Letterboxing Fun

We haven't gone letterboxing in a couple of years. Today just seemed like the perfect day. Despite the fact that March is supposed to be the snowiest month in Colorado, we figured we would give it a try. Today was a BEAUTIFUL day; the temperature was about 80 degrees. Sounds like snowy weather to me???????

We started out on our first "hunt" in the WRONG direction. After about 1/2 mile we realized our mistake (or lack of clues), so we turned back around. We headed in the right direction, and with an extra mile of walking........we accomplished our task. It really is a great way for us to go and spend time outdoors with a goal in mind.

Levi fell asleep at 5 pm, and the other children are just BARELY hanging on......what a day!!

If you have never heard of letterboxing, it really is a fun thing for families. We all enjoy it, and it has an interesting history. http://www.letterboxing.org/ has a search for you to find boxes in your area.

Baby Girl

Now that I am almost 7 months pregnant the questions of.........do you know what you are having are MORE frequent. People do NOT like to be surprised. Josh and I have always told the ultrasound techs that we do not want to find out.......the looks of surprise and "torture" is displayed on their faces.....EVERY TIME.

Well, from the beginning of this pregnancy, I have really hoped we were having a girl. I really try not to get my hopes up, but I can think of so many reason why it would be perfect. Now, if only God had the same superficial reasons.


Saraa, my neice, needs a girl cousin. The way our family seems to have a lot of boys.....well, we need to have at least two in a row.

Oh, not to mention the fact that I really want to have a baby girl to dress up again, oh, and it would save me about $250 if I have a girl, and an extra trip to a doctor around 8 days old.

Now, I am posting this so that it can be said WHY I think we are having a girl.......

When I was pregnant with Jael I remember many times feeling like we were going to have a girl because her name was the ONE that I felt God gave us. Jael's middle name is Abeni; it means a girl prayed for, and long awaited. How perfect is that? Josh and I both liked the boy's name, but it just wasn't as fitting.

With all three boys it was the same way......the boy's name was just "perfect," or we didn't have a girl's name that we really liked. Ezekiel Savage's name means, "the Lord's strength is WILD." THAT name was the passion of our hearts. Levi Joseph has SO many reasons for his name; the meaning, "a union supported by Jehovah."

Now, the name we have picked out for a girl is Shallah Rianne, it means "river of grace." At the moment, we do not even HAVE a boy's name. About 2-3 months ago, I received a prophecy over this pregnancy, that it would be "full of grace!" After that, we talked about the fact that the Hebrew number 5 means "grace!"

Maybe I am overworking this a bit, but even Josh will tell you that he has a feeling we will have a girl. Names have always meant so much to me, and it always seems to play such a big part in the gender of our children. We always favor one name over the other.....and this time it's the girl's name!!! At this point I sure hope so.........because I need God to give us a great name for a boy.

Our Response

Josh has been working with this kind of view!

God built into a portion of our brains a function that constantly filters out unimportant information and focuses on what is meaningful to us. It's called the Reticular Activating System, RAS, this is how it works:

1. Positive focusing.

2. Negative filtering.

3. Individual perceiving.

Once our minds have decided something is important-like the crying of a baby-the RAS will bring it to your attention every time. I find this fascinating, because I have noticed that since having children I can tune out everything.........but still manage to wake up at the slightest whimper from my children. I don't even HEAR the blaring of Josh's alarm clock, but I can hear MINE, if I set it. I noticed the other day how our programming is so different for all of us. I pointed out the sound of a train the other day, and I asked Josh if it ever bothers him. We have lived in this house for over a year, and that was the FIRST time he even knew the train was close enough to hear. WHY could I hear it? Do I have an attachment to trains, since my father worked for the railroad for 40 years?


I have been searching to hear more of God. You know, that "still small voice." Sometimes I have even "beat myself up" thinking that I cannot hear Him. But I am now wondering if I have been hearing Him for longer than I realized, that His voice has become a part of my RAS? Do I hear His promptings and not even realize? Have I made hearing His voice vital to my daily life? Have I filtered out the negative worldly distractions? Of course, there is always more hearing to be done......so, I am not saying that I am done learning.


But, my thought was this........our RAS records everything and will concentrate our attention on what we have previously programmed to be important. I can thank my mother for giving credit to God so many times for even the little things, so have I just grown up knowing that God speaks ALWAYS?


For example, the other day I was driving home from church in Josh's car. It was about 9 pm, and I really felt like I should not go my "normal way home." I decided to take the highway, not the back roads. I was about 4 miles from home, when the car died. My cell phone was dead. I remember being panicked, and I thanked God for the prompting to NOT go the back roads. However, I didn't FEEL like God was TELLING me to go the highway, when I went??? I want to KNOW that it's HIM....and then obey.


I realize I am just rambling, but I know that the few who read this blog will have some insight for me. PLEASE, I need your thoughts!

I don't want to lose my sensitivity to those things that I know are valuable. I have no doubt that God's voice is valuable. Does hearing God's voice just become a part of you? Am I missing something by not knowing BEFOREhand that it's Him?


Do you learn to just filter out the negative so much, that you only hear the positive? Do you become so sensitive to His Word and Spirit that you KNOW when it's not Him?


Staying positive about hearing God will certainly allow you to hear more and more of His voice. I realize the significance of RAS now more than ever. I can go outside and see the beauty of the mountains, and I never grow weary of their magnificence. Some of my Colorado natives have grown complacent.....

I do know my heart's cry:

MAY I ALWAYS HAVE A POSITIVE RESPONSE TO THE THINGS OF GOD, so THAT I CAN SEE and HEAR MORE.

