Psalm 1

I got a new tatoo yesterday.

This is my new tatoo:

I love it. Its exactly what I drew up months ago. I've been sitting on it for a while though, just wanting to make sure its really want I wanted to do...cause its kinda permanent.

Gods just been teaching me so much about trees lately. For the past year or so I have just loved trees. Any picture I see, any where I go...I just love them. We even had Hannah come over and paint a mural on our wall of a tree...its amazing.

Trees are strong. They're steadfast. Their roots go down deep. Ps 1 says "His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law He meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." That verse just speaks so much to me. When we are connected to our Source, or to the Vine (according to John), we prosper. Apart from Christ we can do absolutely nothing. And the words on it says "Live Love"...which will probably have to be a whole other post all together...that one is kinda packed. Yet simple at the same time. Live love. So simple...yet so what the world needs craves and is so hungry for. A people who is going to live a different way.....but I'm not going to get into that right now.

Love my Tatoo. About gave my mom and probably mother-in-law a heart attack......sorry moms. Love you guys :)......

New Day

The day has come. I didn't think it would ever happen. It was a possibility for Chrismas. I thought maybe it would happen when we got out tax return. And then maybe for Easter. Ok, possibly Mothers Day. Perhaps when all my friends threatened to call Sean over and over asking where I was would prompt me getting one.

I have never said ONE word through any of this. No whining that I didn't have any means of communication if I were to get stranded on the side of the road someplace in Redding. No begging and complaining that EVERYONE in the world has a cell phone except for me. I had excepted the fact that if anything happened to the kids while out galavanting about Redding, I could handle it. I can take care of myself...and three kids. I can change a tire. I can do anything, right?

So what would cause this drastic change of events? Seans cell getting dropped in the lake on the 4th. He HAD to get a new phone for work....so why not just get two while he was at it? Its a new day.

I have a Cell phone.

And its Seans Birthday.

Sean, I love you. Thank you for my new pretty pink cell phone (even though I don't do pink). Have a fantastic day today. Thank you for being such an amazing provider for all of us. We really don't deserve any of the gifts we have....we are so blessed. I am so lucky to have you as my Husband and Father to my kids. Happy 29!!!

Aaaaaand its Erica's birthday

Happy Birthday Erica! You are an amazing woman. I don't know how you do it, ALL of it, all the time. Your strength is inpiring. Thank you for your friendship. I hope you have a great day.

What a day!!!

Routine

Wake up, put on bathing suit. Go to bed, take off bathing suit. Repeat.

Birdhouse

Its summer. Kids are one year older. A little bit antsier. Mom a little bit lazier. Watching a little bit too much Dora. Time to get on a schedule......so we headed out to Walmart and got a ton of crafts. I decided its time to get my days organized. Wake up, eat breakfast. Get outside ie; walk, me doing yardwork (while its cool)/kids scootering and bike riding around; just play. Come in do a craft. Eat lunch. Quite time/naps. Pool. Sean comes home=day is over and I relinquish control.

Today was Day 1 of new schedule. Got up, out doing yardwork at 7am, kids played outside all mornig, perfectly....couple hangups, throwing rocks in the street, Skylar almost getting hit by a truck, and me mowing over my new black Gap flip flop.....pretty smooth for a morning, I'd say. Came in and put together and painted a bird house (Walmart purchase). Back outside to swim, back in to eat lunch and have quiet time, back out to swim again......worked great. Great day! I hope it keeps up as smooth. Next time I'm wearing tennis shoes when I mow.....I love flip flops....

Pics of the birdhouse: just needs seeds and it will soon be a happy home to a little bird family...

Skylars side:Calebs side:

Hats

Today my mom calls me and tells me she is concerned about Skylar. Skylar has been wearing a hat of mine around, every day. She wears this hat everywhere...she is obsessed with it. I think it looks adorable on her and I tell her she looks adorable. Well, my mom didn't think it looked adorable. In fact she thought it made her look too old and that she is losing her innocence by wearing this hat, that she is trying to act like a teenager at age 5. Now, my mom is awesome, I love my mom. I respect what she has to say about things and the fact that she has input in mine and my kids' lives.

So I was wrestling with it all morning. Thinking, "am I really corrupting my daughter by allowing her to wear this hat? when all she is wanting to do is mirror what I am doing?....." I was just wishing for SOMEONE to call and talk to about it with who had an older daughter and could give me some advice on this hat. Sounds so silly, a hat.....but its all things that are shaping our kids......so i am just like "who can I call? who can I talk to? I just want some advice". And God is like "I'm here". So I open my Bible and this is what I open it to, in Psalm 32 God says "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you" and I am like HELLO! Thank you SO much Lord! You are here, I don't need to call and "talk" to someone and get "advice" I have my all-knowing Heavenly Father available who knows my daughter so much better than I do and who knows her heart and how she ticks.....all I have to do is seek Him and ask and He will guide me as I guide her.

She is still wearing the hat.....and it looks adorable on her :)

Lake Siskiyou

I feel like my life right now consists of packing, unpacking, laundry, cleaning, laundry, and packing. We just got home late late Sat night and are now packing again to go camping tomorrow. I can't wait. Our good friends the Lances, mountain air, tents, campfire, bikes, lakes, kids being constant dirt balls...doesn't get any better. This is the one thing that redeems summers for me....camping. So much effort and hard work goes into getting everything packed and squared away, but the minute I get out of the truck and set up, all the hard work vanishes into goodness.....aahhhh...ready for goodness.....

Clutter

This is my house after cleaning it ALL day.....the kids decided to make a boat.....

So, as I am cleaning out all our rooms and getting rid of stuff (I hate clutter) it dawned on me that this is like the 3rd time in the 8 months we've lived here that I have cleaned out all our closets. Every time I throw away SO much stuff. How is this happening? Where is all the junk coming from? how are we accumulating THAT much stuff for me to have de-clutter every 2-3 months? Where are my treasures? Am I finding them in stores and storing up my treasures in our closets....where literal moths do come in to destroy them? It started making my stomach so sick as the reality starting settling in of all the CRAP we have. We have closets, we fill them. We have birthdays, we buy. We have bodies, we clothe the heck out of them. We have feet, we put a crazy amount of shoes onto them. We have kids, we think they need every TOY and item of clothing the stores carry, for them to just sit and collect dust in their closets. Why do we continue to buy into what our society tells us we have to have?

God keeps calling me back to simplicity. God lived a simple life. If we are being God's hands and feet....we should start buying a whole lot less shoes.