Blessing: Our little mess!

It's easy to fall into pity party trap.  Especially when things aren't going well.  We had a stressful week this week and last, that is no secret.  I'm thankful, though, that we're able to get up, dust ourselves off, and move forward.  It might not have been easy...but we're doing it.

Here is a song we heard when we were getting ready for work this morning.  It's SO true:

http://youtu.be/pqqdA8LHN7I

Even though our day to day lives may be stressful with "stuff"....we're blessed!!!!

Blessing: A Savior and Music

It's been a rough week at the Barber house.  So far this week, we got a very (large) unexpected bill from the IRS due to a "mess-up",  Alexis has been sick, school has been stressful AND....we found out tonight that the house we're renting is now under new ownership and we have to get out soon.  (sigh)  That wouldn't be a huge deal except there is literally NOTHING else in town to rent.  Nothing.  We are 1 of 3 families in town "homeless" in the last month.  We could use prayers please.

I'm trying to look for the positive in these situations...

I'm thankful for a savior because someday NONE of these earthly things will matter.  I'm also thankful for Christian music.  It helps me stay sane.  Here is my latest favorite Christian song.  Love it (thanks Nadine)!

http://youtu.be/yXywFuTf65I

Blessing: " Teacher Parents"

Having parents that are both teachers can be somewhat a blessing and a curse.  More of a blessing than a curse, of course.  I'm sure our kids will disagree during their teenage years but they'll someday be thankful.  One of the blessings of having "teacher parents" is us knowing the value of reading.  Our parents both tried to instill this in us as young children and it wasn't until adulthood we really learned the value of it.  Thanks mom and dad!  

Because reading is so valuable, we kept summer reading calendars for both Kenley and Alexis. At summer's start,  they each got to pick out a "reward" to work for.  If they read 20 minutes a day and/or 100 books, they could get their rewards at summer's end.  Kenley picked an overnight with Joshua (which I have no pictures of) and Alexis picked a new Build-A-Bear (imagine that!).  This girl is in love with stuffed animals.  She's spent most of her childhood playtime playing with her stuffed animals.  The only other thing she really plays with is her Barbie Dream House so I don't know why we even keep the other 8,359 toys around.  Here is Alexis reaping the rewards for reaching her summer reading goal.  Way to go Kenley and Alexis.  You will appreciate this someday, we promise!  :)

Purpose of my Blog

The purpose of this blog has changed since I started it in 2008.  Then, Alexis was our only child. When she was born 3 months early, we started a webpage to update all friends and family on her health condition.  In 2008,  thanks be to God, she didn't really have any health conditions to report anymore so I started this blog to share pictures with family and friends.  Well....our lovely world of internet has since changed and about 90% of our close family and friends have Facebook so that is how we share pictures.  Since Facebook, I've been HORRIBLE about updating the blog.  I couldn't decide if I should keep the blog or get rid of it.

I've decided to keep the blog as a means of reporting all of our daily blessings.  There are so many blessings that take place in everyday life that never get recorded by photo or video.  This is a great way of recording these blessings. Writing has never been my gift, so I'm writing these mainly for myself (for scrapbook/babybook purposes) but I did decide to share with family and friends since I creep on so many of their blogs. 

Feel free to follow me but just know that 90% of my posts will be about my kids and our life so I have a way to remember their little lives.    Be blessed!

Blessing: Free Fair Tickets

We love the Iowa State Fair.  For it's price (free for us this year....we won tickets from KAYL) it provides a great amount of entertainment.  We love the fried food.  We love the free entertainment (a ton of great music on the free stages).  We love the Big Green Slide.  We love the sky ride.  We always have a great time at the fair.  This year, we celebrated our anniversary by seeing Casting Crowns in concert on Thursday night. They always put on an AWESOME show and this year was no different.  On Friday, we went with the Shanks and took all of the kids to the fair.  Like always, it was a great time.  Here are a few of the highlights: 

Blessing: Sibling Love

We are so blessed to have 2 great kids.  I've said that many times.  One of the blessings I pray for and am thankful for (so far) is that they love each other.  Alexis is a great big sister and Austin loves her too.  Here are a few summer pictures that capture their love.

Blessing: "Staycation"

This summer we went to Adventureland.  We decided that since we did Disney last year (exhausting and expensive) we'd just do a "Staycation" this year.  Brenda, Joshua, Nathan (Josh's friend), Kenley, Alexis, Justin and I went. Alexis had a blast as she was FINALLY tall enough to ride most of the "big rides".  She loved the Dragon.  Rode it 3 times and would have more if we would have let her.  It was a beautiful summer day and we LOVED the waterpark they have there now (although we didn't get pics of that).  We are blessed to be able to have the health to ride the rides, have the money to do this with our kids, and have family we love to go with.  Fun day!