Testy Tuesdays

It's that time again. Just below are the pet peeves that are driving us crazy this week. Add your own in the comments, or ditto someone else. Commiserate with each other, blow off steam and go on your merry way.

Kylee: when there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything you want to do...but too many hours in the day when there are things you have to do!

Stephanie:   when you sell all your stuff, but somehow there is still stuff everywhere. 

Jill:  People who steal your phone charger because they always lose theirs. 😤 (you know who you are!)

Now it's your turn. What's bugging you?

Monday mornings

  I'm not going to lie. I forgot to post... Again. I don't particularly like being on the Monday morning post rotation, but I don't think any of us do.

  The yard sale was successful and now we're living with the minimum ... Or you would think. There's still boxes everywhere and I just feel like there should be less. We donated everything that was left, so nothing came back inside. Yet still the boxes.

  And now it's just before 8 a.m. (and we've been here since before 7:30, which is why is have this extra large cup of coffee this morning)

And I'm posting from the Dmv because we have to get our license changed before we leave.

  Today is short but sweet because it's just one of those Mondays! How's your Monday looking?

What Lights Your Fire?

We just spent the week at the National Sword of the Lord Conference in Walkertown, North Carolina, and what a week it was! I look forward to the conference every year, but as it gets closer, I wonder at the wisdom of planning a trip literally on the heels of our Vacation Bible School. Each year, though, I walk away from the conference with my heart so full, I'm "drinking from the saucer 'cause my cup is overflowing". 

We spent time with friends.

And made new friends. (Hi, Leah!)

We chatted and fellowshipped.

And spent some very welcome time with people who are family.

All of that is wonderful and worth going for, but then there was the music during the services. Some of it made this pastor's wife want to shout and wave her hands. (Don't worry. I settled for a small hand wave from my lap and a quiet amen.)

And the best part of all was the preaching. Each year it seems that the sermons (we heard ten in the three days we were there) build on each other and stir our hearts to further service. This year Evangelist Justin Cooper preached from Acts 27 about the shipwreck Paul endured and how he helped gather sticks for the fire once they were on an island. He challenged us with the fact that it's not the church's job to keep our fires lit. 

It's our job.

It's my job.

Brother Cooper pointed out that, instead of coming in and hoping the church has something for you, it's your job to keep your fires lit. He suggested that there are a few "sticks" he puts on his fire to keep it burning before going to a church service.

1. I'm saved. Thinking about the fact that I am going to heaven should keep my fire burning. The great God of the universe sent His only Son to die for my sins because He loved me. 

2. There is someone else out there that needs to be saved. 

3. With what God's done for me, what can I do to worship Him and show my love for Him?

Those are some of the sticks that I'm going to use to keep my fire burning. There is so much wrong in the world and so much work left to do for the cause of Christ, that sometimes we drag into the service. I'm going to be working at making sure I head into every service with my fire already burning brightly. 

What about you? What sticks can you use to keep your fire burning?

Happy Thoughts Thursday

So you've made it through half the week, but it's still not Friday yet. Sometimes by Thursday you need a little lift to make it to the weekend.

Our solution? Happy Thought Thursday. On Tuesdays you can drop a pet peeve or an irritation. On Thursdays, give us a praise, a thankfulness, or something that just makes you happy. Your contributions on Thursday can be deep and spiritual, such as thankfulness for your salvation, or as shallow as a cup of coffee or a good hair day.  Here are our happy thoughts for this week:

Stephanie: going on a kid free date!!
                     
Kylee: Catching up on neglected housework! 

Jill:  spending time at the Sword Conference!


 what about you? What makes you happy today?

Let's Get Real

Don’t you love a good debate topic? There are so many serious things going on in the world today that I wanted to switch gears and bring up some super silly debate topics that will really get your wheels turning. Ready? Here we go..

Do you use a top sheet or just a comforter?

Should you say excuse me after you sneeze or just let someone tell you bless you?

Would you rather be a Hero or a sidekick?

Do you cut all of your meat at the same time and then eat it or cut off one piece at a time?

Does pineapple really belong on a pizza?

Do men gossip more than woman?

If you have your favorite drink, do you drink it all at once or make it last as long as you can?

