where did they go?

does anyone know where the weekend went?

wait....no...where did spring go?  that is the REAL question here.

has anyone seen either one?

because i blinked and it was monday, and according to the crazy lady who was running this morning, 

35 degrees is too cold to be wearing shorts.  now it's raining little ice balls out there!

my poor honeysuckle, hydrangeas, and flowering crab tree.

i hope they make it.  :/

 random fact about me:

i have a devout love for tube socks, no matter what the season.

apparently, i'm cold blooded.
 you can find me sleeping in them in the winter, and wearing them all summer long.

just don't make fun of the chickens{my legs, that is}.  

hey! check out what i'm doing today...

hopefully the red won't be needed much except for smiley faces and 100% marks!

 

lately, it seems like every weekend is jam packed full.

last saturday, we went to  a birthday party at chuck e cheese for my two year old nephew.

it was nuts, but the kids loved it!

i, on the other hand, saw millions of little green germs waiting to infest my family.  germ-o-riffic!

here's the birthday boy, blake.  isn't he a doll?

 

henry with stewart.

cousins!

 

on last saturday night, we had a guest speaker at our church from Bible Tracts Inc.

it was so awesome! Mark Smith is the director there, and his desire to spread the gospel through tracts is totally inspiring.

he definitely sparked a flame in our hearts to be more active in telling others about the gospel.

oh! and you should have seen jack and maddie yesterday!

they were handing out tracts to all of our closest neighbors and when jack came back in, he was beaming from ear to ear.

he said, "my heart just feels so happy, mom!"

they definitely  challenge and inspire me to be more bold in my faith.

>>>---->childlike faith<----<<<

if we tell them{the kids} that the Bible commands us to tell everyone about Jesus  they say, "well, let's tell them then!"
they don't ask questions.
not like me, anyway....

"what will they think of me?" or "will i offend them?"

guess what? the Bible says people will be offended, but God will take care of that.  

we plant and give the message, but He gives the increase.

so, yes, by all means, let's tell them!

this saturday, we went to a baby shower for my nephew and his beautiful wife. 

they are having a little boy in may, so we got to 'shower' them with gifts.

they are the cutest couple ever.  :)

so then on saturday night, we had a group of men at our church from Pacific Garden Mission.

it.was.amazing!

they sang and gave their testimonies of how the Lord swooped down and picked them out of  lives of abuse, drugs, and addictions, and gave them new life and hope in Him through Jesus! 

they sang old gospel hymns{my fave], and brought a little chicago to our country church.

we're planning to take a trip down to chicago to tour the Old Lighthouse{the mission}.  

you can go have dinner there, tour the facilities and even hear an unshackled taping.

have you ever heard of unshackled? if not, you must check it out!

in other random news, we were reunited with kit cat after his weekend stay at the vet.

i never EVER thought i would say this, but.....i love this cat!

i was practically wiping tears leaving him.  uhhhh, when did that happen?

it all starts out so innocent and 'just for the kids', but soon you find yourself buying scratching posts, little bird and mouse toys, and chewy treats.  ay yiyi!

 i am usually totally against indoor animals{for us} because of my clean 'issues', 

but he is so sweet and has slowly crept into our hearts with his crazy motormouth and snuggly self.

the kids adore him, too, if you couldn't tell.  :)

my morning coffee station...it's called survival, people.

while shopping at walmart{ACK!} the other day, i found myself being drug over to the lego section...again.

i tried and tried to fight it, but there's no stopping it now.

lego mania has officially begun.

another random fact about me:

i like to change things in my house a lot.  just little things, but change, nevertheless.

it makes me happy!

i  managed to squeeze in a quick curtain change in the bathroom on saturday.

light and wispy it is!  i picked up a pair of curtains from ikea about 8 months ago, so they were due to be hung.  

$4.99 makes my bathroom a whole lot brighter!

{not that you can tell from this grainy pic} 

 

last but not least, the biggest news of all..........

our hill of Calvary is growing!

i cannot wait to post more pics of this soon.

what's better than a free, fun, teachable project?

 

 

what's random in your life lately?

did you notice my new weird profile picture?

i want you to know that i really, really am glad to have you here!  :)

you make me smile, encourage me daily, and i love ya!

 i'm off to sample the pretzels that my girls just made.  literally...they just made them.

they even took {lots of} pictures all by themselves.  future bloggers?   i think so!

"train up a child in the way he should go..."  just kidding!

 btw, this whole sharing the kitchen thing is killing me!

and so is the constant obsession with baking breadish type foods.

 

blessings to you all.
:)

xo,

mary