Aquire the Fire and others

We had an amazing weekend! There is nothing more amazing then seeing 5000+ teenage students praising and worshiping God.

The theme this weekend was Love and they covered three topics. Friendship Love, Sacrificial Love and Romantic Love and how all three of them should fit together. To have Romantic Love you have to first have Friendship Love AND Sacrificial Love. The worship was amazing and I think Jake and I were challenged just as much as the teenagers.

We were also challenged in the fact that we need to give EVERYTHING to God. Not just partially. That and the fact that we have to step outside of our comfort zone and do things that may not seem to be logical. That and we have to STOP being afraid of what MIGHT happen and let God have complete control. We need to stop being worried about the consequences or who we MIGHT offend if we change things. Especially in churches. If God is asking you to change something... CHANGE IT! He wouldn't ask us to do something if he wasn't going to bless it!

Boys 2 year check up

So that was kind of interesting. The boys appointment was at 3. Jake doesn't get home until 3:15. So I dropped Celina off at Grandmas, got the boys checked in and went back to the room. We got the boys weighed (they for  some reason are VERY hesitant to go back there anyways lol).

Jake ended up getting there before the doctor came in so that was good. He first checked their weights against the percentile (which last time Afton wasn't even ON the chart)

Afton weighed 25 lbs (15th percentile) and was 35 inches tall (60th Percentile)
Anthony weighed 26lbs (25th percentile) and was 34 1/2 inches tall (50th percentile)

So they have finally caught up the curve. Its only taken 2 years. That and developmentally wise they are only about a month behind (instead of 2 months or so that they were behind). The other thing is Afton is taller then Anthony! Anthony has been the bigger twin in height and weight since they were born. But Afton finally surpassed him in height.

I was just glad that the boys are healthy for their age and are looking good in the size department. The nice thing is NO doctors appointments for them until January unless they are sick... YAY! Well unless Celina gets accepted into headstart. Then we will have to go in and get her a school check up.

Next step is dentist appointments... ugh....

Happy 2nd Birthday to my boys!

Wow I can't believe it has been 2 years already! It doesn't seem like that long.

They are growing up so fast! Im putting in pictures of them when they were born, at their first birthday party and from their 2nd birthday

Anthony in Blue, Afton in Yellow. They were only a few hours old here!

Afton and Anthony at home!

Heres their pictures from their first birthday party

And from their photo shoot

And here are pictures from this year!

So the pro's and con's of the new to us car AND..

Pro's:
Four doors
Running boards
Low enough to the ground
Wide enough so there is space between the three seats
Long trunk
High towing capacity
Low miles
great tread on tires

So in the pros I am glad that their is four doors. That is so much easier to get the kids into! The mixture of running boards and the fact that it is lower to the ground then our Montero was makes it so Celina can get in and out by herself and I can get the boys into the car without standing on tip toe. And also there is space inbetween the seats so the kids aren't fighting over arm space.
That and we didn't lose our towing capacity OR bed space. The bed is just inside the trunk

Cons:
HORRIBLE gas mileage (10 mpg, no worse then the truck though)
Shifts rough in between 1st and 2nd (no grinding)
Its old
Made our car insurance go up :(

But hey it drives good and looks good compared to others its age

Is it Friday yet?

Just wondering lol. Partly because this weekend is going to be busy. Tomorrow Jake gets off at 11:30 to run down to Puyallup to pick up the Krispy Kreme order. We have to take the suburban because for some reason I dont think 82 dozen donuts will fit in the back of our little 2 door escort lol. Then we have to make sure all the students get their orders.

Then saturday we are celebrating the boys 2nd birthday (their actual birthday isn't until the 20th). So family will be coming up and we will let the boys have their day :). I am hoping that my siblings Cristi and Gene (and his son Kristopher) will be able to make it.

Its funny I found this show on netflix called Horseland (I have heard of it). The kids like it, especially my little horse lover. But frankly it DRIVES ME NUTS. They get so many things MASSIVELY wrong. It does worry me that kids will try the things that this show uses. Especially since they act like its right. When its actually dangerous. But I guess that is me. I am miss critic, especially when it comes to horses lol.

Sad Day for Christianity

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/09/ray_boltz_comes.html

http://www.advocate.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Entertainment_News/Christian_singer_Jennifer_Knapp_Comes_Out/

I am sad and disappointed in the above articles. Ray Boltz and Jennifer Knapp have both come out as homosexuals.

And YES I am AGAINST homosexuality. Especially in those that claim to know Christ personally and to follow his word. I could list all the scriptures that flat out state that homosexuality is wrong. No if's and's or buts. Especially the part that states that they will make excuses for themselves and for those like them. 

We as Christians have to fight our fleshly desires daily. I know plenty that have to fight their desire to drink, or to cheat on their wives, or to do whatever. For those to say "God made me this way, so he wont condemn me" is like an alcoholic to say "God made me so that I like drinking and have an addicting personality, so he wont condemn me." You know I fight "fleshy" tendencies daily. I am working on losing weight because I believe gluttony is a sin. I resist the desire to eat when I am bored or angry. I force myself to work out, at the minimum 3 days a week. Its a hard battle, but I refuse to give up and say "well God made me this way"

To truly be following Christ is to give up all fleshly desires and to follow him. 

