Be Strong and Courageous

an amazing thought provoking looking at our 'moments' every day. may the blessing flow over you as you take in the thoughts of Ann and ponder for yourself, what moment will you hold onto today.

What an amazing weekend of blog hopping. I was so blessed by the all those who participated that I was able to stop by. I even created anew favorites tab just for the blog hop. So many inspiring women, many whose husbands are serving this country we live in. Many who worship God with open hearts and transparency of their lives as a witness to His Grace. I wanted to thank all who came by to say hello. I know that this thing we call blogging is a blessing to so many and I hope any who stopped by will come back around and become more like friends in the years to come, Lord willing. Have a blessed day, Look to the Lord for your strength and He will hold you up.

I joined in on the Blizzard Blog hop via household6diva Feel free to check out the nearly 200 who are linked in so far. My name is Nicole and I blog over at Be Anxious for Nothing  . I have been at this blogging thing for a few years and love the opportunity it gives me to see other women wanting to be an encouragement to those they can even via the web. I blog mostly about what matter to me,  my family and my faith. I have been married to my man for 16 + years and have 3 wonderful children.  I love the Ocean - here we are at the beautiful Outer Banks of NC. We woke the children at 525 AM to see the sunrise and none of them even complained.  I can usually be found with some form of coffee with in a few feet of me. I love sunrises and sunsets, and taking photos when the opportunity arrives. We built our first home in 2009 and this past summer I grew my first 'tiny' garden. The tomatoes were a big hit. This is the love of my life, we w...

These small hours still remain, Let is slide, let your troubles fall behind you.......

I made You promises a thousand times I tried to hear from Heaven But I talked the whole time I think I made You too small I never feared You at all No If You touched my face would I know You? Looked into my eyes could I behold You? (CHORUS) What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy? I guess I thought that I had figured You out I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about How You were mighty to save Those were only empty words on a page Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees (CHORUS) What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I ...

Please be encouraged by this http://www.titus2atthewell.com/  I have stopped this one a few times and always find encouragement as follower of Christ, wife to my man, and mommy to my 3 blessings. Life is never perfect but to beencouraged to keep going is always a blessing for sure.

There are these conferences for bloggers that I am pretty sure I will never attend, due to a thousand reasons; but someone came up with a way to connect none the less to some other great bloggers. Hope to join in the even and introduce my blog to many others as well.  the host is household6diva   I linked her page on the side bar, check her out.

Real Homes, Real Messes, Real Life…Link Party! this totally cracked me up. As I was reading it Emma asked if I was allowed to look at anyones house, I said, "no, just those who post it." my craft room is the only room that would qualify as a mess right now. Hoping to fix that by friday.

Here is an article that I can appreciate, Homeschooling-is-not-optional  . I sometimes feel like there is this unwritten rule about being Christian and our schooling choices for our children. I know lots of families who Home school, use the public school system and those that choose a parochial school to meet their child's needs. what this article says is that no matter the choice we the parent are the first teacher and most important teacher our children have. 

So I have been really trying to 'plan' our meals, but it really comes down to what hub is in the mood for and what is on hand. Which is usually anything and everything that is norm for us. Always have chicken, beef, and some pork on hand. We go back and forth between pasta, salad and main dishes. Here is what the month of January has looked like: Beef Mac -elbows, homemade marinara, peppers, onions, and ground beef  Salad night Grilled Ham and Cheese Pannini's Bagel Pizza's - marinara or salsa with ham and cheese toppings Waffles w/ bacon ( love breakfast for dinner) Soup night Pizza Stuffed shells - Ricotta, mozzarella, ground beef, in pasta shells covered in marinara and cheese Grilled chicken salad Pork Chops w/rice and Peas Stew Beef Stroganoff over Noodles Cereal  for dinner - easy peasy! We have leftovers at least once a week and there is always the make your own dinner nights on occasion. We took the kids to Applebee's , and th...

Kidding around town Blog  feels the same way I do about the safety of our smaller children. Any one who rides in our car will buckle up properly of course; but in specific  regards to using Addysen's 5 Point Harness, we will do it as long as we can.  Boosters alone with the cars own belt are not truly safe for kids under 60 pounds and under 4'9". I know that the 5 point systems are a bit more 'expensive' but we are talking you child's life.  Most accidents happen with in 15 miles of your home.  We want to teach our children to be safe, when it come to life, and we should start by protecting them when we can, as well as we can.  Also just because your 4 year old can  'buckle themselves' does not mean you should not check it on a regular basis to make sure the straps are not twisted or not down around their hips.  I know that some of you will just like the convenience of the 'small' booster, or maybe you are unaware of how dangerous...

