And...it's a wrap!

The end of the year, I can't believe it! 2012 was a great one, filled with some firsts for me personally and a great year of growth in the the Lord. I learned to trust His voice more, to act on immediate obedience, and to TRUST Him in ALL circumstances. I learned to go out of my comfort zone and I was richly rewarded for taking chances on trusting God's leading. My life verse for 2012:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 Here are a FEW of my favorite moments...moments of growth and fun! There has been so much that has happened this year and unfortunately, some of the biggest growth for me doesn't have a picture to it! I look forward to what God is going to do in 2013!! I love my family, my friends, my church, and my Jesus! Life is good!

Lighthouse mission trip

Overnight date nights!! I have enjoyed these so much. We swap nights with the people we consider our best friends. The boys get fun sleepover time with each other, and we as the parents get a much needed overnight break with each other! Priceless time!

Goofing around with Hubby, we've grown a lot this year

Family trips just the 4 of us

Fresh Beat Band!! My sweet family put up with this for a night just for me!

I've been watching this little girl after school all year, until her parents get off work. It has been such a challenge for me but this little note encouraged me so much!

The run!! Did I mention I finished my 5k??!! 19th place! Wow, Jesus really showed up that night in such an awesome way. I will never forget that moment.

Family vist 

I love that the 4 of us have done fitness together this year! My husband has been a HUGE supporter!!

Puggles in AWANA at church. New class this year and it has blessed my socks off!!

Homeschooling Nathan has been VERY challenging!! Mostly my motivation has been the hinderance. I do feel like he has learned a lot though and I'm thankful for this time with him.

RUN, Kerry RUN!

Well, ever since the Olympics have aired this summer, I have had this strong desire to RUN! So weird because I've never been a runner. I'm slow, and frankly lazy. And I have a bad knee. But I keep dreaming about it...just running, running and loving every minute. Literally, I have dreams about it and wake up feeling so motivated because I loved it so much in my dreams. So this past week I signed our family up for a 1 mile Fun Run race. I actually decided I was going to do the 5k before the fun run but thankfully my husband talked me out of it. What was I thinking? Anyway, Eric was very supportive about the 1 mile run and the boys were not sure but eager to show off a little. Noah had croup and was so wheezy but we could hardly slow him down. He was so fast we didn't really get any pictures of him running but he finished before we all did. Nathan tried to give up about half way through, and I even had to carry him a few feet, but he finished running! He was very mad at me but he did it!! It was so much fun!!! And now, I feel like I am addicted. I have signed our family up for another pumpkin fun run....and drum roll...my first 5 k in Dec!!! This time I am thinking clearly and will be training the next 8 weeks for it. No big deal, I realize for most people, but this is a big goal for me and I'm very excited about it. Here's some pictures from our run...in random order. 

He's angry and I was almost having to drag him

Strong finish at the end!!

Pre race: more cheerful

A Family fitness first

So excited to start!

My hotty husband was super cheerful throughout his run

Yay! We made it!!


A big thanks to Lisa King for snapping some of my favorite memories from the weekend! 

The battle of the bulge...a raw post

The following picture is awful. But it made us laugh and laugh. The chipmunk setting on my new laptop.

The truth is though, that chipmunk face is what I see in the mirror most days. I struggle with weight issues on a daily basis. I've been on diet on and off for years. I've currently been on the Body by Vi diet since the end of June. Probably the longest fad diet I've been able to stick with. I get up around 5 am every morning so I can have my quiet time and workout before everyone gets up. But I still don't feel like it's enough. It's hard to stay fit after birthing 2 babies. And often, so often, I get obsessed with my worth as a person based on my looks. I know that is not what matters, but it is hard to not fall into that trap and that cycle of defeat. God gave me some words last night that hit me hard. I was made in His image. When I complain about that face in the mirror, I'm complaining about God. I'm complaining about who he delicately and lovingly crafted me to look like, to act like. When my focus is on my weight, my focus is not on the cross. Clever trick of the devil to keep us distracted and deflated to the point that we feel like we are not good enough for the kingdom of God. But we are. And we were made for His glory. If you are reading this and struggle with weight issues like me, I'm going to pray this prayer for you and me right now. Make sure you read the verse below my last picture, it is made for  perfect for moments like this...

Dear God,
I am praying right now for my brothers and sisters who struggle with weight, just like me. I pray that you will let the truth ring louder than the lies. The truth that we were perfectly made in Your image, for Your glory.  I pray for confidence in Christ, that may have never been there before, to be there in abundance. Confidence and peace that surpasses all understanding, confidence that we can do all things that you have created us to do...no matter what we look like, how well we speak, or how much we are liked by others. Help us to shift our focus from our insecurities, to the cross, where You gave it ALL for us. We ask this all in Jesus name, Amen!

Can you say this verse out loud, emphatically and claim it as truth....from Psalm 139:14, "I, (insert name), praise you because I (insert name) am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Are you speaking life or death?

Man, did these words step all over my toes today. After a rough Monday, and losing my temper more than once with my children, I prayed for a better day today. The words first on my mind this morning were from Proverbs 18:21. So this was my Facebook status: "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit" Proverbs 18:21. If you are speaking negativity, you will surely bring about negativity. Start out the day with some positive words and enjoy the fruits of those words throughout the day!! 
I write these things for accountability, and also I know if God is speaking to me, chances are, he's got a message for someone else too. So I'm sharing here as well. Later today Proverbs 31 ministry posted this blog and this was the post with the blog: “Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.” -Proverbs 18:21

Follow link for "9 Ways to Speak Life Over Kids This School Year"

So...here's the link. It has some great tips to speak life over your children this school year. I'm so thankful for a little guidance as I go along this journey!!
http://nickikoziarz.com/2012/08/9-ways-to-speak-life-over-kids-this-school-year/

The firsts of fall...

