The goal of parenting...

I am reading my first book of the new year that Justin picked out for me. It is called GOSPEL-POWERED PARENTING by William P. Farley. I am only on the third chapter, but it is really challenging me in all areas of my parenting: how I look at parenting, the goal of parenting, etc. Here are just a few quotes to wet your appetite for this book:

"Morality is important, but it follows faith. It does not produce it." (p. 42).

"Well-behaved children are not the ultimate end." (p. 42).

"..the goal of Christian parenting is heart transformation." (p. 43).

" In conclusion, it is positively hurtful to build your lives around your children instead of God. It damages children, it tears down our marriages, and most importantly, it displeases God." (p. 36).

Chapter 3 is about gospel fear, what it looks like and how it should govern our lives and parenting. This excerpt brought back so many memories of my dad, he too showed me balance between fear and love of him, that made it so much clearer what the fear of God looks like.

"Fearing our heavenly Father is something like fearing a good earthly father. I feared my father. I knew that he would inflict whatever pain was necessary to instill in me obedience, loyalty, hard work, and perseverance, among other things. But I also hoped in his love. I felt secure in his presence. I knew that he would not reject me-that no matter what I did, he would never stop loving me. I could disappoint him. I could grieve him. But I could not motivate him to withdraw his love from me. Many reading this paragraph did not have a father like this. Whether you did or you didn't, this is what God's love is like. This is what fearing God is like." (p. 66)

I always feared the punishment that I would receive when I was disobedient, but I also knew that I felt the safest in his arms. Dad, thank you for showing me how to fear God and for being such a godly Father. You will never know how much I love you, and I pray that this legacy will be passed down to my children and so on.

I will have more on this book later. God is so good to give us wisdom and lead us in the best way to show the gospel to our children.

My Little Girl is Five!

Five years ago, I held you in my arms for the first time after a long crazy day of labor and then a c-section. I was the last one to get to hold you because of my recovery from the surgery, but after I held you for the first time, I was lost in love for you. I love the way you include and play with your brother. I love to watch you think as you do school and how you always have to have everything in the right place. You are a little ocd when it comes to that, I don't know where you got that from?! When you smile it is genuine, and when you talk, you have something important to say. You are not the most talkative person, and I pray God will use that to allow you to be wise in your words and speech to others. My life is enriched and better because of you. I love being your mom and teaching you about our Savior.
My little girl has is growing up:

Karis almost five.

Karis' 4th birthday.

Karis' 3rd birthday!

Karis' 2nd birthday.

Karis' 1st birthday.

Karis, I pray that in the next 5 years, God will reveal Himself to you and cause you to trust in Him. I look forward to seeing how God grows you and teaches us both in the next 5 years. I love you my girl! You are a joy and blessing to us!

Big Boy Bed

Two Sunday nights ago, Noah moved into his big boy bed! He had to become a BIG boy in another way too, he had to throw away his pacifier before bed that night. We had read a book from the library called I Stink, which was about a garbage truck eating your trash. It was very appropriate and it helped Noah understand where his pacifier went. After his nap on Sunday, he went and threw his paci in the big trash can outside. When it was time for bed, he asked us where it was and we told him it was in the trash. He then got to see the garbage truck eat it the next day.
I was surprised that he never cried about it, just accepted it was gone. He really likes his big boy bed, especially his truck sheets. It will be even more exciting when he gets his truck comforter from Aunt Courtney.

Noah in his big boy bed, rail and all!!

Sweet boy ready for bed!

Schedules

I have always known that I thrive on a schedule and so do most people. Children especially do better when they know what is next or what is coming. I have been very lax with my schedule for Karis and Noah these last few months and have not stuck to the same one for more than a few days, so I decided with much prayer to stick to a schedule for the morning and school. I am also working out at the same time everyday, so that is helping us with not rushing out the door. We are sticking to the schedule on Tuesday-Thursday for sure since Justin is off on Mondays, and I want to leave Fridays open for errands, play dates, etc. Justin has also started teaching Bible to the kids on his day off, it is really mostly for Karis but Noah does have to sit and listen as best as a two year old can. Justin is using The Big BOOK of Questions and Answers by Sinclair Ferguson. I am so excited for the kids, and I know that Justin enjoys this time with them.
This week has also been so good for my soul. I have gotten up by 6:30 every morning, except this morning, thanks to college football!!! The Lord has been gracious in showing Himself to me and giving me truths to cling to throughout the day. What a Savior we have! What a joy to wake up early and sit with Him, knowing that the time with Him is the best part of my day. Thank you Lord for blessing my time, and I pray that my soul will continue to thirst for you because only You can satisfy.