The Importance of a 5 point harness car seat from Laura Bower on Vimeo .

I was over at She Looked Well  and she was talking about Ann's blog  and her new book; and Michelle is giving away a copy.   I had been intrigued by the Beautifulness of the cover and more so the content that I have had a chance to read a bit of. Her heart is amazing, and she shares so freely. Feel free to stop either of their blogs.

I cannot believe that my baby is going to be 6 in 2 weeks. I have been really struck by grown up she is and how blessed ourlife is with her in it. This is one of my favorite  layouts in her baby album, 'The Many Faces of Addysen'.

The other day fresh snow had fallen and Addysen really wanted to go play in it when she returned from school, so on went the bibs, the coat, the hat, the gloves, and boots. It is quite an ordeal for one so little to be bound up by so much clothing, but so worth the smiles of sliding in the January cool of the evening. I love our sunsets over the hop feilds and farm houses.  she even did an art project at school that matched her outfit.   Hope that you all get some play time with the kids whatever the weather.

I had been trying to post the last few days and everytime I would put in a photo to upload it would tell me the memory is full. I hope this does not mean I cannot put more pictures up with out buying something. I may have to create a new blog, not sure. I will look into the details, let me know if any of you have had this problem. It seems to be linked to my picaso album being full. Oh well maybe next week I will get it figured out.

We have heard this song for years through listening to CSN radio and have always loved it. this weekend at Snow camp Emma really listened and loved it. Enjoy the presense of the Lord. Hillsongs - Came To My Rescue Lyrics : "Falling on my knees in worship Giving all I am to seek your face Lord all I am is yours My whole life I place in your hands God of Mercy Humbled I bow down In your presence at your throne I called you answered And you came to my rescue and I I wanna be where you are In my life be lifted high In our world be lifted high In our love be lifted high"

I have spent the last week doing some serious sorting in the craft room ending with the   8 boxes  of photos dated 1993 -2009. I have ordered all the photos I plan to scrap over the next few months as I try to give my creative side a chance at living again. I have taking 3 really long breaks from Scrpabboking over the past 15 years. The first was for the first year we were overseas in Germany. There was so much to see and do and get used to the Scrapbooking was set aside. I then took it back up in 2002 and even stayed current through our time there and through a move back state side. The next break I took was when my father passed awayin May of 2004.   I just could not bare to print photos even for the longest time, and then with the arrival of Addysen almost exactly 9 months later,  I forced myself to do her baby album  but was letting the year of 2004 stay in the digital land of my pc for  a while.  It was not until 2008 almost 4 years t...

These are a few of my favorite things: -The blue glass candy dish was my grandmother's and when asked if there was anything dear to me of her I would like when she passed, this was it. Blue is my favorite color and it brings fond memories back of being in her home. - A photo of my man at the beach with Andrew and Emma when they were little. - A jar of shells from both of our countries beautiful coasts, from Oregon, Connecticut, North Carolina. - The Navy issued Bible that my grandfather sent to my dad, in 1945 - A table runner that also belonged to my Grandmother. They have all found a home atop my father's bureau (the hard ware was lost in the move so the mirror is against the wall underneath). My almost organized stamping supply shelf. Lots of family photos and canvas art that I really enjoy making, and one of my jars of ribbon that Emma helped put in color  coordinating groupings in the jars. I took every thing off the board and from scratch matching it to the towe...

So the 3  in 30 is going along, I have not bought a coffee, but I have also not really left the house :o) . I have been reading to Addy and she is reading to me, and I love it. I did 20 minutes on the eliptical and knocked out 2.9 miles, yeah me. Now to get the little one ready for school and get on with the day. I hope you get a chance to spend some time worshipping the LORD today and reading His WORD, It is the best way to start the day. thanks for stopping by.

Emma's First Guitar Addy's DS - like the big kids :) The mug Addy made for me. The  Family Diaroma Emma made of all of us -- we are puffyball people. Just before opening presents. Our Playmobil Advent of St Nickolaus and the woodland creatures. Every child has a photo ornament, several actually. 1st present, New PJ's and robe for Andrew this year. The stockings were all hung..... The blessings of many friends and family shared here with us. the penguin turned chicken.....silly girls.