Winter Wonderland!!

Just some fun pictures to prove that yes, Oregon did receive all this snow! We took some measurements today and most were around 18 inches:-0 I'm so happy to have it yet sad we are home-bound! I am blessed though because I have wanted a white christmas for many years now and will finally have it this year, 2008:-)

My (red) Coral Maple all beautiful with ice

Coffee on the patio anyone??

Dont think my fountain will work right now.....should I try?

Ah finally....is that a bit of blue sky I spot?? Pretty sunset none-the-less

Christmas Cookies for Santa ( or papa )

I cannot believe all this snow we have been getting! It is such a great surprise and we are all so happy to have it, yet we are home-bound so it's driving me crazy!!!! I cant leave the house unless it's a walk with Henry, which is fun and all but I miss my friends:-0.....so to pass some time we made some fun Christmas cookies, Ben had a great time and Ella even better eating all the frosting!

Ben Making the yummy frosting for me!

Rolling the dough and cutting it out

Time to Decorate! Great job Ella Grace:-)

Ta-DA all Done Now!!

Enjoying the fruits of our labour

Fun Times in the Snow

Can I just say how excited we all were for the snow...and now I have to admit I'm done with it! It's just sooo cold outside, but the kids and Henry had a blast yesterday. Here are a few pics I snapped while I was outside

Ben & Ella making snow angels

Henry eating the snow, I think he had the most fun out of everyone!

Ah they do love eachother!

What Happens When Dad ''Watches'' the kids!

It is so funny what kids will do when daddy is in charge and ''watching'' them:-) And I always seem to come home at the perfect moment to catch it all!

Ella Grace had decided to lather her and her brother up with mamas lotion....too stinking cute but I'm just curious how their father had no clue? It must of been a great game! The lotion also got all over my bed, my dresser, even the tv? Dont ask....anyway I was glad I was able to capture these priceless photos!

P.S. Ben is only pretending to discipline her:-0

She's Walking with Him now

What I am most thankful for This Thanksgiving

You know it's been a real tough week for me, and an especially tough Thanksgiving. Normally that is a great day to celebrate with your loved ones, rejoicing and be thankful for all that we have. My day however started out a bit different, my mother passed away. She decided she was done fighting and wanted to be with Jesus. I had anticipated this day for the past year, but having to face it now is so hard. I am so thankful that the Lord has taken her and she is no longer in pain! I am thankful for my friends and family who have been by my side this whole time. I am thankful for my healthy happy children! Most of all I'm thankful that the Lord has been with me during this deeply sad time. I will miss her laugh, her smile and most of all just ''seeing'' her. She was a remarkable women whom I cherished deeply.
Only in time and God's grace will I get through this heartache. I know she is in a WAY better place now, and that is my ultimate Thanksgiving blessing.
Thank you Lord for all you have done for our relationship, I Praise you and Honor you.

I will miss you mama:-)

Sarah Marie Smith, born 10-23-45
Went to be with Jesus, Thanksgiving morning, 11-27-08

I Trust in Him

I must say that the past 3 months have been an amazing journey for me. It has been a renewal in spirit, in my relationship with the Lord and an overall good ''cleansing'' of my worldly-self. To back up to 4 months ago (short version!) I was struggling with depression, and being pretty good at hiding it I must say. I was angry most of the time, sadly my kids receiving some of that anger, and just seemed to be lost in a rut of day-to-day routine. It itself not consisting of ANY time for the Lord besides Sundays going to church, but my fire was gone, lost in all my family troubles, financial problems and feeling alone,(DUH because I had no time with the Lord!)
Praise God for His undying LOVE and FORGIVENESS! I had started a Beth Moore study in September and I know that the Lord had appointed me to go. He has spoken ( tears rolling down my face as I type) so much to me, but most of all has changed my heart. My circumstances with my family and finances have not changed, but my heart, and trust in God has been so completely ''remodeled'' that I no longer suffer these burdens but GLADLY and graciously give them to the Lord. Remarkable He WANTS to hear us complain, He wants us to ''vent'' our frustrations to Him. My trust in His Word has grown exponentially, and look forward to my daily time with Him; face-down (literally) on my floor giving each and every day to Him! In this time and pilgrimage with the Lord I have seen my fire return, my anger and depression subside and just my ''old self'' back. No longer do I wear my worldly cloak, Jesus has renewed my spirit and each and every day I praise Him and thank Him for every opportunity to draw closer to Him!

