Overflowing!

I feel incredibly grateful and filled up this morning. Here's some of the reasons why:

- A refreshing and relaxing weekend with a good friend and her family. Our men get along well. Our kids get along well. Ahhhhh......

- So thankful our house can accommodate having friends and family come and spend time with us.

- A positive report from Landon's preschool teachers.

- Landon having the opportunity to even attend preschool. A new scholarship program enabled us to send him for FREE to a really great Christian preschool this year. He's loved it!

- A cooperative Tater-tot who let me spend some significant time in the book of James this morning.

- Tate rockin' the potty training today! He even initiated wanting to go #2 on the potty!

- Getting to talk with middle school and high school girls this week about relationships/sex/dating/God and how they are absolutely connected.

- Anticipating another opportunity to share with the women at the Kent County Jail in a few weeks.

- It's Monday night....and that means ZUMBA class!

- A Sunday morning sermon series that is challenging, encouraging, and very applicable.

- My new menu planning white board. On Sunday, I look ahead at the week and at what items I have on hand, what items are on sale, what we have going on, etc - and I actually write down what we'll be having every night for dinner. It's taken all of the stress out of that 4:30 - Ugh-What-am-I-making-for-dinner-tonight- thing I had going for awhile.

- The sun is shining beautifully and we even had the chance to take a short walk around the neighborhood.

Feeling incredibly blessed and content in this moment. Hoping that you can find a chance to disconnect from the crazy, the disappointing, the difficult, the ugly, and anything else that is getting you down. So much has been given to us!

Vote for our picture

So, I've never done this before, but I entered a photo into a contest.

It's with Disney Family Fun's I Heart My Family contest. The top 10 vote-getters will win $500.

I entered our coordinating family vacation shirts picture from this past summer.

With photo contests like this, I figure the only way people get votes is by coercing their family and friends to vote for their photo.

You'll have to register at the site to vote.

But you can vote once a day until the contest ends...which is sometime in March, I can't remember.

Here's the link to our photo and to be able to vote for it!

http://family.go.com/i-heart-my-family-contest/favorite-family-photo/i-love-these-people--84860/

If we win, maybe we'll split the prize with everyone who votes. ;)

Domestic Science Experiment

Science was never a subject I loved. In fact, I never really enjoyed doing elementary school Science Fair Projects. Although, the only projects I remember were usually "domestic" type experiments that my mom helped me with. Which laundry detergent works best? (I don't remember the outcome....I still use whatever I can find for cheapest). What happens when you leave out the baking powder?

Well, here's my grown up version. What can I get to clean off the grime on my stovetop grates and burners?!!?! They were getting quite bad. I just spent quite a bit of time using one of those Mr.Clean Magic Erasers on them which is my go-to for many other jobs. Wasn't budging most of it. (Maybe I should stop letting things run over on the stove? Hmmmmm....)

Well, I heard of another way and thought I'd give it a shot. Ammonia.

I put them each grate in a plastic storage bag and poured about a 1/4 cup of ammonia in the bag. (Watch out for those fumes! Open up a window so you don't inhale too much of that toxic stuff!) You're not trying to soak the stains off. The fumes is what weakens the grime. I put them in my garage in case there was a leak.

I let them soak overnight...Ok, a bit longer than overnight. I didn't get around to cleaning them until after lunchtime. Now, the source I read said that they will wipe off super easy. Not so much. I still felt like I had to do a considerable amount of scrubbing with a scrubby sponge and a washcloth. BUT they did come out looking much, much better.

And there you go. Maybe it'll help you. Maybe you already knew it. Maybe you have an even better way.

Revelation on Revelations

I just finished up a group Bible study going through the book of Revelation.

I'm not going to lie. When I found out we'd be studying Revelation for several months, I wasn't overly excited. Or excited at all.

I've read it before. Heard sermons on it. I don't get caught up in the details and whether something is symbollic or literal. I know the final outcome and I've always been good with that......Jesus returns, He wins, and I want to be on His team and live with Him forever.

