Talent Show

It has been a FULL house around here lately... and in all honesty I am loving it!! Last weekend, Grandma and Grandpa Jim came down on friday... That night all together we had 14 people coming in and out... eating dinner... hanging out by the fire place... playing games... and putting on a spur of the moment talent show...

We had the music going most of the evening and the kids just soaked it up! They love music and they love to dance... and truth be told, I LOVE to watch them!!!!




Don't miss their moves... Siah starts out with "The Running Man" (More literally, the man that is running)...

Then he goes into the "wiggy, wiggy" (Who knows where the name came from, but Papa, in all his dancing talent, introduced him to the move itself. It's when you grab one leg and shake it back and forth all while standing on the other leg. So funny to me).

The talent show continues with the "Funkadilla." (I love this one... It's like a break dancing move... The best move in my opinion)

The "Triple Whip"... (Where does he get these names, I don't know... :)

Later on in the show, Hal bust out her moves... She doesn't have names for them but she just likes to jump into the fun no matter what the fun might be.

AJ is a little "rapper"... If you listen carefully about half way through the video you can here him rapping, "Yo, yo, yo... yo!" So cute, I know.

I truly love having all these little ones around... I am praying with all my heart that if the Lord wills, He would bring another little treasure into our family in His perfect time (asap would be nice :)... There are challenges to having so many little ones... There are many quarrels that we have to work through throughout each day as our MSC learn to think about others above themselves, to put others first, to talk when they have a problem rather than to shout or cry, to choose to be peacemakers rather than troublemakers... and the list goes on and on...

But as tedious as it might be somedays to put forth the effort of training our kids in righteousness, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else with my life right now... Our MSC cause me to seek my Savior! Even in the midst of the crying and the arguing and the poopy diapers, the Holy Spirit gives me this passion for them... a passion to watch them grow closer to HIM and closer to each other... I love to watch their friendships grow...

I am thankful for the nights when we get blessed with a TALENT SHOW!
What a treat?
What a life?
Blessing upon Blessing

For My Siah On His 4th Birthday...

My precious little boy...
You are Four Years Old today...
You are the most loving of little boys...
I love the way that you watch out for your sister... Today while leaving the store you took her hand and gave her a gentle reminder when you instructed her with, "it is important to watch out for cars, or you just might get dead Hal... so hold my hand while we cross the street." Such brotherly love! :)
I love that you you truly love to help out your Mama... It amazes me that you are big enough to vacuum up all the crumbs under the table all by yourself, and spread the peanut butter and jelly onto the bread for you and your sister's lunches each day with very little assistance ...
You truly have a servants heart...
I love how when you're happy about something you show your delight with your WHOLE body (you jump and clap and let out your contagious belly laugh)...
I love your "rad moves", and the way that you feel so free to bust out your moves whenever you hear music, no matter if we are at home or in the grocery store...
I love the way that you cherish God's Word in your heart... Do you know how I know this is true?... Because I hear you telling your sister and your friends the verses that we practice in times when they need to hear them... And many mornings when you wake up you tell me, "Mama, Siah is going to obey today. Me's going to be a peacemaker, not a trouble maker. Me's going to share my toys.."
Buddy I am so proud of you... I am proud to call you my son...
A most Happy Birthday to you little buddy!!!! I sure do love you!!!

With love,
Your Mama & Your Papa

The Shindig...

We're BIG on birthdays around here...
Our kids are our treasures from above and each year when their birthdays roll around we want them to know what an amazing blessing they are to us and to so many around them... So many people prayed for little Siah when he was growing in my tummy and I think of him as nothing less than God's great grace in my life that He answered our prayers and gave us such a treasure in our little boy! And eleven short months later, God blessed us way sooner than we ever could have imagined with our second treasure Hal, who lights up every room that she walks into! Their birthdays are a day of intentional celebration for us! We want everyone we know to know that the Lord HOOKED US UP with these little treasures!!!!
So we had our annual party...

The Peeks got a bounce house last year for AJ's birthday and we were so blessed to be able to use it... If you zoom in on Siah's face you will see how stoked he is!!!!


I asked the kids what they wanted for their birthday and Siah said, "I want soda." Then Hal said, "I want tea." So we had a "Root beer float and sweet tea party," this year... But we couldn't have a party without cake and candles, so we threw some cupcakes into the mix...


