Life...

1. Please be praying for my friend Jenny and her husband Brad. I know Jenny through Amber D. I was trying to explain to Tony how I knew her and realized it was through Amber's baby showers, Amber's Mary Kay parties, when Jenny visits Amber, etc...All this to say thanks Amber for your friendship and the gift of other great friends through you...Jenny is someone you meet and feel like you have known forever. I find these days she is my constant companion in thought. I am longing for she and Brad to see the Lord's healing...Read more here: www.thewims.blogspot.com Please pray for this precious family.

2. I leave next week for Canada. I will be gone for 11 days. Tony and the boys will do great I know. I am traveling with an organization called Come Before Winter. This team of ladies travel encouraging those who are serving the Lord around the world. I am excited to be a part of it. I will be working with the prayer team. My mom will be on the trip as well...so seriously, Tony is on his own. He's up to it, though he is needing a daily pep talk.

3. The other day Tony and I were standing in the laundry room talking. The boys bathroom was across the hall. We saw Payton stumble in there early in the morning, turn on the lights, look in the mirror and say, "Payton this is going to be a great day, you slept good, your body feels rested, you are going to see your friends, this may be the best day of your life." Then he went to the restroom. Tony and I just shook our heads. Seriously where does the kid come up with this stuff? We think he may grow up to be a motivational speaker...He is a lot more positive with himself than I am first thing in the morning.

4. Payton asked the other day why we call that bird with a long skinny neck, a fat feathery body, and long skinny legs a sausage? Took us a while to figure out he meant an ostrich.

5. The retreat last weekend was so encouraging. The message that was conveyed through the dramas, the praise, everything was that the Lord loves you, enjoys you and would choose you again in a heartbeat...in the midst of it all...Your sin, your struggles, your pain as well as your joy. I realized last week again that it is never a bad time to hear that the Lord loves you...I really needed that message. I don't guess a day goes by when I don't. The ladies that attended blessed me richly. I left feeling like I had just made a new group of friends.

6. Some of you may not know, Benjamin was our pickiest of picky eaters who also had a texture issue. These days he is still not a huge eater...but we are seeing huge strides. Today he ate 4 chicken minis for breakfast (did anyone else get the coupon for free breakfast today?), 2 eggs for lunch, the other day he ate a good amount of steak, he will eat green beans...not huge for the average 3 year old...but its something we are so thankful for.

7. We are big bottled water drinkers. I cannot stand when they are left lying around half full. I usually gather them and drink them all before I put them in the recycle bin. The other day I took a big drink out of one and told Tony..."this water smells like a dead animal." Then I looked at it closer and saw half of a chewed up pork chop floating around at the bottom along with some green beans. I am assumin g this was one of the boys water bottles. I knew we had not had pork chops in several days. Nice. I gagged.

8.The boys made the mistake a couple of weeks ago of showing me they know how to clean...not just wipe dust, I mean put things back in the exact right place, wipe baseboards, use the dust buster on the wood floors, etc (they are their father's sons)...Now they are daily workers. The other day I told them it was time for our cleaning to begin and Benjamin said, "I can't do this anymore, every day I clean, and the next day the house is dirty again. I am tired." It was a great time for a quick lesson on how to love and appreciate their mom.

9. The other day I got the boys the movie Aristicats to watch...telling them, "this was one of mom's favorite movies when she was little." I left to go fold laundry in the other room. When I walked back in they had turned it off. I asked what happened and Benjamin said, "we really are not cat people." Payton shook his head with a look of disgust...like I said, they are their father's sons.

10. The other day at lunch Tony asked who wants to pray for us and Benjamin raised his hand. As if we are were in a room with hundreds Payton said, "Look dad, a volunteer."

Catching up...kind of

I have gotten several sweet emails asking if everything is ok because I have not posted in nearly a month...Thanks for noticing:) We are doing well.

* Thanks to everyone who commented and made us feel even more excited about our upcoming baby. Your excitement blessed us. We can hardly wait...only 26 more weeks!:)

* 2 of the past 4 weeks our family spent fighting the flu...all 4 of us...fever, upset stomachs, the whole bit. Tony missed 5 days of work...which never happens. Benjamin won the who is the sickest contest when his fever spiked at 106.3. We were miserable. Thankfully, we are now germ free...this house has seen more purell than the average I assure you. We had our couches, carpets, everything we had touched professionally cleaned. We were so thankful to finally move on from that.

* During our sickness we watched more videos than ever and when Tony was home, more sports center than ever. We also started watching the Biggest Loser. As a result, now everytime we pull into Sonic Payton says, "NO sugar drinks for me...you know what that can do to your body." Those trainers have made an impact on him with their speeches. Benjamin likes to run like mad in circles around our house yelling "Last chance workout" Good times.

* Organization is not my best trait...It is one of Tony's. Recently, as we got in the car I realized Tony had loaded all the things I usually have to run back in for...my sunglasses, phone, wallet, etc...I told the boys, "I sure love your dad, let's go around the car and share the things we love most about him." Payton started with, "I love how dad works so hard and lets you spend all of his money."

* Benjamin is fascinated by the fact that there is a baby growing inside of me...He asks periodically if we can take it out and play with it "for just a little bit." I have explained to him that God is still working on this baby. The other day he responded with "Now God is in your tummy?"

* Speaking of baby...at this point we think we will most likely not find out what it is until birth...Tony goes back and forth on this...but last week said he would wait...which is a huge sacrifice for my planning ahead husband. We found out with Payton, did not with Benjamin...it was wonderful both ways. It will most likely be a sonogram/game time decision on whther we know who is coming before they actually get here or not.

* Some of you who are long time readers will remember 18 months ago we got a precious lab puppy. She has been a delight to our family...However, we have realized during this particular season of our lives we are not the best dog family. She is champion bred and made to hunt...Due to many family circumstances that has just not been a part of Tony's or her life this past year. Tony has been praying that a great family that he could feel good about her going to would come along...The Lord provided (and they happen to have a blog many of you read) I will let them out themselves. I know I will cry when we load Maggie up to leave, but I also know we are doing what is best for her. Stay tuned for Payton's take on this whole affair...He is ready to turn us in to the local police, church, whoever he can find to listen...He has quite the monologue he can deliver on giving ones dog away.

* I am speaking at a women's retreat this weekend that I am really excited about...The theme verse is Zechariah 9:16 "The Lord their God will save them on that day as the flock of his people. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown." I know it is the season we are in but working on these talk has brought lots of tears as I have thought about what it means to be one of His jewels...It has meant a lot to me to reflect on that.

Hopefully we will update with pictures soon...check back my faithful readers...next week there will be more to come! :)