My husband and I had such a sweet weekend together. We left our kiddos with my mother and went to Gainsville, Georgia to a marriage conference hosted by the church we attend now. Two days and two nights away from our kiddos, leaving the twins over night was a first. I cried when we pulled out of our driveway and I watched all my babies wave good bye to us. To be honest though I expected it to be much harder leaving them but I know they were in awesome hands and I actually let myself enjoy my husband all to myself. ;)

We had time to talk, dance, meet new people, go out and be together and even sleep without having to wake up! Although I will admit I felt guilty for not getting up to check on the kids in the middle of the night lol. I woke up feeling like I was in a debate all night, like I knew I could sleep but at the same time I kept having this guilty feeling hat I should have woken up to go and see them. (Maybe one day I'll learn to sleep "normal" again.) 

I cannot believe it's almost Valentines Day!! It feels like we just celebrated new years! Yet another month has flown by and its been a great one for me, I hope it has been for you as well. I am such a goal oriented person and had so many plans for the month of January but the Lord seems to enjoy coming in and rearrange things his way, which in the end are always much better.

At the end of December I felt that I needed to start the new year off

Whenever I'm in the mood to write the kids are usually awake and very needy. By the time I'm done with them and it's nice and quiet in the house I'm all out of energy and have no desire to think. But today I am writing with kids crawling all over me and Star Wars ships crashing on every side of me! My background "music" is the sound effects of my little ones playing with action figures and I'm actually enjoying it. :)

I haven't been writing much because I feel like I don't have anything interesting to share with you guys. So I've decided to just share life with you as it is. I'll start with a little glimpse into our week so far, so here it goes.. 

Since it got cold here we have all been sick one after another, by the time the last one would be over it the first one would get sick all over again... Its been this way for a month now if not more. But this week Kyle and I got sick pretty bad and we were trying to stay away from the kids as much as we could. For a few days I've been living inside the room and getting to hear my kiddos interacting on their own without us hovering over them. It's been very interesting actually to hear how they do life together, help each other or how the older two try disciplining the younger two.

I love my kids so much!! But oh how I treasure nap time. Nap time could be something you look forward to or dread, depending on what stage in life you are in at the moment.  

Naps are so important for children and even adults, (when pregnant, nursing or for those with new borns especially). But It could be hard to get your toddler to sleep sometimes. I actually gave up with my oldest but now I realize that I shouldn't have. I just didn't know how to go about it. 

First, I wanted to share on how I managed the transition with my twins, from two naps to one. (Or three to two..)

Hey everyone it's been a while since I've wrote anything on here, but I'm finally able to carve out some free time to get back into writing (I hope). Anyway I thought I'd give you a short update.

 We are finally here in South Carolina! It's been almost a month since we drove up here, (sometimes feels like we've been here forever though). For those of you that don't know or haven't seen, we left Hawaii on the first of September and flew to Washington state to visit friends and family. After WA we flew to Florida for about two weeks also to visit family (well and Disney world on the side ;). And then finally after that we drove up to South Carolina. 

I wrote this a long while back and haven't posted it but, as I reread it I realized this story needed to be shared for God to get the glory! 

As I look around my house every day (for the last few weeks) I feel like "how in the world are we going to make it in time??" We have two weeks to pack our boxes, suitcases and sell all that we own. On top of that we have just been sick for ten days, so everything was on pause. But even in what seems to be chaos I can't explain how but I have absolute peace, it's incredible!! I feel like I should naturally be panicking, stressing and rushing to get things done but I'm not. In the middle of it all I hear the still small voice telling me that we will make it and it's ok to have peace and fun in the process. 

It's been three months now since we decided to move and it's probably been that long since I last wrote on here. This summer has flown by for us. So many things have happened but during this whole time, one day at a time I've been saying good bye. Letting go and saying good bye are one of the hardest things for me to do. God has been so gracious to me, he's been preparing me and helping in ways I couldn't have thought of or imagined, even starting from the first post I've ever written on this blog , Not our home. Honestly in my heart I always knew that day would come and now it's here. 

My twins are potty trained! I can't be more excited, it was a long journey but it's behind us now. I've potty trained three times now and the first two were different then the last. I'll share my experiences to hopefully make someone's journey in this stage of life much smoother. 

First off, I want to say that kids are smart! Much smarter then we may think sometimes. They act up to what we expect of them. I'm learning this by comparing my oldest, with my youngest two. I still treat them as babies and they are to me, but when my oldest was eighteen months she did, said, and had more responsibility then they do at two and a half! They will live up to what you expect of them. 

I am so excited when the Lord answers my prayers!!