They are still trying to figure out the whole "blow" your candles out thing.. As you can see Halee just kept smiling at her cupcake... Maybe she thought that if she smiled long enough and big enough her candles would just magically blow themselves out... it was so cute for me to watch her... (Just a side note: the kids ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT when people sing happy birthday to them. In fact I can sometimes hear them in the back yard taking turns singing to one another. The one that is being sung to just sits there and listens intently with a giant smile on their face soaking up every word!)


Siah finally blew his out... I ended up giving Hal a little help... :)


How cute is this little treasure???


Joey came up with a great idea and had the kids decorate their own cups before we filled them with root beer floats... It was fun... Even uncle Jason got in on the action!!!


Aunt Kristin came down with the kiddos... Cute dress Aunt Kristin!!!!


Some kiddos decorating their cups...


My lovely friend Mindy... (BTW... She's having a baby!!!! How GREAT is that!!!)


Cute little Eden Grace being her fun self!!!! Love this girl!!!!


Hal got a helmet and a new baby for her birthday...

It was a blessing of a day! I am forever grateful for each day with my treasures!!!

Grateful...

On Wednesday during breakfast Reesie started acting weird... Well... actually... the weird part is that most of the time she was acting normal... but every twenty minutes or so she would scream in pain, pull up her legs into her chest, and kinda thrash herself around for about a minute, then she would be fine again... She did that a few times.

But then, the forth time she did it, I was watching her face and when the crying and thrashing were over, her eyes rolled in the back of her head and her whole body went limp... I could get her to respond quickly but I knew something wasn't right...

I took her to the doctor and as I explained things to him, He got a "worried" look on his face and said that she had most of the symptoms for something called, intasusception, which is where the intestines kinda telescope into themselves causing an excruciating pain... The only two things that she didn't have were, blood in her stools and vomiting. He told me to take her down to children's hospital for some testing because it could be life-threatening and she could need surgery... It was so weird... I couldn't believe what he was saying... I guess I was a little shocked because I was expecting him to say some thing like, "she has a ear infection... here's some antibiotics... come back in a few days to follow up...

But what the doctor had said made me really nervous... and before we could get down to the hospital Reesie had two more of her little "episodes".... My precious friend Milly sent out an email to our women's bible study and all of a sudden I was getting all these texts and phone calls from people who were praying for Reesie... Before I knew it, it felt like everyone that I knew, knew about Reesie and was praying! I just feel overwhelmed (in a good way) being a part of the body of Christ. I never have to go through things alone. And I have a mighty team of prayer warriors ready to talk to our AWESOME God whenever I am in need! I am so grateful!


All this to say, they did some tests, took some xrays, & ended up doing a little "air" enema which seemed to have solved the problem completely...


As we were leaving the hospital and Reesie was chatting away in my arms and acting completley like herself again, Joey put his arm around us and said, "You know, I think it was the Lord who healed our little girl today as all those people prayed."

... I totally agree, Babe!!!!!!!

I am feeling extra grateful for my treasures this morning... You just never know what the Lord has in store for their little lives... Blessing upon blessing... another day together...

********

On a much lighter note...
I asked Siah to please pass the OJ at the breakfast table yesterday, and replied with,
"Mom, the names not Siah, it's Spiderman!!!!"
"Sorry, Spiderman, can you please pass the juice?"

:) How cute is he?

Questions...

Josiah has been asking me things lately that in all honesty I don't really know the answer to...

On the way to the beach today he asked,
"Mama, Did God die for our blessings?"
I didn't quite understand so I tried to get him to clarify.
Then he said, "You know how God died for our sins? If he died for our sins, then did he die for our blessings too?"
In all honesty, I didn't really know what to say so I just said, "That's a good question buddy, what do you think?"
Then he said, "Mmmm, I don't know mom, what do you think?"
"I'll have to think about that one buddy." :)
"Ok, mom"...
And we left it that...

********

Then when we got home he asked me, "Where is God?"
M, "Everywhere."
J, "Yeah but where, where is he? Like where does he live?"
M "In our hearts, and in heaven."
J, "so he has two houses?"
M, "I guess he kinda has a lot of houses. But he lives in all his houses at the same time."
J, "But how does he live in all those houses?"
M, "Well, cuz he's God and he can be everywhere all the time."
J, "Oh."
M, "Ok, then" :)
Then he dropped it and went on to something else...
*******

If anyone knows what to say about "God dying for our blessings"... feel free to share your thoughts!!! :)

The secret

Last Christmas my lovely friend Tara made me these awesome prayer cards from the 7X7 Button on my sidebar... There are seven verses with seven prayers that you can pray over your kids throughout each day... All this to say, by God's amazing grace, my children have memorized a couple of these cards... They have memorized the one that we read at meals and they have memorized the one that we read when we go to bed... Like I often say, I often underestimate them and what they can remember...

