Love Languages

In the past week I have heard more about Love Languages! I heard it at church. At my women's bible  study and then I read a bit about it on one of the blogs I read. Everywhere I turned, people were talking about the 5 Love Languages. And the funny thing was that it had not even been a week since I had googled it and taken a test to see what my love language is.

I went on to the Gary Chapman website and answered questions like..."Would you prefer if your husband brought home flowers or made you dinner." I, of course would be happy with both, but the flowers won!

And from all of my answers I learned that my first love language is gifts. (Duh)! And my second is words of affirmation.

The other two mid range scores were quality time, that one actually was a close third and in 4th was physical touch. Acts of service came out to be 0! I think service are great, but that doesn't speak to me as much!
I knew gifts would be #1. No doubt. I love getting gifts. I see the thought behind the gifts and I feel appreciated when my husband gets me gifts for no reason. I Love it.

Words of affirmation and quality time was hard to distinguish. I love both. My husband and I can spend all weekend together doing absolutely nothing and come Monday I don't want him to leave! We are friends, homebodies and we really enjoy each other. So quality time is one of our mutual languages. And affirmation, I guess I really need that one. I want to know that he still desires me and loves me and thinks I am great. You would think I get that after the fact that he loves being with me, but it's still nice to hear it!

So with all that said I had one incident this week where my love language was met.

On Saturday I had taken a shower and was getting ready to go to a baby shower for one of my sweet cousins. I was putting on my makeup and I had on only a t-shirt and undergarments.

Um, they were purple, lacy, pretty undergarments.

Well, there I was blow drying my hair when my sweet, girly 2 year old walks in.

She is a petite little thing and reaches right at my hip because, well let's face it, tallness does not run in the family.

Before I can turn around her little hand starts stroking my derriere and she says, "ooh mama, pretty!"
And I replied, "Mama has pretty panties." And she says, "Yeah," as she continued to pet me! "Where mine?"

And that went on to a whole 'nother discussion of her being ready to potty train!

When she toddled out I laughed and thought, "Well Lord, I'll take words of affirmation from my two year old any day!"

"Lord I am so blessed by my kids. Thank you for filling my cup every day. Lord show me how to Love my kids and what their love language is so that I can fill them up. Teach me to continue to speak the love language my husband desires. Thank you Father for your wisdom and you word. In your precious name, Amen."

I'm linking up at Works for Me Wednesday over at We are that Family! Becuase, affirmation works for me! :)

My mom makes mistakes sometimes!

Today my kids and I went to Mcdonalds to eat for a valentine's treat. Daddy was suppose to meet up with us but he got tied up at work so it was just the three of us. I got each of them a happy meal, which we never do because we usually make the kids share a meal with us and share a drink but since it is valentine's weekend and since I like to do small things like that when they are out with me so that they remember it's specail being out with me!

So we said our prayer and the kids started munching away at thier nuggets and fries.

A mother with two boys comes in and she is trying to get her kids to follow her while she carries the tray filled with drinks and food, balancing the tray with one hand while she opens the door to the play area and keeps her eyes on her youngest while he dawdles in as if he has no idea the kind of balancing act his mother is putting on right now!

She is trying to get them seated, situated..."I wanted the blue truck," "Where's my truck," "I want fries," He got more nuggets than me..."

If you have been there say, "Amen!"

So as she gets everyone what they want of course one of her kids drops the drink on the floor and sprite and ice flow.

You could see the pained look in her face but she calmly picked up the cup and looked for napkins but, with all the sauces and drinks forgot to get those!

I, having been in her shoes so many times, grabbed the few napkins that I had and helped her soak up some of the soda. She thanked me and went to get the janitor.

As I was going back to my table the older of the two boys said, "Thank you for helping, my mom makes mistakes sometimes!"

I choked back a laugh and said, "Yeah, all mommies do."

Newsflash! Mommis make mistakes sometimes!

Sometimes I yell.

Sometimes I roll my eyes and get obviously annoyed at my children.

Sometimes I forget to get stuff out of his folder and we are doing homework at the last minute.

Sometimes I mess up dinner.

Sometimes I leave the clothes in the wash overnight and I have to wash them again the next day.

Sometimes I would rather be on the computer than playing with my kids.

Sometimes I give in to what they want so they will stop bugging me.

Sometimes I spend too much money.

