~ courage ~

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

~ real men wear bow ties ~

We woke up early

 to three wee ones

(for those who don't know, my sister Casi and her daughter, who I call Sweet Pea on my blog, have come to live with us) 

pawing at their Easter baskets and begging to eat candy and sweets.

We had to pry them away and

we set them up with our version of a quick Easter Breakfast feast consisting of blueberry muffins and bacon.

We snarfed that down only to roll right into our Sunday best 

pressed shirts, perdy dresses, high heels, bow ties

and all and within an hour ZOOMED out the door which has GOT to be a world record!

We picked up my niece, LeaAnn, visiting from Alaska and made our way to church with Granny and Grandad. One boy snoozed while snuggling with Lulu (LeaAnn)

and one boy went to Sunday school,

 we sang, we laughed, we thanked God for his amazing grace and mercy.

Then we drove to Granny's for a fabulous Ham feast trimmed with deviled eggs, sweet potatoes, green salad, her fabulous pickled beets, peaches and of course hot rolls.... LOVE hot rolls! Who doesn't? After that we helped clean up and Casi and I

(Did I really just post a picture of my booty... ::sigh:: Thanks Lulu for this precious angle)

dashed outside to hide the Easter Eggs for the hunt

which would take place after nap time. 

 Then we snuggled up for a nap time and went off to sleep that fabulous sleep that you sleep after you get a full belly loaded with comfort food and of course snuggled in to Granny-fresh sheets and linens in a dark cool room... I dreamed, I snored, I. was EXHAUSTED! Staying up all night to prep Easter baskets, Easter eggs and two little bow-ties for my littles took a lot out of me...

Then we woke up to Granny presenting us with 2 different desserts - Baked Custard and Banana Pudding. 

We hunted eggs

and played a round of Password which has a funny story behind it consisting of Lulu finally realizing at the very end that her and I were actually a team... Silly Girl.

 We laughed, we ate, we slept, we laughed, we ate... that pretty much sums it up.

So as you can see it was a very nice Easter and I feel so very blessed for family,

 

(see Aunt Jojo - Birch and Pauly are definitely related)

all of our blessings and most importantly - life through Christ.

(Ben, middle boy is YOUR son) Ha!

Sending you much love!

~ heartsong ~

We've been spending
a lot of time outside
lately. The weather has
been pretty gorgeous

and of course, outside is the perfect place for kiddos to blow off some energy!

My kids usually make their way to their swing set or their kids' garden tools to go play in the dirt. While I will usually follow them out to make sure they get settled and push them on the swings if they want me to and then I'll make my way to our patio furniture and either tinker around on my lab top or I'll take pictures of the kids. Love taking pictures.

Yesterday, I didn't do either.

I just sat down and relaxed. I watched the kids play and listened to their awesome imaginations and their sweet voices. As many of you know, my little sister has moved in with us along with her 3 year old daughter which I'll refer to as Sweet Pea on here. Sweet Pea and Pauly are the same age, Sweet Pea being 3 months older, they play together from dusk till dawn. I think the newness of Sweet Pea living here has worn off as Pauly has finally stopped talking and bickering with her in his sleep.


(source for beautiful mixed media art piece found here on Etsy by BlueBeeDesigns)


As I sat there listening to their amazing creative minds running I heard a bird that must of been particularly close because Man! he was loud and I have to say at first, I thought, quite annoying! I was thinking in my mind - wish that bird would shut up! So annoying!

Then I thought about it for a second.

How dare I not take great pleasure in this bird's song. Did you know that no two birds have the same song? They all are unique and different in their own beautiful way.

(source for beautiful mixed media art piece found here on Etsy by BlueBeeDesigns)

And then I thought about our songs... in our hearts.

We all sing different songs. We all have a song that sings sweet praises to our Lord for his unconditional love and grace. For his precious hand in our every day.

Then I thought about how it seems like my heartsong is stronger at times verses other times. Do you ever find that? Like it seems like there is a blockage or something hindering my voice preventing it from it's full potential.


