Through Christ Alone

Our identity as "Mommy" lies in WHO we are, not it WHAT we do.

As Christian Moms, I feel like we try too hard sometimes to BE all and DO all for our children and in turn squeeze out what the Holy Spirit may be wanting to do in our children's lives. We must remember that it is the GOODNESS of God that leads man to repentance... trust God's goodness to shine through you more than you trust in your own strength to manifest goodness to them... goodness in you is the fruit of the Spirit working in you... not the works of human strength. I know that my personal encounter with God came clearly by the Holy Spirit who swept down into the midst of our dark family life and pulled us out into His light. Wow! Let's lean more on prayer and the Holy Spirit than we do in our A, B & C's to parenting and salvation...

You alone are Father

and You alone are Good

You alone are Savior

and You, alone are GOD

Jack Parker, David Crowder. Hillsong

Daddy's Shoes

The melting snow and lots of rain today brought in some water into our basement so daddy had a big job on his hands... it wasn't too bad and nothing was damaged... the water was just coming in through the hatchway door (I think that is what it is called). Well, daddy's boots did not stay vacant for long...

...which reminded me of the many times over the years our sweet Liliana has sported Daddy's shoes...

I know there are more photos and even a good handful of some of her in my shoes and boots... She seems to take after mommy in her love fore shoes. I loved wearing my mom and dad's shoes as a little girl. :o)

Project 365 Week 8

Sunday, February 13th

No Picture. Man!

Monday, February 14th

A sweeeet day as a family! We treated the kids with McDonald's Happy Meals for lunch... awe!

Last week the kids and I made a special shirt for Courtney... Donnie mailed it to her ON Valentine's... :o) SHE got it on Thursday of this week and LOVED it!!! :o) She spends lots of time starring at it and the two glow-in-the-dark handprints on the back illuminate her bedroom at night... awe!

Tuesday, February 15th

Elia is the SWEETEST thing EVER!!! She wakes up in the morning sooooo sweeet... She just opens her eyes and starts looking around and babbles and smiles till we come to greet her. This morning, the kids greeted her by having the doggies give he lots of kissies! TOO SWEET!

Look at Liliana still yawning... they are all still "waking up".

Later that evening Liliana took it upon her self to help out with the dishes. AWE! She thought is was so cool... I will remind her of that when she is 14. :o)

Sweet little Momma!

Wednesday, February 16th

No picture. Busy day... Auntie Joy and Emma came over for a few hours and we had church that night. Liliana LOVES Miss Mary Anduaga's class and always learn so much and Noah really thinks Mr. Jason is so cool!

Thursday, February 17th

Restin' up day!

Friday, February 18th

Look at this big girl! A few days past 5 months! Wow!!! Time flies and we are Loving Every Moment!

Saturday, February 19th

No picture. Mommy was tireddddd. :o) Mommy caught up on some rest and calories... ha!

Hehe... Artist Noah

I was so excited and tickled when Noah started drawing faces a couple of weeks ago... They are evolving already. Here is one he drew today, two eyes, cheeks, a smiling face and a nose with big nostrils... hehe! He is too cute!!! It is amazing to see how he watches what Liliana does on her pictures and how he is copying her, I told her she is a teacher. AWE!

Our Little Artist

As any of my blog readers know, I am SO in love with Liliana's artwork. She draws for hours on most days at home and I love watching her creative process but it is when I am fascinated to see something outside of home that blows me away and makes me realize it is not just biological bias. When I walked into Liliana's class last night and saw her door hangers laying on the table before her I asked "Who drew these!?" thinking it was probably her, but not 100% sure because of how detailed and precise the lines were... this one in particular blew me away... look at the movement in the lines, the life, the expression, the detail... the stars shining through the window in the background... and she is not yet 5. LOVE this! I love art and all expressions of it no matter the "perfection" because it is all about the expression and the process... Go forth and create... all you readers... :o)

Project 365 Week 7

Monday, January 7th

Big sister trying to help Elia sit up by herself.

I have always thought Elia had Daddy's hands...

wow... the kitchen walls are not this color... I promise!!!

Another Milestone: Discovery and fascination of the Remote Control!

