Beist Mommy

A little gift from my Princess...

Love it!

To her, I'm the "Beist Mommy".

"She started learning how to write music notes."

Thank you, Princess!!

UPDATE ***All I want for Christmas is my...

You guessed it! A few days later, the other tooth came out! Way to go, Coco!!

...two front teeth.

OK, I know it's almost Spring but that's the song that came to my head.

We've got some news...Princess lost her 3rd tooth today! Yay! Poor girl has been trying to get it out for some time now.  After weeks of waiting, praying and pulling it's out.

Hooray! Praise God!

This experience of hers got me thinking about a certain situation that God has put us in  lately.  We've been waiting and praying for God to answer some prayers of ours.  Because I'm so inpatient and wanting things done my way rather than waiting patiently on the Lord (yes, I'm willing to admit that for the sake of sanctification), I end up hurting myself.  Maybe not like the physical pain that Princess felt while she waited for her tooth to fall out but something close to it.

Anxiety and worry...they only lead to distrust in what God is doing.  I need to just wait and allow God to "pull and tug" on me so that His good and perfect will can be accomplished in my life.

1 Peter 1:6-9 comes to mind,

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."


I'm thankful that even though there is suffering in our trials, He can still make me full "with an inexpressible and glorious joy" as I wait for Him to answer my prayers in His perfect time.  Praise the Lord!


BTW, did I mention that her other front tooth is loose too?

So soon?!

***sigh***

Today, during school, the children sat down and I helped get their school work together. Our school desks are gone now so we end up on the sofa, floor, dining table...anywhere (ahhh...the beauty of homeschooling). I tended to each child and gave them an explanation of what they needed to accomplish today. When I got to our Sunshine, I had to pause. I realized that she'll be in Kindergarten this September!

***sigh***

My heart sank. I realized that all our children will be in school. Can this really be happening? I knew this day would come but so soon??

***sigh***

When I grow up...

We were driving back from the DMV in Napa today. Here's a little conversation I had with CL:

CL: Mommy, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

Me: That's OK sweetie. One day, God will make it clear to you, what you're going to be when you grow up.

CL: What do you think I can be?

Me: Oh..let's see...a nurse, a teacher, a hairstyler...

ALW: ...maybe a Doctor.

Me: Yeah, you can even be a Doctor. But really it doesn't matter what you do when you grow up. All that Mommy and Daddy want for you is to grow up loving God and serving Him.

CL: Like how you serve Daddy when you watch him play video games?

LOL!!!! Is that what it's called?

Children's Blog **UPDATE**

Hi friends and family! The children's blogs are finaly up and running. For their protection, I've set their blogs to "invite only".  So if you're interested in reading some updates on the children, please email me or leave a comment and I'll send out an invite. Thanks!

Brook's Wedding

My little girls had the honor to be the flower girls for our dear friends, Joe & Rachel.  The girls just love their Uncle "Puff Head" Joe. It was so sweet for Joe to ask my Beloved for permission to have our girls in their wedding.  Joe and Rachel are such a sweet couple. 

We've known Joe for a few years now and serve along side him in the Youth Ministry.  We've known Rachel since she was a young child. In fact my Beloved and I used to watch her and her sisters once a month so their parents could go out on a date.  That was so many years ago!

My beloved and I had the priviledge to watch both Joe & Rachel grow up in our Youth Ministry. It's really amazing to see God do His work in their lives.  I'm thankful that we were able to be a part of it.

Congratulations to the Mr. & Mrs.!  We love you guys!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

(BTW, thanks to Jean, I was introduced to Smilebox. It's really cool!)

Chopsticks

I love how the children will try anything.  They've been trying to use chopsticks for some time now. It looks like they're getting the hang of it. Especially our little Sunshine!

STAR Testing

Remember the Standardized Testing and Reporting (a.k.a. STAR) Test?  I do!  This year was ALW's first year taking it.  I was a nervous reck!  But my sweet son, calm as can be reminds me, "Whatever happens, God allowed it. Right mom?"

Thanks, bud!

To read more on his 1st STAR testing experience, click here. 

New Blogs

Children of all ages love to create, my children are no exception. With my little ones creating so many different kinds drawings and such, I had a hard time trying to keep them on file. Not to mention all the milestones, quotes, happenings throughout the day. When I saw another friend of mine create a blog for his little guy, I thought, what a great idea!

I originally I wanted to make scrapbooks for all the kids but the more kids I had, the harder it got. I felt so awful when CL would constantly ask where her scrapbook was... *OUCH*! So these blogs will take place of their scrapbooks. Lord willing I'll be able to update these puppies often.