I know these are serious brain busters. What are your thoughts?

Testy Tuesdays

It's that time again. Just below are the pet peeves that are driving us crazy this week. Add your own in the comments, or ditto someone else. Commiserate with each other, blow off steam and go on your merry way.

Kylee: when you change the lock pattern on your phone to keep your kids off of it. Only to forget that you changed it when you go to use it🤦

Stephanie:   clutter 

Jill:  People who say “no offense” to excuse the fact that they’re about to say something offensive.

Now it's your turn. What's bugging you?

Yard Sale!!!

   Is it just me, or do you not realize how much you are attached to things until you try to get rid of them? We're having a yard sale this weekend, and this isn't a "clean out the attic of everything we haven't used in years" kind of yard sale. This is a "Get rid of everything that's not going to Brazil" kind of yard sale.  I'm not really a sentimental person, but getting rid of everything all at once is proving to be harder than I thought.

  There are things in my house that were obviously never going to Brazil with us, but they're decorations or things we use often and so it just wasn't something I thought about. Then I'm walking through the house looking for things to price and sell this weekend and it's "oh, yeah, I have to say goodbye to that too."

  Toys was the first things to go. The kids are down to around three toys a piece. YAY!!  And you know what, they have actually been playing with those toys, as opposed to dumping all the toys in the floor and not being able to find anything to play with.

  Side Note: I realize that I ended that last sentence with a preposition, but I think the correct grammar would be "with which to play", and who even talks like that?? 

  I've also had Woody's panic scene from Toy Story 2 going through my head for the last week.
"YAARRRDDD SAAALLLEEE. GUYS THERE'S A YARD SALE OUTSIDE!!"

  I'm also trying to come up with some eye catching signs for our yard sale. Let me share a few that I've found. 

  Nothing like using the force on them. 

Or having Batman invite to the yard sale. I would probably go to one if they had this sign. Just out of pure curiosity. 

This is also one that would spark my curiosity. Simply because they were creative with the sign. Even if it ended up being grannies old "collectibles", it'd be worth a stop. 

   That's all I've got for ya, because I have to go through the rest of my house. I'd love any suggestions for yard sale signs! And if you live in my area and are interested in coming, message me on Facebook (actually mom's Facebook) or Instagram and I'll give you my address. 

You Know It's VBS Week When ...

We've been busy with VBS around here this week. Our Midsummer Knights theme included a full-size castle built across the entire platform.

And more toys and 2-liters than you can count.

You know it's VBS week when--

--you do the dishes at 6:00 a.m., not because you care if your kitchen is clean, but because the dirty coffee cups are piling up and no one can do without caffeine this week.

--Your emoji menu's most used section includes crying and angry faces, weapons and a coffin.

--You stop often in the middle of a conversation, and you don't even realize it until the next day when the same topic comes up.

--It's the one week of the year when you have to consider couple's counseling.

--You can't get the VBS theme song out of your head.

--You've become adept at smiling through clenched teeth.

--You're seriously sick of popcorn, snow cones and cotton candy.

--You're meals consist of popcorn, snow cones and cotton candy.

--If you get to eat anything else, it's something you got at a drive through.

--You find yourself choosing outfits based on comfort and number of pockets instead of looks.

--You discard outfits because they don't go with your tiara … only to realize VBS ended two weeks ago.

--You find yourself saying things like, "Don't get close to the kids when you're wearing the weapon from your costume", "Who's playing Ugga Bugga this year", and "Did you get the pickles and the whipped cream?"

It's all worth it for adorable smiles like these.

And it's even more worth it when you consider that we've had 61 salvations so far this week. So what do you do for Vacation Bible School?

Happy Thoughts Thursday

So you've made it through half the week, but it's still not Friday yet. Sometimes by Thursday you need a little lift to make it to the weekend.

Our solution? Happy Thought Thursday. On Tuesdays you can drop a pet peeve or an irritation. On Thursdays, give us a praise, a thankfulness, or something that just makes you happy. Your contributions on Thursday can be deep and spiritual, such as thankfulness for your salvation, or as shallow as a cup of coffee or a good hair day.  Here are our happy thoughts for this week:

Stephanie: Applying for our visas went smoothly!
                     