But, as always, when one takes the time to dig into God's word, I came out blessed, just as Revelation 1:3 said I would, "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near."

I certainly don't have all of the answers...or even very many. In fact, I probably have a lot more questions. But I am more familiar with this important part of Scripture. And there is so much more personal application than what I was expecting. And that's what I love about Scripture anyways.....the part where we apply it to our lives and come to know and understand God more.

As always, a group Bible study does not disappoint. I value my time in our women's Bible study so very much. It's intergenerational (meaning young women all the way up the "wise" women), which I've come to adore. There's something wonderful about getting together with women in the same stage of life as you....but there's something wonderful about being with women who have already been in your shoes. I find incredible amounts of encouragement and challenge from our time together.

Next up is the book of James. I'm easily excited about this one.

Landon is 4!

Landon turned 4 this week!

We started off the festivities by inviting some friends over after church on Sunday night. We had Landon's requested Monster-Truck-Smoooshing-Cars Cake. It was way more fun to have lots of other people singing "Happy Birthday" besides Adam and I!

We opened some special packages and cards from special people on Wednesday. And Landon even got to take birthday cookies to Preschool to share with his friends there.

Hard to believe that Landon is 4! When I was tucking him in the other night, I told him that he was all done being 3 - and that he'd never be 3 again! He looked at me and said, "Yes. But I'll be 23 someday." Dear goodness. Yes. Yes, you will. Let's not rush it please.

What Landon is like these days:

*Still crazy about cars - really anything with wheels is his passion! He plays with cars most of the day!

*He can identify his letters and makes their sounds. Although, he really has no interest in practicing to write his name. He likes to make the "L" and that's it. And he always wants to make it VERY big.

*He can dress and undress himself (except for those pesky buttons). Although I still lay out what he's going to wear.

*He assures me regularly that he's going to love me forever. :)

*He loves to play games likes Candyland, Hi-Ho Cherry O, and other preschool games.

*He loves to color with markers. He gets very serious about it and colors in very concentrated areas so that it completely bleeds through the paper.

*Every morning he asks if he can eat breakfast in his PJ's.

*He's a bit of a tattletale. At this point, I rather appreciate it since Tate seems to regularly do things he's not supposed to.

*He still usually asks permission to do things. Sometimes he even feels he must ask both Adam and I for permission.

*He likes to show us how fast he can run. Over. And over. And over.

*He seems to like to be given chores. I know I've got to tap into this! He likes to help sort laundry. He likes to give the cats their food and water. I got him to sort the silverware from the dishwasher the other day. He gets tired of his tasks before they are completed sometimes, but it's still nice that he likes to help and be given jobs.

Ovearall, Landon is a very sweet and happy little boy. We feel so blessed to be his parents!

My little artists

The boys got an art easel for Christmas.

We finally busted out the paints today.

It was going great until I turned my back and Tate started using the chalkboard eraser on his painted masterpiece. He's just a little more creative than what I'm prepared for sometimes.

And now, Christmas is over

Finally getting to the pictures on my camera from our final Christmas gathering (yes, several weeks ago).

We made a several day trip of it and visited my aunt and uncle in Fort Wayne and spent the night. Then we headed onto Berne to visit my grandma. She's spent a good portion of her time in Florida over the last, I dunno, 20ish years? And she's now retired in the countryside of Indiana. It was good to make a trip to visit her in her retirement community. I think I would like living there.

Had a great time seeing my brothers and their families. Always goes by too fast. Here's a few pics from the Strahm Christmas:

Not sure why she's only wearing one sock. Or why Adam is lifting her in the air.

AJ tearin' it up. Recently turned 1 and knows what to do already.

Not a bad family pic of us! It's hard to get us all looking at the camera and smiling.

These two can fall asleep anywhere! They must work harder than I do. (We added the Santa hats to make them look more festive)

G-ma and G-pa with all the G-kids.