Psalm 56:4
In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do to me.

Joyous Times!

Lately my prayers have mostly included a renewed joy with my daughter. She is two years old and is just ''naughty'' sometimes. Doesn't like to obey me, taking her on my outings is flat out STRESSFUL!, and seems that I have been robbed of my joy in her. Well after many tears, and prayers I think the Lord has answered them all! Praise you GOD:-) Ive been feeling so helpless and just frustrated with her because I'm always having to discipline her and felt I didn't have much time to really enjoy her. This last week, I must say, has been such a delight! She has really grown ( as much as a 2 year old can) and I think that the Lord has restored our joy and fun times. I've been able to take her on my outings the last 4 times and she's obeyed and it's been fun, she's wanted to bring her own purse with us for fun shopping time
So if anyone is experiencing this, just keep diligent on your prayers because the Lord hears your cries and will answer in His timing:-) I must admit too, I have really worked on my attitude as a mother, being more patient, loving, gentle. I have always struggled with my tempter and the Lord has really worked on that with me, so thank you Lord for my renewed strength and joy with Ella Grace! I have had the best week ever!!

I have not laboured in Vain!

I have been homeschooling Ben for almost a year now. He showed a big interest when he was 3, so I went to the store and stocked up on Preschool and Kindergarden books. He has known the alphabet and numbers for a while but still struggled writing them. Well to make a long story short....Ben is doing amazing! I think everything I've been teaching him has finally clicked in his little head:-) Especially this last week he has been wanting to do school work everyday, he loves writing his name, he can see any word and write it. I think he is happy he gets it to! I was really starting to doubt my teaching ability, but he finally proved me wrong this week! Way to go Ben:-) My next goal.....reading

The Boy's having Fun

I must say when I saw this it was too cute to pass up pictures! Ben is so into his daddy and being like daddy. I love precious moments like these:-)

The Sweetness of a Child's Voice

My son Benjamin who is 4 has been memorizing bible verses for about a year now. He picked it up rather quickly, a bit better around his 4Th birthday.
We have been working on his 2 current verses quit a bit this last week for one is for his school and the other is the one I chose.....

The other night my little 2 year old Ella Grace quoted perfectly one of his verses! I was amazed and happy to hear her sweet little voice quoted God's word! It was ''All things were made by God John 1:3"

She even said the John 1:3 part:-) It was beautiful music to my ears. I never thought Ella would be ready being so ''spirited'' and ''strong willed'' but I guess I was wrong and am happy to say I will start with some verses just for her.

My how my kids are growing!

Free Dunkin Donuts

My Lil' Shopping Diva

You know I must say I absolutly love the technology now-a-days. It's so easy to upload, create, print your childrens priceless memories! That being said my little Ella Grace has really been into my purses, shoes, jewelry lately.Her favorite has been getting the car keys, giving me hugs and kisses, saying her goodbyes and telling me shes leaving to go shopping or out to coffee! It's the cutest thing EVER:-) So that is why I followed her out and snapped these pictures, so I wouldnt forget this adorable time in her life, when all she wants is to be a big girl and do the things mama does.

Fun Family Times

I really adore and cherish our fun family time we get. Ben is proven to be a real big helper for me in the kitchen. He loves helping me cook or bake:-) He also really loves it when his dad can take him to school on the motorcycle! So far it's only happened once, but he was too excited for words. Ella LOVES playing with her Papa Bear and ''Riding'' Bikes with him hee hee:-)

We cant forget good Ol Henry Boy! He absolutly loves going to the dog park and haveing snuggle time! He's just a big baby.

