hard work...

Between yesterday and today I actually feel as though I accomplished something! We went out last night and picked up 2 yards of mulch (more than we needed), and finished our front yard flower garden....then we were just going to remove the rocks from the garden on the garage and use the rest of the mulch, but rather than just remove rocks, we planted 4 new plants as well! It feels so good to get things done! So excited to see what we can accomplish next summer! Praise the Lord for an amazing day of great weather!

praying...

Tonight, I am praying until something happens (PUSH)...there have been a lot of decisions to be made in our family's life as well as my own these past couple of weeks. We feel now that we have come to the best conclusion for our family, and yet I still feel overwhelmed with worry and stress. I am praying tonight that God will calm my heart and mind and help me to sleep and depend on HIM that the right outcomes will happen. He knows more than anyone our family needs and HE will supply. I just need to trust in HIM and pray until something happens...knowing that whatever happens, whether it's the outcome I hope for or not, is in God's plan....I ask those who are reading this for your prayers as well....

Everything seems to blend together...

I am so tired lately that everything seems to blend together...I have been waking up every 2 hours or so during the night because of leg cramps...I was told that I have them because I am dehydrated, so I have been drinking a TON of water, and when I am not up walking around or stretching, I am using the bathroom....I can tell it's bad, because I apparently slept walk and talked to Paul the other night and attempted to go wake the girls up (at like 11pm) and I only know this because Paul told me...ugh! I guess I am going to have to change my schedule around so I can get to bed earlier and nap when the kiddos nap?! Somehow the household stuff will just have to get done...

So many blessings...

Today is my daddy's birthday and I am thinking about all of the wonderful blessings in my life and in life in general. My family has been so fortunate over the years to have our health, and my dad celebrating another year in his life reminds me of that. Yesterday we were able to go to Pontiac, MI to visit Amber and her new little princess, Madison. Babies are such a huge blessing and I am so thankful I was able to meet her! I thank God everyday for my babies, and all of the other blessings in my life....God is surely good!

just in case...

I just finished reading this amazing book called, Crossing Oceans and it really made me think about so much in life that I wouldn't normally think about...this may be morbid of me to talk about, but important none-the-less...when I go into labor with this 3rd princess of ours, there are a few things I need for people to know...I plan on telling Paul all of this (some of it he knows because we went through it with both Rachel and Abbie), but just in case I forget to bring it up, or if there is any kind of controversy, I want others to be aware too....If, for some reason, there are complications during labor the 1st thing that I want to happen is for my baby to be taken care of...even if it means life or death for me, this baby is my world and I want the Dr's. to fight for her life BEFORE mine. I have already discussed this with Paul and my parents, but when the circumstances arise, people can forget...the second thing is, I have a folder that is for bills....I am going to write down the different websites, user names and passwords, so if something (heaven forbid) did happen to me, Paul would have access to pay the bills...I have just recently thought of this after reading that book, so I haven't had the chance (yet) to talk to Paul about it...so maybe someone can remind him of it if something does happen???? Thanks....

Enough of being morbid for now....frightening to think about, I know...but it has happened to people before and I want to be prepared....

This weekend was a wonderful weekend (so far) minus sleep....We were able to get our front yard flower garden finished (minus one plant and mulch) on Friday and then we went to Holland for the night and all day today. Rachel and Abbie were both awake until at least midnight last night and I had TERRIBLE leg cramps that actually made me cry...my legs STILL hurt and are shakey....ugh....I am trying to get more potassium to see if that will help at all....

change will happen...

Paul and I discussed work possibilities for the fall and I am feeling a little more at ease about things...I am still praying A LOT about it all, but I feel more at peace today than the past few, so that's a plus. Change will happen though....

Another change that I am really excited about it our flower bed in our front lawn. We went out and bought border blocks (I don't know if that's the correct term or not?), flowers, top soil, and a bunch of other items to redo the garden. I love that this house is becoming our own!

