Wrapping up our January

Andrew and I had a great trip to Florida.  He did wonderful on the plane (unlike the car!!!) and it was so nice to see my family and some friends.  I enjoyed having some one on one time with the baby and he got spoiled!  I also enjoyed the time with my dad and introducing Andrew to family and friends.  It was nice to meet my friend's little one, too.  :)  I was not used to the heat there!  lol  I forgot my cell phone back in TN so I also had the chance to fast from technology for a long weekend......and I survived!  Oh it was fun to go back to our old church, too.  I missed my hubby and the other boys, though. 

Dad flew back with me and Andrew on Monday and has been here since.  He leaves tomorrow, Friday.  :'(  We have been enjoying our time with him and getting out to do some fun things.  The boys LOVE their Pappy and I fear it's gonna be a little rough for all of us when he leaves tomorrow. 

We have officially experienced a child with a tummy virus!  On our way home from the Museum of Science and Energy on Tuesday, Hunter started throwing up in the car......EVERYWHERE!!!!!  We still haven't successfully gotten the smell out of his car seat.  Considering putting it through the car wash!  lol  He then threw up again all in his crib in the middle of the night.  Now we still haven't successfully gotten the smell out of his sheets.  We are just praying that no one else gets it.  Hunter seems to be better now, thank God.   How do we get rid of the awful lingering smell?????

I have started taking the boys to the library for storytime on Mondays and Wednesdays and they have been loving it.  It's nice for us, gives us some time out.  :) 

School has been really busy this semester and keeps me busy during nap time and after the boys go down at night.  I graduate end of summer with my bachelor's in nursing and I am excited for that! 

We also have 7 new members to our family........We got some new fish today.....Ryan fish II, Hunter fish II, Andrew fish, Daddy fish, Pappy fish, Allie fish, and Mommy fish.  :) 

Lastly, I went by our townhome while I was home and everything looked good and we were paid for months February through August.  God is good!  A big relief! 

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

SNOW!

This is Allie not wanting to step paw into anything wet and cold. 

First snow for Ryan and Hunter (and Andrew).  Hunter only lasted a minute or so and then he was done.  Ryan LOVED it though.  We threw snowballs at each other and ran around in it.  When Sean got home, him and Ryan went out and built a snowman.

And then this is Allie a little while later........loving the snow.  I couldn't hardly get her back inside.

We've had some crazy weather around here.  Last weekend we broke records from 1890 because we reached 73 degrees.  Then all week we got slammed with a ton of rain and some flooding.  Today, we got probably 2 or 3 inches of snow.  It was beautiful!!!!!!  Tonight it's supposed to get super cold and there is worry about ice tomorrow.  Hope me and Andrew get to our flight safely and to Florida on time!!!!!  And praying for the rest of the crew that is staying here.  Now, for some coffee and snow cream......and a cookie (thank goodness my tummy bug is gone!!!!)

Not Ryan's Catch

But it was this guy's, who let Ryan touch the fish and hold them up for a picture. :)

Look at that fotch!

Norris Dam State Park

Looking at the dam.

Might not be able to tell here, but Andrew has a long toes reputation :)

The dam

We even brought the dog!!!

This weekend has been unseasonably warm, and won't be lasting, but we decided we better take advantage of it.  It was almost 70 today!  Sun was hiding, but that's OK.  We decided to check out Norris Dam State Park, which is right up the road.  We brought some Subway sandwiches and had a picnic there and walked around.  The two older boys were quite whiny and complained a lot!  They have gotten into a bad habit of saying "mommy, mom, mommy, mama, mommy, mama, mom" over and over and over again constantly.  They just repeat my name along with repetitive questions all day long.  Does this happen to anybody else?  If so, what the resolution?  And why when we bring them somewhere to run and play, they ask to be held and carried the whole time?  Oh well!  No complaints.  We still enjoyed our day!  This evening we decided to grill out brats.  Sean, Andrew, Ryan, and I were on the back porch and Hunter was sitting inside.  Well, I guess Ryan decided it would be a good idea to lock the door, which was not a good idea!  We were all stuck out there with Hunter inside with the oven turned on cooking tater tots.  Our back deck has a 15+ foot drop so getting down was not an option.  Thankfully I was able to get a hold of a neighbor on the phone who came by and let us in!

