Peace

Several months have passed since my last post.  My family had a great summer and I need to post about those fun things.  For now, though, I want to RE-post these beautiful scriptures that Stephanie over at Hope in a Boy's World posted today.  Her passion for our Savior is amazing and inspiring.   I felt such a peace as I read these God-breathed words...

"Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,

for he shields him all day long,

and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders."

Deut 33:12

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"I am the eternal God, your Refuge. And underneath you are My everlasting arms.

My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.

So do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to Me. And My peace, which transcends understanding, will stand guard over your heart and your mind.

When you were in great need I saved you. Be at rest once more, My child, for I have been good to you. I have delivered your soul from death, your eyes from tears, your feet from stumbling so that you may walk before Me in the land of the living.

When the cords of death entangle you, when the anguish of the grave comes upon you, when you are overcome with trouble and sorrow, call upon My Name.

I will reach down from on high and take hold of you; I will draw you out of the deep waters. I will rescue you from your powerful enemy, from your foes who are too strong for you. Though they confront you in the day of your disaster, I will be your support. I will bring you into a spacious place; I will rescue you because I delight in you. I will quiet you with my love; I will rejoice over you with singing.

So, My loved one, rest secure in Me, for I will shield you all day long. You are the one I love; come rest between my shoulders."

Dt 33:12,27; Ps 18:16-19; 116;3,5,6-9; Zep 3:17; 2 Cor 12:9; Php 4:6-7

 

Major Fingerprints...

Meet our newest family member.  Our nephew was born yesterday, March 10, 2011.  He's 7 lbs.  12 oz.  What a precious gift!  His oldest "big sister" is uber-excited!  His youngest "big sister" is not quite sure yet, but we know she will warm up in no time.  :)  I haven't met him yet, but I already love him!  Welcome to the world, Callum!

Signs of Spring

Spring is my favorite season, and it's on its way. I can feel it. I can see it, and I love it! We have had gorgeous weather here for the past two weeks. I just noticed the other day that Bradford Pear trees are blooming everywhere!

Spring reminds me that our God is in control of making everything new, just as he restores us and makes new when we accept His son as our one and only Savior.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
 The old has gone, the new is here!"

2 Corinthians 5:17

This tree is in my front yard.  I love to see it bloom each year.  It's just one small sign that He is at work renewing everything that has been "sleeping" during the cold, winter months.

Spring snow!

Eddie (the hubby),  and Connor (who recently informed me that he would rather not have his pictures on my blog.  I guess he's too cool for mom's blog.), had a boys night to watch the last Auburn home basketball game of the season, so it was just us girls at home for a few hours.  We were outside just playing around in the tree.  She loves to climb trees.

Our white camellias are blooming too, so of course we picked  one

and stuck it in her hair. 

 

Jonah had to come hang out with us, too. 

More fingerprints...and that makes me happy!  :)

Keep checking!

Kellie

One Week From Now: 40 Bags, 40 Days

One Week From Now: 40 Bags, 40 Days

Click on the green link above to check out this post from a blog I like to read.  A different way to participate in Lent?  I've always thought of Lent as a time when you give up something or fast from a food that you "love", and focus on why you don't need it...because we have Jesus.  I've always been too afraid to participate, for fear of disappointing God if I didn't do it exactly as I should.

Is giving up something we love the only way to participate in Lent?  Maybe giving up the clutter in our homes, like old toys, books, stuffed animals, clothing that doesn't fit, etc., can bring Him just as much glory.   After all, the STUFF that we sometimes hang on to causes the clutter, and then we constantly worry about having the clutter to the point that we might miss out on some of His biggest fingerprints.  All of that worry is definitely a sinful barrier between our serving and His blessings.  Rid yourself of that barrier, begin serving HIM as we are commanded, and His blessings will abound!  That's exciting!  The first obvious blessing is that you can donate the things that are clutter to you, but might be much needed by someone else. 

If I was a SAHM, I would commit to doing this for Lent this year.  Maybe I can do 40 smaller bags?  :)

 Keep checking for fingerprints,
Kellie

I Said I Must, So I Did!

Well, WE did. 

Remember the rainbow cake?  Yep, Brooke and I made it and the yummy icing, too!   It was sooo tall, because we didn't divide the layers after we baked them.  We could have, though, and made two smaller cakes instead of one SKYSCRAPER cake!  HA! 

I can't believe I left out this important part of our trip in my last blog.  It made us so happy just looking at the layers, and it was really yummy, I must say.   So, here is a picture of our happy rainbow masterpiece:

Keep checking,

Kellie

A Fun Winter Break

This past weekend, Connor, Claire, and I went to visit some friends during our Winter Break.  We had such a great time!  Here are some pics of our fun trip:

Our friends' little boy had to go to the doctor one day (boo), so the kids and I set out to get some lunch.  We ended up at Dairy Queen.  Ha!   I love Dairy Queen, but the ones I've eaten at before offer a  variety of foods on the menu.  This DQ?  Hot dogs.  That's it.  Well, you could get chili dogs too, but that was it...hot dogs and chili dogs.  It was fun though, and yes, those are PALM TREES in the background because our sweet friends live 5 miles from here:

We went out to play and watch the sunset and I must say that I was very impressed with my new camera. 

