Grandparents, Sugar Overdose, & Football

Party at our house! My little Tyson was on 100 this weekend. He was single handedly the life of the party. My in-laws came to visit and I guess he figured this was a good time to showcase his comedic skills. :)
Orlando was his usual wonderful self and enjoyed grandma's cookies and the constant attention. One thing I will say is , they definitely experienced a sugar overdose and we haven't even made it to Halloween!
Food, football, movies, candy, reading, cookies, and hugs can pretty much sum up the weekend. The Badgers blew  Maryland out with a 52-7 win, which was great to watch!
 I'm looking forward to watching the Badgers against Rutgers on Saturday from the comfort of my own couch, while watching the kids enjoy their Halloween treats.

Hope you all had a relaxing weekend. Happy Monday!:)

Yummy Pumpkin Seeds!

  So, what do you do after carving a pumpkin? Roast the seeds of course!! My boys love doing anything traditional, so we roasted the pumpkin seeds that I saved from our recent carving. They turned out to be a great after school snack.
The best part is, it was easy peasy (Tyson likes to say that). All I had to do was rinse the seeds, then in a separate bowl mix the clean seeds along with olive oil & sea salt (I added garlic powder too). Finally, spread them onto a baking sheet and bake on 375 for 20-25 minutes (or until crispy).

 Yummy pumpkin seeds!

Bye Week & Pumpkin Carving

Since this was the Badgers 2nd bye week, we enjoyed pumpkin carving and watching other teams battle it out on the football field. The pumpkins came out pretty good given it being our first pumpkin carving ever. Tyson's pumpkin is almost unrecognizable. Can't tell where the mouth or nose is located but I guess that's the point right?
Daddy being home was probably the highlight of the weekend. Orlando sat extra close to him, while Tyson preferred to go all the way in by asking daddy to rock his 5 year old self! :) Other than simply enjoying a quiet weekend at home, the boys enjoyed playing on www.abcmouse.com. Orlando's teacher gave them a free subscription so they could get some extra reading and math practice in at home. It is also a great activity to keep them distracted if I'm trying to get something done around the house!

Cheers to a great weekend and an even better week. Happy Monday!!

School Functions and Recruiting Dinners...

Grandparents Day was Friday and since both sets of grandparents are far away I decided to attend and eat lunch with the boys. I really enjoyed seeing what they've been working on in the classroom and being serenaded with cute songs and hymns by 20+ kids under the age of 6. It was truly adorable, hand motions and all!:)  Friday was followed by a busy day of Football. The Badgers played at home Saturday and pulled out a win against Illinois. The boys enjoyed hanging out with friends, eating junk food from the concession stands (drives me crazy) and joining daddy on the field after the game. Man, I swear they are living the life! After rushing home from the game, we were able to get a quick nap before heading to a recruiting dinner. It was a busy day but the boys handled it like champs before passing out once we got home. Thankfully, we have a bye week and a rather uneventful week ahead of us.

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Weekend Review

Is it just me or does it feel like the weekend just flew by?
The Badgers had an away game on Saturday so the boys took it upon themselves to spend Friday night in my bed. I couldn't resist those cute faces, plus I like the company when Thomas is away.

We also visited the Chuck E Cheese here in Madison on Friday after school. I'm usually not a fan of Chuck E Cheese because the ones that we would visit in Georgia were never really clean. It made me feel like I was entering a germ infested war zone staged as a game center, but the one in Madison is kept up pretty nicely. Of course, it's still a germ infested war zone (lots of kids = lots of germs) but at least there's an attempt to keep it clean.. Anywho, the boys couldn't careless either way! They had a blast! We even went back Saturday morning to use up all the extra tokens we had left. Looks like we have another place we can add to our list of "fun indoor places to go when it freezes over in Wisconsin".:)

Lastly, we had our Sunday staff dinner at the office with daddy! It's nice to be able to eat together as a family at least once a week, even if it's in an office. LOL
To keep the boys from jetting up and down the halls, Thomas had them make their own plays on the white board. That kept them occupied.

Oh, I almost forgot. I officially switched over summer clothes for fall/winter clothes! Thought about doing it sooner but our weather was confusing. Looks like the cool air is here to stay this time. Here comes winter!!
Hope you all enjoyed your weekend.

Cheers to a great week.:)

note: pictures courtesy of my android phone...not the best but they got the job done.

