Makes my heart smile...

So....being a mommy is tough work.  There are days when I feel like I am completely failing and moments where I just want to scream.  I'm sure none of you moms can relate, right? Haha... These are the times when I really have to pray, read the Bible for wisdom, and ask others for encouragement.  And thanks to my Heavenly Father, there are those moments that remind me all this hard work is worth it.  Here are just a few snippets of conversations with Evan this past week:
In the van: Alea says"it's sunny! I don't like the sun!". Evan responds,"Alea, mommy can't do anything about the sun, only God controls the sun, you have to ask Him for help." Alea responds back, "no!" Evan replies, "yes, Alea, don't you know God has the whole world in His hands?" Alea calms down and says, "yes."
On the stairs: Alea is complaining about her owie on her hand. Ev says,"let's just pray for Alea's hand right here on the stairs. Dear God, please help Alea's hand.  It is really hurting her. Amen."
In the van again on a trip home from the mall where another little girl bit Alea pretty hard on the hand: Alea says,"that girl bit me!" Evan says back to her, "yes, Alea, and that was wrong. God tells us not to hurt others.  Are you ok?". Alea says, "yes, buddy, I ok."

So thankful for these times when you see the difficult task of training your children reaping positive rewards.  Reminds me of a verse we talked about at my Bible study the other day.

Galations 6:9

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Wedding/Mini Vacation to Minneapolis!

What a fun weekend we had in Minneapolis for my beautiful cousin Emily's wedding.  We were so happy when she called this past spring to ask Evan and Alea to be the ringbearer and flower girl in her wedding.  It made me feel kind of old that she was even getting married though and that I had children old enough to participate!  She has always been little Emmy to me.  :)  Never the less, we told her positively yes, we couldn't wait to be a part of her big day.  So, last Thursday, it was off to Minnesota we went.  We hit up the Mall of America before we even went to the hotel because they offer a great twilight deal of $20 per child for unlimited rides in the indoor amusement park.  My children are pretty much OBSESSED with rides so this was a given.  Thankfully, my parents were along to help us take them on all the rides and give us little breaks so we could sneak in some shopping and dinner.  My kids didn't even ask for anything to eat until 7 pm they were having so much fun.  After we peeled them off the rides around 7:45, we headed to the hotel and we all hit the hay.  We stayed at a Grandstay Suites in St. Louis Park.  I would HIGHLY recommend it.  Great rooms/yummy breakfast/nice pool and workout area/wonderful service/close to lots of stuff/, just overall awesome!  Every room was a suite too, which if you have ever traveled with young children, it is almost a necessity...Friday we woke up and unfortunately Ev was pretty sick and suffered his first asthma attack-it scared me.  I have never seen an attack before.  He was yelling "I can't breathe", crying unconsollably, and just couldn't calm down.  We quickly did a double dose of his breathing treatment though and I could slowly feel him relax.  Thank the Lord.  We relaxed for a little while then as he felt better, we decided some fresh air would do him some good, so we headed to Como Zoo-a free zoo in St. Paul.  It was awesome.  They even had polar bears and it was small and easy to see everything in about an hour.  Perfect for what we needed. 
Ok, back to the wedding.  Rehearsal was at 5 on Friday night.  I was pretty nervoud about what Alea would do.  And I had every right to be!  She crawled, walked backwards, and sprinted down the aisle.  OHhhh boy...and Evan was yelling at her the whole time to do it right.  What had we gotten ourselves into???  We could only hope and pray they would pull it together for the real thing.  Saturday came and my sweet hubs swam in the pool all morning and got them nice and tired so they would take a good nap before the wedding and so I could sneak in a trip to IKEA with my mom and Aunt Janie.  Love that store! 
2:30 came quickly as that was our assigned time to be there for pictures.  Again, nervous about Alea-she is a very sweet little girl but is very strong willed and does what she wants to do!  And once again, she frowned, glared, and cried during the pictures...not one single smile...all while Ev is posing perfectly. HA!  Those pics will be fun to look back on.  As the wedding started, I was all poised to take pictures, but only got one of them as I had to put the camera down to tell Ev to let go of Alea-which he did, and they ended up both calmly walking down the aisle.  So sweet.  Evan was so proud of how he did.  The wedding was beautiful and I couldn't be happier for my cuz and her hubby.  They are a match made in heaven and I could just feel the love and happiness between them. 
The reception was seriously amazing-so elegant and in a very hip spot in Minneapolis-The Profile Event Center.  It was kind of like a night club and my kids loved all the lights bouncing around and dancing to the music.  I loved every second even though it did get difficult as the night wore on-we didn't want to leave the fun party, but as it neared 10 pm, my kids were on the verge of a complete meltdown.  All you parents know what I am talking about. 
Anyways, enjoy some pics below and congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Derrick and Emily Grams.  May God bless you with a lifetime of love and happiness together.  And just remember, love is a choice!  You are not always going to FEEL like loving each other (I know from experience :) ), but believe me, CHOOSE to love, you will be glad you did. 

