Thankful Thursdays

So here we are again. Another week has flown by! There hasn't been much time to sit down and be incredibly thoughtful about life (sorry - no pics this week, I am tired!!), but still there remains so much to be thankful for and so much that the Father does for, in, and through us. This week I am thankful for...

Coming up for air on the other side of a very exhausting week

The Holy Week fireworks (At first, this was a complaint as I heard someone setting them off at 10 p.m. on Saturday night. If you have kids you know that July 4th and New Years Eve are the most annoying of all holidays, threatening to wake your babies up with every blast. As I laid there listening to them though, I figured Jesus was much more worthy of celebration than either our country or a new year, so I was fine with it after that. I'm sure they were not necessarily fireworks for Jesus, but He IS risen, so why not make them about Him? And no one woke up!)

Open-handed friends who teach this tight-fisted one how to relax and be generous

Still thankful for no throw up

Watching my sweet 3 year old Noa Jane enjoy her Minnie Mouse birthday party with childlike wonder

Russ' help cleaning up the house (this was a lot of work!) after the aforementioned exhausting week

Heart friends, near friends, distant friends, family friends, new friends, old friends - wonderful people who round out our lives and journey with us as we follow Christ

Days where I actually get a nap

Living so near to so many neat farms during this time of year-strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, fresh veggies, goat cheese, fresh chicken eggs... Makes me feel like I'm home.

The 3 ducks (as Noa would say, "a Mommy one, a Daddy one, and a baby one" -- although there are really just 2 mallards and a female one) that visited us in our backyard one day. I prayed for them to come back (as the girls thought it was the coolest thing ever and it kept them busy for about 30 minutes) and they came back this morning, just waddling through! I have no idea what they're doing, or why they would come to us, but it was a neat little gift this morning!

The grace bestowed upon us in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior, and the privilege of celebrating that this week

I hope this next week is a meaningful one for you, my friends! May we honor Christ in all we do and notice Him at work in great and small things. Side note: Will you please pray for my babies as they are sick with some kind of cough thing. Ruthie has a fever. I would love to add their healing to my list next week. :)

Noa's Birthday Party

My sweet friend Dawn was nice enough to snap a few pictures at Noa's party on Saturday. Thanks!! We had a splendid time celebrating our girl and were so blessed by all of the family and friends who came out to celebrate her with us. It was definitely a blessing to her.

A Daddy's work is never done. :)

Oh my. This is so, so normal for Babers.

Little Lydie was a champ. She was perfectly content with her Nana the entire party and even waited 4+ hours to eat, just to celebrate her big sis.

These cupcakes were the source of way, way too much thought on my part. They consumed my mind all week until I actually got to put them together. Noa loved them though. At first she said, "Mom, where's Minnie's face?" but then I explained we were just decorating with her ears and she seemed o.k. with that. :) Worst part? Squishing Starburst into the little bows. Killed my thumbs.

I think Noa thought the cupcakes were magical. So did I! After all, isn't chocolate magical?

Notice that Babers has a different bag of chips in her hand in every picture. Like mother, like daughter...

Oh how we love you, our sweet Noa who doesn't know how to smile on demand! You make our hearts overflow with joy. Happy 3rd Birthday to our silly Chicks!

Thankful Thursdays

I was so inspired a few weeks ago by my friend's Remember Me Mondays post on her blog. There is so much that I take for granted! I think that even with a different title, you would all know I am totally copying her idea. But if there were ever an idea to copy, wouldn't it be this one? Whatever I can do to foster a grateful heart, I want to do it! No. Let me rephrase that...I need to do it! - especially during this busy, distracted, full season.

For me, Thursdays are the most boring, long, uninspiring days. I usually have some type of a break from the girls most days, but on Thursdays I rarely do. What a perfect day to start documenting what He has done and is doing in my life. I need these constant reminders of His grace or else I become a really selfish, stressed out mommy, an inattentive wife, and a terrible example of Christ.

I love you, Father! You are good to your children! Today I am thankful for...

Sitting on the back porch in the early morning, watching my girls play and listening to the birds singing praise.

My sweet Russ planning the meals this week.

The opportunity to meet precious Lucy, a little girl from Thailand that we have prayed for now for over 2 years. What a picture of how we are adopted into God's family!

A wonderful discussion in our Tuesday Morning Bible Study despite my lack of preparation. :)

Russ constantly displaying a Daddy's strong love for his girls.

No one in our house has thrown up this week! The healing hand of our God is upon our household.

Friends down the street.

Not putting one ounce of effort towards the bounty of strawberries we found in last years' garden! And the sweet whisper of the Holy Spirit, reminding me in that moment, that it is not by my works that I am saved, but by his abundant grace.