Kylee: cuddling my kids

Jill:  48 decisions so far during Vacation Bible School!


 what about you? What makes you happy today?

My Man, Matt

It has been a little over 8 years since I went to my first Vacation Bible School. It was a special one in that, it was the first time Matt had invited me to spend time with him and his family.  Yes, it’s such a busy time but he had told his parents he wanted me to come during VBS so that I could see what his family was all about.  I was nervous simply because I had no idea what to expect. Prior to me coming to that VBS, Matt was threatened informed that he isn’t to be distracted or flirt, he still had to do his job. So he took that to the extreme and during VBS hours he basically ignored me. No one at the church even knew I was there for him until we sat together at church Wednesday night.

He was the emcee (and still is) for Vacation Bible School which means I got to see a side of him that I clearly hadn’t gotten to see yet. We had just met one month before so I only knew what I got from our phone calls.  As he led an auditorium full of kids being “all in” and goofy, I couldn’t help but to watch in adoration.  He truly enjoyed what he was doing and made sure the kids were having a great time.

The end of the week had approached and I knew that Matt was the one for me. 

The next year we weren’t together for VBS but that’s because we were 2 weeks away from our wedding. However, each year since then I’ve gotten the opportunity to work beside him and that’s not something I will ever take for granted. It has been interesting and exciting learning how to work together to make things happen and I love that we’re on the same team.

To this day and each year I still love watching him lead VBS. He is goofy and patient. His smile is infectious and his love for the Lord is admired.  Not to mention, he has awesome costume choices. I’m blessed to have him as my husband!

Testy Tuesdays

It's that time again. Just below are the pet peeves that are driving us crazy this week. Add your own in the comments, or ditto someone else. Commiserate with each other, blow off steam and go on your merry way.

Kylee: trying to come up with pet peeves 🤔

Stephanie:   when the little fairies and elves don't refill the ice cube trays or close the cupboards. 

Jill:  when the church phones quit working the day VBS starts.

Now it's your turn. What's bugging you?

Coffee in My Corner

    I'm not really a morning person. I very much enjoy my sleep in the mornings. It used to be that I would sleep until one of the kids woke me up, and thus started the day. And I always felt like I was trying to catch up with the day as it flew by. Then by 9 every night, I was exhausted and I didn't always feel like I'd accomplished a whole lot even though I went non-stop all day.

  It wasn't until I was doing a devotional book, and one of the chapter was about how we always seem to be "too busy" in our lives. The point was that we are rushing about life and seem to have so much to do, but are those things we "have to do" the things that God wants us to be doing. 

  On those days that I rushed around trying to catch up with my day, I would try to squeeze in my devotions and time with the Lord, and sometimes it would stress me out all the things that I still had to do. Did I have time to sit down and read my Bible for a while? What wouldn't get done because I stopped to do that? I still needed to run to the grocery store, and make sure we don't get behind on laundry, and dishes, and take care of the kids, and help that friend that I said I'd help... etc.

  While all of those are good and important things, the top of God's "to do" list for me was to spend time with Him. So I had to make a change. Once I realized that, getting up early in the morning became a priority. When I get up and spend some quiet time with Him, It's amazing how different the day goes. I can be up and get my coffee and sit in my corner on the couch with God's Word. There's time to spend time with Him, pray, and even stare at a wall and collect my thoughts before the kids wake up!

   When I can greet them as they get up instead of them greeting me when I wake up it makes it a lot easier to be a nice, happy momma in the mornings. Don't judge me, because I'm sure if you woke up with a little face about an inch from yours yelling, "momma, I need muffins and strawberry milk!!!" you don't get up with the happiest attitude either.

It's a reality, people...

  Don't get me wrong, there are still those mornings, but I've learned that having that coffee in my corner with Him is an absolute necessity to survival! Should be a no-brainer, but sometimes we like to do things the hard way. So, do you have a "coffee corner" spot?

Birthday Shenanigans

Yesterday was this guy's second birthday! 

  I don't know where the last two years disappeared to, because it doesn't feel like it was that long ago when I was 8 months pregnant, walking around our lego themed Vacation Bible School dressed as "Prego Lego" .  Some friends reminded me of that memory the other day, and it feels like it just happened. Yet somehow, it's been two whole years. 

