Giving grace

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
Acts 20:24 NIV

This is the verse of the day. And it hit me. This is the goal in life. To show and tell others the good news of Christ. It's hard to not get caught up in my career, my family, what I want and what I need. This morning I am sitting here in my bed with a few minutes to myself (much needed) and now I'm reading this and thinking of all the ways God will teach us his blessings in the months to come. Life is not supposed to be all about ourselves but about others. The biggest command in the bible is to love others as yourself. That's a hard task. It's so hard to think of others when your life is about to be turned upside down.

Yes we will be struggling soon and yes it's stressful...but God is so good. He's given me so much to be thankful for. I need to remember to tell others and show them why it's so important to give your life to him. And we will be fine. It's nerve wracking but there are so many things that could be worse than having to move. We still don't know our next step and have no idea what we are doing but we have each other and trusting God with our future. I need to make sure Micah knows that. I'm sure this will be hard for him to lose his home and all his friends in the neighborhood.  (It's hard on me too). Everytime we have moved I am amazed by the friends we make and how God provides.

Last night I went to choir practice and Craig had a hard time with baby girl. She wouldn't take a bottle last night and cried herself to sleep.  I am leading worship next week and now craig will have to endure another night alone. I hate that it's been tough on him, but I know it's good for him to get to know his daughter and her needs. Like I said ..she mostly just needs me. There's not much I can do about it.

The other day I had my first ever meltdown ( that I can remember) in public. I had to step out of my car and cry in the parking lot. Micah is the best little boy...but we are constantly together and it can be tough. I just need a few hours away from him sometimes. I need grandparents to drop him off. It's just so hard sometimes and he gets under my skin. I'm sure it's all the stress I'm under that's making it worse but I had to step out and pray.  Pray for peace and grace. I need to give my son grace. He's only 3 (on the 23rd) and he's not an adult. Sometimes you want them to be....so I stayed home yesterday and we had a great day. I just loves him and played with him and tried to understand his needs. It's only bad when I need to go somewhere for ME. He has his own agenda these days.

Here's something to sing about: Micah is fully potty trained. No accidents this whole week. Pee and poop on potty. I'm realizing he really doesn't need to pee as much as I think he does. He pees maybe every 2 hours. And now he runs to the bathroom by himself and I don't even need to make him.

It's pretty awesome. I'm so proud of him. Almost 3 and potty trained!! Now the hard part is taking him to the potty with a baby in tow. But better than changing a poop diaper on a 3 year old!! Yuck

Love you all and we are excited to see what the future holds.

Visits

Things are coming up so fast. My mind is spinning and I don't know what to be doing. Seems like I need to pack up my life but I don't know where to start. It's May and we have so much going on. Next week Craig is leaving for a few days and I'm gonna stay with my sister. Then my in laws are coming to stay.  It's good to keep my mind off of the fact that we will be out of this house by the end of June. And it will be here so soon.

I mean I need to start packing everything. It's so sad though. I really don't want to leave yet. I have such great neighbors and the summer is the best part with the pool. Ugh. I think our plan is to live with Hannah until we figure out our lives.

Maybe Hannah and I could actually get out on our own and do something while the other watches the kids. Haha that's a ton of kids though. Noelle is kind of stuck to my hip..she goes with me everywhere. She's just such a good baby and I know what she needs and usually she just needs me😁😊

We had a crazy weekend. Weiner wagon on Friday.  Saturday we had neighborhood party. Sunday we went to the Braves game. It was so fun to take Micah to the stadium. He was so excited to be with us and took it all in. It was an exhausting weekend but I wouldn't change a thing!!

Yesterday Micah checked out a book at the library for the first time. We had fun with our neighbors there and at the train slide after. Got a couple pics with it too!!

House update

First off I want to say these cookies turned out good. Both my boys ate them up. If you like the taste of coconut then you will like them. Here is the recipe.

• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• ¼ cup honey, (or maple syrup for vegan)! 
• ¼ cup coconut oil measured in solid state. 
• 2 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• ¼ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

Instructions

1. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper, set aside. 
2. Combine peanut butter, honey salt and coconut oil in a saucepan and heat, stirring continuously, until melted and well-combined.
3. Stir in vanilla and cocoa powder.
4. Add quick-cooking oats and mix well.
5. Add coconut and stir until completely combined.
6. Drop 1 TBS portions of mixture onto your prepared baking sheet. Continue until you’ve used all your cookie mixture.
7. Let cool in the refrigerator or freezer until hardened. 
8. Serve cold or frozen!
9. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator!

They are made with coconut oil, that's why they taste like coconut. I'm sure if you did butter instead they would be good too. I don't know if they would turn out though. Anyways. I felt good about giving them to both my boys. There is no bad ingredient. We ate them all in one day. ((that's what happens with big men in the house))

So here is the situation happening right now. We need a lot of prayer. We have no idea where we are going to live in a few weeks. Our neighbor was serious about buying the townhouse and renting it to us next year. She even came over for dinner Tuesday night with her boyfriend and told us everything was in the process. We gave her a very detailed tour of the house that night. The next morning (Wed) I got a text from her saying she didn't want the house anymore. These things happen, it was just very sudden and unexpected. I wanted to cry when I got the text, but i was out in public and held it together. It was the first time I felt scared and afraid of the future. Like I had no control of what was happening. I am still nervous, but there's nothing I can do. There's no point in fearing the future when I can't control it. Even if I plan everything, it could still not happen the way I want. So maybe this is best. We rely on God for what happens. He will take care of us. I'm sure Craig is feeling uneasy as well, but we have Hannah and Rachel here so we will always have a place to sleep. It sure won't be easy moving...where ever we go. I'm not looking forward to it. 

