Emily Marie birthday

Emily Marie is here finally. 02/12/2010 7:41am 7pounds 10ounces 21 1/4 inches.

Emission Testing-What is coming out of you?

My daily devotional was great today. Exactly the kind of thing I needed to reflect on and I though there might be other mom's out there who need to hear it as well.

Feb 10th: "My Child, how I will rejoice if you become wise. Yes, My heart will thrill when you speak what is right and just." Prov 23:15-16

My oldest son, Chad, owns a twelve-year-old white Pontiac Bonneville. It's served him well during his post-college years, carrying him to camping trips on the West Coast, friends' weddings on the East Coast, and back and forth to the high school where he teaches every day. But with over 160,000 miles on his car, he suspected that it might be approaching its demise. Recently, after his car failed an emissions test, Chad concluded that the car had indeed reached the end of the line.

When Chad showed me the charts and graphs he received from the Illinois Vehicle Inspection Station, I better understood the reason for emissions testing. The inspection station tests cars for carbon monoxide (a toxic gas) and hydrocarbons (unburned fuel that causes smog and contributes to eye and throat discomfort). A dictonary definition of the word emit is "to utter or exhale." After I read that, I got to wondering, What would happen if we moms were required to have periodic emissions testing on our speech? What if someone listened to us and tested the words that we utter throughout the day?

Would our words be full of kindness, truth, wisdom, and blessing? Or would they be found to be full of criticism, rumors, flattery, and anger? Although we probably all have days that we would fail the test, here's the good news: our problem with words is one of the reasons Jesus Died for Us! As we confess our sin and look to him for wisdom with our words, he will help us. A failed "emissions" test doesn't mean the end of the line for us! If we turn to Jesus, he will help us with necessary repairs.
One Year Devotions for Moms: Ellen Banks Elwell

Hope you enjoy that. ~Melanie

Sleepless Nights

It is so hard to keep up with the blog and everything else in life. As I browse the computer at 2:45am and read others blogs I decide there is no time like the present. We have 5 weeks from today until Emily's birth. She is scheduled to arrive by csection on 2/12. We are so excited and cannot wait to meet our newest little princess. The girls are very excited as well. I think waiting a little longer between children has been good. Ella never really understood that Elizabeth was coming but Elizabeth totally understands that Emily is coming. It is fun to have two little momma's ready for a baby. I think the transition will go well. My biggest concern is having overly helpful little momma's. I pray I don't turn around at any moment to find someone picking up or feeding Emily. I am sure she will survive and wouldn't be the first baby it has happened to.

I have been sitting up looking at homeschool cirriculum, reading blogs and just feel so inadequate as a parent. Realizing I am primarily responsible for these little girls and for the woman of God they turn out to be is a lot on a pregnant (hormonal) mother. I know that ultimately God is in control of how they turn out and what paths they choose but I am involved in shaping them and hopefully encouraging them to walk the path to Jesus. All the while teaching them to love the Lord, love one another, be a Godly woman, wife, mother some day. Needless to say I feel a little overwhelmed and not sure how to do it. I see others doing it with what seems ease and wonder how they do it. I see others so creative and wonder will I ever have those kinds of ideas and drive and time to be creative?

Right now I need to take a step back, breathe, and trust the Lord to guide me in the direction he wants for our family. I also get to look to my husband to lead us in the right direction the best he feels the Lord leading. The only way to do this is to continually pray and ask the Lord's guidance. I don't have to worry or fear or anything else because he has our best interest at hand.
Now I can sleep well

Fall Pictures 2009

Thank you again this year to Joanna for taking our fall pictures. Can't wait to do my christmas cards. They turned out great!

We dressed ourselves

Ella and Elizabeth dressed themselves today. Not such a big deal except for the fact that it is about 90 to 95 degrees today. Atleast they dressed themselves.

Summer Fun and Pictures to Prove It!

Here are a few pictures of our summer travels and fun times. We went on a little family vacation at Bugg Island in Virginia. It was a little over an hour away. We did some boating and swimming and hanging out. We also took the kids to Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh which they love.

Enjoy~Melanie

Summer is winding down

Hello. Again it has been longer than I had hoped for an update. With having the summer off the girls and I have been busy doing fun stuff. We have had many play dates and lots of swimming practice at the pool. Ella is a great swimmer now. I just hope she won't forget before our trip to FL in October. School starts back in a week and a half for Tommy so we are gearing up for that. The little boy I babysit starts back Tuesday. I am looking forward to getting back on a schedule as we haven't kept to one too well this summer.