Celebrating Jesus' Birthday at Home

Here are a few pics of our Christmas at home as a family. We enjoyed a tasty dinner on Christmas eve, then opened our presents. Here are some of those pics.

Karis got an Easy Bake oven from Mamou and some things to cook in it from Aunt Courtney.

Justina and Noah got matching Batman shirts!

I think this is Noah opening his Spider man figurine. I look more excited than he does.

Noah loves oranges, as do the rest of my family. He is standing on his stool admiring them here.

On Christmas day, Noah got a Thomas the Train wooden train set from us, which was really a present from my Aunt Barbara and cousins Amy and Charlotte. He and Karis have not stopped playing with it yet, they love it. His other favorite things are all his "Cars" cars that he got, he has to know where they all are before bed time.

We spent Christmas day with one our church members, Sheryl and her mom. It was a fun time of fellowship and getting to know each other better. I so enjoyed hearing both of them talk about old Christmas' and what they were like.

God was good to us this Christmas as He is every Christmas by giving up His throne to come to earth as a baby and ultimately to save us from our sins.

Karis and me putting together her new Fancy Nancy puzzle.

Noah 2nd Birthday

Noah was very spoiled this year and got to celebrate his birthday twice, once in Texas and once at home. My mom was so gracious to throw Noah a birthday party in Texas, and we got to see my great Aunt D, Aunt Lee, my cousin Debbie, and my brother's family came. Also, Justin's sister, Courtney, came. It was a fun time, especially when it was time to open presents. I think that all the grand girls enjoyed Noah's presents more than he did!

We also had a small get together for Noah's birthday with Sondra, Nancy, and our neighbor to eat his firetruck cake. It was fun and he enjoyed getting more trucks. He got enough trucks to put on two shelves of a bookshelf. Thanks everyone for making Noah's birthday special.

This was Noah's first year to eat off the "special plate." He had a fun day of blueberry muffins and Chick-fil-A for dinner.

Happy New Year!

Wow, another year has passed..

And all I can think is what did I do in 2009 that lasted?

Did I love my husband by honoring, serving, submitting, and loving him the way God has called me to?
Did I strive to train, teach, love, discipline, and encourage my children with a heart of love or in frustration?
Did I allow the gospel to be center in all my daily routines?
Did I offer the same love that God has given me by pouring our His grace on me daily to my family, friends, church family, and strangers around me?

These are all questions I have pondered today as I dried my hair and got dressed. To some of the questions I can honestly answer a BIG yes, and to some of them I can answer an even BIGGER NO! Here I am again using too many I's. I did this or I did that. Even though I play a big part in what I do, I need to be focused on what God has called me to do and do it in His strength and not my own. I did not love my husband or children unselfishly, God did through me. I did not pour out grace to those around me, God did through me.
Thank you Lord for showing yourself to others through me, and thank you for forgiving me when I allowed my sin to cast a shadow on You. May 2010 be a year of shining Your light to all those around me in all I do, mundane and all.

Merry Christmas to All!

Our family decorated for Christmas before we left for Texas. It was a fun time, especially since the kids got to decorate their own tree.

We also enjoyed listening to Christmas music and decorating the BIG tree. We then tried to have a photo shoot with the camera timer, and Karis took the pictures of Justin and I. She did a pretty good job!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas celebrating our Savior's birth and time with family. I will post more pictures from Christmas later and Noah's birthday pictures to come also.

