Monday, July 29, 2013

Praising God for his Blessings

 The precious family pictured above is my dear cousin, her husband, and their little boy. On Saturday, my cousin and her husband were tragically killed in a bus accident in Indianapolis. Hearing the news sent all those involved into a roller coaster of emotions. Thanking God for his hand in keeping little Chase safe. He's a miracle. God has big plans for this little man. This dear couple has touched so many lives. It's amazing to see the outpouring of kind words, prayers, well wishes, and thoughtful gestures.
The blessings coming from this incident are outstanding. Giving God all the glory. 
It's often times hard to see that God is truly in control, but He IS! So many souls have come to know Jesus from this incident. I've heard that teens hearing of this tragic are having revival in their youth departments. It's amazing how God works.
We don't always understand, but God is the God of understanding.
I took this from my cousin's quotes on her Facebook page: "I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned. I only know at His right hand stands one who is my Savior." Little did I know, it is the words to a song by Aaron Shust " My Savior, My God". Beautiful song.

Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. ~Martin Luther

 Seeing beauty on earth makes me wonder how beautiful Heaven must be. ♥ 

Thank you all for your prayers. Continue to pray for the Phelps, and Popow/Gaddy families. The road ahead will be hard. But we serve a Big God and he can carry us through.

“What we have once enjoyed, we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes part of us.” Helen Keller

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Heaven's a little sweeter

I can't begin to understand why things happen. The verse keeps popping up "and we know that all things work together for good..." (Romans 8:28)  But sometimes I want to wonder what good?

We may cry and grieve. But we know there is a Heaven. Thank God for Heaven.

I had just signed online this afternoon and saw a headline about 3 killed in a bus accident. I was thinking how sad that was. Those poor teenagers and the victims families. Then I get a call from my brother informing me that my cousin and her husband and their toddler were on that bus. He then proceeded to tell me my cousin and her husband didn't make it. They stepped into Heaven late this afternoon :( My heart hurts. I can't begin to even imagine the grief her mother is experiencing. My dear cousins, aunt, and uncle....my heart hurts for them. We know they are in a better place, but the initial shock is mind numbing.

I continue on with daily happenings...baths for the kids, etc. As I'm bathing Leia, it hits me. Their sweet little boy will never get to enjoy bath time with his mommy and daddy anymore. As a mother, my prayers are with their sweet little boy. He is just a few weeks younger than Leia. I'm glad he has family close to be there for cuddles and hugs...and to one day help him understand what amazing parents he had.

I remember way back when....My dad left to help out my aunt with funeral arrangements for her husband, his brother. He came home telling us how my cousin would walk around with arms up reaching to be picked up by daddy. She was so young, she didn't understand. Now, I'm sure she's walking the streets of gold with her daddy singing praises to Jesus. 
That little story that my dad told after his trip stuck with me. It makes me Thankful for Heaven. 

Say a prayer for my family during this sad time. There's no way to prepare for Death, but at least we know that God is in Control. 
Heaven is a little sweeter tonight ♥ 
((HUGS)) and prayers of understanding, peace, and comfort for my aunt, uncle, and cousins. 
♪♪ And just think of stepping on shore, and finding it Heaven ♪♪

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Halfway point of Summer Break

 

We are almost at the halfway point of Summer break! Unbelievably exciting!! 

Mommy is surviving the kids. Kids are surviving Mommy. And we are all surviving this heat. It's not as intense as the summer of 2011, but it's HOT in my book. The local meteorologist compares the 100 degree temperature days to that of 2011. At this time in 2011, we had already experienced 20+ triple digit temp days. So far this summer, we are at 3 triple digit temp days.

The key to surviving is getting up early and getting outside before the heat restricts any activity....and coffee! (it's iced coffee these days for me)

We've done some park hopping this summer. All different parks. We've been to parks by the lake, parks with bike trails, parks with sidewalks for scooters, splash parks, and just the plain swings and slides parks. 

Slip n slide in the backyard is one the kids like. Filling up the kiddie pool and then doing cannonballs into the pool is another favorite. I put the sprinkler under the trampoline yesterday; the kids LOVED that. 
And popsicles/freezies...oh! we should own stock in those companies. We've bought 2 cases of freezies already this summer. Each case comes with 200 freezies. We got real popsicles on sticks over the weekend. The kids are loving those as well. Dakota loves them the most because they have jokes written on the sticks. He's a reader, so he will go around and read everyone's jokes. Some are funny and some are just plain corny.

This time next week, we will be en route to our vacation destination! I'm super excited. I can't wait to see my brother and sisters (and MOM!!). They are all meeting us in Colorado! It's gonna be a like a mini family reunion. And the Rocky Mountains..I've heard they're gorgeous! I can't wait. I'm already packing (in my head) for our trip next week.






Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Backyard Lunch...Success!

 Lunch in the backyard was a huge hit with Leia. She sat the entire time, ate all her food, and drank all her drink. I was surprised. Usually she takes a few bites and then throws her food to floor from her high chair and then asks to "get down". Outside eating might be exactly what we will do...as the weather permits.
Clean up was a breeze! Plates in the trash and kids into the little pool for a quick wash off. Kinda proud of my smart mommy moment there...lol

 Dakota is the best big brother. He helps me constantly with his sisters...especially with Leia. Though he did tell me that Leia is getting heavier :) 

Beautiful day in the backyard. Kids should sleep awesomely tonight...at least, I know that I will.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Swimming

 Dakota started out with floaties and a big float. After some tips and an impromptu lesson from Cousin Katie, he was swimming like a fishy. 

 Leia on the other hand. She wasn't fond of floats or the water. As long as only her feet were in the water, she was happy. But other than that, GET ME OUT!!

 Lily got a few tips from Cousin Katie, too. And she was treading water with the arm floaties by the time we left the pool. She was rather proud of herself, too.

I love spending time and having fun with family. It makes the long summer days enjoyable.  The kids learn something new, they get to make memories with family, and mommy gets a few seconds to herself by the pool. :)
What would we do without family?