Springtime

I'm going to write a post later on my spring break... it was a beautiful learning time for our marriage and I love how God shows up even bigger than you expect in the midst of brokeness.....

But for now, I want to share with you some pictures I was able to take of the kiddos in the Texas bluebonnetslast week.... I didn't get as many as I would have liked of the older two kiddos, but they were having too much fun running around! Isn't springtime awesome??

Meaning

I truely believe that children are a blessing from the Lord. That is the reason why I've named my blog what I've named it. "Made From Above." Children show us how to be more Christ-like and how to love unconditionally.

I can't imagine losing one of them.

I can't imagine life without any of them to make me smile or challenge me.

But a dear friend of mine and Jason's has to "suck it up" and be strong for her other kids.

There was a news segment this morning about a little girl that was hit while playing with her brother.... I didn't make the connection...

Until I saw her status this morning on facebook and read the newest blog post...

Tears started flowing as Julianna is a few months younger than Aimee is. I remembered bringing them dinner when she was born and learning how to manage a "bigger than average" family from her as she has raising six kids down to a science.

I thought of how I would feel if one of my children had suddenly been "taken" from me a week after his/her birthday and I started to feel a bit of anger....

Then I remembered this: when we are absent from this world, we are present with the Lord. Although her family here will always feel a hole and a missing piece, she is now whole and God is going to do something AMAZING through this tragedy. Hard things come our way to strengthen us and to give us an even more powerful testimony.

You might feel helpless, sorrow, grief, anger, whatever....but remember even in a short three years of a person's life, a HUGE impact can be made on the people around......

I felt a challege to myself.... How am I going to impact the world around me? I have a quote in my classroom and I am going to follow it this year: "Be the change you want to see in the world." There's too much sorrow, greed and overall moral decline. I'm going to be the light that I saw little Aimee have already; at such a tender age of just three years old.

Thank you, Aimee for teaching me so much in your short little life. I know your mom and dad are proud of you! :)

Merry CHRIST*mas

"Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you; he is Christ, the Lord"
~Luke 2:11

Josh trying to peek in the presents Christmas morning...he got caught

Whether or not you celebrate Christmas or not is irrelevant. It's so hard in today's world to bring the focus back to the reason why we even celebrate this day. All around us there's Santa, presents, and commercials telling us to "buy more; spend more; gotta have it all right now"... It's hard to SLOW down and take some time out to spend with your family when your kids are constantly asking you for the "latest and greatest" toy.

That's why when Jason and I got married, we discussed Chistmas and what we would do when we had kids. And I am glad we did. Here's some key things we decided:

• Christmas day is spent with just us. No going anywhere, or getting dressed. Just a time to focus on being thankful for our family that God has blessed us with and reconnecting with our kids without TV, media, or internet bombarding our bonding.
• We tell the kids the story of Santa. He was a real person who helped a lot of children. but he's not alive anymore. Yes, that's right - my kids don't believe in Santa. And I like it that way. The reason for Christmas isn't about smoe guy in a red suit with flying reindeer that you believe in from 2 - 8 and then discover he's not real?! In fact a lady at Starbucks asked Josh what Santa was bringing him for Christmas. His reply: "Santa's not alive anymore, but Jesus is!"
• We read the meaning of Christmas from the Bible and discuss what it means and why
  we even celebrate Christmas in the first place...BEFORE presents and breakfast.

It's different, I know, but it works for us and it keeps the focus on what we feel it needs to be on. Not some over-commercialized spending spree, but on a tiny baby that changed the history of the world.

We were totally blessed this Christmas season. With Jason being out of work for a month and then getting a crumby job after that, we simply did not have the funds or resources for Christmas presents. We usually get the kids only a few anyways, but a family at our church felt led to bless us and our children with a van full of gifts. It was a true testimony of how giving can make a difference and how to be the "hands and feet of Jesus."

