Family Update

Hello all! I've decided that I would make this blog just for my family and close friends, for updates on how our little family is doing, and to log on and see pics and whatnot.
So, this year has definitely been a busy one! So much has happened and I will explain it all in our Christmas letter.
Christmas is coming! This is so exciting around our house. We put our lights on our house a few days after thanksgiving. it was a big moment. This is a special Christmas for us. Its our first Christmas in our very first home. This wont be a big Christmas (present-wise) but it will definitely be special. We've already put all our decorations up, and are very anxiously awaiting for Santa to come. I love seeing the sparkle in the kids eyes, and how they can hardly contain their excitement. I guess thats one great thing about being such a young mom, is that I still remember very clear what its like to be a kid (because I still am one!)
Aiden is enjoying school soooo much! He is doing so well with his schoolwork, and his teacher says that he is one of the best students in the class. He absolutely loves going to school everyday, and is so eager to learn. However, he has his mama's worrisome tendency's , and is already thinking about college. When I was a kid, I was planning for college at a young age, with Aiden, he's worrying over it, saying "but mom, how can I go away to college if I can't drive yet?!" Ive tried explaining to him that he WILL know how to drive before he goes to college, but its not really sticking. He already has it all planned out. In his own words "I'm going to police school to be a police man and I will have a partner so I will never have to get married." Sounds good to me, Aiden. :)
Madeline is a handful if there ever was one. She never stops running or jumping, climbing or falling. Its really no surprise that we had to take her to the ER a few weeks ago to get stitches on her head. I'm very surprised that it hasnt happened sooner. When I was pregnant with her, she would move so much that it would freak Joe out. Id be sitting in the chair and she would be ROLLING around, and youd see my stomach all the sudden go flat on one side and bulge on the other, and back and forth she'd go. She never quit moving, so much so that she'd wake Joe up in the middle of the night bc she would be shaking the bed. and this was IN the womb! So, its really no surprise that she is such a handful now.
She is SO strong-willed, which can be a test to mine and joes faith at times!! But I have high hopes that because she is so strong-willed, that when she is older, and hopefully follows Christ, NOTHING will persuade her to stop. Her faith will never waver, because she is just so stubborn! :)
But she can be as sweet as a lamb too, when she wants. She will make your blood boil and your heart melt at the same time. She is Daddy's girl, through and through. She has Joe wrapped around her finger, but she is wrapped around his too. We took the kids to Maddy's all-time favorite place "Chuck-E-Cheese" yesterday, and the kids had a blast (so did mom and dad). It was pouring down rain, and no one else was there, so we had the run of the whole place. it was awesome.
Well I better wrap this up. I will continue to post updates on the kids and whats going on in our life so ya'll can keep up :) Love to everyone!

"new"s

*deeply inhale* ahhhhhhh the refreshing new layout :D Maybe its my lack of commitment, or my lack of patience, but I cannot look at the same thing for a long time. I hate having the same clothes for forever, the same wall decoration, the same layout for my blog...heh. This is also why I literally cannot use the same purse for over two months at a time (and I'm doing really good if I make it to the two month mark!) No, I dont go out and buy a new purse every couple of months -though tempted!- but I do have to rotate my purses. It just gets to me, makes me feel trapped in sort of a way. So all that being said, I hope you like the new layout and pictures! To me, it really is like a breath of fresh air. I am on a "new"s high, if you will, because major changes are coming my way! I am on a diet, I got a new hair cut (and highlights) yesterday, and a new layout today. Boy, I hope this feeling lasts.

it is what it is

it amazes me that people who want to forget the past, cant. and people who need to have the past on the front of their minds, get to forget it all. but, it is what it is, and that is all.

a little more time.

Things have changed so drastically in our life these past few months. Who knew a few months ago that we would be homeowners, and then on staff at a great church? If you would have told me this, I would have laughed and mentioned something negative about your mental status. How can this be? Lord, I wasnt ready, I wasnt polished to perfection...my halo and wings havent come in the mail yet! How can I, being the cracked pot that I am, possibly be a leader? I have come to feel what it must have felt like for Moses (im sure that Moses had MUCH more pressure on him than I, but i can sort of relate). I didnt think that this whole "ministry wife" thing would happen so fast. I thought I had years to prepare. I was going to sort out all the cracks and fill in all the canyons of the brokenness. I just needed a little more time...just a little more time to be perfect, just a little more time so that I could truley bring glory to God, and fulfill my calling. But it came to me in the recesses of my heart, that what if Moses, about to face Pharoah would have demanded a little more time to prepare? What if Esther, about to face the King would have demanded a little more time to prepare? What if David, about to face Goliath demanded a little more time to prepare? What if Jesus, about to face the cross demanded a little more time to prepare? How can I be so audacious to request just a little more time? To tell God that His timing is wrong, that I am not ready? What if I was brought, for such a time as this? Oh Lord, use my cracked pot, for your glory. In my eyes, I am not ready for this. But you are sovereign, You are Holy, You are the giver of time. And may my life be a testimony of what you can do with broken people.

Didn't I tell you?

*This is a poem I wrote for myself, to read on my "bad days". Maybe it can help you too :) I know when you look in the mirror The only thing you see is a shattered image and a thousand broken dreams. But how can I convince you that you are much more than you seem, that you are worth dying for, you are worth trying to redeem. Its ok to be upset, to have a hard day But please dont run away from me, I want you to know that its ok to tell me whats going on the turmoil in your heart because even your darkest, scariest secrets wont drive us apart. Because I formed you in the hidden place and set you apart in a chosen race I know you and I understand That things didnt go the way you planned. But if you just trust me, and give up your own will I can fulfill you more than anything else will and on your bad days please dont hide your face from me you are precioius, you are my treasure, and my strength can set you free from those chains that you wont let go of. Those ghosts in your past. Didn't you hear me tell you that those things didnt last when I burst forth from the grave. And Im standing here alive today as proof that I am who I say I am, and you are who I say you are. And everytime you fall, and then crawl back on your feet You glorify me! Everytime you mess up and turn back around to see if I am dissappointed, I am not. I died so that now all you have is my grace, and dear child, that is all you will ever need.

Some things really are free!

Hello all!
If you arent tuned in to Swagbucks, you need to be! Swagbucks is a reward search engine, like google-except you get something in return! You join at www.swagbucks.com and start earning swagbucks!!! I have already bought a cd, and am currently half way to getting a free $50 Amazon gift card. Id doesnt take forever to start building up your swagbucks, especially if you download the toolbar. Click the link to the right of the page to start earning.
Listen ya'll, as a mom, swagbucks is very important to me. It seriously saves you a lot of money. I have only been saving up swagbucks for the amazon gift card for 3 days and I am already half way there!! Thats $50 of amazon merchandise! The way that I am getting them is by participating in a few surveys, and just winning them by searching. It doesnt take a lot of your time or energy, and you are saving your family so much money! Seriously, you have to try it. Please click the banner on the right side of my page, at the top. Love you all!
~Megan