~ izzy takes flight ~

I
zzy is playing dress-up already!
These are some of Sis' butterfly
wings that I put on Izzy. She
loves them and prances around
just knowing that she is simply
adorable.

Isn't it amazing how animals can be such a blessing to our hearts.

What a precious gift God gave to us in animals.

Izzy keeps things hopping around the house. She chases the kids, she barks to alert me when anyone is opening the back door which is both helpful and a tid bit annoying... but mostly helpful.

She is a full-blown garbage hound and has pushed me to rig-up an altered trash can that will fit underneath my sink just so she can't get into it... this was actually something Daphnie had a

hard time with also - so the new garbage situation, as Martha Stewart would say, is a "Good Thing".



She is also a huge fan of any type of small stuffed animal/toy of sorts...

She loves their tails - if you know what I mean. I currently have a stack of about 6 stuffed toys

that Pauly-boy is pretty sure I need to get busy on asap and give them all new tails...

Yeah... ... I'll have to figure out just how to tackle that one.

Izzy is a huge cuddle-girl and loves to curl up for a good nap about twice to three times a day.

As I type this she is napping by my feet... BUT

as soon as the boys wake up she'll be on the go and waiting for any crust

of bread she can get from underneath the table since William

has figured out a new trick on how to clean his plate so good. Lol!

I go to scold him and she just looks at me like - Get over it lady!

He feeds me,

he loves me and I love him. So get over it!

I just had to through these last two pics in the mix of this Izzy post.

This one of her peeking over the backseat is so precious.

We were headed to eastern Idaho to go see my mom and dad and she sat up there all

the way there (4 hours each way) and all the way back without ever jumping over the seat onto Pauly.

Very. Good girl.

Daphnie and Izzy get along as if they've always been together.

Truly - Soul Sisters.

They both have amazing stories of both being saved - as Izzy was found by her previous owner at

a pound in - Arkansas - I think it was...

she had mites in her ears, she tugged at their hearts and let's be honest - how could she not?

... And Daphnie was my 21st birthday present. My mom and dad gave her to me -

I can remember the day my mom brought her to me. She had a huge red ribbon around her

neck and I.

Fell hard in love with her from the first second I saw her.

I had just moved into

a new apartment. I was alone and having a hard time living by myself.

She was and has been such a joyful addition to my life...

they both are.



"Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds."

Psalm 148:7-10

~ outage ~

A
few weeks back, our power
went out for about two or
three hours. We had already
had dinner and I had just got
done making rice crispy treats.

The timing of the power outage worked out perfectly.

It was still daylight out so we all got our shoes on and took some cookies
to the newer neighbors across the street and then when we got home and after the kids played for about an hour, the sun had went all the way

down and the house was pretty dark.

One of the best things about the power going out is
lighting candles and doing things by candle light only.
::sigh::
LOVE it.


When we were little girls, mom would round up the candles and we would get them all lit up and then we would play games, visit or sing.

As it got dark the kids pretty much had to stay in the same room as the candles
and then I remembered that our lab top probably had some battery left in it from being charged up before the power went out - so I set the kids up with 'Finding Nemo'.

One of my all time favorites.

The kids were so excited to watch a movie on the laptop as if it is more special -
more fun or something.

I  can remember thinking that way when I was little, can't you?

 (the pic above was with no flash and the one below was with the flash - crazy huh!)

All three of their faces in this picture cracks me up  - especially Sweet Pea's. Lol!

 Casi serenaded me on the guitar - she is getting so good at the guitar!
So proud of her!

Isn't it weird that we can enjoy this kind of thing every night but far too often,
we get caught up in what's on the tele, and we send our kids to go play with their toys in another room
or set them up with a cartoony away from us when really we know the good memories and precious family time is just a light-switch away.

Why do we wait for the power to go out to spend this type of quality time together?

Ben has a sister that once a month - they have "Amish night".

They turn out all the lights

and play games by candle light.

Good idea, huh!?

I think it is time our family adopts some type of tradition similar to "Amish Night".

What kind of fun things do you and your family do during a power outage?

or just to be together?

~ 180 ~

T
his is a video that was shared
with me a couple weeks back.
It will literally challenge your
thinking and views regarding
the Holocaust of the past ...
and the present...

added later...

I decided that it was crucial that I note here what my views are regarding this topic and what my opinion is about this video.

I believe that any type of abortion - at any time of the life of the baby (embryo/fetus) should be illegal. I pray some day we have a leader in place, in this country, that will repeal any and all abortion laws as an option for birth-control. I, however, don't feel it is my place to judge someone who has done it - that will be done by God. For me, I feel like abortion in a way, is similar to Playing God and I firmly disagree with that. Adoption is a great alternative and should be embraced far more than it is. I, personally know of at least 5 families that would love a baby right now. this second. We, as a society, need to work on making adoption more accessible and less challenging for these families AND more of a heroic act for mothers who do not want their baby.

