Some old_er pics

So we were at Chris' parents yesterday for Thanksgiving...those pics to follow
 ....but we got these pics off their camera from Spring and Fall and thought they were cute!  It's so hard not having a camera that I can take with me everywhere....and my phone takes the worst blury photo's....as you've prob already noticed.  So while these are old I really liked reminiscing!

It is SO crazy looking at pics that were taken in June and seeing how much our kiddos have grown, facial features changing, Trinity's hair is so much longer, clothes that were big...now small.....all this in only 6mos. Goes by so stinkin' fast.  I think in Jan I will do a year picture roundup just to show how much they have changed and grown.  'cus it is just beyond crazy!

 ha! how boy is this?! hitting bugs with twigs....

 playing guitar with papa

 These next pics are from Holloween time.  "Gama" made them lion, tiger, and bear cupcakes!  Trinity and Gabriel had no prob tearing on into theirs.....Asher on the other hand wouldn't eat it.  lol...that child cracks me up....if it resembles an animal of any kind he won't eat it.  He did the same thing at Thanksgiving when "Gama" made them a big turkey cake....pics of that will come later

What's Ur Attitude?.....about housework

Mama's little helpers.....some pics then a story

laundry

sweeping and mopping

 cleaning up cereal mess :)

 Cleaning up the milk party the boys decided to have all over the playroom carpet

I posted this to show that kids are really never too young to learn to clean up.  And honestly you may find that yours love to help out.  My kids will actually get upset if only one gets a cleaning rag...ha!

Side story....it ties in I promise*
We were at a friends house several months ago.  They have two teenage boys and a preteen daughter.  Whenever the parents asked them to help with something, they just did it without thinking twice...no whining, no complaining....no "can't I do it after they leave" kind of attitude.  And one thing they were asked to do was pick up dog *lovely*  outside that was missed and almost got stepped in.  The boy cleaned it up so fast I didn't even know he had!  And I remember thinking to myself, "now these kids are a product of Godly parenting! and I hope ours act that respectful when they get older" Not that I didn't think that b4 that day.  This fam is awesome people and we are privileged  to be able to call them friends, but that day was just a little added nugget.  

Over the past 2 yrs God has really shown me that if we as parents don't whine and complain and get grumpy about house work and instead make it more of something we are blessed to be able to do, our children will have the same attitude.  They watch our every move.

If ur kiddos have a bad attitude about helping and cleaning...
- maybe ask yourself "how is my attitude when I clean and pick up?"  It may sound like common sense, but trust me it will really make you think and keep ur thoughts and attitude in check.  I know I have my days that I just want to veg and the thought of hanging the laundry or washing the dishes makes me want to growl inside.  BUT, then (and I know this is super cheez but...) I think about how thankful I am to have this home, have 3 healthy beautiful totally amazing children, and not to mention a super wonderful awesome hubs who provides for our family which allows me to be a SAHM!  And then....How can I not be a little joyous about some housework...I mean really.  So I turn on some Pandora radio and rejoice in some cleaning.  I watch my kiddos dance around and rock out with me and we are all better for it.

- pay attention to how you speak to them.  I remember one time....I believe it was the milk all over the playroom time,  I actually spoke to them like the cleaning was a punishment of sorts.  As in I was a bit ticked to be honest.  It not only got all over the carpet, but all.over.the.train-set. ugh.  As I was in the midst of my growling and grumbling I hear God whisper "you have a right to be aggravated, but you can choose not to be.  your children love to help clean.  don't blow it by having them associate it with a bad attitude."  me...*deep breathe* "k. thanks Jesus." *sigh* "we needed to give the train-set a good bath anyway."  I then turned my attitude around b/c I chose to listen and obey my Parent.  While they cleaned I first apologized for having a bad attitude, then told them what a good job they were doing by obeying what I asked them to do and thank'd them for cleaning up their mess.

.....and then Trinity wanted to join in the fun so she grabbed her rag.

 And our kiddos will soak it all in....the good and the bad

needed to add this too....
If you find urself in the midst of a bad attitude and you hear the Holy Spirit speak to you about it, don't ever hesitate to apologize to ur children.  They need to hear and experience mama and daddy listening and obeying their Parent.