(source for beautiful mixed media art piece found here on Etsy by BlueBeeDesigns)

Maybe it is me chasing worldly treasures, or it's me letting my daily craziness putting a frog in my throat. Whatever it is - it's tough to recognize what it is and it's even tougher to deal with it so that your heartsong can be heard loud and clear.

Anything stealing your heartsong? Or are you the reason that maybe someone else's heartsong is not as strong as it should be? Are you stealing someone else's heartsong?

I know that I have totally caught myself stealing someone's heartsong. Especially when my heartsong is not so strong and it's just skipping all over the place, it isn't clear and well... it's just a mess. And then at times if I let myself - I'll get jealous of someone else's stronger heartsong that I'll catch myself being rotten and ugly and not realizing it, incedently tripping them up of their heartsong so they are just as muted and miserable as I am... ugly huh.

Been there?

And what does your heart song sound like? Tell me.

To describe mine, I would have to say it sounds something like Morning by Grieg Edvard. Have you heard it? Click here to listen on YouTube.

To be honest, if I'm in the word and listening to praise and worship music... my heartsong is a lot stronger. Far more clear and crisp.

I pray that I can be more aware of my heartsong as well as other's and maybe just maybe I'll be a voice to encourage their heartsong to be stronger...


(source for beautiful mixed media art piece found here on Etsy by BlueBeeDesigns)

God bless that little bird and his sweet heartsong,
 because even through a random lil bird's song,
my sweet Lord found a way to draw me closer.

Hearts,

~ no other fount I know ~

It's kind of a
long story but
just before
Christmas we

decided that it was in the best interest of our children that we leave the little church we were going to

and pray for guidance for something new and different.

The decision to change churches is such a hard decision to make. It was hard to leave the people that our boys already had come to recognize and know. It was hard to leave those peple that we had got to know and love. There was just a discerning in our hearts that there was something better for our boys somewhere else, as well as somewhere better for us.

We prayed and prayed and prayed - it was very obvious though.

Very.

So we parted ways and that was right before Christmas so we put off "Church Shopping" for a while... actually last Sunday while... and Wow! Had I missed church. The fellowship, the feeding, the music and the peace you feel when you are there.... even if there are two little rascals pulling and tugging and playing and talking FAR too loud.

Needless-to-say our boys were completely out of practive and why wouldn't they be? It's been like 5 - 6 months! This first church we tried out this last Sunday was only 2 blocks away - so Sunday morning, we got on our Sunday-best and walked to church. It was so cool. I loved it!

The church itself had been converted from an old Catholic church - little confessional boxes in the back and all! Very quaint with a lot of very friendly people to welcome us. There were a lot of little ones running around which obviously meant young couples but the church in general was pretty tiny. Maybe 50 people present.

The very first song tugged at my heart... it was

'Nothing but the Blood of Jesus'.

This particular Sunday they had guest music which was very nice.

The opening to the Pastor's message - he used a puppet to make some brief announcements and release the kiddos to "Kids Club" it was so awesome and my boys watched him with their mouths dropped open. It was pretty entertaining!

 I was blessed to have had to take little William down to nursery and I met up with a sweet gal down there who invited me to check out her Mama's Group. She touched my heart by going out on a limb and inviting a complete stranger to her home.

Overall we liked the church - I'm in prayer daily for guidance if it is a good fit for us. The Pastor preaches straight from the Bible which is ideal for us and his messages are thought provoking and encouraging.

I think we shall definately keep this one in mind and if you think of us, please keep us and this "church shopping" situation in your prayers. Thanks!

 ⁴He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
Deuteronomy 32:4

Hearts,

~ local gal/ fellow Brave girl trying out for Biggest Loser ~

I have a fellow Brave Girl whose heart's desire is to be on Biggest Loser. Her name is Kim and she is adorable and fun. She works behind the scenes at the Brave Girls Club and if you took Soul Restoration you might of seen her on a few of the videos. Super cute gal. She has made a great little video expressing her interest in being picked for the Biggest Loser and if you have a second, please go to You Tube and watch her video and leave her a comment of encouragement. 

I can SO relate to Kim and if she is chosen I will most definitely be one of her biggest fans! 

Yay Kim! You are so brave, beautiful and unique. I know that if they choose you - You will be amazing!

Sending you much love. ♥