Weird Dream

Last night I had a dream that I was a single mom. I only had one baby, who I assume was Silas. I didn't have any knowledge of Eric or the other boys. They weren't a part of the dream.

I was stressing out about finding somewhere to live. My mom and sis wouldn't let us live there because they said there wasn't enough room. (Which, by the way mom, I know if this was reality you would let us live with you!) We spent the night at some people's house, but they weren't very nice, so I knew we had to move out. I was also trying to find a job, but I was only available to work nights and weekends when my mom could babysit. It was scary and stressful. What a weird dream, right?

When I woke up I was so, so thankful for my husband. My husband takes such great care of me and our boys. He works so hard, so that I can stay home. He takes care of the finances, so that I don't have to.

Maybe my dream was God reminding me of what an amazing man I married.

Official Mom Car

I'd always said I would never drive a minivan.

But, somewhere along the way, my intense aversion turned into dreaming of driving one. I think the changed happened a year ago when we visited the Toyota dealership. I looked at the price tag of the Sequoia versus the Sienna. And then I looked inside the Sienna. And, I knew it would be perfect for our little growing family.

About a month ago the Sienna became mine.

And, I am in love.

It is the perfect car for us. The perfect mom car. Plenty of room for all three carseats and with room to spare.

I know, the kids steal the show

Real Randomness

There is this survey going around on facebook where you're supposed to write 25 random things about you. I was informed by my sister in law, Caroline, that mine wasn't random enough. So, here is my list of pure randomness. I hope it lives up to your expectations, Caroline! :)

1. I didn't wear concealer, or any makeup other than eye shadow and concealer, until after Samuel was born. I still had a bottle left over from my wedding and thought I need to get my money's worth. I know wear Bare Esentuals concealer, bronzer, eye shadow, eye liner, masacara, and eye brow shadow everyday.

2. My favorite show for a long time was Full House. I like Stephanie the best, but I could never figure out why they put DJ in there. I didn't think she was very cute and I did not like the name DJ.

3. I've considered a lot of career options. Including, but not limited to, police detective, elementary school teacher, President, news anchor, psychologist, missionary in Africa, City Council member (although, not exactly a career), pediatrician, actress.

4. In 6th grade someone told me when I went to junior high I would be a "preppy." I was horrified about this and it really hurt my feelings. Several years later I found out what a preppy actually was and realized I could have saved myself a lot of grief if I asked someone about it.

5. I lost about 60 lbs during 10th and 11th grade. I guess I've gained and lost that same weight during each pregnancy. Maybe my body misses it?

6. I've never been drunk. I've only actually drank about 5 times in my life. And, I was peer pressured into smoking cloves once in high school. By smoking I mean putting my mouth on it and never doing it again.

7. I have been pregnant and/or breastfeeding for 5 years and 1 month straight. I plan to give my body a little break when I wean Silas.

8. I LOVED babysitting growing up and always said I would do it for free just because I enjoyed it so much. I wasn't exaggerating. Now that I have my own kids I'm not as enamored with other people's.

9. I wouldn't say I enjoy working out and going to the gym. But, I enjoy the results. And, I enjoy the childcare.

10. I love being around people. But, after becoming a mom, I'm enjoying quiet time at home more and more.

11. I appreciate a fabulously decorated house, but I haven't acquired that skill yet. Yet is the key word.

12. I've never pursued a guy. I believe a lady should always be pursued. (Although, I wish I would have resisted the pursuing until Eric. I was his first girlfriend. How awesome is that?)

13. I never thought about the price of things until I married Eric. Now I carefully mull over each and every purchase.

14. One of my favorite foods is my mother in law's salad. Everyone agrees on how delicious it is.

15. I think I came into myself around my senior year of high school. Before that I didn't really know who I was and was lacking in self confident. Now I'm ok with being goofy and silly! :)

How To Read the Bible

John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." It's saying that before the world was created there was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. Later it says that, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." To paraphrase, the Bible is God. I

God speaks to us in many ways- music, sermons, other people, nature, etc..- but, if the Word is God, it is the primary way that He speaks. If you are only relying on the "other things" for God to speak to you, you are missing out on so much God wants to give. What if we relied on emails, phone calls, pictures, baby books, etc.. to get to know our spouse, but never listened to him talk? It sounds ridiculous, but that's what we do with God. We forget to go Him, though His word, to hear His voice.

