Movement

For the past two weeks we have felt the baby move.  It's the best part of being pregnant.  It's definitely the most thrilling and exciting, and even Daddy gets to join in and feel the baby.

We took Julia and Mark to our last ultrasound visit and we all found out the gender of the baby!  It's a secret til we go for our anatomy visit in 2 weeks just to be sure the doctor was right!  I'm sure Dr. G was!

Life is going pretty well around here.  We've been getting a lot of things done and we are preparing for a trip to Florida over Thanksgiving weekend.  We are happy to have a final vacation with just the four of us before our little one comes to stay!

Hurricane Ready

Praising God that my whole family is under one roof during this storm.

We've been able to clean out our garage to fit both our cars.  John was worried about trees falling on our vehicles.

We put all toys and lawn furniture in our shed.  We taped our French Doors leading to the back yard.

I filled up the cars with gas this weekend and went to the grocery store for water, milk, bread, jelly, marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers (we plan on using the fire place to make s'mores with the kids.)

We also took down all our winter clothes out of the attic, put all our summer stuff away, and took down some fun baby items to wash and get ready for my diaper bag and for the nursery.  It was fun doing baby laundry this weekend!

We are praying that the storm doesn't hit us too bad.  God is with us and we know He will protect us.  I plan on doing some extra school with the kids over the next two days.  We may jump ahead if possible and do some fun craft time.

I'm thankful for water, peanut butter sandwiches, and batteries, and yummy smelling candles.

Dating my Husband

"Who is she who looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?" --Song of Solomon 6:10 John gave me this verse on our first Valentine's Day as a married couple. He framed and matted 3 of our wedding pictures and included this verse. My verse for him would be: "My beloved is mine and I am his, He feeds his flock among the lilies."--Song of Solomon 2:16. John and I have a deep love for each other. It's definitely deeper than superficial things like looks or smarts. It's a love from the heart, but trust me their is a lot of attraction and passion that I am so thankful for (hence the 3 kids). John will tell you I stalked him for years in high school! (Don't believe a word he says) He also has no problem saying, "Isn't my wife hot?" and embarrassing me to pieces (hence the shade of crimson). But the teasing and the banter it is all out of love and secretly he knows I adore it. Although I would NEVER admit to it! To me "dating your spouse" is EXTREMELY important. Before kids, after kids, and when the kids have gone and moved on. I plan on dating John til the day I die. He will be my forever boyfriend. Just this weekend we went out on a triple date and in the car ride to our friends home I said, "I like going out with my boyfriend." We love date nights, and try to get at least once a month out of the house if not two! It could be visiting friends, going out to dinner, watching a quick movie, going shopping. It's great to just reconnect, talk, and not worry about who took who's toy, or who needs to use the potty! Soon we will have a new born again. Date nights will be less frequent, and more creativity on our part will have to take place. No problem! We sometimes enjoy a movie downstairs or an episode of Lost on the IPad in bed. No matter what I will go out of my way to show John he is number one in my life (the Lord of course is first). John and I were the family before the kids, and I want our kids to see and feel our love and affection for each other. I want them to see a couple who is truly, madly, and deeply in love. One that can have a disagreement, but apologize and makeup, one that prays together, jumps for joy together, dances together, and lives life happily together. Let's pray for our marriages. That God will be at the center and keep us strong so that we can be good examples to our kids.

Blog Hop!

It's Time to Mingle!

Hosted by Happy Go Lucky, I Heart Crafty Things, and Keeping Up With Kristi.

Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.

This weeks guest host is: Pinterest Told Me To

 There are no rules to this blog hop.  Just link up your blog's main page. Then have fun reading new blogs and making new blog friends.  We would love for you to follow the hostesses in the first four spots and our guest host in the fifth spot.

Please leave a comment so we know to follow you back.

Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others. There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week.

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Enoch-He walked with God

Every Wednesday we (me and my brood of children) go to BSF at Lincroft church, along with several hundred other NJ moms, and women who are seeking to grow closer to the Lord in Bible study.

This year our study is in the book of Genesis.  What I love about BSF is there is no workbook or devotional.  All you need is your Bible, a pen/pencil, and some paper and an open heart.  We go verse by verse, and chapter by chapter and the next semester is the next book of the Bible.