Ben's Field Trip to Pumpkin Patch

Bens first field trip was Friday to Fir Point Farms Pumpkin Patch. It was such a fun day for us. I still cant believe my ''baby'' is old enough now for field trips!

Ben really loved the ''HUGE'' green pumpkin and the ''Cute little Ben-Bear'' pumpkin

This was our fun hayride! Ben got to pick our pumpkins



Ben said this was his favorite! A huge Noah's Ark play structure, it was pretty neat.

They had lots of fun animals for the kids to see and pet

The other favorite was the ''Nut House'' it was a cool shed probably 3 feet deep of nuts!

Free ''Date Night'' at Barnes & Noble

Get your Free cappuccino at Barnes & Noble and a coupon for 15% off one item now through 10/31/2008

Thanks Chris!

Givin' God the Glory!

Most of you guys already know the situation with my mother and her dying of cancer. I just want to thank all of my friends and family for your prayers through this hard time.
About 3 weeks ago I got a call saying that my mother wasnt going to make it through the night.
I quickly dropped everything and went to her. At first she seemed ok, a little out of it, then quickly declined in health. It was the hardest thing for me, sitting there watching her ''die''. I called my husband to bring our kids to say their goodbye's. Once they left my mother really got bad.
I sat by her side for 5 hours praying that God would bring her peace, that she belonged to Him and Him alone. I was in asscence praying for God to come to her now so she could accept him.
I left reluctantly that night, asking for a call if anything changes. Thankfully no call!

The next morning I went to see her before my bible study and this is where I give God the glory, she was awake alert, moving, and eating! She didnt even remember me being there all night. I was blown away and praises Jesus! Im going to sum up the rest of the story....about two days before that horrible night my mother had a dream that she was ''outside'' her body and that she saw demons were trying to take her away, but she didnt want to go and was struggling to stay. I truly believe with all my faith that Jesus saved her that night proclaiming her as His! She openly talks about the Lord now and how without the blood of Jesus she would not be here! Amen and Amen!
Glory be to God:-)

2008 Camping Trip

Yeah we finally made it camping this year!
I have to say it was a blast, but with my old age
I did not sleep too well:-)
And yes some of you might notice the ''surroundings'' of the campsite,
I must admit it is our very own backyard!
With the lack of time and $ we compromised and the kids were non the wiser!

Colors of Summer

As much as I love fall I love summer just as much!
All the amazing colors in your garden, warm sun
and fun bbq evenings with your friends:-)

Fall is Here!

I just have to say I am so happy fall is finally here!

I love the crisp cold air, bold beautiful colors of orange and red

and all the fun leaves, sunsets and yes oh yes scarfs!!

Renewed Strength

I saw this on a friends post and it is wonderful:-)

Some women believe their source of strength comes from within themselves; but in our own strength alone we will always fall short. God is our only reliable source of strength and power if we want to accomplish great and mighty things that have eternal value. We must fill our lives with the perfect power source.

It's easy for us to put our hope in ourselves. But the Bible says the Lord delights in those who fear him and put their hope in Him. Look at Psalm 147:10-11 and you'll see in this Psalm and others that over and over again the psalmist declares that his own strength comes from the Lord.According to Jesus, our job is not to strive to achieve an abundant and fruitful life in our own strength.

Our job is simply to remain in Christ. The words remain in mean to "dwell, abide, fellowship, and continue in" Him. As we abide in Him and He abides in us, He provides the strength, guidance, direction, and ability we need to "bear much fruit." How do we abide in Him?


* By dwelling on His Word
* Remaining in His love
* Praying
* Practicing His presence throughout the day


Is God your stronghold today? Or are you depending on your own strength and power to live this day and our life today?We must look daily to our heavenly Father for strength, support, and direction. He is more than able to work in us, through us, and with us if we'll let Him.