It's a Birthday Party Adventure

Kara's birthday cake turned up missing -- Who could have swiped her cake? Well, we all know who that was -- Swiper. Well, before we began searching for the cake, Daddy read Kara and all of her little friends the story -- A Birthday Party for Boots. This helped get all the kids ready for the party seeing as how only one of the kids really knew Kara. We tried playing Dora, Boots, Swiper (Duck Duck Goose), but apparently none of the other kids had ever played it before.

Then, all of the kids got their backpacks and headed off on our adventure to find the cake. The first stop was to help Isa the Iguana get the flowers their color back. Each kid had to take the chalk out of their backpack and color one of the flowers.

Then, following the map we made our next stop at the slide where the kids had a nasty run in with Swiper. They had to climb the ladder and each child had to say Swiper no Swipping in order to rescue the birthday balloons for Benny the Bull.

After rescuing the balloon and coming down the slide, our next stop was the Pirate ship where each kid got to blow bubbles and steer the ship across the ocean. Afterwards Swiper (JA) returned the cake which he had stolen.

After the kids ate and had cake, Kara opened her gifts and then the children played. She had a wonderful party, and now Mommy can't wait till all the kids are in bed so she can take a nice hot relaxing bath.

Pushing Past the Limits

For the last couple of months, Kara and Lydia have both been pushing past the limits and getting into everything they are not suppose to. As a result, we have had many opportunities for discipleship of our children. Their latest act -- playing in mommy's garden. We even put a fence around it today, and they still went in and rolled around in the dirt -- and I mean literally rolled around in the dirt. Here are the results from today.


As you can see they enjoy the dirt -- why my garden I don't know (Kara has her own patch of dirt she can roll around in).

Anyways, looking at the dirty result of my children's disobedience, reminds me of the sinfulness of my own heart when I choose to disobey God. He gives me everything I need, and so much more. Yet, I still push to have things my way and not only do I end up in a heap of trouble, I end up staining my heart with sin.

I praise the Lord for His mercy that He so often shows me. It has been a joy to be able to extend mercy to my children at times. Kara understands what mercy is, and as we have been memorizing Psalm 100 she will occasionally remind us of how we show her mercy. After acts of disobedience, she often cries -- Daddy mercy please! How often do I rely on God's mercy -- I must act always in obedience because I know God cannot always give me mercy just as we can't always extend mercy to Kara and Lydia.

While I hate having to deal with disobedience in our home, I praise the Lord for the reminder that I myself need to be obeying my Heavenly Father -- Obey 1st Time, Obey always, With a smile on my face, and a happy heart (that is what we've taught Kara to say when we ask her how she is suppose to obey). Thank you Father for my children and for the privilege to raise them according to your standards so that one day they may come to know you personally as their Lord and Savior.

Here are some other pictures from today -- Pictures of obedience.

Andy was fussing, so I asked Kara to go talk with him.

Happy Birthday Kara

Today my little girl turns three. She has been excited for her birthday coming for the last six months. As you can see by the pictures she is excited about today.

Some of Kara's favorite things include the colors orange and purple; practicing her letters; playing outside; singing and dancing; watching movies and listening to Patch the Pirate. She also loves Dora the Explorer and anything involving Princesses. She is memorizing verses, and has I Corinthians 15:3-4, Ephesians 6:1, I Corinthians 13:1, and Psalm 100 memorized. Along with many other short phrases she has memorized for Sunday School -- She loves going to Sunday School.

Kara and Daddy at graduation -- one week old.

Kara's 1st day!

Uncle Rob visiting Kara only a few hours old.

Uncle Phil visiting Kara only a few hours old.

Uncle Sam visiting for graduation Kara only a week old.

Tata and Kara sleeping peacefully -- one week old.

Kara's first birthday -- being held by Aunt Julie

Couldn't find Kara's 2nd birthday pictures. This is Easter Sunday two weeks before she turns 2.

Showers of Blessings

I don't have any pictures right now to post b/c our camera battery is on the blink and we won't be able to get to Wal-Mart
until tomorrow. However, I wanted to share with you the many blessings
the Lord has literally showered upon us this past week.

Quilting is really big in this part of Kansas, so I decided I had better pick it
up and learn to sew if I wanted to be able to relate to the women. So,
a week ago Saturday I went over to the home of one of the ladies in our
church to learn how to cut my material for my very first quilt. I got
there, and someone had given her a sewing machine to give me so I could
learn to quilt -- How great is that! It's even a Singer (I don't know
anything more than that's a brand name). Sunday afternoon I sat down at
the machine, and in one afternoon was able to get the top of my quilt
pieced together and sewn. I was so excited to be able to show it to
Vicki Sunday night.