Jayden loves his Lightening ride-on toy

Jenna had a blast with her Weebles car

Josh got a "big boy" bike with removable training wheels. He's already zooming around the neighborhood

Julianna plays "moosik" all the time :)

We try and teach our kids this as well. Every 6 months we go through the playroom and their closets and we donate toys and clothes to other people who need them. It's awesome to see the kids give and be blessed by it. And they do it without any hassle. I have been blessed by their selflessness.

Thank you for your gifts and your testimony of selflessness to our children!

Remember that Christmas isn't about us. It is about recieving the best present ever though - the baby born at night and changed the world.

Christmas Eve 2011

We usually tend to "lay low" on Christmas Eve. Not only are there crazy people out there doing last minute shopping without manners, but Jason usually has to work. This year was quite the exception. He. actually. had. off.....

Let that sink in for a moment.....

So we enjoyed a nice morning together in our jammies, not worrying about having to go anywhere. We enjoyed a nice Saturday together, and it felt like Christmas outside. It was in the low 40's, cloudy and rainy.... I was secretly praying it would drop 10 degrees for snow, but alas, it stayed above freezing.

We also had a lovely candlelight church service that evening with songs, a message about the true meaning of Christmas and reminders to not get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. The girls got to wear their Christmas dresses one last time and the bows I made for them. We had a lovely time together.

Josh and his friend, Brooklyn (she's a missionary with her parents in England now)

After church we drove around to look at all the lights around the neighborhoods. It was magic - just like when I was a kid :)

When we got home, a new tradition is letting the kids open their stocking stuffers. This year I had to wrap their stocking contents as Jayden kept pulling them down and we didn't want him to get hurt with the stocking holders. :( It's amazing what you can find at the Target $1 section!

Josh liked the activity book

Jenna liked the lip gloss

Julianna liked the stickers (they're everywhere in our house)

and Jayden liked traveling around with the remote

How was your Christmas Eve?

Week 1 of Christmas Break {Picture Blog}

So what have we been up to during our first week of Christmas break? Well, here's some pictures to clue you in on our adventures during this first week off in preparation for Christmas and the New Year:

We have had LOTS of fun coloring and playing together....

We watched Josh's best friend for a day and overnight while his parents moved into their new house... They had a BLAST and it was Josh's first ever sleep over!

He got some "reindeer food" at his class party, so we had fun putting some out for some deer to come by....

In the morning, it was gone!

Our Christmas weekend was FULL of fun events with family and friends, but that's a whole new post :) Merry Christmas!

Little walker

Someone finally learned to walk over Christmas break.... but I have yet to get him on video. He's the 4th baby, but the oldest to learn how to walk. I've never had one walk AFTER turning a year old! It's so funny, but he's such a FAST crawler!

Guess walking is hard work...

Holiday Photos

I try to take the kids' pictures around this time to start making my Christmas cards. I am thankful for cool things out there that allow me to edit my pictures and create a collage with ALL my kids present. 'Cause getting ALL four kids to sit nice for a picture is near impossible. At least three of the four are able to now, but getting Jayden to sit still for anything is just NOT going to happen. That boy is on the move!

Here are my favorite shots (edited) of each munchkin. I'll be editing these for our anual Christmas card, so look for them soon! :)

Josh

Jenna:

Julianna:

Jayden:

Holloween 2011 {Better Late, Than Never!}

Yes, Holloween was over a week ago....

Yes I actually have lots of pictures and stories to write about...

But in my defense I've been a tad bit busy with "life" around here...LOL

Here's what we did on Halloween:
Our church has a "Fall Festival" every year in which there's BBQ cook-offs, bounce houses, horse rides, hay rides, and of course, a bull ride! It was a BLAST!

Josh wanted to be "A Knight in Shining Armor" (I think he's quite good at it, myself)

Jenna wanted to be a princess (how approriate since her brother looks after her and is always concerned with where she is to make sure she is safe)

 Julianna wanted to be a puppy (she LOVES puppies!)

Jayden was Tigger (which Joshie wore 4 years ago!)

We had sno cones and they were delicious!

And we had our picture taken on some hay bales....

Hope you celebrated the start of fall and harvest in a fun way!