I've been noticing my kids behavior get a little disrespectful and independent. It started to concern me because I was going all out for them, taking them to beach and other places, and trust me I don't typically go out with them all to relax. But the response I would get back is rude and disrespectful behavior. It grieved me because I didn't want to stop treating them to fun activities but I saw no other solution. Of coarse I brought this issue to my dearest Father(God) and what do you know he answered and quite quickly actually.

The answer came in one word. CONNECTION.

God is faithful and answers our prayers. I will forever be grateful for that. 

{It's been a little tense in the house. The children and I have been having some difficult moments, conversations and testing of authority (as my father would call it). Raising kids is not an easy responsibility. So many times I find myself not knowing what to say or do.

I earnestly started to pray for wisdom not really knowing what that even fully meant or what to expect.

There is no formula to raising children or having a relationship with them. It's about being there and hearing them when they need you to. It's about listening to their heart between the lines. But it becomes tricky sometimes, to know how to differentiate between your child's heart and complaining. This is where hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit comes in key.  

My twins are two! I can't believe how fast the first two years flew by. I soaked in every moment of it but it's time to let go of them being babies. Although I really like this stage, all ages bring their own differences and joys! I think being two is really hard for a toddler, you don't know what to touch and what not to and it seems that anything that's fun is not allowed, right? The little ones are so confused sometimes, but it's real life and that's when discipline begins. They need to know right from wrong and how to obey quickly more then ever at this age, for their own safety. 

For those of you who have kids that are or were once two, you know whats it's like. Some people call them terrible two's, and for twins almost everyone says double the trouble. But I don't agree because it is how you make it.

Woke up yesterday morning with a a list of things to get done, mostly phone calls to make and all things that require quiet. And of coarse can't get any of it done until it's nap time in the house. Well the morning began, even if it was one of those days that you would rather do nothing. We had some worship time and after that, I began to get as much done as I could but I could sense the kids were not going to let me off so easy, so I asked the Lord to lead me and help me with my plans. I didn't even notice how but some time later I found myself out side with all my kiddos, snaking on macadamia nuts that my father had picked for us. The weather was so beautiful and the kiddos were so peaceful, laughing and playing together, it was a memorable moment. I love living here where we can pick fruit and nuts in our back yards all year round, it's absolutely amazing! I am thankful and content and spending precious time with my kiddos each day is the highlight of my life. 

Most of the time you hear of entitlement, it's related to kids and how to deal with entitlement in children. But when you step away and look inside, focus on yourself, you might actually find that there are plenty of things we each are entitled to, sometimes without even realizing it.

f I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place,
but have not love,
I am a housekeeper, not a homemaker.
If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,
but have not love,
my children learn cleanliness, not godliness.
If I scream at my children for every infraction,
and fault them for every mess they make,
but have not love,
my children become people-pleasers, not obedient children.

I don't know about you but I seem to always have something going on that I need to pray about. At times I start to feel guilty that I come to God so much with all my needs and requests. I was sharing how I felt with my mother and as always she spoke truth into my life that lifted the guilt. She said "don't even think for a moment that God feels burdened or doesn't want to hear your prayers, he is a loving and caring father who wants and loves to have us come to him."  It wasn't anything new but I needed to be reminded, that my Daddy can handle it ALL.  Unlike us, God does not have a limit to how much he can take, and that's why he tells us to bring all our worries and burdens to him. It's so good to know that he is always there inclining his ear to listen and to be there when we need him. In his word he says to ask and keep asking and we will receive, I know that he is always faithful to fulfill his word.

I can't imagine how to live without handing over my burdens to someone greater than myself.

I was telling my husband the other day that I am grateful to have Hope. True hope that doesn't fail. If I didn't know God, I don't know where my marriage would be. I would probably be too afraid of having children, writing or sharing what I'm going through with people. There is so much evil in this world and things seem to be getting worse. How do you live when there is no hope for a better tomorrow?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16

Gods love for us is incredible! Thank you Father God for sending your son and thank you Jesus for dying for us. May all come to experience the gift of knowing you and the love you have for us. 

I love Christmas time, it's so heart warming and wonderful. People are more open and friendly. It's a time to give and receive. A time to celebrate and remember our precious Savior and the reason he came. This Christmas season I've already received so many wonderful gifts from my Heavenly Daddy. I'd like to share a few of them with you because I'm so excited of how much our Father loves us. 

Ladies, girls, wives, mothers, etc.. I feel maybe some us need to be reminded of this today. We are daughters of the Most High God. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 

What does that mean exactly? Well it means that you are worth something, that you are visible, that you are so loved and adored, and you were created with a purpose and there is so much meaning to your life.