Our Dream Date

This time a week ago was the beginning of an amazing date with Jeremy that I had been looking forward to for what seems like forever. After sending the kids off to grandma and papa's house, we headed downtown and checked into the beautiful Montvale Hotel. We ate an early dinner at Catacombs, which is in the basement of the hotel. It is a really interesting restaurant that makes you feel like you are in the lower levels of a castle or something. No windows, stone walls, tapestries, the works. We had a delicious dinner that included crab dip and bread for an appetizer, Caprice Salads, and I had a wonderful Wild Mushroom Ravioli. By the end we were way too stuffed for dessert but I'm sure that would have been great too. My only disappointment was not getting to try out one of the martini's that my best friend had raved about forever since I'm pregnant. But that just gives me an excuse to come back after the baby is born:)

After that we drove around a little and then found some parking and headed into the INB Performing Arts Center to see The Lion King. We had seats really close to the orchestra, it was a really good view. What a difference from when we were there not even a month before for a Skillet Concert! The opening act blew me away and even had me tearing up just because it was so powerful and moving. The costumes in that show are like nothing I have ever seen before and I was constantly amazed at the ability of the actors to move in with such elaborate garments on. The show was everything everyone had said it would be and I not only recommend it but would love to go back. Jeremy bought me two masks as keepsakes of this amazing night.

All in all, it truly was a dream night. Even the next morning when we weren't able to sleep in (old habits die hard!), we took a two hour walk downtown starting with Starbucks and spending time in numerous little shops getting some Christmas shopping done. While I was sad to leave and end our great experience, I was excited to go pick up the boys. As much as I always anticipate getting some time away from them, I quickly find myself missing them and looking forward to having them home again.

Moments Like These

I just love moments like the one I shared with boys tonight. When everything comes together just right to make the everyday, mundane, routine things seem extra special. My husband is working night shift this weekend, which I always dread. It has become easier to do dinner and bedtime with the boys by myself but I am not especially fond of it. Then you throw in bath nights and I can really go into it with a bad attitude. But something about tonight was different. Bath time went so smoothly and they did a great job getting into pjs and brushing teeth. Then we moved onto story time and as I was sitting on the couch snuggled between my two little guys I just realized how lucky I was. That this was a moment to cherish. It won't be long before they won't want to sit in my lap anymore. Me telling stories will no longer seem exciting. They will put themselves to bed, no more prayers and songs. This time we are in together is only temporary and one day I will look back and miss it. And so tonight, I chose to live in the moment. Cherish it. Truly take part in enjoying the small things that make life so great. We read extra stories using funny voices and made our way to their bedrooms pretending to be airplanes. They loved it and so did I.

I realize that it isn't a likelihood, or even possible, to live every moment like this. In full realization of what awesome blessings we have been given or in recognition of how fleeting time can be. So when that moment comes where I am able to truly appreciate what I am doing, I chose to live in it and be grateful. I pray for more moments like these.

Halloween

He loves his beak!















Jordan is not so thrilled with the process:)


















My cute little animals:)














Yes, I continue to be ridiculously behind in blogging. I swear my life is not that much busier, I guess I have just been lazy:) So here we go with Halloween stuff.

On Halloween we let the kids dress up when we went to lunch with Grandma and Papa Murphy so that they could see their costumes. The kids were excited and they got lots of attention for being so cute. We made that night special by adding the face paint to complete their costumes. Nathan absolutely LOVED getting his face painted. Jordan, not so much. But they looked adorable non the less and we set out for our church's Harvest Festival. It is such a cool set up. One building is dedicated to preschoolers and one to elementary aged children. They got to do 20 different booths that had games ranging from fishing, to ring toss, to Plinko. At each booth they earned candy and sometimes a prize. They also had 3 bouncy houses. That was the kids' favorite part! Best of all, it was all free. By the end of it, they were exhausted. They only made it through about 12 booths but all that bouncing must have worn them out.

It was a lot of fun spending that day as a family making it about fun things. I know that since then we have had to dig out the face paint just for fun because Nathan liked that part of it so much. I'll try to get around to posting those pictures sometime soon too:)

Jeremy's Baptism

Okay, I am SO behind on my blogging! Life finally gets interesting enough to write about and then I don't take the time...go figure:)

A week ago my husband was baptized. What an amazing thing to be able to witness. I have seen this man transform from the stubborn teenager who thought he had everything figured out and didn't need anything from anyone into a man who serves his family in many ways and has humbled himself to accept that his life was not complete without Jesus as an integral part of it. Watching him dive into his new faith has really strengthened mine. Being on this journey together is so much better than it ever could be alone. I am proud of the decision he made to be baptized and am thankful for all the support he had from so many around us. Looking forward to continuing on this amazing journey with him for many years to come.

Announcement...

