Blessed, Blessed, Blessed

Schoolhouse McCarty is in full swing in 2012 and we are having a blast! I am not saying that every day is a bowl of sunshine, but it is the most rewarding thing in the world to see Levi and Lilly soak up so much stuff! They really are little sponges! Levi is starting to read which is amazing to watch and Lilly knows more at 3 than Levi did just a year ago!

Izzy is growing so much! She is sitting up all by herself! She has started eating "real" food and loving it! It's a riot to watch her figure out how to feed herself! That concept of picking up a piece of food and putting it into her mouth and letting go of it is a hard one to figure out!

We went on our first hike with all 3 kiddos the other day. It really wasn't a hardcore hike, but we thought we'd start slow and work our way up. It's still hard to tell how far Lilly will go before getting tired. Levi hiked Harney Peak (7,244 ft) at 4 years old, but Lilly is not quite that adventurous. I think the little hike went well and we all had a good time but Lilly did need a piggy back ride by the end!

On a more serious note, I have been watching my kids today, really watching them and studying them, and have been overwhelmed at how blessed I am! I am so undeserving of such a wonderful family! I have a husband who treats me like a princess and whom I love more today than when we got married, and amazing children that I adore. Do you ever just sit and wonder why? Why me? I'm not talking about the 'why me' you ask when life is hard, but the one you ask when you are so overwhelmed by how blessed you are that it literally takes your breathe away for just a moment. I am counting my blessings today and I hope you are too!

Bring on the New Year

It's January 8th and the new year is in full swing. I don't know if anyone else is like me, but I love the "fresh start" that January brings. I know that not everyone is up for resolutions that they feel they will just break anyway, but I enjoy making plans to do things different in the new year. I don't always officially call them resolutions, but I guess that's what they are.

One of the more difficult ones for this year is to look for God in the everyday stuff. I am starting to reread a book called "Practicing the Presence of God," and reviewing it with my good friend, Abby. It serves as a good challenge to worship God no matter what you're doing whether you are sharing the gospel with someone or wiping a child's dirty bottom! I struggle with this one and often have doubt as to what I am doing for God's kingdom, but I know that these little ones are God's gift entrusted to me and that raising them and bringing them up to love the Lord is truly one of the greatest things I can do for God's glory.

Okay, now an easier one: lose weight! I know, I know. Way to be a cliche, right? Well, I really have been working on this goal since Thanksgiving with the idea to fit into my pre-prego pants before spring. So far, so good. There is no special secret to this - eat better and exercise! Discipline! Discipline!

My third is to be about relationships! The idea is to be about loving the people around me and caring less about what my house looks like or if my to-do list is complete! In other words, embrace interruptions! This is how God works and He is about relationships!

Those are just a couple that I have. What do you want to change this year? Anything? We should always be working to change! Everyone has areas that need a little tweaking. What are yours? Here's to a wonderful 2012!