Praise Report!!

We found someone to fix the truck which has been in the driveway inoperable for 5 months. We are so excited to be a two car family again soon!!! The girls loved watching the process of the vehicle being loaded onto the tow truck. All it needs now is a new motor...yikes!! God is Good though!!! :)

Cute Kids & Cookies

While I was baking cookies this is what I found in the girls room!!
Notice Mia in the stuffed animal bin :)

Yesterday they had their own version of chest on the porch.

Yummy...these are so good!! :)

Sweet Little Molly :)

Week 3

Week 3 is called Touchpoints of Love. It goes over our love languages and how these come into play in the family unit. What happens when they are met and when they are unmet. This is a very interesting class and makes for a fun & challenging week!

Key Principle- Every day we choose to love, and every day we choose not to love.

Our homework this week is to take the quiz to determine our love language and start focusing on your mate's instead of your own being met. We are also encouraged to have our children take the test. It has been funny to see them come out differently than what we felt they were. I can see where this whole dynamic comes into play when your language is not being met and the lack of that is shutting you down. For example, if your primary is words of encouragement and you are getting criticism and discouraging words often...you will not be doing so well.

Here are the 5 touchpoints...

Encouraging Words
Acts of Service
Gift- Giving
Quality Time
Touch

In our family we have a neat combo. What is really humorous is that Roy & I are on opposite ends of the scale on a couple...and they are our primary!! Such fun times transitioning into something unfamiliar in order to show love. :)

Have a blessed week!!

Update- Week 2

It was a great week! We had 4 couch times and 1 date night. We are enjoying being back in the class again and learning from the other parents sharing their experiences.

Date nights are recommended during the course of this class once a week. Could just be having coffee together or watching the sunset...time away from the kids for you to connect with each other. They say that kids do not go through separation anxiety when Mom is with Dad.

Couch time is an uninterrupted time that you & your spouse sit and talk for 15 minutes each day. It provides children with a visual sense of your togetherness. The kids should be awake & doing something in the room so that you are visible to them...so they can witness this Daddy/ Mommy time. When your children witness this it satisfies their inner need of measuring your love relationship. As a bonus it strengthens your marriage too. If the kids do try to interrupt only Dad is to address them...this can be tough Mom's! :)

One common benefit from the couch time is that your children will sleep through the night without trying to get into your bed. It is said that this happens when they are not secure in your relationship with one another. We have witnessed two families that had this concept dramatically change their lives and give them a great night's rest free of little ones in their bed. :)

This is such a great course and well worth your investment of time.

Update...

Growing Kids God's Way (GKGW) is going good!

Week 1 Theme- How To Raise a Moral Child. We were implementing the importance of giving the moral reason why when we are telling the girls "no". This places the concept in their hearts instead of it being a one time event in their minds.

Key Principle- Without moral principles placed within the heart, the heart will not be stirred.

Our example for this week: Amelia decided to get breakfast for her & her sister while Mommy was busy on the computer ! :)- She put a biscuit on a styrofoam plate in the microwave for who knows how long? Madeline asked where hers was and Amelia said hers was burnt!! Once the arguing started I went in to referee and looked into the trashcan to find a plate with a hole burnt in it. Thank God she didn't eat the biscuit!!! So, this became a wonderful opportunity to explain "why" she is not old enough to operate the microwave by herself and how unsafe this was. Results: she has not been near the microwave ever since. :)

Week 2 Theme- Right Beginnings. The importance of the husband/ wife relationship is what our focus is this week. Our application this week is to have a date night and to have couch time for 15 minutes each day. I will explain these concepts at weeks end.

Key Principle- One of the greatest gifts parents can give their children is the confidence that Mom and Dad love each other.

Have a Blessed week :)

Back to Class...