I believe abortion it is flat-out murder and the fact that there is someone doing it every 2 seconds, in my mind, makes IT the present-day Holocaust.

I completely agree on all levels with Living Water's tactics in this '180 movie' to, in a sense, shock people into understanding how extreme of a problem this legalized mass killing (abortion) has become in America.

Clearly, we need to do a better job educating our children regarding both. The video was proof of that. How embarrassing, America!

~ a fine frenzy ~

I
f we were children,
I would bake you
a mud pie. ♥

~ Train. And then try again ~

D
uring my walk yesterday morning, I
was watching Life Today with
John and Betty Robinson and
they were talking about the very
common term - "Try, Try Again".
This is something I grew up hearing

from my mom and dad

and it is definitely something I hear myself saying to my kids all the time.

It is very encouraging, but is it specific enough to accomplish success?

Also on the show was author, Dallas Willard. He spoke about his new book

The Divine Conspiracy

As I listened to Dallas share about his book I grew more and more interested...

He was talking about how we as Christians get stuck in a day to day drudgery and only have this tunnel vision with idea that Christianity is first and foremost an "admittance into heaven" and a large percentage of Christians live their lives with the idea that they can't really have a relationship with Christ now.

Instead, Dallas was encouraging people to disregard the thoughts of

being obedient to Christ to be thought of as "out of the question or impossible",
but to repent the complacent lives they are living and
educate themselves as to what 
Christ truly had in mind when he said to go be His disciples.

He encouraged them to
"Train. And then try again."

This example Willard used was if you do something and it fails and you are told to

try, try again - and you don't change anything - well that is going to bring the same result and quite possibly more frustration and it will very likely push you to want to give-up.

The term, "Train. And then try again" seems, to me,

to be a forward-thinking idea to bring a different result and be more likely to be a success.

While studying this - this morning, I can't help but think about being a parent.

Am I training up Christian men that will live their lives striving each day to be more Christ-like?

Loving their neighbors and turning the other cheek?

To live their lives seeking to be in God's presence at all moments or just with the end in sight?

My mom, my sisters, a few gals and I are doing a 30 day prayer for our kids and grand kids.

This was yesterday's prayer:

Let faithfulness never leave our children, but bind this virtue around their necks.

Yikes, huh. The whole things gives me goosebumps and I can't help but think, am I living a luke-warm life for Jesus? Or is it bound around my neck and am I on fire for him!
Am I being a good example for my kids?

Am I challenging my every thought and action and inspiring them to be pleasing to Christ?

Every. Single. Thought?

Every. Single. Action?

Yeahhhh... prolly not.

I don't know about you but if I don't keep close track of myself, undoubtedly, I'll stray.
I get to thinking - WOW! I'm doing amazing! I'm feeling good and SO peaceful. I forget that the reason that I am doing so good and feeling good is because I've been training myself to abide and stay in the Word.

I forget and then I get stuck in a ditch.

I get sucked into everyday life, everyday problems, everyday drama...
and round and round I go.

I have to remind myself daily that I'm not being asked to be an everyday follower of Christ, a mediocre believer, a sideline contender...

I am being asked to be a mighty warrior for Christ!
A follower that is set apart from the World.

Which means I have to deny myself daily

and give my life up to God for his plan and purpose,

to love others and strive to love them as Christ does,

to obey God and follow his commandments.

Slow to speak; quick to listen,

gentle and kind,

humble and meek,

courageous and brave.

I have to keep training myself daily to be more like Christ and

keep alert to Satan's potholes that

will, without a doubt, cause me to stumble if I let them.

and I have to do this

Every. Single. Day.

Train - everyday.
and try again - everyday.

I truly believe that eventually, my boys will see my example -

my dedication to His mission...

 

For not only do I need to strive daily to give God my whole heart and soul

for whatever he chooses to have me do...

but everyday I need to continue assisting in training up my boys, and pray that one day they will have it in their hearts to want to do the same.

This desire in my heart will, undoubtedly, effect their lives but eventually their families' lives...

~ to catch you up ~

O
h Man! I've missed blogging!
There is just something about
sharing, getting my thoughts
out and keeping in touch with
other friend's lives that I really

LOVE!

I wanted to write today to catch all ya all up on what is going on in our

little life here at her Household - 

so here goes...

God is doing amazing things in my heart! Yay! We have become involved in a

awesome church and all of us enjoy it so much! I've met some awesome women,

my kids love their kids' program and THEY all are truly part of an answered prayer.

This church happened to be a church I had drove by a half a million times and a old schoolmate

from high school's family goes there - so that was encouraging that we would know somebody there.

Just goes to prove you never know when, where, who, how God

will work in your life. He is oh, SO good!

My body is healing nicely from my surgery I had.

