SO PROUD of JOSLYN!!

Joslyn made all A's on her report card for the 3rd quarter! Just one more quarter left of this school year. If Joslyn makes all A's (which I am very confident she will) this last quarter, Joslyn will graduate from elementary school having made all A's every single report card, every single year of elementary school!! I am so so very proud of her!!

Yesterday was also the Art Show at the elementary school. The theme for the Art Show this year was "Art Makes You Smart" Joslyn entered a painting in the art show.

Joslyn and her friends at the Art Show!

Laundry Day and Chores

Every Tuesday is Laundry day in this house. I picked Tuesdays as our laundry day because the laundry room in the basement is not so busy. I'm finally done with ALL the laundry in this house! I am very happy that I am able to use 6 washers and 6 dryers all at one time. I don't like bringing the loads of laundry up the 32 stairs (yes I have counted the stairs). I don't like folding the clothes or hanging the clothes in the closets, nor folding sheets and towels! Thank goodness Joslyn and Allison are old enough to hang up their own clothes! I always make sure I fold the clothes and hang all our clothes in the closets as soon as I bring them up stairs. I love the end result of all the laundry in its place and I don't have to worry about it again until the following week!

Joslyn and Allison each have a Chore Chart.

They have assigned days through out the week to take out the trash. They take the recycling items to the recycling center that is at the end of our street. They should also keep their rooms clean. Joslyn and Allison also separate their clothes Monday night, this way I can wash their clothes Tuesday while they are at school. They are responsible for putting clean sheets on their bed and hanging up their own clothes.
Philip and I ordered both Joslyn and Allison a pre-paid debit card through our bank. We put the girls allowance on their cards every week. They each get paid $6.00 weekly. (I will have to take a picture of the girl's using their debit cards at the store, the next time they use it!) Philip made coupons on the computer one week in December '09. If they keep their rooms clean for the entire week they will get their choice of 1 coupon. They may also get a certificate. This was all Philip's GREAT idea!

Marriage Mondays *Back on My Knees

I am participating in Marriage Mondays from Come Have A Peace blog!
I realized the past few weeks I have not spent much time in prayer with God. I have not prayed for my husband, which is number one on my list of prayers. Philip has been very helpful the past few weeks. We haven't had a big disagreement in sometime. Things are going so very well in our marriage right now. I have noticed that Philip and I have been laughing a lot more, and he is willing to do so much with our family. I really need to get back on my knees and praise God for all the many blessings He has blessed my marriage with. I need to have that strong desire in my heart to spend time in prayer with Him! I have witnessed so many of my prayers answered by God. He has worked in marriage and I see it everyday in Philip. A lot of evening, after all the girl's are in bed, Philip and I will lay down together and watch a movie (if we are not so tired that we can't keep our eyes open). In my mind I always think about what little time I am spending in prayer with God. I will say to myself, "after the movie, I will pull out my devotional book and spend time in prayer". Well after the movie I begin to close my eyes and pray, but I never get past the first minute, I fall asleep. Philip is in Frankfurt tonight. He is having some issues with dizziness and he doesn't feel very rested when he wakes up the next morning. It does not matter how many hours of sleep Philip gets, he never feels well rested. His Doctor referred him to a clinic in Frankfurt where Doctors can observe his sleep.
After the girl's are in bed tonight I plan to spend time in prayer with God and pray over my marriage! I can't take this time of bliss for granted. I will continue to thank God for His answered prayers and I will get back down on my knees and continue to pray over my husband, marriage...

Moriah's 1st Birthday!

It is still hard to believe Moriah is already 1 year old. She has been so many places, accomplished many milestones, and met so many people in her 1st year of life. Moriah had her first international flight to Texas when she was 2 months old. She met so many wonderful people of our extended family at St. Paul Lutheran Church in San Antonio. While we were in the states this past summer Moriah also flew to California and met her Great Grandma, Great Grandpa and many of her Great Aunts and Uncles and 2nd cousins. When Moriah was 8 months old we flew to Paris and Moriah went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, strolled through the Louvre Museum, saw Winnie the Pooh and Cinderella's Castle at Disney Land in Paris. When Moriah was 9 months old she went to Garmish, Germany and spent 2 nights in the Alps!
Moriah is taking her first steps, learning to drink from her sippy cup and eating lots of table food. She knows that the hair brush is for brushing your hair, she gives her baby doll a bottle in the baby's mouth and pats the baby doll to sleep. Moriah knows that shoes go on our feet (she always tries to put her feet into our shoes). Moriah knows how to open cabinets, wave bye-bye, give kisses (she will kiss your lips with her mouth wide open). She can climb on and off our smaller couch. She absolutely loves being outside, saying hi to her "friend's" (her friends' are anyone and everyone that is outside playing on the playground) Moriah enjoys playing with the TV remote, pointing it at the TV and changing channels. Watch out because one day you may just get a phone call from Moriah. She knows how to call the last few numbers that were dialed on the phone. She has 2 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth.
Moriah is such a beautiful blessing to our family. We all love her so very, very much!!

