This week on I Heart Faces, they wanted us to post up to five (!!!!) pictures that make us laugh! LOVE it!!! :)

I worked on a bunch of different pictures but couldn't decide, so my hubby made the final decisions!

 YAY!!! An excuse to talk about movies!
I LOVE movies and especially Christmas movies! So fun!

Even though I adore older movies, I am fairly new to "White Christmas" and "Holiday Inn." I love them though and the girls like them too.

So I indulged in another photography fun post this week! I won't be home next week so that is my excuse!
Anyway, the You Capture challenge is to have fun with lines. There are some really cool pictures posted, back at



But here is mine!

Dear Chas,

Sister, you CRACK ME UP!!!! You are such a goofball sometimes! You love to play and be silly. You are really into showing off right now. So you dance, sing, make silly faces, and just be a goober!


You are four years and four months old but you are pretty sure you are 15. I have to admit I am a tad worried. You base most of the things you wear and the way you do your hair on whether or not the "teenagers" will like it! No joke.
You are getting to be more conscious of your appearance and always ask if you look beautiful before we go anywhere.
Baby girl, you are ALWAYS beautiful! Always always!!!



And more importantly, you are asking me many questions about Jesus and you keep telling me you love Him!
You love church and are having a BLAST in AWANA Cubbies. You are learning so many verses and songs! Granted, there are some more things you need to understand...such as:

1. The sun in the sky is not the same thing as "Jesus the Son" (lol!!!) EVEN THOUGH Jesus IS the Light of the World! No wonder you keep looking at me funny!
2. You don't hear God talking back to you because He doesn't speak audibly...
3. and other things that aren't coming to mind at the moment, but when I think of them, I will come back and put them in! :)

But I love that the spiritual wheels are turning and you growing in faith! You keep telling me that you think Jesus is in your heart, but when I ask you if you asked Him to be there and to forgive your sins, you say no. And then I say that if you want Jesus to be in your heart and forgive your sins you need to ask Him. And then you say. "ohhhhh....hmmmmm...." and run off and play! lol! I think you will ask Him soon, and I am SO EXCITED to see how that plays out!


Your favorite color is pink! You really wanted to paint your bedroom pink and green, and are a little upset that we are painting it purple, but sorry!
Your favorite way to pass the time is to color! You are a coloring maniac!!!
I think your favorite thing to watch is "The Muppet Show" and you love learning the random songs they sing!
You also like to watch the Scooby Doo cartoons, the High School Musicals, Singing in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Monsters vs. Aliens...


I curled your hair the other night for the church Thanksgiving Dinner. Normally you don't like me to curl your hair because the curling iron is hot and it scares you. But this time, you just let me for whatever reason and you were really glad you did! You LOVED how it turned out and you LOVED that we got to use Papa's hair products. (http://www.liquidstylehair.com/ ) You told me that you want to help him make hair stuff someday. ;)
I thought that was cute.
And all night if someone didn't tell you, you would ask them if they liked the curl in your hair!
I think we will be curling it again soon! :)


You also want to groooow! You are pretty sure that if you keep eating fruits, vegetables and meat that you will grow to be as big and strong as Daddy and maybe even Susan from Monsters Vs. Aliens! But you are definitely in love with your Daddy. You keep telling me you are going to marry him when you grow up! :)


You love to pull out a school book and work on writing letters! You are doing so well on your own, I really need to start doing school with you. The plan is to actually do school in January. You LOVE everything we have done so far, but we could be doing so much more! So that is the plan.

You truly have a better grasp of what is "left" and "right" then I do! No kidding! I am also blown away at your understanding of time, days, etc!
You are very interested in peoples names. Random people on shows and on the street-you want to know their name. You seem to get a little disappointed in me because I really don't know most of the time! :)
You also are starting to put together family trees. You are starting to grasp that I have a mom and she has a mom who has a mom...and we are all alive so maybe that helps! :)


I have to admit that you are at that age that makes watching movies together not so much fun. Suddenly you have question after question about EVERYTHING!!!!! Even though you have already seen the movie 100 thousand times!!! lol.
Your curiosity about the world around you though can also be so much fun. You remind me of what it was like for the world to be this huge mystery to be solved! Everything was rather innocent, and so alive! I love that you see it that way.


