Surprise!

Yep! I am still here! I am horrible at this blogging thing! I don't know how the rest of you do it! I don't have time, energy or that many things to say, but I do enjoy reading all of the things you all post! So, thank you!

Anyway, like I said I normally don't have a lot to say, but I do today....are you all ready...waiting on the edge of your seat, biting your nails, thinking come on already I can't handle waiting any longer, just "TELL ME YOUR SURPRISE, WILL YA!"....

Well, here's the poem Cory and I wrote for our parents Christmas Card"
Cadence and Cozette
have been lonely without
Another baby
to run about!
Tho't it time to
stand and say
Number 3
is on it's way!

Yep! That's right! We're expecting! Didn't plan it, weren't really looking for it, etc...but it's coming and there is nothing we can do and we are TOTALLY STOKED! It is so exciting! There was no waiting, no counting the days, no worrying, just boom-you're pregnant! I love that!

Well, that's our news! I am not sure how many of you will even get the news from here since I haven't been here in so long, but anyway, it's out!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! See you all soon!

Wanted to share...

I was reading/having a devotion yesterday morning and I came across something that Beth Moore said that I thought was so profound...

So I read Luke 4:14-21 (you can read it too if you want) It basically describes all the different calls to Jesus' ministry...to preach good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

So then the author breaks it down and discusses each of those "calls". She writes this about preaching to the poor.

1) "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor" (Luke 4:18). Christ didn't mean the financially destitute. The Greek word for "poor" is ptochos, indicating "utter helplessness, complete destitution, afflicted, distressed." I think God is far too faithful to let anyone make it through life without confronting seasons of utter helplessness. Sooner or later, any healthy individual discovers that autonomy doesn't cut it. Like beggars we go from person to person with our empty cup, crying, "Can't you add anything to my life?" They might throw in a coin or two. But when we shake the cup, the tinny echo reminds us how empty we remain. (this next line is what really got me...) UNTIL WE ALLOW JESUS TO FILL OUR CUPS DAILY, WE SIMPLY SUBSIST. Sooner or later, God will make sure we confront the poverty of living on the alms of others so that we may learn to FEAST ON HIM!

As silly as this may be I have never considered myself poor. Everytime I have ever read about "the poor" in the bible I have thought of other people, the "poor" people, not myself. Isn't that weird? But when you look at the true definition of poor it isn't monetary. And in that case, yes, I am going through a season of my life where I am "poor". I don't know why because everything around me is SO good. My family, my girls, my house, my car, my job....it is all fantastic, but there is something in my life that is destitute. So I guess this is where I need to allow Jesus to fill my cup daily and feast on Him.

I am doing A TON better than I was 2 months ago! Praise God! But, I feel like it is something I am climbing out of, so I will continue to seek Him!

I hope everyone has a blessed day!

Thank you

for your prayers! My mom is fine and will be a-ok! She is in a lot of pain, but there was no damage to the bone or any tendons. She just hit an artery, which clotted quickly and needed NO stitches if you can believe that! And she sliced the muscles, which I guess is the painful part...She spent the day at home doped up on vicadin (sp?)!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

There is a song from Rush of Fools...that I have really been inspired by, it's called Undone! It feels like this is me over and over again...when I have more time I will write out the words for y'all...until then, have a blessed evening!

Seeking...

Prayer!

Cory and I and the girls just got back from a "long" weekend, vacationing with my sister-in-laws parents! Tons of fun! Down in Eagle Crest Resort...my parents were there, indoor pool, hiking along the golf courses and the Deschuttes River, sleeping in (til 7am), and tons of good food...So, good weekend, but then we came home and...

on the way home I started to get a horrible headache and back ache and shoulder ache and ugh, my whole body hurts right now, but worse than that...

we went out to my parents house so I could sit in the hot tub and maybe "relax" some of these muscles, anyway, while there (my parents were gone, working at the meat shop) My brother calls and tells us that my mom has stabbed herself in the arm! She hit an artery and possibly some tendons (sp?)...My dad rushed her to Hermiston's Emergency Room, but they tell her that she will have to wait for 1 to 2 hours, so my dad drove her to Pendleton...

