Not mine, but God's

"Sometimes I worry about my lack of parenting skills. Since I'm learning as I go, I pray that God will fill in all the pieces I miss and protect my children from my mistakes. They belong to Him anyway. I forget that. God created my children. He's giving me the honor of raising them, but HE is ordering their steps."


Kristen Welch
Don't Make Me Come Up There

This really hit home for me today... God has given me the priviledge of raising my children, but they belong to HIM and HE is ordering their steps.

Nilla Wafers

Other than bananas, Mini Nilla Wafers are one of Dylan's favorite snacks! If he sees the box, he freaks out and if he doesn't get them QUICKLY he loses his mind!! (Homeboy has a temper!)

Concentration...

Look what I found!!

Mommy, how do I get these open?

Jackpot!!

Ok maybe I can get it open this time...

 

He can almost taste them!! Either that or he's going to lick the box if he doesn't get in it soon.

This face melts my heart!!

Down on my level now...

If I can't get them open then I'll just eat my way in!!!

Or not...

Camera Neglect

Well... I've been neglecting my camera lately, so this afternoon I took out my camera to see if I still remembered how to use it. Ha!

Here are some of the random pics I got.

My beautiful boy.

Jsut hoping to get a shot of her face and not the back of her head!

Mid-Whine.

Check out all those curls!! :)

She stopped long enough to let me take a picture!! Whoo Hoo!!

Not sure where this came from, but she was saying "Baaaaak Baaaak! I'm a chicken!" (or something along those lines...)

Found on my phone!

I just found this precious pic on my phone... made me melt! And wish she was here at work with me to hug!!

Paper Plate Bugs

For Christmas Mackenzie got a set of Paper Plate Bugs from her Mimi and Papa Keith. She loved making every one of them! They ended up all over the place... one ended up at my office, one ended up at Pop's office, one ended up on Mimi and Papa Keith's fridge and two of them ended up on our fridge.

Glue. Glue. And more Glue.

She got that look from me... I have the same look when I'm "working" on something.

Lots of little tissue paper squares to "squish" up.

 

Squiiissshhhh!!

More glue and more Mommy looks.

Puuushhhhh!!!

Check out that face!!

Finished Butterfly!! (This is the one that ended up in my office!)

7 times 70

This may not be the best clip I have of her singing her heart out, but if you watch you can see how she so sweetly closes her eyes and sings! Blesses my heart! Not to mention in the 2nd clip where Brian asks her what the song is about. Makes for a proud Mommy and Daddy!!


(Sorry about the quality of the video... It was on a bumpy road with my phone at night.)

Wish you were here!!

I just got these pics from Wanda our wonderful baby sitter... Glad it's her and not me!! Ha!

That face KILLS me!!! Makes me laugh hysterically!!

He went straight to the SINK after this!!

P.S. I LOVE that Wanda sends us pictures like this during that!! She's such a blessing to us and our kiddos!!

I Am New

These are the lyrics from one of my new favorite songs, I Am New by Jason Gray. While these lyrics may mean very different things to different people, to me they are just what I need at this moment, as I beat myself up about "things". Maybe they'll minister to you as well...

Now I won’t deny the worst you could say about me

But I’m not defined by mistakes that I’ve made because God says of me

I am not who I was, I am being remade, I am new

I am chosen and holy and I’m dearly loved, I am new, I am new

Who I thought I was and who I thought I had to be

I had to give them both up cause neither were willing to ever believe

Too long I have lived in the shadows of shame

Believing that there was no way I could change

But the one who is making everything new doesn’t see me the way that I do

He doesn’t see me the way that I do

I am not who I was, I am being remade, I am new

Dead to the old man, I’m coming alive, I am new, I am new

Forgiven beloved, hidden in Christ

Made in the image of the Giver of Life

Righteous and holy, reborn and remade

Accepted and worthy, this is our new name

This is who we are now

If you want to watch the video, here you go. Jason Gray, "I Am New".

He's Got Moves!!

I just didn't say what kind... Entertaining ones that's for sure!! (Oh and I forgot he "sings" too...)

I'm still trying to get good video of Mackenzie singing, but when she sees the camera, she gets REALLY quiet... If I'd posted this whole video and not two clips you'd have seen her monkeys go flying into the air as she tried to make her presence known without actually having to be on camera! Ha!

Bowling

Last weekend Mackenzie went to a birthday party from one of her friends from school. It was a bowling party, and it was the first time she had been bowling. She had an awesome time!!! Not to mention two of her best friends were there too, Mattie and Rylee.

Think the pics say it all...

Brain in my head and Bambi

About a month and a half ago Mackenzie started getting her name on the board for silly stuff. Stuff she knew better than to do... stuff not worth getting her name on the board over. So we decided we needed a renewed focus on making "good choices".

We started with the little stuff for a week without getting her name on the board, and then after about 2 1/2 weeks she got her name on the board for something silly again. (Seriously what 4 yr old isn't going to have that problem from time to time? But it had started to happen kinda consistently so we wanted to nip it in the bud) Anyway, Brian wanted to try motivating her with a bigger prize that she had to go longer to earn.

Everyday on the way to school we talk about what kind of choices she will make, and how she'll mind her teachers and how she has her listening ears on. Believe me its hard work to keep the same subject fresh and new every day so she doesn't tune it out! :) But it's well worth it to see how good she is doing and how hard she is working to make good choices!

One night this week we were talking about how she hadn't gotten her name on the board and she said "Mom, it's because I kept my mind in my head!" (I had to try so hard not to laugh at her because she was sooo sincere!) In other words, she was thinking about the choices before she made them. The next morning on the way to school, she said "Mom, I've got screws in my head to keep my brain in my head!" This time she was being silly, but still talking about how she was going to think about her choices. It made me so proud to hear that she wasn't just saying it, she was getting the concept and connecting the dots!

Today was her last day of two weeks without her name on the board!!! Whoo Hoo for Mackenzie!! Tonight we went to Wal-Mart and she bought Bambi. We even had cash to let her pay for it herself so she would feel like a big girl! She was so proud of herself!

Thank goodness for cell phones because I was able to get these pics, without being too obvious! Well okay the picture of her holding Bambi in the buggy was obvious, but who cares...

Magnetic

These pics are a couple of months old but I think they are hilarious and I keep forgetting to blog about them..

Dylan is obsessed with all the magnets on our refridgerator. And when I say obsessed, I really kinda mean it... Hardly a night passes where I'm not pulling one out of his mouth! (Especially at the time these pictures were taken.) This night he was so funny because he was trying to reach the magnets I had pushed out of his reach. He was bound and determined to get to them!

Stretch

Come on buddy you can do it!!

Concentrating HARD... Notice he already has a magnet firmly grasped in his left hand.

Check out the tip toes! I love this pictures!

Score!

Whew! I have to rest for a minute...

If... I... could... just... stretch.... a... little... farther...

Not a magnet... but a precious kiddo! :)

Somehow he ended up like this before the night was over...