My Valentines Day Gift

 Paul surprised me with a new bed for Valentines Day!

 He ordered it unfinished and stained it himself (with a little help!)

 It looks so pretty in our newly redecorated bedroom.

 I love it.

Thanks honey.

Sam

Sam and I have had an ongoing conversation for months.  He was very interested in God and Jesus and the Cross and becoming a saint and not a sinner.  I have been reading to him from an old book which teaches very important truths to young children in an excellent manner.  I have been so impressed with this book and wish very much I would have had it for my older children.

Monday our reading was about Good Friday and Jesus' death.  He sat very still as I read him the story.  We discussed what Jesus' death meant and how all we had to do was believe in Jesus' work on the Cross to be forgiven of our sins.  We even touched on the reality of hell and how it was a terrible place.

But he didn't want to pray yet.  Oh it was so hard for me not to plead and beg him to just go ahead and pray.  But I didn't, yet I made him promise me that he would talk to his dad before he went to bed.

And he did.  And Paul questioned him and told him basically the same thing I did.  But Sam insisted he wanted to pray in his bed. 

Tuesday morning, Sam came bounding into the living room.  I called him over and asked him.  Sam, did you pray last night? 

YEP I DID!  He replied enthusiatically with a huge smile on his face.  I hugged him as tears filled my eyes.  He then proceeded to tell all his siblings and dad, and added that he was "so much happier this morning". 

He has told everyone he has come in contact with.  At the end of church tonight, I whispered to him if he'd like to tell the church.  NO.  He said.  Ok.  I didn't push it.  A few seconds later he looked at me and said ok.  I will.

So I raised my hand and told Paul that Sam had something to share with the church.  Sam got up, and ran up to the front and said, "Me and my dad had a talk the other day and I'm a Christian".  He got choked up and had tears in his eyes.  So sweet.

What a blessing.  Not much more can compare to that!

Happy Birthday Paul!

Today is February 9th, 2011.

22 years ago today, I became a mother.

Paul John Dziadul, Jr., was born at 10:52pm after a very long, very tough 3 day labor.

But every pain, every contraction, was worth it.

He was a treasure from the moment I first laid eyes on him.  I remember holding him at the hospital, drinking him in with my eyes.  I couldn't get enough. 

22 years later, I still can't get enough.  No longer a baby, no longer a boy, he is now a man.

But this mom still sees the little boy in every smile and every laugh, in every grimace and grin.

And I hope that never changes.

Happy Birthday Paul.  You are one in a million, a unique creation of God and I am so glad you are mine.

I love you.

The Mountains, Part 2

Thursday morning dawned bright and kind of cloudy, but we didn't mind.  I started the day in the exercise room and Anna sat in the lounge, enjoying the wi-fi, while Ellie enjoyed sleeping in late.  After a quick shower, we headed out, this time to Toccoa Falls.  We visited here years ago and I remember being so amazed at how beautiful this waterfall was.

 The waterfall is on the campus of Toccoa Christian College.  It is just a short walk from the bookstore, and it is amazing.  Even though the day was kind of overcast, the falls were still beautiful.

 Anna loves to get her picture taken and Ellie loves to take her picture.

 Anna and I admiring the Falls

 Posing again.

 The tall waterfall.

 The dam at the top burst on November 6, 1977 and over 30 people lost their lives, all connected to the college.  There were alot of families who lost several members.  So sad.

After the falls, we ate lunch and drove around the rest of the afternoon.  We stopped at several second hand stores and found many treasures.  We enjoyed our last evening with no responsibilities!

Friday morning we drove home.  It was a great vacation.  Thanks Paul for letting us go and have such a good time!  Maybe we can make it a yearly tradition???

The Mountains, Part 1

Anna, Ellie and I left for the North Georgia Mountains early one Tuesday afternoon.  We were so excited.  I had asked Paul that if, when I reached my year end goal of losing 100 pounds, the girls and I could get away for a few days.  He knows how much they help around the house and with the kids, so he readily agreed.  We felt so free to be going with no little ones, no car seats, no diapers, no extra change of clothes, no sippy cups, no whining, no crying, etc, etc, etc.  We arrived late Tuesday afternoon, and within 5 minutes, Anna was in the jacuzzi tub watching tv.  I just had to laugh!  And, as soon as Anna got out, Ellie got in.  I just knew we were going to have a great time.  We went out to dinner (no cooking, no cleaning) and then headed back for an evening of relaxing and watching tv.  Since we don't have tv at home, it was a treat.  I think I watched the food network the entire time!

