was interesting today. :) I'm all about just being real and being who God made me to be.... even as a "pastor's wife"!

Wordless Wednesday...

A great reminder....

.... to every parent. My friend, Angie, posted this great bit of info today. Terrific....

All about Aaron

I love these pictures that I was able to capture of Aaron while we were in Indiana. This kid has so much personality.... and I feel like the pictures give a little taste of it!


And THIS picture absolutely warms my heart!Aaron has entered a super-fun new stage.... he is starting to "write" his own notes! I was gone last night for a ladies' book club, and Scott said that Aaron was missing momma. Scott decided to see if writing me a note would make him feel better, and this is what he came up with, all on his own.

His translation to me this morning:

"I love you mom. I love you a lot. I am missing you too much. Mom, I love you."

How sweet is that?!! And, I even got my first Facebook message from Aaron last night (via Scott... NO, our 5-year old is NOT on Facebook!) Here is what it said:

"(FROM AARON) I love you mom. Love you and I miss you. I love it when you are home to tuck me in. I miss you so much. I love you. From Aaron."

THESE are the moments that I want to remember as a mom.....

Tagged!

Another fun round of tag is making its way through the blogging world! I've been tagged by my friends Jodie and Krista. The rules are that I have to share 6 random things about me and then tag 6 others....

First, for my randomness...

1) I take a shower every morning (and cannot think of the last time that I missed a day). When Aaron was about 6 months old, I heard an awesome speaker (Allie Pleiter) talk about identifying your "hot buttons" as a mom.... what helps you to function better and get through the day?! For her.... it was wearing lipstick.... for me, it's a shower (so I make sure to get one before Scott leaves for work so that he can keep an eye on the boys.... or set the alarm for early-early if he's traveling so that I always attempt to beat the boys out of bed).
2) I am currently not missing the counseling world (for those of you who don't know me personally, I used to be a professional counselor on a part-time basis until we moved to NY!) While I am sure that I will step back into that world one day and have actually had two different opportunities already present themselves in NY, I am enjoying focusing on my husband and my kids right now. Believe it or not, counseling can actually be emotionally draining (surprise, surprise!) :)
3) I am jealous of professional photographers. If I had another profession and were gifted, I would want to be one (check out my friend Kelly's blog... she's terrific! If you live near Michigan and are getting married, you simply must have her take your pics!)
4) I am annoyed with deodorant. Now, don't get me wrong... I'm thankful to live in a place where deodorant is readily available; however, two things drive me nuts about the stuff. #1) When you get to the bottom of the container and it breaks off (and ends up all over the bathroom floor). #2) When you have been using the same brand for multiple months or years, and it quits working for ya. What's up with that?!!
5) I like to drive fast.... I always have.
6) I was the Kosciusko County 4-H Queen once.... and I used to show pigs and beef cattle. Now, if that isn't HOT and random, I don't know what is!!! :)

Okay, now I am tagging: Lisa, Melanie, Krista L., Kelly, Cathy, and Jessica.

Here are the rules:
-Link to the person who tagged you.
- Post the rules on your blog.
- Write six random things about yourself.
- Tag six people at the end of your post.
- Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
- Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Thankful Thursday...

Today, I am thankful...

1) For the many gifts that God gave to my hubby. I have had the awesome privilege of sitting under his leadership in many different arenas in the past couple of weeks and have LOVED it. He was the keynote speaker at Epworth Forest in North Webster a few weeks ago and was incredible.... engaging and challenging, all at the same time. Many, many lives were changed as Scott stepped out and shared the Truth that God placed on his heart. I also was able to sit back and enjoy watching him lead at an incredible volunteer dinner last night for King's World. God is using my husband in phenomenal ways (yes, I AM biased.... but YES, it is true as well!). It is such a privilege to enjoy the journey with him.
2) For new discoveries in New York. I recently discovered the amazing fruit crop of this area. There are incredible vineyards (not that I get any fruit.... or wine from there! HA!) but I just discovered that there is a great Farmer's Market just around the corner. I got a few BAGS of sweet cherries the other day for just a few BUCKS.... and it was grown just a few miles north of me. How cool is that?!! And they are YUMMY, too!
3) Discovery #2: the town of North Tonawanda (yes, that's a mouthful!) has an awesome, FREE kidde pool (complete with mushroom waterfall). They also serve FREE lunch to ANY child for the entire summer on any day of the week. Is that amazing or what?!! AND.... it's only about 5 minutes from my house. I think I'll head over there every day.... no more lunch chef here!!!
4) I'm continually thankful for Google Reader.... saves me tons of time.... and it's so fun to hop on whenever I find 3 extra minutes to just catch up on a few of my favorite blogs!
5) For curbside recycling! Hoorah for the yellow bins!