This all happened about 2 hours ago. I haven't heard from them since they headed for Pendleton and I am concerned! I am sure that she will be fine...God is in Control and is the Healer! It's just hard for me to relax and let Him do His thing, you know!

Anyway,...
If you would please pray for my moms arm and that she will heal quickly! And for my anxiety! (I, too, went to the doctor last week and that's what the doctor told me I have been experiencing...hot flashes, difficulty breathing, tingling in my face...yeah, not so fun!)

I have more I want to share but this is it for now, until then...

Church Choir

Hey y'all! I'm putting in a plug for New Hope's Christmas Church Choir!

WE NEED YOU!

We are looking forward to getting together and singing on Sunday afternoons from now until Christmas! Practices will start at 4:30pm, and go for 1 hour. We want every kind of singer, that is what makes a great choir! Lots of voices, lots of different voices. So come share with us (even if you don't think you are good, chances are...you are better than you think!)

Get this ladies: DAY CARE WILL BE PROVIDED! so you can even bring your husband!
(Those of you in the 6pm care group...come sing, bring your dinner, we'll all eat together and then go to care group!)

Sundays
New Hope Church
4:30pm

Have a blessed day!

Things to share

I am back from a short blogger hiatus!

I have started walking with a friend at 5:45 in the morning. We walk about 3.5 miles! It has been great for us; exercise, friendship, sharing, talking, laughing...

here is an illustration that she shared with me this morning that I thought you all might enjoy about being a Martha:

A woman stood at the bottom of the hill and was about to take off on her journey to the top. But before she could start, God stopped her and asked if she could carry three stones in her wagon, all the way to the top. The lady told God that wouldn't be a problem and she started on her way. She got about a quarter of the way up the mountain and a friend on the side of the path stopped her and asked if she could help him with a couple of his own rocks. She said yes, put them in her wagon and continued on her journey. About half way to the top someone from her church stopped her and asked if she could carry some of the church's stones. She again said yes, loaded her wagon and struggled the rest of the way to the top. When she reached the top, she saw God and she asked him, "Why did you give me so many stones to carry? There were so many stones, I didn't think I would make it. It nearly took my life just getting here." God looked at her and said, "I gave you three stones to carry. All of the other stones were put there by you."


This really hit me! What has he really asked us to do? Are we doing that? or have we tried to take on the WHOLE WORLD, something that God NEVER intended for us to do!
Have a blessed day!

Help me decide

Last Monday we went to the Pumpkin Patch with Shannon! She is amazing! She took Cozette's 6 month pictures and our Holiday Family Photo. (I only say Holiday because we are going to do a Thanksgiving Photo Card this year, since we were at the pumpkin patch and all...) So, check out the link under family photos and help us decide which pictures we should get....what do you think?

Thanks again Shannon for a wonderful morning and for capturing our family! How do you do it?

You all are invited...

I am hosting an Uppercaseliving Open House on Oct. 19th from 4:30 to 8:00. Come and go as you please! There is no formal presentation, just come browse, look, enjoy, eat some snacks...If you don't know what uppercaseliving is check out our online catalog at www.uppercaseliving.com, click on "customer log in", register using my demonstrator ID (326346) and registration token (cooley).

AND

This is the fun one, A PAJAMA PARTY! OK, you don't have to come in your pajamas, but wouldn't that be fun! This is the deal. My good friend Katie just started this business. She is out of Portland and is coming to Hermiston to do a party for me. Her company sells lotions, foot soaks, soaps, you know all those pampering type items. So, her parties are catered to women who are over worked, under paid and in need of some TLC. You can come soak your feet (no one has to touch them except you...and you don't even have to shave your legs), get a facial and a hand massage. I will be serving drinks and snacks. Come enjoy! We will be starting at 6:00pm and it should last until about 8:00pm. I think it would be fun for some of us bloggers to get together and RELAX!

