an instafriday UPDATE!!

it's been so long since i've blogged,  and i had so many pictures and weekends to look through, i had to just pick a starting place!  it's crazy.  i can't believe how long it's been.  it wasn't on purpose, i've just been so busy.  it's crazy how things have changed since i started working part-time.  it's amazing and i love it, but getting on the computer to blog....well...it's just not as easy.

but a couple of days ago, even the hubs asked when i was going to blog again.  so this morning, i'm buckling down and doing it.

and since it's friday and i've still kept up with intagraming pictures, i'm going to do a big instafriday update!

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we are big UK fans in this house.  so celebrating the final games was a no-brainer.

we had a lot of fun, and partied like we were in college again!!

and even though she's little, and she definitely did not party with us, you know we had her decked out and ready to cheer!!

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after a week of recovering from staying up way too late on a monday night, we headed to western kentucky to visit some of our best friends!

 

we made it to a beach.....;)

 it's always so easy staying at their house.  our kids love each other, and it's sad to have to separate them when we leave.

we love the warning's and can't wait to celebrate baby #3 with them very soon!  C loved talking about the baby in cami's belly.  she doesn't fully understand the concept, but she was very sweet to cam's belly. 

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we got back saturday night, just in time for Easter sunday.  we missed all the egg hunts in lexington, so we obviously had one in our front yard.

she realized really quickly that most eggs were filled with either candy or coins.  it was pretty hilarious when she found empty ones....

we had a wonderful and relaxing day.  daddyboy made an awesome dinner and we were able to enjoy eating outside.

we spend a lot of time outside in the summer.  and now that we have our awesome new brick patio, and daddyboy is putting up a swing-set this weekend, i know that we will be out there even more!  can't wait to start planting flowers.  this early spring has got me chomping at the bit. 

 

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also, another little update that is kind of out of order, but one that i can't let go by.

shaun had been training for a half marathon.  and a couple of weeks ago, he killed it!

we are super proud of our daddyboy and were very impressed that he ran 13.1 miles in under 2 hours!!  good job boy!

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well, there's the update.  i'll try to stay more on top of things so that they don't all get jammed together in one picture overloaded post!

ok - here's one more picture. 

some "flowers" for you!

have a good weekend friends!!

a little love day party

hey friends!  hope you all had a fun valentine's day.

the hubs and i have never gone out on v-day.  we always get a little something for each other, but we never go out on the actual day.  too many people and too expensive.

so, last night we had a little love day party at our house.  basically, we all just wanted to get together and hang out, and tuesday was a free day.  but, the girls exchanged little valentine's and we heard all about what they did at school that day.

we attempted to get a quick family photo, but this is what we saw when we looked at my phone...

hmmm...  not really a keeper....;)

i did have few decorations around.  mostly because C is at a really fun age right now and she loves to "help" me with crafts.  when i sewed the little heart banner together, she really wanted to sit on my lap.  instead, i pulled up a chair for her and she watched with excitement the whole time.

we had such a fun night!

and remember those meltaway cookies i talked about making in my last post?

well, i couldn't get a picture quick enough!

they were super yummy!  and they really did just melt in your mouth.

it was a quick little party, but things don't tend to last too long on school nights once you have kids.  but it was a perfect little catch up and a great way to spend the evening.  i love our friends and their kids so much.  and i'm so thankful for their friendship and love.

this was my valentine's present this morning

it's not so bad to drive to work and see a sky like this in front of you.

especially when this sweet thing is sitting behind you

she got a new sock monkey for v-day.  now she has a boy and a little girl.  both named "dee-doe".....=)

happy belated love day friends!

craft weekend!!!

friends.  dear friends.  let me just start out by saying that craft weekend was amazing.  you knew i would say that, so i'm just getting the obvious out of the way.  it was everything that you would think it would be and way more.

meg and ashley (she goes by ashley, not ashley ann) and kimberlee and everyone else involved were so fun!  so cool and so beautiful and so normal.  seriously, just normal gals, raising families and being creative.

i took a lot of pictures, but they were all taken on my phone, so not the most amazing quality.  but i think you'll get the picture.  ha, picture...  sorry - still tired....  plus, you can always head over to meg's blog and see pictures that actually make the weekend look as wonderful as it was.

as soon as we got there on friday night, we started crafting.  it was something like a dream.  little stations set up with our 'swag'.  paint, fabric, ribbon, buttons, stamps, canvas, trim, skittles.  yes - she even had a snack bar set up for us.  perfect sugar pick-me-ups for when i was up past 2am!

