LOVE

John 13:34 -So now I am giving you a new commandment:Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

Has someone ever done something for you that you can not repay? I mean really actually repay for their hard work or love?  There aren't many people that would do something for someone just out of the goodness of their hearts, there just aren't! I mean selfless giving, the kind where it's  just because they are your friend  just up and deciding that you are some how deserving of their personal time and effort.

Well, I have the pleasure of knowing one of these wonderful people! I have a friend who has done something for  my family and I that I am pretty darn sure I will never be able to repay!  You guys aren't going to believe this, I still don't! Ha! My friend recently arranged for our kitchen to be completely overhauled! Yes..I know..how exciting!!!!! Well, it get's better!!!HUGE I know, but maybe some background is needed to appreciate the change with me! We live in a house that was built in 1880! That's right folks..it's super old!! The kitchen was the same from the 60's complete with one wall of metal cabinets and a nice green countertop, oh yea baby, it was sweet!!Ha, not really, but it's all we had so we made do. Of course we (ok maybe just me) dreamed about a nice kitchen with plenty of cabinet and countertop space for my love of baking, but thought it might happen after we got our three kids through college (ages 6,5,3 an eternity away ;))Ha! So we didn't have it in the "plans" to work on it. Then along comes my friend..... who decided that it needed to be done now! Ha! Arranged for cabinets to be removed and added, stove, microwave and dishwasher to be replaced!! Yes, I know your jaw is on the floor!!! what the what??! WHO does that???!! Seriously!!! That isn't it though!!! Then my friend arranged for NEW carpet for our house!!! Yes, jaw on the floor again!! I can't not cry thinking or talking about it!! I am right there with you... who is this person?? Well, this person is a selfless, loving, caring person and is a perfect example of showing God's love and I admire greatly! I do admire this person for many reasons,not for the free stuff, but the character that motivates someone to do such a thing for someone else and expects nothing in return. I mean how do you say thank you??! I am still speechless about the whole thing... I mean how can I repay my friend for their selflessness? I will post an after picture when every detail is finished!It's getting there!
This is our kitchen before, the set of cabinets on the right served as our pantry! On the opposite wall was just the fridge and oven.

     I won't give a name to this person....darn!ha! I know some of you were banking on finding out who it is! Ha! Sorry to disappoint it just ain't gonna happen! ;) But I can tell you about someone else we can all be friends with that has loved us in the most selfless way. God!
 God gives his love to us freely, purely because he wants US! All he wants in return is your love. Yes, he sent his son down to our level (to Earth) to tell us about the life we can have in him, the promise of eternity( live forever in heaven) with him( John 3;16, the Bible), the forgiveness for the dirt in our lives, all because he is the creator of all things  and wants a relationship with YOU!  He loved us first, he gave his one and only son to be our sacrifice for all the wrong we would do( Ephesians 1:4-5, the Bible). People!!  There aren't very many free things in life, but this is one and it's available to ALL people! All you have to do is tell him you want and need him and that you understand that his son Jesus died on the cross for your sins (mistakes, bad choices ect.. you get the point). He is waiting.....waiting for you to take the first step and acknowledge Him and for you to confess your need for him. It really is that simple!:) My friend displayed God's love towards my family by giving the gifts that would improve how we live in our house, this person knows we could not pay for and cannot repay, but they gave it anyway. What a great example of how God wants us to live towards one another! Love with a great love and give without expecting anything in return!
 To have a fulfilling walk with God it helps to have a church to go to to connect with people who can encourage you. To build relationships with people who believe the same as you and to be baptized ( dunked in water, symbolizing death to your old life and raising to a new life with Him) ( Matthew 28:19) and in doing so you get the gift of God's Holy Spirit living inside of you(Romans 8:16) and the forgiveness of sins(all the crud in your life that your momma would cry over).
  It's true that there people hurt each other(Proverbs 18:24), that friends turn out to not be such good friends,that people are self seeking  and have what's best for "me" on the mind more so than "others". But no matter how many times friends may disappoint we have a consent friend in God. He will never leave us high and dry, never bad mouth us to others, and he always has our best interest at heart and at the forefront of his mind ( Romans 8:38).  He will be the  friend that never disappoints and never leaves when times get tough. Wont you trust in the One and only person who will never let you down? I know Him and I know that's the kind of friend I want to keep!!!:)


Proverbs 3:3- never let loyalty and kindness get away from you! Wear them like a necklace; write them deep within your heart.
Proverbs 17:17 -  a friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.