Eagle Cam

So, my dad gave me the link to a live web cam of an eagle and her two new eaglets.  We checked it out last night so we could show Ryan, but it was pretty neat so I thought I would share.  I looked again today (which it's much better to look during the day) and she was feeding her two little ones fish and they were making the cutest noises.  Sean thinks I'm a little silly, but I'm getting a kick out of it.  :)

http://www.ustream.tv/SouthwestFloridaEagleCam

One baby was born on New Year's Day and the next one 3 days later. 


And these are not the same ones, but cute just the same.  :)

4 Months!

 

And here's little man's stats: 

15 lbs 1/2 oz

26.5 in long

 

Side note:  WE GOT PAID BY OUR TENANTS YESTERDAY!!!!!  WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.  MATT 19:26

Commitment

Our preacher, Mr. Bates, urged our church to make a commitment yesterday during service.  It's sorta like a resolution for the New Year.  He asked all of us to commit to reading our Bibles 10 minutes a day, memorizing scripture 10 minutes a day, praying 10 minutes a day, and handing out 30 tracts a month.  Well, I have made the commitment.....and I'm pressuring Sean to commit, too!  :)  lol  We pretty much do all of it already, but we have never handed out tracts before, therefore, Sean's hesitance in making the commitment.  It is very scary, I admit, but I'm excited to do it. 

Now, may I encourage you to make the same commitment for 2013!!!!  :)

Happy New Year!!!!

5 days into it.  :) 

Our New Year has started out differently this year, but we have a BIG God and we are confident that He will take care of us, He will provide, and He loves us so much. 

New Year's Day we woke up to Ryan's fish without life.  So he joined the Hunter fish in the land of wherever water goes after it's flushed.  Should I know where it goes? lol

We also have all had colds, even little Andrew.  He has had a nasty cough.  Ryan is finally better and so is Hunter, but Sean, Andrew, and I are still with the lingering remains of it. 

A few days later I found out that my friend's husband passed away from leukemia in December.  He was diagnosed with it in May, a few weeks after their first child was born, and he died from complications of a bone marrow transplant.  She was a very close friend of mine when we lived in California and Sean was in the Marine Corps.  Her husband, Shane, was also a Marine, and Sean and Shane deployed together. 

We are also heavily burdened with our tenants living in our town home in FL.  They have not paid their rent for the month of December or for January.  We are owed a couple thousand dollars.  Paying two mortgages is a little stressful.  We have started eviction procedures and are hoping for the best outcome possible.  It has been weighing heavily on me and Sean.  What's worse is they are ignoring our phone calls and have lied to us.  They need a lot of prayer.  We are trying to be obedient and repent of any wrongdoing or sin in our lives that God may be disciplining us for.  We made the mistake of taking on a mortgage back in 2008 before we learned God's principles of not getting into debt.  After we learned those principles, we became debt free and have remained that way.....except for our mortgage. 

We took a day trip to Johnson City so Sean could see the doctor at the VA hospital there.  I took the boys to mall while he did that.  It was a nice scenic drive and we enjoyed ourselves.  Andrew did great in the car, too, because he had an endless supply of milk!!!!!  :) 

We are choosing to be grateful in this valley of life.  We are so thankful and grateful for our family and our health, a roof over our heads, food in our fridge, and clothing on our backs.  We are not dealing with really difficult things like many people are in this world.  We have not gone through a tragedy or a disaster.  We are going to have faith, strength, and courage. 

God knows our needs and never fails to meet them.  We have received income in ways that were totally a surprise and only by God's faithful hands could it have been given to us.  We are doing our best to be good stewards of the money he has blessed us with and our prayer is we learn what God wants us to learn through this situation and that we draw closer to Him. 

We don't really make resolutions in this household, but Sean and I are committed on working on our faith and walking by the spirit and not by the flesh, to being obedient.  We are also reading God's word and hoping to finish the Bible in a year.  It is exciting to hunger for the word and it is beautiful to look forward to that time with my husband in the evenings after the kiddos have gone to sleep.   And we have our coffee and dessert.  :) 

God bless you and keep you. 

Romans 8:28

King James Version (KJV)

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Proverbs 3:5-6

King James Version (KJV)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.