Great seasonal ideas!!!

This was just a quick lil video I put together of the snow footage I was able to get this year. I was pleasantly surprised how good some of it turned out! I know its not very long or very much footage but I just wanted to inspire everyone to keep the cameras rolling for our long term seasonal video

Cidermill..my 2nd video

Are you tired of the same old dinner?

Lately I have been wanting to experiment and try out some new dinners. I have to consider that Jonathan really likes chicken so my selection had to be a chicken dinner, my first thought was boring, ughh chicken....:(Well to my surprise I found this great chicken parmesan recipe by Tyler Florence. If you watch the food network you know Tyler Florence's recipes always look amazing. So tonight I gave it a whirl, it was a great successes!! for some reason the chicken was so flavorful and moist (which is quite rare for chicken). Anyway I thought i'd share the recipe with you. The link to the food networks website is down below

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-parmigiana-recipe/index.html

Made on an IMac

So this is the first lil movie I made on our new system. I can not believe how easy it was!

"Motels New Machine!"

Yesterday our new Imac arrived, I am so excited to have a computer in our home, especially a mac! Last night Aaron and Kathryn Carpenter came over so that Aaron could help us get our system up and running, what kind friends we have. I cant wait to make my first video on our new system and post it on my blog, which by the way I probably will be updating and posting on my blog much more often now that we have our Imac. Anyway I am very excited about the possibilities within my finger tips. Just having the computer up and running for 3 hours I can already see that Jonathan is going to be reminding me ALOT that the girls come first, this can become very addicting. Look forward to many exciting and visionary posts to come!!!

Madelyn is 3 months old!

Today was Maddie's official 3 month birthday! I can’t believe what a smiley little girl she is. She is definitely starting to formulate opinions though; her most recent is wanting to be in daddy and mommy's bed at night. She is also such a spoiled little girl that when she is not being held she certainly voices her opinion. Despite the small trials she has already caused us, the joy she brings is so much greater! The Lord has truly blessed us with such a sweet little girl

Here she is almost laughing

Always smiling

So content

Go ye into all the world...

Last night was our annual Christmas performance. Unfortunately I missed last year’s performance. I am so thankful that the Lord has called me out of darkness into His marvelous light. His plan for my life is a much better plan for me than what I could ever come up with. He was able to restore me to all my friends and now I am enjoying choir directing more than ever. This year Jonathan came and we brought along our girls, so many people were blessed to see such sweet little girls, they don't see many children here. In case some of you don't know, the place we sing every year is called the rotary club, it’s an assisted living center for elderly people. You might wonder how we could enjoy singing for this type of audience? Don’t you enjoy singing at the mariners or somewhere with s larger more glorious crowd? Well actually this is one of the greatest crowds to sing to! When we sing here I feel like we connect with people so much more and their appreciation for the music is great!

Last night the man who introduced us started off with a prayer and I thought to myself, wow what has this generation lost? All these people here had no problem saying the name of Jesus, coming together and praying out loud. Needless to say this made it all the more fun to sing for this crowd. Our selections included some patriotic tunes, songs from the 1940's, some Christmas carols and selections out of Handel’s messiah. The children did an outstanding performance! The selections from the Messiah were so powerful and I know that the gospel was being preached though their voices and faces. At the end of the performance this older gentlemen came up to me to ask if he could shake my hand, naturally I said yes! He thanked me for all the songs but in particular for "the white cliffs of Dover". He began telling me his story about the war and how he was a pilot during that time, the actual white cliffs of Dover had significant meaning to him. He really just wanted to talk to somebody; he pulled out a picture of his wedding day and showed me, he had been married for 65 years. Lets just say it was very humbling standing there listening to his story as he thanked me, when in reality I should be thanking him. I believe that singing those songs last night was the best way we could thank all the veterans who have served our country. Music is such a gift we have been given and a great way to preach the gospel

Isaiah 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Emma was such a testimony to all of the people there.

Jael came to!

What sweet girls

Meeting our friend Isabella

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Psalm 34:8

This is surely a miracle!

How amazing! Kaylee and I grew up together and now here we are with are wonderful girls who will also be friends forever

Emma, Maddie and Bella ( thats what we call her)


Its amazing the difference in size seeing as they are only 8 weeks apart

Emma and the girls

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know its a week later, but here some pictures of the wonderful time we had at my parents for thanksgiving!

O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good: for his mercy endureth forever..