It's hard being a mom. It's hard getting it all right. But thank God for his Mercy. Thank God for forgiving kids. You know the beauty of children, is that you may make lots of mistakes, but when you are trying to do what is best for them and praying for God's help in that, your kids know that. They feel that. And even when you make mistakes, they still love you. They still think you are the greatest mom. When you do sit down and play with them...and laugh with them. Those smiles are worth it all. Pure forgiveness and love.

"Thank you Jesus for your amazing Mercy. Lord bless that mom today, let her know that she is a great mom and that she is doing a great job. Lord help me to remember that I am not perfect and that's ok. Help me to remember that I make mistakes. Big ones sometimes. Help me to forgive myself and help my children to forgive me and love me just for being mom. Remind me that motherhood is my calling and my ministry and I will not take it lightly! I love you Jesus. Thank you for making me a mom. In your precious name, amen."

Prayer Journey

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. ~Abraham Lincoln


At the beginning of this year I knew that there were going to be a lot of potential changes and newness occurring in our home. And the Lord put a desire in my heart to really be in prayer over all of these things.

And mostly, to become a woman of prayer. A mother who diligently prays over her children; a wife who diligently prays over her husband. A woman who prays over her home and all who come in it.

And so I have begun this Journey.

Every morning I wake up and lie in bed and I hear my husband taking a shower and getting ready for his day. I pray over his day, his work, for favor and blessings. For health, peace and endurance. I thank the Lord every day for Him.

I pray over my kids. I pray for their relationship together, for the day that is ahead of them. I pray they they will learn many things and be open to new things. I pray for their health and that they will enjoy the time they have as children. I pray that they will grow in His grace and have a desire to Love the Lord and to please Him.

And I pray for myself. I pray for energy to get through the day. I pray that I will be a fun mom today. I pray that I will enjoy my kids and the time I have been given with them. I pray for endurance, health and peace. I pray for time to extend itself so I can do my work and accomplish the things that I need to get done for the day. I pray for patience and love to exude from me and that I will be uplifting, encouraging and sweet to my husband and children.

It's hard being a mom. We really do carry the weight of our world on our shoulders don't we? We tend to be burdened by being a good mom, a fun mom, a good wife, a fun wife, a good keeper of the home. We are burdened by the responsibilities, the fears, the wonders, the what if's, the should we's...The list goes on.

And so, I pray. The Lord is sweet and says in His word, "Cast your burden on me and I will give you rest."

And so I rest in Him and pray and TRUST that He is completing the good work in me and mine.

The power is in prayer. The control that we as women want and desire, we have none but we do have power and that is in prayer. All day long, every day...pray. Without Ceasing.

When you wake up and your husband is snoring next to you...pray over him.

When your kids come in and need owie's kissed...pray over their little bodies.

When your 5 year old comes and cuddles next to you on the couch...pray over his heart.

When you 2 year old comes in and gets frustrated because you have no idea what they want...pray that they will learn to speak sweet, life giving words.

When you are exhausted and just overwhelmed...pray that God will give you the outlook and encouragement to keep going and finish.

"Father I desire to be one who prays without ceasing. I desire for my children to know that they have a mother who diligently prays over them. I desire to have a husband that knows he has a wife that is praying and waiting for him in his sweet, peaceful home. Help me to continue on in this journey and to enjoy this time. In you precious name, Amen."

Suckers

You know that scripture where it says something like, if your child asks for a piece of bread your wouldn't give him a stone? And if they ask for fish you wouldn't give him a snake? And then it goes on to say something like just as we give good gifts to our kids so does our Father give even better gifts to us.

Ok, so I totally paraphrased that but you know what I mean.

Anyways, what's interesting is that after this verse is the golden rule...Do unto others just as you would have them do unto you.

Interesting how those two go hand in hand sorta...God is pretty cool like that.

So, a few weeks ago this verse came into my head. I was praying and I just had the feeling. You know the one where you know you have to do something and it's something that you really don't want to do necessarily but nonetheless it's like your good sense just is nowhere to be found!

And so I said, well I will just take a look and see what's out there. And sure enough...it became one of those now or never situations that was more now than anything else.

The decision was made. I had caved. I had given in to the prayers and the wishing and hoping.

I couldn't give him a stone. And we definitely weren't getting a snake!

And I fought it, but the Lord was sweet when He said, as much as you want to give this to him, I want to do the same for you even more.

So, we did it!

Meet the new member of our Family....Lightning

Yup, we're suckers!