Day #30 {30 days of prayer}

WOW, can't believe it's been 30 days already!
I want to end my 30 days of prayer/devotion with what I believe to be one of the most important scriptures for Christian. In fact, I believe it was the first scripture I learned in Sunday School growing up. That scripture is John 3:16

 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

As Christians we believe that God sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die on the cross just for us!! We are saved by grace, covered with mercy and engulfed in his love and because of him we have everlasting life. What an awesome thing!!
Not only are we sinner saved by grace, but with this gift we have attached promises and blessing through Christ Jesus. When you dedicate yourself to serving God you allow His light to shine through your life in the most amazing ways that you wouldn't ever think possible.
So today let's thank God for sending his son to save us.
Let's thank him for our many undeserved blessings.
Let's thank him for all the little things that we take for granted.
Let's thank him for his faithfulness.
Let's thank him simply because we still can.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!!

Day #29 {30 days of prayer}

There are many ways to humble yourself before the Lord. Some include confessing your sins, serving others and being quick to forgive! This scripture reveals another promise (or blessing) from the Lord- "These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite (meaning expressing remorse or penitence) with spirit and who tremble at my word". So, Humble yourself before the Lord today. Confess that wrong, or forgive that person who hurt you. In the end it's between you and God.
Happy Monday!!!!:)

Day #28 {30 days of prayer}

The boys came home from school on Thursday talking about The Beatitudes found in Matthew 5. 

I love how the teacher presented it to them. Through color, cut and paste worksheets of course.:) When they asked me about The Beatitudes they expected me to recite the scripture as if it was my life's work. I was able to go through some from memory but it sure wasn't pretty. So today I want to focus on Matthew 5 just in case you need a refresher yourself! 

The Beatitudes are the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount or some like to call them the blessings in The Sermon on the Mount. 

Also, If you go back and read Isaiah 61:1-3 you will see that Matthew 5 echoes it a bit. Isaiah gives us an early prediction of what the Kingdom of God and the Messiah will look like and according to some theologians, The Beatitudes gives you the qualities and the character of the true people of God, as well as, the free blessings of the kingdom of God that we can look forward to!

Matthew 5 1- 11 

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
    For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Day #27 {30 days of prayer}

What exactly is righteousness? Well, righteousness is defined as "the quality of being morally right or justified.
Okay, so what would we say is "morally right"?  We know that a moral is defined as a person's standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable. So, in this case as Christians our morals are founded on the word of God, right?
I like this scripture because it reminds me of the set of standards that I am instructed to live by. Society can have you accepting all kinds of foolish things. To be honest, in some situations I'd much rather go by society's moral code. It's more pleasing to my flesh. But the Bible tells us to do righteousness, which as stated before is to do what is morally right. The scripture goes on to say, "blessed is the man who does this". If you catch this you'll see that's one of the many promises God has given us!!
Regardless of how you feel or who has mistreated you, remember what the word of God says,"Keep justice and do righteousness because blessed is the man who does this!"  Amen.

Day #26 {30 days of prayer}

"my spirit, yet is strong but as usual, my flesh wants to surrender."

No one said serving God would be easy. Growing up in the faith, you learn this very quickly. At times I would get so angry that my fleshly desires were so strong and fighting against my Spirit. Especially when I want to give someone a piece of my mind (yes, I said it)!  The bible clearly tells us that our flesh and our spirit are opposed to each other. We must overcome our fleshly desires and be reminded that pleasing God is way more important. Yes, it's difficult but no one said this walk was going to be easy. Happy Friday!

Day #25 {30 days of prayer}

Father, fill my cup today! Let it overflow with heavenly joy and peace that only you can provide. I have everything that I need because you have provided for me. You are the lover of my soul, my everything. I give you all the praise. All that I have will never be enough to show you how much I love you! Amen

Day #24 {30 days of prayer}

Today, I will praise the Lord with all that is within me. That means, focusing on things that are good. Things that are pure and loving. I will praise him in spite of what this day will bring. I will be consistent today. I won't just have my quiet time this morning and then fade from his word by the end of the day. No, I will bless the Lord, O' my soul, from sun up to sun down. My attitude will be pleasing to him this entire day! 

Who else desires to be consistent in blessing the Lord?  I'll be the first to admit that throughout the day my worldly self can wreck havoc on my attitude and completely throw me off course, especially with my mouth.

So, let's commit to being consistently in Christ. 

Let's start with today.