Thanksgiving in Texas

Our family left for Texas the Monday before Thanksgiving to first spend four days with Justin's family in Orange. We celebrated Thanksgiving with them, and Noah a few early birthday gifts. As usual, Aunt Courtney had a lot of fun stuff planned for Karis to do, and I got to surprise my friend Laura for her 30th birthday and some of my other friends from Beaumont. We also got to see Justin's aunt Canda who is sick with brain cancer. It was good to see and visit with her and her husband Mike. Here are some pictures of our fun:

Noah and Grammy reading some new books!

Noah, mostly Karis, opening his early birthday gifts.

Karis helping Courtney decorate Mamou's Christmas tree at the nursing home

Noah wondering when all this decorating will be over so he can....

play with his trucks, wait, it looks like Karis is taking over, imagine that?

Mamou reading Noah a new book after Thanksgiving dinner.

Me and Noah on Thanksgiving

My precious little ones!

Again, reading books, but this time with Aunt Courtney!

God is good to give us family, and we so enjoy spending time with them. We miss you guys and love you!

Mexico Trip: My Handsome Husband!

Again, sorry about the crazy posting, but these are some of my favorite pics of Justin and I. I love you babe!

Mexico Trip Pictures

Here are some collages of our trip to Mexico. I am sorry that the posting is going to be so out of sink, but I had already typed the whole entry before I added the pictures, and I can't figure out how to add the text from an older post to this one, so hope you enjoy it anyways!

Mexico Trip Commentary

To start things off, it was strange for me to be flying on an airplane without my children, but oh what a relief to not have to make sure that they were quiet and content. ( My children usually do exceptionally well on airplanes, so I really have nothing to complain about, but just being with Justin and not having to take care of someone else for once was so nice.) We arrived at the resort on Sunday afternoon after a crazy van ride from the airport! We got settled into our rooms and headed to the Snack bar to have a snack before dinner. Our stay was all inclusive, so we got to eat all the time, as much as we wanted. The never ending chips and guacamole was my favorite, and the food was good. Our first night there, we decided to go to the Theatre to see the gladiator show, after five minutes, we left, not what we expected but a funny memory to say the least!
Monday brought much exercise, working out at the gym, some beach volleyball, and lots of walking, along with lying and reading on the beach.
Tuesday and Wednesday, we played tennis, rode bikes, I beat Justin at table tennis, lots of reading and walking and of course eating! We had a chance to eat at two of the nice restaurants, a French and Asian one, both served four course meals. They were very good, and by dessert I was stuffed!
Thursday before coming home, we kayaked in the waves, it was amazing. I know why people do that for a workout! The water was beautiful, and the time together was priceless. The Lord rejuvenated me in so many ways and grew our marriage so much. What a blessing to be with Justin on this trip and to be with Michelle. Oh how wonderful to just sit and talk with you and reminisce over the last few years. I love you my sweet, dear friend, you are a true blessing from the Lord.
Justin, thank you for this wonderful trip, I love you more everyday. You are a blessing I do not deserve and thank God for everyday. I love you my husband.
Rob, it was fun to be with you too, I don't want to leave you out man!
Mom and Dad, thank you for watching Karis and Noah. Thank you for loving me and them so much to take care of them for us. You guys are the best, and I couldn't ask for greater, more loving parents. God truly blessed me when he gave me to you. I love you.
Lord, I pray the next 10 years of our marriage will grow us in ways that we cannot even understand. I pray you would continue to mold me into the woman you desire me to be. May we face the next 10 years with joy, patience, endurance, and grow more in love with You and each other every passing day. May our children come to see their need for a Savior, and may you be the center of our lives. Rob and Michelle, I pray the same for you and the boys, and may the next trip we take (20th anniversary) be a celebration of 10 more faithful years with our Savior and our spouses.

Happy Birthday My Sweet Boy!

Today my little man turns 2 year old. Where does the time go? Noah's personality has changed so much in the last year. He is such a joy to be around, always happy and content just to be with someone, especially his sister. He loves to do whatever she is doing. Oh Noah, how I enjoy your sweet laugh, your hugs, your never ending energy, and your love. You brighten each day, and God has blessed me so much with you. I love you more than I can say. May God call you to be His own and may your father and I teach you of Him all the days of our lives.