Tuesday, February 8th

No picture... hmmm... we stayed in an had a wonderful day. :o)

Wednesday, February 9th

No picture. I helped out the WM, Liliana went to AJ's to play with Emma and we had a wonderful time at church that night.

Thursday, February 10th

Liliana took a long cozy nap... she will do this 2 or 3 times a week, but most days she is like the Energizer Bunny.

The Nott's brought over pizza and we made rocks for the "skit/testimony" we had planned for that coming Saturday at the Women's Breakfast. Donnie was at work late... I loved showing him this crazy picture the next day...

Friday, February 11th

No picture. WM's. L @ AJ's, Noah and Daddy salted driveway.

Saturday, February 12th

AM: I went to the Women's Breakfast. Diane Nott told her testimony - so fun to be a part of that! Love the ministry!!!!! Woooh!

Later that day:

Today was Elia's fussiest day yet... awe, I can feel her two bottom teeth on the virge of pushing through, so I imagine that is making her want mommy to hold her more... so sweet! I love our sweet little love bug!!! Liliana was helping to sooth her by sharing her musical jewelry box with her. And, what a shot... just happened...

Project 365 Week 6

Monday, January 31st

Donnie's Birthday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

We had a wonderful family day together!

We had a YUMMY dinner at Texas Roadhouse!
Mr. Nott joined us and took the opportunity to give the kids the "just because" gifts he had gotten them earlier in the week. He got Liliana a lady bug bracelet and Noah a dog-tag with his name engraved on it.

Tuesday, February 1st

Lunch... these cheetos were a mommy impulse buy at the Super Wal-Mart the day before...haha...mommy doesn't even like cheetos... we had so much fun shopping there!

Wednesday, February 2nd

Craft time... we do LOTS of crafts... I love craft time, but it is messy and I am really looking forward to having our yard back.

We have the best neighbors in the whole wide world on all sides of us! The guy right next door is Paul and he has a super-awesome snowblower. He does a couple of the driveways on our street for small cash and is such a thoughtful and helpful person! He let Donnie try out his toy... oooh.

Thursday, February 3rd

A regular these days for the kids... they almost never drink more than half of a half a cup...

YUMMY!

Noah loves these tights and he now has an imaginary friend named Sally! I have no idea where he got the name Sally from. She is ORANGE and she is from the Wii Dance 2 Game. Here he is talking to her on his cell phone (a corndog stick). He says to us that she is riding her bike here and that she is going to take her shoes off when she comes in the house.... about the Dance 2 game... we are returning it for the kids version... it has songs like "Hot Potato" on it.

Friday, February 4th

Meet the 3 year old George W. Bush look alike... Patsy is the one who noticed the resemblance while she was here visiting... so funny and way too cute!

We had just returned home from 3 hours of play and shopping at the mall. Notice Noah's pants are on backwards... Criss Cross... from the Jump Jump song on the Wii... a couple of the mom's at the play area noticed it and loved it. Notice also that his shoes are on the wrong feet. Oh, he is just so adorable!

Saturday, February 5th

Princess Liliana... yes, more crafts... :o)

Today was a big milestone day!!! At about 2:30 pm I felt around in Elia's mouth and felt that her bottom left tooth is about to break through... AWE!!!!!!! Liliana and I were SO excited! Liliana is so sweet and nurturing, she gets so excited over her baby sister!

Sunday, February 6th

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY...Liliana sat by her at her blue table and put these stickers on her head. Here you can really see how Elia's ears are exactly like mine... the left sticks out a little more than the right.... how sweet is that!?

Drool... that new tooth is making floods happen.

Our Backyard... we have had one of the top five snowiest Januaries ever...

I decided to let Liliana use my old camera...

That evening... another major milestone... ELIA DISCOVERED HER FEET! Sooo sweet! She probably would have discovered them sooner had it not been mid winter as her feet are always covered and warm... for some reason she had no sockies this evening and I am so thankful for a husband who knew to call me into the room to capture this sweet moment!

Liliana & Noah at age 4 Months

I have so much fun looking back at the kids baby photos and am so thankful for this digital age we live in!

Here is Liliana at age 4 months. Wow, what blonde hair she had! Stunning!

Our Sweet and oh, so HANDSOME Noah at age 4 months! Melts Mommy's heart every time... he is so charming and adorable!!!


And this one is just for fun! She was a little over age 2 here...