Your favorite food is Macaroni and Cheese and you ask for it-every day.
You have a pretty consistent crush on Thomas Mifflin-a boy in the youth group and you are quite the flirt! And in case you are wondering you did not get that from me! ;) Daddy and I are SO praying for you! :)
You love to ride your trike on the back deck and let Harmony ride on the back of it.
You love to go for walks around the block, but you ride your trike.
You love Family Nights and Family Devotions.
You love that you have your own bed and aren't sharing with Harmony anymore! You sleep on the top bunk!!!!! *tear*
You love trips and thrive on getting to see your grandparents often! (Or I hear about it!)
You LOVE dressing up like a Princess!

You are SUCH a great helper! You always are ready to help me get the younger ones dressed or set the table or to cook. You don't like chores so much, but you are getting better and helping to keep your room clean. :)

You are such a great big sister! You really look after and love to play with your sister and brother!


















You are such a sweet girl, honey and I am so excited to see what the Lord will do with your life. :) You have grown up so much so very quickly! Slow down!!!!! You really don't need to be a teenager yet. :)

It is such a tremendous priviledge to be your Mommy! My prayer for you is that you would have steadfast faith in Jesus Christ, that you would serve Him however He sees fit and that He gives you the grace to grow into a godly woman of character with a heart for the world around you.

I love you Chachipea!
Mommy























Baby Chastity Peaches (7 months)

Evan,

You turned 19 months old last week and I can hardly believe it! You have gotten so big, so fast!!! (Although you had a good head start when you weighed 9 lbs. 8 oz at birth! ;)
On Saturday night, you used your first sentence! It was "Whadadatdo?" and it took me a couple of times of hearing it before I understood that you were asking "What does that do???" about the copier in the church office! SO cute! So I lifted you up so you could see that I was making copies. You LOVED it! Flashy buttons, BRIGHT green lights, lots of sounds and paper shooting out! What is not to love?!?!?

Also, in a matter of DAYS your legs grew two inches longer!!! HOLY COW!!! :) I was wondering if your cutie squatty legs would ever outgrow the 12 monther pants and wow....you just took off! Yesterday we were getting ready for church and I pulled some overalls out of the closet that I had been waiting to put you in. They had been ginormous forever! But wouldn't you know...I put them on you and they were TOO SHORT!!!! And to make it worse, you were the last person I got ready to go and we were running late to church...so...you went in highwaters!!! So sorry. But you would have been upset to take them off anyway because Elmo is on them (or Momo as you call him!)

At 19 months old, you can out-wrestle your big sisters (who are 3 and 4) in no time. Mostly you just sit on them or lay on them and they start yelping for help! You and Harmony are pretty close. You guys chase each other, tickle each other and although she annoys you by thinking she is your mother and knows what is best for you, you two are peas in a pod!

You LOVE LOVE anything animal! You adore our dog Rugby and although you think that you should be able to ride him like a horse (which he SO does not appreciate!) you are content to just let him give you kisses. You have also tried to ride Kitty, which is why she avoids you like the plague...which really bothers you, but Van......you just can't sit on the Kitty, honey.

Your best buds are Matthew and Christopher Jerome. Age wise you are smack in the middle of them and so it depends on sleep gotten and male aggression who you play with that day, but you three are too funny!


You love books, cars, balls, and anything musical or that lights up. You have a natural knack of rhythm and music and are interested to play any instrument you can get your hands on. I am not sure what is your favorite...as long as you can play it, dance and sing, you are in heaven and are waiting for some applause!

I continue to be your best girl (followed closely by Mrs. Karen Bender! ;) and you love to sit on my lap while I am on the computer. Or to follow me around the house or church. You freak out whenever I leave you in the nursery, but that seems to be lessening and you are starting to look forward to seeing new toys and friends in there. :) :( 
Mostly you just want to be wherever I am and I love that. You are so cuddly.



You love to play outside and are content to just sit in the dirt! You also love to climb and are always climbing up on the playhouse and then want me to come get you down! :) You love the trampoline, you love the toddler bike on the back porch that you use Flintstone style...

You MUST at some point in the day be seriously wrestled or thrown around on the couch for a bit. Otherwise your male aggression is way too much for us girls in the house! You just get crazy. :)

I have taught you the bad habit of play biting....I couldn't help it. I am kind of a biter and you are so stinking cute, that I have to just nibble on you every now and then...lol. But now you are biting me back and while you are really careful not to hurt me...you are still pretty little and just don't know when to stop sometimes...but silly me...I TAUGHT you to bite me!!! What sane person teaches their 19 month old boy to bite????