I started last year as they finished up all of the Acts of the Apostles.  But this September starting in the beginning with Genesis has been AWESOME.  It's been so deep and so good, I really don't know how to blog about it with you!!!  I've been learning so much so fast, and so have my kids.  And God keeps tying in our Awana lessons somehow too, it's been great.

Anyway, my house is completely silent because it's nap time, and I did laundry and cleaned up after lunch so I decided to start my BSF homework and review since we are having leftover stew for dinner tonight.  Seriously, my house is so quiet I know I will not like empty nest hood at all.  I will just have to keep on having babies to hear their wonderful sounds and voices!

As I was rereading our notes I came across a verse in Zephaniah 3:17 that I loved...I think I even want to write part of it on our nursery wall for the baby, it's the nicest sweetest verse ever and it talks about how much God loves a relationship with us...just like how Enoch was so faithful at age 65 to commit the next 300 years of his life to walking with God daily...so much so that he has never died...God just took him on a continuous walk with Him straight to heaven....

Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God in Your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Isn't that just like a Father or a Mother?  We love our children so much we just want to rejoice over them, quiet them with our love when they get hurt, and rejoice over their gifts/personalities with singing.  It's nothing they have done to deserve it we just LOVE them to pieces.  God is just like that if not even more so and in a more perfect way with us.  He wants us to walk with Him in this life.  He wants a relationship with us.  He wants to cheer us up when we are down, pick us up when we are discouraged or fall, and just praise us when we do even the smallest of things.

Enoch lived in such a time when no one was walking with God.  No one was following him.  But Enoch (his name means dedicated or initiated) was a light in a dark world.  He became the father of Methuselah (oldest man in the bible who lived to be 969) at age 65 and once he became a father he realized his need for God and began seeking after God.  Lots of us draw near to God after a big time of change because we realize how small we are and how much we need Him.  I know after I became a parent I definitely had more of an urgency for God and a need to want to do what was right for my daughter and my family.

Enoch is my new favorite person in the Bible (I love when this happens) because even though he lived in this depressing and dark time in history when there was wickedness all around he wanted more from his family and his life and because he sought after God and walked with God he was richly blessed.  He had this inspiring relationship with God that showed who was the most important person in his life.  He wasn't consumed by keeping up with the joneses or fancy scholarly degrees, or a nice wardrobe, he was concerned with what was important.  It was God.  God first.  God was His walking partner, His accountability partner, His confidant, his friend, his director, his guide, his all in all.  He told God his prayers his concerns his dreams his wishes, and their relationship grew.  Enoch's trust and faith grew in God by this faithful walk.

I want to be like that!

I want to honor God with a faithful walk that shows God that I am his that nothing else is more important.  I don't want to cling to my loneliness or problems and struggles, I want to share them with God so that I can find joy in him and rejoice in his love for me...me!  Little old me who doesn't deserve it, but it's a free gift to all of us.  And the best thing about it is God is always there waiting for us, wanting this from us.  He's always treasuring our time together.  All we have to do, all I have to do is allow Him to comfort me.  Hand it all over to him, grab his hand and walk with Him.

Enoch continued to walk with and love God without interruption.  Because one day God just took him to heaven to be with Him.  Enoch never tasted death, he never died.  How cool is that?

Nothing is more important than a life lived with God, walking with Him, day by day, side by side, having uninterrupted fellowship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  How lucky are we that we can have that and all we have to do is put our walking shoes on and get moving!

I want a life like Enoch.  A life that is remembered because of God.  In Proverbs 10: 7 it says, "The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.

God is the only one who can make us righteous.  He's the only one who gives us a life worth meaning.  Nothing, nothing else matters.  Not our bank accounts, not the car we drive, our college degrees, our awards or successes.  A life that is blessed and has meaning is a life that is dedicated to the Lord.  It really puts things into perspective for me.

Hands-On Dad

I'm so thankful for my John.

I can't tell you how wonderful he is in a mere blog post, but I can brag about his dad skills for a few minutes.

John is one of the hardest workers I know.  Most days he works 12-15 hour days.

When he comes home his job is not over.  He walks in to two loud, adorable children climbing on him like a jungle gym.  "Daddy's home!" they yell.  As if they haven't seen him in weeks.

He brings them upstairs, changes out of his work clothes, and can be found in one of their bedrooms on the floor playing.

