The Mother List

Today I'm sending you over to my friend's blog, The Philpot Family.  I met Jenn during my first year at Liberty University.  Our rooms were right across the hall from one another.  Jenn has one of the biggest, most compassionate hearts.  Right away she struck me as a wise follower of Christ.  One whose goal was truly to seek first after Him.  It was easy to see she had a heart for service.  She also had a beautiful singing voice and I loved watching her in the school plays!  She is a woman of many talents!  We even went to Argentina together on a missions trip during Thanksgiving break that year.  I was so excited when I joined Facebook a few years back and found Jenn again!  I was even more excited when I found out that she and her husband were headed to Ethiopia to pick up their son & daughter!  You'll have to skim through her blog to read their story.  Jenn always has great articles/posts on adoption that make my heart churn and I come away amazed, encouraged, and challenged. 

I specifically wanted to share with you the list she came up with though.  This truly is the "Mother List" as far as resources go (in my opinion)!  I have some of these.  Heard of most.  But I feel like she did all the leg work for me!  I plan on using this list and just adding a few of my favorites to it! 

Photo Shoot: Justin & Sarah

Since we have moved here I have had the opportunity to take some pics of some of our friends.  I didn't want to share until I got their permission and I kept forgetting to ask some of them until recently.  So I will eventually back track and get the ones I've done previously, but I figured I would start with what is still on my desktop. 

Meet Justin, Sarah, Avery, and Noah. 

We met Justin & Sarah through our Connection Group (aka Sunday School).  Justin deployed in August of 2010 for a tour in Iraq.  I've been able to have Sarah over a couple times for dinner to get to know her a little bit better.  Last sememster she took a class and is a certified scuba diver!  How cool is that!  Justin recently came home on R&R and we were able to get together for some pictures.  Twice actually.  The first time we went out it was SUPER windy.  Due to the limited time frame we had though, I didn't want to cancel.  I just figured we would get what we could then reschedule if needed.  Yeah, well...we needed to.  Not only was hair flying all over the place, but I also made some poor postitioning choices, so I called Sarah and asked if we could have a do-over.  :) 

Here are just a few from the first shoot that weren't too bad.

It's going to be hard to just pick a few from our next shoot, but here we go....

(The lighting in this one was completely optimal!  Keeping this spot in mind for future use.)

Thanks Justin & Sarah for letting me take your pictures..twice.  :)

Ryan's Birthday Trip: Day 3

On Friday morning we went back downtown and met some of our friends, Matt, Sarah, Connor & Cameron, who also happened to be in town for the weekend.  We met up at Hemisfair Park.  It was originally built in 1968 to host the first world's fair.  The playground we met at was built of solid wood with lots of tunnels and slides.  It was nice for about the first 15 minutes before the HOARDS of elementary age kids who were out on field trips infiltrated the playground.  I was following Colin around, while Blaine was sleeping in my front pack when all the kids swarmed in.  Ryan didn't mind the company of course, but Colin kind of froze in his tracks a bit.  Then all the screaming started to wake Blaine up so we made our way out.

This picture doesn't do the amount of kids justice.

A majority of the kids were in blue shirts.  The same color blue I had happened to put Colin in that morning.  Thankfully I had also layered Colin that day, so he spent the rest of the morning in his undershirt so I could spot him a little bit better.

I think the boys felt a little overwhelmed with all the big kids, so there was an empty water ditch they decided to play in instead.  They also collected fire wood!

 After we got home and I was aking Colin what his favorite part of the trip was, he said it was playing at the playground with Connor.  :) 



Blaine finally woke up just as we were about ready to leave.

I'm confident Matt & Sarah got more pictures of my boys at the park than I did.  Haha.  If you check her blog in a few days she will probably have some of them posted.  Maybe.

We had a great time in San Antonio!  Looking forward to the next time we get to go back.  Hopefully with Tim!

Ryan's Birthday Trip: Day 2

Thursday we went to Sea World!!!  Thanks to their Heroes at Home program and my wonderful hubby the boys and I got in free! 

(I forgot to post this yesterday.  These were the tickets I made for him on his bday.  Sorry for the misfocus too.)

Same disclaimer as yesterday; I am blaming my lack of photos on my children.  :)

We still had to wait in line to get our tickets, so by the time we actually got in I had to sit down and feed Blaine.  :)  I sent Grandma on ahead with Ryan and Colin.  We had been standing in line for about 30 minutes so the boys for anxious to get in and see the animals.  (Oh and while we were in line Colin already had his first melt down of the day.  He was on the edge a majority of the day due to a poor night of sleep the night before.) 

It was right at 11 AM which was the first feeding of the day for the dolphins.  Ryan was so excited before we went thinking he was going to get to pet the dolphins and I told him that it wasn't going to happen.  We were both excited that you actually could!  Of course I missed the actual feeding part since I was feeding Blaine, but here are some pictures I got after I caught up.

