Day 20 Praying for your Husband

Day 20
Pray that your husband will yield his mind and thoughts to the Lord. Pray that he will not entertain immoral or impure thoughts, and that he will resist the temptation to indulge in pornography. (Prov. 27:12; 2 Cor. 10:5)

Brooklyn's Day

Just wanted to post some coo coo pictures of a normal day around the house. I find Brooklyn crammed into small containers such as her bedroom organizer cubes. I also usually have a feeling she isn't really asleep or is in a dangerous situation during her nap (you can't quite see anything but her arm but she is asleep entirely underneath her pillow). Her room stays trashed until we decide to clean it with her help and then it is clean for approximately 30 minutes. She is into dressing up "fancy" and making it a point to wear a minimum of 5 outfits per day. She wakes up at about 5:15 every morning saying, "I am hungry. Will you feed me please mommy?" If Aaron and I want to sleep in, we have to rotate whose turn it is and try to sleep til 6 or 7. I prayed for patience this morning and Brooklyn prayed for more attention. We are trying to work on recognizing letters and counting. We usually have to trick her into counting or learning. Becky said Aaron was very disinterested in learning at this age. I'm starting to wonder about Brooklyn! She's more interested in little ponies and trying on shoes, socks and mismatching all her outfits. She is also in a very whiny stage. Everything she asks is in this tone if sadness and disappointment even before she gets an answer. When she doesn't like our answer, she informs us that we are "not her best friend". I like hearing we responses at this age so I am going to ask her some questions: "What is your favorite thing about Daddy?" -that he loves me! "Mommy?"-that she loves me and is kissin me all day! "What does Daddy do all day?" -he gets things for me (haha!) "Mommy?"-kisses me "What do you wanna be when you grow up?" -a sister "What is your favorite toy?"-umm, this is my favorite toy (as she holds up a pony) "What do you not like?" -counting (great.)"Where is your favorite place to go?" -chuck e cheese "Favorite food?"-pizza "What's mommys job?"-Its going at her work. She takes care of the babies. "What is daddy's job?"-working on candy canes...no more questions. Haha! No matter what the stage of your life, I love you more and more each day sweet Brooklyn!

Flu Shot

We debated on getting Brooklyn's flu shot this year. I am not sure why because we get her a flu shot every year. Turns out, it didn't matter by the time we decides she would have one, she already had the flu. We got tamiflu started quickly and she did just fine! Still, it was scary and her temp was high. I'm so thankful she got better quickly.

More Christmas Pics

Aaron helped me make a gooey butter cake (Paula Deen style). I love when he helps me cook! We have a great time as long as he doesn't get ahead of me and do something crazy. :) While he was blending the topping, it looked like snow in our kitchen because of the powdered sugar flying around! We are having a little hard time in our tiny duplex. We are thankful to just have a home with heat and a bed and food but it is hard after we had a home with more room and storage. Storage has been one of the hardest things to deal with. We have gotten rid of so many things that I had a hard time getting rid of...anything that was Brooklyn's is kinda hard to say goodbye to. We give it all to Goodwill so that helps. I have to remind myself the tiny duplex, sharing one car deal is temporary. Working like crazy is temporary. We are looking forward to Aaron getting back to school in the next couple weeks and getting back into a routine at home and the gym!

Busy Saturday

I really notice a change in Brooklyn when I work more than normal. She has a lot more "breakdowns" and avoids me or treats me poorly when I am home. After 8 12 hour shifts in 2 weeks (one of them being 15 hours), I wanted a fun, family Saturday. We surprised Brooklyn and tool her to the monkey house. I think Aaron and I have more fun than her sometimes. We love to chase her and play and also get a good workout in the process! We went to Larry's pizza, then got her hair cut with Lynn for her first salon cut! Lynn and I traded hair for babysitting while I was in college. Her boys were 2 and 5 when I started keeping them and now they are 9 and 13! Can't believe how big they are and they're still sweet. I don't trust anyone to cut Brooklyn's hair except my sister in Owasso or my friend in Fayetteville, Janna. I'm thankful Lynn is here in Fort Smith. I took BK to a mall salon, signed her in, waited 20 min then literally freaked out and left before she got her hair cut. I'm just too scared someone will do something crazy. It doesn't help when the stylist has weird highlights and choppy hair! Anyway, her hair looks much better with the trim! :)