Just a little announcement:

smilebox.com/playBlog/4d5445344e6a5...

Jordan's 2nd Birthday

This took me a few days to get around to writing since I have actually found myself busy lately but I wanted to take the time to write about Jordan's birthday before it slips too far away. My baby turned 2 on Sunday, I can't even believe it. Time just continues to go by faster and faster. We had a great day, started by singing to him when he woke up which he was not so thrilled about. I made pancakes for breakfast because that is his favorite and then we went to church. After his nap it was time for his party which went really well. He was great at opening his presents and was so gracious in sharing with all the other kids, especially his brother who was convinced it was his birthday again and that all the gifts were for him. His big gift was a remote control dinosaur that provided many laughs as he traded off between squealing while running away or roaring back at the dinosaur. I was amazed at how great he did with his cupcake. He blew the candles out on the first shot! All in all it was a good day and we had so much fun celebrating 2 years with our little man. Our family just wouldn't be the same with out him, he brings his own unique personality into the mix and keeps things interesting to say the least. We love you Jordan!

Submission, Service and...SEX

Yes, I used the word sex in my title! For those of you looking for something graphic, sorry you came to the wrong place. For those of you who turn red faced just reading the word, don't worry I am just talking briefly about the importance of sex in a marriage.

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending a women's conference at my church called Pursue. One component of this conference was a series of workshops in the afternoon. They offered 8 total and we were allowed to choose 2. I was immediately drawn to the Pursuing Your Husband and Pursuing Your Children workshops as wife and mother are the two main roles in my life. I wanted to share with you all what I got out of the husband workshop as I felt it gave me a lot to think and pray about and could be beneficial to other women trying to become better wives.

The first thing we discussed was submission. Why is it important to submit to our husband's? To answer this we dug into God's word. Here is the list of verses we looked at:
Genesis 3:16, Proverbs 21:9, Titus 2:3-5, 1 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Corinthians 11:8-9, Ephesians 5:22, 24; 1 Peter3:1-2. I think that after reading these verses you will see God's clear calling for wives. It is our duty to submit to our husbands, to give him the role as head of the household because this is what is pleasing to God. Is this easy to do? Not for most women. We are raised to be independent and strong and believe we can do it all on our own. And there is nothing wrong with that. But once we are married, we are to give that control over to our husbands. Does that mean we are always going to trust our husband's to make the right decisions? No, but that is where trust in God comes in. Trust that He will guide your husband to lead your household in a way that is pleasing to Him. I urge all of you wives out there to look at your relationship, look at areas where you try to take all the control. Try to let go of just one thing. You will be amazed at how God will begin to use your husband.

The second thing we talked about was service. What does serving your husband look like and why is it important? Once again, we dove right into God's word for this:
Genesis 2:18, Proverbs 31:20, 27; Matthew 20:26-28, Luke 10:27, Romans 15:2, Ephesians 4:29. The simple answer to the question of why we serve our husbands is because in doing so we are serving God. Our pastor often says that those who are considered greatest in the world's eyes are those who HAVE servants while those considered greatest in God's eyes are those who ARE servants. Jesus came here to serve and that is what we are called to do as well. And that starts at home. One thing we were asked to do was to try to do something you don't normally do for your husband, something that will be out of the norm so he knows that you are serving him. This may be something as simple as taking out the trash so that he has time to relax or do something else.

Finally we get to the juiciest of the s words...sex. So often Christian women are taught to feel dirty about sex. We focus so much on why it is wrong before marriage that we forget to focus on why it is important after marriage. Men are sexual creatures, this is how they experience intimacy. If we as wives are not meeting these sexual needs, they will find other ways to meet them. Here are some verses that touch on what God says about sex:
Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:24, Proverbs 5:19, Song of Songs 7:10, 1 Corinthians 7:2-5, 9; Ephesians 5:24, Hebrews 13:4. Here God talks about how our bodies are not just ours alone but also our husband's and how we are not to deprive them of it. It is our job to protect our husbands from the temptations that they encounter each day. If they are having their needs met at home, these temptations won't be nearly as powerful. So before your husband heads off for a business trip or a hunting trip or a day at a water park (hello, half-naked women) make sure that he is taken care of. I think often we as women put sex at the bottom of our list of things to do. There is just so much more going on in a day. But I think the more you read God's word and pray about it you will realize not only how important it is to your husband but also to your marriage. And when you also realize that this is a gift that God has given us to enjoy with our spouse, it becomes that much more special.

I know that I took a lot away from this and I am continuing to spend time in God's word and praying so that I can do a better job of being the wife God wants me to be and my husband deserves to have. All of these are areas that I need work in and I am slowly making an effort to put myself aside and make room for what God has in store for me. I am already seeing the fruit of this as I submit myself to God's amazing design for me as a wife.