I hope to see you all!
Please let me know if you will be able to make it to either.
Respond to this post or call me 571-2944

You

You

Aaahhh!

Thank you all for your words of encouragement!

Can I just say,
"I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice,
to worship you. Oh, my soul rejoice!"

Friday night with the girls making frozen dinners was AWESOME! I am so thankful for the friends that I am finding through all of you! I don't really have any other friends (isn't that sad!), and I am SO blessed to be apart of this wonderful Christian group of ladies! Thank you, thank you, thank you! So, here's to more blogging and more nights at KISS!

And, I didn't really want to go to church this morning...how sad is that...But sometimes you know, you just do things knowing that God is going to bless you and make it worth your time, right! So, I went! and, I was SO blessed!

Being in this "funk" for the past month or so has not allowed my to "worship" and pour my heart out, but this morning, the Lord was there and I sang, LOUD, and I was quiet, and I cried, and I listened! I loved the opening video that Pastor Chris played about all the things that worship is not...
It's not about the guitar being too loud
It's not about the drums,
It's not about the vocals,
It's not about the correct words,
...
...
...
...
...
It's NOT ABOUT US!
IT'S NOT ABOUT ME!

It is all for Him! That's why we worship, to love, dream, give up, shut up, listen, (and a few others I can't remember...)

Powerful!

I also loved Pastor Daves message about families! It makes me feel more comfortable about my parenting! Respect for authority in the home is SO important! Time outs and spankings are ok! (I don't beat my kid, ok?!?! They are love taps!)

I picked up my Beth Moore, Jesus devotional today! Can't wait to crack it open in the morning!

Thank you all, again and again!

The blues; unwanted and unwelcomed!

I sat down at my computer after putting the girls down for a nap, my intention to post about my life; the truth about my life. I quickly began to scroll through other bloggers posts, enjoying what I was reading and thinking maybe I shouldn't post something so personal and so "disturbing". Then, I saw Dorothy's post and felt relief to know that I am not the only one with these "blues". Thank you Dorothy for your honesty and courage!

So, I remember vaguely feeling a little "blah" after I had Cadence, but I never experienced anything like what I have been feeling lately. It is hard to explain and I would like to blame a lot of it on the hectic schedule that we lead and all of the demands that take over my life, but it is more than that! It is a feeling of empty, loss, and confusion at times. And while I am feeling all of this I can be smiling and laughing with my friends and family... I don't know really what it is other than the "blues"! It is weird, awkward, unwanted and unwelcomed!

I have been struggling to stay in touch with one of the people that I love the most in this world, Cory! It is so hard because he is so quiet and reserved and doesn't notice my awkwardness. So when he doesn't say anything, offer to help me, just be with me, or rub my head and shoulders that are in extreme pain because of my migraines...I get SO UPSET, not mad but an inward "seething" that I have never felt before! But instead of communicating with him, I have been saying nothing, which only makes it worse! I have had so many battles with him in my head during the last month that I feel at this point there is really no need to fight with him at all, because I have already done it time and time again!

Well, 2 days ago I woke up early, before Cory and the girls, and started my day with a devotion. I read Gods Word and I prayed. I haven't done either of these things in a very long time and it did feel good! I have continued to have a devotion every morning since. I don't know that I have felt a complete turn around. But I definately feel more hope and peace than I was feeling 2 days ago.

Something that I really don't understand about this "Postpartum" stuff is, I have never been more blessed and happy with my life, my husband is a great man, my children are adorable and everything I would ask for, and I LOVE my job, but even so, I FEEL NOTHING! Is it really possible to be feeling this way? You know, as I right this a relevation comes over me. That even though I love my family and my job and other earthly things, they are not and should not be the things that make me happy, The Lord is the ONLY thing that can give me TRUE happiness! So, I will continue to pray and read His word. I will continue to fight these unwanted and unwelcomed hormones that are taking over my body!

Please pray for me!

Even better....