There is a reason that I am bringing this up... and no, the reason is not to brag about my amazing children... But instead it is because I have been challenged, confronted, baffled, questioning, sometimes even doubting one of the "prayer cards" that I read with my children every morning...

The card says, "Teach Josiah, Halee & Skyler, the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Teach them that they can do all things through Christ who gives them strength!"

At breakfast a few mornings ago, Halee was about to say the prayer card and I stopped her and asked of she could put Mommy's name in the prayer that morning as she prayed? Tara was in the kitchen at the time getting AJ some breakfast and she heard me talking to Hal and started chuckling as she walked over and put her arm around me. (she's so tender and sweet:).

But the absolute honest truth is that ever since we moved into this house I have been overwhelmingly aware of the fact that I ABSOLUTELY struggle with "being content in every and any situation."

I've been through a few phases over the past two weeks trying to work through this verse in my mind. In phase one, I actually felt kind of angry when I would hear my kids say it each morning and when i would think about it through the day. I felt like it is just flat out impossible to be content in all things... I mean seriously, come on!!! How can we truly be content all the time... I feel like I am just being fake when I am trying to be content on the outside but really I am dying on the inside...

In phase 2 I wrote two of my greatest prayer warrior friends an email and told them everything that was going on in my heart since we had moved into this house. The reason that I chose these two women is because when I am struggling with something like this they rarely empathize... Instead they flood my inbox with the truth of God's Word and tell me to stop believing things that aren't true, and start believing things that stop are true... One of the ladies wrote, "You and I both know that it is possible (Phil 4:13) to be content in any circumstance, and even have joy, because our joy is not dependent on our circumstances but on our unbreakable relationship with the God of the Universe, our Creator, who loves us more than we can imagine and does everything in our lives intentionally and uses it all for good."

I knew that she was right but for some reason I was still struggling to truly know in the depths of my heart that we really, really can be content in all circumstances...

But then the clarity came for me... 1 Thes 5:16-18 "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." For some reason when I read this verse something sank in and what has felt impossible for the past few weeks now seems somewhat tangible... When I put forth the effort to find specific things to be thankful for , it doesn't take long to get to a state of contentment. And when we pray we are simply getting stuff off our chest and confessing to our Father in heaven, who already knows everything on our hearts anyway, and being still enough to hear what he might have to say to us.


I tried it this week... I prayed continually and I gave thanks even when I felt like my whole little world was falling apart... And in my struggles, I found "THE SECRET of being content in all circumstances." Prayer and thanksgiving. It's not rocket science... but to me it feels like I just discovered the moon for the first time!

Easter

Happy Easter...

We went to a sunrise service (aka... the waaaay to early service :), at the flower fields near our home... We all bundled up and the kids and I just wore what we had slept in the night before. :)


I couldn't believe how many people came... Our church isn't that big, but over 900 people came to the service.. we met a family from Mission Viejo in the parking lot... They had gotten up at 4 am to make it to the service... and I thought that I had gotten up early. :)

We all came home and took naps... Then Papa made this delicious ham (thanks for the recipe Steph :) and we had a bunch of other yummy food... The Haynes Family and our friend Lee came over for the afternoon...

I just like this picture...

We did the "Resurrection eggs" with all the kids... I think Makayla (age 5) was the only one that was really understanding much of what was going on.... But I was still glad that we did them.

Halee loved looking for eggs...

Both the kiddos did a great job looking for their eggs...

Every year I try to get a picture of all three kids... and believe it or not this is the best one that I got.. I'm just grateful for the memories made...

These two are still two peas in a pod...

I sure do love this man...

And as always... another picture of my little Reesie...

A MOST HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY...

A Little Tour; For Far Away Family & Friends...

I have finally taken a video of our new house... I took it in three parts so that I could upload it a little faster than if I had one LONG video! And, you would all be so proud, I actually kept the camera horizontal the entire time! It's a miracle, I know! Anyways, I hope this gives all you far away friends and family a little glimpse into our home. We love you all and hope that you come to visit sometime soon.... seriously... :)

Part 1 is the down stairs and the backyard...




Part 2 is the rest of the downstairs...





And Part 3 is upstairs...