"Dear Lord, Thank you for my sweet boy and his precious little pup. Oh how he has prayed and prayed for him and saved and saved! He has been patient and so eager and I love that everyday even after a few weeks he still tells me, "Mom I can't believe I finally got my dog!" My heart bursts with sweet Joy. Lord let them be pals for a very long time. Let this little dog be a faithful friend and let his years be long :) Thank you for teaching me how wonderful it is to give your children such great gifts...You are so good Lord. In your precious name, Amen."

A haven....

I am on a mission to reliven my home. Make it cozier, prettier...add some sassyness to it or something like that.

I have been wanting to take on this task for a while, but since I figured we were going to be moving soon I sort of put that thought away and searched for new homes online every chance I got!

Well, God has other plans for our living arrangements. You know I just figured my plan made sense. We are hoping to have a new baby and with that came a new house ( If only all things worked out the way you plan and just like that! Ha ha!) You see, we have a 3 bedroom home. Master, Boys room and girls room. So the question was, where does baby go? See...that's why we were hoping to buy a new home, get more room, etc.

The problem was that husband didn't have any peace about the whole idea. He wants a new home too but...no peace, no go. And, I sorta didn't have peace either.

So after praying and thinking and pleading (on my part), our prayer is for our walls to stretch some and for contentment and joy in the house of our youth!

Don't get me wrong, I love our home. We have been blessed with this home and in this home, over and abundantly.

It was the home I spent my first night as a bride in, in our dining room my new husband and I opened all our wedding gifts, the home my children came home to, took their first steps in...it's a lovely home. We have had dedications and birthday parties, small group and friends and family gather here. It's a blessed home.

And the Lord is allowing us a few more years here at home.

I know He is planning another home for us that will be just a blessed. A home where we can grow together. And I am so excited about that.

So, in the meantime I am going to do a little redecorating...maybe some painting and definitely some sewing!

Some new curtains in the Kitchen, my craft room is going to be gutted and totally reorganized, but first we will work on the master bedroom.

A haven out of our little heaven here on earth.

The End of a Good Year

Its a new year. New beginings. New expectations. New hopes. New promises. New....

We may be experiencing a lot of new this year. I say "may" because I don't know how it will all play out but the plans are in place for newness.

Perhaps a new home? Yikes! Maybe a new little addition? Yikes, Yikes! And according to Sammy a new puppy!?!

Lots of new...

I must say that 2010 was a good year. A sweet year. The Lord was so sweet to us. It was a quiet year, a year of blessings and comfort. It was good.

So we enter into 2011 with great expectations of what He can do. I have very little control over any of the situations listed above (except maybe for the puppy...though we are suckers when in comes to our kids desires and he has been praying for a pup of his own for over a year now!) But I know that He already has it planned out and just waiting to awe us!

We spent the last part of 2010 in Guatemala with my Dad's family. We had a wonderful time and made so many sweet memories. We hadn't seen my family in a few years and it was so good reconnecting with them.

And so I leave you with some pics...

My Family got Emma a Pinata to celebrate her Birthday when we arrived. It blessed me so!

The Boys

Pretty in Blue....Hydrangea bushes everywhere! Beautiful!

Emma Relaxing at the Coffee Ranch.

In Antigua, Guatemala Parque Central

Sammy and his great grandparents

The kids and second cousin

Sammy riding a horse in Antiqua



My Grandparents Yard...beautifully landscaped!



It's Begining to Look A lot like Christmas!

Unfortunately I have not been keeping up with my blog for a while now. Though I hope to continue keeping freinds and family updated more so in the coming year. So, because of my lack of dedication to my sweet, beautiful and crazy blog I am going to bring you up to speed on my beautiful, crazy life in a sort of holiday newsletter.

I think this is a great idea because, a) I'm not "actually" sending out a holiday newsletter; b) I can fill you in on all accounts of our happenings; and c) I save on stamps.

So....Let's begin...

Greetings Family and Friends! (Those of you who know me well will appreciate the fact that I am cracking up right now thinking about that FRIENDS episode where Ross talks about his "Geller Yeller!")

This has been such an amazing year of blessings. After two years of waiting on God, throwing all things aside and really placing our trust in Him, He as always came through in awe and wonder.

As most of you know 2008 was a very difficult year, a year of loss and pain that ended with the beautiful blessing of the sweet birth of our baby girl. She is constantly a reminder to me of the fact that I can trust Him to do amazing things. As we moved into 2009, we faced a year of insecurity when it came to Orlando's job situation and again we trusted the Lord as He continued to close doors when it came to transferring to another city. Praise God for a Husband who waits on the Lord!

