A GREAT WEEKEND

Hello Everyone!!
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Father's Day weekend. We did. It was the first one in our home. But let's back up to the rest of the weekend first.

SATURDAY

We started off Saturday morning with the enjoyment of sleeping in!! I have not slept in on a Saturday morning in such a long time. Last Saturday was supposed to be the first Saturday to sleep in but I couldn't resist the opportunity to go on a hike with my friend, Bobbi. I was tired but it was totally worth it.

But after we finally got up, we made our Saturday productive. We made ten bags of lunch (which included PB & J sandwich, grapes, banana, granola bar, bottle of water, and a capri sun) which all had two Bible verses (one inside and one stapled outside) and went to a park and handed them out to homelsss people. The Bible verses that were:

Inside the bag:
If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
For with the heart a person belives, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Romans 10:9-10

Stapled on the outside of the bag:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

Our son was so excited about doing this. He's 9 years old and he expresses often that he wants to be a missionary and even though that sometimes scares me (due to some persecution that missionaries encounter in other countries) we also want to feed that desire in his heart.

We were out for a couple of hours prayer walking, handing out lunches, and praying directly with some of the people. Afterwards we were pretty exhausted. So, we went back home, ate lunch, and rested until we went to a game night with some friends. It was good times. Every game they did men vs. women and they get pretty competitive. They had plenty of food there (but we actually had already eaten).

Now, this about the time when I would normally insert pictures of the evening but I was lame and forgot my camera. We tried to take pictures on our phone but they just turned out blurry.... Bummer.

But it was a great night and I got to see one of my really good friends for the first time in a few months. She's going to school to be a pharmacist and she just finished a really rough quarter. So, now she can hang out now. Woo hoo!!


FATHER'S DAY!! (SUNDAY)

We started off the day by me and my son Tyler getting up early to clean up the house a little bit and make breakfast for dad (Taylor). We put our gifts on the table. right next to where he sits at the table. Here's what we got him together for Father's Day:

Carrot seeds, an Herb Grow Kit, Watermelon Seeds, Tomato Grow Kit, Strawberry Grow Kit, and a vegetable starter garden- which had seeds for squash, garden beans (green beans), lettuce, and cucumbers. He was really excited about this because we have been wanting to start a garden
For Taylor's breakfast we made him a hot dog omelette covered with shredded cheese. And then we used salsa to spell "DAD" on it. In addition we made biscuits and had grapes on the side.

Then we rushed to church. I really love my church. The pastor speaks the truth straight from the Bible. After church we had lunch with the in-laws as we almost always do. We went to Panera which I really love. A lot of the kids came out today (since it was Father's Day) to church and lunch with us. There were seven of the sibling-in-laws at lunch with us including my husband (there are 12 total). It was nice.

After lunch with the in-laws, we treated my parents to bowling for Father's Day. My parents are really good at bowling. I was always surprised that they never did it professionally. It was good times with my parents. My bros were supposed to come but they kind of flaked out. And then I don't know how it started but whenever someone did really good, Tyler and I would say "WOOOOOOOOW" Tyler wanted me to video him doing it just so you all could see it. :-)




And here's a pic with me and my parents before we left the bowling alley. My parents are awesome!!
Then after bowling, we had about an hour to rest before heading over to the in-laws for the Father's Day dinner at their house. They have pasta every Sunday at their house so we still had that but then afterwards my father-in-law opened his cards. This is always tough because his birthday was last Sunday and now it's Father's Day. And now that we celebrate Father's Day in our home, it's going to be even tougher because my hubby's birthday is also going to be this Thursday! What a busy month!

After we left the in-laws we pretty much went home. And then from there I was pretty much ready to go to sleep. I was pretty tired. Going in to the weekend it didn't seem like we had that much stuff planned but now I feel like we didn't have a moment to rest. Oh well. It was good times!

I hope everyone else had an awesome weekend!! Now to start the week!

A Woman After God's Own Heart

Yesterday I wrote that I had been reading "Is There A Moose In Your Marriage?" but I don't think that I mentioned that I had finished it and that's why my friend, Sandi, and I were talking about it on Monday. I just want to touch on it a little bit and then move on to the new book that I am reading.