The whole bunch of us - thanks to the camera's self-timer.

Goals for the Coming Year

I'm not a big resolution setter, but I like the idea of goals to keep one motivated to accomplish things. And I like lists so that I can look back and see what has been accomplished. I like being productive and I don't like wasting time (although I'm certainly guilty of it at times!)

Here's a handful of things I'd like to accomplish in the coming year. Some are one-time things, while others are ongoing things that I'd like to work on. There are a couple of personal ones that I'm keeping to myself.

- Read 12 books - I literally went several years without reading books. I've now managed to fit in a little time for it here and there - and what do you know, I enjoy it! I mostly enjoy novels/fiction and non-fiction that inspire me or encourage me to live my life better and leave me able to sleep good at night (nothing scary or too suspenseful!).

- Have a Neighborhood Block Party (summertime) - We seem to have a great neighborhood, although I don't feel like we know people as well as we'd like. Would love to initiate and host some sort of summertime event that would get people mingling more. We've talked about it the last 2 summers. Let's make it happen!

- Have people over to our house for a meal at least once a month - Sometimes we're good at this and other times we just get busy and don't take the time to invite people over.

- Get Tate potty-trained - I don't need to explain this. I hope it's one of his goals for the coming year though also.

- Schedule 10 minutes to pray every day - I'm a natural multi-tasker and I pray throughout the day...in the shower, while driving, when I exercise, while doing laundry, etc. While that is nice, I'd like to make sure I'm setting aside time to talk to God and hear from Him - and ONLY doing that. I'd love to do more someday, but 10 minutes seems do-able to me at this stage in life.

- Go on an overnight getaway with Adam - (NO kids!)

- Take care of the grading issue on the north side of our house - On the north side of our house, the ground leads TO the house rather than away from the house which causes water to seep into the basement on this side of the house. It's a project that will most likely involve hiring someone and having the yard and landscaping torn up. We've been putting this off the last 2 years. AND if money and time allow, we'd love to get the driveway re-done (also needing to hire someone and have things tore up for awhile).

- Sew something - I've got a sewing machine. I've even got a project lined up....just have to remind myself how to follow the pattern and actually do it!

- Grocery Budget of an avg. of $45/week - I'm somewhat close to this usually, but I plan to use cash now to help keep track of my weekly spendings. This includes diapers, cat food/litter, hygiene products, cleaning products, and food.

- Get up by at least 7:15am 5 days a week - You might be rolling your eyes at this, but our kids sleep until 8 am and we've gotten used to this as well! Neither of us have to get up early regularly for work schedules. And we stay up until at least 11/11:30 pm most nights. I know that I need 8 hours of sleep to function and feel well. Adam needs a little less. But I also feel great about having some extra time in the morning when I do make myself get up - so I'd like to do it more often!

- Paint the Laundry Room - I've had paint for the walls for over a year now. Obviously this entails getting all of the laundry caught up (which I'm usually on top of) and moving the machines out of the room for a week. I'm also considering painting the cabinets a fun color...just not sure what yet.

Well, there's a few things that I'd like to get done in the coming year. Hope there's a few things that you are striving for also!

SNOW!

Whoa! Look at me go! 3rd blog post of the year and it's only January 3! (I do not intend to blog every day like I mentioned the possibility of in a previous post. That was "crazy" Becca talking. I've put her back away where she belongs.)

We finally got some snow! The boys were anxious to go outside and play in it. Landon even told me that he had dreamed about playing in it the night before. It took us 20 minutes to get into snow gear and then I realized we didn't have snowboots that fit Landon. Poor kid had to wear rainboots with doubled-up socks. He never complained that his feet were cold though.

Look how close they are in size!

They are almost 18mos. apart, but Tate is closing the gap very quickly!

Landon really wanted to wear this hat....

It makes it easy for me to imagine what he would look like as a little girl with long blond braids.