  We had his party last weekend when we had a bunch of family in, so yesterday we decided to just make it a fun day. We invited his best friend over and we set out on an adventure. He did not know that the adventure was the build a bear "pay your age" event. That adventure got changed to Chik-fil-A  for lunch after we saw the line that wrapped around the entire second floor of the mall. 

  After that exhausting fail, we went the forty minutes back to our house for a nap break before the birthday adventures resumed. Once we got all four children down and asleep at the same time, we did a happy dance. Just kidding, but no really.. it is a great accomplishment to make four children sleep at the same time.  

Two hours later, the adventure resumed, and we went swimming in the dinosaur pool in the yard. There was an hour of splashing daddy, throwing the basketballs out of the pool just so they could go get them and bring them back to the pool, singing "if you're happy and you know it make a big splash", and the occasional scream when the big splashes went into faces. 

Then, after my 3 year old daughter told me "this is the life, mommy", we went back inside because apparently "the life" made her "so cold".  Although, it was 90 degrees outside, so I doubt anyone was actually so cold. That's ok, though, because then we got to sing happy birthday and eat cupcakes. Followed by running circles around the house with plastic guns as the birthday boy yelled,  "stop in the name of da law" .

  All in all, it was an incredibly eventful day. And I had to let my control freak self go and learn to go with the flow. Apparently, you can't have every second of every day planned out because things might change. Who knew??

Happy Thoughts Thursday

So you've made it through half the week, but it's still not Friday yet. Sometimes by Thursday you need a little lift to make it to the weekend.

Our solution? Happy Thought Thursday. On Tuesdays you can drop a pet peeve or an irritation. On Thursdays, give us a praise, a thankfulness, or something that just makes you happy. Your contributions on Thursday can be deep and spiritual, such as thankfulness for your salvation, or as shallow as a cup of coffee or a good hair day.  Here are our happy thoughts for this week:

Stephanie: it's build a bear "pay your age" day! 
                     
Kylee: I'm thankful for our family devotions!

Jill:  I get to wear a tiara all next week for VBS! My inner princess is so excited!


 what about you? What makes you happy today?

This one time, before VBS...

We are less than a week away from our Vacation Bible School for this year, so in celebration of that I thought I would share a not so funny then, but oh so funny now story from our prep week a couple of years ago.

Everyone who is involved or has been involved with VBS knows that there is so much that goes into making it happen. It take several weeks preparation but the busiest week of all is the week just before. I believe it was in 2016, we were doing our Superhero theme. Each year my husband and I do the backdrop for our platform. This particular year we chose something with a lot of detail, but I was up for the challenge.

Each year we try and go bigger and better than the year before. I say we had succeeded with this one! 

Aside from all the painting and assembling that we had to do with the backdrop, there was so much more we had to get done. We were going into the church early and were working late hours each night that week. Plus our girls were 2.5, 18 months and we had just had Olivia 2 months before. So the one word I would say to describe how I was feeling was pure exhaustion, I can remember being too tired to even move after we got home each night.

On Thursday that week we had a lot of last minute things to do, we were there until probably 9 or 9:30 that night  and we were loading up to leave. My husband asked me to grab his wallet for him, so I sat it on top of the car to buckle in the babies and then I got in the car. We were running to grab something to eat because we hadn’t gotten dinner yet. We pulled out of the church parking lot, made it to the stop sign and made a turn on to the main road by the church. We heard something. As we were turning I forgot that I had left my husband’s wallet on top of the car. I’m sure you can guess what happened, but as we turned onto the road the wallet fell off the car and the cards inside scattered all over the road. Mind you this road is not well lit. We pulled over and we both got out to look because it also isn’t a very busy road but we were going off of the flashlight off of our phone. The entire time we were looking I was apologizing because it was a stupid mistake and I was terrified that my husband was going to be mad.  

Thankfully we found everything that had fallen out. We did end up with a few very cracked cards but that's better than being lost, right? 

So far this year, I'm tired but not to the point of forgetting things.. so I guess you could say things are off to a good start! 

Testy Tuesdays

It's that time again. Just below are the pet peeves that are driving us crazy this week. Add your own in the comments, or ditto someone else. Commiserate with each other, blow off steam and go on your merry way.