IS THERE A MOOSE IN YOUR MARRIAGE

This book has been such a great challenge in prioritizing my life. It's about the little road blocks that we sometimes have in our marriages that we LET stay in our way. I think that I have been very selfish in my marriage and I have not been fulfilling the role that God had intended in my marriage. I was called to be a servent - not just in my marriage but in life. The role of the wife is to be her husband's helper. This book really makes me see that how I treat my husband is how I treat my Lord, Jesus. And I just wanted to challenge any of you to pick up this book. I'm not at all saying that you have problems in your marriage (because I don't have problems). But this book will challenge you to do things to help your marriage get better. I don't know how many of you are believers out there but I absolutely LOVE that the book centers your marriage on Christ. If you are a believer, this is a great read.

A WOMAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART

This is the book that I just started reading yesterday.You are probably thinking... What's up with all the books??? Well, this is part of the spiritual journey that I am also going on. I want to really draw closer to God and improve my prayer life and live my life for God. All the books that I am reading right now have to do with prioritizing God in my life. I'm trying to read these books at night and I'm trying to read my Bible every morning.

So, I just finisihed the first chapter of this book and it looks pretty good already. This will be another book that gives me a heart check. Where are my priorities? Whom do I serve? Who on earth are the most important people in my life? How do I make sure God is involved in every area of my life? Etc, etc, etc. Can't wait to dig in even more.

ANOTHER GIVE AWAY!!

Wow, here is another give away! It seems like people have these things going on all the time. But I guess that's pretty cool since we all love free stuff. :-)

Faith In Food is giving away a TRADER JOE'S GOODIE BAG!! Check it out!

Question of the Day: How and when do you decide to do a give away? I've been wanting to do a give away on my site but I really don't know exactly how to go about doing it. Do companies sponsor your give aways or do you just go out and buy the stuff? Would love to hear your input!

HAVE A GREAT WEDNESDAY!!

2 out of 3

MEETING #1

Yesterday I met with one of the three friends that I am seeing this week that I haven’t seen in a long time. Her name is Sandi. She was so gracious as to invite me over for breakfast so that we could have some wonderful fellowship. She made me breakfast and we talked about this book that I’ve been reading.

This book has really challenged me to be a better wife and a better servant of God. I would not say that I am quite there yet but is quite the challenge – especially since I am so SELFISH. This book opens your eyes to what God’s description of the wife’s role is in a marriage. It really changes your perspective. I was constantly reminded that I need to my duties as a wife, regardless of what my husband is doing (not that he’s doing anything majorly wrong) because I will be accountable to God for my obedience regardless of what anybody else is doing. I thought this book was great. I borrowed it from Sandi but I think I will have to add it to my library.

So, Sandi made me a wonderful breakfast. She made a breakfast quiche with eggs and ham and all kinds of good stuff. She also made fruit salad with blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries – all from her backyard! The breakfast was very delicious. I took pictures of everything in the preparation pans. I was going to get a picture of my plate so you could the goods in the quiche but I know that Sandi thought it was a little weird that I was taking pictures. But she knew why I was doing it. J Here’s the food:

Sandi and I had a great time of fellowship, catching up on each other’s lives and sharing how God is working on us. She has committed to us doing one on one discipleship. I fully believe that she is woman sincerely seeking to be obedient to God – in her marriage, in her family, in her ministries, and in her life. I have been truly blessed to know her. She has great wisdom to share. Thank you Sandi for taking the time to share it with me!!

MEETING #2

Today I got to meet with my other dear friend, Heather, at her home. She recently had her third child so I had no problem going over to her home. Her three children are great kids but they are definitely a handful. In addition to her own 3 kids, she also babysitting her nephew. This boy is quite the character. He was very unhappy when his mommy left but he eventually warmed up to hanging out with us. And once he calmed down, he was SO adorable. Unfortunately, I took ZERO pictures while I was there even though I had plenty of opportunities. Heather and I just had a great opportunity to fellowship and catch up on each other's lives. It was much needed to time since it has been so long. We will need to plan more days, especially when my son is out of school so that the kids can all play together.