 

After the dolphins we got to see a lot of corral fish, sting rays, sharks, the like.  Then we decided to see a few shows.  The first show had the beluga whales, dolphins, and a lot of acrobats.  The second show had sea lions, a walrus, and a sea otter.  These were right before the show.

Ryan kept asking to ride the REALLY big roller coaster.  He didn't believe me when I told him he was too short until one of the park staff told him.  But they did have this little kiddy one we got to ride!  He loved it!  He even went the second time by himself!  How fun is it going to be in a few more years and we can all ride the big ones together!?!



Of course Colin was upset that he didn't get to ride the roller coaster, so he got to ride THE MERRY GO ROUND!  10x's more exciting, right!?!



They also had a playground area so we went down the slide a few times.

It was a long day.  Lots of fun.  So we just relaxed when  we got back to the hotel.

  When I asked Ryan what was his favorite part he said it was the dolphins and the sea lions.  Colin said it was the dolphins splashing and getting him wet.  I think they both thoroughly enjoyed it.  I think Ryan enjoyed the shows a bit more than Colin did.  If we were ever stationed at Fort Sam Houston season tickets would definitely be worth it.  They had animals, shows, playgrounds, spray parks, and a whole water park area we didn't even get to.  I know water parks alone that are just as expensive.  Also, we didn't get to see Shamu, so we have a good reason to go back!

Ryan's Birthday Trip: Day 1

Let me start out by saying I'm not much of a birthday person.  It takes a lot of effort for me to think about it in advance and make it special for whomever has the birthday.  (This probably goes for most holidays; minus Christmas.)  I succeeded with Tim's last birthday; but that was probably the first in the six years we've been married.  Tim wanted me to do something extra special for Ryan's birthday, so we decided on Sea World!  I had made up these tickets and put them in Ryan's birthday card.  He of course had no clue what it meant.  I guess I should have talked it up a bit before hand.  Anyway.  

On Wednesday we headed down to San Antonio.  No sooner than 30 minutes into the drive, Colin had undone part of his seat belt (he recently learned how to do this) and when I asked him to put it back on he refused; which meant I had to pull over to discipline him.  :)  As I was pulling over, Colin thinking we have arrived goes, "Yaayyyyy!!!".  hehe.  He soon realized it was for the poor choice he made; but still funny to my mom and me.    

The rest of the trip went pretty smooth.  Our day at Sea World wasn't until Thursday, so after we checked into our hotel we headed downtown to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk.  The Alamo was not nearly as big as I have always pictured it.  (Forgive me now for the MAJOR LACK of pictures from this trip.  I'm going to use my children as my excuse; my 3rd was attached to me most of the time and I was just trying to keep up with the other two the other half of the time.)

After the Alamo we went down to the Riverwalk.  Ryan, Colin, & I went for a boat ride, and then we were able to have dinner at one of the restaurants on the Riverwalk.  They had TONS of water features.  I can't wait till Tim comes home and we can go down there together!   

P.S.  SO many great photos spots!  Once the sun went down a little more, there was perfect light! 

Let's Hear it for the Boy!

Today was Ryan's 5th Birthday!  Just look at how much he's grown!

Approx. 1 wk old

Ryan's 1st Birthday!

2nd Birthday!

3rd Birthday!

4th Birthday!

And a few pics from today....

Ryan said he wanted a dinosaur cake...



I had wanted to write something sentimental and to have time to think about and write down how much Ryan is learning and growing....but I'm exhausted.  I'm barely keeping up with the basics and I have a few extras on my list to do yet tonight.  So it's just these pics this time around.  Praying I can make some time later this week to write about Ryan.

Home Decor: Living Room

When we moved here, a little over a year ago, we were able to get a new couch and love seat.  It was a much needed upgrade in our minds.  Our previous couch had a basketball size hole in it that our dog made about 5 years earlier.  We had a pillow stuffed in the hole to keep the rest of the stuffing from spilling out.  ha!  (Kind of wish I had a pic of that now.)  The couch also had a nice shimmery-green blob on one of the cushions from a bottle of nail polish that Colin broke.  Anyway.  We were SO grateful to be able to get rid of it and purchase this new set....

We love the set!  For us it's a good mix of casual and formal.  The rug I picked up on sale at Target shortly after.  I knew I wanted to add some other colors into the palate, but at the time I wasn't exactly sure what.  I ended up just sticking with some cream colored panels and sheer curtains to get something up.  The couches also came with a TON of pillows, so it's been in my head to recover some of them to help add color as well.  After a few months I knew I wanted to add some orange, but I haven't made a priority of making the adjustments I want.  Then, a few days ago though my friend posted this pic on her blog....