Cory just got home about 1/2 an hour ago and he is at the moment FOLDING ALL THE LAUNDRY that I piled up all weekend! :) Can't beat that! (He even volunteered to do this)

and, I want to know where you all are getting your cute "header"/"title" thinga-ma-bobs?

Mission Accomplished!

While I was enjoying myself and sorting thru tons and tons of pictures Cadence vegged out in front of the TV (something I do not like to admit we ever let her do!)


and, Cozette helped me sort! Yep, that's her right in the middle of it all! This project took up the entire front room! It was messy to say the least!


That's right, I just took a picture of NOTHING! All the pictures have been sorted, organized, labeled and ready to be scrapbooked or just simply put into photo books!

Here they sit (Hopefully not for long) in boxes, tubs and cubbies! and, these are the frames that need to find pictures to keep them company!


This? this is my pile of laundry that I washed and dried, but have conveniently neglected to fold and put away! This afternoons project, maybe?


I survived my weekend without Cory and have learned a lot about myself! I am glad that I had this time with just the girls and myself, but I will be glad to see him come home!

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and thank you all for blogging! I love being uplifted by reading about each of your lives!

So it begins...

6 tubs of photos, albums, memorabilia, a 12 pk of Diet Pepsi in the fridge and I am set to start sorting and scrapbooking! (I probably will only get through the sorting process today)

Have a blessed and restful day!

hmmm!

Cory is away for the weekend! I don't have anything really planned, lots of things I could do, but no agenda!

hmmm, things to do:
paint the upstairs bathroom
laundry, always laundry
loan application
write a letter to parents for my music studio
write lesson plans for a week in advance! That would be awesome!
coupons, coupons, coupons
vaccum
mop
go for a walk
sign up for a marathon relay, OCT. 28th
(anyone out there want to join? we are getting teams of 4 people together!)
write out invitations for an upcoming Open House (UppercaseLiving)
write out a diet plan!
(How can a person, deliver a baby, lose all the "baby" weight, not sit down
for six months, go like crazy, eat moderately and then gain weight? SO NOT FAIR!)
clean garage, Yikes!
clean car, SCARY!

but with Cory gone, all I want to do is enjoy the girls and scrapbook! I have not scrapbooked in over a year! HORRIBLE! I know! Everything, all my supplies, pictures, stickers, paper, everything is in boxes upstairs beckoning to me....it's just that at this point I feel so overwhelmed by it I don't know where to start! I don't know, maybe I'll wait another year or for a time when I have more time. I'll see what tomorrow brings!

I always enjoy catching up on all of your blogs! I hope all is well in each of your homes!

Anyway, this is what's on my mind tonight! I think I'll go curl up with my book and worry about it tomorrow!

Jubilee Lake

Labor Day Weekend was awesome! We spent three days, two nights at Jubilee Lake near Tolgate camping. The pictures above:
1-4, My mom, aka Oma, took Cadence and Gigi (my neice on a walk), these are some of the pictures that I took as I followed along behind them...
5-7, Me and my girls, Leah (my sister-in-law) and Gigi, and Cory and Cadence (who is refusing to have her picture taken, gotta love the terrible twos!)
8-10, Cadence sharing her apple with her best buddy, Buster, Opa and the girls, and Cadence mastering the hill in our camp
11-14, are all pictures that Cory took the first night we stayed after Cadence kicked him out of bed at 2:30 in the morning.

We normally do not sleep with our children, because we want to get our sleep and we are selfish that way. So, when we go on trips and there is only one bed for all of us and it becomes the "community" bed, we know that someone is going to end up getting booted...It was Cory's turn and I am so glad! I would not have done well outside of the tent, by myself in the middle of the night! Don't get me wrong I am an outdoors woman, but the sun needs to be shining! I don't do the dark thing!

I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Lindsay, your name is now listed on my blog. Are you Happy? I apologize, sometimes I am lazy and don't finish what I set out to do...

Oh, My cousin Jenny had her baby on August 31st, Brycen Shaun Jeppeson. 8 lbs. 11 oz. 21 inches long...Big Boy (but he's still so tiny!)

I LOVE TEACHING!