THANK YOU FRIEND FOR YOUR LOVE TOWARDS MY FAMILY!!!!!!!

More pics to come!!!

Much love~Lauren

makeover

So, one day here recently Cam and I were home alone while mike took the other two to see a movie.  I was bored so I started playing with my makeup ( which I have a LOVE for ;) ) and Cam then wanted some on too. We weren't leaving the house so I decided that we could do a little makeover! I remember as a kid getting into my Grandma's costume jewelry drawer and sneaking red lipstick and how fun it was to prance around her house all made up! Here is a look at cam's dress up...

she picked out her outfit, showed me what eye shadow she wanted, picked her hair bows and started posing! Ha! I think in this last one she is showing me her teeth??! Good times.

Much love~ lauren

Nolan's 5th Birthday!!!!!!!

So, I ment to post yesterday on Nolan's actual birthday, but after the party I was pooped! We had SO much fun! ha! At Nolan's request we had the party at Grammy and Pop's house(my parents) in Kentucky. Everyone came.. all 7 cousins in one house, makes for a crazy time!! I will have to do a separate post on Nolan's little life so far 'cause I have so many pics from the party it would make it the longest post evvvver! ha!
So, here is a look at the paarrtyy!!

 Pin the tail on the donkey!It' a party staple around here...

 they all got medals for playing pin the tail on the donkey;)

 Uncle Dave(soon to be a dad) with the birthday boy! 

 My dad and Mike's dad

 Carey and Marin

 Alex with her boys Brennan and Carson

 mike and I 

 I can't believe he is 5!!!!!!

 Hollyn hitting the pinata!

 Nolan broke it open!

 and the mad dash for candy!!!

Papaw and the birthday boy!

We are SO blessed to have amazing families and ones that live so close together that we can do one big party instead of separate ones. Nolan did get the  Scooby- Doo party he wanted.. I forgot to get pictures of the decorations and the food! My mom made all the food and boy was it yummy!! My mom is the BEST cook around! Thanks so much for getting all of it together Mom while we were driving down, your the bestest!;)
 I know all the kids had a blast and it went by too fast! I am a little sad at how fast this year went...last year we were in Hilton Head celebrating Nolan's b-day... I can remember it like it was yesterday!:(
I am so thankful today and feel very blessed to have the people I have in my life!!!!


Much love~Lauren

A new family member... and MAD camp

  I wont keep you hanging! Our newest of the family is...... a hamster!!!! ha! Nolan turns 5 on Sunday and he asked Mike and I for a hamster! It didn't take too much convincing from a sweet little boy! ha! We are suckers I know... But to see the smile on his face was well worth it! We have friends with hamsters, so Nolan has been asking for awhile now and it is a pretty low care animal so I was fine with it. Nolan decided on the name Leonardo, after his favorite ninja turtle!  We went to our local PetSmart  to check them out and we picked a Russian Dwarf hamster. Apparently they are the calmest out of all hamster breeds, so thats what we went for.:)  PetSmart is one of my kids favorite stores to go to see all the animals and we go sometimes just to wander around and pass time. ;)

                           just look at this cheesy smile! ha! Is he happy or what?!

                                       Leonardo! Isn't he cute?

                                Calling Mamaw and Papaw to share the details!

                                   The girls were equally excited about Leonardo :)




On a different note, Peyton went to a camp at our church this week called "MAD camp",the MAD stands for music, arts and drama. Boy, did she have fun! This camp was right up her alley! She LOVES arts, crafts, music and she doesn't run short on drama! Ha! Thank you so much to everyone who made this week possible!!! Today was the closing event and all the kids got together and sang songs for the parents, so here are a few pictures of that. We are so blessed to be a part of a church that puts a lot of emphasis on children and their families!

                                Peyton is in the middle to the right of the boy in the red shirt.

                                 I am not certain, but I believe there were around 730 kids  that came!

