Feels like it's been a while...

since I last blogged.


A LOT has happened.


John and I are going to sit down tonight and blog about our long weekend in Omaha.


We don't want to leave out any details, so we are going to do it together.


(And he is the only one who took any pictures while we were there.)


Statement that describes our weekend:


GOD IS GOOD.



And here is a picture of our boys...just 'cause...

Stay tuned :)

Glory Revealed

I just spent a moment in awe of what the Lord is doing in the life of our family.   He is paving the way for us to follow Him to Omaha. FOR SURE.

I spent a moment in awe of how He is working in our best friend's, The Rossers, family. Silas is officially theirs and he will be coming home so soon. HE went before them and worked out all the details so that Silas could join his forever family.

These situations are completely different. BUT one thing, one HUGE thing, is the same. Our awesome God went before us and paved the way. We couldn't do it on our own.

As I was thinking about these things, a song came to mind. Specifically this part...

It goes a little something like this...


"And every valley will be raised
And every mountain be made low
And the ground it will be leveled
And the rough places smooth

And then we will see
The Glory of the Lord
All eyes will see
The Glory of the Lord revealed
O the Glory of our Lord revealed"

(Glory Revealed - Candi Pearson Shelton)

It's so true. God wants His Glory to be made known. And when we are willing to be a part of that, He makes a way. He raises the valleys and lowers the mountains. He smoothes out the rough places. And when He does those things, when He works those miracles, both big and small, His Glory will be made known. We need to take the time to notice. We need to take the time to give Him the Glory.

I'm SO thankful.

God, I'm in awe of You.


Hopefully this works... Youtube video of the song I mentioned. Take a listen!

Lovin' me some weekends!

We had a great weekend. The weather in Birmingham is beautiful right now.  Upper 70's and sunny, Flowers blooming, Grass turning green..... we are loving it!

Friday, the boys got their hair cut. We love going to 'N Vogue. They are like 2nd family. (The boss lady is my mom...so she's 1st family, of course :)

Plug: Check out the link to the website. Get your booty over there for all of your hair, skin, cosmetic, nails, massage, gift & accessory needs! You will thank me later :)

Anyways, back to our weekend. Saturday we got some things done around the house. We also printed, stuffed, and addressed invitations for Sara Beth's shower. Little Man is coming home from Ethiopia so so soon!!

Sunday..... was the greatest day of all.

We went to church. It was AWESOME. The Lord knew exactly what i needed to hear. Worship was so so great. We went to lunch as a family afterwards. YUM. Big. Juicy. Burgers and Cajun fries.
We got home and the weather was PERFECT. So we turned the sprinkler on, let the boys run around in it, did some yard work, and i took a walk. Oh it was NICE.

We threw the boys in the shower to get all the grass and mud off of them and then we sent them off to bed for naps.

John and I got to talkin' after we put the boys down. The previous couple of days were full of anxiety. What's going to happen with our house? Where will we end up living once we get to Omaha? When we go up there next weekend, do we look at houses or apartments? What if our house takes forever to sell? What if? What if? What do we do? When's it going to happen? GRRRRR.

So we prayed.




We let go.




We talked about how minute all of this is in the grand scheme of things.




Jesus's blood is our victory. That's all that really matters.




2 hours later we got a phone call.....








People, WE HAVE A CONTRACT ON OUR HOUSE!!!


Closing date, April 28th. Moving to Omaha April 29th. Bittersweet.


But, so far, this experience has been incredible. God is showing up. He's preparing the way. And I want to shout it from the rooftops :)


Without further ado... pictures from the weekend....

This was actually Thursday. St. Patrick's Day & a before shot of the hair.

Notice his new big boy seat!

After the hair cut sportin' momma's sunglasses and a treat :)

Noah just got a little trim in the very back. His mullet was beginning to make a re-appearance, 

and Sara Beth loves me enough to tell me. Thanks, SB for the hair cuts!

Cookie treat. He did great!

LUNCH ON SUNDAY

Silly Boy

John's ready for his cheeseburger. This may have been more exciting to him than getting a contract

on the house :)

mmmmm fries out of a paper bag = the best

Sprinkler Time!

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us! John and I are heading up to Omaha this weekend to look at houses and we are having an inspection on our home this weekend as well. Keep the prayers coming!

Happy Hump Day!