Day #23 {30 days of prayer}

This scripture pulls at my heart strings! I absolutely LOVE Psalm 139.  Although this is just an excerpt, the entire chapter brings me to tears (good tears). I remember years ago, as a college student I would read this chapter everyday, sometimes more than once. This was a difficult time in my life when I felt lost, misunderstood and completely alone BUT to know that God knew everything about me brought me an overwhelming amount of comfort. He formed me in my mother's womb and there is no place I can go away from his Spirit! This was a major "self-examining" time in my life.
 I desperately needed this at that time in my life. Interestingly I was brought to it again today. Sometimes I feel like God is so far away. There are moments when I feel like I'm here trying to figure it out all by myself but today I was reminded that he's so much closer than I realize. He is intimately acquainted with all my ways! The Lord knew exactly how I was feeling today and knew that I was in need of this gentle reminder. Maybe, you feel alone or misunderstood. Please remember that God loves you more than anything. He has searched you and he knows you. His thoughts are so precious towards you. You are not alone and his hand is leading you.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Amen
Psalm 139: 23

Day #22 {30 days of prayer}

We know that God searches the heart and examines the mind. Through this he hears the groanings of our heart. This brings much comfort to me during times of quietness. Especially when I don't know how to put my longings and concerns into words. Hope you have an awesome Monday!!

Day #21 {30 days of prayer}

This scripture should remind us that we have passed from death to life. We should be thankful because we have been set free and have the ability to do what we know is good all because of our deliverance through Christ.  Yes, we all have sinned but we have been forgiven and set free. Free from negative thoughts and feelings. Therefore, we should walk in it and not dwell on our mistakes or our sin. Embrace the grace that God has given us.

Day #20 {30 days of prayer}

Day #19 {30 days of prayer}

Sometimes I feel like it doesn't matter how much you give of yourself, people will find a problem or have an issue with you. I have to step back and remember that I am loved by a God who cares for me deeply. Flaws and all. I am indeed the apple of his eye. So today I say, "Thank you Lord for loving me unconditionally."

All that I need!!!

Day #18 {30 days of prayer}

A daily prayer.

Day #17 {30 days of prayer}

Father, today I choose to wait on you. I will put my complete faith in you. I know that you are with me. I trust that you will answer me in your own timing. In Jesus name, Amen,

Day #16 {30 days of prayer}

I pray that whatever you are dealing with today, you abound in hope.

Badger Football 2014!

I'm so behind on my football post but as you can see, football season is in full force. Both sets of grandparents have been to Madison already! I'm so thankful that they took the time out of their schedules to come see us before we got into the heart of the season. Here are a few pictures of the season so far. GO BADGERS!!!
BEAT EVERYBODY!:)

       

Day #15 {30 days of prayer}

Beginning of the Week Prayer!!! Hope you have a productive week.:)

Day #14 {30 days of prayer}

God takes care of all fragile hearts!
When someone has mismanaged your heart or you put yourself in bad a situation where your heart has been completely shattered, believe in God to fix it. He loves you so much!

God, you see and know all! My heart is broken and I am hurt beyond understanding. I need you to heal all the broken places and bind up every wound. Send the comforter to help me through this tough time in my life so that I can move forward and not dwell on my pain. I thank you for your healing power over my heart. In Jesus name, Amen.

Day #13 {30 days of prayer}

Day #12 {30 days of prayer}

 

My dear friend Ember Lumpkin sent me this text last night and I decided to share it as Day #12 devotion/prayer. It's common for her to send me words of wisdom and prayers placed on her heart. For that I am so grateful!)

 

The text read:

We all have bank accounts that we make deposits into. We then proceed to swipe our debit cards because we know that what we have already deposited into our account is ready for use. There is no hesitation when it’s time to purchase items because we know what we put in!

I heard T.D. Jakes say “if life is asking a lot of you it is because it knows that there is a lot in you.” I thought about this and I was reminded of Luke 12:48 “from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” I also was reminded of one of my favorite passages Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
So, God already knew what he wanted and needed from my life. He knew the path for me to take. We are allowed choices and we have and sometimes have not made the right choices, but God knew what he had already deposited into us. He trusts that ALL his gifts and word stored in us can be withdrawn! We must maintain his deposits just as we have to maintain financial accounts so that we’re not in the red. We must work to earn money, to maintain sufficient funds. This same principal applies to our spiritual growth.

Thought: What are we doing to stay sufficient in Christ for ourselves, husbands, children and families as a whole?

Job 22:22 “Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart.”

Lord, thank you for today! Thank you for your grace that you give to us daily! Lord help us to make spiritual withdrawals in the good and bad times. Let us maintain sufficient deposits of your word so we never run low or out of you! We love you and thank you for trusting us with your precious gifts. In Jesus name, Amen!

Thank you Ember for blessing us with this devotion & prayer today!:)