The joys of parenting

No and I mean that seriously. Yesterday while I was at the barn Jake (with his new camera) had a blast taking photos of the kids. Then after I came home and ate dinner we took them all outside and Jake had fun taking photos of the kids, the dogs and me. It was fun seeing those candid shots and the kids personality came through in the photos.

Jake was having fun messing with his camera and figuring it all out. The last DSLR he used was a Canon Digital Rebel. This is a Canon EOS 10D. Its a little nicer and has some different settings that he has to get used to. But it takes really nice photos! And has a nice automatic setting for me (Miss Camera illiterate) that I can play with the camera (when Jake doesnt have it lol)

I also took some photos (with my camera phone) of me and the filly (who is actually a mare now, she is almost 6). Mainly I just got to go out and mess with her yesterday. She was being spooky and jumpy so I decided lets do 5 minutes of ground work until she starts listening and then just spoil her. She didn't mind and it was good for me. Just being out and messing with a horse lifts my mood. I am excited that I have the freedom to come work with her whenever. And once the weather gets nice I cant wait until we can go out on trails. Especially once the filly and I are more confident with each other.

Ohh and check out my facebook for photos!

So proud

You know it is so nice to get to see your spouse do something that they are passionate about. Jake had the opportunity to speak in the "adult" service (aka sunday morning service). He did an amazing job!

Sundays are always somewhat stressful as being part of the pastoral staff. ESPECIALLY in a small church. You show up and wonder how many will make it this week? Will offerings be good? Will worship work out good? Or will we struggle the entire service?

This week was good/bad... We had a lower attendance then usual but the spirit was moving. Worship was good (and hey my feet didnt hurt too bad) and then it moved seamlessly onto Jakes message. I think his message had the potential to step on a few toes, but they took it well and their were a lot of interaction from the congregation.

So change of subject:

We are heading out town (AGAIN) but this time to trade the truck for a suburban. Its a 1982 C20 Suburban. (which means its a 3/4 ton WOO HOO) It runs well and everything. I love our truck but its a single cab. This will mean when Jake leaves for work I will have a car that I can fit all the kids into! Im excited and the photo is of our truck!

Saturday....At last

You know we all have those times of week that is our "Saturday". For some it is on Monday, others Thursday. Luckily for us our Saturday IS on saturday because Jake works for the school. The hard thing about it is we get one day off a week (off? Ok One day where we aren't required to be somewhere) Sundays are a work day for us. Normally Saturdays end up being work days as well. Not that we HAVE to be anywhere but there is a lot of things that dont get done the rest of the week that get done on Saturday. Like going out town.

Today is one of those "out town" days. We are selling the boys double bike trailer/stroller (woo hoo an extra $30!) and then we have to do our grocery shopping. So its load all the kids up in our car and make the hour+ drive into Puyallup.

The other thing today that is making it hard to leave is we order Jakes camera last week and the FedEx website says it is to be here TODAY (and alls this time I thought they DIDN'T do Saturday deliveries. Guess I was wrong.) So hopefully they read the note we leave on the door to leave the box in our garage.

Just for information we bought Jake a Canon EOS 10D DSLR camera. It was produced in 2003 and originally cost upwards of $1500. Alls I can say is Jake is excited. VERY excited. And I am happy for him. I am glad we were able to do this. Shooting pictures seems to relax him and he enjoys the challenge of it. See my stress relief is horses. I go to the barn for an hour and all is right with the world

Now I don't TECHNICALLY have a horse of my own. But I have one I am working with that is considered "my" horse. She is a Paso Fino mare whose registered name is Almost A Dancer. She has been ridden all over humanity but is still considered green broke. This breed of horse is considered a ONE PERSON horse. They have their person they listen too and that they trust and they perform best for that person. We are working on me becoming HER person. She is absolutely gorgeous and I cant wait till I get to take her out and really let her stretch her legs!

Well signing off here in Thelandology land!

Welcome!

Ahh I am going to get into the habit of blogging about the craziness that is our life. We have three young children. A three year old little diva and two year old twin tornadoes. We have two dogs, my husband is a youth pastor/para educator/dad/husband, and I am a house wife/homemaker/mom/assistant trainer. My husband and I probably don't fit the "normal" roles of a husband and wife. Like the fact that Jake loves to cook,can somehow manage to wipe a poopy butt with only one wipe (something I have FAILED to master) and is one that I NEVER worry about leaving home alone with the kids. Or the fact that I can handle cleaning a gelding's sheath without gagging but it took me almost 6 months to get past the smell of a poopy diaper (wait I still have issues with that at times)

Mainly this will be updates of our daily lives. But at others it may be me ranting, or posting ideas so you may have to put up with me. I hope you enjoy!