sevenchicks

babychick's random post

by babychick~  I'm a little late but here is however many randoms I can come up with.

1. Baby Banner is 4 weeks old today, and has been sleeping through the night since 3 weeks old. I don't mean to brag but I'm pretty sure I have the best babies ever! Superboy(since he is not a baby anymore) was an awesome baby but I really didn't know what I was doing then, so he didn't sleep through the night until about 2 months. So now with a  little experience and a great baby I feel like super mom!

2. Seeing that he is already 4 weeks old that means that I have to go back to work in 2 weeks. This really STINKS!! While I'm not sure being a stay at home mom is even for me, being home with both boys has been so great, and big sis has been here almost the whole time also. I will miss them all so much when I have to go back.

3. Please be in prayer for my family, my husband is still looking for a job and it is quite frustrating. We know God has a place for him and that no matter what He won't give us anything we can't handle.

4. That being said, God is teaching me a few lessons in the process. I am blessed beyond measure and it is really hard to see that until a few things are taken away. I am learning to be thankful even during these hard times.

5.  This is one of the family pictures my mother-in-law took a few weeks ago, and I just love it. It shows just how life is with a silly little boy!

Ok thats it for now! 

poured into me

 by photochick~  I truly believe that God has ordained my life. Besides the biblical reasons (yes, being a little sarcastic for emphasis, don't throw stones) there's really no other explanation for the way things have turned out. You know, all those little things that in hindsight you wouldn't have even thought to orchestrate even if you could have?

That said, in the past few years I've thought a lot about all of the people who have come into my life. Many, or most, were only for a seson. It has become so exceedingly and abundantly obvious the role that each has played in forming who I am today. It's as if they have poured a little of themselves into my soul and forever impacted the way I look at the world. (Yes, this is the stuff you think about as you get OLDER. Right after you start noticing how beautiful trees are. And start deciding to wear flipflops because they are comfy even though the 3" heels are cuter. . . well, everyone except Sassy who is our heel hero.)

What really got me thinking about this again is crazy . . . Facebook. Is it just me, or did anyone else feel some cognitive dissonance when you first started reading feed posts from let's say the guy you dated in high school, your high school teacher, your former boss, girlfriends about their babies, youth group photos . . . should I continue? I KNEW in my KNOWER why all these posts were coming up together, but as I read quickly on my phone while nursing a baby it always confused my tired brain a little to sort out why all these people from all different parts of my life were talking . . . oh wait, they weren't. Again, I was tired (shout out social!).

All that to say, it really made me stop again and realize how blessed I have been to meet so many wonderful people in my life. People who I may not ever see again, but who have left a fiery impression on my very being. It's like they are part of the process to mold my vessel. Not just the major influences like my parents and best friends, but also the co-workers, the teachers, the professors, the church families . . . I could go on forever.

I once read an entire blog that was devoted to this very topic. This industrious woman wrote a post each day for a year noting one person each day who somehow left an impression on her life. I thought that was the most awesome thing I've ever seen. And then I had another baby. Let's just say it ain't happening right now.

So I might reflect on a few here because reflecting on our lives is an important part of living. And better yet, I think I will go through my facebook friends and tell each one what they have meant to my life. Because God's orchestration of this whole thing is pretty amazing afterall. The least I can do is acknowledge that fact.

getting big

by socialchick~ Miss Priss turned 4 last month and is officialy a big girl (so she thinks)! She has been asking to get her ears peirced so we thought 4 was a good age. I prepared her and told her how they were going to do it and that it would hurt just a little bit. So off we went to the Pediatricians office, which I love that they do it because I trust that they are clean and know what they are doing.

The doctors came in, Miss Priss got in my lap and snap the job is done. Just like that! No screaming, no tears, no whinning. She did such a great job. I guess she really is a big girl now!

Here are some pictures of my big Miss Priss with her new earrings.

 
  

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to babychick! Hope that you have a great birthday, we love you bunches!!!

Love,

The Chicks

singer's random (part two)

6.  Summer arrived.  We've been spending lots of time at the beach or any body of water really and going to lots of birthday parties.  This is the cousins having fun at the sprinklers in Destin.

7.  Big Man celebrated his 6th birthday Armed Forces style.

 
Don't you love the Cars rain boots?

8.  My parents celebrated their 37th anniversary in June.  Let me just take this opportunity to say that I was blessed to have them as my parents.  They are parents who never claimed to be perfect in neither their parenting or marriage.  However, they did the best they could and asked God daily to help them make the right choices and to help them to love us and to love each other.  And since I'm not sure I said it on their anniversary, I'll say it now, Happy Anniversary Mama and Daddy!  ;-)  Love you both!

9.  In other news, I'm going back to work full time in August.  I'm going to be positive and say that I was blessed to be able to do the part time thing for as long as I did.  Praise God!  What was only supposed to be two years of part time work turned into six.  Not to mention that when I asked to come back full time, it was no problem at all.  God works all things together for our good!  I trust this everyday whether I feel it or not.