You are now able to push buttons for the tv, dvd player, stereo and honestly, that is annoying to everyone because you mess it all up! :) So we are working on that. :)

You love your bed. I very rarely have to tell you twice that it is bed-time. (You get that from me!) You are an amazing sleeper still. You go to bed at 7 on nights when we don't have church stuff going on. You get up in between 8-9 am. Nap time is 11. And while your sisters get up about 12:30-1. You will sleep until 2 or 3!!! Wow! :)

Out of my three kids, you are the ONLY ONE who will look where I am pointing. (!!!!) I think that is funny. Maybe it is the boy in you...I don't know! I am 26 and still don't always think to look where someone is pointing. I realized I did that the other day. LOL

Van, you LOVE food!!!! You have slowed down lately because your face has been so stuffy, but you love food! :) I think Macaroni and Cheese is your favorite. But you love anything you can cruise around the house with. (Which is NOT ALLOWED!!!!) It drives you crazy to be at the table by yourself. Or even just if Dad and I aren't at the table. You can't handle it. You want to be three feet away from the table-with us. :)


You have started praying out loud and it to so adorable. At prayer time you clasp your hands together and squeeze your eyes shut until we start praying and then you check us all out. lol. But when you pray, you pray for Ma, Daddy, your sisters, the dog and other things we can't make out. :)

Hunky boy, I love you so much. My prayer for you is that you will be a man of character and integrity with a heart fiercely devoted to Christ. That you will know Him and love Him and live for Him your whole life.
I love you!
Momma

1. Who is your audience and what is your purpose?
My audience is women and teen girls (mostly!)
My main purpose is to help others who have experienced sexual abuse or have issues with fear or need help rooting out lies and planting God's Truth about Himself, life and True Love...
I also like to just gab, add my beginners photography and general posts about my life. :)

2. What do you know? (Ask This:What does my day consist of? How is my life unique? What things do I know that could help others? Have I seen another blog post about something I do, but in a different way?)
I am a Youth Pastor's Wife, a mom of three, a daughter of The King and He has healed my life and is making me whole. :) I am also learning so much about housekeeping, being frugal, and natural home remedies! I think I have some insights here and there about all of those things.

Do This:Brainstorm your life and come up with a list of 5 topics that are part of your life (hopefully, some of them coincide with the list you made in #1).
1. Biblical Womanhood
2. Christ's Healing from abuse/neglect
3. Homemaking-rearranging, painting, bargain-finding!
4. What I have been learning from the Bible
5. Mommyhood-having three in three years/starting homeschooling, etc.

3. Is the topic worth discussing?
Well honestly, sometimes it is and sometimes I am just writing because I feel like it and it is my online journal. :)

(Do This:From either the list you made for #1 or the list you made for #2, pick a topic and begin brainstorming ideas for a post pertaining to that category.)
Jewish Weddings and Christ and the Church

4. What do you want your readers to feel and know after reading what you've written?
For this topic-How amazing Christ is! That they can have a personal fulfilling relationship with Him. The big picture is truly astounding...God's all-knowing ways are unbelievable!!!

In general-That life is sad, horrible, awesome, blissfully happy, funny...it just is life and regardless of what happens, it is a gift from God. :)

5. Choose an analogy and make it the driving, yet subtle, force behind your post.
(Do This:Brainstorm anything and everything that comes to mind when you think of your topic. (this is just like a word association game) Choose one thing from that list that makes a good analogy for your topic and then brainstorm all the ways you can make that analogy "work" for the message you are wanting to convey.)
Well, for this topic it is an analogy in itself...things like: Bride, Groom, Wedding, Church, Christ, Oil Lamps, Canopy, House, Wedding Supper, Engagement, etc.

***Once you have some thoughts down, try writing a post. Don't get carried away with your analogy, but make sure it is subtly there and you use it to your advantage.

Final Excercise:
Why is a candle like a bedroom???
It brings feelings and smells of warmth, relaxation, and comfort to your body and has a glow about it. It is beautiful, and a fun part of living in my home. :)

So I am back from Young Ladies Retreat! We had a BLAST!!!

I will share more later, but here is a picture to show you just a glimpse of the fun! It also doubles as my contest entry for I Heart Faces!


We had a special dinner our last night there and we told our teen girls to dress up for it and get their hair and makeup done special. They were all really bummed that they didn't pack anything nicer to wear...until they found out that we had brought formals for all of them to wear to dinner!!! It was a huge surprise and boy, were they excited!!! This is a couple of them walking into the closet! It was so much fun!!!