Sunday Morning Breakfast

I honestly do not know how we are going to afford to feed all of these children when they are bigger!! (good thing God is such an awesome provider) The kids asked if we could have an extra special breakfast, and we figured that was a great reason to make extra yummy foods. We had so much food, and we used 1 1/2 dozen eggs!!!!!!! My, My, My!!!

Our Menu:

Fruit Salad: kiwis, strawberries, fresh pinneapple, blueberries, apples, and a super yummy sauce I made the night before.

French Toast

Sausage Links

Fried Eggs

Fried Potatoes

Orange/Apple Juice

(oh, we had it all made and ready in 30 minutes.....)

His tummy was SO full and tight!

Cinnamon Sticks GUEST GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Homemade jewelry really is the most unique thing. What a great giveaway.

Cinnamon Sticks GUEST GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Dear Tooth Fairy

How Deep Are Your Pockets?

This was the letter Jael left for the tooth fairy. Josh thinks she learned how to be so grateful from me; I guess I will take that as a compliment. Part of the reason for the extra kindness was because the last tooth she put under her pillow did not have a letter, because I wouldn't let her leave a letter to the tooth fairy that sounded demanding. Needless to say she only got a dollar. The big problem is that the tooth fairy left dollar coins, which are getting a bit harder to acquire.

Well, the letter worked......she got her three dollar coins. She is saving her money for a Princess alarm clock, so that she can learn how to sleep in. Yes, sleep in!! She has 12 dollars saved, and the alarm clock costs about $35.00. She has a ways to go, but she is doing a good job saving her allowance every week. AND even though it cost the tooth fairy $3.00 for that tooth....it's nicer that she got it because Mommy and Daddy were going to have to pay the dentist $5.00.

Hey, maybe Ezekiel should have gotten the extra $2.00??? He is the reason the tooth is finally out........

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things......

Daja tagged me for a meme to take a picture of my favorite things--things that make our home beautiful or functional. I am finally getting around to it, but it's so hard to NARROW it down. It's fun to take a moment and be grateful for all of those things......I am a BLESSED girl.

The extremely sexy purple Animal/Dyson is an absolutely phenomenal vacuum cleaner. I love it. It was a present from Josh about 10 months ago, after complaining that my other vacuum did NOTHING for cleaning up the massive amount of black dog hair. It is an amazing tool.

The Upright Piano in my living room is such a wonderful addition, mainly because I have had this piano since I was 8 years old. BUT it is also the best sounding upright piano I have ever heard, and it hasn't been tuned in at least 10 years!!! It has amazing sound quality; I love playing it. The kids enjoy it, too!

The Bedroom Set seems to just make my bedroom more of the haven I desire. My room seems complete; it seems put together. I have always wanted a headboard and a foot board, now I have a complete set. I love it.

The Kitchen Table is another one of my favorite pieces. We can ALL sit around the table, and it's the perfect height for everyone. Josh likes it, and we use it EVERYDAY. I love that it brings us all together, and it's sturdy. It also goes very well with my "shabby rose garden" theme.

The Family Wall has many memories. I enjoy looking at the vast array of pictures from years past and present. It makes me feel a part of something a lot bigger than JUST ME!

The Pink Nano Ipod was a COMPLETE surprise present from Josh last year, yes, as you can see it appears that I have been given lots of presents lately. They are certainly grand, if you ask me. When we moved to Colorado I got rid of my CD player because it was only working half the time. I was really sad to see it go, because I love having music playing in the house during the day. I clean better with music "blasting!" Anyway, I was trying to decide if I should buy the same kind of CD player. I liked having a multi-player, so I could have HOURS of continuous play. Josh brought this home, and I LOVE it.

I am sure I could keep taking pictures and listing more things, but I GUESS I will stop. I love looking back and seeing how blessed I am.......abundantly blessed.

My Husband Rocks~Friday

"What makes a happy marriage?"

One man and one woman and the one TRUE God giving 100% to each other in mind, body, soul, and spirit. Seriously, how can you go wrong with that equation? No, really, I am not sure you can......the problem is remembering to DO all of those things. Mind, Body, Soul, and Spirit is a lot to remember.

I have found in almost 10 years of marriage, with MANY ups and downs, that the best times have been when BOTH of us were focused on our relationship with God. When our relationship with God has been made a priority we fall into place. Putting FOCUS on our marriage is what always seems to turn us around. If the happiness of our spouse is made a priority then naturally it turns into a habit. How can your marriage not be happy, if you are making each other happy?

When Josh participated in the Love Dare it was one of the greatest 40 days of our marriage, in my opinion. Everyday may not have been perfect, but it was nice to know that WE were on his mind. I knew that EVERYDAY he was focusing on how our marriage could be better.

I cannot remember the last time Josh and I went away by ourselves on a getaway. We came to Colorado last year, which was a great time.....but we had a 4 month old with us. For Valentine's Day Josh decided that we would take a small vacation during Spring Break. I am very excited. AND I know how much things like this help US. I also know that Satan has been trying to take the joy out of this trip....anyway that he can. Thanks, Josh, for planning our trip! Thanks for putting US at the top of your list. Thanks for keeping things in perspective, so that the joy is not lost in our time alone. I am praying this this will be just the thing we need to take us into a new season of being "happily married!"

For those of you who pray for us, please pray that this weekend trip will be amazing. THAT Satan stops trying to put stress on us, before we go.....thanks to you all!

Something Heavenly

I don't usually post so many videos in a row, but I have listened to this song a few times.....and I LOVE it. I mean, it does that "something" inside of me that really gets to me. I hope you enjoy it, too! I am off to buy the CD, TODAY!

Just for You

Josh thinks this is the funniest thing he has "ever" seen!!! So, in his honor.....


Bizkit, the Sleepwalking Dog @ Yahoo! Video