Post Worthy

In case you missed it, or in case you don't read Spanish...I wanted to share this sweet comment on my last post from my hubby....

Angel said...
hey amor quiero que sepas que asi no medejes dormir por las noches yo sienpre te amare en las buenas y en las malas tu amorito por sienpre, grasias por darme los nenes mas bellos del mundo y por el que biene . te amo

Hey Love I want you to know that even though you don't let me sleep at night I will always love you in the good and the bad your love for ever, thankyou for giving me the most beautiful children in the world and the one that is coming. I love you.

Pregnancy Confessions

I have so many questions in my mind as the due date draws nearer. We made it over the half way point and are beginning the third trimester. Officially I'm at 26 weeks!

When people ask me how I'm feeling, I usually don't even think about it and just respond "great!" I really have been feeling great which has been such a blessing! I can feel him throughout the day and he sure is one active little guy (and nope, no name as of yet).

When people ask my husband how the pregnancy is going, his response is quite different than mine. He basically tells the truth, from his angle of course. He says he's not sleeping well at nights, he has been having weird cravings, and he has to deal with a moody wife.

I guess some of those are things may have a little truth to them. Yes, I toss and turn at night trying to get comfortable. When I finally do get comfortable, I have to get up and pee--and our bathroom is downstairs! Then I come back up and toss and turn to get comfortable again! If he tries to snuggle up with me, I literally push him away (or as he would say elbow him). He's even ended up in Caleb's bed a few nights. Maybe he doesn't sleep well.

I'm so thankful for this man. I know I don't say it or show it enough, but I am thankful. One night he went to the store for some milk so I the baby could enjoy a midnight bowl of Lucky Charms. His cravings are usually crazier than mine. He's always been 100% NOT a McDonald's person, but he just drove through the drive through to get a McChicken? And he always has a bag of sunflower seeds to snack on.

But I really haven't been moody, have I? At least I've been thinking it's not me--it's everyone else! I get tired quickly, stressed easily, and cry over anything. Keeping up with the day to day chores wears me out! The kids have been wonderful at keeping up with their chores around the house! I get into nesting and cleaning, but get tired after a few minutes and can never finish. I usually end up calling Angel to help me finish or just leave it for the next day. A girl at work had a quartet come sing to her on Valentine's day and it made me tear up! Just reading some friend's blog updates make me tear up! Maybe I am a tad moody.

Then I have all these questions going through my mind as I anticipate this little guy's arrival.

Will it be challenging having three kids?
Will the age difference become an issue and not allow them to be close?
Can they still share rooms?
Do we have to get a bigger car?
Can our family still just "get up and go" like we do now?

What about finances?

Will I have to work full-time?

And the list of questions keeps going. With this being our third child, people have been asking us what we need. I haven't really put much thought into this and my response is usually "Oh, we don't really need anything." Then I remembered that there are a few things babies do NEED. With the other 2, so many things were lent to us and we just give it back as they outgrow it. I guess I just know that this is our 3rd child, and it has been much different than the first two times. I haven't had much free time to think about these things and I'm trusting that God will work out every detail.

I'd love to hear from any of you who have any thoughts or answers on these questions.

Daniel and The Lion's Den (Re-told)

Daniel was a woman man of prayer. Daniel was distinguished above all the King's helpers because of his excellent spirit.


Daniel was given a top job in the kingdom of Darius because he was a faithful hard worker.


This made the King's helpers jealous of Daniel.
King Darius' helpers schemed a plan against Daniel.


They tricked the king to pass a law that said no one could pray to God for 30 days or would be cast into the (scarey) lion's den.


Daniel had a habit to pray to God three times a day.
Daniel knew of the law, but he continued to pray each day as he always did because he loved God.


The King's helpers watched Daniel closely to catch him in prayer- breaking the law.


When they caught Daniel praying to God, they took him to the King.


When King Darius heard news that Daniel had broken the law, he realized that he had been tricked. His heart was greatly troubled because he loved her him.


The King had to punish Daniel and ordered that Daniel be cast into a den of (fierce, hungry) lions.


The king hoped that Daniel’s God would deliver him.
The king was so worried about Daniel that he couldn’t sleep that night.


Early the next morning, the king went to see if Daniel had been killed.

He cried out to see if Daniel was alive and Daniel answered him,
"My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me."


The king was overjoyed and had Daniel pulled out of the lions den. No injury was found on him, because he believed in God.


The King then brought the men who had accused Daniel and threw them in the den of lions, along with every member of their families.

The lions tore them to pieces before they could even hit the ground.


And Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius.

Story taken from Daniel 6

CAST:
La familia Garcia, Donna and Hal, Julianne, Maria

Alisia: Daniel

Angel: King Darius

Caleb: the fierce, hungry, scary lion

Brooke: Towns person, Stage help, photographer

Julianne: Narrator, Towns person

Maria: King's Helper

Donna: King's Helper

Hal: King's Helper

"For He is the living God,

And steadfast forever;

His kingdom is the one

which shall not be destroyed,

And His dominion shall endure to the end.