So far I've only been able to start on the girls blogs.

You can visit CL by clicking on her picture to the right or click here: A Little Bit of Coco

To visit MJ, click on her picture to the right or click here: A Little Bit of Sunshine

Young Padawan's is still under construction!

Their blogs will be set to private soon so if you are interested in following up on the happenings of the kids, contact me and I'l make sure you're on "the list".

Our boy is 8!

Last week, our baby boy turned 8! Can you believe it? Our Young Padawan is growning up to be such a handsome, loving young man. Here a few pictures of him as he celebrated his birthday with his GTC - Builder's Class.

Feeling shy

He told me later on that it was weird to have everyone sing to him. He said, "I never heard so many people say my name at one time before".

Here's his Builder's Class that he and CL go to every Wednesday. Recognize the smiley faces on the top picture?

Vanilla cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting, just what the little man ordered.

Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Gena and Uncle Sean stopped by to wish ALW a happy birthday. Yes, we let him light his own candles (with very close supervision). I love the picture of Daddy hugging him tight, that's the manly way to hug.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SON!

Happy Love Day!!

(picture drawn by our Princess)

May your day be filled with lots of L-O-V-E!

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

1 John 4:7-8

Encouragement for Homemakers a.k.a. "Stay at Home Moms"

" You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, and training them up in God's fear, and minding the house, and making your household a church for God, as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts."

I saw this quote the other day. I was treamedously encouraged when I read that! It comes from "The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit" by Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

As a stay at home Mom (interesting...didn't that title used to be referred to as a Homemaker?), I would often get discouraged because I wasn't able to be invloved in "the ministry" as much as I was before we had children. Just because I wasn't "in the trenches" I felt unused by God. But I know now that ministry opportunities comes to me everyday when I wake up to pray for my children, feed them, bath them, serve my husband by washing his clothes, trying to keep the house clean, etc. Don't get me wrong, though, we ought to still serve the church body to advance the Kingdom of God. By the way, one of the greatest ways we can serve one another is to interced for one another through prayer. So back to my point, my "missionary field" doesn't start out there, it starts here in our home.

I hope this encourages all you HOMEMAKERS out there. Keep serving the Lord!

The Peace of God

It's been almost 8 years now since we lost our first baby to a miscarriage. I was about 3 months pregnant when we were given the news that our baby had died in the womb. I don't know how to describe the feelings I had. I was in tears, heart broken. But at the same time I had a sense of peace that surrounded me. As if I could feel God holding me as a Father would hold their daughter, telling me that it'll be alright. Tears streamed down my face as I quoted the only verse that I could remember, Phil 4:8-9 "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

Why that verse? Because He knew what I needed to hear. The God of peace, my God, is with me. I wish I could tell you that the next few weeks were easy but I'd be lying. After a series of appointments and doctor's visits we opted to have the baby surgically removed. The healing process began. Not just physically but emotionally. My heart was broken. Only God, who knitted my heart together, could heal my broken heart. A month after, we found out I was pregnant with our Young Padawan. Praise the Lord! Although when he was 7 months old, we underwent the same trial again. Praise God he wrapped us with His incredible peace once more.

Why am I sharing this with you? Why now? Well...I just saw the most incredible video. If you haven’t visited Bring the Rain, this is the time to go and visit her blog. This sister (even though I’ve never met her) has an amazing testimony of faith and hope. Her and her husband recently buried their youngest daughter who was only 2 hours old. They knew that baby Audrey Caroline would not live to see a full day. She recently posted a video for everyone to witness and see their baby (click here to go straight to the post). I wanted to share it with you because you see the hope that she has in God. You see the peace that God bestowed on them! Even though they knew she was going to pass away, they had hope! They had hope because of Christ! It’s amazing!

May you be encouraged as I was.

Mad?!

For Christmas (& belated birthday gift), my beloved received a G4 Powerbook from his "Kuya" Walter. He's been fiddling with it all weekend. Yesterday he was able to upload some Podcasts from our church's website, something he's been trying to do for months now. So this evening we're listening to some past sermons from our dear Pastor when out of the blue, ALW says, "Why is he ALWAYS so mad?!" ALB and I just looked at each other then started laughing! We had to explain to him that he's not mad at all, he's just very passionate about the Bible! Sometimes it sounds like he's mad but he's not. LOL!

Merry Christmas to All!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

From Our Home to Yours!

