Christmas Cards

After reading another friend's facebook status I realized that I needed to get a move on with Christmas cards or else we would end up like we did last year, doing nothing.
This year I decided to use Shutterfly again for our holiday cards (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards). I LOVE shutterfly. If you have never tried them before I highly recommend it! I have also done a calendar (http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars). It was for my Grandma who was in a nursing home. She really enjoyed seeing the picutres of all her family. My mom and Jon received a mouse pad from us, for Christmas this year, with a picture of the kids on it.
I have never been disappointed with shutterfly's quality. All of the products that I order have some to me quickly as well. My favorite projects that I complete with shutterfly are their photobooks. I am not a very good scrapbooker, but I desire a way to preserve my photos so they are easier to share. The photobooks are a terrific way for me to do that. You can see all of them on my shutterfly share site at http://thebrownhouse.shutterfly.com/
Here are some more ideas that you could use shutterfly for:
Thank you cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thank-you-cards Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards·
Birthday invitations to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-invitations
They offer so many ways to share your photos and are always giving discounts and freebies. For example they are right now offering 50 free holiday cards just by posting why you love shutterfly on your blog. Go here http://bit.ly/sfly2010 and sign up by Dec 1oth to blog about and get your own free cards.

Time to myself

I can't begin to express how precious time to myself is anymore. Three kids, a husband, work, and basically anything else that can take up my time does. I need my free time back- or do I? I often think about that. I have come to the realization that if I didn't have the kids, Phil, church, friends or church activities (all the things that take up my time) then I would be very sad and lonely :(
That being said though I do want to make more time for writing in this blog. I just got done reading through some of my old posts, and I couldn't believe the things that I had forgotten. So in my case, this blog will be the best journal that I keep. I have a hard time writing because I tend to hold the pen so tight that my hand cramps up 3 sentences in and makes it not enjoyable.

Our New House

You know the old saying 'Good things come to those who wait'? I'm not so sure if that is always true, but our waiting and trusting in God (which has been very stressful at times) paid off. Just a little over 2 months after listing our house it sold, and because we made an offer on our new house before April 30th we qualified for a huge tax credit that we will not have to pay back. God has answered my prayer and desire for a bigger house and yard. Our closing date on the new house is June 9th (Austin's 5th b-day) The kids will have their own rooms and we will have room to host people and not feel like sardines :) We give God all the credit for this and are so excited to move into our new home. I have already started packing and getting rid of things that we do not need. It has been so wonderful to give away kid's clothes and accessories that we no longer use. So many friend's have blessed us, and it feels great to be able to in turn bless other people.

Busy, busy, busy

I just looked at the last entry I posted and saw that it was in February. At first I was shocked, but I am no longer surprised after thinking about all of the things we have been doing lately.
On March 3rd we put our house up for sale. I am so tired of living in such a small house, and although we manage not to trip over each other too much, it's time to move on. The hard thing is, we really love our house :( Oh and we have found a huge house that we love and put an offer on it. All that's left to do is sell our house before the end of May!
In April Phil and I started coaching a 4-5 yr olds soccer team. They are so much fun, and have improved a great deal in a short amount of time. Our son, Austin, is on the team and it's so cute watching him play.
On May 5th Phil's dad was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had surgery two days later. The day of his surgery was amazing. I don't think that I have EVER prayed as hard as I did that day. God is faithful and has been answering our prayers as every day Tom gets stronger and stronger.
Today we had another showing on our house. I had a lot that needed to get done, but again God blessed me with the strength and time to get it all done. The waiting really stinks, but I know that God will answer our prayer for a bigger home in His time, not mine.
Now that the house is all clean it's time for a relaxing evening with the family. Isn't it wonderful when you have the house all clean and can just sit and relax?

Oh What A Night

Last Saturday we had Brenna and Kayla over to spend the night. It was so much fun! Phil and I had the kids all dancing around. Phil dug out his old cd collection from highschool and we even taught the kids the Macarena :) We tried putting them all in Austin and Ariel's room with Brenna and Kayla on the floor, but that was trouble :) They kept giggling and laughing so much we knew they would never get to sleep. So unfortunately for all involved we had to sepertate them. Brenna and Kayla went over into Eva's room and we put Eva in our room in her pack-n-play.
Well, in the middle of the night it got worse. Ariel threw up all of her dinner and was really sick. Poor thing! Phil and I were cleanning up and doing laundry and loving on her until the early morning. By the time we were done I started to have sharp pains in my stomach too :( And Valentine's morning I joined our sick girl in throwing up. What a very unromantic Valentine's Day we had this year. I stayed in bed all day while Phil took care of the house and kids. He was so great.
Thankfully neither Austin, Phil or Eva got sick!

Super Bowl Fun

Even though the Colt's lost, we had a great time with our friends! Those in attendence included: The Anserts,The Vesters, The Grannises (our lovely hosts), Shaun's friends Amanda (and her family) and Shahid and us.
We got all decked out in our Colt's apparrel and ate lots of great food. Maybe next year the Steeler and Colts will give us better results :)

Another Thought About the Frog

Just as I was willing to reach down into the toilet full of pee to fish out my son's precious frog, God is willing to reach down and pull us out of the crap that we are in
Just as the frog was special and worth saving to Austin, we are special and worth saving to God.
What makes us so special? It's nothing that we have done, but what Christ has done for us. He is in us. That's what makes us special!