Psalm 107: 1

A feast set before us

My mom made her home so special for us

Feasting time!

My wonderful husband, to who i am so thankful!

Sisters

I love my neices

Olivia is so sweet

If you look close, Bonnie look so much like me, just different coloring.

Emma was helpin make the cranberry fluff!

Sticky hands..;)

Emma with Olivia

Emma and Ellie!

More Snowy Days

Let it snow! Let it Snow!

What a wonderful surprise, having our first white blanket cover the ground! This is the first time Emma can actually play in the snow and have fun. She was playing till it got dark she enjoyed so much. At one point she reminded me of myself though, trying to situate her clothes so much and control the situation that she missed out on playing in the snow(ha,ha,ha). By the end of the night she came in to enjoy her cup of hot cocoa and sit cozy by the fire. I love making memories like these with her. I’m hoping we can make many more winter memories this week!

In the snow with Momma

Hot cocoa by the fire!

Madelyn is 2 month old!

Here are a few snap shots of Maddie. She is exactly 2 months old today, and is very anxios to meat her new best friend Isabella Jean Hicks.

Learning to smile!

Precious Angel, sleeping in her hat hand made by Elaine.

Stop the clock please!

Wow, I can’t believe time has gone by so fast. I always say the first 6 weeks after you have your baby fly by much faster than the last six weeks before you have your baby. Anyway, Madelyn is now 8 weeks old (almost 2months). She is just starting to learn how to make contact with me and smile back, it’s too sweet! She is also learning to cry when she wants held, any mom knows what that is like, but I still enjoy every moment of it. Who wouldn’t want to hold such sweet girl like Maddie! Here some recent pictures of our sweet little bundle.

What an adorable face!

Learning to Draw!

As some of you may know, Emma is quite an active girl. On these rainy days she needs many constructive activities to keep her busy. I have been teaching her how to draw, paint and color in the lines. This also helps bring peace in our home so that I am not frazzled out trying to keep up with her. Anyway she also likes to color when she visits the waters, she’ll probably learn how to be much more artistic over at their house then I could ever teach her. I am very thankful that mothers have gone before me and can teach me ways to bring peace in my home while enjoying my children!

The Epitome of the world

This is exactly the type of story I would say is trying to make us mothers feel guilty about our bodies after having children. I HATE IT. We end up comparing ourselves to an image that isn't even real! Praise the Lord that we really are the woman of Proverbs 31, dont get me wrong I still want to be healthy and look nice for my husband but not at that expense. Having children is a much greater joy then just a "pretty face" with absolutely no character or life behind it. let me know what you think of the video.

Our newest family photo!

Matching Matching

I never thought I would be the type of mom to put my girls in matching outfits but when I saw these I couldn’t resist! These are just some quick snapshots from my I-phone. We will be doing professional photos quite soon.

Such sweet girls!

Anyone that remebers what I looked like when I was a baby would know that Madelyn is quite a strong resemblence!

Bragging about my husband

Sunday night this was the picture Jonathan had texted to me around 10:00 p.m, with text that read "off to work for the night". This week he’s headed off to Oklahoma , working night hours. As many of you may know, I-5 has been slammed with work. Although we are so thankful for the prosperity it brings, we miss seeing our daddy. I just wanted to do this post in honor of my wonderful husband Jonathan. I am so thankful that he goes out every day or night and works for me and our girls. I think it is very important for wives to show their husbands their thankfulness in simple, visual and physical ways. I have found that simple things like keeping a clean and warm home show him that I care, as well as much affection when he is home. Also doing extra little things makes him feel special. For example, I know Jonathan really likes chocolate ice cream and crunchy green grapes so when he is gonna be home I like to make sure the fridge is all stocked up. O yes, and most importantly SPENDING HIS MONEY WISELY! I am not saying I have attained to this on all levels, but I like to make it a game and see how much I can save in a week. Even the basic things like making sure his laundry is folded neatly and in his drawers can speak volumes, it shows that he is on the for front of my mind. I like the girls to be a part of honoring their dad to so Emma and I will paint pictures for daddy, (good bonding time for mommy as well) and give them to him when he gets home. I also record lil' videos of her on my iphone and e-mail them to him, gotta love technology! Anyway I did not write this post to say I am perfect in some of these ways of showing honor to my husband, but to share with you ways I have seen create peace and show Jonathan I love him very much. I am hoping this will encourage any wife who is reading this to show their husband how thankful they really are for the life he lays down for them every day.