Happy Valentine's Day

This weekend we celebrated Valentine's day a little early.  Tom started out the planning and then asked for my input.  It was a ton of fun!  We had one of our favorite babysitters come over and watch the boys while we went to Supper Solutions.  This is a meal preparation business.  We've done this once before and enjoyed it so much that we decided to do it again.  You go in and put together meals so they can be frozen and cooked/baked at a later time.  All the cutting and clean-up is done for you, so this was nice.  We came out with 10 meals for the future, had fun preparing them together and then we went out and enjoyed lunch together.  Unfortunately this was the last time we'll get to do this since our local Supper Solutions is closing.  I don't think there are any other businesses in town like this anymore.  There used to be quite a few of them, but one by one they've been closing down.  So for future meal preparations I am going to try the website onceamonth.com.  The gal there does an amazing job with everything from shopping lists, labels, recipes and directions.

So we had a great time together this weekend away from the boys, with just the two of us.  Tom said we need to do this more often...I agree.  Thanks sweetie for the fun weekend and the flowers :-)

This weekend I also spent a lot of time in the kitchen when I made some yummy fudge for Tom, as well as chicken and dumplings and mini chocolate cheesecakes.

Another post this week? WOW!

So, it's a very snowy day here in Colorado (the way most of us envision Colorado to be)...but it's VERY cold, like North Dakota cold :-) (below zero) so we brought the snow inside to play!  Joshua and Gregory are both feeling better and for this I'm thankful, so I got a tub of snow to play with in the kitchen.

Fun times!  We even made a little snowman :-) And ate some WHITE snow :-)  More pics at shutterfly

What's up?

This past week has been a tough one of cold, cold weather and sick kids.  So with this combination the only getting out of the house we did was to get groceries and to go to the doctor.  One random fact from this past week:  Joshua had his first piece of corn on the cob (and he enjoyed it).

I also got a couple of cute pictures I wanted to share.

Also, I finally got around to putting the pics online from our trip to the zoo.  We went with two of my friends from church with their kids.  My friend Kathryn has twin boys who are 3 and she is expecting her third on Valentine's Day.  My other friend is Dinah, she has the cute little girl (Ella) you see in the pictures.  Joshua says Ella's name and it's so cute.

Walking on Sunshine...

I had to come up with some way to incorporate Gregory into this post...so I am using one of his favorite songs...I'm walking on sunshine...whoa...I'm walking on sunshine...

So Joshua is now walking...and he's doing more and more of it each day...seems like yesterday he was born and now he's already walking and saying so many words (today's new one was banana bread) :-)

http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z273/rmcook75/?action=view&current=walking1.mp4

http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z273/rmcook75/?action=view&current=walking2.mp4

This last video is just a cute fun one of the boys playing.
http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z273/rmcook75/?action=view&current=car.mp4

Update on Joshua

So last week we were supposed to have Joshua's 12 month check-up (yeah we are almost at 13 months now) and when we finally get to have his appt he will almost be 14 months old.  But other things took priority over getting him to his appt.  We spent that day in the ER.  A picture frame fell off the wall and struck Joshua in the head and cut his head (only about a cm in length).  So he ended up with a staple in his head.  It was the first time I had ever called 911 and they responded pretty quickly and were very helpful.  Joshua still has the staple and we are supposed to get it out tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.  I am pretty sure it will be more painful than when he got it.  They didn't even numb his head to put it in.  He cried for a brief moment and then was done.  All of this to say that there will be no 12 month stats to compare with Gregory at this time :-)

Bible Study

So I try not too post too much about spiritual matters mostly because I don't want others to be critical of me or to judge me or my thoughts...but today I just got finished reading over my bible study lesson for tomorrow and I just have a burning desire to write about my thoughts and to get them down on "paper" for me to read later when I need encouragement...so you get to have a peak into my life here.

The bible study I am doing is on Becoming a Woman of Simplicity....something I definitely need in my life, but don't really want.  I like busyness.  It means less time for mind wandering negative thoughts.  It means my boys aren't sitting in front of the tv all day if we are out and about.  It also means I get more praise for what I am doing...finding bargains...when was the last time I was told "great job" for just spending time with God, my boys or a friend? 

Spending time reading and thinking lately has been good for me...it changes my focus back on God...lately I've been struggling with having an angry attitude and it's hard to keep that whenever I am hearing praise music, reading God's Word or thinking about my bible study lesson questions.

Today I REALLY enjoyed reading from the Message bible...Matt 16:19-34 and James 4:7-10.  I like that I could see how the verses applied to my life. 

^7-10So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.

 

James 4:7-10 The Message (emphasis my own)

Welcome to 2011!

So 2011 has been with us for nearly two weeks now and I have been thinking about "new year's resolutions" and how I never say them...but this year I do want things to be different.  There are things I want to change and ways I want to grow, so I am not really writing down new year's resolutions, but more like life resolutions since I don't want them just to be for this year.  And to help me be able to think on these things throughout the year this is the place I will "write" them down.

-Read more (one book a month seems to be too much for me right now, but if I even read one book this year it will be more than last year)
-Exercise more (now that I have a wii fit it makes this an easier and more enjoyable thing to do)
-Spend more time reading God's Word (right now I am reading the book of John in conjunction with what our church will be doing...reading the book of John through the next three weeks)
-Devote more time to growing spiritually (today was the second week that I made it to our ladies bible study at church, we are studying "Becoming a Woman of Simplicity" and we all know I need to learn more in this area
-Make the most of the moments I have with my boys (self explanatory)
-Make more of an effort to grow closer in my relationship with my wonderful husband (date nights are a priority, grow spiritually together, read together, dream together and love each other more)
-Work on our finances more (Save more, budget better and learn more about finances)

So there you have it...some of my thoughts for 2011...We'll see how it goes come December :-)