It's beginning to look like Christmas! YAY

Gabriel picked this out....he likes snowmen aka nu-nose.  We went just the two of us to pick up more lights for the tree, then decided to walk around a bit while we were there and he found this in an area we had totally missed the previous day that had even more decor than where we looked.

 the tree decorated

 new stockings for the kiddos!  they have never had these b4 and we thought they were cute.  the snowman or "nu-nose" is Gabriel's, the Reindeer or "Reinear" is Asher's and the Penguin or "Pengin" is Trinity's!

 Chris picked these out and I love them! 

Our kiddos are really liking snowmen.  It's quite funny.  The first thing they noticed was the big nose!  so they started calling it nose....then nu-nose and snonose.  Don't bother correcting them.  I think it's cute.  Whenever they say "nu-nose" Chris or I would say "you mean snowman?" and they would answers, "yeah, nu-nose"...like duh mom that's what I just said. lol nu-nose it is. HA

Some random pics from Chris' phone that never made it to the computer or blog.....till now :)
From the end of summer....

 they LOVE flowers and butterflies....and pretty much anything outdoorsy

 mmmmm ice cream!  For those who don't know Andy's in rogers will give you free "sample" cones if you let them know you have small kiddos.

 Park

 Gabriel falling asleep at the table. 'cus he's cool like that

 Halloween at the Brown's house.  Our kiddos loved this Optimus Prime talking hat thing.  Our kiddos weren't dressed up, but they sure did like to wear this!  this is Asher Prime....

And for those of you women doing the Proverbs 31 Woman 21 day Study with me we have until this coming Sunday, Nov 28th!  I hope you have been enjoying, learning and growing!  I know I have!

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

haircuts and tree

after haircuts..Trinity just got a trim and some layers around her face

 We just trimmed Asher's up too....and thinned it out a little so it's not so crazy poofy.  we think it's cute longer, are finally able to style it.  He looks cute with the sweep over bangs  **this pic hair is not styled** 
 
and Gabriel....with his usual spike cut!  He was excited when he saw himself in the mirror.  He actually like to style his hair...:)


Asher helping daddy put the top tear of the tree on!

 

 Had a lot of fun putting the tree up last night!  But we still aren't finished.  Still have to put all the decor on.  Chris couldn't find our decorations in the attic, so will have to do some more looking.  It's usually all together next to the tree...but apparently not this year. lol.  Can't wait to get the kiddos gifts wrapped and put under the tree!  I really love this time of year!
Trinity being funny :P

And it wouldn't be complete without one of THE best movies of the Holiday season.....

 

Wife pt.2

Alright ladies!  It's Friday, which means that if you started the Proverbs 31 wife challenge with me on Monday that this is our 5th day!  I hope that you have found a version that is easy to grasp and apply straight to your life.  I actually look at several versions each day just to get some different verbiage and takes on the verses.

I pray that each of you have started to see changes in yourself already, I know I have!

Every time I read the Proverbs wife of noble character I see things that I need to improve on.  Which is one reason I thought it would be a great idea to study it for 21 days straight...there are 21 verses in this passage, so essentially you could study a verse a day.  I read through the entire passage each day, then take one or two verses and really meditate and pray them over my life.  The key really isn't how much you are reading, but that you are getting in God's presence.

And remember our simple, one breathe prayer;" (inhale) Abba, (exhale) I belong to you."  I pray this before I start.

If you only have one version at home, I do recommend this site .  It has many versions and you can also post verses to Twitter or Facebook, which I love!

I would love to hear how your studying, prayer and meditation time is going!  If you are joining me in this,  leave a comment and let me know how you are doing, how you are studying, how God is changing/challenging you.... etc!

Goods

Just a couple things that are not only good for ya, but seriously good!  I'm all about healthy, but I'm more about flava!  And here are just a couple examples of things that pack in both!

the best bread....EVER.  It's seriously good, and the Eco-Grain means that it has like half the junk as the regular.....calories, fat, carbs, sodium....etc.  And absolutely NONE of the flavor is lost.  I actually like it better than the regular Wheat Berry.  And for me to say that is huge.  I have tried low carb breads before and they are seriously blek.  But not Earth Grain's Eco-Grain.  It's just a whole lota healthy, and a whole lota good!

