Kinsey loves to talk

Here is another video of Kinsey talking. I just can't help myself. She is so cute!

Useful Tip

Useful tip:

To get the sand off of the kids after the beach or the park, use baby powder. It works great. Caden loves to play in his sand on our porch so I just use baby powder to get the sand off before he comes in the house.

Cleaning the fans

Cleaning tip:
The ceiling fans
I use one of Jody's old white under shirts to clean the fan blades. You just slide the blade in the shirt and then drag the shirt with your hands from the beginning of the blade to the end. It traps all the dust in the shirt so it does not fall everywhere.

The 3 Little Pigs

Another goal of mine is to spend more time with my kids. A great thing to do with your kids is have them retell and act out books they like to read. Caden loves The 3 Little Pigs so we used the blocks and animals to act the story out. The three little pigs are by their house and the other thing of blocks is the wolf. Here is a little clip...

Get organized

One of my resolutions is to get organized. Here are a few tips, that I did not come up with, if you need to organize also:

1. Put all of your hangers in your closet backwards. After you wear something, hang it in the closet the way you normally do. If you still have hangers backwards after a month ( or whatever length of time you decide) give them away. You probably will not wear it or do not need it.

2. Plan your dinners for the next two weeks instead of day by day.

3. Make a to-do list with three sections. To-do today, To-do this week, and To-do this month. You could even add To-do sometime in this lifetime.

4. Plan out your day. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. If you don't plan your day, by the end of the week you will realize you did not get done what you wanted to get done.

5. Put the dishes in the dishwasher right away. I promise your kitchen will feel cleaner just by doing this.

If you have any good tips please share them with the rest of us.

Kinsey is 2 months old

I know the picture is sideways but she is just too cute!

Our little girl is two months old today. We love her so much and are so thankful that we get to be her parents. She loves to try to communicate with you and tries so hard to talk. She is a great sleeper and she loves to watch her big brother.

My Sick Boy!?

We are all sick this week. But overall it has not been too bad.

Boys will still be boys. Even though Caden is sick, he still has lots of energy. I think the medicine makes him hyper. The day before this he just wanted to lay in his bed so he must be getting better.

Trying to talk

Kinsey loves to try to talk to you. She has also started to smile on purpose instead of just from gas. I think she will like talking just like her dad.

Obeying God

Caden likes to tell us what God says. We explain to Him sometimes that God has us as His parents and He teaches us things and that Caden needs to listen and obey us so He can learn to listen to and obey God. So now when we tell him something that he does not want to do he will tell us that "God needs to tell you something." For example: I asked him to put on his pants and a jacket on to go outside (he hates to wear long sleeves and pants) and he said "God says to tell you I don't need jacket or pants."
Another cute thing: Caden does not want to go potty on the toilet. When I see him starting to go (his face gets red and his eyes water and he may go to his room), I will say lets go to the potty. Today he said, "3 minutes mom" That's his way of saying I don't want to go on the potty. He would rather sit in his #2 then find out how freeing and less messy it would be to go on the potty.
As I think about Caden and the potty, I think about us. Sometimes we are so comfortable with where we are at that we don't know how good it would be to let go and let God work. Maybe we need to let go of that sin, or maybe we need to move on from something, or maybe it is just making that first step. Whatever it is, we get so comfortable in our "mess" or in what we know, that we don't step out and let God work in us. We would rather sit it our, #2 then find out how much better it is to step out and go on the potty!

The Poo-Poo Train at Lion Country Safari

Caden asked if I could put the picture of the lion up. They were making all kinds of noises when we drove through.

Such good friends. They really are like sister and brother.

The Poo-Poo train as Caden calls it.

He wanted to sit right up front on the Poo-Poo train.

Lion Country Safari

Jody had the day off on Tuesday so we took Caden, Kinsey, and Lauren to Lion Country Safari. We had so much fun. I would recommend it to everyone.

Kinsey slept the whole time. She is a very easy going baby.

The Zebras walked right in front of our car. We were surrounded by them at one point.

The kids looked a little frightened on this ride. Lauren looked like she was holding onto Caden for dear life and Caden just looked plain scared. When we left though Lauren said this was her favorite ride.

The best part was feeding the giraffe. It was amazing. The kids were a little unsure but they each tried to feed the giraffe.

This Year...

This year I will:

1. Get in God's Word everyday Romans 12:1-2
2. Save money Proverbs 31:16
3. Exercise Hebrews 12:1-3
4. Take 15 minutes a day to clean out something (a drawer, a closet, clothes, toys...)
5. Get organized Proverbs 31:27a
6. Play with my kids more Proverbs 22:6
7. Give more James 1:17 Everything we have is His anyways Proverbs 11:25, 19:17
8. Be quick to listen and slow to speak James 1:19
9. Not complain ! Thessalonians 5:16-18

These are just a few...what are you going to do this year?

Thought for the New Year

In church this morning we sang this song and it made me think about this coming year. So many things can can make us worry and become fearful. But be reminded, God has not given us a spirit of fear. Trust Him this coming year with everything, your children, your marriage, your friends, your family, your emotions, your struggles, your fears, your finances, everything.It's all His anyways, He just gives us the chance to be good stewards.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His Glory and Grace.

Brotherly Love

Caden absolutely loves his little sister. He always wants to give her hugs and kisses. He loves to hold her for all of 2 seconds and then says "her too heby mama." He loves to be a big helper boy and bring me a diaper or blanket.

Christmas 2008

I think this bat and ball set that "Uncle" got Caden was by far his favorite gift. He would open a gift and then want to go right back to the bat and ball and "glub."

Kinsey slept through every Christmas gettogether we had. She is a great sleeper most of the time.

Caden and Kinsey with their cousins, Jackson, Juliana and Jilian. Caden hates to wear warm pajamas so he was not happy about taking this picture.

This Christmas we spent time with family and friends. We had a blast. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy. Happy New Year!!!