10.  Our 10th Anniversary is coming up and we're doing nothing special at all.  The reason?  I have two work trips and Mr. Singer is using all of his leave to go with me and we're exhausting all of our babysitting resources as well.  That's okay.  We will celebrate 10 years for free on a work trip. 

biblical blessings

 by photochick~ I realized after writing about my baby boy's dedication and the blessing that we spoke over both of our children, that some of you may not be familiar with the biblical foundation of pronouncing blessings and might wonder why we did this. Here is an excerpt of a study about scriptural blessings.

"Blessing our children is pat of a rich biblical heritage. In the Old Testament, fathers regularly pronounced blessings on their children (see Gen. 27:26-29, 39-40, 49:1-28). As New Testament believers and priests of god (1 Pet. 2:9), one of our privileges is to bless others. When we invoke God's name over His people, God blesses them (see Num 6:22-27)."

I do my best to do this each day verbally. In my heart is simply me saying "God, I trust you with these children.  want your will alone for their lives and you alone are the giver of all good gifts."

In one of my Goodwill book buys I found an awesome children's book entitled "I'd Choose You!" It is a story of blessing in a little elephant family and in a note to parents further explains blessing your children. While not a formula, here's what they lay out as a simplistic way to speak blessings into your children's lives, "It's spoken in love . . . shared with a loving touch . . . and stirred by God's wondrous love, which we desire to communicate."

I encourage you to read the full pdf from NavPress about blessings. It's a free download.

radical prayer

 by photochick~ Through some random blog hopping I came across this question:

"What if God said 'yes' to every prayer we prayed today? Would our neighbors or neighborhoods or nation notice? Are we praying radically?"

Hmmmm . . .

This reminded me of Sassy's dad. I've been thinking a lot lately about all of the people that have poured into my life (that's a blog for another day), and when I read this I instantly thought of SassyDad. I have taken away many things from having known him since I was a child, but the two that I go so far as to recite to others on a regular basis:

1) Go big or go home.

2) You'll never know unles you ask.

Hmmmm . . . never quite thought of it in this context. That's pretty deep stuff.

singer's random post (part one)

by singerchick~  This is my random things post but a little different.  It's random things I wanted to blog about over the last few months and just didn't.  So I'll jump right into it.

1.  My Big Man finished up his first t-ball season.  He loved it except for the fact that it was absolutely no competition.  No winner.  No score.  Just kids learning baseball.  I was completely fine with that but he was not so much until he got used to it.  Then he just had a blast and that's what I like to see.

Hitting the ball...

Excited to make it home...

The best picture I got of him because I'm mother of the year and forgot the day that the professional photographer was supposed to take his picture as well as the team picture. 

Tball player in training...
 

2.  The kids had a field day at school.

 

Little Sis had to get in on the action...

3.  My little boy, who should not be old enough to graduate from kindergarten, did.  It's a little emotional but of course I couldn't have been prouder.

4.  Then there was the end of the school year and awards day.

 

5.  Somewhere in there (probably a couple months back), God was dealing with me about my being so concerned with what others think and trying to please people.  Then he went on to remind me who I was, that he created me beautifully in his image and that, "Beloved you are my most dazzling precious treasure.  You are treasured over all the earth."  He treasures us, pursues us and won't relent until he has all of our hearts.  Yeah I also had a song to share too. Treasured by Flyleaf.   

That's all for now.  There are a few more randoms that I should have posted and didn't coming soon.

blessings

 
  
  
 by photochick~  No kidding. My baby, you know the one I JUST had . . . yep, he just turned one. Helllloooo! HOW DOES THAT KEEP HAPPENING. The craziest part is, I'm not a day older.

So on to the festivities . . .

We decided to combine Baby Brother's first birthday party with his dedication. We did Punkin's dedication when he was really young. I was sleep deprived and barely remember a thing. Bossy did her daughter's dedication a little later on (if I remember correctly??) and I remember thinking how much more I would probably enjoy it that way. You see, I have an unnatural affinity for sleep. I know. Go figure.

Anyhoo, after being convinced that I wasn't the worst parent on earth for waiting we decided on the combo event and to say it was blessed is an understatement.

Family.

Friends that are really family.

Church family.

It was wonderful. And the best part, I wasn't even stressed the day of the event. Not even a little. We got everything prepared the day before (don't ask about the balloon fiasco) and even when a small avalanche of ginger ale threatened to flood us all friends quickly ran to help and I didn't even have to lift a finger.

(There really aren't words to describe how awesome it is for someone else to clean up for you so you can actually sit and talk for a minute. Thanks guys!!!!!) 

Even better was the dedication service before the party.

My little family right there together. It was just that feeling that you are complete. This is as good as it gets. Before the service Chad and I had written a blessing for both of our beautiful boys. It was a sobering and tearful experience. Saying the prayer during the service turned out no less tearful. At least it the hubs who had to struggle through. I'm not sure I would have made it.