I need to dig up pictures of Nolan through the years and post them Sunday! My little guy isn't so little anymore.:(

Much love~ Lauren

Family, birthdays and ice cream

We have had a busy few weeks recently! My Aunt Joanie, uncle Tom,  and cousins Brian and Jenny came for a visit from Canada! As a side note..I am from Canada, the great city of Toronto, and all of my family still lives there except for my parents and they live in Louisville, Ky. So we had fun hanging out with them and the kids had fun hanging and climbing all over Brian like monkeys, I think he felt the love though! ha!
 We also celebrated little Carson's 3rd birthday and my hubby's b-day as well as my dad's! We love seeing our family and spending time together and there is always a birthday to celebrate! There is nothing like family...I feel blessed to have a family that takes care of each other!  We have a lot of fun just hanging out and picking on one another and that doesn't seem to change as we have gotten older !;)
 Total change of subject but we live right down the street from an awesome little ice cream place that does cute sundaes for the kids. They make  monsters, elephants, cats, monkeys..you name it they will find out some way to make an animal on your kids ice cream. And it a daily thing to hear my kids ask in the summer if they can have some, so off we go down the street to eat some. I think they will have fun memories of doing that and going to the parks right by our house. Oh, to be a kid again... only thinking about when you can get your next ice cream or going to the park...
So here is a look at  what we have been up to.....

And I will be posting Sunday about a special little boy turning 5!!! Have  a great weekend!

Much love- Lauren

no news is good news

I feel like the past six months have flown by and stood still, does that make any sense?ha! Lots has been going on, good and bad and at  times the bad has stopped me from doing the fun things in life. I do see the sunshine on the other side and we all will get there soon enough. Heart break shouldn't stop you from living your life and finding joy...even if it is in the small things.. We have SO much to be thankful for! My brother is having his first child this summer and we couldn't be more excited to have another baby in the family!!! I can't wait to get my hands on him sometime in late July or early August!!!
 We did have our yard sale to raise money for our adoption and it was my first experience organizing one, boy, is it some hard work! So many of our friends came out to support us and assisted in baking pies, brownies, bread ect, for us to sell at the yard sale or donating their things for us to sell. I could get all emotional about it.... Mike and I really felt loved and supported by you all!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
We now have a leg up and the total for the yard/bake sale was 1,600 SMACKERS!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!?! On the adoption note.... we have no new news ...it will be a slow process for us as we will raise the money as we go and inch a little closer. For those of you who haven't heard we chose Bulgaria (Eastern Europe) after prayerfully considering  the three options  that were available to us, which were Russia, Ethiopia and Bulgaria.
 Our sweet Nolan turns five on the 19th of this month and I am having a hard time with it!:( His little life has gone by SO fast already!! He of course is SO excited and has requested a Scooby-Doo birthday, so i better start looking!ha!
 Time is goes by so fast and I want to be pouring God into my children and praying for them everyday that they will love the God with all of their hearts. It's hard to get the everyday stuff in and their spiritual growth..there is so much we are responsible for as parents and teaching them about God is a huge one that I don't take lightly! But, I surely can not accomplish any of it with out God guiding me, which means I need to have God first in my life. It always starts with us,the parents, little eyes are watching us and will learn how to be God fearing people only from their parents. What am I teaching my children? What do they see when they look at me?
Peyton's last day of Kindergarten is today., so let summer break begin!!

Yard Sale!!

We are having a yard sale to raise money for our adoption on May 13th (Fri) and May 14th ( Sat)!  Our friends Jeff and Jessica Lyon have offered to let us do a yard sale in their neighborhood (a BIG thanks to them)!!! I am SO excited to raise more funds for our adoption! So, please let me know if you have things you want to get rid of that we can sell and please come and see if someone's junk is your treasure!!! I will update on what times! Thanks guys!!!

BIG NEWS!!!!

I know I haven't posted in awhile, but there is a reason(which I will get to..) We haven't been doing a whole lot in our everyday life..we have kinda just been surviving winter! The kids had a couple more snow days and we are ready for spring...it can't come soon enough, really!!!! :) We do have a cool , but sunny day here today in Cincinnati and boy am I thankful!!! I need some sunshine!!!

Ok, moving on to our BIG news!