We love you all and appreciate all your  prayers. Love you all

Fun at the lake

We had so much fun with the Voss family this weekend. It took about 4 hours to get there, but it was well worth the trip. They were both really great in the car. I was surprised how well noelle did. She cried for the last 10 minutes on Friday night because it was dark out and she couldn't see. I think she was done being in that carseat. We got there Friday night around 9pm and left Sunday around 2pm. It was nice to have a whole day to relax. They have a beautiful home on the lake and Craig and Kevin got to go fishing in the morning and took Micah later in the afternoon. Kevin has a nice fishing boat and we were able to take a little bit of a boat ride later too. Noelle was a little nervous when we went fast but she seemed to like it.

We did go karts later and arcade fun. Then grilled out with burgers and Mac and cheese. Kaitlyn had an instant pot and made me want one! She made some gourmet  Mac and cheese in about 7 minutes. It was yummy and Micah loved it!

We really got to just relax and look and the lovely view all weekend. We even got to go to their church and Micah had lots of fun in the nursery (I was told). So thankful everything went smoothly. We really needed a little get away with all the stuff happening here.

Right now we are hoping our Neighbor buys this home and let's us rent it from her for another year.  We have a feeling Dallas could be in our future because all the jobs are moving there with AT&T. 

I made some fun cookies today after grocery shopping.  Healthy no bake cookies made with coconut oil.  I'm going to try one and let you all know if they are worth making! I always need a chocolate fix and if I can get it in a healthy way I will take it!!

Love you all

4 months

Today I was woken up by a toddler touching my cheeks and saying, "Aw, Hi Chunky." Oh MY! I guess I do that all day to Noelle, so now Micah thinks he can say that to me!! haha Micah is doing great with potty training. He didn't wear a pull up or underwear today. He just wore his shorts, and I know it sounds weird but he needs to feel like he's free balling or he won't tell me he needs to go. When we are home and he's naked he does great. The last time I put on underwear and took him to the park, he peed all over the cement. So this was my next option. Go commando. And it worked. He peed twice in a big potty and right when we got home he rushed to the potty and made a huge poop. It's really gross because he still uses the little potty and I have to clean it. UGH.  I really wish he would just sit on the big pot at home...but he liked to do it himself. Anyways. We will be ready for school in September. I have no doubt!!!

 We took Noelle's 4 month photo shoot this morning. Just remember I'm not doing it on the right days. But I'm only 2 days behind. That's pretty good.
She's such a cute little bugger.

So the other day I shot a little video of me trying to make her laugh. I was shocked when i looked back at it and we both had the same double chins. LOL This video cracks me up. I never got her to fully giggle, but lots of open mouth smiles.

Happy Birthday to Ezekiel today!! We love you Zeke. Micah can't wait to see you again. Wish we could be there to celebrate with you. I'm really missing the Hooker parties and all the cake and coffee!!

Love you all

Singing

Hey all!! What a whirlwind of a weekend. It always goes by so fast.
We had a cd release party at church Friday night. A birthday party on Saturday and Sunday I sang and sisters came to support me.

We had a great time at Nolans birthday party. Micah had a blast with all the little activities they had. Lots of kids there too. Noelle had some playmates too. Lots of little babies there to play with. After the party we went to a place called crafty hog and had dinner. They have a sand pit with lots of toys for the kids to play with. It was pretty awesome. Our first time and we will definitely be back.

Sunday I was extremely nervous. It had been so long since I had sang. Of course I had a blast while we were singing but the whole time waiting for it I was a mess. Haha I can't believe it. I may have more anxiety since having kids. Maybe I just need to get back in the swing of things. My sisters came and it felt like the old days with all of us together at church. Missing our parents of course. Everyone came over after church since it was raining out. Micah was so so so happy his cousins came to his house. I also didn't really tell him so it was a total surprise. The worst part was him going down for a nap and waking up looking for Caleb's and Liam. It was the saddest thing ever. He was like.., "mom I can't find leenum and kbob. They aren't in the garage either." Sometimes they stay and so he thought they would be there when he got up. Oops.

Update on the housing situation.  All the offers fell through and now we are hoping to stay here another year. Our Neighbor wants to buy the house and rent it to us...so we are hoping it all works out. Or we may be out on the street.

Also this is my third day of no coffee.  I've been feeling really sick lately and I'm trying to detox and get better. Coffee has always been my favorite part of the morning so its taking alot of self control to do this. I don't know how many days I will do it but I just want to feel better.

And noelle is only waking up once in the last two nights around 3 or 4 am and sleeping till after 9am. Pretty awesome 😙😙

Love you all

Poop

Guess what??? Micah woke up this morning and told us he needed to go poo. He went downstairs pulled down his diaper and pooped in his little potty. This is so huge. This is the first time he's told us he needed to go without us prompting him or him being naked. I really hope this is a sign that he's ready. It's so exciting.

More exciting news is we put an offer in on another house and may be hearing back from them today.  Here's the crazy part..I haven't even seen the house. I let Craig go without me on a weeknight and we could ultimately buy a house without me having gone in it. I think I trust him a little too much. I'm sure I'm the only woman who would ever let their husband pick out a home. He knows what I like and what I want and sometimes I think he's pickier than me.

Also I'm singing 3 song on Sunday morning and I'm am pretty nervous about it, but also super excited. I was so excited to be apart of leading worship but am feeling a bit overwhelmed with 3 songs!! This mommy brain sometimes isn't as good as it used to be!!

Happy birthday to my sisters tomorrow!! There are so many people that have birthdays on the 22nd! My roommate from college and baby Nolan. We are going to his bday party on Saturday and seeing my sisters on Sunday!!

Love you all