This pregnancy has been so tiring.  With homeschooling, housework, errands, Bible study, Awana, Chinese School and Sports, by the time dinner is done, I'm done.  And when John is home he makes my life so much easier.  Just playing with the kids is a load off.  And let's be honest by the time he's home, I'm chop liver.  They've seen me all day.  They've missed him all day.  All they want is eye contact and play time with daddy.  Julia tells him the things she learns.  Yesterday she told him all about the word: fragile and what it meant and gave him examples.
Mark put on his super hero clothes and wanted to battle daddy.  We also worked on our Family Mission statement...more on that later this week as we finalize our statement and continue to have family meetings and brainstorm.  Being a part of this family sure is fun.

Tonight is different.  John came home by 6:00 because he had meetings in Jersey all day, and we ate together and then he took them out to the store for an outing.  Hence, why I am able to blog.  See?  He thought to ask the kids and have a trip with them, of course they wanted to go, it was daddy time!  I got to clean the kitchen in peace and quiet, grab a salad, and watch the news.  I never get to watch the news!  It was awesome.

So here's to my fabulous, hands-on husband: YOU ROCK BABE!  Can you believe we will be married 10 years this August!!! I'm one lucky girl.

Blog Hop 350

It's Time to Mingle!

Hosted by Happy Go Lucky, I Heart Crafty Things,

Joy in the Jumble and Keeping Up With Kristi.

Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.

This weeks guest host is: Shona Skye Creations
 There are no rules to this blog hop.  Just link up your blog's main page. Then have fun reading new blogs and making new blog friends.  We would love for you to follow the hostesses in the first four spots and our guest host in the fifth spot.

Please leave a comment so we know to follow you back.

Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others. There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week.

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We hope you have fun and thanks for joining us!  We are so excited to find new blogs, share great ideas, and inspire each other.

My Amazing Daughter

Today's post will not shock you.  Come on, every parent thinks their child is amazing, right?  And I am no different.

My children walk into a room and smile and I'm impressed by their charm and beauty, I mean seriously, I can't help it.

But today, and most days, this daughter of mine, my Julia Star, continues to amaze and astound me, and inspire me, even to the point of wanting to blog only about HER today.

Julia, my 4 1/2 soon to be 5 years old (say it ain't so) first born is always, always, thinking of others.  She constantly asks about our neighbor Teresa who just had back surgery, "Mommy, how is Ms. Teresa, how's her back?"  Or when a close friend's father in law fell, she would ask, "How is his face healing mom, how is he?"  She reminds me to stop over and check on my neighbor or to text a friend, "How are you feeling?"  The prayer requests I share with her she does NOT forget.  I love that about her.

When we review for Awana, and have Bible time, we always, all three of us (Mark is a Cubbie now too) have a deep conversation afterwards.  Today we were on our way to Bible study when Julia goes: "Mommy when is Jesus coming back for us, I miss him!"  then she thought about that and said, "Mom, when Jesus comes back for us how will he get us, will we just fly up into the sky to be with him?"  A lot of the questions she asks we have already discussed but she likes to re ask them I think for assurance.  I told her no one knows when Jesus will return, it will be a surprise!  And yes, we will all be super heroes that day because we will meet the Lord in the air!  Mark really liked that answer.

This year as Julia turns 5 I have 5 prayer requests for her little life:

1. That she will grow in the Lord and use her gifts to bring glory to Him.
2. That she chooses godly friends who build her up in Christ.
3. That she does her best in school and at whatever sport she chooses.
4. That she continues to show love and kindness to ALL people.
5. That she shines, shines, shines for Him.

If you think of Julia today will you pray these things over her life with us?  We are so proud of her!  Love you Princess, my Pretty Girl!

The NEW Me

Simplifying and Changing things around here as we prepare to grow our family.

1. My number one priority right now and my main job 16 hours of the day (thank you Lord for the 8 hours of sleep I get each night) is to care for, teach, love, and show my children what is means to bring glory to God each day.  Since being a stay at home, home schooling mommy is so important to me right now, that means that all other things really need to be weighed and I need to decide what stays, what goes, and what needs to be changed.