Monday, my parents came up with another couple and the men put together a fabulous playground for the kids. We live close to the city park, but I'm really excited to be able to send the girls out to play in the backyard (and not have them come in
covered w/ dirt). Kara and Lydia both love it, especially the swings. We even have a baby swing for Andy so I can push Andy and the girls at the same time.

Thursday I was able to go exercise with one of the women from church. Saturday I went down to Hays for a church salad luncheon. Since it was almost two hours away, I had to take Andy. Unfortunately I wasn't able to hear the speaker (Andy must have just
realized his sisters weren't there to grab my attention, so he talked
during the entire devotional. However, the focus of the day was on the
names of God. I praise the Lord for the constant reminders of Who He
Is. I was able to ride down with a lady who attends a church in
Stockton, and comes to our church on Sun and Wed. evenings. It was such
a blessing to fellowship with her and get to know her better.

Today was a very exciting day -- We had 23 people in church this morning (we
normally have 15). One of the visitors was the daughter of some members
who is just here for the weekend, but then we had two new families
visit (One of the families the wife is a member but has not been in
attendance since the Sunday we candidated back in December). Her husband is moving to town, so we hopefully we will see more of them.

I am also excited about tomorrow. The church in Hays is having revival
meetings this week, so we are going to go attend their service tomorrow
night. It will be the first time since we've moved here that I will be
able to sit through a service without having to quiet children --
HURRAY!!!!

These are the wonderful blessings that the Lord has given us this week -- How has the Lord blessed you this week?


By the way, my spring cleaning lasted -- 1 day before I lost motivation to
continue cleaning. What motivates you to clean your home. Please help.

Spring Cleaning

Inspired by Carrie's posts concerning her spring cleaning, I decided it was time for me to do a thorough cleaning of our home. We've only been her for two and a half months, but I know there are areas of the house I have not yet cleaned. So, because I tend to run out of motivation for cleaning I decided to start w/ the rooms that would least motivate me to clean (probably b/c they are all ways getting messed up.

Yesterday I washed the bedding, flipped the kids mattresses, scrubbed their floors, organized their dressers and closets. Here are the results.

We do have some more plans for the kids rooms. The girls need a new dresser b/c the one they have is too small, and it keeps falling apart. We are also hoping to get a large beanbag for their reading corner under the canopy.

In Andy's room, Uncle Phillip is going to draw a cowboy mural on his wall, and then I will paint it for him. Planning and deocrating the kids rooms have been so much fun.

Easter Memories

These pictures are not in order because for some reason blogger is not loading them correctly or letting me move them around in my post. So, please be patient as you scroll down.

This year I did not buy Easter dresses for the girls. Instead, I rummaged through their summer clothes to see if I could find some summery dresses that they had not yet worn to church. I found this dress for Kara that I had purchased for $2 at JC Penny's in the fall of 2005.

Yesterday, the day after Easter we went shopping in Salina. The first time I've been to Wal-Mart in two months. Unfortunately it showed by the amount of items I purchased. Anyways, They had all of their Easter baskets on sale for 50% off. I was able to find two princess Easter baskets for $7. The baskets came complete with costume, tiera, scepter, shoes, necklace, earings, ring, and of course the candy. The girls loved being able to play with them this morning.

All dressed up in their princess getup. Kara is ready to issue some commands, while Lydia looks on like now what am I suppose to do with this?

Lydia's dress is my favorite dress that either of the girls have owned so far. I had Kara wearing this dress all of the time, and since it looks so great on Lydia she will probably have the same fate. It reminds me of Kim Anderson photos.

My three adorable children on Easter morning. Isn't that little boy handsome in is vest and tie! I praise the Lord for how He has blessed us and provided more than we need.
The week before Easter, I found a great muffin pan at the dollar store that made muffins in the shape of bunnies and eggs. I made some small cakes and frosted. Then, we decorated our eggs (well, Lydia decorated a bunny)

I think more docorations made it into her mouth than onto her bunny.
You can see that Kara was intent on decorating her egg. Although, I wonder what happened to all of the chocolate chips.
You can see Daddy is proud of his egg. Andy watched intently as daddy decorated his egg. He has become very eager to try all of the foods that we have on our plate. But for now, he must remain content with cereal.

Yesterday while we were in Salina, we stopped at McDonalds because they have a greta playland for the kids to play on. We found out that they have great toys right now -- The Wizard of Oz characters. After purchasing three happy meals, we just paid $3 to get the rest of the characters (with the exception of the wicked witch).

This pirate has taken captive the Good Witch Glenda (we got her b/c she looks like a princess) from the Wizard of OZ and the Royal Scepter.

Girls Will Be Girls

This past weekend, the girls and I were having a lot of fun. We had a tea party on Saturday and on Sunday before church we just took a bunch of different pictures together. Here are my favorites.

This is typical Kara -- hamming it up for the camera.

I think this is the best picture Lydia and I have had taken together.