So, tomorrow, I meet with my next friend for the week. Her name is Grace, and she has been my best friend for ten plus years! She was the first person to invite me to church (Thank you God!!) and she always challenges me to simplify my life and have more of a servent's heart just as God intended. I can not wait to see her tomorrow. Although, I know I need to get lots of rest tonight because I know we are probably going to have a LATE night tomorrow night.I'm so excited! In addition, after meeting with my friend, Grace, I will be even better able to answer a question that was asked of me about missionaries in one of my previous posts. I know but Grace has actually lived out on the mission field so she knows even more about it than I do. So, look for the missionary post probably on Thursday night!

Have a great night everyone!

Weekend Wrap Up

I just want to apologize for always waiting until Monday to wrap up my weekend. I keep thinking that shorter posts are the smarter way to go but since we moved, my hubby and I have been sharing one computer and that has NOT been fun. I didn't realize how inconvenient it would be to only have one for awhile. So, I'm in the process of figuring out a new plan.

So, I will try to keep this as short as possible which shouldn't be too hard since I didn't do too much this weekend. So, here we go...

SOCCER AWARDS NIGHT
On Fridday night we had the end of the season awards night. This OFFICIALLY means my soccer season is over. :-( Actually, I'm kind of happy and sad about (if that's not weird). It is quite the commitment but it also was a lot of fun.

The awards show was great. They had a guest magician come and entertain the kids and parents. He was hilarious. He did nice tricks and interweaved throughout his show was the gospel message. I absolutely loved that. The kids (and parents) were entertained and they all heard about Jesus.

It was a great night. I wasn't allowed to do any video taping which is a bummer but I did get some pics of my kids and stuff. Unfortunately, one player did not make it to the show, so I STILL have not gotten a picture of my whole team. So sad but enjoy the pics.

The kids chatting up before the show started. I took pictures during the show but they were watching the magician so intently that it looks like they are zoning out on the TV.

Then the magician asked some coaches to come up. He just called out 3 names (boy was I relieved that one of the names wasn't mine! He had up there doing some funny stuff.

And this is my final team picture (minus one player, Joel). This a good group of kids!

So, that officially wraps up our soccer season. Basketball sesason will start in August/September and I have not decided yet if I will coach for that. I think I might just enjoy being a team parent. We shall see...

SATURDAY MORNING HIKE

My friend, Bobbi, invited for a hike with some ladies from her work. We went up to Mt. Rubidouz in Riverside. It was about 20 minutes away from where we live (could be an hour or longer drive when there's traffic) so that was nice. Bobbi picked me up at 6:30am. I don't know what I was thinking because one thing that I was really excited about since soccer was over, was that I would I finally be able to sleep in on Saturdays. I guess I will have to wait until next Saturday. But it was worth it. I really enjoyed the hike and I enjoyed meeting Bobbi's co-workers.

This is what we saw when we got to the top of the hike. I thought that was so cool. We should have planned to do a little devotion. Maybe next time... right Bobbi?? :-)
We were all going to bring something for breakfast to share with everyone. Three of us brought things and we all brought strawberries. I was the only one who only brought strawberries. Bobbi brought strawberries and blueberries. And Sandi brought strawberries and grapes. It is definitely the perfect time to buy strawberries here.

Here's my little serving of fruit. And then after that I kept going back for grapes.

Here's a pic of me and Bobbi. You're probably wondering while we look all bundled up. Believe it or not, it actually sprinkled a little that morning and was still a little chilly... Perfect hiking weather!

So, for the most part that wraps up my weekend. For the rest of Saturday, we pretty much did nothing but relax which is exactly what I wanted to do. It was nice. Sunday we went to church in the morning, and then did more relaxing. It was great.

I'm pretty excited about this week because I'm going to be meeting up with three beautiful ladies that I have not seen in a long time. I'm so excited. All three ladies have impacted my life at different times and they are beautiful women of God. I'm meeting with this morning, one tomorrow morning, and one Wednesday night. I will post about each lady at some point after meeting with them. So, I should probably get off the computer since I'm meeting with the first beautiful lady in less than an hour. Have a great Monday everybody!