We had a trip to SC this past weekend and took the girls to the beach with GDaddy, Nanny, and Aunt Tammy. The girls loved it. They have no memory of the beach so this was sort of like a first for them. They enjoyed it so much. They also spent some great time at the bounce house place with their cousins and were sad to leave Sunday.

Blessings, Melanie

Summer Slackers!

We really aren't summer slackers but just have been even busier and haven't been able to post much. Summer has been busy with Tommy working full time hours. We have been blessed with him occasionally getting a day off where we have been able to have a fun family day. Ella, Elizabeth and I have a summer pool pass for parent toddler time from 12pm-1pm. We have done a lot of swimming over the summer and I am happy to report Ella is not using swimmies anymore. Although she still have a way to go. That is mostly thanks to Grandpa's visit a few weeks ago and working with Ella for three days at the hotel pool. She was a fast learner mostly to do with her eagerness to be independent. Elizabeth is swimming very well also and enjoys the water.

We also have had a good friend staying with us some as he house hunted. We are excited to have the Stevens family only 10 minutes from our home starting next week. It will be such a joy to have old friends near by as we watch their family grow.

Also since I haven't been doing any childcare I have been able to weekly visit with friends for various play dates. Fun times!

And the final reason nothing has been updated is because I have been very exhausted because we are expecting our third child February 14th. I am 10 1/2 weeks along and feeling very well except for sheer exhaustion at times. We are all very excited about the new addition and thankful to God for choosing to bless us with another baby.

Summer is winding down but not without excitement. We have company this weekend for the guys to go out and do some open air evangelism. Then the first week of August Aunt Kaka and the family come for a visit. Three busy boys in the house. What fun. Then we are headed to SC the second weekend of August. Then we celebrate our anniversary and then back to the grind. I will be watching a little boy again fulltime and then Tommy will go back to work.

We are so thankful for the time this summer to be a family and enjoy a season without classes. I do think we look forward to getting back in school and a routine. Ella will start a kindergarten cirriculumn and continue to workon her reading. They grow up so fast.

Blessings~Melanie

Happy Birthday Tommy

Tommy had a birthday on Wednesday and the girls and I were able to throw him a party with cake and ice cream and all the decorations. Enjoy!

Dance Recital

Here are the pictures from Ella's dance recital on April 24th. Elizabeth ended up being part of it as well. Looks like she needs to get signed up for a class also.

Dance Class

Ella is taking a dance class for 6 weeks thanks to Aunt Tammy. She loves it and is a great student. It is fun to see how grown up she is becoming. We arrived early and had to wait 5-10 minutes for everyone else and Ella sat very still and patiently on her blue box. I was so proud. My baby is getting so big.

Encouragement

This weekend was a wonderful time of encouragement for us. Thank you to the Molbert family for including us in the wedding of their son and a time of fellowship with the family after the wedding. The pizza was great and the time to talk with John and Joan was so encouraging for us. They asked us what our plans are now and after school. It is always so nice to be able to put into words what we feel the Lord is calling us to do. It helps us stay focused and motivates us to stay on the path.

Our main reason for attending the wedding was to see the bride's parents and our great friends Larry and Judy. This was such a wonderful time for us to visit and for the girls to love on them. Thank you for including us and taking time to hang out. We love and miss you guys!

Then on Sunday evening our bible study had a time of fellowship and Tommy and I were able to talk to Jen V's parents. Her father has been a pastor for 30 years now and only has a Bachelor's degree. He had much wisdom and encouragement for us as we focus on the Lord's call for Tommy to finish school and to tell people about the gospel. Thank you for taking time to talk with us.

Blessings~Melanie

Snow in March

Well as many have experienced with us we had about 5 inches of snow on Monday. Of course we were all excited to see it and how beautiful it was. We are really ready for spring as this has been a cold winter for us. We feel it is right around the corner. It was exciting to look back at God's answer to Ella's prayer in November for snow this year. As he allowed it to snow 4 times. Thank you Lord.

