This Year?

{Thoughtful Thursday}
This year? Seriously, where has it gone. I can't believe next week we'll be starting October. Then we'll be in the holiday season when things will really fly by.

Here is us at the beginning of this year (not the best background but that's what you get when fall lasts for three days here in Texas and you waited till the weekend to take pictures!!!):

How things have changed! And fast! The boys have grown up so much and Kenadi is no longer kicking the inside of my ribs! It just makes me wonder we're we'll be in a year from now, and a year from then, and so on. I love how no matter what can and will happen, God will always be reminding us that He remains the same and promises us things through who He is:

"I love you, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies."

Psalm 18: 1-3

"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and He delivered them from their distress.

He sent out His Word and healed them,

and delivered them from their destruction.

Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love,

for His wondrous works to the children of men!

Psalm 107: 19-21

He makes the promise to always be our Strength, our Rock, our Fortress, our Deliverer, our Refuge, our Sheild, our Salvation, our Stronghold, our Healer, our Steadfast Love.

Fabric

{Transaction Tuesday}
So, I have some new fabric! So far I finished an order for another tie shirt (I love these - perfect way to feel like you dress your little man as cute as you did your little girl :) and a hooter hider.


Also, just in case you didn't know, we can make our flower hair clips into pins to attach to your shirt. I love it! I'm about to make some bigger ones with the new fabric so stay tune :)

Training?

{Inspiration Monday}
I haven't been thinking about it much but I know I've missed running/cycling/swimming when something little like this makes me want to get up and go work out!

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Soon and very soon! In the past I've trained for triathlons but have never actually competed. I think it's time to go for it!

Impossible???

{Family Friday}
(yes I know it's Saturday - I'm a little late)
So, whenever I tried to take pictures of the boys when it was just them, I thought I had a hard time trying to get a good picture. I eventually gave in to the fact that the pictures I got, though they may not be perfect, reflected where we were at/what things were like at that time. Well today I let it get to me AGAIN. All I want is some nice pictures for around the house of the kids all together; all LOOKING and SMILING at the camera. Of course this is a lot to ask with a six month old but I know I can get her to look at me and smile and every time I did someone else would be looking the other way or be giving me some crazy goofy smile. So again, I have to remind myself these turned out great because it shows us:us.

This is the best one of everyone together although that smile Kenadi has is not her real happy smile. It's an inbetween smile that actually turns into screaming crying in less than a second.

I'll try for some more later . . . trying to get a good pic can be exhausting :)

And yes Kenadi is getting 4 of her top teeth right now but you can really only see one in the pictures.

Sweet

{Thoughful Thursday}
This will be short and sweet :)

Lately I've needed to remind myself more of the character of God. Since I was a little girl I heard the story of Moses and the bitter water at Marah . . .

"Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet." Exodus 15: 23-25

. . . naturally, I couldn't relate that story to my own life experiences back then. We can see through what happened in Marah that God is our provider and healer. In the next verse God promises "For I am the Lord who heals you." (v.26). Just as Moses threw a piece of wood into the waters to turn the bitter water sweet, the cross of Christ can turn your bitter life experiences into something sweet for Him.

Shirts

{Transaction Tuesday}
A couple of new shirts . . .
B is for Bird







I had tried making a headband that I could attach one of our flowers to but I think I'll make the flower just a little bit smaller next time.

T is for Tree . . .
and an initialed tee order :)

and another order for one of Sara's diaper cakes.

Inspirers

{Inspiration Monday}

Next on my list of people who have inspired/influenced/motivated/encouraged me:
John Piper

I was first introduced to him when I was a senior in high school. I read "God's Passion for His Glory" which I guess I still haven't finished because "The End for Which God Created the World" by Jonathan Edwards was the second half of the book which I only got about half way through with. I did finish John Pipers part and it was through it that I found out about Christian Hedonism. If you've never heard of it it's basically summed up in this:

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”

or

"The chief end of man is to glorify God

BY

enjoying Him forever."