Day 19/2013

Day 19
Pray that your husband will be patient and a man of peace. Pray that he will not give in to anger, but will allow the Holy Spirit to control his responses. (Rom. 14:19; Ps. 34:14)
"Turn away from evil and DO GOOD. Search for peace and work to maintain it." I want to pray for Aaron and I both in this aspect of searching for peace. It's so easy to have quick and impatient responses (especially with parenting). I pray that we would both have the awareness and patience to control our responses at home, school, work and in public. Help us to recognize the broken world for what it is and strive to set ourselves apart. We are celebrating/not so celebrating 2013 at home tonight. We had some fancy sparkling grape juice and made a New Years toast at dinner. We wished for a happy family and a well behaved daughter...to which Brooklyn responded, "I'm good!.....sometimes!" Haha! Aaron and I brought out our honeymoon glasses for our grape juice. We also tried 5 guys burger and fries today. It was good-not as good as we heard from the "hype" about it. I work tomorrow so we will be counting down to the new year no later than 9pm. Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!

Day 18-Praying for Aaron

Day 18
Pray that your husband will have an eternal perspective—living in light of eternity. Pray that he will reject materialism and temporal values and put God first in his life. (Matt. 6:33; Deut. 6:5; Eph. 5:16; Ps. 90:12)
Matt 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Deut 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Ephesians 5:16
16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I pray Aaron would always have a desire to do the right thing. I pray he would take God driven risks and always take the opportunity to help others or make a difference in someone's day. I pray he would be on guard daily to the evil temptations that lurk everywhere.

Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is my new discovery! I made it last night and even Brooklyn couldn't tell the difference. One cup of pasta has 220 calories. One cup of spaghetti squash has only 40! Carbs: squash has 10 while pasta has 42 per serving! Spaghetti squash has a high water content. One cup of cooked squash contains 143 grams of water. Foods high in water can increase your daily water intake. They also typically are lower in calories than foods with little or no water content. Spaghetti squash is also a good source of fiber, with 2.2 grams in a 1-cup serving. Spaghetti squash also contains beta carotene, which can help improve eye and skin health, maintain a strong immune system and can help prevent infection. (Livestrong.com) It really doesn't taste much different from pasta. Brooklyn is real sensitive and usually knows when I sneak in vegetables and calls me out on it. She never questioned the squash. Good job, mom. I have successfully gotten my daughter to eat one vegetable. Ideas anyone??? My New Years resolution is to try to make Brooklyn eat a little more healthy.

Sleeping Beauty

When Brooklyn falls asleep, I just smile because I see how she is beautifully and wonderfully made. Everything about her is precious to me-from her face with peanut butter on it to her stinky feet she likes to try to make us smell. She is so funny and special in her own ways. Brooklyn, you will be 4 in about 3 months! We can't believe it. Right now, you love being dressed up, singing, twirling, playing with friends, watching movies/shows. Your favorite show is Wild Kratts-2 fun guys that explore animals and their habitats. Your favorite movies are Barbie movies or anything that has to do with a fairy or princess. Your favorite foods/drinks are: eggs, cheese, pizza, juice, milk, whales/goldfish, beef jerky,

Christmas 2012 at Lovey's

More pictures from our Christmas Eve at Lovey's

Christmas 2012

It was nice to be at my moms this year and spend time with her for Christmas. She made her delicious banana bread, ham, mashed potatoes and many other treats. My favorite part of the day was just watching the kids play, fight, and laugh. It brought back memories of my childhood at Grandmas house. I really felt Brooklyn's excitement this year. She was more excited to see Madison than she was about the presents I think. She started the day off in a sassy, bad mood but quickly changed that (thank goodness!). She gets her feelings hurt so easily when everyone doesn't want to do what she wants. Madison, Kalob and BK helped me wrap one of moms presents. They enjoyed picking out about 10 bows!

The Best Present

I asked Brooklyn what her favorite present was, thinking she would say the miniature bird nest and baby birds she was playing with, and she responded, "you and daddy as a family." It really shocked me! It also touched my heart. With all the presents, money spending, candy, and sometimes chaos of Christmas, it is so important to find peace in just being with the people you love.