Small Victory + Family Restaurant + The New Challenge

Wow! That seems like a lot to get in on one post but I will try to keep it brief because I'm sure short and sweet would be best.

SMALL VICTORY

I would like to start off this post writing about our family's small victory. We are currently going through the adoption process and his been so ridiculous. Our son, Tyler, is 9 years old and he certainly has his issues (well, of course, after what he's been through)but he does NOT need any medication. For those people that have met him, they see that he doesn't need medication. Unfortunatly, the County social worker felt that Tyler should be re-evaluated after he a really bad month behaviorally. One month out of ten is not bad in my opinion since it use to be a weekly (sometimes daily occurence where he use to live). Anyhow, after 3 visits to the psychiatrist, he determined yesterday that Tyler does NOT need meds!! We were extremely excited. Tyler almost jumped out of his seat. He was almost shocked that anyone else besides us would think he doesn't need meds because they have been saying he needs them for so long. So, this is one small (actually pretty huge to us) for us and we have about a ton more to go. Here's a picture of me and Tyler while we were in the waiting room waiting for our official paper saying that there is no need for medication.
FAMILY RESTAURANT

In honor of this small victory (along with some other changes we made in the household in regards Tyler) we decided to go out to eat. We went to a place that we have never been before. We drive by all the time, wondering if it is any good. Well, last night we decided to find out. It is called Redlands Family Restaurant. It was very quiet and relaxing which I loved cause we could just enjoy each other's company. The prices were pretty reasonable and we got plenty of food. Here's what we ordered:

First, we started out with a sampler platter ($8.99) which had chicken strips, buffalo wings, mozarella sticks, and onion rings. (There were also some veggies for an added to touch but they were advertised on the menu). And everything on the platter was really good and there was so much that there were leftovers.
Tyler order the kids' grilled cheese ($4.99). It was a pretty good-sized sandwich and came with fries and some veggies (which Tyler did eat). Sorry the pic is blurry.
Taylor went with that hamburger meal ($7.99) which was also huge. And it came with all the fixings and fries.
I ordered the chicken parmesian ($8.99). There was a picture of it in the menu and I couldn't resist. However, it didn't look like the picture. There was WAY more pasta and chicken. The chicken is all under the pasta so you can't really tell. The chicken wasn't what I expected for chicken parmesian but it was still good. But since we had so much food, I just decided to eat the pasta and save the chicken so I can make a sandwich out of it for lunch today. And the chicken parmesian came with soup or salad (and I picked the soup which was Navy Bean). It was pretty good soup. And there was also garlic bread which I somehow didn't take a picture of. Hmm...

Overall, I would say that we really enjoyed our meals and would go there again. However, even the prices were decent, it is still high priced for our budget so we wouldn't go there often. We actually don't eat out too often anymore cause it costs so much more when you have a child.


THE NEW CHALLENGE

So, here it finally is, my new challenge that I accepted from my friend, Bobbi. Actually it's more like 3 challenges. It's a challenge to do 100 push ups, 200 sit ups, and 200 squats. Each of these are actually three different 6-week programs to set you to reach the goals of doing 100 consecutive push ups, 200 consecutive sit ups, and 200 consecutive squats. Each of these programs can be done individually but we have decided to do them together. You take the initial test so that you can see where you start in the program. When preparing to do the initial tests I was not at all worried about sit ups or squats. I can do enough of those to not be embarressed when I post the results. However, when it comes to push ups, I'm so bad at them. My arms are pretty strong but I'm also pretty heavy so I've always struggled with push ups and usually just avoided them. But not now... I'm going to work at getting better at those. So, for the test you just start doing as many as you can in a row until you have to stop. And based on that number, it is determine where you should start in the program. Well, here are my results from my test:

Push Ups (I can't believe I'm sharing this) : 12
Sit ups: 133
Squats: 77

So, based on these numbers, I know where I start in the challenge. Please feel free to check out these sites and feel free to join us in the challenge. Join us in one, two, or all three challenges!!

