Family Time

We have had a lot of family time this past week and I am not complaining. I love it! The boys have been wonderful and have had a lot of fun. This is what we have been up too.....

Getting last minute things at Walgreens with my little helper

Our old babysitter came through Springfield to see Landon! We miss Lauren! Landon was beside himself to see her. :-)

Umm....well....James is popping Nate's back. I couldn't resist posting.

Landon after a long day at school on Tuesday.

Our former students Jenny and Andrew came through Springfield on their way back to Memphis. We never have enough time to catch up with them. Landon is named after Andrew. (Landon Andrew)

Liam is obsessed with his matchbox cars and is always carrying one with him.

My boys getting ready to head to church. Liam is not feeling the best. He is getting more teeth in. :-\

I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Lately

Derrick and Liam walking into the gym.

Anabelle and Nate at Jessie's Birthday Lunch

Staff Wives Bible Study

West Side Story at Nixa High School

Building Blocks with Liam

Past Weekend Fun

This past weekend was a blast! It was filled with shopping, eating, laughing, and just some silliness. It started with an all day Christmas shopping day on Friday. Katie and I started our adventure at 9:30 on Friday morning. We had met earlier in the week to map out our destinations. Yes, we are both Type A personalities. We headed to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Marshall's and then the mall. We stuck to our agenda and got a lot of presents bought. We also had a few things on our list that we needed ourselves. On both of our lists were skinny jeans. We went into almost every store at that mall to try skinny jeans on. What an adventure that was! We both ended up getting a pair from Charlotte Russe of all stores. I wish I would have taken a picture of how silly we were looking at ourselves in the three way mirror. Needless to say, we both purchased the same pair of jeans. Success! After getting home around 7:00 on Friday evening, I was pooped. I hung out with the boys for about an hour and then we all went to bed.

On Saturday, Katie and I met up again around lunch time to go meet our friend Julianne who was back in town from Minnesota. She just moved a couple of months ago to start her doctorate work in speech/language at University of Minnesota. She is doing really well and is adjusting to life up north. We ate at Ebbets Field and enjoyed a lot of laughing. Time flew by in the midst of all of our conversations. I sure do miss that girl.

Saturday evening we went to one of our students birthday party. A big 16th birthday party for the lovely Emilee Garrison! We had a blast watching students and student pastors dance to Just Dance on the Wii. (at least I think it was on the Wii.) I am trying to upload a video but it isn't working currently. Very funny to say the least.

I Refuse

Are you putting actions with your prayers? This is taking it to the next level folks. I challenge you today to not refuse what we are called to do.

Favoritism

Favoritism. It's such an awful word in my definition. We fall into the problem of favoritism by a person's looks, their clothes, their profession, possessions, life style, education, money. We treat people different based upon those considerations.

To be honest, I have never struggled with this much. I am not trying to sound perfect, but it's the truth. I have always been the girl to love all types of people. After getting married that love for people grew because I saw it in my husband. Nate has always been the one to gravitate to the "odd" people. He has really taught me a lot about finding the greatness in a person. His heart has always been loving and kind to all types of people.

"True believers respond properly to one another without favoritism." The pattern of our lives as it's stated in Philippians 2:2 is to have the same love. That is to love everyone the same, with no regard for who they are in terms of worldly circumstances. Because we bear the Lord's name, because we are to exhibit His attributes, it is essential that we exist within the church in relationships with one another to have no favoritism, no partiality. We are to have a love which does not discriminate but it acts in mercy to anyone in need, no matter what their social status, no matter what may be those things which in the world's eyes might put them to a lower level than someone else. And that is a mark of saving faith.

Friends in Low or High Places

The people in our lives are important to us. We see the value of them in our lives and try to maintain a relationship in the midst of work schedules, family time, and personal time. I remember talking to a friend of mine right after I had Landon. I remember talking about how some of our relationships change after having kids. A lot of your time that you once had is gone to help maintain those relationships. This was one thing I struggled with after having a child. To be honest, my "friendship pool" slowly diminished and changed. It sounds really bad but I am being very honest and truthful. I didn't have the time to "keep up" with some of them and they slowly changed. Rather that is right or wrong, it happened.

I LOVE talking to friends. I LOVE knowing how they are doing, what they are doing, what they like to do, where they are from, latest recipes, tips on parenting, new ideas, etc! I want to be the encourager and prayer warrior for them. Thank goodness for my journal to write these things down! This verse says it all to me. Proverbs 27:9 says "The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense." I want to truly know what is going on in my friends lives. I want to truly pray for them and see the outcomes. I want to truly encourage them daily as we are called to do!

When is the last time you took time to ask your friends what is going on in their lives? Do you know if they are in high or low places in their lives? Do you know what they are struggling with? Take time and make time for them.

Halloween 2011

Obviously these pictures was taken last Monday on Halloween. Landon and Liam enjoyed trick 'r' treating this year. Landon was so excited to dress-up and get candy. Our first stop was the Garrison house. They were so surprised to see the boys. We didn't tell them we were coming so it was neat to see their reactions. The boys loved it. After their house we went Nathan and Heather Zoromski's haunted garage! It was so cool! The boys were a bit scared of it so they didn't go through. We headed back to our neighborhood and walked until the boys couldn't walk anymore. They were pooped out. Dean, Katie, and Derrick came over and saw the boys in their costumes. A good time was had by all and the candy was out of here in two days. I gave it to our wonderful babysitter!

STL BFF Weekend

Growing up in St. Louis is very dear to my heart. I love the city life and enjoy the many opportunities it provides. We had the chance to go to STL last weekend kid free so we took the opportunity! It just happened that we were there during the final game of the World Series. It was so neat to be in the Cardinal world. We enjoyed dinner with my Mom and then headed over to Pete and Bonnie's house for the game. Bonnie and I have been best friends since 6th grade. I will never forget when she moved to STL from Connecticut. She was a pretty red haired girl with freckles. She always hated to be out in the sun and I loved it! We have many memories together as we were glued to the hip all the way through college. Our high school memories were unforgettable and probably my favorite. We went to different high schools but went to church together. My boyfriend in high school went to the same high school as she did so that meant I basically was at everything she was. Football games, Prom, Homecoming, etc. She was one of those friends that knew everything about me. It was probably the closest to what the Lord knows about me. Ha! We have good memories together and some memories that we both need to forget and won't mention. Bonnie is one of the Godliness, patient, caring, loving, sincere people I know. She puts others before herself and is trying to live for the Lord in everything she does. She has been there for me during a major high school break-up, stupid mistakes, junior high and high school drama, leaving for college, advice, marriage, infertility, the birth of my boys, and many other things. I know I can always be myself no matter what the situation is. She is one great girl and I am so thankful for our husbands that allow us to spend the time together. I might mention that our husbands enjoy each other too. Nate is always wanting to live right next door to them. Maybe in our retirement days.

The Schwartz family!