Early Christmas Gift

My wonderful husband surprised me last Friday with a new front loader washing machine. My washing machine had been acting up a lot lately, I would have to manually turn it on the inside to get the spin cycle to start after every wash. It was a bit laborious, but I was getting used to it. Justin does enjoy having his laundry done, everything washed, folded, put up, and ironed. This is actually probably my favorite household chore to do. The first thing I did was wash our comforter, no more laundry mat for me!! (at least fora awhile).
I am so very blessed. What a gift from the Lord and my very sweet husband. I don't know how I will top this one! Any ideas?

Whirligig Festival

Saturday, Justin took us to the Whirligig Festival. It is our town of Wilson's attempt to have you spend money and eat a lot of greasy unhealthy food. It is also a time for the community to reach out to each other and let the town know where places are and what new shops and things have opened. I made the mistake of getting a blooming onion and paid for it the rest of the day. Justin tried to advise me against it, but I was my stubborn self as usual. I will not do that again, at least I hope I won't. After only eating about 1/4 of it and spending $7 on indigestion, maybe next time I will listen to my husband!

The kids had fun riding the kiddy rides, and I had fun with them. Noah didn't want to do anything but ride the helicopter, which we did.

Noah and his new haircut, what a BIG boy he is now. He wasn't too sure about all the people!

Me, Noah, and Karis riding the helicopter ride!

It was a fun day, but I was glad to get off the ride!

Pumpking Carving Time

Justin, the kids, and I had fun carving our pumpkin a week ago. The pumpkin is now in the trash, but the kids had fun making a face on it and scraping out all the gooh! Hope everyone is having a great fall.

Fall Is Here!

Our neighbors gave each one of the kids a pumpkin a few weeks ago. It was so nice of them to do that, and thanks to Aunt Courtney, they each had a face to put on the pumpkin. Karis got to make hello kitty, and Noah got to make pooh bear. It has been so funny to hear Noah say "Bye-bye pooh bear," every time we leave to go somewhere for the last two weeks. Thanks to Papa John and Amma, the kids have their cute fall shirts. Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather.

New Territory

I have officially stepped into new territory as a mother. My son has always loved his bed, sleeping and napping. He was sick a few weeks ago and his schedule got off some, then Justin was gone last week for a few days and his schedule continued to be off. Now the last few days, he has been crying when it is nap time or waking up crying after only sleeping an hour or so. Then the next day he would take a good nap. Now two days in a row, he has been crying. I have been listening to him yell for mommy to hold him now for about 45 minutes, it is very sad and my heart is hurting for him. I have gone in a few times to try and comfort him and all is does is start him over again, oh the joys of mothering. There is nothing wrong with him, all I can figure is he is testing the waters, seeing if he can win this battle. He is doing a great job right now of testing me.
I am thankful for God's grace since I am prone to just give in, but I must do what is best for him and let him see who God has put in charge and it isn't him. Oh Lord, strength and wisdom for today!

Anniversary Cont.

Justin and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary in Raleigh, eating at one of our favorite restaurants, On The Border, yes, I realize it is not a fancy place but it is good food! We were very thankful for The Scotts watching the kids for us, they live in Raleigh, so we dropped the kids off at their house and went on our date. After a long, uninterrupted dinner, we went to Lifeway bookstore and browsed and bought a few things of course. It was a great night reminiscing about the last 10 years and looking ahead to our future.

Happy 10 years Justin!

For my gift, along with our anniversary trip in November with the Tombrella's, Justin bought me a new wedding ring. We had talked about it for awhile back, and I knew I was getting one because he traded in my other one. For those of you who might not think I am sentimental, the wedding ring that I had was not my original one that Justin gave me. That one got lost in the mail ( a very long story). Anyways, I had told Justin what I like, and he outdid himself. I was pleasantly surprised especially when he gave me this ring just like he proposed to me 10 years ago, attached to the same Bible. Great job babe! I love you!

The Bible with my new ring.


Close up view.

Thanks Chris and Rebecca for watching the kids, they had a great time and so did we. You guys are a blessing to us.