She went on this carousel about a hundred times

All alone! Alea wasn't tall enough to ride this one...

Como Zoo!

Rehearsing for their big moment

me and my handsome lil man

The bride gave her Princess Belle for being the flower girl-do you think she likes it?  haha...

The bride and Ev (Alea was crying off to the side)

Alea didn't change this look off her face for one pic...

After this I set the camera down to tell Ev to let go of her and just walk!

party time!

me and the hubby

My cousin Emily and her new hubby Derrick with my mom and dad! 

Thankful Tuesday-Fall, Wedding, Trip to Minneapolis Edition!

1.  Cool mornings
2.  Warm afternoons
3.  The AMAZING orchard we go to every year! *Center Grove Orchard!
4.  Alone time on the jumping pillow with my kiddos!  So fun!
5.  Yummy, crisp apples
6.  Fall=some of my favorite tv shows finally returning with all new episodes!
7.  IKEA cinnamon rolls
8.  1 Bedroom suites at hotels-genius with young children, no creeping around at 8 in the dark because your kids are sleeping!
9.  My kids got to be the ringbearer and flowergirl at my cousins wedding this past weekend in Minneapolis
10.  Free, delicious breakfast at the hotel that I didn't have to make or clean up!
11.  Lots of help from my parents during the wedding weekend. 
12.  Dances with my kids.
13.  My cousin found a wonderful man who really loves her! 
14.  Got to hang out with my Grandma and Aunt Chrissy for a while!
15.  How handsome my hubby looks all dressed up!
16.  Safe travels to and from Minnesota.
17.  Great little finds at IKEA-love that place.
18.  The look of freshly cut grass.
19.  A great start to our Titus Bible study at church-I wish we met more than once a week-so encouraging to me each week!
20.  The inspiration of the Shunnamite woman from the Bible-she was hospitable without expecting anything in return! 

Romans 1:21
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Don't forget to thank God for the many blessings He has given you this week! 

Thankful Tuesday-Double Scoop

I am not going to offer any more excuses for not posting every week...it is what is, but I really do write my list in a journal, I just don't always get it posted.  So, here is a double scoop of gratitude...every week I wonder if making this list is going to be difficult, but it never is! We serve a mighty God who never ceases to amaze me in big and small ways.
1. Hawk eye football-this was print to the unmentionable loss to that other Iowa team, but, I still do love the black and gold!
2. Cyclone football-I know, funny after my last post, but I really do like them, just not against Iowa.
3. A great deal at Kohls-3 Lauren Conrad dresses for $30 total!
4. Caring neighbors(thanks Sam for rescuing my wandering son!)
5. Again, Pandora-I love learning the names of songs and artists because usually I am horrible at that.
6. Total darkness for sleep
7. CG picnics in the rain
8. The support system of other believers
9.  The book "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. Wow.
10. Groceries from SAMs Club bought by my in-laws.
11. Digital cameras
12. Gods safekeeping of my kids.
13. My hubby's S'mores, he melts the chocolate to perfection.
14. Words with Friends-keeps me connected with my mom daily
15. the book of James
16. Timely message about Gods plans over our own
17. Meal planning going faster and getting easier!
18. Yogurt for .29!
19. My kids friends
20. I get to watch godly women and men in action!
21. Pumpkin lattes from Stbx!
22. Getting to watch a friend and sister in Christ get baptized!
23. Riding in a convertible-I just love them!
24. Time with my bestie-Erin, she just makes me smile! So glad God put her in my life 6 years ago.
25. Evan starting Awana!
26. For the awesome workers at Awana who care about each child!
27. Mission Emphasis Sunday
28. The perfect message I needed to hear even though I didn't want to hear it!
29. My friend Diana teaching me to sew! So kind!
30. My new fun scarf that I sewed.
31. Skippyjohn Jones books-hilarious!
32. More good deals at garage sales!
33. Inspiration to do busy bags for the kids
34. Breeze through the house
35. Titus started up again today!!!
36. My hubby had a shift day off yesterday.
37. My high school friends son got the transplant he needed!
38. A scheduled and now booked trip to Hawaii-thanks to my in-laws!
39. The amazing house we get to stay in when we are there.
40. Also for scheduling to meet my parents in LA to take Ev to Cars Land-he is going to flip!

