the hokey-pokey is *not* what it's all about...

I have been reading through some of my older posts, and I am just amazed...what a blessed LIFE I live! There have been difficult days, and even times I doubted my trust in God. I can't believe all of the time I have wasted worrying about things that don't really matter (the hokey -pokey's)...what to wear, my weight issues, how clean my house is/isn't, what so-and-so thinks or said about me. Those things truly don't matter...the eternal things matter...my relationships with my Lord and my family, making sure my kids are safe and loved, loving others (strangers too). I wish I could just grab on to that concept and keep it in my heart every day! I have to confess that I have not been reading the Bible like I should. Kris always says that reading the Bible is like fuel, armor, and strength, and he feels powerless without it. I agree. I need to fuel up! In my older posts where I was reading every morning, I could tell that there was more joy and hope in my days. I need that again...

We had a good day today. The kids and I went to church, Kris went to sleep. He's started on nights again, so he sleeps from 8 am-4 or so in the afternoon. Tonight will be his 4th night in a row, so I know he has to be tired! We went to McD's for lunch and then Asher took a big nap. Katie and I folded clothes and she watched a movie. I have been working so hard to keep the house clean to get ready to show it, but I've decided it's almost impossible with an almost 2 year old! He's a MESS! (but we LOVE him!) I went to choir practice this afternoon and Katie went to Bible Quizzing, then we had pizza for dinner (so much for cooking at home today!). Kris just left for work, so the kids and I will be going to bed soon. :o) Night!

A little glimpse...

...of things to come...

...we can hardly wait...

Happy {HEART} Month!

I know I missed Valentine's Day, but the whole month of February (and every other month!) is about LOVE right? Here are my sweet Valentine's-Asher and Katie! We made sugar cookies, of course, and I made Katie a giant one to surprise her when she got home from school on Friday. I made the little plate of Scottie dogs for my friend, Marilyn, from church. She is a dog lover! We spent Valentine's Day mostly at church...I guess that's where we meet up with the ONE who LOVES us MOST!

I really enjoy cooking, so I think that I will be adding some of my favorite recipes and sharing some menu ideas...maybe Katie will read this blog when she is a mom and remember my cooking...

We are having Delicious Ham and Potato Soup tonight! It's rainy and cold outside, a perfect day for soup in a bread bowl! Here is the recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Delicious-Ham-and-Potato-Soup/Detail.aspx

We're also having Toll House Pie for dessert. My friend Shanda made this for our pie auction at church, and it was WONDERFUL! I think I might serve it with our Schwan's Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ice Cream!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Toll-House-Pie-I/Detail.aspx

One of our other winter/cold weather favorite recipes is White Chili. We were introduced to it by my friend Beverly, and it's just amazing! It's a little spicy, so if you're sharing it with kids, lessen the red pepper just a little. So good! We love it with Jalepeno Bread from the Wal-Mart bakery, or Jiffy Cornbread!
http://www.netcooks.com/recipes/Soups/Delicious.Creamy.White.Chili.html

While we're on the subject of soup, here's just one more of our favorites: Cheeseburger Soup (and yes, it's as "unhealthy" as it sounds! LOL!) So very yummy though!
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Cheeseburger-Soup

Enjoy! (Love you Sis, if you're reading this 10 years into the future!)

Hey...how did February happen so fast?

Someone took January right off the calendar for me this year...what happened? Time just goes by too quickly. It seems like some weeks go by in such a blur. We have been really busy with church and house stuff. We're moving, maybe...someday! We have decided to put our house on the market. I lost my case management job back in January due to a RIF, and we had kind of been thinking about it before, but since then, we made the decision to "just do it". When we bought our house 3 years ago (it's an Alexander record, to have stayed in this house so long! Ha!) we were both working full time, with one child, and not really any plans to have more children realistically. I had decided that God would just have to be in control of us having another baby. Then Asher happened...what a miracle he is! Anyhoo...we had two full time good paying jobs and could afford our house three years ago. Since then I went down to part time and was recently laid off. Now I am just working part time at the church on a temporary basis, and hopefully (prayerfully!) going to be able to be a stay at home mom at some point! Yay! Church has been busy too. We're in pastoral transition, so things have been a little wild with interviews, board meetings, etc. We are hopefully very close to having a new Pastor!

Katie and Asher just keep growing and growing. Katie is about 7 inches from being as tall as I am...she's nearly 5 foot tall! She is already looking forward to 5th grade next year, so she can move up to the older class of 5th and 6th graders. Seems impossible that our tiny pink bundle who came to us almost 10 years ago could be so grown up. She is LOVING word search puzzles and still reads anything and everything she can get a hold of. She loves her American Girl dolls, Chrissa and Kit are never too far away from her. She is still just a jeans and tee kind of girl, with her hair usually in a pony or messy bun. She's really getting so pretty. I told her the other day that I really hope she has some of Aunt Jill's features...she seems to already!

It's hard to believe Asher will be 2 in just a couple of months. He can say so many words, he repeats almost everything! He seems really interested in potty training, and sometimes tells us when he has to go, or has already gone! He likes to sit on the potty! He LOVES his big sister. He just wants to be near her all of the time...she doesn't always like it! He loves for her to read to him, or just snuggle while they watch tv. She's getting better about getting along with him...I'm hoping we're turning a corner. For a while she really struggled with him getting more attention, etc. Asher loves ball, any kind of ball, he can say all the different kinds of sports with the word ball in it. It's really cute. He can also say Grandma, Grandpa, Meme, and Papa. He points at their pictures and knows who is who! He is a smarty!

I know I've said this like a million times before, but I really want to do a better job of keeping up my blog. I love reading the old posts, it's hard to believe that in June I will have had this 5 years...seems impossible!