i actually met up with a lovely lady on my layover in atlanta, and when we arrived at meg's house, it was glowing.  i'm not kidding.  meg's house is amazing.  gorgeous.  her pictures don't do it justice.  it's big and comfy and homey and colorful.  it's everything you would think it is, and more.

 and yes, i found her craft room!

it was small, but perfect.  just stuffed full of craft goodness.

on saturday morning, we go to sleep in a little.  i love so much that meg and kimberlee knew that we were a group of hard working ladies and mom's who loved to stay up and sleep in!  i didn't get any pictures of the food, but i should have.  kimberlee was an awesome chef.  amazing breakfasts and dinners and desserts.  someone bringing you cheesecake while your sewing at 11pm is amazing.  bad for my waistline, but amazing!

we headed out antiquing after breakfast.  we went to meg's two favorite places where she scores so much vintage goodness for herself.  and let me tell you, this place did not disappoint.  i went in looking for a quilt for C's bed, and bearly makin it antiques delivered!  they had so much fun stuff, it was overwhelming and amazing.  i walked away with my an awesome quilt (that even meg was jealous of) and a little blue vase for the kitchen.  i could have gone home with so much more, but i was flying, so i had to shop in moderation.

after the shop, we headed to the barn!  owned by the same people as the shop, this place was dusty and cold and awesome.  so many things i wish i could have walked out with.

after the barn, in true meg form, we stopped at sonic happy hour!  =)

saturday evening was more crafting and a lot of laughter.  i can't emphasize enough how wonderful all the ladies were from this weekend.  it's still amazes me how well we all got a long.  ladies from all over the country (every lady flew in) who i won't soon forget.  connections were made quickly, and tears were shed when goodbyes finally came.  it was like summer camp for grown-ups.  staying up past 2 (that 3am our time!), laughing so hard my cheeks hurt, sharing stories of heartache and fun, and extending prayers for future endeavors.  it was awesome.  i spent less that 72 hours with some of these ladies, and i have truly missed them these last couple of days that i've been home.

and that's waffle up there.  we are buds now too!

it was a perfect weekend. i know that sounds extreme, but it lived up to my expectations 150%!  if you're thinking that putting your name on the craft weekend waiting list is pointless, think again.  you never know.  and if you get the opportunity to do this, take it!  meg and ashley and kimberlee really are just as beautiful and normal as they seem on their blogs.

check out my new friends!  =)

kimberlee, amy, shannan, jessica

and if you didn't catch them earlier - meg, ashley and kimberlee

burkina bracelets from guest blogger, cami

hey friends!  yesterday i asked you to come back and read about a ministry one of my best friends started.  well, thank you for coming back and reading cami's blogging debut!  her heart is real and i'm so thankful to call her a true friend.  

so - here's cami....

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“We can not use lack as an excuse to overlook need....We were supplied with everything we need to meet every need 2,000 years ago....He showed us fish and loaves would multiply....lack is not an excuse...Love multiplies in ways I never thought possible. If we claim His name, we have NO EXCUSES....He presents us with opportunities daily to be change agents for Him...I don't want to miss a thing.”  -Carolyn Vetter Twietmeyer

                                                         

Well, hello, Jade followers. Jade has been kind enough to let me have a shot at blogging for the first time...and I am pretty excited! So excited that my mind is all jumbled and all over the place! (imagine that!)
Let’s start with what I am trying to tell you all today. I want to tell you about a ministry/organization called “From Daniel’s Tears”. About 9 months ago, my bible study of ten amazing girls began reading “Outlive Your Life” by Max Lucado. And God used it to change our lives in a major way! We had no idea at the time, but we were about to have our hearts broken, be angered, and start having a blast serving our awesome God. We sat around and talked about if we were to “outlive” our life, what would it look like?  Who has God burdened our hearts for? Some of the answers included single women in need, orphans, and special needs. So, we finished the book and began to follow God’s leading.

During this time, a girl in our bible study, Sara, was in the process of adopting a little boy from Burkina Faso. Long story short, she and her sweet family came home with Daniel in August.

While Sara was on African soil for a month, God began his work here on American soil...burdening and breaking our hearts and teaching us about His sadness over the state of this country.