Look at this "trying to grow up on me" boy.  I love him so much, and I'm so proud of the young man he is.

This picture is so cute to me...I love the way M is following Claire into the sunset.   

This picture is one of my favorites.  Claire was spinning in her twirly skirt and she just looked so free and happy.  I love that girl!



Our sweet friends...I love them so dearly.

...and THIS is what we went to see...

How's that for His fingerprints?

Keep checking,

Kellie



It's THAT Day Again.

Valentine's Day.  Not my favorite day.  I do, however, LOVE that my two kiddos think it's a cool day.  Here are my sweet Valentines:

I woke up this early this morning to make a special breakfast for my Valentines.  I made pink pancakes with bacon.  I gave them their Valentine treats, iTunes cards, a note from dad and me, and a rose for each of them!  Ha!  Connor was less than thrilled about getting a flower.  One of his friends told me this evening at church basketball practice that he said I went overboard this morning with the rose. :)  At least it was orange, and not pink!  Anyway, it was a fun morning with my sweeties, even though I ended up being 2 minutes late for school.  So worth it!

The sweetest thing for the day was my sweet Connor, using his money to buy my favorite chocolate candy for me.  He was so thoughtful to know my favorite, and so precious that he wanted to buy it with his own money.  That, and the "early" Valentine's Day bear from Claire, are my favorite Valentine's Day gifts EVER!  I'm so proud of  those two kiddos, and so grateful and blessed that God gave them to me for our earthly stay.  If God had let me pick any two kids to be my son and daughter, I definitely would have picked these two.  I love them so much!

Hubby brought home a bottle of my favorite perfume.  Thanks, dear!  Now, I smell pretty!

Claire also got a special treat today, having her name announced over the school intercom for her accomplishments in a reading program.  She even gets to spend the week with the program's mascot, T.J. sitting on her desk.

Here is a picture of Claire and T.J.

On a different note, Sunday was so beautiful outside, and we were surprised with a visit from my mom.  Here are a few pics from her short visit.  Connor and Claire enjoyed playing outside with their Nana.

What a fun day!  COVERED with His fingerprints.  Now, that's a real love story.

Keep Checking!
Kellie

Silly Songs and Valentines

The entire first grade showed off their musical talents tonight.  This past 6 weeks has been 1st Grade's turn to have music class, and tonight was their night to show their stuff.  Claire even had a line to say all by herself!  It was really hard to hear her saying it, but I heard it, and she was great!  She practiced and practiced the line..."Wow! What a beautiful day to hit the slopes!"  All of the first graders did a great job!  They were so cute!

I snapped this pic of Claire while we were waiting for her to go with her class.



Claire and her sweet friend.

Connor occupied his time by drawing on the back of the program.

On a completely different subject, Valentine's Day is almost here!  Last Friday night, Claire and I spent some time making something special for her class.  Claire LOVES Valentine's Day, and she LOVES any kind of art and any kind of craft.  She was so excited to see this kit to make her each of her classmates a personalized Valentine.

It's been a busy day that has His fingerprints all over it.  I'm blessed, thankful, and exhausted.  Nighty night!

Keep checking for fingerprints,

Kellie

A Sweet Surprise from a Very Sweet Girl... and a little more catch up.

I walked into my office at school the other day, and this is what was on my desk...

Such a sweet surprise.  That afternoon, when hubby got home, he told me that Claire wanted to buy a bear for me. The bear was $3.00, so she had asked her dad for money to buy it.  The sweetest part is that she didn't want the whole $3.  She already had $2 and she just wanted $1 from her dad so she could buy the bear.  How sweet is it that she insisted on using her own money to buy me something special?  Wow, what an incredible little girl!  I'm so blessed that God is allowing me to be the mommy of two precious souls during my earthly life.  

I also gave Claire a surprise.  She has been asking for this surprise, and I really haven't thought much about it until last week.  Anyway, she feels like a big girl everytime she uses this...

She looks like she's in pain here, but she's actually just squinting because the air was blowing in her face.  So cute.  :)

In the midst of all of this c-c-cold weather, last weekend, we had a beautiful reminder of what's to come so we enjoyed some outside play without freezing!  Connor's friend Matt spent the night the night before, and they enjoyed some home b-ball before they had to play a church-league game.

The weather was so beautiful the entire weekend.  This weekend, the weather is so cold.  We did have a little sunshine and blue sky peek through  thick clouds today.   I'm thankful for even that little bit considering the week of nasty, cold, rainy weather we've had.  Just more of His fingerprints.

Keep checking!

Kellie