First thoughts........ I am a Christian. What that means in the simplest of terms is that I have a relationship with God our creator through the sacrifice His son Jesus made on the cross over 2 thousand years ago. I am not defined by a religion, my worth is found in God's love for me and everyone else who chooses Him.  My desire in this life is to lead a life that brings glory to God. Period. I know many of you don't like what I am saying and you wont understand our reasoning, that is fine you may not want to follow my blog anymore. :) But I hope you do to see how God works, if you dont know Him, and if you do, to be encouraged that God is in the details and he cares about you what what is going on in your life!

So, back to the part that I want to lead a life that brings glory to God. That includes reading His word (the Bible), praying, and letting The Spirit (Holy Spirit) lead my everyday. The Spirit guides us to do God's will if we let Him. We have to surrender our selfish desires to do what we want to be able to hear the Spirit speaking to our hearts.

 THE BIG NEWS...
Back in November I felt the Spirit talking to me about adoption, yes ADOPTION!!!:) :) :) I am going to be really honest... I have never thought about adopting before! I have three healthy beautiful children, that many do not get to have!! I felt very grateful and happy with our little family, or big family, however you look at it.;) I was so sure we were done having children that after my third babe and she is 3 now, I had my tubes tied!!!! For the glory to be given to God you must also know other details of my life.. I am 28 yrs old, I turn the big 29 on saturday;), my husband Mike is 30. I have been a stay at home mom since  I was 22 when I had my first babe, so we have been a one income family from the begining! And to top it off Mike is a youth minister! ha! Those of you in full time ministry are following where I am going with this...;) Let's just say that you dont go into ministry to be rich and have all of the worldly comforts or luxuries! Now, this is not to pat us on the back..this is to show what God is doing and will do to make the adoption happen! So, we have to make a deal....If you read my blog and follow our adoption journey you have to give ALL the glory to GOD for providing and can't give any to "man". God started this and He will finish it!:)
IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? HE WHO DID NOT SPARE HIS OWN SON, BUT GAVE HIM UP FOR US ALL - HOW WILL HE NOT ALSO,ALONG WITH HIM, GRACIOUSLY GIVE US ALL THINGS? -ROMANS 8:31-32 (FROM THE BIBLE)

So, I heard the Spirit telling me we needed to obey and adopt. Plain and simple just like that! I knew right away it was God talking because I have NEVER thought of adopting!So, I started praying and asking Him to speak to Mike about it.  I knew if he wanted us to obey that he would have to tell Mike the same thing!! I even told God...Mike doesnt want anymore children...we were SO done! This will totally be you Father if Mike is willing to adopt!! HA! I got a good laugh about that!! :) So, I prayed all of November and prayed for God to let me know when I should talk to Mike about it...a whole two months went by! Then I felt it was time (in my heart) to bring it up to Mike. We were talking and I said " I have been praying about something for a while now and I want to talk to you about it, he of course was all ears! I just told him that God planted the seed of adoption in my heart and  it came out of nowhere( God's idea, not mine) and I didnt really know what to think about it (or how I felt). He then shared with me that he had always been open to adoption.....WHAT????!!! You never told me that!!! Ha!!! I said..ok..well.. we have to obey and I am not sure what to do next...So we continued to pray and ask for guidance, wisdom and peace. I also had to ask for forgiveness!!! How selfish I have been to not have even considered it before!!!
"IF ANY OF YOU WANTS TO BE MY FOLLOWER, YOU MUST PUT ASIDE YOUR SELFISH AMBITION, SHOULDER  YOUR CROSS, AND FOLLOW ME.- MATTHEW 16:24

Yes, adoption is expensive...it can be more than some make in an entire year!!!!
DONT NOT WORRY ABOUT  ANYTHING, BUT PRAY AND ASK GOD FOR EVERYTHING YOU NEED, ALWAYS GIVING THANKS. -PHILIPPIANS 4:6

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS. DO NOT BE TERRIFIED; DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED, FOR THE LORD YOU GOD WILL BE WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO.-JOSHUA 1:9
I will have to cling to this one!!! At times I am terrified!! What will it be like? what will the child be like? how will this effect our families? will I be a good enough mother to this child? I think that already with my other three!!

