My Baby is Four!

Just a few days after Christmas, my youngest child had a birthday. I can't believe she is already four. Time is flying. We were visiting my parents on her birthday. We decided to let her be princess for the day. My mom took just us girls out for a nice lunch at Cracker Barrel. Christina(my daughter) ate two GIANT pancakes. She wore her crown during the outing and loved all the attention she got wearing it. Christina is into all things pink and princess at this stage. It is so fun watching her grow up. On December 8th she accepted Christ as her Savior. She is now in God's family. Thank you Lord for my daughter and her faith in You!

Cover to Cover

One of my goals for 2011 is to read the whole Bible. I have done this before, but I'd like to read through it again. Our church is offering small group Bible studies this year for people who have this goal, and I think it is wonderful because it will help me stay accountable. I wasn't sure that I was going to accept this challenge, but my husband helped motivate me. He's never read the entire Bible. I am already slightly behind the reading schedule, but I am catching up. It is not too late to start reading if you want to join me in this goal :) I think the last time I did this was for a college class. It's about time that I did it again!

Going through the Valley

I just learned a couple days ago about a friend from college whose husband suddenly died right before Christmas. My heart breaks for her. Her husband's case of the flu turned deadly. She is a wonderful writer and has been sharing her heart on her blog. Please pray for my friend Tricia and her two little boys as they get through this tragedy. This is her account of the day he died and this is the link to the rest of her blog. She really has a way with words. I'm sure she could use all the encouragement she can get right now.

Baby Turtles

Okay, so first I want to apologize that I never gave an update on Freckles the turtle. I want to be a better blogger this year. Back in August, the turtle eggs did hatch. We enjoyed observing the babies for a couple days before we let them go. Here are some pictures of the little cute box turtles. This was the coolest nature lesson right in our own front yard. It was fun learning more about God's creation.

Dancing away the Pounds

My husband and kids gave me a fun new Wii game for Christmas. It is called "Just Dance". You can compete with friends and try to be the best dancer by following the moves on the screen. I pulled it out the other day and played it with the kids. I beat the boys easily. However, my daughter beat me every time. She just turned four. I don't know whether to be proud or embarrassed.

A New Counter

If you look at the bottom of my blog, you will see something new. It is my weight loss tracker! Before you rush down there to see how much I weigh, I'll let you know that it doesn't have my actual weight on there. It just has my goal of pounds to lose. Maybe one day if I get brave and lose all the weight, I'll mention my starting weight but right now I'm not telling!!
Anyway, I like watching my progress and something about making myself accountable to the world is very motivating. That's why I put it on my blog.
My battle plan is to follow the Weight Watcher plan(although I'm not going to the actual meetings). I'm using the Flex Points plan. I also want to up my exercise whether it is long walks with the dog or playing on the Wii Fit. I am so determined to do this!
So even if you never look at my ticker, I'm going to pretend lots of people are watching so that I can feel a sense of accountability. By summer, I hope to have to go out and by some new outfits :)

One of Those Days

If you have kids, you will know what I'm talking about when I say I wish I could have protected my son Andrew from having a bad day.

- He had a rough start this morning when he somehow hit his own nose on a box he was holding. There was blood everywhere. Not huge amounts, just in lots of places such as his shirt, the floor, the carpet, his pants. . . lots of drips. We got it stopped fairly quickly, and he even made it to school on time. Oh, and I managed to get out all the stains with water and kosher salt.
-At dinner he bit his tongue hard enough to make him cry.
-After dinner, his new pet goldfish died.

You know, there are just some things we can't stop from happening to our kids. Today I think he learned to be careful with objects near your nose, chew carefully, and a lesson about life and death. These are all things we need to learn. I'm not glad he had a bad day, but having rough days occasionally is a part of life. So, I think I'm going to check on him one more time to make sure he's all tucked in and pray that he has an easier day tomorrow.