Come on spring!

Today there was a ton of sunshine and a glimmer of warmth, so Micaiah and I headed to the park. I have been waiting and waiting for both him to be able to walk and it to be warm enough to have fun at a park. Today those two finally matched up!

He fixated on pieces of trash that he wanted to help clean up and give to mommy like we do at home. Ew!
He looked for birds

Played in the water

And swung on the swing (is 'swung' even a word???)

He L.O.V.E.S being outside!

Goals 2011

Randmon picture of a cute boy brushing his teeth!

I know I can be a bit wordy :) Sorry. You can either bare with me...or not!

So I found my reading list from last year that I had misplaced during the move. It was neatly tucked within the pages of a book I ended up deciding not to read. I noticed it just before taking the book, along with many others, to sell. I read 18 books last year. For me, that's pretty good. But then I realized that I read a huge chunk of them at the beginning of the year.....when Micaiah was still taking 4 2-hour naps a day. By the spring he was only taking 3 naps a day, and then over the summer he was down to 2 2-hour naps, but there was still plenty of time to read. I noticed, however, that my reading amount took a ginormous nosedive around October. That was about when we shortened Micaiah's morning nap to an hour and then he still took a 2 hour afternoon nap. And...he was beginning to become more mobile. :) Now his morning nap is down to just 45 minutes, and he takes a 2-2.5 hour afternoon nap, but when he's awake I can no longer just lay him on a blanket with some toys and sit up on the couch and relax and read. He is walking....and even starting to pick up some speed....all over the place! With that in mind, and knowing I'm going to have a newborn alongside of Micaiah this year, perhaps my reading list for 2011 is a little ambitious. Oh well, at least I have a goal. I'll just roll over to 2012 whatever I don't finish!

A few other random goals I have for the year:

*Try making homemade bread again. (I finally found success with a homemade whole wheat recipe, but have been turned off of the smell of it since I found out I was pregnant. I need a honey wheat or white/wheat recipe I like)

*Learn to sew some simple things like pillow covers, curtains, or a straight lined bag

*Try making homemade dishwasher detergent (I tried a recipe in the past, and it didn't clean our dishes. I have a new one to try out, but I'll wait until we have our own place)

*Do some container gardening (I had full intentions of doing a bed garden last year, but we ended up moving, so that became a wash. Since we're living in someone else's house for now, containers are going to be the way for me to go this year!)

*Complete reading through my chronological Bible

*Make exercise a priority and do it consistently

*Get a workable budget set up for us and begin to utilize cash only for a few of our categories of spending

*Start a “nutritional goals” notebook or file where I can tuck healthy substitutes/alternatives recipes, goals, & articles that I've found and continue to find to help me continue to slowly & steadily make changes to our over-processed, unwhole foods diet :)

Recipes to Try:
This is a neverending list! But off the top of my head, I’d love to try some new recipes in the crockpot and make it work for me. I've never been very successful with cooking meat in it, but I am determined to figure out some yummy things to use it for! I also want to try scones, chocolate pudding zucchini muffins, homemade yogurt, and homemade pigs in a blanket.

It feels good to have some goals set in place for the year. Not that I'll do them all or do them all well, but as the saying goes "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it everytime." I want to at least have something to aim at. For me personally, it helps me to live more intentionally and purposefully.

Anything you're wanting to do in 2011?

Who are you?

So who are you? What is your identity? I define myself as being first a child of God. Second I am a wife to Scott. Third, a mom to Micaiah and Caeden. Fourth, a full-time homemaker. Third, a daughter, sister, friend, among other things.

Is it important that we prioritize our roles in life? What does it matter if we put more emphasis on one over another and if the role with the most emphasis changes?

Thankfully, God has laid out for us in His word what the order should be. In Deuteronomy 6:5 He tells us, "You shall love the LORD your God with all of your heart..." We know our relationship with the Lord should be the first and foremost relationship of our lives.

In Titus 2, Paul instructs Pastor Titus on what to teach the older women in his church to teach the younger women: "...and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled (emphasis mine). You can see the progression of relationships here. First husband, then children, then home.

Recently, God has revealed to me the misplacing of my roles. They have been all jumbled up. I don't even know what order they have been! All I know is that where I SHOULD find my true identity is not where I've been finding it. I have been defining myself by my other, less important roles. (And don't get me wrong, being a wife, mom, and homemaker are hugely important roles. They are what I spend my life doing right now. They just should not be the main source of my purpose in life.)

Since living with Scott's parents, my roles as homemaker and mother have shifted immensely. I am still mommy to Micaiah, and nothing can or ever will change that. But the way in which my role plays out is so different. Now there are 4 people sitting around all day to do what was once my job. (Both of his parents are retired, and since Scott's not working right now...that makes 4 of us!) I didn't anticipate how hard that would be for me and much I would miss "the old days" of it being just us. I chose to be a stay at home mom for a reason, and it's just not the same as it used to be.