2. Since my spouse (I love you babe) and my children mean the world to me, this means that I will NOT be able to blog everyday like I used to.  I'm getting in the habit now of not even feeling pressured about it because in just a few short months my newborn will be here (Yay!) and I know for a fact that my heart, hands, and feet will be way too busy to get around at sitting in front of the computer!  I'm only writing this down as proof that I am choosing to give up and sacrifice something I love for the sake of being a great mom and wife to my family.

3. Soon the amount of sports and outings we do will dwindle down.  Especially as Julia gets more involved with School.  Right now she is doing Gymnastics and Taekwondo but soon she will have to choose which one is the most important to her and the other sport will have to be put on the back burner for now.  Because Mommy is NOT a taxi, and if we still do Awana and Chinese School that is way too much time away from our home, plus Mark hasn't even picked his sport yet, poor guy!  So some things will have to give, and I'm so so so okay with that.  Less is more!  And I've come to love Mondays and Fridays when we are home most of the day and not pulled in 80 different directions!

4. I am not a slave to my phone or facebook.  I don't know why I ever felt this way but lots of time having a phone that gives you your facebook updates, and emails is NOT a good thing.  I am constantly drawn to this little object and the noises it makes and many times interrupted from cooking, cleaning, or teaching my kids during school time.  I now do not feel obligated to respond to facebook comments, or texts when I am in the middle of something.  Duh!  I know this is a no-brainer, but the Type A teacher in me wants to do all and answer to all and please everyone, all in that order, and I tend to forget what REALLY matters.  I will no longer let the tyranny of the urgent grab me away from my kids or spouse.  So if I haven't been on facebook in a few days, or haven't responded to a text, fear not, I still love you, but I am probably just trying to focus on the cute little people who NEED me right now, and you know what in just a few years, they won't need me as much and I don't want to miss this opportunity of being all I can be to them.

5. God has given me these past 5 years at home as a lesson of learning how to depend on Him and be a selfless Mom and Wife.  It is not easy at all.  Because I am selfish.  I am a sinner.  And I love to do what I want to do.  But God has really taught me that He is my all and all.  He continues to show me that I don't need "stuff" or "busyness" to fill any voids in my life.  I really do have it all because I have Him.  Plus He keeps pouring on the blessings, first a teaching career I completely loved, an amazingly perfect spouse to marry and cherish, and now beautiful children to adore and teach.  I'm excited for the next 5 years (Lord willing) at home with Baby Mac and the kids, and for all God has in store for us.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

My favorite thing to order at Panera Bread is Broccoli and Cheese Soup with a Salad on the side.  And whenever I order it, guess who "helps" me eat my soup??? Mark and Julia!

I decided to include this yummy soup in my October Menu.  Click here to see my menu this month.






INGREDIENTS: 
4 cups fresh broccoli cut up
1 1/2 quarts chicken broth
2 cups of milk
2 cans of condensed cream of celery soup (10.75) ounces
4 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large soup pot, cook broccoli in broth until tender, about 10 minutes
2. In a medium bowl, mix together milk and condensed celery soup.  Blend corn starch with cold water, then stir into soup mixture.  Pour into the pot with the broccoli.  Cook over medium heat, stirring steadily until thick and bubbly.  Stir in cheese and simmer.  Stirring until hot but DO NOT BOIL.

Enjoy!

I will serve ours with a side salad and Italian bread!

Blog Hop

It's Time to Mingle!

Hosted by Happy Go Lucky, I Heart Crafty Things,

Joy in the Jumble and Keeping Up With Kristi.

Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.

This weeks guest host is: She Said He Said

 There are no rules to this blog hop.  Just link up your blog's main page. Then have fun reading new blogs and making new blog friends.  We would love for you to follow the hostesses in the first four spots and our guest host in the fifth spot.

Please leave a comment so we know to follow you back.

Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others. There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week.

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We hope you have fun and thanks for joining us!  We are so excited to find new blogs, share great ideas, and inspire each other.

Mommy, where do all our mistakes go?

Deut 11:18

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. On Monday mornings we take the time to really review our Awana Bible Lesson for the week and our memory verse.  We've been learning about Creation at Awana and at BSF so lately a lot of our discussion has been about how God created everything, how the Garden of Eden looked, how powerful God is, how He keeps His promises and how he made everything good.

But then....sin entered into the picture when Adam and Eve disobeyed God.  So we talked about what sin is, how we all make mistakes, etc.