He delivers and rescues,

And He works signs and wonders

In heaven and on earth,

Who has delivered Daniel

from the power of the lions. "

Daniel 6:26-27

I'm In Denial: Update

“The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving." ~Albert Einstein

So, I guess I'm finding out that if this is the beginning of preteen years, it comes with the hard times and good times. Since I already shared some of the hard, let me share some of the good!

The other day the kids and I stopped at Food Lion. Caleb was asleep in the car. I gave Alisia 5$ and asked her to go get milk and bread.

"Is that all we need?" she asks.

"Well, we need also cheese and ham, but that 5$ is all I got, so make sure you get at least milk and bread."

She comes out with bread, milk, cheese, AND ham. I look in the bag for a moment and do a quick count, looking for the receipt and ask, "You had enough?"

"Oh, I had to use some of my own money, just two dollars, so it was ok. Can I use my change to get Caleb something out of the machines?"

As I sat there in shock of what I was hearing her say, I must have nodded because she walked back in the store. No big deal do use her own money? God has given her the gift of generosity. She works hard for her money cleaning up her room, cleans the bathroom, and helps clear supper dishes. Then we go to Food Lion or the 1$ section at Target and she wants to spend it on everyone else but herself!

I love seeing this side of maturity and it definitely balances out the emotional side to growing up. On the way home I praised her for what a great big sister she is becoming and a young lady in the Lord. We talked about upcoming changes and challenges of the next few years, and how important it is to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, especially when your having a hard day.

I'm grateful for the opportunities God gives us as parents to teach our children. Praying that God will show me how to use these opportunities he gives me to praise my children and point them to Him. And most of all I pray that God will mold her heart to be sensitive to His call as she looks to Him as her Savior. That He will give her opportunities to use her gifts for His glory.

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."
2 Peter 3:18

Seen it?

We just watched Enemy of the State?

Ever seen it?

What a great movie! But, now we may be getting rid of our free digital antenea box! Well, not really. I'm not really that paranoid, but think about it, what an easy way for the government to get into every house (if they wanted to).

Ever feel like someone is watching you?

From 10° to 80°

Tell me please, HOW is that possible? This week we went from 10° on Monday morning to 80° by Friday afternoon! When I think about that, it reminds me of that all of creation reveals His majesty.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

Psalm 19:1

On Monday, the kids had a snow day. It was COLD! The kids didn't even want to go play in the snow because our house was so cold, they wouldn't have been able to warm up. So they just snuggled up to a movie under a pile of blankets. We decided to have our oil tank refilled. As soon as the oil kicked on, they took Candy Land in the bathroom since it is the smallest room, it heats up very quickly.

We woke up Saturday morning to beautiful weather and everyone was up and outside by 8:30 am. Angel and Caleb went to clean my car out while Alisia and I made breakfast. It was so beautiful!!

Later that day, we decided to go up to the golf corse to enjoy some outdoors! This was my first attempt to hit a golf ball! It was scarey, but fun! I was super impressed at my first hit, so was Angel! But as time went on, I just got worse!

Some of the action:

We weren't the only ones enjoying this weather:

These two are not like this all the time, but when they are, I LOVE IT!

We found some snow melting away from earlier in the week:

Any bright ideas?

We threw them at Papi!

Favorite shot of the day:

We also hung out with some kids from church and climbed their tree house!

Getting up to the tree house:

Hanging out:

Getting down safely:

Thanking God for a time of rest and renewal. He knew that we needed a day of rest. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work."

Gen 2:2

Any Suggestions?

We've been debating boy names since before we found out we were pregnant! We already agreed on a girls name (isn't that how it goes!), but are having a harder time with a boy name. We've pretty much got it down to a few, but are still throwing around other names and see what we come up with. We've only got 17 weeks to go!

So--I'm opening it up for suggestions! Just curious. The catch is it has to not change much in Spanish and English. So no Jorge/George Pedro/Peter Pablo/Paul.....you get the point. Alisia is not AleSHa in English, everyone calls her Alisia, the Spanish pronunciation. Same with Caleb, but the accent is a bit different in Spanish. Also no off the wall names that are impossible to pronounce in the other language ...Spanish has a ton of those. Geesh, choosing a name is hard enough when you only have one language!

Regardless of what name we choose, I'm so glad God already knows and loves this little one. Psalm 139 has a deeper meaning when I read it now that I'm pregnant. All of our days are in His book before they come to be (v16).

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."
Psalm 139:13

Kids in the Kitchen

Baby, It's cold outside! What to do?
Do your kids LOVE helping in the kitchen? My kids love breaking eggs, adding ingredients, stirring, mixing, etc. If your kids do too, then these little pizza's are great to make! Thanks to MckMamma's recipe hint, we were set for the evening! They are each in charge of their own personal pizza and adding their own ingredients. They feel such a sense of accomplishment when it is served.

To try this out you will need:
- pita bread
- olive oil
- tomato sauce
- mozarella cheese
- oregano
- parmesan cheese
- toppings (tomato, peperoni, sausage, green peper, onion, pineapple)

Prepare:


Each one responsible for their own personal pizza:

Fun!:

Heat:

Cut:

Serve:

Enjoy! We will definately be having this meal again soon!