Ready for Spring

As my daughter gets older and more mobile I find myself updating my blog less and less. hah! My sister's visit is also to blame ;) I've been spending much less time on my computer.

We had a wonderful week last week. We were able to get outside, ride bikes a bit, go for walks... even when it rained it was still warm, but the past week has been COLD again. We started to see some green grass show up on our lawn finally, and now its covered in a thin layer of snow. It's supposed to snow some more on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

I think today we may go walk at the mall or something. I totally have cabin fever! I have been inside for about 90% of the last 5 1/2 months and I'm soo ready for Spring!!

I haven't been in a blogging mood lately. I need to get back into the swing of things. We'll see when that happens. It may not be until Gabby leaves in mid-April.

One more thing - please pray for my friend Mel. She is 4 days "overdue" to have her baby. She's playing the waiting game right now and those of you who are Mom's know what that's like! No fun at all.

Zoe's tearing up a piece of tissue paper (one of her favorite things to do). It keeps her occupied for 10-20 minutes haha. It's hilarious watching her tear the pieces to be smaller, and smaller, and smaller...

I'm off to go clean it up now!


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Hello Kitty Cupcakes

These were very simple to make and they turned out to be the most adorable cupcakes I've ever seen!

Elizabethtown

I just finished watching the movie Elizabethtown for about the 100th time. The first time I saw this movie was in the theater in 2005, very shortly after my Mom's death. I remember crying several times throughout the movie, laughing and relating to much of it, and when the movie ended, I just felt grateful for everything I still had. I was so thankful that God brought me through such a difficult thing. Elizabethtown could very well be my favorite movie of all time.

Reasons for this...

1. It takes place in Kentucky. I lived there for 1 year but somehow during my 1 year spent there it had an enormous effect on my life, in large part due to the fact that my Mom lived there when she died.
2. I can relate to the main character in sooo many ways.
   
3. I can relate to finding beauty in life during such a time of grief. Drew goes through many of the steps of grieving throughout the movie and also the process of seeing his Dad after he died, the whole memorial service/funeral preparation and the memorial service itself. I always thought that whenever I lost my Mom I wouldn't be able to function and my life would be over, but surprisingly...it gave me a greater appreciation for life and I began to enjoy more and find beauty in the simplest things.
   
4. The trees and the beautiful countryside. My favorite thing about Kentucky.
   
5. The story is about a guy whose Dad suddenly passed away in a small town in Kentucky. My Mom passed away, pretty suddenly, in a small town in Kentucky.
6. I love how they mention Louisville in the movie and the never ending debate on proper pronunciation of the biggest city in KY. Luh-ville, Lul vulle, Louie Ville, Lewis-vill....
   
7. The movie was filmed while my Mom was sick, very near to where she was. It was released after she died. She's actually the one who told me about the movie.
   
8. The accents. They grew on me while I lived there...now I love anyone with that good ol' Kentuuucky accent.
9. The confusing road scene - "Did I miss 60B???"
   
10. The family - The scene where he walks into that house and his huge KY family greets him. Ohh how I can relate to that scene!! I love it.
    
11. The road trip and that incredible map! Just like Drew Baylor...A few days after my Mom's death I went on a road trip from Kentucky to California. It turned out to be exactly what I needed that week and I will never forget that road trip. Most road trips are pretty memorable for me but this one will always stand out. Now if I could only create a map and amazing as the one that is in the movie.... hehe.
    
12. Orlando Bloom and Kirstin Dunst are two of my favorite actors.
13. The music! This movie has a wonderful soundtrack.
    

Zoe's 1st Birthday Party

Last Saturday we celebrated Zoe's 1st Birthday at our home. We made her Hello Kitty cupcakes and dressed her up in a pretty little outfit. We invited some friends and family members and the party went pretty well! Zoe had one or two rough moments but overall she enjoyed her party. Here are some photos!

Me and My Daughter

My sister took some photos of Zoe and I a few days ago. I love the bottom one! She is so beautiful :) I still can't believe she is 1 year old!!

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Help Meet Book Study - Taking A Break

I have come to the conclusion that I cannot do a weekly update on this book. We recently started a new Bible study on Daniel with our home group. So that, combined with the Help Meet book, and my daily Isaiah study for church is quite a bit for me, especially since I rarely find time to sit down and read these days. I will pick back up on this study at another time within the year.

Zoe - The Birthday Girl!

Today is Zoe's 1st Birthday!!

We are currently in Omaha, NE because last night we picked up my sister Gabby from the airport down here. Later on today we will be driving back to Sioux Falls and we will go to CiCi's with family for dinner. We are planning a party for her on Saturday!

I cannot believe it has been a whole year already. This year has flown by! Everyone told me it would go by fast so I made sure each day was cherished, but even then, the year seemed to pass by more quickly than previous years. She is the most beautiful baby girl that I have ever seen, I absolutely adore her.

20 Things About Zoe Kimberly

1. Her first word was "Duck"
2. Her favorite toys are: stacking cups, musical drums, and the stacking rings.
   
3. She loves to play "Peek-a-boo"
4. She crawled at 8 months.
5. She loves green beans!
6. She looks unbelievably cute in pink girly outfits ;)
7. She looooves to play with my cell phone and the TV remotes.
8. She cracks up if you try to "eat" or kiss any toy or object she is holding.
   
9. She can currently say: Dada, Mama, Duck, and Uh-oh.
   
10. She loves her dog Penny.
11. She loves to dance, especially when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is on.
    
12. She has 5 teeth.
13. She has 1 cousin named K8lyn, and 3 second cousins - Jessie, Elliott, and Scarlett.
14. She looks a lot like her Mommy did when she was a baby.
    