Burkina is the fifth poorest country in the world. And it has a literacy rate of 21% with a 77% unemployment rate. I began reading a blog from the sweet lady, Ruth, (a must read) that runs the orphanage, Sheltering Wings. As I read this blog, my heart was breaking and there were times that I thought that I could not read anymore, but that was Satan trying to discourage me and tell me that there was nothing I could do about the suffering in Burkina. God encouraged me to read, to cry and to weep with the women who are tormented, raped, roaming the streets, and mentally unwell. To cry for the babies left in wells, for babies that had been laying in the hot sun for days with the afterbirth blood dried to their burning skin, starving and alone.

I was reading story after story of mentally unwell women abandoning newborn babies in wells, throwing them across their huts, and simply losing their minds. I have a four year old, a two year old, and am pregnant now...how are my babies any different from these babies? They are not! God is our Father and it is our job to stand up for these innocent children....it is not too far away, it is not too big of a problem. God is bigger than the problems of Burkina. I started asking myself if I truly believed that. God continued to remind me that babies and children are suffering right now in Burkina Faso, as i sit in my air conditioned house. Just because it is not in my back yard does not mean that it isn’t happening. God was changing my heart and stretching me and it was painful. Painful to see where my priorities were. But, if I have learned anything in the past year, it is to face myself and be honest...I am far from perfect, and God has a lot of work to do in me....so let’s get to work!

I emailed Ruth and asked why so many women were “mentally unwell”.  She replied back that it is a real problem in that region of Burkina. Women are accused of being sorceresses and cast out of their family courts left to roam the streets. On the streets they are raped and abused and generally stay pregnant. Ruth said that some women are even chained to trees to keep from killing themselves or others. THIS IS NOT OK. It is 2012 and there are women in the world being chained to trees! I was in complete shock.

Of course, I knew that Satan was out there, and there is a massive amount of suffering in this world, but this was personal now....Sara knows and loves Ruth and the children at her orphanage. These babies are Daniel's friends! My bible study was angered, and it was the anger that led us right into God’s path for us....into action for HIS children!

Let me just say that God is so amazing because through the anger and tears came joy and excitement! God numbered our steps. It was as if we have been walking along a lit path. He lights the path just in front of us and shows us what to do....so we do it, not thinking about the darkness of the rest of the path, just trusting that He is going to continue to lead us into His light. AND HE DOES!!!! Step after step, we have walked right into a full-blown ministry and non-profit organization.

As we sat at dinner the other night, we were telling a friend about how it all came together, and we started to cry, because we did not realize that God had fulfilled all of the areas that we talked about when we started reading “Outlive Your Life”. We had come full-circle. God is using us to reach out to orphans, to women in need, and to special needs....amazing. And honestly, we have never had this much fun. Many of our husbands have gotten involved, as well. We have advocates in Bowling Green, Missouri, Minneapolis, and Lexington. You can be an advocate too!

So what does our ministry do?

We sell $3 bracelets.

Simple, we show our video or tell people about the harsh reality of life in Burkina, and we sell bracelets.

Where does the money go?

$1 to at-risk or rescued from human trafficking girls in nepal that make the bracelets (through an awesome ministry called Eternal Threads)

$1 to Daniel Samson’s former orphanage

$1 to Sheltering Wings orphanage (Ruth’s orphanage) and a fund for the homeless women wandering the streets

Find out more at “From Daniel’s Tears” fb page, the order form for bracelets is on the information page. You can receive a bundle of bracelets to sell without paying up front, as well.

I LOVE serving God like this, because it is easy. If you are following Him, He will lead you and give you the vision, strength, desire, passion, all of it....you just keep your eyes on Him. Thanks for reading my very lengthy post!

Love in Jesus.
Cami

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

Proverbs 31:8-9

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thank you for reading friends.  please consider partnering with cami and from daniel's tears.  check out their facebook page for bracelets, or you can email me.

help spread the word.  $3 seems like so little to us, but it really can make a difference.   

halloween weekend

C and i headed to western ky this past weekend to visit some good friends while daddyboi headed up to MI to go to a football game.   we girls don't make too many trips like this alone, but saturday morning we loaded up the car and headed off.  some of us had a more relaxing trip that others...

C was minnie mouse this year! and since we were invited to a party that required me to dress up as well, i went for mickey.  sort of.  i got really crafty and make C's ears and skirt.  but then i ran out of steam.  my costume consisted of red shorts over leggings, a black t-shirt with little silver mickey's and minnie mouse ears.  whoops...  whatevs.  no one cared what i looked like, and i was comfy.  

 

 love this picture.  i asked them to smile, so they smiled at each other

C and i made our way home on monday to a waiting daddy.  she kind of understood what trick or treating was this year.  well, she at least understands the treat part!

hope you had a safe and fun halloween too!!