As we spend time with friends and family this Christmas, let's not forget the reason we celebrate in the first place. This past Sunday, our Pastor taught through Titus 3:3-8. Around Christmas time you'll hear messages about the birth of Jesus Christ, the baby in a manger, the miraculous virgin birth, etc. Now I'm not saying that I get tired of hearing this, because I don't. I don't think I ever will! But when I sat there Sunday morning listening to Titus 3, I couldn't help but think, what AMAZING love God has for us. If God never sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be born that cold miraculous night, we would still be enslaved to our sins! We would still be headed to Hell, seperated from Him eternally. But God (I love that statement!), made a Way for us to enter His presence. That Way was wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. His name, Jesus Christ.

May your hearts and souls be filled with joy in knowing that God became a man to set you free from your sins. Jesus Christ was born, knowing that He would die for you.

"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone." - Titus 3: 3-8

PICKLES?!

This is just too cute.....

(Senario: The children wanted me to relax for a little bit after working so hard so they decided they wanted to massage me. Why not? I could use a little relaxin'. So I lay down and little MJ is rubbing my toes, CL is working on my right arm and ALW working out the kinks on my left arm. After a few seconds of that here's what happens next...)

Me: Wow kids, thanks! That was really nice.

MJ: You're welcome, Mama.

ALW: No problem!

CL: We love you Mommy. OK, enough massage. Now we need to get pickles for your eyes.

Me: Pickles?!

CL: Yeah, Mommy. I saw on TV that you have to put pickles on your eyes when your eyes are tired and your eyes look really tired Mom.


What show is she watchin'? The better question is...do I really look THAT tired? :) LOL!

I guess they do look like pickles. :)

We have SO MUCH to be thankful for!

For our family, Thanksgiving was celebrated early this year. Last night we had a small Thanksgiving dinner with just our family. Since my beloved has to be away at work on Thanksgivng day, we worked things out so that we could celebrate Thanksgiving on his day off.

So as people were shopping and getting things ready for Thursday, we sat down and enjoyed a yummy filled dinner. We choose not to have a whole turkey since it was just the five of us and the children and I were still going to have dinner with our extended family on Thursday. We bought a delectable turkey breast that was so juicy and just enough for our family. I made my "famous" garlic bacon mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, corn muffins with honey butter and for dessert the girls and I made pecan tarts. As with every Thanksgving there were lots of leftovers. We packed it up so Daddy can bring it to Manteca with him.

Before we filled our tummies, we went around the table and said what we were thankful for:

Daddy: I'm thankful for Christ and His provision for our family.

ALW: I'm thankful for playing video games and being born.

MJ: I'm thankful for Mom and Dad.

CL: I'm thankful for Mommy cooking dinner and for my family.

Me: I'm thankful to God for my wonderful husband who works so hard for us.

We had such a wonderful time together! Thank you, Lord for your goodness to us!

May your Thanksgiving be filled with joy as you celebrate the many blessings that the Lord has given you. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

More Than Meets the Eye

Last year we were inspired by a couple of videos we saw on You Tube. Being transformers fans, guess what Young Padawan wanted to be...you got it... Optimus Prime. So with a few boxes, paint, tape and a gift he received, here's what we came up with (BTW, this was done in less than a week)...

"Autobots, transform and roll out!"

The cousins

Princess: "Save the cheerleader, save the world!"

Cousin Tati: "I am Lava Girl."

They just love to dress up. I wonder where they get that from.

Here are a couple of costumes from a few years back...

My beloved as Rey Mysterio

Sunshine as the original Cheetah Girl

(This is my favorite costume because we've had it since Young Padawan was a baby...I'll miss it.)

Princess as Boo from Monster's Inc.

Young Padawan as the Grudge

(This costume cost no money but was the most memorable. People still talk about this one to this day.)

Costumes of the past

Serving in the Youth Ministry at our church, we have a variety of different costumes. So when this time of the year comes around, we're usually ready...usually.

Young Padawan has alreay told me what he wanted to be (since July, he's told me) so all I have to do now is put it together. Princess will most likely match Young Padawan. And Sunshine will wear something special.

I wanted to share some photos of past costumes that we've have had. Hope you enjoy them.

Always two there are, a master and an apprentice.

Baby Princess Leia

The cousins.

Princess wanted to be a Princess.

Young Padawan ready for battle.

I have more pictures to post so come back and visit us again.

Wha cha gonna be?

(a phone conversation today between CL and her cousin Nadia)

Nadia: Wha cha gonna be for halloween?

CL: A sinner.

Nadia: A what?

CL: A SINNER!

Nadia: Oh, a singer. I'm gonna be a Cheetah Girls.