The same goes for my role as a homemaker. I am responsible for helping out here and keeping our part running smoothly. But it is so very, very different from having your own home to keep. I'm just not needed in quite the same way. So like I said, how my roles play out has shifted.

When our roles shift with the changing seasons of life, we will be shifted right along with them....IF we define ourselves as most importantly being first a homemaker or mother or other role. Kids grow and leave the nest. Jobs change. It is only when we define ourselves most importantly by the Lord, our rock, that we will not be moved.

Had my priorities and roles been in the correct place, I would have not been shaken in this way. There is one thing that is needed. One who is THE ROCK. Rocks don't move. They don't shift and change.

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Isaiah 26:4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.

How thankful I am that our Lord does not change. How thankful I am that I can stand secure and NOT be rocked as the seasons of my life change and my roles shift for a time. If only I can be sure to keep my identity in the correct place. May I encourage you to evaluate your roles? Would you be rocked if your most important role was changed or taken away? If so maybe you, like me, need to redefine yourself with the Rock that will not be shaken.

Snow day!

Ok, so this isn't from the snow day, but I know some people would like to see Micaiah trying out his new Christmas present from Mimi and Papa. Scott rigged it up on the basketball goal since we're only here temporarily, and hooking it up to a tree would take a lot of work to only have to take it back down before too long. Works like a charm!

Micaiah and his "meh meh"

He voluntarily tasted a bit of snow and quickly decided he did not like it.

He was not so much a fan of walking on the snow because it was so crunchy. He much prefered to stand in one place or be held. Yes, I KNOW he is extrememly mismatched and wearing a raincoat, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

We have had a lazy day. Micaiah and I literally spent the entire day in our pjs. Scott was kind enough to hang out with Micaiah after his morning nap and get him going with roomtime so that I could konk out for an hour. We enjoyed a fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate, and a fun round of Apples to Apples. Micaiah is now in bed, and I wish I had some dessert to round out the day. However I've had entirely too much dessert lately, so I'm on a dessert fast for a few days. Stay warm!

Thrifty Thursday

So I thought I might join the ranks of other bloggers and chronicle my grocery savings and deals each week. This week I went to Kroger and Publix and bought everything you see in the picture for $16.00.

3 boxes of Kashi cereal

Pampers wipes 3 refill pack

Febreeze Air Effects

Dawn dish soap

Organic kiwi

Zucchini

Broccoli
Avocados

3 packs of muffins

2 Old Spice deodorants

Swiss cheese

Fiber One yogurt

Oatmeal

Now obviously these are not the only items that make up our food for the week. I shop differently than a lot of people in that I shop using the 'stockpiling' or 'buy ahead' priniciple. Maybe I'll write a post about that sometime soon. :)

Book List 2011

Last year I kept a running list of all of the books I wanted to read throughout the year. I usually kept it in inside of the current book I was reading and would cross off each title as I finished it. I lost the list somewhere around November during the move, but I did complete the majority of the books on the list. A few I decided I didn’t want to read after all.

This year I decided to post my list on the blog more for my accountability and a place to record them than anything else. But I also thought it might give some ideas of books for others who are looking for a good read. Perhaps, if I’m really on top of things, I will write a review or two as I go along. They are in no order, and I will most likely add to the list throughout the year. I have not really been on top of reading very much lately. In fact, I've been reading the same book for about 3 months, and I'm only about halfway through with it. Bumping up my reading to what it used to be is a goal I have for this year.

Books marked in red=done!
　
Personal/Ministry:
Finish Organic Church by Neil Cole

Having a Mary Spirit by Joanna Weaver
Nudge by Leonard Sweet
The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch
The Joy of Fearing God by Jerry Bridges
　
Homemaking:
Heaven at Home by Ginger Plowman
　
Marriage:
Prayers of an Excellent Wife by Andrew Case
　
Motherhood:
Instructing a Child’s Heart by Ted Tripp
Teach Them Diligently by Louis Priolo
The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian
Pre-Toddlerwise by Gary Ezzo
Toddlerwise by Gary Ezzo
The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson
One Million Arrows by Julie Ferwerda

Motherwell MaternityFitness Plan by Bonnie Berk
　　
Re-read/skim:
Babywise by Gary Ezzo
Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Ted Tripp

Family Driven Faith by Voddie Bauchum (to discuss with Scott who just finished it)

The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems by Tracy Hogg

The Christian Childbirth Handbook by Jennifer Vanderlaan

Christmas

We hope that you had a fabulous Christmas and were able to focus on Christ. We sure had fun traveling around the south and visiting family. However I realized once our Christmas travels were over and done that I had not taken a single picture. Luckily, upon checking our camera, I found that Scott had snapped a few while I wasn't looking (although obviously I did look at one of them if I'm in it!) But only a few. Here they are for your enjoyment!


Micaiah really was happy here; I'm not sure what the face is about.

Micaiah playing with some Tupperware dishes that he received. I still have not used them for their real purpose because he's had so much fun playing with them! Fabio looks drugged, but it's just the camera shot. He was happy as ever to be in the middle of everything.