Peace

JOHN 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

I wish I could say I don't worry. I do. I wish I could say I am never afraid. Sometimes I am. I am thankful for today's message. That God sent us his son Jesus. That he came to give us PEACE.  My relationship with Jesus means everything to me. He loves me and he is the Prince of Peace.  Christmas is about relationships, forgiveness, love, family, and most important the birth of OUR KING. I am sitting outside with the boys. (in shorts) We are listening to Frosty the snowman on my phone, Holden is going down the slide, and Tanner is pretending to be Frosty. Complete with top hat, corn cob pipe, and a broom.(plastic golf club) HE LOVES FROSTY!!! He loves theater, make believe, and is a master of imagination. Billy was very much into theater too. Our sweet Tanner can recite whole books. :) I love watching him march around the yard pretending to be Frosty. Holden is playing in the sandbox now. He loves to be outside. I am so thankful we have such a nice back yard. My friend Renee' came over at the beginning of the week and it was so nice catching up with her. I thought later about a few things she said. One was "you are a great mom." It meant a lot. Because it is a tough job. I give it all I have though.  I am taking breaks typing to pet my Nani boy. He has been through so much with me. I have had him 10 years now. Since I first moved into my apartment by myself in SW Ocala. I love this sweet dog. Billy and the boys do too. I am happy it gets dark early now.  I LOVE IT!! I love our sweet home all lit up and Frosty in the front yard. The adversary will try and rob our JOY. He is a master of trying to keep us in discontent and ungratefulness. I chase after God's peace though.  I pray ANY and EVERYWHERE. I am comforted by HIS grace and mercy daily. Billy and I took the boys to church and then to Bob Evans for lunch. Holden was loud. He was crazy. He barely ate anything.  I'm not sure I even tasted mine because I inhaled it before our "time" was up. (you mamas know what I mean) AHHH  Family togetherness at its finest. :) Tanner had pancakes at home for breakfast but guess what he wanted for lunch? YEP pancakes! I LOVE these kids. Its exhausting and when I hit the bed at night I'm out in seconds. I am cherishing these days home with my kiddos. Right now "Baby it's Cold outside" by Dean martin is playing and I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this song. I am a true Floridian. So never really been STUCK inside because of weather BUT I  do dream about the day when I can take Tanner to build a real Frosty in real snow.  Some day soon maybe. Well it's homemade soup for Billy and I tonight and home made pizza for the boys. (Tanner made it yesterday) This is all for now. Both boys are calling me to give them a push on the swings. P.S. My mom called to say she is coming to spend the day with us on Wednesday and come with me to  pick Tanner up from school and just spend time with me. I am so happy about that.

"It always seems impossible until it is done." Nelson Mandela

     Billy and I completed our third marathon last weekend. HARD! FUN! EXCITING! It was a much needed get away and time together. Our family helped us with the boys and they had so much with everyone. We are so grateful. Lisa and Scott took Holden ice skating, he rode motorcycles with papa, played with cousins, and went out to eat. Tanner was with my mom and Tristan on Friday and Whitney had him at her house after that. He loved playing with Tristan. They get along well. Billy and I laughed, enjoyed coffee, late night movie, dinner, sleeping in, walking on the beach, and last but not least running 26.2 miles for fun. :) It is crazy the conversations you have with yourself in the course of a marathon.  I also saw Ashlee and Jeremy giving it their all and then some. I admire them.  I loved seeing Billy at the turn around after the mile 20 mark and was so happy he took a picture of me. He inspires me. He is so motivated. A FINISHER at everything he does. I dug deep and drove it home finishing 10 minutes faster than last year. We have had an amazing week with the boys. We got a beautiful tree and wreath for the house. Tanner was so cute helping Billy put up the lights outside. Clyde and Roland (our scout elves) brought a BIG frosty for the front yard. We went to see Santa yesterday at the mall. The boys were hysterical. Tanner has always been terrified. This year he at least took his picture with him but never making eye contact and you can see from the tense shoulders that he was NOT letting his guard down. Meanwhile Holden couldn't wait to see him. He was giving him hugs and climbing right up on his lap. I Love my kids. They have such sweet but different personalities. We went and looked at lights last night. The boys are really into it. I look forward to going shopping with Billy. We have had so much fun hiding Clyde and Roland every night. Christmas is fun. WE are enjoying this season. Our boys know the real meaning of Christmas. That we celebrate because our Saviour was born in a manger and came to love and save us. They know they have a KING who is also their friend. Billy and I make a lot of mistakes. I am so thankful that we can rely on HIS strength. Today was good. The kids are asleep, Billy is reading, Christmas candles burning, tree lit up pretty, and so so much to be thankful for. Christmas! I love it and am enjoying it with my husband and 2 year old and 5 year old. Tis' the season.

UP Party

     Well the party was a huge success. The kids had a blast and I measure the success mostly on the fact that my almost 2 year old. (officially 2 tomorrow) went strong from 7:30 A.M. until about 4 P.M. and he crashed hard. I finally had to go wake him up at 9 P.M. and change his diaper and clothes and give him some milk. I then rocked him and he went right back to sleep until 7 the next morning. Party Animal!! :) All the kids were so good and Grampy's UP house was a real hit! The kids had a blast and the adults too. Tanner loves the movie Up and he had such a great time with his friends. We are so thankful for our parents and family and all our friends for loving us and our kids.  It has only taken us 2 days to recover. Haha Tanner had his Feast and sing at school Friday morning and Friday night we had a fun couples date night with our MOPS group. We laughed so hard! I am learning not to take myself or life so seriously. On another note it never did rain on Sunday and I was o.k. either way. However, it has been raining all day today though. The boys have loved playing in their rain boots and Holden loves finally having his own umbrella. Two years ago on this night I was going to sleep for the last time as a mommy of just one baby boy and I was preparing to go in to have my second baby boy. Holden came to us on November 26th, 2012 weighing 8 lbs. and 1 oz. and a head full of dark hair. Tanner came to us on November 10th, 2009 weighing 7 lbs and 7 oz. I can not believe my baby boys are 5 and 2 already! I am so thankful for this past weekend and all the blessings God has given us. A few pictures from this weekend.