Ella is into dressing herself these days and has come up with some really cute outfits. Reminds me of Punky Brewster. I have started reading some classic novels to Ella in an attempt to give her a love for literature. She has really enjoyed the time reading together. We have read The Secret Garden and Anne of Green Gables. This past Sunday she asked to wear a ribbon in her hair like Anne did. She was so cute and even asked if she looked like Anne. There is picture of her doing the dishes with her bow. Elizabeth is becoming more and more independent for sure and wants to dress herself and do things on her own. She really loves Ella and copies most of what she does. They enjoy being sisters and playing together. Since reading to Ella her imagination has really taken flight. We are trying to foster that into thinking and learning through acting and such. Ella starts a dance class this Friday and she has been practicing.

We look forward to new growth this spring as we watch all the many colors bloom around us. We look forward to learning about flower, birds, leaves, and animals. Tommy is doing very well in school this year. It is almost half over for the semester. Hard to believe. Pray for us as we apply for scholarships for the next school year. The Lord has been so faithful to provide for his schooling.

Blessings~Melanie

Country girls

Hello all... We now have a chicken coop in the back yard with three chickens and are getting fresh eggs daily. The girls are loving it to say the least. The coop is super cool and is very easy to transport and clean. Here are some pictures. We have the plans if anyone is interested.

Also are a few pictures of the girls giving piggy back rides. I didn't get a picture of Elizabeth trying to give Ella one but she did. It is so fun as they get older I see them becoming better friends. Melanie

Do I love God?

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Do I love God? If I do anything he is allowing in my life is for his good, right? It is true. It is amazing to watch the Lord take me through sickness that is really frustrating and to be able to say, "God I know this is for your good." One way I know that is I am continually reminded that I need to lean on Jesus. My mind, doctor's tests, etc aren't my answer. Leaning on Jesus is the answer. My Utmost for His Highest by Chambers reminded me to Look to Jesus. My hope is in Jesus and that is how I get through. I will continue to pray for answers and healing but most of all I will pray for Jesus to be my focus and strength in this time and I know I will be able to make it.

Blessings~Melanie

It's a Wrap....2008 that is

Ok, ok, so we are a tad behind on updates. We have been busy preparing for the holidays and traveling and returning home to break down everything. It was a great Christmas season for us inlcuding the girls birthday's. I think they had fun this year as well. It was exciting to have special gifts for them that we knew they would really enjoy.

Grammy came for a short visit that was great. She was really able to get some good time with them. Ella was super sad to see her go. We also had a wonderful visit with Tommy's family and ofcourse we all miss everyone. With school getting ready to start we aren't sure when we will be back down. It is always hard being far away. Enjoy the pictures. Melanie

Fall Pictures

Most of you might have already seen these pictures on our Christmas cards this year. But here they are again. I am so blessed by my family. They are amazing. We had these taken out at our neighbors pond at the beginning of November. Enjoy!

Christmas Decorations and much more

Well, I figured out how to do a slide show which is good because I have plenty of pictures to load up so now I can give you one big update. The pictures of the girls with pillows on their back was a great idea of dads to be turtles.Also we decorated for Christmas and had Savannah over for a visit. All the girls happened to have purple on. Too funny. Our friends Sam and Michelle from Southwestern Seminary in Texas came for our first visit with their little girl Samantha who turns 1 on Dec 3rd. Daddy Sam has a birthday on Dec 7th and Ella's is Dec 21 and Elizabeth's is Dec 15. We were able to have a cupcake birthday time with them. It was such a joy to host them for a night. We miss them dearly and love the opportunity to visit.

The weather has been super cold and we have been really enjoying the wood burning stove in our house. We are so blessed to have such a great place to live. The girls are enjoying the decorations and the discussions of Jesus' birthday. We look forward to the entire event unfolding for them.

Snow in November

That's right it has already snowed here. Actually this is the second time this season but the first one didn't stay at all. The girls enjoyed the snow especially Ella.

Elizabeth was a little cold and preferred to watch from inside.

What will you give this Christmas?

Hello everyone. Wanted to ask you what will you give this Christmas? Since money is tight and there is so much need out there I wanted to share with you World Visions Gift Catalog. The girls and I made a Shepard's pouch to collect money to purchase something from World Vision for those in need around the world. http://www.worldvisiongifts.org/

The girls will get money for each thing they do around the house to help and then before Christmas we will collect the money and select and item from the catelog to purchase such as a duck for eggs, medicine, water, clothing. We want them to learn to serve others just as Jesus served.

Now here is a picture of my attempt at the pouch. Now you know why I don't do crafts. Ha Ha! I made it out of felt and sowed the edges. Hey I even have a snap closure.