I think Lydia is going to be my nurturer. She loves babying Andy

Thank you Aunt Gayle for the Boo Boo Doll. Kara burned her finger last week when she was trying to help her daddy. She picked up a drill bit after he set it down. The doll worked wonders.

Saturday the girls got dressed up to have a real tea party. We've started having a tea party every day and we are working on memorizing Psalm 100 together. Kara and Lydia both love it.

Lydia is my little Pris. She loves to wear hats,
scarves, gloves, necklaces, and carry purses.

Not Just For Boys

Today I was able to document a suspician that I had. Little girls enjoy playing with bugs and worms as much as Little boys.

I was inside cleaning the house, and suddenly realized I had not heard any screaming or fighting coming from the backyard for awile. I looked out the window, and Kara and Lydia were squatting down around a worm and squelling with delight everytime it moved.

They were even more excited, when Kara handed the worm to Lydia and she broke it in half and both halves of the worm were still moving.

Getting Big

Over the past few weeks, I've been buying fresh fruits and veggies when they've been on sale and cooking and turning them into babyfood. Yesterday I picked up a box of rice cereal for Andy and fixed him his first bite of food for dinner tonight.

You can see by his expression that he's not too sure about this new taste.

Kara's attempt at taking a photo -- not bad.

Kara took a bite of the cereal and almost got sick, but when I asked her if she wanted to feed her brother she was more than willing to give it a try.

The Miracle of Prayer

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16

Today I was again reminded of how short life is, and how imporant prayer is. Not to mention how frivilous I can be at times. This afternoon, JA and two of the men (brothers) from the church were working on building a structure to both keep rain from flooding into the house, and to keep my children from banging their heads on cement steps. During this process while JA and one of the men were on the roof shingling, the other man had a mini stroke. JA came running into the house to call 911 and I went out to see what I could do not realizing what was happening (I pictured someone falling off the roof, or nailing his hand, etc. . .) I did not expect to see him passed out on the ground convulsing and vomiting, and turning blue. As soon as JA got off of the phone, He came out and immediately began praying over the man w/ the other man. When the ambulance arrived, and after they left JA continued to pray. And immediately after the ambulance left began praying aloud with the man's brother.

After JA and the brother left for the hospital, I came inside and prayed w/ Kara (who was refusing to take a nap -- of which for once I was thankful). A few hours later JA came home and told me that Sam was stable and had most likely suffered from a mild stroke. However, he was not able to talk. About an hour later Sam's brother and his other brother showed up at the house, and Sam was once again able to carry on a conversation.

The power of prayer is remarkable. I am so thankful to be married to a man who's first resource is to begin praying (I know he was praying before he ever reached the phone), and who can remain calm in the midst of an emergency.

How can I dare to doubt the might and power of my God when He longs to perform such mighty miracles? How can I continue to be lax in my prayer life when God continuously makes clear the power of prayer in our lives? I serve a mighty and powerful God who is ever faithful and desires to show himself powerful in my life on a daily basis.

Immortal, invisible, God only wise
To all, life Thou givest -- to both great and small,
In all life Thou livest -- the true life of all
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish -- but naught changeth thee.
Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All praise we would render-- O help us to see
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee!

If I simply open my eyes and look around me, I can see God active in my life and in the lives of those around me.

Please Pray

Please pray for Sam Hendrich -- He's one of the gentlemen (the man in the red hat) who has been helping JA with the building in the back yard. Today while they were working in the back yard, he had a miniture stroke. Praise the Lord he is stable. However, he has not yet been able to respond verbally.Thank you for your prayers

Happy St. Patricks Day

Yes, I know St. Patrick is claimed by the Catholics, but in all of my research, nothing links Patrick to catholocism. Therefore, I thought today would be a fun day to celebrate with the girls. So, I declared it a green day. Everything was green from the milk in their cups to their coffee cake to their clothing for the day. I even picked up a couple of green carnations (artificial) from the dollar store to give each of the girls -- Kara planted hers in her garden, but I'll save that for another post.

Here are the pictures from our celebration.

Kara and Lydia at breakfast with their carnations, green milk, and green food.

I made a fruit pizza for the first time, and I am really excited about how easy it was and how well it turned out even with being turned green.

JA and a couple of men from the church have had another task they've been workign on for the past couple of days. We have a wonderful fenced in back yard, but right next to the back of the house there is a stairway going down to the lower level of the house (which is nice). However, the stairwell was level with the ground something that has made me very nervous about allowing the girls to go outside and play w/o supervision (I just have these visions of one of the girls running, falling over the edge and banging her head open on the cement steps). So, the men have been building a wall around the stairwell for us.

I'm hoping to maybe plant some ivy or some climbing roses in front of the trellis. I'm not sure how well they will grow, but it's worth a try (our backyard has limited patches of grass growing, so if grass doesn't grow I'm hesitant to know what will.).