Kylee:  When people don't respect your time.

Stephanie:   the amount of money that Walmart takes from me. 

Jill:  Taking 12 hours to complete a 10 hour trip.

Now it's your turn. What's bugging you?

A Rite of Passage

this weekend was taken up with one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences as Stephanie’s husband was ordained. He and another young man were questioned on doctrine and the church and the Bible for several hours. Sixteen ordained men of God were on the council, and when they had finished their questions and concluded that these young men were ready to preach the Gospel, the council voted to recommend that their sending church ordain them. 

Then the men of the council signed the ordination certificates.

We got some pictures with the pastor of the ordaining church. He and his wife are some of our closest friends.

... and then we went to the park and had some fun.

The guys in the family babysat for a while.

We had a birthday party for this little boy.

Then Sunday night, during the service, the deacons and pastors laid hands on them and prayed for them.

The night was full of tears and happiness and sadness and longing all rolled into one. The sadness is because these two recently ordained men will not be pastoring churches in this country. God has called them to the country of Brazil to preach and they and their families will be leaving very soon. My heart hurts with longing for them already, but since God has called them to a work, I wouldn't want them to be anywhere else but in His will.

We're heading back home this morning. Last night was not the final good-bye before they leave, but its coming soon.

Too soon.

Wedding Pictures

You know it's so incredibly difficult to describe just how quickly life flows by. One moment it's October in Alabama, and you're headed into the hospital for what turns out to be two-days of being induced in order to give birth to a bouncing, 9lb. 7oz baby boy, and the next thing you know, it's June in North Carolina, twenty-one years later.

I'm pretty sure his new mother-in-law feels the same way.

I watched the flower girl ...

... and thought it wasn't all that long ago that her mother was that age.

It seems like yesterday that the groom was playing with his brothers.

Oh wait! Maybe it was yesterday.

We keep adding to the family ...

... which is okay because we needed more girls ...

... although so far the next generation is guys = 1 ...

... and girls = 6.

But with three of our children now married and three to go ...

... who knows what the future holds?

I can hardly wait to find out! 

Happy Thoughts Thursday

So you've made it through half the week, but it's still not Friday yet. Sometimes by Thursday you need a little lift to make it to the weekend.

Our solution? Happy Thought Thursday. On Tuesdays you can drop a pet peeve or an irritation. On Thursdays, give us a praise, a thankfulness, or something that just makes you happy. Your contributions on Thursday can be deep and spiritual, such as thankfulness for your salvation, or as shallow as a cup of coffee or a good hair day.  Here are our happy thoughts for this week:

Stephanie: a bunch of family is coming today!! 
                     

Kylee: To have just celebrated another anniversary with my husband! He's the best!

Jill:  We have a new daughter-in-law!


 what about you? What makes you happy today?

When On Vacation

After the Boyd wedding festivities this past weekend, Matt and I got to take our girls on vacation. This is the first time we have gone as a family away from home other than to visit my family, so we were really excited!

We were blessed to be able to spend time at this beautiful cabin in North Carolina.

As this was the first time away, I've learned some things while being gone.

1. It's always good to keep "special activities" a secret from your kids until you are about to do them to save yourself from a million questions.

2. Always pack for an adventure. You never know when your husband will want to take a spontaneous hike to a waterfall when your wearing sandals and a denim skirt. It was worth it, isn't this a beautiful picture?

3. Always pack extra hair bows, so when you hear "my hair bow broke", you don't go in panic mode that one child does not match the rest. (okay, this is probably just me and my O.C.D, but I know I'm not alone!

4. We have seen A LOT of cows... with that came a lot of questions...

5. Don't spoil yourself with a bigger bed than what you have at home because it's too hard to go back to something smaller.

6. Stella got a small spider on her hand for a brief second until I flicked it off of her because she said it wasn't "shoo-able".

7. Expect someone to get hurt. This time it was me! Talia and I fell on a rock in the creek. The result: a bruised and swollen knee!

8. We are for sure "inside people".

I'm sure I've learned more than that but we've been having to much fun to keep track of everything. We have really been enjoying our family time. Here are a few highlights.