Titus

Titus is basically this dude that Paul the Apostle sent to the island of Crete to gather up preachers who would do God's will. Paul the Apostle wrote a letter to Titus detailing what he was to teach these new preachers. If you haven't read Titus in the bible, you should start with it because it's really, really short. Seriously, it's a good place to start.

So I think the theme of Titus is this: Good works are not to bring us salvation but to reflect our salvation. Like JD says, "You can't earn brownie points to get into heaven". Sometimes I wonder if people see God when they look at me. I want them to but I'm not sure that it always shows...so my goal is to make it show more.

Titus 2.11: For the free gift of eternal salvation is now being offered to everyone. And along with this gift comes the realization that God wants us to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures and to live good, God-fearing lives day after day.

Please, watch this YouTube video...it's so cool. My brother, Kasey, has turned me into a Jars of Clay LOVER!!!!!!!!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=txqeyisb688&feature=related

Gage Teasing Me

This is a video of Gage teasing me. He knows how to say certain words but thinks it's hysterical to respond with, "da,da" to everything...especially when i ask him to say, "ma,ma". I wonder WHO taught him THAT? JD :)

Gage's "Honey Pot"

I have had the hardest time getting Gage to EAT. He's not much for babyfood- finger foods are okay for the first three or so bites, but beyond that he's just not interested (wish I had that problem- lol). So, I started to get creative and this is what I came up with: "The Honey Pot" (I call it the honey pot because we lovingly refer to Gage as "Gagie Bear"...and this pot reminds me off Poo bear diving in after honey.

Some of these photos may make you want to cringe because of the mess, but allow me to reassure you that I'd gladly clean up the mess if it meant that he would be EATING this stuff.
Ewe...gross...what IS that he is eating? It's one of Ryan's favorites: mac and cheese, grilled hotdogs, and peas...only Gage's was sifted through my babyfood grinder.

I have NEVER seen him so into eating before! I think we've hit the nail on the head with the honey pot idea!

I kid you not, this bowl was TOTALLY empty in about 5 minutes!

So grown up...

I can't believe that Ryan is going to be four this year! He is so grown up. Just take a look at the way he is standing in this photo: Note the double cap gun holster with snowboots! Hahahahahaha....

Things that make my life easier...

Okay so I've been thinking a lot lately about things/ideas that make my life easier...and as a mother of two boys, here's what I don't think I could live without :
1. My dirt devil dust buster- man this thing rocks. I can quickly vacuum up dirt from outside, scraps of food on the floor, etc. It's great now that Gage is 'mobile' and eating everything!
2. So I stole the idea of hanging a shower curtain on the inside of our glass shower doors from my neighbor, Candy. No more scraping off hard water stains with a razor!!! That was a million dollar idea for sure.
3. My new screen door. It's glass and has a slider mechanism that allows a screen to roll half way down. With the way my house is positioned, it's great for drafts and also allows a lot more light into my dark living room- oh, and of course, it adds another 'layer of protection'.
4. Kathy wanted me to add the Magic Eraser. JD loves this product as well but I have to admit, I've never used one. What IS it anyway? I mean, I've seen it and know what it is...but what is it MADE of? Anyway, she likes the way it removes rust stains off her drain. Good idea, Kathy!

I'm going to add to this list when I have more time...

JD Turns 30

I threw a big 30th birthday bash for JD...it was so stinkin' fun. I think we had probably 50 people in our house at one time, with standing room only- there sure are a lot of people who love JD! He absolutely refused to have a cupcake tower so we had to settle with a regular 'ol cherry chip cake (his fav). I tried to spruce it up a bit with some choc. covered strawberries. This is the only pic of the cake- I WISH I WOULD HAVE PULLED MY CAMERA OUT MORE!!! (total palm to the forehead...) As you can see, JD was checking out his new book in the background... one more cake pic...

Our friends, Sam and Kathy, made JD a Smith and Wesson cake - TOO cute! (if you can't already tell, we are WAY big on home made cakes at our house...)

This is Ryan helping me put together JD's scrapbook. Okay, okay, so he mostly just dulled the blade on my cutter but still...

Here's the front cover of JD's book...it was basically a collection of things that people wanted to share with him, stories that made them think of him, advice, etc, etc...

Some of the inside pages (I won't post them all...)

This one made him CRY (he's so sweet to show emotion like that...)

And after several rounds of "pong ball", a drinking game that JD was evidentally winning, his night rapidly came to a close...

Thankfully he had some great friends and a nice wife to hang around and help him out...lol
And yes, that is Sadie's (our dog) water dish!!!! EWWWWW

Ryan the COWBOY!

Ryan got all decked out in his cowboy 'get up' thanks to Grandma Gayle and Papa ChooChoo... Check out the lips on this kid!!! :)

This picture reminds me of those precious moments cowboys...big hat and all...

Would you believe me if I said that Ryan SLEEPS in this Get Up???