Category Archives: The Family

A Night Out…..Aaalooooone

Children, The Family,
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Well, we dropped off the kids at a friends house last night and paid their daughter to babysit for our 10 year anniversary. This is the first time we’ve ever paid someone to babysit our kids! She’s trying to get some work experience for her resume so I thought we’d go ahead and splurge this time. Plus, she loves our kids and they love her(and her younger sister…she helped). You should have seen them when we went to pick them up! They were bouncing off the walls(made me wonder what they put in their juice :) Just kiddin!). Even Baby looked like he had a great time, and I was relieved to hear that he did really well and wasn’t crying the whole time.

So back to our night out. No kids. This happens in, like, once in a blue moon! After dropping the kids off at a little after 5:30 (I was a little late, as always), I went back home to pick Chris up. We decided to go to Applebees, but by the time I got back to the house and then both of us got back in the car it was 6:05. Now the movie was at 7:00, but we went to Applebees anyway, since it was Thursday night and it shouldn’t be that busy there…….Wrong! There wasn’t a line at the door, but they were quite busy inside. We got seated quickly, but ended up waiting for our order to be taken for about 20 min. So by the time the waiter got to us, we had to ask him what time it was and it was 6:30. Well, that’s not enough time for them to cook our food, especially with how busy they were, and for us to eat before the movie!

Well, we decided to just leave and after both of us being a bit bummed and talking about what to do, cause we didn’t want to go to a fast food restaurant for our anniversary, Chris says ” I know what to do, and you’ll love it” . I didn’t get what he meant at first, but then as we crossed the street to where some other restaurants are, I knew, and , I smiled :)  Love Love Teriyaki. I LOVE, LOVE it! AND… I never get to go there, unless I want to go by myself, which I don’t do, so it was perfect!  We got in there, ordered, and got our food by 6:45, pretty fast service if you ask me :)  Plus it was a little less expensive and we tried thier Bento that was on special, and even though it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, it was still great! Usually when I try something new at a restaurant, I end up regretting it.

So then we headed over to the movie theater and watched Inception. Awesome movie! It was a very intense movie, but it was definitely a perfect movie for last night! I don’t get to sit and watch those kinds of movies at home because you can bet I’ll get interrupted several times during the movie. LOL

So we picked the kids up at 10:00 , got home put them to bed, except for Baby, who always stays up late, and I think with all of the excitement that night he had even more trouble going to sleep! :\

But we had a wonderful evening! Probably the most fun I’ve had in quite awhile. We talked, made jokes and laughed, and enjoyed each other. Definitely going to have to start doing that on more of a regular basis. It’s so easy to get lost in kid land and not connect as adults(although I think we acted more like a couple of kids…haha)

Our Anniversary- 10 Years!

The Family,
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Our Wedding

10 years ago today, I married my man. The first time I met him was after my high school graduation, June 2008, after the very first church youth rally I went to for Missionary Baptist churches that fellowship together here in Oregon and Washington. I asked Christ into my heart as a child, and had always had a strong desire to serve my Lord. I had been to several other churches, but there was just something missing. I knew that God’s Word taught that I needed to be baptised and  join one of His churches in order to fully serve Him. When I went to this youth rally, I knew this was where I needed to be. The message preached, really wasn’t anything new that I hadn’t heard before, it wasn’t charismatic, nobody dancing around or clapping hands. Pretty much a salvational message, but the Spirit was there. My aunt and uncle are the ones that invited me, and during that summer I spent many weekends at their house. At the time it was kind of the “hangout” for some of the youth from other churches.

I Loved my ring so much! I ended up losing it when our first baby was only a couple weeks old on Thanksgiving at my parents house. We never did find it :(

Throughout high school I prayed and prayed and prayed to God that He would bring the right guy into my life. The one that He wanted me to have, since God knows us best, and knows what is best for us. And this is what happened:

So back to meeting Chris. I remember after the youth rally some of the youth were going to hang out at my aunts nephews house, who was about my age. I remember seeing Chris pull up( he went to the Church there), and thinking “Wow, he’s kinda hot” :) He had some cool lookin’ shades on…lol

So I kind of had my eye on another guy at the time and for a little while after that, but many times when I went to my aunt and uncles house Chris was there. At first I thought, “he’s too old for me” LOL cause he’s 4 years older!  I was 17 going on 18 at the time. But what struck me about him, especially at the time since I was really on fire about wanting to serve God and follow Him where ever he would lead, is that Chris was always talking to my uncle about the Bible. They would always get into some sort of biblical discussion when he was there. He just seemed like he was really serious about God, and that was the most important thing I wanted in the man that I would marry.

