Big 1-year old!!!!

Oh my! When Andrew turned one it seemed right, I soaked in every moment, playdates, walking, smiles, eating, teething, everything was new and exciting! So when it was his turn to turn one, it seemed right, normal. He seemed the right size, everything. But when my youngest, Matthew turned one last week it was not the right time. He is too little, it couldn't have been a year! Where did the time go? I don't even feel like I blogged about him much! I feel like it just slipped through my fingers...if this is how it is going to be forever...I am going to have to do something!

Matthew is our joy. He is God's way of telling me that He is control, and he knows best. Matthew was not part of my "plan", but he was the answer I didn't even know I was looking for. He LOVES life! He is on the go all the time and when he sees you, you get a big smilea and a "hi". He loves everyone, but his favorite person is his da-da! David walks in and the rest of the world is put on hold. He can't do anything until David picks him up. I love it! He has been pulling up since he was about 10 months old and is cruising on everything. He can stand a second, and then falls down. He is definately my earliest moblie baby. He had been army crawling, but last week on his birthday he just started crawling on all fours. He is an easy, easy baby. He loves to play and do anything his big brother and sister do, I really don't know what I would do without him.

Last Thursday the 17th was his actual birthday and he played at church. We then went out to dinner as a family. Then last Sunday he was dedicated at church and we had a family party at home. I have gone with the theme for the first birthday depending on what their bedding is. Andrew's was teddy bears, Kaitlyn's was butterflies and flowers, and so Matthews was first birthday with sports on it. It was cute and of course Reasor's did the cake and they did a awesome job. We had Papa, Grammy, Ponca and Uncle Michael. Unfortunately Holly had to work and couldn't come..we missed her.

I cannot find the cord to download pictures from the day, but here are some pics from over the year. What a year...what a boy! We love you Matthew Aaron, more and more every day!

Why do we listen?

I am going to be real, and put myself out there and share what is going through my mind right now so that hopefully if you are going through anything this will be an encouragement to you and so I can go back to this and read it and remind myself of what I have committed to.

Why do we listen to the lies that Satan tells us? When he tells us that we are no good, that we have no meaning, why do we listen? And then we take it ONE step further and then we actually begin to BELIEVE it and buy into it! Why do we do this? We have a God who sent His one and only Son to die for us, because we are that special and that awesome and we are that worth it. BUT, and this is a big but for me, I cannot claim it for myself. I know it, I teach my children it, I discuss it with my friends and my faith is at the core of it, but I have trouble claiming it for myself. Even writing those words down felt uncomfortable, and why? Why cannot claim it? Well, right now I don't have those answers, but I am tired of not thinking highly enough of myself that I don't find the answers. I am tired of not being the person God created because I don't claim His love for me and begin to believe Satan. I get in the muck and the mire of life and allow the rivers to overflow me and buy into the crap that Satan puts in my ears. So guess what, no more I am here claiming that Satan, you have no footing, you have no ground to walk, you will no longer find the person who will believe you, I am putting on my armor and fighting this fight with my Savior! I am being proactive, surrounding myself with love and scripture and guess who is no longer welcome: SATAN! I know that that is not going to stop him, but if God is for me, who is against me?!

Thank you for letting me share, and reading this and I will ask for prayers as I search God's face and begin to make proactive steps in my life for HIS approval, for HIS smile and for claiming HIS love to experience HIS full person, grace and love. Thank you!

Snowklahoma...Blizzard 2011...and more!

Well we have had snow like I have never seen in the 35 years that I have lived in OK! On February 1st it snowed and snowed and snowed! 14 inches here, with drifts taller than Kaitlyn! In Owasso there was 21 inches...SERIOUSLY! Where do we live South Dakota!? :) Then it snowed AGAIN, another 6 inches! So we had NINE snowdays, but that did not include weekends...or the fact that there was no church....so we had a lot of family time! It also got to be 20 below!!! It was crazy weather!

Not only did the snow come down, but the flu came down on our house. It started with Andrew after Martin Luther King, and then we had a smaller snow fall, and so he was in the house with the flu, the following Saturday Katilyn came down with it, and then Matthew and then the huge snow fell! So we were doing well until last Tuesday when I came down with it and strep. Thankfully my dad was able to come over, because the kids were still stuck in the house! So it has been a crazy time in our house!

Here are some pics of the snow storm...Andrew played in it almost every day with the neighbors, and loved it. The best day was the Saturday when it was pretty outside and the second six inches came down and it was powerdery. Forts were built, snowmen were built...it was fun! I wished I could have taken more pictures, but while the older ones were out, the younger one was inside and I could not leave him...but they had a great time!

Pictures from Matthew's First Birthday will be coming up, because he will be turning one this Thursday and this mommy is not handling it very well! :)







We were able one day to make playdough and I like the homemade kind more than the storebought! It was a really easy reciepe! In fact there is an entire website focused on homemade playdough! http://www.playdoughrecipe.com/