Have a blessed Thursday! :)

Indiana Slideshow... Part 2!

Here are some more fun pics from the trip! We had such a fantastic time!




One comment on the "Animoto" show.... sorry that some of the pics go by so quickly! I'm new at this thing (I guess we'll all just have to watch it over and over and over! HA!) I think that if I chose a slow ballad, the pictures would move by more slowly.... but these shots just were too much fun for a ballad!

I forgot to grab my camera for every adventure in Indiana, but I sure am glad that I had it with me as often as I did! If any of you want any of these pictures, let me know and I can email the files!

Indiana slideshow.... Part1

This is my first stab at "Animoto".... love it, love it! I'll attack another slideshow with the rest of my favorite Indiana pictures soon!

I am a spoiled girl...

I am so blessed with amazing friends. God has blessed me abundantly through the kindness and love of others.

I'm highlighting one of many today..... I love my friend, Leslie, for SO many reasons. She has encouraged me.... she has challenged.... she has prayed for me.... she has prayed WITH me.... she spurs me on.... she makes me want to love my God more.... she makes me want to be a better wife and mom.... she understands me.... she loves me.... she accepts me.

One OTHER thing that I love about my dear friend is that she is also an amazing photographer. I asked if she would take pics of the boys while we were in Indiana, and she gave us this amazing gift! Here are a few of my favorites:

Isn't she fantastic?!! THANK YOU, LESLIE!

A little update...

I am still among the land of the living... however, I am finding it hard to find the time to re-enter the blogging world! Here's my best attempt at a little update....



* The suitcases are unpacked! YAHOO!
* The laundry is now at a manageable point!
* The pictures are now on my computer and not my camera from the trip... however, it's going to take me awhile to sort through all 519 of them to get a slideshow rolling!
* My kids both had dentist appointments today. AND.... a cool thing happened.... THIS thought went through my head: "I really hope that we don't move anytime soon because I would really miss this dentist if we did." Y'all... he is BEYOND amazing! Isaac had his first cleaning and did great. Aaron had his last round of fillings and did well, too. So.... here is what I REALLY love about our new dentist. A little background: I took Aaron to a different dentist in May who made me feel HORRIBLE about the amount of decay in my little angel's mouth. I was floored when they told me about all of the work that he needed to have done... I brush his teeth twice a day and floss them every day as well. So... when the old guy made me feel like a moron-mother, I decided to seek a second opinion. New guy, Dr. Mike is THE BEST. First of all, he encouraged me as a mom.... has been terrific with Aaron.... AND told me that I wasn't doing anything wrong, rather, he wanted to do saliva testing to see what was going on inside of Aaron's mouth that has been beyond our control. Saliva testing was done today.... interesting fact, Aaron does not produce ENOUGH saliva when he is chewing, eating, and drinking.... therefore, he has no buffer between the bacteria and his enamel. We're going to try to conquer some of this issue with products including Xylitol.... The reason I tell you this.... for those of you with little ones.... if you run into this type of problem, ask about it! I feel like I can now make a difference in my little one's mouth! Hoorah!
* I had the painter come in today to give us an estimate on our house (flashback.... remember, I won a $250 gift certificate for painting?!) I can't wait to get some color in here!
* We survived our first round of sports pictures tonight. It went well.... except that Aaron wouldn't let me hear the end of the fact that his shoes were too tight. Yuck to whining! 'bout drives me crazy!
* I had a moment today when I literally thought, "Where are grandma and grandpa when I need them?!!" :)
* And, our boys have been doing a WHOLE lot of this:

Aaron has been begging to play outside with the neighbor kids non-stop. They've been having a good time in our itty-bitty blow up pool (they are pictured here with their little buddy, Christopher).

Blessings to you today!

We're home!

Well.... we have TWO homes right now.... I kind of feel like I still have one foot in Indiana and one in Buffalo.... so maybe it would be more accurate to say that we've arrived back to our Buffalo home! We had a FANTASTIC time in Indiana! It was a two-week whirlwind that was absolutely wonderful! It was exhausting and exhilarating, all at the same time! I will be sharing pictures later (yes, we took A LOT!), but for now, want to thank each of you who took time out of your busy summer to see us! You blessed us immensely! A special thanks to my parents and Scott's parents for tolerating your loud house guests! :)

Now, back to the bills and laundry! Love ya!