Noah started 1st grade last Thursday. It was the first time he's been gone away for that long, a full day. But, thank Jesus, he loves it!!

Yay for 1st grade!

No tears this year for Noah or Mommy!

Sunday was promotion sunday which means we got a brand new class for our 4 year old Sunday school class. We sure will miss our old class and those sweet boys and girls that grew on us over the year. But this year we have a small class. We only had 3 on Sunday compared to the 12-15 we would have last year. The best part of our small new class is that we have Nathan this year!! Yay! We love getting to have a chance to teach our own kids in sunday school.

Sweet 4 year olds! Nathan threatened me if I didn't have play doh he would run away to the old 3 year old class!

Nathan started homeschool today! It was a little rough for the first day. But when Noah got home, Nathan couldn't stop talking about it and even showed his brother some of his newly learned skills!! So thankful when there's some positive.

Heading to the basement!

His class

Doing some coloring

Pitching a fit :/

Character trait movie

Snack time

I'm excited about all our fall firsts, and looking forward to what God is going to do in the lives of these children, and me and the upcoming year!!

What's Heaven like?

My original plan for this week was to start homeschooling Nathan today. However, Noah doesn't start first grade until Thurs. and I wasn't sure how this would all work out. So I prayed for direction and this is what I felt led to do...a 4 session curriculum kit by Anne Graham Lotz titled Heaven: God's promise for Me. We started last night so we could be done by Wed. It has been so fun to talk about Heaven, to read scripture about what Heaven will be like and just let the boys' imaginations go crazy about what it will be like. I have enjoyed this little mini bible study so much and we have only done one day of it. And, how perfect that God would lead me to such a short lesson just do do something really special and fun right before back to school!! God is so good! Have you thought about what heaven will be like? I don't know the specifics, but I do know that the very best things we have, on the very best day of life, with everything going absolutely perfect, will not compare to the glory of being in God's presence. If you're reading this, and don't know Jesus as your personal savior, I want to tell you more about it. I want you to be able to experience what God has in store for you here on earth, and especially in heaven. Send me a personal message at 4ogies@gmail.com if you have questions. Jesus is my favorite subject to talk about! And if you have children ages 4-8, this is a great mini- study that I would be happy to share with you once we are through, so feel free to send me a message about that! Happy Monday! I wrote this on facebook, but I'll share this here too:
Encouraging verse for the day: "the Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exalt over you with loud singing" Zephaniah 3:17 ...Have a happy Monday, keep in mind someone is over you singing and encouraging you to start this day with gladness!

Summer's almost over...

 These 2 facts hit me today....summer is almost over, and I've done a horrible job blogging this summer! So sorry!! Here's a little recap (pictures below in random order)...

No big vacations after the Lighthouse trip. Lots of family time...lots of fun friend time. Lots and lots of brother time!!

8 years later, he's still the man of my dreams

Eric and I celebrated 8 years of marriage this week. We were blessed to find a sitter so we can celebrate tomorrow night for a long overdue date night!

Our Honeymoon bliss

We had a week of surgeries. Noah got tubes in  (for some conductive hearing loss and lots of ear infections) and adenoids out. I got my gallbladder out after lots of gallbladder attacks. I am so very thankful my mom came that week to help us and to watch Nathan. I'm happy to report that Noah and I are both better than before....Noah regained all his hearing back and I haven't been sick anymore!!

Cuddle time with Nonna

Post surgery, his color looks awful but he did GREAT!

pre surgery

presurgery

 

 

 

 

merry go round at the mall, fun brother day

Ephesians 1:18-19

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe."

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" Ephesians 2:10

These 2 verses have been on my heart, engraved on my heart, for the past few days. This week has been amazing. I'm changed forever. Can't wait to share more...here's a few more photos in the meantime.

The journey has begun

We are almost midway through our Lighthouse trip and I wanted to give a little update. The journey for spiritual growth has begun as well and I can promise that God has already brought numerous blessings and growth opportunities so far. I will give the big report when I return but here are a few prayers requests and pictures of our adventure.
Prayers requests:
Just really prayers for health of the little girl Eric and I are taking care I this week. And also for her family to have renewal and just a time of being able to feel God's presence.
Physical strength for me. I am very tired. I want to be at my best this week and I just really need the strength and energy so I can serve at my best.
For my children. Noah has had a few episodes of being homesick and Nathan had been testing his limits every chance he can get. And I miss them. A lot.
For the volunteers and families present in this retreat. There have been so many smiles and laughter so far and it is all genuine. God is here and I pray each and every person here is moved to a point that it is life changing.
I will come back and label pictures later since I can't figure out how to do it on my phone. I can tell you one thing this week that has been so funny. Last night the volunteers did a flash mob style dance, look it up if you don't know what this means. I was mortified to have to do this rehearsed dance in front of everyone but I did it! I was horrible and I was totally uncoordinated. But our worship leader told us to remember this for this week, "it's not about you". What great lessons in humility that cannot be taught in normal daily life.

The balance act

Here's my goal for this summer...a perfect balance between productivity and FUN!!! I want to be a cleaner and organizer. I want to work on academic things with the boys. But I also want to have the most fun ever!!! My prayer is that we can do it all this summer, the fun stuff and the not so fun stuff. Here a few pictures of things that make my productivity more fun for me....And things that are just plain FUN for the O boys.  Here's to a fun productive summer for you also!

I enjoy this so much for daily cleaning

Movies with friends on rainy days!! The boys love this!

This is a random elf that has been thrown way high, fun for the boys, not so fun for short mom

Starbuck's - way fun for mom

Newly organized pantry made fun with my label maker! Yay!

I love these little guys and they make me want to do laundry every day

Bubbles - what's summer fun without bubbles?!