 The next morning we got up, and after I did my workout in the workout room, we took off.  We stopped first at an antique mall.  We walked around for a while and then (I thought) we were ready to leave.  I told the girls I'd be in the truck and a few minutes later Anna came out and asked if she could use the camera to snap a few pics.  Alright.  And then I waited.  And waited.  And waited.

 About 30 minutes later they came out, laughing and giggling and the pictures above are what they were doing.  There are none of Ellie because she, like her mom, which much rather take the picture than be in it.

 Next we went to Tallulah Gorge.  The girls barely remembered being here years ago when we visited. 

 This steel girder is what held the cable when the Great Wallenda walked across the gorge on a tightrope.  We were all amazed that he would do that!

 My beautiful daughters.

 It was a long way down.

The sky was so pretty that night- so many vivid colors.  We ended the night by seeing a movie and then headed back to the condo for more relaxing with the tub and tv.  Part 2 coming...

Emma at 18 months

 Emma turned 18 months almost a month ago.  I got her pictures taken kind of late, but technically, she is still 18 months in these pictures.  She is a mess.  I took her to the lake, all dressed up, but none of the pictures turned out great.  She was in a strange mood and not smiling at all.  The next day, the kids were playing in the yard and I grabbed my camera and got several good shots of her. 

 She loves to be outside and loves to play and loves to be included in anything the boys are doing.

 There's her winning smile!  I love this smile.

 Her hair is obviously still very curly and at times unruly.  She tolerates us fixing it for a few minutes, but when she's done, she won't let us do anything else to it.

 She weighs 31 1/2 pounds and is very tall for her age.  She wears 2t or 3t and enjoys dressing up.

 She loves her brothers, and tends to boss Ben around, keeping him in line.  She will let us know when he gets out of line or doesn't have his shoes on.  The other day Ben could not find his other shoe.  I looked at Emma and said, go get Ben's shoe.  She ran down the hall and ran back within a few seconds with it.  She has that maternal instinct already!

She still reminds me alot of Anna, but as I was looking through Anna's pics at this age, I was amazed at how much she doesn't look like her.  They look like sisters, but Emma has her own look, especially when she smiles.

Emma is a joy and a delight.  I am looking forward to seing her grow and learn the last half of her second year.

January??

Where did January go?  I feel like it has flown by!  For whatever reason(s), it was an extremely busy month for our family.  Lots of things to do and go to added to our already full schedule produced alot of busyness.  I didn't intend to neglect my blog, but with the very slow Internet at our house, I couldn't post and most days I couldn't afford the time to run up to the church.  Sooooo, I will try and catch you up on our lives.

 This was at the Sanctity of Life march.  As you can tell, it was a very wet day.  Because it was so wet, we decided that Ben, Emma and I would not go, but Paul, Paul, Jr. and Sam braved the rain and were able to lead the march through the city.  They were impressed with the number of people who turned out in spite of the rain.

 Look how big they are getting!  These are three of the main reasons I am kept busy, all the time!

 Not sure what they were looking at!

 Anna, Ellie and I were able to escape to the mountains for 3 wonderful days a few weeks ago.  We enjoyed having to be responsible for only ourselves, and not any little children.  It was a great respite.  I have some pics to post of that in a later post.

 We start them young at our school.  Actually, having a pen or pencil is one of Emma's very favorite things.  She loves coloring and writing and I am trying to teach her to only do so on a paper.  Of course her favorite canvas is the wall.

 Ben working hard on his school.

 He loves doing his school and Anna is his main teacher.

 I loved this picture of Sam and Emma.  It shows what a great big brother he is and it also shows how he is growing up.  I am amazed that he is almost 7.

Mr. Orneryness himself.  But, with a smile like that, he can get away with alot!!

I have several more posts to go.  I promise to try and post more often!