Striving For

Things I'm learning and trying to do better

To find joy in the small things

To trust God with every area of my life

To stick to our budget

To be a better mom

To just let the house be a mess sometimes

To be a better wife

To pray often and passionately

To read my bible daily

To be a better friend

To be the best nurse I can be

To spend more quality time with my kids

To laugh more often

To exercise more

To drink more water

To appreciate every moment

To slow down

To tell my husband often that I appreciate him

To look for positives in my children

To not be so hard on myself

To look for God's blessings

I'm sure the list could go on and on…this is just what came to mind today! I wish I could say that I am just doing all of these things perfectly! Ha! And most likely I won't even be able to attain them all but that's okay! I'm learning to rely on God and his direction in my life and looking to Him for guidance!

Happy Birthday Nate!!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband Nate!! I Love You Babe!!!

School Fun

Derek has been having a fun time at school. Here is his name badge to show where he sits each day. His teacher mixes them up, so they are in a new spot everyday!

At Derek's open house he had to show me where the colors were. He showed me which color he wanted to be on! Green of course! To read more about this "stoplight" tool, read this post!

Derek's classroom is full of fun things to play with and learn with! He showed us all the fun toys he likes. He loved the little cash register toy!!

This is where Derek hangs his bag up. We are still working on trying to figure out which spot is his each day but I think he is finally recognizing his name!

Cross Country Cheetah

This is the second year that Caleb has run cross country. For some strange reason that I don't understand at all, he loves it. I am not a runner, don't like it, never have liked it, and I'm guessing I never will!

Caleb however, loves it!

Waiting for the race to start...

On your mark...

Get Set...

GO!!

Cousin Lacey came to watch him race. Grandma Debi and Grandpa Kim also came!

Almost done....Caleb heading to the finish line.

Waiting in line to get his ribbon. He placed 21st out of all the group of boys his age!

He amazes me how he can practice every day after school in the sweltering heat and still say, "it was good" when I pick him up after practice and ask him how it went!

I may not like running, but I sure love supporting my boy.

Look what I made today

All I can say is...YUM!!

Want some?

A fun visit to the doctor

Most of you who read this know my son has some health problems. If you didn't know I will give you the short run down. Derek has a heart condition, asthma and many food and environmental allergies. This is the really condensed version. If you want to know more just ask!

Derek getting his blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen level checked before his appointment!

With all these health issues....you wouldn't even know he had them because it sure doesn't slow him down!

Derek LOVED this hippo bed they had at the cardiologists office! What fun!

The best part of getting an EKG is pulling off the stickies right??

The Echo was much more fun to sit through now that they have the TV in the corner and we can watch movies!! Derek enjoyed watching Thomas the train!!

Girl Time

This last weekend I was able to attend a women's retreat with a bunch of fabulous ladies! It was SO much fun!! I had such a great time. It was at a camp in a city about 50 minutes away set back in the forest. The weather was cool and the company excellent!

We had fun talking, eating, and of course shopping. The speakers and worship times were great. I felt God speak to me in so many ways. It was so great to spend time with other women away from family, kids and responsibility!

They had a gift basket Jamboree where they sold tickets and you could place them in an envelope to win the basket of your choice! My friend Kristy won an awesome basket filled with kids toys, games, puzzles and candy! She was of course very excited! Her kids were too! :)

We stayed in this little cabin that had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. I had three awesome friends for roommates and we had such a great time together throughout the weekend!! You definitely get to know people a little better when you spend 24/7 with them for a few days! Good times!

The only bad experience I had over the weekend was when I got stung by a bee on my foot as we were walking up the steps the first evening to go in to the cabin! It hurt like crazy!! Other than that little stinging incident it was one of the best weekends I've had in awhile!