At the age of 14, I can remember asking myself and looking for why I was living/what was the purpose of life. At 18, God revealed this to me and I was fully satisfied.
So what is the end for which God created the world? "That end, Edwards says, is, first, that the glory of God might be magnified in the universe, and , second, that Christ's ransomed people from all times and all nations would rejoice in God above all things. But the depth and wonder and power of this book (The End for which God Created the World) is the demonstration that these two ends are one. The rejoicing of all peoples in God, and the magnifying of God's glory are one end, not two."
Here are some implications of that:
#1 God's passion for His own glory and His passion for my joy in Him are not at odds.
#2 Therefore, God is as committed to my eternal and ever-increasing joy in Him as He is to His own glory.
#3 The love of God for sinners is not His making much of them, but His graciously freeing and empowering them to enjoy making much of Him. (if God would do us good, He must direct us to His worth, not ours)
and later . . .
#15 If the exhibition of God's glory and the deepest joy of human souls are one thing, then, as C.S. Lewis said, "It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can be.
Sometimes people ask: should we pursue obedience to God or joy in God? Edwards would answer: The question involves a category confusion. It's like asking: should I pursue fruit or apples? Obedience is doing what we are told. And we are told to delight ourselves in the Lord. Therefore pursuing joy in God is obedience."

"The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life" Psalm 63:3

Labor Day Weekend

{Family Friday}

For Labor Day weekend we went and hung out with our friends Mark and Brandi. I can't resist to post all these pics of Kenadi swinging. I love how little and happy she looks :)

Cole got to try out a snorkel (he'd been wanting to for some time now :)

Growing Up . . .

{Thoughtful Thursday}

I love periodically asking the boys what they want to be when they grow up and seeing how their answer changes as their little personalities form.

Mom: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Cole: "I want to build space shuttles and go to space."

Chase: "When I grow up, I'm going to walk to the place where there's dinosaur bones, dig them up, and put them together in the sand."

Cy: "I want to be Jaws!!!"
(Yes, Daddy has let them watch it)

Mom: "I don't think you'll get paid money to be Jaws."

Cy: "Oh." (so defeated)

Clipboards

{Transaction Tuesday}

Here's what we've been up to at Needle in a Scrap Stack:

More letters for Sara's Diaper Cakes

(this was my first letter I made with fabric!)

More clipboards and a Papa size clothes pin to match.

My friend Gina ordered this for her friend Shay who is on "The Biggest Looser"
The new season premieres next week!

In the Routine

{Family Friday}
So we are back in the groove of things! Cole just finished his second week of school and everything is going nice and smooth.

Kenadi is also happy in her routine of things and is growing like a weed. Somebody make it slow down!!! She's now eating 3 times a day and just gobbles everything up like a little turkey! She also has a new favorite toy:

Have a great weekend!

Infants ;)

I was just reading and it made me think back to something I heard Matt Chandler say just a few months after Kenadi was born. At the time, Kenadi was still in the infant stages where I was still getting up every couple hours at night. Every time I've read these verses before, I never really connected it to a baby crying out in hope because of their need (which you'd think I would have because of the verses beforehand).

“Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."” Luke 18 :15-17

Matt went on to say, "So what we tried to unpack is how does an infant receive things? I am intimately acquainted with this right now. Nora, when she’s hungry, her only hope to get food is to cry and hope. When she’s in her own filth, her only hope is to cry. When she’s uncomfortable, her only hope is to cry. When she’s cold, her only hope is to cry. When she’s hot, her only hope is to cry. When she wants to be cuddled, her only hope is to cry. Nora can do nothing except cry and hope."

If you read back in the text a little bit, it shows what the Pharisee and the tax collector prayed. The Pharisee's prayer was not bad - he's giving God credit for his spiritual growth. The problem was that he thought his spiritual growth justified him.

The tax collector pleads the blood of Christ. He cries out because he see's how unworthy he is. He see's his need. By no act of morality, by no act of religion will he be saved. It will be by His mercy; through Christ alone.

The only ones who will be justified are the ones who come to the kingdom like infants, whose only way to receive is to cry out.

New in the Shop . . .

{Transaction Tuesday}

Just finished a couple of new things to put up in the shop this week!

New Initialed Burpcloths . . .

and our Gentleman Onesies.

Can't forget some more clips (which can be made as a pin, hair clip or magnet)

I've also teamed up with Sara Nichols making custom letters for her super adorable diaper cake business. You can check them out at: http://sarasdiapercakes.blogspot.com/