Chris also talked to me, unlike the other guy. :) I was very shy, especially around boys…er…guys(men?) not sure what to call them at that age! haha. So he had absolutely no problem taking over the conversation, which was totally fine with me! But he wasn’t selfish either, only wanting to talk about himself. No, he always asked me about myself which helped me to feel comfortable talking to him.

So I know this is getting lengthy, but I love telling “our” story! I think it’s just amazing how God works, and I know without a doubt that He brought us together!

So I waited awhile to be baptised, since I wanted to learn more about this church and what they believed and to make sure it matched up with the Bible, and that this was indeed where God wanted me.

I can’t tell you how my heart lept every time I saw him! And when he asked for my number on my birthday (this was August 7th), I almost died! He lived about an hour away from me at the time, so we only saw each other on the weekends once we started dating…but I’m getting ahead of myself….So we talked sometimes 2 hours on the phone a couple nights a week. I looked forward to those phone calls! We talked, we laughed, we got to know each other.

I absolutely LOVE these shots!

So he asked me out the day after I was baptized on September 1st 1998. We were engaged a year later, and then married a year after that. For two years we pretty much just saw each other on the weekends, unless he had a day off of work or something, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing! I think it was so good for us to spend so much time talking on the phone. We learned to talk to each other, and we talked about everything! We learned to communicate, and that is one of the most important things in a marriage. Now I can’t say that we’ve always communicated well with each other over these 10 years, but it’s something that you have to keep working at. It’s so easy to start taking each other for granted, and stop talking about everything, and before you know it, you’re feeling a bit distant from your spouse.

So that’s our story….Oh yes, the proposal…well, he talked to my dad first, which my dad thought was weird, cause, I mean, who does that anymore? lol, and then he proposed to me out in the barn, with the bales of hay and a few horses as our witnesses! :)  He didn’t get down on one knee, because that’s just not him. Just pulled out the ring, and said “Melissa, will you marry me?”  And, of course, I said”yes”.  Oh, yes, and this was on my birthday that he proposed. It wasn’t a surprise really, we had talked plenty about marriage before this, but that’s ok. :)

A lady from one of the churches made this cake for us! It was very good and absolutely beautiful!

I think it’s pretty neat that Chris was only the second guy I ever dated. If I’d have just been patient my senior year, he could have been the first! (the first guy was a temporary lapse in judgment on my part and only lasted 6 weeks!) I had several lapses in judgement my senior year!lol, and yes, I do regret them, I won’t say that I don’t.

So that’s it. 10 years and 3 kids later, we’ve had our ups and plenty of downs, but as long as we both stick close to the Lord, we’ll be able to have a happy marriage that will last till “death do us part”. I love my husband, even though I take him for granted way too much sometimes (I’m trying to work on that)

Happy Anniversary Chris!

Learning to Swing x 2…..

Children
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This is supposed to be Wordless Wednesday, but I just had to write some words to this picture :)

My two older boys can now swing on their own! Nboy who is 6.5 just figured it out about a month ago, and now Ekid who is 3.5 just figured it out last week! So now I don’t have any kids running into the house when I’m in the middle of something saying “Mommy, can you push me?”  It’s a good feeling. At the same time it means my boys are growing more and more independent. Well, at least I’ve got one more little munchkin that will be asking me that very question once he’s of swinging age!

Out of hiding…

Blogging, Children, Getting Organized
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Well, I don’t know what to say. That’s been the problem lately, and why I haven’t posted anything. I just feel like I don’t have anything interesting to say, or like I’m wasting my time sitting here at this computer. I really hate that. I go along really good for awhile and then…BAM…. I’ve lost interest, or I’ve lost the motivation and I quit altogether, at least for awhile. I mean, how hard is it to just make a point to write even just 1 or 2 days a week?

So I’m blaming it on the fact that, well, yes, I am just an unorganized wreck, BUT,, It is really tough with 3 kids. Much tougher than with just two. 3’s a crowd? Yes,,, Yes it is. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my baby. He’s been a very good baby, it’s just I feel like I’ve been in a kind of survival mode ever since he was about 4 months old and started staying awake for longer periods during the day. The first few months were GREAT. He slept much of the time and so there were many times that it was like I only had two kids again :)  Now I feel like I just want to stop and not do anything until he is walking, sleeping all night in his own room and going to bed at least by 10pm!