IN YOU THE FATHERLESS FIND COMPASSION-HOSEA 14:3

I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU AS ORPHANS; I WILL COME TO YOU.-JOHN 14:18

YOU WONT LET THEM DOWN:ORPHANS WONT BE ORPHANS FOREVER.-PSALM10:14

 We have decided on international adoption. We are not 100 % on what country yet... we have it narrowed down to two..BULGARIA, and ETHIOPIA. We are open to an older child and we are leaning towards a boy, a brother for Nolan.:) But, Lord willing we wont get in the way and His will will be done! There are reasons we have it narrowed down to these two countries ... we don't fit A LOT of the requirements for other countries..mainly our ages are the problem.

It's going to be a lot of hard work to come up with the ransom to bring our child home!! We are going to plan yard sales and bake sales and we are selling English Bulldog puppies. There are a few grants that we might qualify for, but coming up with roughly 30,000 is going to be a trial of it's own! We are asking our friends and family to pray for us as we start this journey!! Please feel free to send me any other fundraisers you might know of! He has called so we will follow obediently!!

WE KNOW WHAT REAL LOVE IS BECAUSE CHRIST GAVE UP HIS LIFE FOR US. AND SO WE ALSO OUGHT TO GIVE UP OUR LIVES FOR OUR CHRISTIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS. BUT IF ANYONE HAS ENOUGH MONEY TO LIVE WELL AND SEES A BROTHER OR SISTER IN NEED AND REFUSES TO HELP-HOW CAN GOD'S LOVE BE IN THAT PERSON?-1JOHN 3:16-17
This is a verse I have been thinking of...so many of our "little" brothers and sisters are in need around the world...how can we not help them??

And the journey continues.........

Much Love- lauren

Just Dance!!!!

  So, we may be WAY behind, but we just found the greatest thing EVAAA! "Just Dance" for the Wii game system! We got it for Christmas and hadn't played it yet so we took it over to my sister Carey's place and got the kids hooked!I think all the adults are hooked too!;) Carey and I were laughing SO hard we were crying watching the kids try to keep up with the dance moves they are suppose to mimic. The more you mimic the dancer on the screen the more points you get..the sensor in the Wii remote you hold picks up your movements. SO FUN!!;)

Peyton helping cousin Hollyn get the timing right!

                                          Go Holls, Go Holls

 Marin taking it all in...what a crusty face BEAUTY! HA!;)

                                         All the kids dancing at the same time, even without the remote!

                                          I couldn't help..she is too cute! I remember this stage..messy clothes, messy                   hair, messy face.. I think it's impossible to keep an almost two year clean!

                                          Taking a break!

                                         Yeah.. thats' what's up...I will show'em all how it's done! HA!

It was a great way to spend a snow day and burn off some energy! If you haven't heard of 'just Dance" you gotta check it out, it's loads of fun!;)

Trying to pass another snow day....:)

Much love~ Lauren

Lazy Saturday and rough days..

Today we didn't do a whole lot, but it was nice! My in-laws came to visit and our friend Josh came over for the day! Mike's parents let Mike, Josh and I out for a bit and we saw the movie "The Green Lantern"; while we were gone they played games with the kids and hung out.:) Then before Josh had to leave we baked him our new favorite cookies!! Sugar cookies from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook! If you have not tried...oh my you have to get busy and whip up a batch and fast...you are missing out!!!;)

 Cameron my helper this time!

 Licking the beater! Brings back memories of helping my Grandma;)

 The BEST sugar cookie recipe EVVVAA!

 Going a little crazzy.

 My sweet boy.



Earlier this week was a little rough... one of the kids stepped on my glasses and broke them.:( But, that wasn't all....

 I, yes..I stepped on my phone and broke it in two!! AHHH!!

It was time for me to get my eyes checked anyhow, but glasses are SO pricey!:( I am really bummed about this one, 'cause if you wear glasses you know how expensive they are and you can feel my pain...
The phone on the other hand is no big deal really..Mike and I both had the iphone ( which we LOVED), but we decided to save some mula and get cheap phones (yes it was painful letting go! ha!) ..So, the phone was old and refurbished(used) and it wasn't in the budget to get another one. So, some wonderful friends came to my rescue and gave me a phone they were no longer using! Whoohoo!:) I am (secretly) hoping I will be reunited with the iphone next spring..hehe..we shall see.
Well, that about wraps up my week in a nutshell! Ha. Here's looking forward to spring and some sunshine..stay warm!

Much love~ Lauren