Green Tea - I've honestly never been a fan.  But it is proven to be the healthiest of all the tea classes....green, white, black....SO, I decided to try one more brand.  A brand I love....STASH!  A couple spoon fulls of sugar or some honey and it's actually not bad at all!  It's loaded with antioxidants and is even proven to help you loose weight.  I try and drink 2-3 cups a day to get the full benefits.

These little bad boys are awesome!  they are Gatorade G2 pack that you put in ur water bottle.  They are low calorie, full of flavor and NO fake sugars like aspartame.  I don't do aspartame or sacerine (prob misspelled that) which is why I don't do diet drinks....which btw are worse for you than regular....but that's another story.  You can get these packs at Target if you live in Northwest Arkansas.  For some reason Wal-Mart doesn't sell them.  boo for WM.  They are the only packet I have found that doesn't have the fake sugars.

And this is just plain good.....

I don't like the Bigelow brand...but I LOVE this tea.  And only in Decaf as for some reason the reg doesn't have as much flavor.  weird.  It has literally become my favorite tea.  The funny thing is I am really not into oranges and sweet spice when it comes to tea.  Yet something about this tea was so familiar and calming to me.  Try it, and you may like it too!  Try it, try it and you may, try it and you may I say :) 
*wow, we read Green Eggs and Ham way too much in our house lol

***for ur kiddos....grab some decaf tea and some local honey to help fend off colds.  Ours started getting some nose stuffiness and drainage, which caused coughing a few weeks ago.  I started giving them some of this tea with honey (and a few ice cubes to cool it down) and they were better before we knew it!

Some key things I try to remember in healthy living, and trying to lose weight, firm up or just plain get in better shape...
*keep a positive attitude.  studies show that people with a positive attitude toward their goals have a much higher chance of achieving them.
*cut out the crud, but make sure you don't loose the flava.  truth be told you can have the best intentions in the world, but if you are eating stuff just to loose weight, but you hate what it tastes like....odds are you won't keep with it.  so find stuff that has less.....sodium, carbs, calories, fat, etc....but don't kill yourself with flavorless or just plain gross food.
*don't give up
*don't just read the scale.  we don't even own a scale.  If I want to weight myself I have to remember to do it at the FitnessCenter.  Otherwise I just go by how my jeans fit.  And you have to use jeans, ladies.  Jeans don't lie.....seriously.  Those yoga pants will just keep stretchin....those jeans won't :)  trust me, lol
*Concentrate! - on your muscle groups you are trying to sculpt.  even when ur not working out, focus on them and almost anything you do can be a mini workout!  especially if you are a stay at home mom and do things like laundry, putting up the laundry, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, dishes, lifting children.....all these things burn calories, but it can do so much more if you focus on specific muscle groups while you clean!   **ex...tighten ur core while vacuuming or mopping....switch arms to get both sides worked.  or...instead of just reaching down (using ur back) to pick up ur child, squat down and use ur leg muscles!
*Change the plane - When you do exercises that make you use both lower and upper body you will see results quicker.  What happens, pretty much, is that ur heart has to pump more blood, hence more oxygen flowing through ur lungs and more oxygen to ur muscles which in turn helps them work more efficient.
*drink plenty of water.  I have been so bad at this lately!

* Did I mention keep a POSITIVE ATTITUDE!  seriously girls, it's huge.   If you'd like to read more on some studies on results of a positive attitude check out Joyce Meyer's new book Power Thoughts

a wholata pics

While I was uploading some pics yesterday, our trio took it upon themselves to start learning time.  I walked in to see and hear them picking up different learning cards and saying what was on the card.  And as you can see Gabriel thought that #'s needed to be added to the mess....I mean mix. lol

 

All these are just random pics from yesterday and this morning.  We went outside for some fun with bubbles!  What kid doesn't like bubbles?!  Gabriel was the master bubble maker.  He was the only one who didn't either blow raspberries at the wand (trinity), or put it directly on his lips almost eating the wand (asher) Hope ya enjoy!