Anyway, I know I could avoid at least feeling depressed by all this if I’d just prioritize and organize.  I’ve gotten a bit motivated by Allison O’s Tuesday post for her organization week at O My Family.

So Anyway, here I am again. I’ll give it another go….(but I’m not making any promises! :)

"Road of Life"

Can’t Wait till Camp!

Getting Organized, Vacation Time
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First of all, if there’s anyone reading this that lives in Oregon, and you are interested in attending a church camp that is extremely affordable and you can come as a family, or just send you’re kids, please let me know! You can also visit the Union Rogue River Camp at the website. The website doesn’t say much specifically about our Baptist camp that we have every summer, but it does show what the camp looks like and it is also available for rent year round.  Contact me for more info (or you can use the contact info on the camp website to speak to the pastor of the church that sponsors the camp.)

Our camp this year is July 12-17th

I love our Baptist Church camp that we go to every year. It is absolutely incredible!  I look forward to it each year and so do the kids. It’s wonderful time to spend with fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord, see lost souls saved, and take a nice break from the things of the world.

The camp is supported by Missionary Baptist churches here in Oregon and Washington, and it is such a great ministry to reach out to kids about the Lord(and adults too).  There are bible classes, sermons, activities and campfire every day, so you are around God’s Word constantly all week!

Kids 8 and over stay in cabins and adults and those with children under 8 stay in tents or camp trailers.

I just can’t believe that camp is coming upon us already though! I’m gonna have to start thinking about what I need to pack and what I need to buy before hand!  So anyway, I won’t be posting anything that week, but I will let everyone know how it went and share some pics when I get back(Though, I’ll be careful not to show anyone elses kids in the photos. I’m still a little unsure of  posting my own kids photos on my blog here, but that’s a post for another time!)

The cool thing is that we’ve actually been able to keep our car clean on the inside for about a month now, so I won’t have to scramble right before camp to get all the junk out of there so we can have room for all of us and our stuff for the week! That will be so nice!

I’ll post a little about how I prepare for a week of camp with 3 kids as the time gets closer, so, stay tuned! I actually do have a system down for getting ready for camp. I absolutely HATE forgetting things when it comes to being away for so long and several hours from home. I rarely forget anything important the way I’ve been doing it for several years now. Too bad I can’t be like that with the rest of my home! Ah, well, I’m still a work in progress! :)

Ta-ta-for now!

How to get your kids to eat spinach…

Children, Health,
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I’m going to share a secret that will blow your mind…well, that is unless this secret was already out and I just learned about it…But anyway, my kids Love spinach! I never liked spinach when I was a child. I do now, but for some reason there is this aversion to spinach with many kids and I’m not really sure why.

So my secret… Popeye. Yep. They watch enough Popeye and they’ll be asking for spinach! At least my boys did. LOL  We have Popeye cartoons on dvd, and last year they started watching it quite alot. We went grocery shopping one day and I was looking at the bagged salad, and low and behold, Kroger bagged spinach has a picture of Popeye on there, so my then 2 year old says “Papa!” which, translated means Popeye, and of course then my then 5 year old wanted to get it too, so, of course, I happily bought some.

At dinner time they proceded to eat it, raw, and pretend they were getting strong like Popeye!

Now whenever I buy spinach, they happily eat it raw and they’ll even pretend that lettuce is spinach if I don’t happen to have spinach on hand, and did I mention they eat it raw, no salad dressing or anything? LOL

So there you go. Want your kids to eat spinach? Sit them in front of Popeye for awhile. :)

Oh, yes, and when they ask if it really makes you strong like Popeye, I just told mine that it doesn’t grow your muscles like it does with Popeye, but it is good for your body.  Emphasizing that vegetables are really good for your body and help you grow healthy and strong has really helped with my kids wanting to eat vegetables. Most of the time they have no problem and they love most vegetables that I put in front of them.  It’s also very important to start right off when they start eating solids to introduce them to lots of veggies and make sure they have some at most every meal. Then there shouldn’t be any problems with them not wanting to eat them.

Well, “Me thinks it’s time to go now”