Whew....that was a lot, I could keep going as things pop into my mind, but Parenthood is about to start, haha! Love that show!
Psalm 119:62
At midnight I will rise to give thanks to you, because of your righteous judgements.

I prayed and...

1 week ago today was a very long and difficult night in our house...My husband who suffers from Crohn's was being struck with the usual pain that sends him straight to the ER and kept at the hospital for 5 or 6 days...  I know this, because it has happened about 5 times in the last 10 years that I have been with him.  The first two times ended in surgeries, the last 3 just ended with more questions than answers in how to fix the problem.  See, surgery could help remove the blockage that causes him pain, but it would cause more scar tissue, which then could result in another blockage.  And so the cycle goes.  Going to the hospital is no fun for him or me...He has to lie in bed, get a tube down his nose through his throat, eat nothing for 5 days, and generally just be in pain.  I have to still take care of our kids and our house so I am stuck going back and forth between the hospital and home.  Now, I want to preface all this too by saying, we are fortunate that Crohns is a disease that is not fatal.  It is difficult to live with and presents him and I with struggles, but nothing like what some of you are or might be going through.
Anyways, I am going to get to the good part.  GOD ANSWERED PRAYER.  I have never prayed so hard in my life for God to heal my husband.  Thankfully, my parents were here and they could take care of our kids, which helped me to completely focus on Mickey (again, I know God anticipated this as I wouldn't have been able to care for him like I did had I needed to deal with the kids).  After supper is when he got the look on his face that I know all too well.  Many times walking around and a good strong cup of coffee helps his stomach to unkink and relax, so we went to Target as it was raining and they have a Starbucks.  We paced for about an hour with no relief.  So we headed home...next, we tried some self-medication (i.e. alcohol) to numb the pain, which worked, but also made him sick as we don't ever drink!  Next up, we tried some good ole chew, yes you read that correctly, I went to the Kum and Go and bought my first can of chew-talk about a fish out of water!  Just smelling chew usually makes him (for lack of a more polite term) puke so we thought it might help relieve some of the pressure on his stomach.  This didn't really work at the time...so we decided to lay in bed and by this time, we were both extremely stressed and worried we were going to still end up at the hospital.  In desperation, I prayed, no, a better word would be willed the Lord to use His healing hands and unkink the blockage.  For two hours, I prayed...and then drifted off to sleep, to be woken up again, by my husband writhing in pain, so back to praying I would go, and back to sleep I would go, when finally about 4 in the morning, he threw up, laid down, and immediately was asleep.  He would stay this way till about 10 the next morning.  WOW...only God!  Every other time he has had this pain, it has ended with him in the hospital, but this time, only by God's goodness, he was about completley healed by 7 the next night. 
I just hope I am getting across the message that this was nothing that I or my husband did, yes, it was us that prayed and believed, but it was God who showed up last weekend in a miraculous way. He is there and He is listening and He does care.  All I did was have faith in God who can do anything!  I love this verse!  We tend to put God in a box, but our minds can't even fathom all He is capable of doing.
Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.   

A few more verses I want to share about healing and faith:
Matthew 9:20 Jesus turned, and seeing her, he said, "take heart daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well.
Mark 10:52 And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
Acts 14:9-10 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, "stand upright on your feet". And he sprang up and began walking.

Just like the people that Jesus healed in the Bible, I had faith  I hope that your faith will be renewed after reading this.  God is good!