15. She has a friend that was born in the same hospital, on the same day, down the hallway, just 24 minutes after her and delivered by the same Dr.
    
16. She has a Great-Great Grandma!
17. She has already been to San Diego (twice!), New York, New Jersey, Yosemite National Park, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota.
18. She has the most amazing laugh.
    
19. She has a matching freckle that Mommy has and Grandma Kimberly had.
20. She can sing. She sings a song that says "laaaa la laaaa la" ;)
    

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Scarlett Rose

Our newest member to the family. My cousin Adam and his wife Kristie welcomed their second child, a baby girl named Scarlett Rose into the world on February 25, 2009!

She is absolutely adorable! Zoe and I will meet her in June when we go out to California. I'm pretty sure Gage will not get to meet her until Christmas unfortunately.

For those of you who know them and want to keep up with what is going on with their family, they just created a family blog:

adamkristieredding.blogspot.com


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Birthdays, Birthdays Everywhere!

This week so far we have celebrated the 11th birthday of my brother-in-law Brad and the 70th birthday of a friend that attends our home group (yay for ice cream cake two nights in a row!) My friend Bethany also turned 11 last week. On Thursday we will be celebrating Zoe's 1st Birthday! In addition to Zoe's 1st birthday on the 12th, it is also Ezra's 1st birthday, my cousin-in-law Andy's birthday, Rachel & Lauren's birthday, and... Gage's Aunt is set to have her c-section on that day which means we will have yet another birthday to celebrate on that day. Then my mother-in-law Jenny's birthday is on the 18th.

My friend Mel is due to have her baby in a couple weeks which means the baby could come at any time now... I wonder if it'll be on the 12th. :)

So this week is pretty exciting. Unfortunately yesterday Zoe and I both started to cough a little bit and today I have a full on cold. Zoe's is much more mild though, thankfully. This is the 3rd time we have been sick in the past month. Ick! Hopefully we'll be better soon. My sister will be arriving in just 3 days! I really need to get our guest room ready and basement cleaned!

In fact... I'm off to go do that right now.

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Zoe Stood Up!

Yesterday Zoe stood up completely on her own for the first time! The photo is blurry because I had my camera in manual focus and I didn't have time to focus it! But at least I got a photo :) hehe. My friend Anna and her daughter Kjersten came over for a while yesterday and while we were talking, Zoe suddenly decided to stand up on her own! She did it 3 times yesterday and hasn't yet done it today.

We bought her a Birthday dress yesterday! We found this dress at Younkers. I love it! She even tried it on in the store, she looked so adorable in it. Of course we had to buy the 9 month old size... she's still only 16 pounds and 10 oz. She has a little white sweater to wear over it too.

Created to be His Help Meet - Ch. 6. The Beginning of Wisdom

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." Psalm 111:10
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" Proverbs 9:10
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." Proverbs 1:7

I like how Debi puts states it, "A Christian life without fear is a religious life without a living God." It seems so easy to fear God, yet we all get wrapped up in lives lived without fear. We place our faith in our religious practices, our spirituality, our own interpretations and conclusions. We become perfectly content with ourselves that we begin to lack in our fear of the LORD. This brings us in a place where we do not fear God and we do not realize that only HE has the truth. If our actions and decisions are not made based on what God has already spoken through His Word (the Bible) we are not fearing Him enough to trust that what He says is best.

What I take from this chapter:

We cannot only read parts of the Bible and not the Bible in its entirety. This is disobedience and lack of fear of the LORD. Example: The Crazy Lady - she obviously had some knowledge of the Bible, but not accurate or thorough knowledge of truth. She also ignored all parts that discussed the wife's submission to her husband.

We cannot base our lives around "a word" we receive from the LORD. That is, words we "hear" the Lord speak to us. God does speak to men, however when He speaks it is never in contradiction with the words He has already spoken. To receive a contradictory "word from the Lord" and say with certainty that it is from the LORD is blasphemous. It is to say that our emotions, thoughts, and opinions ARE the LORD, thus putting words in His mouth. It appears to be trusting the LORD but it really is trusting in yourself. It is to say, "This is what I think, therefore it must be from the Lord." That is such a dangerous way to think. Wisdom (knowledge of truth) comes from the LORD. This is why I believe we should never say, "The Lord told me to do this." If that "word" you speak turns out to simply be from YOU, you will have put words into the LORD's mouth. I believe the only time you can say, "The LORD says this.." is if it is not, in any way, contradictory to what the Bible says.

Only through fear of the LORD comes wisdom and only through that wisdom can the truth be seen.

As a woman I am a very emotional and my thoughts and opinions are strong. I know that these emotions can influence my behaviors and actions. If I am unable to discern what is from the LORD and what is from demons and sinful nature, I am in a whole heap of trouble because then any "word from the Lord" that I receive is not trustworthy. To have the discernment that I need to know that what I learn is from the LORD, I need to begin with a fear of the LORD and pray daily for wisdom. That is where true knowledge of the things of God comes from.

"No woman has ever been happy and fulfilled who neglected to obey God in regard to her role as a help meet."

I absolutely agree with her on this statement. Not just because I have seen it repeatedly (even within my own family) but simply because I know that disobeying God brings discontentment.


Goals of the Week:

1) Pray for Wisdom daily.
2) Work on being joyful and having a merry heart.
3) Discover any bitterness I may have towards my husband and get rid of it.
4) Help my husband. Help my husband. AND...Help my husband.
5) Find the definition for the word odious. (Proverbs 30:21-23)


One more thought...

I wonder what happened to the Crazy Lady.

Study - To be Continued