You may have the desire to read the Bible, but when you open up it seems confusing and overwhelming. I'd like to share a few tips that have helped me.

-Pray before you read. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your understanding and allow God to speak to you

-Good books to start with are John or 1 John. Before you read through the Old Testament I would recommend you read the whole New Testament through.

-Whatever book you are reading read it straight through. Don't just open the Bible randomly and read a verse here and one there. This allows you to understand what the author is saying and what is going on in context. If you start with John you can continue through the New Testament all the way to Revelation. The next time you can read Matthew and then skip to Acts and read it through again.

-Don't worry about understanding everything. You have your whole life to study and understand, the most important thing is that you are reading. Your spirit is taking in what your mind may not comprehend.

-Have a journal and pen with you. Write down verses that stand out to you, what God is speaking through them, and prayers that are rising up in you.

-Be consistent. A lot of times you won't feel like reading, you'll be too busy, you'll forget, or be tired or have other things going on. Do it anyway. Teach yourself discipline. If you do skip a day or a few days just jump back in. There "is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!"
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

-Remember that every need you have is met in the Word. It is where every problem has it's solution and every question it's answer.
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Tim 3:16-17

Valentine's Day

I love, love, LOVE Valentine's Day! ("Love"... get it? haha, I'm so funny!) Sorry for the lame humor. I'm always like that in person, but I'm never sure how jokes come out in a blog. I guess that's what separates good writers from bad writers. Good writers make you laugh with them, bad writers make you laugh at them. Or, cry. Because you feel bad for them.

But anyway, back to Valentine's Day. I really do love it. What is not to love about pink and hearts and chocolate and flowers? I even loved it before I was in a relationship because of said items. And, please, do not leave me comments about the commercialism. I'm sick of people complaining about "commercialism" for all the holidays. It's smart business, people. If someone wants to make a few (or a lot of) bucks selling something, go for it. If it bothers you, don't buy anything. Personally, I love cards and chocolates and candy.

I told Eric that I wanted the Flip camera for my Valentine's present and it came yesterday. It's so easy to use! I had been wanting to video tape my kids more and felt bad that we hadn't done any video taping since Judah was a baby. The video camera we have it pretty old school, but we couldn't get a new one because they all have software that you use on the computer. Our broken computer couldn't download software.

This is my first attempt at recording, uploading, and embeding a video. Stay tuned for a lot more videos, but this one is dedicated to my Valentine!

(Obviously Judah didn't want to be video taped, he was more interested in the Wiggles. Next time I'll have to rehearse with him what he needs to say.)

Just Tonight

Thanks for all of the comments on my school post. We were praying about either charter or homeschooling and felt whatever the outcome it would be God speaking to us. So, we're definitely going to do homeschooling next year. If he had gotten in to the charter school for kindergarten I probably would have homeschooled after than anyway. I just like how they do so many crafts, field trips, carnivals, performances, etc...

So, bring on all of the advice you have (Nancy, Jamie, Analene, and anyone else). I do have more to say about that, but this isn't a homeschool blog, so I'll save it for later.

Tonight we're just taking it easy. Our friend/employee, Edgar, and his dad brought over turkey mole for dinner. Delicious! And, two other guys from Eric's cell came over, too. So, they're chatting in the living room and here I am. I plan to read more of my book (I Dared to Call Him Father) and possibly watch a movie. Now that we have our new computer we're able to stream movies from Netflix right online. Last night we finished watching Promises, a movie about several children living in Jerusalem from different backgrounds. I'm still loving those documentaries.