And so we waited. And again, He did the unthinkable.

In February this year Orlando left banking after 12 years and began a new career in chemical importing/ exporting and drawbacks. I can't really even tell you what that all entails, but I can tell you that it was what we had been praying for and desiring and it is more than what we imagined!

The company is relatively smaller, though large in the industry. It was nothing He had ever done, but he is doing great and has been such an asset to them and I am so proud of him. The people he works for are amazing men of God with integrity and generosity and Orlando is learning so much more than just about the industry. And the best part is that he is again 10 minutes from home (if he catches the lights!).

He gets home early, is able to go to the kids games and school activities and though he travels a little bit more, he gets to go to fun places like New Orleans and New York City and I get to tag along and have fun while he works!

The kids are growing too fast!




Sammy is so fun. He has a great sense of humor and likes to play jokes and kid around. He is still in love with his sister and takes pride in teaching her so many things. They have so much fun together.




He is in his last year of preschool and will be starting Kindergarten in the fall (more on that later). He loves his teachers this year and has had so much fun and is learning so much. He is into science and dinosaurs and superheros. All boy.

This is also his first year in a children's small group at our church and he has been doing so well. Each week he has a lesson with homework and a scripture to memorize. Up to date he has memorized 10 verses and still remembers most of them! The most exciting news was that in October as we were doing his homework together he asked Jesus to live in his Heart. It was an amazing, sweet moment for me and we celebrated by making a birthday cake since he was "Born Again!" He told everyone that he was "a Christian now." Our prayers that he would seek the Lord at a young age were answered!
This year was our first year of sports. The craziness has begun! Our Saturdays were filled with t-ball and soccer. He enjoyed both, but LOVED soccer. He was quite a little stud, scoring many of the goals at each game. He put a lot of pressure on himself to score and it was difficult when he didn't. Orlando was a very proud dad and was glad Sammy tried so hard. It was a lot of fun. He had a whole entourage at his games, for both our parents came each time and we, to say the least, were loud. You would have thought it was the World Cup instead of the YMCA!


Sammy winning the MVP Ball



Emma cheering on her "Babba!"

Emma is becoming the prettiest, sweetest girl. Her blue eyes have stuck which constantly amaze me! She is such a joy and this year has been so much fun with her. Having her home while Sammy is at school twice a week has been so great. We have so much fun playing and singing. She loves to sing. She is a big fan of Barney, Elmo and Dinosaur train! She sings herself to sleep, she loves to dance around and she is so girly! After my own heart! She comes into the room when I dress her and tells her daddy, "See daddy, I pretty!" It's the cutest thing.

She loves her my little ponies and her baby doll, "Shoo shoo." She's already a little mommy! Her favorite thing to play with is her stroller and she sets the doll in it and pushes her around the house all day waving and saying, "Bye mommy."



Emma with "Shoo shoo," and her "Bie."

They are both such fun and such blessings and there is no better sound than to hear them playing and laughing together.



As you can imagine, two kids can keep you pretty busy. Sometimes I don't know where my head is, but we have so much fun together.


This year has been enlightening for me as well. It has been a year of complete, sweet joy that I haven't had in a while. You know that deep within Joy from the Holy Spirit. I spend my days enjoying my kids and my husband.

Earlier in the year a friend was unknowingly used by God to give me a book that has and will change our lives! It changed they way we think about raising our kids and about our priorities. And in the spring we made the decision that we will be homeschooling the kids. The thought of starting this in the coming year is a little scary and exciting at the same time! About 90% scary and 10% exciting!  The great thing is that we will be surrounded by a few other families who are also begining this journey and who have the same goals and desires for our kids. God is moving in ways we don't even know yet.

Last year I started a small little business of embroidery and children's clothing. I added some accessories and some women's clothing this holiday season and it has been pretty successful. It keeps me busy, but I feel like I am doing my own part and being a Proverbs 31 woman.

The Lord has also been showing me how to be a keeper of my home in many ways. He has taught me how to create a sweet atmosphere in my home, to make him the center of it and to keep it orderly and homey. At times I struggle with this especially when the laundry takes over or the kids drop crumbs everywhere! But it is a discipline that I have enjoyed striving towards.

We are very excited to be ending 2010 with a trip to Guatemala. We know we are going to have an amazing time with our family there and showing the kids where we come from. I hope it will be a wonderful experience for them filled with memories.

And so to 2010...It's been a blessed year...but I have a feeling that 2011 will be a year filled with many wonderful, new days!

Blessings to you all!