4 minutes of your time

Our lesson in RS today was on prayer and our teacher wanted to show us a video but was unable to get it to work, so she instead told us the story. I loved it and immediately searched for it on youtube when I came home. So, here it is... (pause my playlist before watching)



After she told us the story, she then discussed her ideas about all the different prayers that were answered that day. A mother and father must have prayed for their children to be kind, and to have opportunities to serve. A mother must have prayed for her older children to be good examples to their younger siblings. A husband prayed for his sick wife, and prayed for opportunities to work to provide for his family. A wife prayed for her husband to have the strength to do that work. Children prayed for food for their hungry tummies.

So many prayers answered in one small moment.

A lesson learned that impacted a young boy, probably for the rest of his life.

Embrace Life

a gentle reminder...

This is a gentle reminder to me to not get discouraged when I think I'm not good enough...at photography, organizing, mothering, exercising, cooking, cleaning, etc.  

Maybe it can work for you too?  Just thought I'd share...


Gotta give credit where credit is due...the image was found HERE via google images, quote added and color edited in photoshop by me.  :)  i quite like how it turned out...

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I wanted to post this yesterday, but we didn't have our computer...it had pooped out on us and we had to take it in to get repaired! Luckily when Brad built the computer, he chose to have double hard drives that mirror eachother, so we didn't lose anything! AND we got it back today...so I'm very happy!!!

And here are some REAL 4-leaf clovers we found growing in a pot on our back patio...You have no idea how excited we all were when they were discovered!  I honestly thought they didn't exist...but, I have living proof right in my own back yard! 

Hope your holiday was fun!

you're invited!

A friend suggested I post this here since not everyone follows my photoblog...

Times still available:

2:00-2:20p

2:20-2:40p

2:40-3:00p

3:00-3:20p

check this out!

I found this on a blog I follow called Color Me Katie, and it's a video of a group called Improv Everywhere doing a grocery store musical. I would LOVE to be grocery shopping and be entertained by something like this!!! Check it out! (Make sure you pause my playlist first!)

update on Joshy

So...here's the news...

he DOES (in fact) know ALL of the letters, uppercase and lowercase...

see, my first instinct was right!  why did I second-guess his knowledge????  

And when I asked him what number he could count up to...he said, quite confidently I might add, 109!

So, I asked him to start counting...and he did, perfectly, all the way to 113!  

I can't believe I thought he could only count to 30.  SHEESH!  

He'll be just fine in Kindergarten...

Now if I could just get him to hold a pencil right!  (he still fists it!)

GASP!

As I sat filling out paperwork for Joshy's Kindergarten (YES, I said KINDERGARTEN!) registration, I came across a questionnaire asking for particular information about him that might be of help to the teachers.

Most of it was easy...until I got to the part that asked, "How many letters (Uppercase and Lowercase) can your child correctly identify?"  I immediately thought, "that's a stupid question! of course he knows all of them!"  But then I stopped myself...DID he know all of them?  I don't think so.  NOT EVEN CLOSE actually...  My heart sunk as I realized that I don't even know the answer to this question BECAUSE I haven't been taking the time to teach him... 

When I filled out Jakob's papers 2 years ago, I knew ALL the answers...because we practiced all the time, and HE LOVES LEARNING so it wasn't a struggle...it was fun.  He was eager to learn.

Joshy is not so much that way...not even a little bit.  Or if he is, I have YET to witness it.  He has always been the "rough and tumble" kind of kid who would rather be playing and active than sitting down to read or draw or write...  I think I've made the mistake of assuming he knows enough to start Kindergarten, and haven't played a big part in making SURE he knows his letters, numbers, shapes, colors, etc.  For the most part he does...the kid is extremely BRIGHT and funny and animated...and stubborn.  (he's a taurus if anyone cares! he's my little BULL!)

So...after writing down "approx. 20" as my answer (I figured that was a safe bet) I moved on to the next question which was "What number can your child count to?"  Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....   No clue.  Again.  At this point, I was feeling pretty bad...pretty guilty for not knowing because I wasn't practicing with him...  I wrote down 30.  Who knows if that's right?  I am going to find out as soon as I'm finished typing this blog!

Even after feeling a little sheepish for not knowing those answers, I do feel good knowing that Joshy is one of the sweetest and funniest boys I know.  I remember thinking that NO ONE could ever top Jakob's funny personality (when I was pregnant with Joshy...and Jakob was our funny toddler) and I'm not saying that Joshy's tops Jakob's in ANY way...but just that he is JUST AS amazing as Jakob, and I know he has immense potential, just like Jakob does.  And I can appreciate their differences, and their similarities. 

So, here's my sweet blue-eyed little 4-yr-old with the best curls EVER!!!!

I can't believe he will be F-I-V-E in a little over 2 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Love you Joshy!!!

my {sporadic} 365 blog...

...has just been updated (for the first time since feb 18!)...

click HERE if you want to go check it out...  

peace.  i'm outtie.

welcome, march...

In Like A Lion, Out Like A Lamb

by Lorie Hill

March roars in like a lion
So fierce,
The wind so cold,
It seems to pierce.

The month rolls on
And Spring draws near,
And March goes out
Like a lamb so dear.

I don't think I'll have near enough time this month to make these cute cupcakes, but for now I can just enjoy looking at how cute they are!