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughtful messages to me.

I started just this week going back to the gym. I was inspired by

this gal as well as several different messages I've been hearing at church - namely,

a message from this last Sunday, regarding complacency. I hadn't ever really thought

about the word but doing the Brave Girls Soul Restoration class I did at the first of the year

definitely put a whisper in my ear and then all the things God has been putting in my road (including a sister who humps herself to work out at 5am, comes back to the house and gets herself and daughter ready for school and work - I thought, Whoa - if she can do that, I can go spend a half hour to 45 minutes at the gym every morning. I'm a tad competitive so I like to see if I can wake up before

her...  lol!) I decided it was time. I'm only on my 3rd day - so far SO GOOD. The time for myself is turning out to be such a blessing! Then when I come home my boys are still asleep and I get even more mama time and couple that with a cup of coffee and my Bible... VERY happy girl. 

Can't go wrong with that!

I think we've come into the crash and burn episodes of our life here in the Melton house - one night Pauly falls off the bunk bed onto his head, the next night William face-plants right into the wooden drawers under the bunk bed only to give himself two beautiful black eyes.
To sum it up...
THEY'RE FREAKING ME OUT!
I feel like I need to wrap them all up in some bubble wrap!
We haven't had any trips to the doctor, thankfully, but you know... scares me.

We are all LOVING the fall crisp weather that has finally shown up!
My trees are turning colors and I've got my bulbs all ready for this weekend as I attempt
to develop my green thumb...

I've given myself a new challenge and that is a weekly-challenge and I've decided I need to go to a new neighbor every week and take them cookies, a gift, or just go introduce myself. So far, it has been such a blessing and I'm so glad we decided to do it. We tend to make it a family event so far and the kids love it and finally, I'm able to meet my neighbors. We don't live in a subdivision - we live in just a old-town neighborhood that has tons of rentals... I've been using this as my excuse for years now NOT to get to know my neighbors but I decided ... (and again, this was influenced from Paula Dunn) it's time to LOVE ON my neighbors - no matter how long they stick around. No matter who they are. No matter where they live. 

So this all sums it up... We are still enjoying, very much, my sister living here with us. Sweet Pea is in her first year of school (preschool) and the boys and I go pick her up everyday at noon. It's so fun to see her sweet lil face everyday - so happy I'm there. Makes my heart skip-a-beat. I just love that girl.

Now, I've got to get on some planning and plotting for decorations for a birthday party for a very special lady in my life (more info on that later). If you have any suggestions for websites or decorations that are fun, affordable, and totally girlly - let me know. I would love to for you to share your ideas with me! I will do a post soon on what I'm working on all ready.

You all GO and enjoy your week and soak up in God's goodness!!

~ Paula Dunn ~

I
believe it was Eleanor Roosevelt
who said, "Yesterday is history,
tomorrow is a mystery, and today
is a gift; that’s why they call it
the present."

A few weeks back,

 Paula Dunn 

came to visit our church. 

The Time is Now
was the theme for the seminar and

it was as if God told her exactly what I needed to hear.

I am the type during church or a seminar who takes notes. Do you?

I go crazy!
Big time note-taker!

I also went to Court Reporting school for about a year so I have a pretty good strategy

for remembering thoughts and quotes that I want to write down and I'm

able to remember them and get them wrote down

even if the speaker is long gone onto the next topic.

Let's just say during Paula's seminar my pen was smokin'!

She shared with us inspirational stories that she coupled with thought-provoking points

and then she would back it all up with relevant scripture.

One of the things that really hit home with me that she said was,

"Are you living each day with eternity in mind?"

because to tell the truth,

I.

am not!

Paula encouraged us all to

start now!

Start NOW getting in the Word.

Be a light for God NOW.

She also reminded all of us how precious our time is

and we don't know how long we have - really...

So we need to live each day, each moment,

SECONDS even! so that we won't ever have that moment where we are

looking back and have that feeling that you wished you would of

did some things differently.

Time is a gift - we need to spend it wisely.

I really searched my heart during and after listening to Paula.
I know I hold back from doing things because of fear and laziness.

So there are some things I am really making an honest effort to change and do better.

One of them includes getting up and having quiet time and reading my Bible.

My days are just so much smoother if I do get up and do this... my quiet time is such a blessing!


To go along with the theme of the seminar she was selling watches.

I've decided to order a watch and put it

my Christmas stocking *blush*

cuz that's how I roll... as y'all know it :)
But I'm having a bit of trouble on which one I want!

Her watches can be found here.

She also has been gifted with an amazing singing voice and she

totally spoiled us with a full-on concert on the first night.

You can listen some of her singing on Youtube

and also buy her cds here.

It was a privilege and an honor
to have her visit us at
Bridgepoint Church.

Her story

is truly inspirational and

her spirit and devotion to God,

even more so!