Welcome 2011!

3 P's for the new year! No, not the peas from Veggie Tales, silly! What I'm talking about is:

Purpose

Prepare

Practice

These ideas have been swirling around in my heart after our New Year's Eve service at Harvest Church last night. I was really challenged to step out and be what God wants me to be in 2011. No more excuses! No more being a cry baby!

Purpose to do His will in our lives. We must be determined to do it no matter what. We must commit to walking in His ways and make it a minute by minute daily commitment to serve Him, honor Him in all that we say and do. We can't be wishy-washy any longer. No more dishonoring the Lord with our half-hearted attempts to do what He's called us to do. Read the Bible, pray, act on His Word. Move forward in 2011 with purpose and walk out His calling on your life.

Prepare for His eminent return. Do you know what He's looking for when He returns? A pure and spotless bride. Are we living our lives in purity? Are we living our lives looking for Him at every turn? Are we preparing ourselves by living our lives in a way that pleases Him? Are there areas that we need to clean up, to fix, to ask the Lord to help us with? Are there areas that we need to step up to the plate and with boldness declare He is Lord to others? Are we intimidated by unbelievers or do they spur us on to show them God's love and how much they need Him? We need to be bold and not shirk our God-given talents and abilities. Move forward in 2011 preparing to meet Him one day.

Practice what we preach. It's so much easier to tell others how it should be done, even our children. This has especially hit home with me. We tell them how to do things, but do we show them how to love the Lord and serve Him in all they say and do? I'm pretty good at teaching it, but I'm not so sure I'm that great at showing it to them and modeling it before them. I've heard it said before that we are not supposed to point them to the cross, we are supposed to take their hands and lead them there. Am I leading or pointing? Are you leading others to Him or just pointing them to Him in a religious hypocritical way? Move forward in 2011 and put into practice what you've been taught, what you preach, who you really want to be.

You can do it! I can do it! Let's work together in the Body of Christ to make 2011 the best year ever! If we will all be determined to do this the Body of Christ will move in unity and we will be amazed at what God can do in all of us and through all of us this year!

Ultrasound Next Week!

I will have my ultrasound next week (Tues., Jan. 4th) and we will find out if we are having a boy or a girl! We can't wait to see what this baby will be.

The names we have picked out:

Boy: Judah Eleazar

Girl: Shalom Ariella

Ok.....now vote in the poll on the righthand margin. Are we having a boy or a girl?

New Family Pics!

New Couch!!

We got this beautiful leather couch from Lora-Joy and Andy when we went to see them at Thanksgiving. We went back to get it 2 weeks later. It fits perfectly in our living room and we are loving it! Thanks, Andy and Lora-Joy!

Victorian Christmas Class

We made some really pretty Victorian boxes for Hannah's online class. The girls (Ashley & Becca Jolin took the class with us) had a lot of fun making these:

Hannah got a Small Fry for her birthday--Thanks Mima and Papaw!

Here are some pics of Hannah and the new addition to her animal family! She ordered this small fry online from Build-A-Bear, thanks to a gift card for her birthday from Mima and Papaw. Deciding on the clothes was agonizing as she wanted them all...of course! She was able to get 2 outfits. She named her Diana after Anne of Green Gables "bosom buddy," Diana. We just started reading this book and she loves the fact that Anne has a "bosom buddy"!!

This is Diana in her everyday outfit--tunic top and leggings

This is Diana in her birthday and church outfit.

We are currently taking a Victorian Christmas Class online with Lessonsworthlearning.com on Currclick.com with Mrs. Loretta Rhodes. That's why we have started reading Anne of Green Gables. We are watching the movies, too. It's been a lot of fun. We will also read Little Women at some point and watch the movie. Later on I'll post some pics of all the projects we are doing.

So Much To Be Thankful For.....

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything. Have not been feeling too well. However, I am suddenly feeling much better. I am 13 weeks pregnant, now. No more nausea!! :0) And, I have my energy back. So, I'm furiously cleaning and organizing this house. Would like to get it all done before we start decorating for Christmas....so, I'd better hurry! We are also working hard to get ahead in school. I'd like to finish early this year....maybe the first of May so that we are totally done by the time the baby gets here. My mom will appreciate that, too since she's coming before the baby is born!! :0)

I have my next doc appointment on December 14th. This is all of the blood work for Alpha Feta protein and looking for Spina Bifida type defects which we've been told can actually be corrected in the womb now. Isn't it amazing what modern medicine can do? We are trusting God that nothing will need to be done. Please pray that our baby is growing and developing exactly as he or she should and that all will be perfect in our 3rd little miracle!! God is truly blessing us and we are very excited!

I have started couponing....yep! You heard me right and have been getting some fabulous deals at Kroger. I'm starting slowly as I learn the game. We have saved a ton of money on cream of mushroom/chicken soups at .29 a can. Have also already bought diapers that I could not pass up....$12.99 packs for about $5.00 each. Got some baby head-to-toe wash for .38 and $1.38 each. Anyway....sorry to bore you all. But, I'm really getting into this. David says that if I keep it up and continue to get such good deals, it will be like him getting a $2.00 an hour raise.

Speaking of David....we closed down our construction company, Carpenter's Kidz, Inc., because we just could not keep the work steady. A construction company in Woodbury has been asking David to come on board with them and he accepted and is no longer self-employed. No benefits, vacations, etc. as far as we know right now. Hourly pay, but steady work. We are very grateful for the job!!!

God is moving and blessing our family!! We have so many things to be thankful for! We are eagerly awaiting the Thanksgiving holiday as we will be traveling to Knoxville to see my sister and her family for about a day and a half. We will cook together on Thursday and enjoy a great meal together. Hopefully, will get to go and take family pictures while we are there. Can't wait to see them all. Wish we could see Mom and Dad, too. But, it's just too far to come from Texas!

Ok...enough of the update. We are doing well and are blessed! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!