I even put them to work. G-ma Vig got them little kid shovels and rakes this year. They loved being able to work and move the snow around.

And I got a new camera for Christmas! I'm pretty excited about it! I can already tell a huge difference in the pictures that I take! I'm excited to learn more about it and figure out how to do even better!

Just a little bit longer....

We still have one more Christmas gathering next weekend, so I REFUSE to take down our Christmas decorations yet! Here's a few of my favorites this year:

This is our Christmas Card wall. We hang them up and pass by them many times in a day. I love to look at all of them and read some of the special inscriptions numerous times. Some of our friends (who will remain nameless....although you all know who you are....do not send out Christmas cards! And thus, we are saddened that we do not get to include them here. Maybe someday......)

This is a special ornament given to all of the Willis' from Adam's aunt. It's in memory of Grandpa Willis who passed away in May.

Here's our big Nativity set in our living room(I have several smaller, kid-friendly ones also). This room looks so nice with lots of red accents.

And here's the fireplace in our family room. I bought a canvas print of one of our family pictures. And I love our knit, homemade looking stockings.

And our newest addition to the Christmas decorations that I just picked up at an after-Christmas sale. A Kissing Ball! I had been trying to find some decent looking mistletoe or something. This will fit the bill. We've tested it out already. It works. :)

Yeah for Christmas!

Christmas has come and gone! And we had many wonderful gatherings!

We travelled to Illinois for a few days to spend time with Adam's mom and stepdad - lots of fun traditions and we were all spoiled with yummy meals, special treatments, and too many presents! Such a relaxing and enjoyable time together!

We got home just in time to have all of the Willis family over! Again, special times with lots of fun times and presents. We played some games and enjoyed a full day together. We ended the evening with a special Christmas Eve service at church.

And on Christmas day, we went to church on Christmas morning and then had Adam's dad and stepmom and the rest of the family over. We enjoyed a casual and relaxing day together. We even went the non-traditional route and had Mexican fare to spice things up.

Such a great time with family! It's always a beautiful time of the year to reflect upon our Savior being sent into this world!

oh deer.....

Well this has been long over due (Adam blogging that is) but i will do my best to update all of our many blog followers with the adventures of Adam the Archer and my hunting expeditions so far this year.

For those that don't know i am an avid archer i love shooting a b

ow and enjoy hunting, and I like being able to stock the freezer with venison (which the whole family enjoys too)

So this year's adventure started on October 18th when i was able to get 2 smaller deer but on the 25th of October the real adventure started. It was a cold deary Tuesday morning and i went out hunting and at first light i very nice Buck decided to grace me with his presence and i was able to quickly and cleanly harvest this Buck ( i won't go into all the details). He was only a 6 point he was a very big bodied deer with a very very big rack for a 6 point (which i did not see the rack very well until after i recovered the deer). This is only my second buck and biggest deer i have ever seen in the woods. Here are the pictures from the woods and also the mount that i now have to remember my adventure, if you want to see the deer in real life you will have to come visit me at church as Becca would only allow me to put the mount in the basement so instead i will gladly hang it in my office at church. Enjoy

Oh, Little Debbie...

These Little Debbie Holiday Snack Cakes are too much for me to resist! (Only the yellow cake with chocolate frosting ones) I am sure there an no redeeming qualities in them.

I don't buy them - mostly because I know that I'm capable of polishing off a whole box in 2 days. I can resist them if they don't make it into my house. I can walk by them in the store and have no second thoughts about leaving them on the shelf. It's when they make it into my home and I know they are there - that's when I'm in trouble.

My sweet husband knows that I have a ridiculous affection for these things. Every now and then, he will buy me a box. I'm usually estatic and upset at the same time. It's kinda a love/hate relationship (not with my husband - that's all love! I'm talking about the cakes). The box doesn't last long. And then I calculate how many calories I've eaten in these store-bought delicious goodies. It's not pretty. But hey, it's all in celebration of this festive time of year, right?! :)