I did!!

Up until last night around 7:30pm, I had never sent a text before…in my LIFE! I now have a new phone and our new plan has texting!! I feel like a new person!

I hereby vow that I will NOT become one of these texting zombies I see all over the place. Entire families walk into the grocery store WHILE all four family members stare at their phones and walk while texting; it’s absolutely ridiculous.

My old phone was the one you get for free for adding a new line…four years ago! My new one looks like this:

I’m having fun with all the colors, sounds, and features; I’m sure my battery will be dead by lunch. LOL. On top of that, my kids should be content for days with our old phones as their new toys. :) That’s my way of recycling my old phone!

Okay, on to something else.

Our ladies group, affectionately called Girlfriends at Grace, is beginning a new Bible study today on Joyce Meyer’s book Battlefield of the Mind. It’s only a five week study and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m determined to do all of my homework and make it to all five classes.

It’s only 7:45am and everyone is already up, fed, and dressed (except for me, of course).

Only 27 more days until Jesse ‘graduates’. I’m SO ready for the summer.

We should hear the definitive word on ‘our girls’ by the end of next week.

Well, I guess this proved to be a really random post. Oh well.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

~audrey

Do you remember when we were kids and there were certain things, items, or events that made us jump out of bed in the morning, excited for the day? I can think of a few examples:

Christmas morning
a field trip to the zoo
the first day of school
the last day of school
my birthday
the day I was going to get my driver’s license

These days, it doesn’t take any Earth-shattering events to get me excited and fill me with joy, but not a whole lot makes me jump out of bed in the morning. I like sleep. I love my bed. I have really great sheets (that I bought at Ross’ for $29!). I feel like I haven’t gotten regular, adequate sleep in about seven years; moms, you know what I’m talking about!

However, something hit me this morning, as I took the first sip of my coffee. I closed my eyes and said, “ooooohhhhhh, that’s good.” It was pure delight and satisfaction. I felt like I could’ve stayed in that chair for an hour and sipped my perfect cup of coffee. Then I realized, oh my goodness, this is probably how a smoker feels when he takes the first drag off of his first cigarette of the day. Gross, I know. But then I began thinking about other things that should make me feel like that cup of coffee made me feel. God’s word, spending time in prayer, and exercising should all give me that fulfilled, satisfied feeling. My pastor, who apparently got the quote from Tim Keller, has given a perfect example of what an idol is:

“An idol is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.”

On a tough day, when I want to unwind, I can sit down on my bed with a basket of clean clothes and watch my favorite movie while I fold.

I love Little Women. I’m pretty sure it’s my favorite movie of all time. I have the book as well, but have never gotten around to reading it (maybe the 1000+ pages intimidated me!) I plan to read it this summer.

More than anything, I want to re-prioritize some things in my life. I want to crave getting into God’s word each morning, before I do anything else. I want to exercise, not so I can check it off my ‘list of things to do’, but because I crave how good it makes me feel.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t even know where to start. The thought of waking up any earlier than I already do makes me nauseous. But change usually isn’t comfortable, so I’m going to try hard. We’ll be re-joining the Family Y next month (for the summer) and I plan to start waking up early so I can go workout. I also commit to spending time in the word first thing each morning. As some added accountability, I will add something to each day’s post from my time with the Lord that morning.

Here are a few more of my favorite things; the little things in my life that give me great joy and pleasure:

*spending time with my girlfriends laughing and encouraging one another (even if we’re just grocery shopping together :)
*tending to my garden (I love going out to my garden a few times a day while allowing the Lord to speak to me about the power of ‘the seed’, the law of sowing and reaping, and the importance of preparing for harvest)
*sitting down to enjoy a special drink, whether it be Starbucks, Coke (I rarely drink soda, so when I do, it’s yummy!), or just a cup of coffee from my kitchen.
*cleaning my house, getting into bed after changing the sheets, waking up to a clean kitchen
*bubble baths, especially when I have time to shave my legs! :)
*watching my husband with our children. There is just nothing quite like a man who loves being a dad.
*hugs and kisses from my babies and seeing that look faces when they tell me they love me; like I can never do wrong in their eyes.
*reading. I love reading, but only when I get to do it uninterrupted for at least 10-15 minutes at a time.
*worship. oh how I love praise and worship.

I could go on and on, but I won’t bore you. This is just what was on my mind this morning as I sipped my coffee and listened to my five-year-old read from his school book at the breakfast table.

Have a Terrific Tuesday.
Time to do school with Joshua.

~audrey

As a mother, you look forward to the many milestones your babies achieve. Rolling over, sitting up, the first tooth, crawling, “ma-ma”, “da-da”, walking, etc.

As little Baby Bear reaches many of these milestones while in my home, it breaks my heart for their mother. Yes, she is reaping the consequences of some very poor decisions, but I do believe she loves her children and I wouldn’t wish these missed moments on anyone. It breaks my heart that Baby Bear calls me “Ma-ma”. About a month ago, when he was 7 months old, he started crawling and pulling up to standing, all in the same day. His first tooth is about to break through, and I’m pretty sure he will be walking before his first birthday. As I hold him close to feed him a bottle, his eyes smile as he gazes into mine and gently reaches up to pull my hair pat my face. I cannot imagine being separated from my children by force, but being separated from my baby (less than a year old) would seem to be more torture than one heart can take. They’re still getting to know you and take comfort in your every move, your every word, the twinkle in your eye, the way your voice gets soft and sweet as you tell them over and over, every day, how much you love them. I can’t even fathom what goes on in a baby’s mind when they’re separated from their mother at six months old. I just can’t imagine.

~audrey

This:

Helped me turn this:

Into this:

That is our game closet. I have to ‘tackle and reclaim’ the game closet several times a year. This was the first time since Christmas and I feel much better now. :)

Later in the day, Ash and the kids came over and we had a stressful, constantly interrupted, exhausting, great time visiting and letting the kids play together. Check out these adorable pics of the twins:

Ashley with Ben:

Drew getting a little love from V-man:

and Big Drew giving us a big smile; SOOO CUTE!!! I love these boys!

Have a great weekend ya’ll!

~audrey