My new wallpaper for my desktop

I've been playing around with some new plug-ins (thanks, Tricia!) that were free on the internet. This picture of Sarah sleeping turned out so sweet...I put it on my desktop as my wallpaper...this adorable face covers my entire screen! I think I'm going to try to do similar ones with my other kids...who will obviously be awake...and get them blown up for our new bedroom. I might play around with it some more and see if I can get one that's just as sweet with her awake...we'll see what happens!

One for the family

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There's nothing exciting really about this clip...no spit-up attacks at the end...just something so the family can see how much Sarah's growing and changing. She does smile and coo quite a bit on it, but nothing else...just my sweetie!

Tummy Time Trouble

I always put Sarah in the middle of this contraption when it's "tummy time," and somehow she always manages to end up like this! She wriggles and scootches herself off the mat all the time! I hope this is not a foreshadowing of how active she's going to be once she gets mobile!

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A great website to visit!

Most of you have probably already found this website, but for those of you who have not...you have to go spend some time at http://www.reviveourhearts.com It's Nancy Leigh DeMoss' website, and she has some amazingly helpful resources on her site...for free! Many of her pamphlets or notes to go along with her books are available in pdf format. My friend Carissa blogged about being able to get a free book from here so I went to see about that. I signed up for the book and was so excited by everything else I found. Nancy Leigh DeMoss is so practical and applicable (that's a bit redundant, heh?!?) to my everyday life...I really enjoy reading her books as well as listening to her radio broadcasts. Some of the things I found on her site that are especially interesting to me include:
• 23 great questions to ask your kids (interesting conversation starters that will hopefully lead to biblical discussions)
• 31 Biblical Virtues to pray for your children (I plan on using this not only to pray for my kids, but also as a list of things to focus on in my children's lives...it comes with Bible verses to go along with each virtue that I want to work with my kids on memorizing)
• 30 day husband encouragement challenge for wives (no explanation needed here...I am always looking for ways to let Brent know how wonderful he is and how much I adore and respect him!) How much do you want to bet that Brent goes to ROH and checks this out next?!? :-) Love you, Dear!

There are a ton more things that I want to look into on her site, but these are a few things that I want to start with. What are some of your favorite things on her site or other sites that have been a special challenge to you? I'm so excited to find this resource I had to let you all know about it, too! :-)

FINALLY!!!

I was running so late this morning for church since my alarm clock didn't go off...my real clock or Sarah...but I did take a few seconds to throw Sarah in her chair for a quick picture in one of my favorite dresses of hers. AND I ACTUALLY GOT A SMILE IN PRINT!!! I've been trying for weeks to get her to smile for the camera but have never been able to get one! I've still got to get one on video because they way her face lights up is precious. But for now...I'm thrilled to be able to show you how much she smiles like her daddy...she's got his little "smiling eyes" that squint up when she breaks out into a full smile. And just so you know...the Lord's still breaking me and my vain thoughts down....right after I got these shots of her, she spit up all over the front of her dress while I was frantically putting her in her carseat to leave. So I didn't get to show her off in this sweet little dress! That'll teach me to be so vain, heh?

Comfy Cozy!

Brent was trying to soothe Sarah last night while she was fussy so I could get the kitchen cleaned up before I fed her. I came in from the kitchen and found them both sound asleep! The sight was enough to melt even the most frazzled mom's heart! He spent many nights like this when each of our kids was first born so I could get some sleep at night. I'm so glad I got this picture so we can always have the reminder of how little our kids started out...and what a great Daddy he is!

Something that made me laugh!!!

My Mom-in-Law sent this to me this morning, and it made me laugh! Especially since a mom with 4 boys sent it to her! These are not things I've learned from Daniel...dont' worry! But it's worth a good laugh...and Jen, I don't think I'd let Jordan read this list...if he can have that much fun with a matchstick and silverware...no telling what he'd do with the clorox and brake fluid! :-)

• A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.
• If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
• A 3-year old boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
• If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.
• You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
• The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
• When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.
• Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
• A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old man says they can only do it in the movies.
• Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4- year old Boy.
• Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
• Super glue is forever.
• No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.
• Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
• VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
• Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
• Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
• You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.
• Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
• The fire department inAustin , TX has a 5-minute response time.
• The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
• It will, however, make cats dizzy.
• Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
• 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.
• 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

Just in case anyone was wondering...I took Sarah to the doctors office today and weighed her on the digital scale there...she was 12 pounds 5 ounces (with her diaper and clothes on) so I figure she's really more like 12 pounds 2 or 3 ounces. That puts her right around the 65th percentile. Most people won't care, I know...but grandparents might! :-)So we're past the magical 12 pound mark that doctors say is when a baby should start sleeping better...I'm planning on having a talk with Sarah about that tonight! Although I can't complain...she slept 6 hours last night and then another 4 1/2...life is so much better for everyone when the Mommy is able to get some sleep!

Something fun worth trying with the kiddos...

Saw this idea on TV the other day while I was nursing and thought I'd give it a try. The kids and I did it today and it really worked!

Roll out pizza dough to 1/4 inch and cut out circles (I used my widest mouth glass) and then cut out a smaller circle from the inside to make a donut shape. Deep fry in oil that is 350 degrees or so for 30-45 seconds on each side until a light golden brown. Dredge them with a brown sugar and cinnamon mixture or pop them in a paper bag with powdered sugar and give it a good shake.

After we did it by the recipe, I smooshed all the scraps into little donut hole shapes without rolling them out again. They turned out much better--the rolled out ones were just poofs of air, but the smooshed ones were more cakelike. The kids had fun smooshing them into different shapes and shaking them in the lunch bags of powdered sugar...I wasn't watching Daniel too carefully who was eating one while he was shaking his bag...I turned around to a cloud of powdered sugar all around Daniel and the kitchen floor--he was shaking it while it was open--he can be so much like his momma sometimes it's scary! Next time I do this, I won't bother with rolling them out and trying to make them look pretty...they're homemade donuts...who cares if they look like real donuts!

Happy Birthday, Great Grandma Griffin!

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She's 6 weeks old today!!!

Our sweet baby Sarah is 6 weeks old today! It's hard to believe we've had her in our arms for that long already, but it's true! She seems to be tall...people keep commenting on how long she is. She's sleeping about 6 hours now at a stretch each night, so I'm only having to get up once to feed her...life is so much better when you get sleep :-) And she has started to smile at us! Life is better with sleep, and those 4:00 feedings don't seem so hard when she stops nursing to flash a big smile at me!

Brent was commenting the other day how different it is to hold Sarah than it is to hold Hannah. He was reminiscing how he used to hold Hannah the same way he holds Sarah now and how much Hannah has changed. So Hannah thought it would be funny to see what she would look like if Daddy held her the same way he used to. Couldn't let a photo op like this go by!