Wow! Who would have known that I could love teaching half time so much! I love it, love it, love it! I am so excited! Half time is PERFECT for me! And, the 4 day week isn't bad either! Oh, I am soooo thrilled! I love it, too, that we have a 16 year old nanny that comes to our house, so I don't have to transport the girls...they stay here, they nap in their beds, they eat what I feed them, they wake up and play with the nanny and then I am home...It is awesome!

I am so looking forward to doing this FOREVER!

OK, Lindsay, I love the crayon quiz...I am not sure how this thing really works, but mine was SO acurate! Yellow is actually my favorite color, but the quiz said I was RED and boy do I believe it...crazy! You tell me what you think...(Well, some of you probably don't know the complex part of me and trust me, you don't want to...) OK, here goes...

You Are a Red Crayon

Your world is colored with bright, vivid, wild colors. You have a deep, complex personality - and you are always expressing something about yourself. Bold and dominant, you are a natural leader. You have an energy that is intense... and sometimes overwhelming. Your reaction to everything tends to be strong. You are the master of love-hate relationships. Your color wheel opposite is green. Green people are way too mellow to understand what drives your energy.

What Color Crayon Are You?

I hope you all have a blessed week!
PS, we are trying to sell our house QUICKLY, before we have to get a realtor, so if you know of anyone in the market, send them on over...it really is a nice house!

More of our summer

At the end of July Oma took us to Cinderella, the musical! Oh, it was so much fun! Cadence saw this beautiful young lady walk up through the audience and said "are you the real Cinderella?" aaahhh! So cute! So, we had to get a picture with "the real" Cinderella. She had a great time. Cozette on the other hand...it was way too hot and way too late!


Here are some pictures of the girls just being "the girls"!


Recently Cadence has really been trying to take care of her baby "seester" Cozette...as you can see! I didn't get a picture of it, but today she stuffed her fuzzy puppy in Cozette's car seat with her and when I found Cozette she was SCREAMING! I think she was choking on all the "fuzz"! OOPS! We will have to watch what Cadence tries to share from now on.



Riding the rides at the fair! This little girl who is scared of dogs, can barely walk down a flight of stairs by herself, scared of spiders and everything "scary" ran to the front of the carnival rides and had "NO FEAR!" I was FREAKED! The first ride she went on (the one here in the picture) didn't have a lap belt, just a rope that went over the girls! YIKES! Not good for my blood pressure, I am sure! Luckily, the next ride she went on Cory went with her. I felt much better about that!


Doesn't every little girl need a cow"girl" hat?
(She has a red nose from crying...she fell down the bleachers! Katie, didn't we just talk about how scary the bleachers were?)



Have a blessed day!

I did it again!

I can't believe it! I was really going to try to keep up with this blog thing and here I have gone and let a month go by already, how did that happen? I think you gals that do this on a regular basis are WonderWomen! You inspire me!

Ok, so, I have tons to share...

WE ARE MOVING!

We are not leaving Hermiston, in fact we don't know for sure where we are going!
Here's the deal...We are selling our house!

We moved into this wonderful, "big" house in an AWESOME neighborhood one year ago, 1. because we loved it and 2. because I was operating the daycare out of our home and I wanted to have a NICE, BIG, LOVELY home for people to feel comfortable in...another reason we chose the neighborhood...people could feel safe coming here (not that they couldn't feel safe in other areas around Hermiston, it just happened that this neighborhood is where we found this house...)

Well, this summer we have been taking a financial class at the church, it's the Dave Ramsey series...anyway, we think it is great information! But it really got us thinking about A LOT of things! and here is where we stood...
1. MONEY is tight living in this house!
2. We haven't been saving like we should be or want to be and it's not because we've been spending it on other things, the money just hasn't been here this past year!
3. If we don't save, we won't be able to save for our children's college funds or our retirement (which is very important!)
4. We don't NEED this NICE, BIG, LOVELY home in a wonderful neighborhood. We don't DESERVE it, we've barely gotten started with our lives/careers...why should we DESERVE anything...
5. Our girls, at the age they are right now, will never know the difference between and NICE, BIG, LOVELY home and a more run down, smaller home. All they need and want is mom and dad and security!
6. We don't have the daycare out of our house anymore, so no NEED for all the EXTRA room...