100 Push Ups Challenge
200 Sit Ups Challenge
200 Squats Challenge

Wow, I can't believe it's Friday! The week has gone by pretty quickly which is good (and bad). But there are some wonderful things that I'm looking forward to this weekend. Here's the plan for the weekend:

Tonight - Soccer Awards Night
Saturday - Hike with Bobbi, wait for guy to install DirecTV (blah), and have some family time
Sunday - Church in the morning, lunch with the in-laws, more family time (possibly go out to Joshua Tree or Idyllwild since it has been cool enough still), and then come back for my in-law's birthday dinner.

Lots of things to do before I go to work. Have a great Friday everyone!!

On the way to the doctor's office & Giveaways in the blog world

I was taking my son to the doctor today, we saw this dog just hanging out of the window. I know is so random but I just wanted to post it because the dog looked so relaxed. I do apologize for the extremely blurry picture as I took the picture with my crummy camera phone through our dirty car window while driving. But the dog was still cute and relaxed. Hope you can see him clear enough.


GIVE AWAYS

Some give aways that I have already mentioned:

Peanut Butter & Jenny has the HUGE GOODIE PRIZE - Ends June 14 @ midnight EST
The Health Nut is giving away the MyMix Granola - Ends TONIGHT @ midnight EST

More give aways that I have recently stumbled across:

Rosey Rebecca is giving away a Variety Pack of Chobani Yogurt - Ends June 12 @ midnight EST


Later I will post about a challenge that I took from my friend, Bobbi. She challenged me to a duel!!! j/k. It's an exercise challenge that I would like to write about later and it's actually pretty simple. In addition, I will post the meal that fed three of us for a total of $4.00! (Yes... we are definitely living on a budget!)

Hope everyone had a wonderful hump day!

A Dose of Reality

Today after Tyler's therapy, I went over to one of my soccer player's house. Her mom told me that she would make me a CD of all the pictures that she took for the season. This is perfect because I like to make a slideshow DVD for my players and I know that I didn't take nearly enough pictures on my own. So, anyways, I was thinking that this would be a quick stop by just to get the CD but then it turned in to a 3 hour conversation!! I was blessed to meet this family. The player's house that I went to was Lyric. Her parents names are Josh and Sara. And then there are 3 other children!!!: Ireland, Kennedy, and Liam. I love all the names that they picked. :-) So, on to the 3-hour conversation.

Josh and Sara McKee informed me today that they are selling all of their possessions and moving to Hungary to become missionaries! I think this is SO awesome! They were both just telling me how God is working in their lives and how he has humbled them. God has done (and is still doing) a wonderful work in their lives, their marriage, and their family. As I was talking to them, I was being convicted of all the luxuries I have in my life that I DON"T NEED!! In the past I have often tossed around the idea of becoming a missionary but I also oten made lots of (selfish) excuses for why I shouldn't do it. In all reality, Christians are supposed to be missionaries where ever they are so no matter where I live, I should be sharing Jesus with people! Do I do that??? Not even close! As part of my journey that I started, I wanted to get closer with God. I NEED to be out sharing the Good News! I need to spend more time in prayer, more time in God's word, and more time sharing the gospel with people around me. And I do pray that God will open that door to the overseas mission field once Tyler is officially, legally our son. Not that America is not a mission field (because it CERTAINLY is) but I feel that when you go overseas , you are forced in to the RAW essentials in life. In America, there are so many things that distract Christians from God's purpose in their life. So, if you remember, please pray for our hearts to be listening to God's direction in our lives for the mission field in the future. Also, please do pray for the McKee Family as they begin their journey in to the mission field. In addition, if you would feel in your heart at all that you are being led to support them financially in getting to Hungary, I'm sure they would be so very greatful! All money to support them can be sent to:

McKee Family
1594 LaPraix St
Highland, CA 92346

Please make checks out to Sara or Josh McKee. Write Hungary in the Memo section.

I was going to post some other pics and discuss some other things but we just had a random, late night visit (after 10pm) that has just left (at 10:38pM). So, now that he has gone, I am now REALLY tired. But at least I got out the most important information. Have a blessed night!