Listening to my sweet Noa sing praise and worship in her 2 year old way.

Lydie's darling little newborn cry and the way she is soothed so easily when we pick her up.

It is so fun to recount His faithfulness to us in great and small ways! May you remember the Father in all you experience this week!

Too cute not to watch

Church Pics

Glad to be back in the game after a rough stomach-bug-kind-of-a-week last week. Everyone is doing better and back to busy!

This picture melts my heart... Best buds having dinner on the deck.

Everybody, get in the boat!!!

We've had some requests for pics of all three of them. This is so hard!!

Pretty Lydie

I'm sure Russ gets annoyed with me when right before we leave on Sunday (getting us all ready is quite an undertaking), I ask if we can take pictures of the girls because they look so sweet. We need to just build picture time into Sunday mornings, although they usually don't turn out very well, so why do we keep doing it?! My fault.

Hey everyone, don't look so excited for church.

That's better Noa! Wake up Ruthie!

Another attempt at getting all three. Dumb.

All Smiles

Here's Russ with all his beautiful girls! We took this picture like 7 times. It is just so hard to get everyone on the same page!!

We are totally convinced that Chicks doesn't know what a smile is. Everyone thinks she is serious, but she is a really goofy kid! She is smile-challenged in pics.

Here's attempt #2. This is usually what her smile looks like. Just teeth. She was so proud of her outfit since she picked it out, that she didn't mind me trying 10 times (to no avail) to get a smile. How about her new little haircut though?! Cute, cute!!

Babers has a new love. Her jean jacket! She calls this (and her new sister) her gee gee and she wants to wear it all the time, as you will see in the last picture.

Gee gee has been working on her smiles too! This is right before she started to cry (love that lip!), but the next picture is my attempt at getting her smiling. Not great, but I think you can see a little smile at least.

Such a sweet little girl! Since babies don't smile for about 6 or 7 weeks, we never knew she had a dimple. We just noticed it this week! I was so excited as I never even thought that dimples might be in the mix (neither Russ nor I have them and I can't think of many dimples on either side). So far I can only see one (which is more rare), but maybe there's two hiding in there somewhere. I could watch her smile all day. She is the sweetest.

But here's my favorite picture of all time! How about these girlies?!?! Noa loves her boots and Ruthie loves that jacket! Notice "Ansley" (Noa's Minnie) stuffed down the neck of her jammies too. She carries her babies in the neck of her shirts all the time. Drives me crazy because they're all stretched out. But these girls make me laugh! This looks like an album cover or something! In fact, Noa makes up her own music all the time. She likes to sing on the deck and yesterday I heard her saying, "Hallelujah (her L sound is actually a W, so it was Haweewuwah), hallelujah, shake it up, shake it up, shake it up and oooobbbbeeeeeeyyyy Mommy. Obeeeeyyy Daddy. Shake it up, shake it up!" So funny.

I am Famous!

I won an award! I won an award! Look at this!

I just need to tell you 7 things about myself and then choose my favorite blogs. Here''s some awesome reading for you.

1. I am not a dog lover. I actually could care less if I ever see a dog again. That does not mean I am a mean person. Don't even ask me about cats.

2. I love to shove handfuls of chips in my mouth while no one is looking. I think they taste better that way and I am sad that this is socially unacceptable. Don't dwell on that visual too long.

3. I prayed for braces my whole life and wanted my teeth to be fixed before my wedding day. God provided them for free and they were off about 10 months before I married Russ. I also have a crown. I watched Uncle Walt do my root canal in a mirror. I loved it.

4. I have no idea why my blog would be of interest to Mandy and I am shocked that I won this "award." I think I need more "awards" too. Not necessarily for my blog, just because I am awesome. I do however, hope those "awards" don't require me to do anything.

5. Noa was in my belly when we went to Ireland. Ever since St. Patrick's Day this year, she has been switching out "my" for "me." For instance, she'll say, "where is me sippy?" "I can't find me stroller." Weird.

6. Charleston is about a thousand times too hot for me and I complain about it from February to November.

7. I am madly in love with my Pastor. I secretly want to pawn my kids off on someone and run away with him to somewhere tropical for a week! Hint, hint: To do this, me and my Pastor would need a babysitter and some money. Think about it.

And because you've endured and I deliver, I will give you a bonus 8th intriguing fact about myself!

8. I can say all of the states in alphabetical order in 16 seconds. I hope we never acquire more states as this would ruin my time.

Here are the "winners!"

The Soler Family

The Nickel Family

The Talbott Family

Update! We have another "winner!"

The Wallace Family