BALLS

These pictures crack me up. My boys could play with balls all day.  Especially Noah. If you know him well, you know of his love for balls. Take the child to a giant toy store and tell him he can pick anything he wants and he will walk away with a ball. A simple ball.  Needless to say, we have an abundance. Most of these pictures are of Joe, though.  Noah is still working on his hand-eye coordination :)

My most favorite one. Look at that focused excitement!

And by the way.....

Can I get a hallelujah for warm sunny weather?!? Shorts- T-shirts- and Bare feet. Amen :)

Mexilicious Lasagna :)

This dish was quite a hit at my house last night.  I had a girls' night last night and needed to throw something together for the boys for dinner, and this is what I came up with!

Straight from my brain to your computer screen...

Ingredients:

Tortillas- about 6 fajita sized (whole wheat or flour)
Shredded Cheese- (a combo of pepper jack and sharp cheddar is super yummy)
Your favorite salsa (i think fresh is best!)
Ground Turkey (or beef or chicken)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tsp ground chipotle chili or 1 tbsp adobo sauce (more if you like heat, or non at all if you don't...up to you!)
1 can black beans
1 can mexi-corn
1 handful french fried onions **the secret weapon**

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Brown ground turkey (or beef or chicken) and add taco seasoning and ground chipotle chili (or adobo sauce).  Once cooked thru, add black beans and corn to heat thru.

Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray.

Place a layer of tortillas on bottom, then layer salsa (very thin layer so lasagna does not become soupy) cheese, meat mixture & REPEAT the layering until your baking dish is full. The last and top layers should be tortilla-french fried onions-cheese.

Bake 20 minutes or until cheese bubbly and beginning to brown.

Make it look pretty!!

Serve each slice drizzled with melted queso, a dollop of sour cream (if you like it- NOT me), fresh cilantro, and sliced jalapeno (if you can take the heat!).

DELICIOUS! EASY! Makes for great leftovers, too! (im eating it for lunch as i type this up)

...i didn't take a picture. bummer.

ENJOY!

Saturday = Target Day!

The boys have grown to really like Target. As in, they ask to go there alllll the time. Maybe it's because I usually can't resist letting them pick something from the dollar bins. That probably explains their love for the big red bulls eye. It's a great thing that they are so fond of the place, because we are there at least once a week- usually as a family on Saturday.

While John was paying for our usually buggy full of diapers and random items, I took the boys outside for an impromptu photo shoot with my....... cell phone!

This was the one time I got Joe to look at me for a picture... and this was the "cheese" face I got. HA

John joined us and we snapped a couple with his iphone. Much cooler pics.

In order to get Joe to look at the camera, I said, "Hey Joe, can you find the apple on daddy's phone?!" 

That's why he is pointing.

On the way home. ($1 bin purchase of the day- green sunglasses with tiny frogs on them)

tired and grumpy mommy and the always pleasant daddy :)

Hehehe... John and his chins :) I posted this to facebook and he wasn't even embarrassed. 

Maybe posting to the blog will do it. Well, honey...Embarrassed yet??

We had a great weekend. Hope you did, too! 

Cheers to a great week...Happy Monday to YOU!

Just a thinkin'

I joined an email small group type thing that my sister is a part of. Today was my first day to participate. The idea of it is to encourage each other through our own quiet times, and to hold each other accountable in doing them. I share something from my time with God whether it be a song, scripture, devvotional or book text, etc. It's neat to read what God is doing in other people's lives and it's fun that i hardly know any of them...yet anyways. I thought I would share with you what I shared with my email community group, or whatever we are calling it!

Copy and Pasted!


Hi Everyone!

I’m Misty Schluchter...my maiden name is Teate, so that makes me Ashley Teate –now- Wadsworth’s big sister. I know some of you know her :) and that’s how I came to be a part of this little community we’ve got going on.

I’m super glad to be a part of it.

I’m 26 years old and I live in Birmingham with my husband and 2 precious boys- Joe, almost 3 1/2 and Noah, 22 months. I stay at home with my little ones. We are about to up and move to Omaha, NE though, which is why I’m so grateful to join you guys. We know just a small handful of people in Omaha, so it’s nice to be a part of this community of believers that can go anywhere with me! Thanks for having me!
(My husband is taking a job at a church in Omaha called Relevant Community Church. He will direct the Sunday morning services. He is a graphic designer and will also be designing bulletins, slides, video, and marketing materials for the church. That’s the reason for our move)

I’m doing a devotional/study called Brave: honest questions women ask by Angela Thomas.