Picture me in the middle of the couch and Julia and Mark on each side of me.  The Awana book is spread open, and their little brains are a-buzzing.  Mark was thinking about how Big and Great and how many muscles God has that he put this whole earth into motion and created everything, and Julia was stuck on this sin problem.

Julia asks, "Mommy where do all our mistakes go?  When we sin, what does God do with our sins?"  Great Question, right?

Well, I said, "The bible says that when we ask for forgiveness for our sins that God separates our sins as far as the east is from the west."  Great answer mommy, Julia had no idea what I was talking about.  Why do I always answer them like they are teenagers?

Julia goes, "Well, I think he puts them all in the sky, or the ocean."  And that was that.

Then Mark asks, "Mommy who made God?"  Good question!!  Before  I could even answer Julia goes...

"Mark, God made himself."  In other words, no one made God He just always was, but she puts it so much better for her 3 year old brother to understand.

Deuteronomy 6: 6-9 says: 

"These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. I am so thankful for time spent with my kids talking about the Lord.  That I have this time.  That I am home with them.  That we are memorizing bible verses together, and that we are teaching them God's truth.  I write these conversations and questions down not to gloat or brag about my kids, because trust me they are just normal wonderful kids who make mistakes, have runny noses, and have to sit in time out at times, but I write them down so one day I can look back and show them how we had these little talks, how smart they were, and show them the questions they had.

Thank you Lord for this time with my kids.  Please help me not to take it for granted.

***2 Samuel 22:23 

All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.

How will I....?

Today Mom and I went "shopping" for Baby Mac.  Actually we walked around the Babies R Us store together and registered for baby number 3 while Julia and Mark "helped" us...(waited patiently before we went to the toy side).

It was so exciting and so fun to "shop" for a newborn again. Since we don't know if it is a boy or a girl I tried to keep things very gender neutral, but somehow that gun kept snagging pink items...hmmmm...I couldn't help it!

If this baby is a boy I am going to have a lot of explaining to do to him.

But when I got home with some free samples and the magazines, and my printed out register list, I got to thinking...How in the world am I going to manage 3 little people?

Isn't it funny?  I never once worried about when we found out with Mark...and Julia was only 10 months old at the time.  But now I will be totally outnumbered!  I mean one mommy and three kids!  How does Kate with 8 kids and Mrs. Duggar do it???

I know it's humanly possible.  I know "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13, but how is it physically possible??? I will have three kids to feed, bathe, entertain, teach, go on errands with, (how will I do food shopping?) what will this even look like?

There are times at night when John and I are playing with the kids that I say, "Honey, can you imagine one more climbing on you/"  And as he's gasping for air, tickling and wrestling our 3 and 4 year old, he sighs, and goes, "I have no idea!"

I know it will just be something that I do.  Just like when Mark was born and I had a 17 mos. old at home who was very bright and very active (and she still is), I just did it.  We went everywhere, we shopped, we did school, we traveled, we visited friends and family, we just did it.

I'm getting excited for our new minivan purchase this Christmas, and for the bedroom switches.  Plus I have pretty sweet, loving kids who are very tender with babies, and I know Julia and Mark are going to be helpful.  I just worry and wonder and have to give it right over to Jesus.  He knows.  He will be my help.  And of course we will survive.  I'm not the first mommy to have 3 kids under the age of 5.  And honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

****Tomorrow's Post: "Mommy where do all our mistakes go?"--Julia

Daddy's Home!

John stayed home Friday because he was sick.  He did all his meetings and calls from home while we had school, gymnastics, and a playdate.  After nap time we all made homemade pizzas together!

Me and the kids were going to do this anyway this particular Friday night.  But having daddy home after nap time, which is super early, and cooking and chopping and making pizza with us was really awesome.

Plus he rolls out the dough way better than me!

Mark and Julia always have bigger smiles around Daddy, especially Marky these days.

I was glad John was feeling better after resting all morning.  And to be honest the kids did an amazing job on their pizzas!

I put some flour on the kids faces because I said, "Every cook gets a little dirty in the kitchen!"  They liked that.  after we put on our sauce, mozzerella and cheese and some veggies.  We baked in the oven for about 20 min.  and Voila!

It was the best pizza I had ever tasted!  We are doing it again next Friday it was that good!