I would like to take full credit, but I kept finding the perfect words to express my heart's desire so I just pieced them together from a lot of different sources. This is truly my heart for my children: 

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"For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the people on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession."  Deuteronomy 7:6

Lord, may you bless Punkin and Baby Brother. May you help them to know how much you love them, and what a wonderful future you have for them. Thank you for all the warmth and love you've put in their lives, and how kind and strong they're both becoming.

Lord, we proclaim that you will lead them to trust only in Jesus' sacrifice for their eternal salvation and will draw them face-to-face with You, that they might taste Your goodness and long for more of You. Fill them with Your Holy Spirit and give them wisdom and discernment so that they might follow a path of righteousness. We thank you that you will protect them both physically and mentally from the evil of the world.

Gracious Father, shower our children with blessings that exceed our dreams. May Your love flow abundantly into their lives.

And Lord, may they always know that we love them . . . and- that out of all the kids in the world-- we'd choose them. Amen.

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The fam. We clean up pretty well. Maybe we should do it more often. Oh wait, I live with three boys. I'm doing good to convince them that showers are NOT optional. Geez.

This would be my two children who under no circumstances will look AT the camera.

Sacred moment. Seriously. Thanks to family who made the trip for such a special day.

 
Most awesomest cake by Singerchick. No less than 15 people asked me where I got it from. I just told them I whipped it up in my spare time while I dusted a little flower off my nose. Hope you don't mind.

Where it all went down. It was cuter in person, I swear.

Someone made a comment on facebook that said he was thinking, "I found the monkey!" LOL

  
 Plannerchick and family.   

the joy of the lord

by socialchick~Let me first say that I so don't want to write this blog but feel I must. Here comes some more honesty that I don't really want to share with the world. So I hope someone can get something from it.

What comes to mind when you hear the joy of the lord? I immediately start singing the song that so many of us learned when we were young but never thought anything else about it until recently. To really get you to understand how this little scripture changed my life I must start with some deeply personal, embarrassing, and depressing moments.

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I'm not an emotional person. Barely ever do I let things bother me. I'm not one to wallow in self pity or even fight depression. It is even hard for me to share my heart at times. So please bare with me as I write this. Once again I so don't want to do this but here we go.

For about three weeks now I have been very depressed with my life. I have wondered many time if this is all there is for me? Wiping butts and snotty noses, feeding a baby every 3 hours, breaking up fights, fixing breakfast, lunch and dinner, and giving out as much love as I can to three little girls and my husband. Why can't I ever have me time? I was frustrated that every time I sit down to eat I hear a child scream or another one ask for a bite and mad that I never get any privacy. The list could go on and on. I have even felt embarrassed by my weight (which I have never done before).

See being a stay at home mom is a very demanding job and sometimes you never see the results. So I have kind of felt like I have lost my identity. Who am I besides a mother and a wife?

Because of how I was feeling about my life, I began to feel angry at friends, family, my husband, and even God. I know I can hear you gasp but I'm being honest. It is ok that I got angry at God, I told him about it. lol! I was angry that I had a screaming baby, that I was finding it very hard and overwhelming to have 3 kids. I became jealous of stupid things, and just felt left out in life in general.

My depression was not a constant thing and it was not very serious. Some of you probably could not even tell I was going through anything. There were times that I could be in a good mood and have fun but at the end of the day the best part of my day was going to bed and the worst was getting out of bed. Still I managed to move on.

Well Wednesday I was on the phone with my sister in tears doing nothing but complaining and wallowing in lies from satan. I layed down to take a nap but could not go to sleep. All I could hear was the word joy, joy, joy over and over in my head. I began to sing every song that I knew with the word joy in it and then finally the verse "the joy of the Lord is my strength", became revelation knowledge.

There is a difference in happiness and joy. Happiness relies only on external things. Like going on a date with my husband, or hanging with my awesome friends, or eating a bag of peanut butter m&m's with a glass of milk, or having money to go shopping with.

Joy is finding laughter when you are ready to pull your hair out because Miss Priss just tried to change Lil Sis's poopy diaper and smeared it all over her and the floor. Joy is loving the fact that I am a mom to a screaming baby. Joy is hugging someone you are mad at. Joy is praying for someone that you are jealous of. Joy is finding peace when the kids are screaming, the house is a mess, and the phone wont stop ringing.

The Joy of the Lord is my strength doesn't mean my physical strength but it is my mental and emotional strength. Nothing worldly is going to satisfy my happiness and joy. Only God! It's is only the joy of the Lord that is going to get me through my rough days. Not saying that I won't need a break or even get frustrated, but now I realize I can take a deep breath and find joy through my 3 healthy little girls that the Lord has given me.

The scripture in Nehemiah 8:10 helped me find myself again. With a joyful heart I can say I am a mother of 3 wonderful girls. I have been called and anointed to be a stay at home mom. I am a wife to an awesome husband who loves me with all of his heart. God has called me for such a time as this. I am the daughter to a Heavenly Father that loves me unconditionally!

So there you go. Now I can breath. I hope you can get something out of this. If anything please keep me in your prayers. Pray that God will continue to show me His true joy!