More changes have happened in our girls in the last week and I just find it so unbelievable they are growing so fast....Abbie talks with the cutest voice I have ever heard and she is saying so many words! She LOVES to brush her teeth and she is learning to share...Rachel has her responsibility chart now, and has been being such a great helper...she feeds Dizzle, water the hanging basket, stays dry all day, brushes her own teeth twice a day...the list goes on, really and I am so proud to call these two beautiful girls my daughters. They are definitely the best things I have ever done....

Whew....that's all for now....nothing inspirational...maybe someday though!

P.U.S.H.

Back in high school I had a couple of different bracelets I received in youth group. One said, "PUSH" and the other said, "FROG.." I wish I still had both of them...as much as I hate to admit it, I don't always "Pray Until Something Happens" or "Fully Rely On God" the way I should. A lot of times I find that I am much more talk than I am walk...I was reading Take Four by Karen Kingsbury when I was reminded of the "PUSH" bracelet and I got to thinking, 'why am I not constantly praying until something happens?!' Which reminded me further of another book I had bought before Paul and I got married called, The Power of a Praying Wife....I realized how important (I already knew this, so maybe I should say I was reminded) it was to be praying for my husband daily...same with my children! Why have I not been continually doing this? So then, I felt even more compelled when I read the opening verse in The Power of a Praying Wife to change the way I pray; Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. Proverbs 31:10-12 This was the verse read and focused on at my Grandma's funeral...the verse described her to her fullest and I remember thinking about how I wanted that verse to be about me too....I realize I am rambling my thoughts here, but sometimes that's the best way to get things said....so, tonight....I "re"begin my book with chapter one, "His Wife." Because if my heart is not where it should be in this, my prayers won't mean a whole lot...and I want to be the wife God created me to be!

Responsibility....

I am trying to teach Rachel to start doing things on her own and being more independent in certain areas...That is why I created her "responsibility" chart. On the chart there are pictures on the left; bone=feed Dizzle, Potty=stay dry all day, bathtub=wash self, Toothbrush=brush teeth, hair brush=brush hair, dress=dress self, pillow-make bed, flower=water flowers, and rocking horse=pick up toys....the goal here is not to have her start them all at one time and get overwhelmed and make me look like someone from child labor should come to our home (haha)....the plan is to give her 1-2 things to do and she will get stickers every time she completes the task...for every 10 stickers she will get to do something special or get a special treat....once she works up to getting everything on the chart filled, all the way across the chart she will get a big surprise (yet to be determined)....

A time for everything....

I decided to change the name of my blog and added a few "new" things to it as well...Eventually it will be laid out the way I'd like and look nice....After a weekend like I (we) had, I thought this title "A Time For Everything" fit well with our lives....

Saturday was a great day. I went to Meijer to pick up the supplies we would need for our "summer jars" and Rachel's responsibility chart. After lunch Paul, the girls and I went to Captain Sundae where we met up with one of my College of Ed friends (we also went to the same church when we lived in Holland) and had a great time catching up and meeting her baby boy Peyton! With the weather being so hot our ice cream melted fast and when we got back to Paul's parent's house we all went out on the boat and went swimming in Lake Michigan. That was a welcomed way to cool down!

Sunday we went to church, and while there I noticed Abbie's skin was burning up. We blamed it (at first) on the weather and the fact that she was teething. We went to McDonalds for lunch and I really knew something was wrong when she wouldn't eat a fry...we came straight home and I took her temperature. It was 102.6! I gave her Tylenol and she went down for a nap. A couple of hours later when she woke up her temp. had gone down to 101.2 degrees, but she would eat, drink, or play and all she wanted to do was cuddle and sleep. I called the Dr. and she said since she wasn't drinking anything to take her into the ER. We got there and her fever was up to 104.7!!! Turns out she has a middle ear infection. Last night was a rough night, but she is on antibiotics now and Motrin...hopefully she will bounce back soon!

We also made "Summer Jars," an idea I got from one of my facebook friends. I am very obsessive compulsive when it comes to scheduling and organizing my time...these "jars" makes it easier to be more spontaneous and easy going when it comes to my time. I don't know how to post links on blogger yet, but if you're interested in "summer jars" here is the website you can go to, to create your own! http://betterway.webi.st/articles/the-summer-jar

Life can slow down...

