Mak is 14 months old

Yesterday Mak turned 14 months old...he's my little man!
I wrote down these words that he "mimics" or says on February 18th...guess I missed the 13 month post. =)

WORDS:
stop..."dop"
dora
ma-ma
da-da
wow..."how"
deer..."da"
doggie (after ma-ma or da-da his new favorite word)
uh-oh
meow
moo
knows that outside is looking out the window
He signs more and tries to sign please.

HE LOVES:
patty cake
playing with toys
balls
animals
reading (when he wants to read and you're sitting on the floor..doing dishes etc, he will bring you a book and proceed to sit in your lap - maybe I already shared this, I can't remember but I love it!) 
climbing
playing with Amaya
playing with Reggie
putting things in something and taking them out

He also knows when he's in trouble and tries to "run" away. 
He has very "healthy" plumbing...taking only a few seconds to drop a bomb and then it's off to playing again. =)

We love our little man.
and here's my two favorite males (I may be biased but I think it should be a magazine cover)

Why worship?

Why do we worship?  What is the point of worship?
Yesterday during service I was once again reminded of why we worship and how dangerous it is to not worship.
I thought of myself about a year and a half ago when my world seemed like it was falling apart and how dangerously close I was to being at a point where I couldn't worship.  It seemed like life was giving me lemons and I had lost the instructions for lemonade.   I had lost focus of Him.  I remember the negative feelings I felt at times even toward God.  I remember knowing and feeling my heart closing off.
And then...I also remember how I felt when I was able to raise my hands and worship Him. I remember really feeling God's grace being poured out on me in spite of myself.  There weren't that many bright spots of intense worship but when it happened, I can still remember it. I realized that I can worship and love in spite of myself and the issues of life that come to face me..I can be tried and tested and still yet I can worship!  I most definitely have not arrived to some sort of glorious "happiness" but I can choose to have joy in spite of every negative thing going on around me.
So again going back to my first questions.  Why do I worship? What is the point of worship?
I worship because HE is good!  I worship because I am compelled by His love and grace.  I worship because the Bible tells me to worship.  I worship because I have two beautiful little ones and one handsome husband who need me to worship so I can love and give to them...even when I have nothing left.

PSALM 95
Oh come. let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with Thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is the great God, 
and the great King above all gods.
In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.


Oh, come let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.

This is why I worship for HIM and for them:

A Photo Shoot with the Pates

I did a photo shoot with the Pates...great friends of ours for many years.  Their little guy is so full of expressions.  Thanks Pates for letting me take your pictures. =)

Again there are some more pics on Joy For Life .

The Little Mermaid

Tonight as I was reading The Little Mermaid to Amaya, I had to think of our current series for life group.  During the month of March, we have been talking about parenting.  Tonight's lesson was on being a visionary, insightful and prayerful parent.
King Triton destroyed Ariel's treasures...all her hopes and dreams.  It wasn't that there was anything bad about the things she had stored up..it was just different than the life he had imagined for his youngest daughter.  It was part of his vision for her.  How often are we like that as parents? Do we have visions of our child doing or liking something that we want them to do/like or are we always mindful of God's plan for their life?
Not only did he destroy her "things", he destroyed her dreams and hopes in just a few short moments.  And what does she do, she becomes rebellious and turns to the sea witch.  In his hopes of "creating" a great life for his daughter he does none of that because he is stuck on his own thoughts and dreams.
One thing we've discussed about being a visionary parent, is how important it is to hear God's voice when they are young so you can guide your children in "the way that they should go." It's not always how the parents would choose as The Little Mermaid shows us. Ariel often showed interest in the "world above" but King Triton was not understanding and wanted nothing to do with "her foolishness."

We also discussed being an insightful parent.  An insightful parent has wisdom and watches their children carefully to see what is going on. This parent knows and gives the child room to be "emotional" when needed.  Again...something King Triton failed to do until the end of the movie when he gives Ariel her greatest wish.

The last thing we discussed was being a prayerful parent.  Even though it was the last thing we spent time on and we didn't leave a great deal of time for it...it is so so important.  Growing up, I had no idea if my parents were praying or me.  I've taken steps to change that for my kids.  I want them to know that I am praying for them because I do it while they are around and when they aren't around.  I don't want them to know in a prideful way but in a such a way that they feel that sheltering and comfort while knowing that I am covering them in prayer.
Just a fun little story about praying...often when I get in the car I either do one of two things. I either start singing Jesus Loves me (even when I am by myself...go figure...I am really a mom) or I start praying in tongues.  Amaya almost always asks me..."Mommy are you praying for Me, Makiyah and Daddy?"  I LOVE that! I love that she asks me.  And then the best part is praying for them and whatever is on my heart in English. 

Here are my little "Ariels".  I really really love these little ones!
Amaya showing me her silly side...and Makiyah being his usually stinker self while getting into the groceries before I put them away.

Alex T photoshoot

Here's perhaps my favorite picture I've ever taken. =)  I saw this on another website and just had to re-create it. And yes these are Alex's toes.  It was a lot of fun to do this photoshoot. His siblings were very helpful especially in creating this shot.  He's going to have lots and lots of love and fun with them. I put a photo collage of some more pics from the shoot on my other blog: Joy For Life.  That blog is dedicated to my more creative side.  I don't want to combine the two since the design of this one is my personal "Life As it Happens."

I also recently thought of another creative "thing" to do.  I love being creative.  There's something that comes alive in me when I'm doing something new.  I created some crocheted hair things.  I love em...I even have more ideas of how to use them.  Maybe sometime in the future, I'll give you something to "try out"...just leave me a comment and I'll see what I can come up with. =) This picture is of a crocheted head band. 

Just some happenings

So today has been a super busy day thus far.  I made dinner for the Toohills...(smelled so good made me want the same thing for us tonight).  Then at 9:24 we headed to IU to do a study for Makiyah.  A little after 10 we headed to the Toohills to drop off the "wonderful smelling garlic fish and potato" meal. After chatting with Nicki for a few minutes we headed to Ellettsville for a Dora the Explorer Playdate. 

It was a lot of fun for me to meet 5 new moms that I had not met before.  All with great kids.  It's fun when the kids are starting to say sentences and they can hold short conversations with you.

Now I am back home and need to get the kids to bed...so I can take a nap too. For some reason I'm EXHAUSTED.  I've gotten a lot more done today than most days but still need to catch up on the dishes cause there's a super funny smell coming from the sink...=/

Some thing I love about living out here in the country...as I was washing Mak's bottle, I saw a wild turkey and two deer in the backyard.  Right when I got home from the playdate, I saw two falcons or hawks (I've got to figure out what they are) flying in circles above our property. For some reason I am so impressed by these creatures.  I love seeing them fly in our backyard when I'm doing dishes.  =)

And that's the end of my ramblings today.....and no that's not blood...just some barbeque sauce that exploded when he was playing with it. =)

Joy for life...

I prayed...I thought...I asked for help...I talked about it....and it came to me.

This has been something that's stuck with me for a loooong time.  In high school I attended an Acquire the Fire event.  At that event there was a speaker who talked about having YAKADOO...Joy for Life.  I loved it and soon had an email address like this yakadoo33. =)  I've since shut down that account b/c of spam but I still love the saying and while I didn't want to use Yakadoo, I decided on Joy for Life!
I did a photoshoot with baby Alex T. yesterday and it was so much fun...I took a ton of pictures.   I LOVE taking pictures.  I always take a lot to make sure I get at least a few!