Major SCORE!

I recently joined houseparty.com (shout out to my peep Haley for the hook up). For those of you that have never heard of it, here is a brief description. It is a site that sends you different products to try out. The idea is to invite friends over and share the said product with them. The products range from food to toys, to a new kitchen! Well, I signed up for the Fisher Price party and they chose me to be a host! Here is what came today -

All of it - for free. It even came with batteries. Some of the little gifts in the front are for us to share with the friends that come to the party. My kids woke up from their nap and thought it was Christmas morning! Holla! So who wants to come to the party? Saturday 4p!

He is listening more than I think...

This story is why we homeschool. My heart would literally break in two if I missed this. We are focusing on the letter "J" this week. The curriculum we use ties the letter, a science, and a bible study into one. So since the letter is "J", we are studying "jewels" and how valuable they are. To bring our bible study in we are talking about jewels are very valuable, but there is one thing that is more valuable than that - Jesus. I often wonder how much Jackson is actually taking in and retaining. I know he does well in math, but with the kindergarten curriculum, there are no test or anything to see his progress. So today when we were doing our studies, he blew me away (as his mom more than his teacher). I asked him, "how do we know that Jesus is more valuable than jewels?" Here is his response, word for word:

Because he is God. And because he died on the cross. He died to forgive us for his sins, so we can go to heaven. And because he is nice. And he made our bodies. And that's all I got. And an angel helped him out of the tomb. I just membered that.

He really is listening. If he doesn't listen to anything else, he is listening to whats important. I am so proud of him.

Really he is surprising me this year, in just the 4 weeks since school has started back. He is really doing well. He is learning so much. Julianna is really picking up a lot too! It is so very rewarding to be home with them. To see them doing so well, and really enjoying our time together is just the icing on the cake.

An old post from April

I know without a doubt these are the best years of my life. Every single day I try to soak up my babies and their sweetness because I know that they are growing so incrediably fast.

We just got back from Disney. We had a great time. It was crowded and hot, but it was really nice being together with everyone. Jackson really enjoyed riding the big boy rides - I can't believe he is tall enough ride them. Julianna is almost there herself. It blows my mind.

Tonight I was in the kitchen and I heard Jackson say, "put both legs on me Anna. Yeah, that's better." So I go in to peak on them, and Julianna is lying on the couch with her legs over Jackson's legs and his hand is on her. It was about the sweetest thing EVER. I love how they love each other. It makes me melt.

I love having three babies. I have finally found my place in life, doing what I am suppose to be doing.

A Sweet Lesson

This weekend Brad's family came up for a visit. His mom and dad brought his "older than dirt" (quoting Julianna here) grandparents - Granny and Gramps. They are so sweet, and we all enjoyed their visit so much.

Granny and Gramps gave the children $10 each. They were very excited and couldn't wait to go to WalMart to spend it. Well, on Sunday morning I decided I would ask them if they would like to tithe 10% of their money in church. I explained to them that the bible teaches us to give 10%, in their case $1.00, to the church. I tell them how when we are obedient to God, he blesses our lives. I really thought they were going to give me a hard time, and I wasn't going to make them give. But much to my surprise, they both completely willingly said yes, they would give. So we took a dollar each and put it in their pockets for church. I told them that Jesus, and mommy and daddy were very proud of them for obeying God. We got to church and they, without question once again, put their money in the offering plate. It was the sweetest thing ever. I told them again that God blesses those that are obedient.

So this morning, after we all get dressed for the day I asked them if they wanted to go to Walmart. Of course they did, so we got ready to go. As we were leaving, I slipped my hand in my pants pocket and found $3.00. I said to Jackson, "Jack, remember yesterday when mommy asked you if you would like to tithe $1.00 of your money? And you said yes, and mommy told you that God blesses those who obey him?" He said he remembered. I showed him what I found in my pocket. I said, "look, because you were obedient to Him, he blessed us with finding $3.00! Now you and Anna actually have $0.50 more than what you started with!" He was so excited. I really think he got it.

So I was thinking about it all tonight and I always had the intention of making up that dollar at Walmart. Of course, they didn't know that when they made the decision to tithe. I wonder how often that is the case with us? How often is God ready and willing to bless us if we just obey and follow is word? How many times do we mess it up by doing what WE think is best? What can we do to have the faith that Jackson and Julianna had yesterday morning? To obey God without question? What blessings are we missing?