 

(Better Homes and Gardens)

Look at those drapes!  I LOVE!  I would call it tangerine orange.  It's the exact color I want!  I just can't seem to find it anywhere in stores around here.  Everything seems to be more of a burnt orange.  This color is soft and bright!  I love, I love, I love!

Oh, and I can't forget to mention how much I love that blanket!

I have so many "home improvement" projects on my list, but this picture makes me want to go searching for material for curtains and pillows tomorrow! 

Hmmm....maybe I will.

Dear Hubby...

Earlier today the boys and I were working on our letter of the week craft.  We had some paint markers, crayons, and glitter paint out.  Then my friend came over and while we were visiting the boys went out back to play.  After my friend left, I went out to the back to play with Ryan for a little bit.  That is when he PROUDLY showed me this.....

Sorry about your grill babe!  (I'll put the glitter and paint away next time.)  The boys love you so much!!!!!!!!

Although this was completely wrong I can't help but laugh at it!  It's so pretty!  hahahahaha!!!!

A Soldier's Wages

I read the following passage from Luke 3 last week.  It was when John the Baptist was preaching to the people around Jordan and preparing the way for Jesus.  He was encouraging the people to be baptised, to repent, and to live out their faith.  The people had some questions for John and the very last question with it's answer seemed to leap out of the pages at me.

“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. 

     John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

 

Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

     “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

 

Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

     He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

Be content with your pay.

Ouch.  That's specific.

I can almost hear John saying it. 

Be content with your pay.

 

I am not the soldier, but I have complained about my soldier's pay.  (Even the overseas pay.) 

Then, three days ago this article was brought to my attention.  With the government having not budgeted correctly, there is a chance that we might not get paid on April 1st.  There is a bill being prepared in the House of Representatives that would allow the government to continue operating, but it is uncertain at this point. 

Is it not amazing how God brings specific scripture into our life at specific times?  The passage had already convicted my heart when reading it last week, but after reading the article it has even a new life.

At this point we are not concerned about the pay.  Our God has provided richly for us. 

So what are we to do?  I pray that we might reflect the attitude of Christ so that others may see His glory.  

With, or without pay.    

Romans 13: 1-10

"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.  For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.  For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.  Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.  Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor."

Our country has not made the best financial decisions, but our leaders still deserve our respect.  My husband also joined the Military for reasons other than a paycheck.  With that, I am honored to have married a man who has a sense of duty to work for and defend our beloved nation!  

Practical Solution

This post is WAY overdue.  Back at the beginning of our MOPS year (in August 2010) I was presented with a problem.  A majority of the kids who came did not have their bags or cups labeled.  I myself...guilty as charged!  It made it difficult for the nursery workers who were trying to determine which bag/cup belonged to which child.  I even experienced the same problem a few weeks earlier on Sunday morning while in the nursery.  The only way we figured it out was by comparing the size/type of diaper the child was wearing to what was in each bag.  There's got to be an easier way though, right?

Of course there are these very cool monogrammed bags you can purchase.

(PotteryBarnKids.com)

But not when you have to have them in mass.

And these cup tags....

(inchbug.com)

Again....Super cute, but not in our budget to buy enough for every mom.  (Yet they are microwave/dishwasher/lots of other cool stuff safe.)

So here's what we came up with.  The diaper bag tags...

 These are just the ones I have for my boys.  I wish I would have gotten pics of all the ones the ladies made.  They all came out really cute.  We purchased the plastic ID covers from Wal-mart.  They come in a pack 12/$2.50.  (Sorry no pic.)  Then we used small rubber bands to loop through the ID cover and then around a strap on our bag.  It's pretty much like a luggage tag.  I've seen sturdier ones out there, but these worked great since we had to make them in mass on a small budget.  Plus they were personable!  If your child has any type of food/medicine allergies you could also write that on the tag somewhere.  I know not every mom likes their child's name/info being proclaimed to the world, so like I did with Blaine's...put the name on the side that faces the diaper bag and just a cute design on the other.  You could also tuck or attach the tag to the inside of your bag somewhere.

Now for the cups...

We simply bought a pack of 1/2" wide rubber bands.  They come in a pack of approximately 45/$2.00.  I couldn't find them at Office Max, but they did have them at Staples.  (Complete side note:  they smell kind of stinky when you have them in mass.)

(staples.com)

I was hoping we could decorate them and make them real cute, but nothing seemed to stay on.  I tried permanent markers and paint markers.  After a few hours of being handled it would rub off.  If anyone tries anything else with success let me know!!!  You can use a regular ball point pen or a permanent marker.  You just have to re-write it occasionally.  They work great!!!  {LOVE them.}  The nursery workers love them too!  They were so excited when I did the "trial run" on Colin's cup that first time.  They fit multiple size sippy cups, plus the bottles we use, and I can just slip them on and off when needed.