Hope you enjoyed the tour... :)

For My Hal on her 3rd Birthday

Sweet Halee-belle...
What an amazing treasure you are...
Your beaming smile could light up any room...
I love how your most ticklish spot is under your chin and how every time I try to wash your face you break out into a slew of giggles...
I love how animated you are when you talk, you can't tell me anything without using hand motions...
I love the way you love on and cherish your little dollies, you are already such a tender little mommy and you're only 3 years old...
I love your gracious heart and the way that you so easily forgive...
I even love your strong little will that keeps me on my toes!
I love that you are always the first to volunteer to pray at every meal...
I love your sweet little voice, and even though there are so many times that I can't quite understand your words, you speak them with such passion and excitement that you could almost convince me of anything...
The Lord has given you such a great zeal and joy for life and I am so madly in love with you little girl!!!

A most Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!!
With love,
Your Mommy

Adjusting...

So we're here...

Things are good...
Day one and two were rough but things seem to be settling in, and day three and four were joyful and a huge blessing...
We've laughed,
cried,
talked,
been quiet,
had meals together,
and meals alone...
lots of walking,
unpacking,
figuring out what goes where...
A lot of change...
and a lot of adjusting...

He can ride all around our backyard...


Siah has been asking when we're going back to the old house... So I have been trying to encourage him and Hal when they are missing our old house, to tell me some of things that they really like about the new house... The first thing they always tell me about is the back yard... It really is a sweet back yard! And although is not super huge, I can imagine that it feels endless to them since it is four or five times the size of our last back yard.

Hal got this scooter for her birthday on Saturday... more on that later...

Since I have been encouraging the kids to think of the good things about the move when they feel blue, I figured it would do me some good to do the same...

So here we go... Some of the things that have really blessed me since we moved in...

* On night two some friends texted us around 8pm and asked us if we wanted to join them at a brewery down the road from us just to hang out and we were totally able to go cuz all the kids were sleeping and Adam and Tara were just hanging out at home anyway! It was such a treat!

* There is sooo much space here. It never crossed my mind when we were looking for places that we might find a place that actually feels too big sometimes. A couple times the kids have just started crying because they are looking for me and they couldn't find me. (sad, I know :) But the reason that I love all the space is because it has allowed for plenty of family time for both the Peeks and for us. If they want to watch a movie in the living room with just their family there are like 50 other places in the house that we can hang out with our family and that feels like a blessing to me.

* On our date the other night Joey pointed out to me that this year of our life is going to bless our marriage and our kids... and at first, in all honesty, I could not think of how that was going to be true, but just in week one I have seen how much more intentional we are with each other and with our kids and how the little added effort that we might have to make to be with one another makes us that much more grateful for each other.

* I love the neighborhood that we live in!! I mean LOVE IT! There are hundreds of trails everywhere and several parks within walking distance... A couple times now I have taken the kids in the triple jogger and hiked up some trails near by. (Maybe I might get buff if I keep walking around here? That would be just fine with me :) Anyways, it feels so good to get out in the fresh air... the weather has been beyond gorgeous!

* I really love Joey"s and my room... It's quaint and it feels like a total safe-haven to me for the two of us...

This little pistol woke up every hour or so for the first few nights in our new house... Tara was awesome in helping me to be consistent in my sleep training little Reesie... and last night she slept all night without a peep. :)

* If I have to move in with anyone I am so glad that it's Tara, and I'm not just saying that simply because i know she reads our blog... but because she's an incredible godly woman who is deeply in love with her Savior and with her family. She's the easiest person in the world to be around. On our second day here I was crying on the couch cuz I wanted to go home... And she just came and sat by me and cried to. We didn't really have to talk a whole lot, and I appreciated that she just understood and didn't try to fix it nor did she lack understanding and think that I was stupid for falling apart. She's gracious and encouraging in the things that are difficult for me. She's an incredible mom and she's so patient with my MSC...What I'm trying to say is that I'm just glad that it's her.

* God cares about the little things... Yesterday I was out in our backyard reading my bible and writing in my journal and I came across this verse in Philippians... "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." I know that I am taking it out of context but certain phrases in this verse struck me and encouraged my heart... "I eagerly expect... that I will not be ashamed." & That I "will have sufficient courage," to live here this year and do whatever the Lord would have me to do.

This has been the beginning... I am so genuinely grateful for all of your prayers... I am so confident that the Lord is hearing them as my heart is already feeling more and more at ease...
It will take some time and some adjustments but God is near and nothing is impossible with Him...

Here are just a few pictures of the house... It's hard to capture in pictures so maybe tomorrow I will make a little video and show you all that way...

One of the living rooms...

The Kitchen...

Part of our backyard... The whole yard makes an L shape...

I'll pop in again really soon...