Winter Projects

Oh winter weather! It has kept us inside a lot these past few weeks, so we've started to finish the rest of the basement. We have the bedroom and bathroom mostly completed (just missing the finishing touches, like trim and closet doors). The rest of the basement was a mess. Nate got all of the sheet rock up in the main room and I got all of the tiles scraped up from the floor this past weekend. After all of that work, plus shoveling the 17"+ of snow we got, I'm officially done with shoveling for a while. The basement is really starting to look nice though. The first coat of mud is up on the walls and the scraped tiles are neatly swept into piles! Jman's response after coming down was "What's going on here?!" He's such a ham. It is nice to see things coming along after sitting on standby for a while.

Monster Truck Show

Jman and Nate went to Monster Jams the weekend I was in Rochester. Monster Jams is the monster truck show that was at the Metrodome. Needless to say, Jman had a blast! He has talked about monster trucks ever since. This video is only a short snippet of how excited he really was.

Fall Pictures

Just wanted to add some pictures from November!

The boys playing with our good friends, Brody and Weston. They were racing trucks, smelling the flowers, rolling down the hill ... being boys!

Mom's The Word

This past weekend, I attended the Hearts at Home conference in Rochester, MN. It is a Christian conference that focuses on the needs and concerns of moms. It was amazing! I didn't know quite what to expect, but found myself soaking in the worship music, the workshop speakers, and the word of God!

It was a weekend filled with music, laughter and tears. Christy Nockels, of the group Watermark, was the worship leader. She was filled with the Spirit. Christ was shining through her songs. She did an amazing job!

The main speaker was Jill Savage. She had such a powerful message. It focused on the Power of Words. We want our words to bring life to people, lift them up and inspire them. Yet, so often we speak the exact opposite. I was forced to look at how I speak to others and really evaluate it. Am I glorifying Christ in all that I say? Am I speaking affirming, accepting, appreciating and apologizing words? It was an eye opener. Jill really asked us to look inside of ourselves and renew our minds. Jill has a list on her website called "God's Truth About You..." and it is filled with God's words that we can use to replace the old thoughts in our minds. Begin the transformation!

As a side note, she spoke during one of the small workshops. It was called Living With Less So My Family Can Have More. It was about living with less stress, less activities and less money so that we can have more to give our relationships. She spoke about attitudes to have: Counter-cultural mindset, Contentment, Sacrifice, Simplicity, Frugality and Faith. She gave a lot of good ideas for frugality. I recommend checking out her website for some ideas. It was great!

One of the other speakers I got the priviledge of listening to was Susie Larson. She was fabulous as well. The workshop I attended was entitled Growing Grateful Kids. It focused on teaching our children to be thankful and have perspective and gratitude. I was struck by one of her opening sentences. "We cannot impart what we do not express (possess)." I had to wonder if I am doing all that I can to become the woman God wants me to be so that I can show my children all he wants them to be. No pressure! Susie presented all of her points in such a real way that I truly felt like I could succeed. The fact that God pursues my children and me, lifts many burdens of motherhood. I will just remember that the pure in heart see God and that nothing is impossible when we humble ourselves to the Lord. Pure and humble; Christ-like.

I took away many ideas and truths from this past weekend. If nothing else, I was reminded that God loves me, despite the flaws and mistakes. I am His chosen treasure. We are all His chosen treasure. Live knowing this and praise God for it!

~Blessings~

Exciting News!

We have exciting news in the Davis family. We are expecting Baby #3! The due date is May 27, but with the way the past 2 pregnancies went, it is more likely a June 5 due date! Only time will tell. Today was my 12 week appointment and I had an ultrasound. Baby was alive and bouncing around the entire time. It's amazing to see new life and God's miracles right before your own eyes. We feel so blessed to have another bundle of joy to look forward to. I'll keep you updated with new news as it arrives!

My Two Crazy Boys

Today has been cleaning day. I've been having the boys help me pick up the floors so I can vacuum. I told them to put the books on the floor in their room in the book shelf and to throw the toys on their beds. I was going to start in the office so they had a little bit of time to get it done. I did my job and then went to check on them. The 3 shelved book shelf, that only had 1/2 a shelf of books gone before my departure, was now 2 shelves free of books. They were all in a pile under their table. "We're playing mama!" Needless to say, we did some serious cleaning in there!
It wouldn't be so bad to pick up the books, except that it is a daily occurance! Those books never get too much dust on them from getting piled up in the middle of the floor and reshelved day after day.

We're now taking a break from cleaning and enjoying some playtime. Jman is playing super heroes, his favorite today is Batman, and BG is "riding" (just sitting, in his case) on the little powered motorcycle. He keeps putting his finger in this little hole in the plastic saddle bag and getting it stuck. It's hard not to laugh, but he has done it 3 times in a row and Jman keeps trying to tell him "Don't do that BG! You'll break my motorcycle!" They are two funny little guys.

There really is never a dull moment when they are awake! God has blessed us with two very busy, fun and loving boys!

A Start to Keeping Up!

I've decided that it's time for me to keep the everyone up to date with what's going on with my family. Jman is now 3 and 1/2 years old and BG is 16 months. It's amazing how fast time flies by! Nate is still working at Bethel University. He's graduated from seminary and is pursuing a Masters of Art in Organizational Leadership. He's also working part time at our church, Plymouth Covenant. He's a very busy guy! When he's not working on "work", he's down in the basement trying to finish that! It's a mess, but coming along. My sister, Ashley, now lives with us as well. The boys love having her around. (So do Nate and I!) I feel like I'm writing an autobiography, but really, where else do I start? I stay home with the boys and try to tire them out. It always seems to be the other way around. BG and Jman are good buds most of the time. They have the occasional fight over who gets what, but they do love each other. It's wonderful to see the relationship growing between them. I pray they will be close friends.

I am so blessed to have this amazing family. God is good and continues to reveal Himself in profound ways. I'll try my best to keep the updates coming. Blessings!