Last night, Paul and I were able to go on a date for our anniversary. That's right, kid free! A lot of times I feel as though Paul and I don't take enough time for just the two of us to stay connected; we are always out with the girls or home with the girls. That's why I was trying so hard to find a babysitter last night, because while I love my kids, Paul and I needed the time to celebrate us!

We dropped the girls off with my cousin Crystal, who was amazing enough to watch them for the night...this was a much needed opportunity for the girls to play with their cousins Olivia and Ella too, since we don't see them much, so it really worked out great! After dropping the kiddos off we went to dinner at the same place we had our rehearsal dinner 4 years ago. I let Paul order for me, so I would be "forced" to try something new....we shared crab cakes and then we each had a drilled Ma hi sandwich. They tasted great and I never knew what I was missing out on until I had those two new dishes! YUM! I have to say too, that our dinner conversation was amazing too....the only thing said about any of our kids was a short discussion of the name of baby #3...this is a big deal to me, because sometimes I feel that since the girls are our life, that's all that there is to talk about....so it was nice to discuss things other than the girls...a breath of fresh air!

After dinner we went to see Eclipse, the 3rd movie in the Twilight saga, and I will admit it was better than the first two (acting wise) and the air conditioning felt wonderful!

We picked up the girls after the movie and came home where they both fell soundly asleep in a matter of minutes...the perfect ending to the perfect evening!

I am hoping Paul and I are able to find some time to celebrate us and go out more often than just on our anniversary...

Watch for God....

For vacation Bible school this year we received bracelets that read "watch for God." I have been wearing mine everyday since and have been trying to make sure I actually look for God sightings and not just take everything for granted...Of course, everyday a God sighting for me is my children, and I grow more and more thankful for them as the days go on (even when they are having a bad case of grumpies and I don't seem thankful). So today, aside from my kiddos, I was thinking, what will God show me?! Then I realized that I take Paul for granted a lot. Not meaning to by any means, I don't always consider him a God sighting...why, I don't know...maybe the selfishness of being a human....

Today is our 4 year anniversary and I started to think this morning, "where would I be if Paul weren't in my life?" It was a thought that quickly entered and quickly left, because it's something I never want to consider! When I met Paul (in person) 5 years ago, I knew the day I met him that I would marry him. I had been in and out of the same 3 year relationship that was going nowhere, struggling with what I really wanted out of life and then I met Paul...everything changed after I met Paul. I broke off my relationship with the "other" guy and within a month and a half Paul and I were engaged! Crazy sounding, I know, but you know when you know that it's right....On July 8th, 2005 Paul and I went for, what I thought, was a normal walk through a Holland neighborhood. The sun had just set and the street lights were turning on. In the light of a single street light Paul asked me to be his wife and of course, I said "YES!"

On July 8th, 2006 Paul and I went for another walk...as my dad walked me down the aisle toward my best friend I knew I would never ever want to go back to a life without him in it. In front of family and friends and of course God, the creator of our lives and marriage, we gave our lives to each other no matter what life's storms may bring.

On July 8th, 2010, 4 years after saying "I Do" we have so much to be thankful for. We have two beautiful daughters, who are both happy and healthy, and a third on the way. We too are both happy and healthy. Paul has a job where he is able to work in two schools and gets wonderful benefits that help the whole family as well as money to help us pay for our amazing new home. We have wonderful family and friends who support us and a wonderful church family to help encourage us and our walk God and each other....so many things that the list could go on and on...

I don't know why I have taken him for granted....why do we take anything good in our lives for granted?! God is so amazing and has given me a wonderful help mate, my best friend and I will continually be thankful for Paul and the life we have together no matter what life throws at us...

Happy Anniversary Paul! I love you!

New Day...New Me...

I have always wondered what blogging was all about and always half tempted to blog and half tempted not to...well, today I gave in. I am not yet sure what the focus of my blog will be at this point. I will probably spend time today thinking about it. I will most likely write about a number of things, rather than have one focus..Such as family, home preschooling/daycare, books I am currently reading, and what I am learning from God....I am trying to seek Him more and maybe writing about it will help me to develop an even deeper relationship with Him?