Marriage Monday - Expectations

Wonderful Marriage Monday idea from Come Have a Peace blog.

Philip had the past 4 days off from work (he always has Saturday and Sunday off. His unit had Friday and Monday off as well).I was looking forward to this weekend. I had plans to take the girls swimming and expected Philip to come happily along with us. I was very disappointed when Saturday morning rolled around. Philip and I were laying in bed. I told him that we were going to the pool. He was not thrilled with my announcement. Philip had plans of staying home and working on a evaluation form for one of his soldiers. I was so mad at Philip for not having the desire to spend time with us at the pool. I tried to convince him that the evaluation form could wait until Sunday or Monday. Didn't work, he was not going to go to the pool and that was that! I was angry and hurt.
Through out the years I have heard that it can be good to lower my our expectations, especially expectations of our spouse. So as I make plans for the girl's and I, I will not expect Philip to come along or participate. I have been let down too many times. I will still have fun with the girl's and plan fun things for us to do. If Philip does come along or participate then that will be a wonderful surprise and a big bonus!!

The Beginning of Spring Break 2010!

I didn't have my camera for a lot of the activities that we have done thus far :( The girl's Spring Break began on Thursday at 2:20 pm!! Joslyn was invited to a Spring Break Slumber Party right after school. I packed her bag while she was still at school. She came home, changed, grabbed her bag and pillow, and went to her friends house. Allison had a good friend come over and spend the night with her at our house. Philip was off on Friday so we ran some errands together. We ordered pizza for dinner, and Joslyn had her friend, Milla spend the night. Saturday we all went to a birthday party at the local swimming pool. Milla has never been to the local swimming pool, so she was so excited! After a few hours of swimming and some birthday cake we came home. Moriah stayed home with Philip while Joslyn, Milla, Allison and I walked to the carnival across the street from our neighborhood. The girl's played a few games, ate some candy and we came back home! Wish I had my camera, but it is fully charged for our next adventure!

Easter 2010

This Easter was so different from last Easter. I was a few days away from giving birth to Moriah, Philip flew in from Iraq Easter afternoon, my parents and in-laws were celebrating Easter here in Germany with us. This Easter we went to the Sunrise Service. We had breakfast at the resturant across the street from the chapel, and then went back to church to attend the 9am Easter Service. When we returned home from church the girls and I colored hard boiled eggs.

We then headed to Ledward Barracks for the Garrison Easter Egg Hunt.

(One of My Favorite Songs) Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives.

Happy Easter!

Kinderland in Wurzburg

We went to Kinderland in Wurzburg, Germany this afternoon (about a 30 minute drive from our house). First Philip and I took the girl's to have their picture taken with the Eater Bunny. Moriah was not happy as you can see.

Joslyn's friend, Kaylee celebrated her 11th birthday today at Kinderland.
All our girls had so much fun!! Kinderland is definetly one of the girl's favorite places and we will have to go back sometime soon!

Good Friday

If I were in San Antonio I would attend the service tonight at St. Paul Lutheran Church. I really like the service on Good Friday. I always walk away feeling so, so thankful and humbled by the pain and suffering our Christ endured for us. Our chapel on post does not offer a service tonight. I've decided to watch the movie The Passion of the Christ this evening.

April Fool's!

When the girl's came home from school today I had a different kind of snack waiting for them on the table.

They were not thrilled about the snack at all. However after they opened the bell peppers and saw the sweet surprise inside...

...they were so happy and relieved to see that the bell peppers were stuffed with Hershey Kisses! I got the cute April Fool's idea from Gourmet Mom On The Go!

Intimate Issues Chapter 2

My Wednesday morning bible study group reviewed chapter 2 of Intimate Issues. "How Can I Be Godly and Sensuous" It was a very interesting bible study. We talked about being sensuous women to and for our husbands. We read Song of Songs and I encourage you do the same. Its a beautiful, poetic book in the Bible. It maybe hard at times for us to be intimate with our husbands. By the end of the day after dinner, dishes, baths and kids are tucked into bed we may just feel too tired for sexual intimacy with our husbands. Our husbands want to be appreciated and respected and one way we can show this to our husbands is by being sexually intimate with him. When our husbands come to us in a time when we are not feeling sexual we can request 20 minutes. Take a shower, put on our favorite perfume and lotion, a pretty night gown and just feel sexy about ourselves. Then meet your husband in bed! Romans 11:36 "For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by His power, and everything is for His glory. To Him be glory evermore". "Everything" includes our sexuality. God stands at the end of our bed to watch what he has joined as one and He is DELIGHTED to see me and my husband make love and He blesses our intimacy! Its intense but a great bible study. I will share more as we get deeper into our study! Have a Wonderful Wednesday!