So, with all of that said...a house is built of sticks no matter where we live and for right now we are choosing to live in a pile of sticks that costs a little less so that we can save for our future!

It hasn't exactly been an easy decision to make, but ever since we took the plunge it has felt so good and so peaceful! You know there was some pride that had to be shaken up to get to the final decision...who WANTS to admit that the house they bought just a year ago is just too expensive? But, when you can't afford to invest in your future and your children's future, you have to make cuts...and our house is our cut!

We are praying that the house will sell quickly so we can move into something much smaller, with a much smaller mortgage and start on our debt-free plan...We are stoked!

Yeah, Dave Ramsey! His series is great! I don't feel like Dave "forced" us to sell our house (and I hope none of you think that I was implying that...), In fact I feel like Cory and I have really taken the course to extremes (but, we are kinda extreme...), but if you are interested in ideas about investing, paying off debt and living debt free you really should check out his series, Financial Peace University.

OK, I was going to post pictures and tell you other things about our summer, but this has already turned into a very long post, so....I'll post pictures later...
Anyway, I hope you are all doing well. I enjoyed reading a lot of your blogs tonight and catching up on what you all have been doing! God's Blessings on all of you!

Our Summer So Far

Well, so far our summer has been pretty uneventful (if you don't count the everyday hussle and bussle!) We did go fishing with Oma and Opa for Fathers Day. Cozette went for her first hike in the mountains and Cadence caught her first fish. I stayed in the car to nurse the baby while the rest of them headed out to start fishing. By the time I got there (30 mins. later...) Cadence had already caught 3 fish (with some help, of course!) But, boy was she excited! She is Opa's (Grandpa Follett) fishing buddy now! He even bought her a Pirates of the Carribean fishing pole, which is loved beyond belief! She has an infatuation (sp?) with Pirates...she puts anything she can on her head and runs around saying "I am a Pirate, I am a Pirate" in that cute sing-song voice! I love it, because I love Pirates of the Caribbean...well, here are some pictures of fishing and Cadence being a Pirate!

Cadence marching around the yard..."I am a Pirate, I am a Pirate." Yes, I helped her tie her awesome camo bandanas on...

Cadence and Opa waiting for a bite.

The Girls

Opa enjoying his Girl!

The fisher"men"

"How many did you say we caught Opa?"

The Fam! Sadly this is our first family photo with all four of us...we are horrible parents!

Starting a new job

I am starting a new job.

This fall I will be starting as the music teacher for the Echo School District.

I am
excited
nervous
terrified
hopeful

I am
excited about working with school age children again
nervous about working outside of my home and not being with my girls
terrified that I am making a wrong decision by putting our family through another huge life change
hopeful that this will be good for us

How do you make these decisions and know they are the right ones?
I know that I should pray and trust that the Lord will provide and put us where we are supposed to be...is that it? or are there other things that I need to know or see or...

On a lighter note here are more pictures of the girls, courtesy of Shannon! Thank you, Shannon!

Has it really been three months?

I can't believe that it has been three months since my last post AND since Cozette was born! That's right she is three months old! Wow, it has gone by so incredibly fast! I love this little one asleep in my arms. She is so sweet!

I want to thank everyone who wrote back to me about my anxiety with having number two. I felt very blessed to have your wisdom and kind words shared with me. Even though I haven't used this blog as much as I would like (hopefully, I will get on the ball now that the babe is sleeping through the night!) I am very thankful for this technology which allows me to learn about you all and to be encouraged by your life experiences. So, thanks again!

OK, here are some pictures to get you all up to date...








I am not sure what order these came out in, so, there is a 4 week picture, 2 at 10 weeks and 2 at 13 weeks!

Sorry to have taken so long to get back on here, hopefully, I can keep this up now!
Enjoy your day!