We are thrilled to be back in class for Growing Kids God's Way ! We are alumni now, so this is our second go around and we plan to focus on application this time. We still have some key areas that we struggle and this is the best program we have found to teach, discipline and reach the heart of our children all through the Word of God. It is a real investment of your time though...you are committed to 18 weeks. So if you are like us and struggle with consistency and follow thru the class alone will strengthen you in this area. We highly recommend this class to all family members...parents, grandparents, expectant parents. Everyone walks away with such rich knowledge and I personally believe you encounter the Lord often through this course as he mends & guides your heart throughout the process.

We'll keep you updated through our journey this time!

Sarah's 5th Birthday Party!

These are our good friends Jeff & Michelle. Their daughter Sarah was celebrating her 5th birthday. She is the girls best friend.

Her aunt made this delicious cake...it was so beautiful. I missed the pic before the cake was cut!

Happy Birthday Sarah!!

Me & Michelle :)

We were so excited to play a game and Jeff joined us (he's not a big game fan) once the party was over. We played Apples to Apples Junior and the best part was at the end when we made up a story with the cards we collected!

silly girls

Trio of sweet friends!! :)

Golfing with Grandma & Daddy

My Mom treated Roy to a round on New Year's Day. It was a beautiful day and the girls had a ball!! :)

Mommy & Madi

Mia & Mommy

Sweet sisters

Amelia Mae

Me & My Honey :)

Grandma & her girls

Great swing honey!!

Go Mia!!

Such focus Madeline Rose!!

My one & only putt for the day :)

My husband loves to golf!

If he had the time he could have been pro...

My Mom is very good too!

Nice shot, Mom!

Thanks for such a nice afternoon Mom. We really enjoyed the time outdoors...what a wonderful start to the New Year!

Visiting Family at the Horse Show...

On our trip over to Tampa we got to see Uncle Robert, Aunt Claire, Grace & Mary Claire at the Horse show!! We hadn't seen them in a year...we have missed them all.

Aunt Claire with Scout & Coco

Mia driving the RV...LOL!!

Madi loves to visit with all the puppies :)

Uncle Robert & The girls...they say he is their funny Uncle, always has them laughing!

Indee w/ Mia

Indee w/ Madeline

What a face Indee!! :)

Mary Claire & Indee

Daddy & his girls

Two brothers...Roy & Robert

The accommodations :)

They look so much alike and are the best of friends... even with the little bit of time they see each other!

The cousins & Indee

Indee & Mary Claire practicing

Mary Claire, Madeline & Amelia

We had such a fun afternoon with you all and the horses. Mommy survived her allergy attack from the horses too! :) We love you all and hope to see you again soon.

Christmas in Tampa...

We went into Tampa the day after Christmas to see Papa and our aunts & uncles. It was a nice couple of days and we enjoyed our time so much! :)

My Papa has many pets in the form of these squirrels that he feeds with peanuts. They have even broken into his house a few times when he left the window open and they chewed through the screen to find the peanut stash. One day he came home to find two of them inside with peanut shells everywhere!!

Mia loves playing with all the little cars that Papa has.

Papa is the Best Grandpa in the world!! We all love him dearly!!! :)

Molly loves it at Papa's too :)

This live oak tree in his back yard is on the historical registry.

The girls are the third generation to climb it's branches.

Aunt Jan is the best with her creative imagination and tender heart.

Uncle Rick is the wise & funny guy!!

The next several pictures are to highlight some their favorites at Papa's house when they visit...

orange, maybe tangerine tree

Uncle Rick & Molly

They have had this coo coo clock a while...I loved this as a child!

The girls love their swinging time :)

Flying our flag...proud to be an American!!

The neighbor across the street, Janice always has offers from the girls to help with her gardening!

When my grandparents had their shell driveway paved many years back a raccoon decided to leave it's prints.

Molly & Justine

Papa's tree

Gift giving begins...

Madi got her first digital camera from Uncle Rick & Aunt Jan!! :)

Mia got a real childrens acoustical guitar from Uncle Rick & Aunt Jan!! :)

Aunt Dian & Uncle Kevin

Uncle Kevin & Roy doing something...I'm not sure?