I wanted to share with you a verse that she brings up in the study. It’s super encouraging to me as I’m doing a lot of waiting right now! Waiting for our house to sell, waiting to buy a house, waiting to move, waiting to see what our new life is going to be like.

Psalm 33:20

“We wait IN hope for the Lord.”

Angela goes on to say...”but I do know that sometimes He desires that we wait in His presence until we receive His refreshment. We wait for strength. We wait for guidance. We wait for healing. Something powerful and life-giving comes through the waiting. This falls into the category of learning to trust our God of wonder and mystery.”

I love this. And I suspect that we are all waiting on something. Something little or something big. It will come because we wait in hope for the Lord to show up. He’ll give us the answers, He’ll provide, He’ll heal, He’ll show us the way... Because He loves us. Thanks for letting me share, guys! I’m praying that He shows up for each one of you in whatever way you need Him to, but remember the waiting can be one of the sweetest parts. Keep hoping and seeking!

Misty

Lazy Friday Morning

We're having a lazy Friday morning. And I'm choosing to have a lazy day all day until Zumba tonight. The lazy days are coming few and far between, so I'm taking advantage of an empty schedule!

A few cell phone photos of our morning so far.....

Starting the day off right...

That coffee (Don Francisco's- Hawaiian Hazlenut) is oh so yummy and CHEAP! 

Agave Nectar is my fave sweetener. Have you used it?? What do you use?!

Color Time!

Breakfast Time!

I asked what they wanted for breakfast, and this is what they stole off the counter, ripped open, and helped themselves to picked. I decided, what the heck!, let 'em have it....it's lazy friday! (and now i don't have to clean up breakfast mess!)

Cuddle Time!

We're going to stay in our sweats and enjoy each other today. Great way to start the weekend! Wouldn't you agree?

Confession: I ate left over thai food (pad thai to be exact) for breakfast. Don't judge :)  Got it from a new place in Pelham - Tao Taste of Asia- right next to Publix. YUMMMMY! I've decided I need to eat it as much as possible over the next few weeks since we will be moving and i will no longer be able to enjoy it.  ooooooh it's sooooo goooooood!

How Much i Love My Sister

Just kidding....


I mean I really do love her...


But I also love embarrassing her...


She sent me this pic...


And i figure she didnt want anyone else to see it....

I Really Want to Make One of These

Super Cool Yarn Wreaths
(^Click for tutorial^)

Image taken from link above

Hangin' With My Cowboy

This morning Joe is at school. I wanted to make a run to the grocery store after we dropped him off. I've been putting off buying paper towels for a couple days...out of pure laziness. I've decided to be lazy again today, because the weather is YUCKY. I pictured myself getting soaking wet while pulling Noah out of his car seat, running into the store only to slip and fall and injure us both. Not a pretty picture. Thus we stay here and pray that these 2 paper towels left on the roll last us through today. :)

ANYWAYS

Back to what i really wanted to post about. My Cowboy.

My little buddy man. My sweet precious chunky cheek baby boy. The little bit of baby that is left in our house.

I get a few hours with him all to myself while big bro is at school. (FYI: Joe's learning about community helpers today...policemen, firemen, etc Can't wait to see what crafts he comes home with today!)

You can't help but fall in love with this guy.

He found his baby Bumbo seat in his closet. "new" entertainment!

This one makes me giggle. Look at those chunky cheeks and that precious double chin :)

finger in mouth = teething

this is what we call "squishy face"

he looks just like big brother here. Noah, DONT GROW UP!

I just warmed up my cup of coffee for the 4th time and Noah is waiting on me to join him on the couch to watch Bubble Guppies. (great new show on Nick by the way. do any of your kids watch it?!) So, I'm outta here...

But first, a CONFESSION

I swore to myself that I wouldn't join the Angry Birds bandwagon. Wouldn't cha know John and I were in bed last night, both of our phones out, playing Angry Birds, shouting things like "Gottcha!" "Yessss!" "Just one more try.....one more try.....I almost got it i think....Oh, i figured it out!....one more time, just one more time....Ugh...Stupid Pigs!" "Come on birds!" "Dang it, i over shot" "NOOOOO!" Yes! I did it I did it!" "OK, let's stop so we aren't dreaming about birds and pigs."