Tuesday, July 28, 2009

more vbs fun!

Here are some more pictures of VBS last week. On the last night Justin got a pie in the face, so we just had to stay and watch! Yum! Elijah loved all the VBS songs and just jumped up and down when I had him in the closing rally. (He sure heard them enough around the house last week!)

I snuck in and caught a picture of Elijah sleeping one night

Elijah's teachers surprised me and took him to crafts one night! So sweet!

Justin and the kids leading a song at the final worship rally.

Let the pieing begin!! (Justin and our pastor, Johnny)
And everyone got pied!!
There's a missions offering competition between the guys and girls every year to see who get's pied. The girls won, so the guys got pied, but Cheryl and Tina were good sports and took one to the face too! This was the last picture I got before it got SO loud I had to take out a screaming baby.

Monday, July 27, 2009

a little experiment

I'm expecting a few packages (books) this week via UPS, so I actually thought ahead to make a little sign to put at the front door so that the doorbell doesn't interrupt Elijah. Here it is:



Plain as day, right?? ...and literally, our doorbell is RIGHT beside the sign. (You can probably already tell from my "tone" where this is going!) It wasn't 5 minutes after I put up the sign that the UPS guy drives up. (Ironically, though...Jazz is now barking at the foreign sign in the window and the humongous UPS truck outside)! So...I pick up Jazz to put a stop to the barking and watch the UPS guy walk up on the porch and (much to my dismay) ring the door bell without even stopping to glance at my sign!!! He puts down the box and then he walks away!


I open the door to retrieve my package and the UPS guy turns around and says, "Oh, I didn't expect anyone to be at home."

Well....then why are you ringing the doorbell?

Maybe the next delivery person will pass the test!

______________________
side note: If you didn't notice, I tried out Google Ads on my blog for awhile. This meant Google was supposed to post ads based on specific topics/words found in my posts. Good thing I removed it, because UPS would have received all the sponsors today!!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

musical monday (on tuesday!)

Whew! It's VBS week at our church, so the "Boomerang Express" songs seem to be in my head continually right now, but I'll spare you a blog about that!

At church on Sunday, Justin "introduced" a David Crowder song called Wholly Yours. Justin and I have become HUGE David Crowder fans, though to look at the guy, I would have never thought he'd sing music I like. It's not just his sound, either...his lyrics are incredible and often cause me to think in new ways through the imagery he uses. Check out the lyrics to this song and may God use it to draw you closer to Him this week!



I am full of earth
You are heaven’s worth
I am stained with dirt, prone to depravity
You are everything that is bright and clean
The antonym of me
You are divinity
But a certain sign of grace is this
From a broken earth flowers come up
Pushing through the dirt

You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I wanna be holy like You are
You are everything that is bright and clean
And You’re covering me with Your majesty
And the truest sign of grace was this
From wounded hands redemption fell down
Liberating man

You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to be holy like You are
But the harder I try the more clearly can I feel
The depth of our fall and the weight of it all
And so this might could be the most impossible thing
Your grandness in me making me clean

Glory, hallelujah
Glory, glory, hallelujah
You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to be holy, holy God

So here I am, all of me
Finally everything
Wholly, wholly, wholly
I am wholly, wholly, wholly
I am wholly, wholly, wholly Yours
I am wholly Yours
I am full of earth and dirt and You

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

christmas in july!

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Luke 2:8-20


For some reason I am constantly thinking about this verse that I bolded and italicized. I'm not quite sure why. But honestly, I feel that God is continually putting this in my mind to challenge me to be more like Mary. And who wouldn't want to be more like Mary? ...The mother of Jesus? ...The one God chose to deliver His only Son?

I do long to follow the example of Mary in more ways than one, but I specifically want to learn how to ponder things in my heart, as she did at such a significant point in her life. One that we still read about and focus on at least once a year.

So...I try to constantly think of how to take in and remember each moment...especially ones with Justin and Elijah. Problem is, my memory is terrible and I'm honestly bad at just being in the moment sometimes. So I tell myself I'll scrapbook. (Hasn't happened yet, but I have enough photos to fill a scrapbook library). I tell myself I'll journal. (Works for a day or two...and then a day or two again a month later). Obviously I'm terrible at this. But I want so badly to treasure up these moments that I have now with my sweet baby boy and be able to remember them fondly and as clearly as possible. So, I need your help. What are some ways you try to hold on to the wonder of the memories you are currently making? Are you a scrapbooker? Journaler? Writer? What are some ways you have found to remember and continue enjoying the moments you have with your family or friends? I'd love to hear about them and begin implementing some of my own!

Friday, July 10, 2009

food friday

So, it's been a long time since I've done a "food friday," but I'm bringing it back today. I don't have a recipe for you this time, but a great website I've found. I found restaurant.com in a magazine I was looking through right before we went to D.C. Turns out, it's a great resource for unbelievable deals on restaurant gift certificates.

Here's what you do. Just visit the website and search for participating restaurants in your area or an area you may be traveling to soon. $10 gift certificates are only $3-$4 and $25.00 gift certificates are only $10. When you find a restaurant you like or a new one to try, just purchase the gift certificate and print it out right then! The gift certificates we have purchased are good for one year, but only at the exact location you choose. There are also some guidelines to your purchase, but nothing unreasonable.

Basically...you're getting some free food! We met my parents at the Sagebrush Steakhouse the other weekend and saved some money with a gift certificate we purchased. (Actually, we saved a lot of money because we brought the $10 gift certificate and my dad bought the meal! Win, win!) It's a great excuse to try a new restaurant because most of the ones you can choose from are not your typical chain restaurants. Also, since I've joined, I've received e-mails with discount codes that allowed me to purchase certificates for 50% and 70% off. An even better deal!

If you're needing a night out of the kitchen or a "cheap date," then this is a good resource to check out. Take a look and let me know what you think. Also, if you try out a new restaurant, let us know if it's good!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

this little piggy...

went right in Elijah's mouth!!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

pool time!

I've got a fussy baby on my hands today, so I'm posting some precious pictures to cheer myself up. Here's a glimpse at Elijah's first dip in a pool!