new beginnings

I just love the new year. It seems to be that push to start fresh that for some reason a date like June 26 just doesn't have. This new year for us and me is all about discipline.

In no particular order and in bulletin form (because I have way too many random thoughts to put them all cohesively together), these are my thoughts/goals/beginnings for the new year.

• We have started the Dave Ramsey envelope system. It's only the 4th of the month, and I am already cursing him:) I've also already started mentally computing in my head what envelope I need to "borrow" from to get something I want. My kids really don't need to eat if I can get a killer deal on a new rug I've been eyeing, right?
• We have kick started the diet around the house. It's Day 2 and it really hasn't been that bad. Maybe that's because there is no money in the "eating out" envelope to tempt me.
• Jason and I are going to begin to memorize the book of Philippians by Easter. This is a huge undertaking for me. I'm the person that says that the Bible says so and so, but don't ask me to tell you where it's at. I can spout out the "gist" of a scripture, but never the full verse. I asked Jason a couple of nights ago, "Is it bad that I still have to say "GE Power Company" to remember which order of the books that Philippians comes in?" He just stared and me and finally said, "That's cute." I don't really think he believes that...
• Passion Conference 2011 is rocking my world right now. We have a mini-revival going on in our house. I'm so thankful that they live stream the conference for us oldies now:)
• I am also excited about my girls accountability group that 2 other women and me have started. We are walking through Piper's book Spectacular Sins. This is the second time I have read it, and I am finding new truths in it still.
• Jason and are also going to be leading a Community Group at our church that will begin in a few weeks. Couples/families doing life together. I am excited!
• Our church is also going to be going to 2 services in a few weeks. Who would have thought that when we planted we didn't even know if 50 people would stick around and now we are outgrowing our capacity in one service! Praise God!

As you can tell we have a lot of exciting things are on our plate. Just praying that we can be resilient in all things!

christmas overload

*WARNING this post includes a ton of pictures from the month of December and does not even include any of Jason's film that he took. I really should blog more often...

Ava participated in her first program at her school. Her class sang three Christmas songs, and trust me, she was well rehearsed. We probably heard at least one of her songs every hour on the hour for 3 weeks.
I was so proud of her! I was worried she would get on the stage in front of people and freeze up. She proved me wrong! She sang her little heart out...

The next day was Emma's last day of school before winter break and also her party. All the kids dressed in their pajamas, and they watched The Polar Express that morning.

Emma with her precious teacher, Mrs. Hunt!

Christmas Eve night we attended the service at our church. We have a tradition that on Christmas Eve night the girls get to open a present that just Daddy gets for them. This year Emma and Ava got mini American Girl dolls and their books from Daddy.

And, yes. That's a dog in the background, but his story is for another post:)

Cookies and chocolate milk set out for Santa...

Our tree in the den (our big tree is in the entry way) with Santa's gifts. Santa gets 3 gifts for each child plus a stocking. I know that we are in the minority because we don't let Santa "overdo" it. Santa or us never want to be in the "way" where our kids can't see clearly what the meaning of Christmas is. I think how ever you want to do Santa or gifts is fine, but this is just want works for our family. And trust me, just because Santa only got them 3 gifts doesn't mean he didn't spend any money on them!

Christmas morning Lila needed her morning beverage to get her up and going.

Both of the girls received matching nightgowns for them to wear like their American Girl dolls.

They both also received the beds for their American Girl dolls. I love Ava's face!

Note to self... destroy all toys that make noise. Regretting many presents for this little one:)

Christmas afternoon my family came over to eat and open presents. Our joke was that looking under our tree you could not tell that the economy is in a recession!

The girls got so many wonderful things from my family that I do not even know where to start. The biggest hit was the pillow pets my mom got them. They also got the new leapster explorer with games, another American Girl doll and accessories, Bitty Baby accessories, a Tangled doll and much more! For some reason, we didn't take many pics. These are blurry, but you get the gist of the excitement!

This is my sister Melanie's boyfriend Paul playing the Just Dance 2 game with Emma. Too cute!

It was a wonderful Christmas season! We are too blessed