Happy Happy Birthday Annie!

Happy 6th Birthday (1/28) to my beautiful little Annie. I love you, Sugar! You're a joy and blessing to our family.

How Do You Measure Success In Your Life?

My first blog award!! Thanks, Megs!
Here are the "to-do's" that accompany this award:

1.) Say something nice to the man in your life.
Jose, I don't know anybody who loves God's Word more than you do. Your faithfulness to study and live according to it blesses and encourages me and I know you are a shining example to our children as well. I love you and admire you.


2.) List at least 6 ways you measure success in your life.
1. Fear (reverence) God when I am with others and when I am alone.
2. To put others above myself, even in the little things.
3. My husband is secure in my faithfulness and love for him.
4. My children know their mommy loves them and would do anything for their well-being.
5. Being approachable to anyone and everyone...a friend to all.
6. To know that I am only successful in life because of Jesus Christ and all He has done for me.

3.) Assign 5 other blogs this award.
1. Leti
2. Nettie
3. Lulu
4. Mrs. R.
5. Jess. S.

#6

I have been tagged by my friend, Megs, to do a photo meme.

Here are the rules:

*Open your photos, choose the 6th folder and then the 6th photo in that folder.

*Post the photo with a description about it and tag 6 friends to do the same.

Here's mine!...












This is a picture of Jose's cousin, Jose's (yes, there are several Jose's in our family), son, Isaiah. Isn't he super cute in his tahn-ta-tas??? He was about 20 months old in this picture. Hard to believe he just turned 3 a couple weeks ago.

My turn to tag:

1) Leti
2) Nettie
3) Mrs. R
4) Jess S.
5) Jose J.
6) Lulu

10 Great Years

Today marks our 10th wedding anniversary. I can't believe how time has flown. This morning we were at church for Friday school, and I was reminiscing how 10 years ago exactly I was in the room getting ready. We planned our wedding for 10am, the earliest time available because I just knew I could not wait all day. In fact, we had moved our wedding date from March to February to January. We didn't want to wait any longer than we had to. Not that I would ever recommend it to any young couple, but we started dating in May of '98, became engaged 3 months later in August, and were married 5 months later in January. We just knew. At the time so many people thought we were too young (he was 22 and I was 2 weeks into being 20)and that it just wasn't a good idea. But it turned out to be God's perfect idea. There are no regrets and we've seen the Lord faithfully sustain us and provide for us. I love my Jose more today than 10 years ago, though 10 years ago I would have said I couldn't imagine loving him more. Our wedding day was the most gorgeous day I've seen...about 75 degrees, clear as crystal and sunny. When those doors opened and I laid eyes on my love, it seemed everyone else disappeared completely. He is still my love, my friend, my companion, my encourager, the perfect father for our children, and the one I would marry all over again. I love you, Jose...Happy Anniversary!

I was going to post a wedding picture, but the scanner and I are not getting along right now. It will be posted as soon as I can figure it out.

Tonight on the way home from Bible study I got to see a shooting star for the first time. At first I thought it was an airplane, but it was too fast. It was pretty cool!

Wish I Could Take The Credit

Yesterday Bekah came down with a fever and got sick to her stomach. Thankfully she is much better this morning and acting like her normal self again. So yesterday when she felt sick she tells me, "Mommy, I think there's still some bacteria in my tummy. But that's okay because the white blood cells are killing it. I'll be okay." A few days ago, she informed me that our food goes down our esophaugus, into our stomach, on to the small intestine, then to the large intestine. I didn't teach her any of this. I think for school time we'll all just sit in front of the TV and watch "The Magic School Bus". We'll all learn more! :)

Rejoicing!

If you haven't seen my friend, Corinne's blog, you have to click! Its the best news ever!!

Happy Birthday Laura !!

Happy Birthday my love!

You bless our home so much and we are praying that you have a great day.

We are so blessed by another year that we get to enjoy your company.

Better Late Than Never...

("but better never late", my dad would always add on.)

So who says Southern California doesn't experience all the seasons? They just show up a little late sometimes. Fall has finally arrived in our neck of the woods and I'm enjoying the pretty colors of the trees and of course the girls are enjoying crunching those leaves.

Exciting Times in Homeschooling

So nobody will care about this post but me, but today was fun for the kids during school because they finished their 100 Charts that they've been working on since the beginning of the year. We used craft sticks to represent single units and every time they collected 10, they were bundled and we started over. Through this exercise they learned to count to 100 as well as skip count by tens and write all the numbers (See I told you nobody will care about this except me). I enjoyed watching them experience that great feeling that comes from completing a long-term project.

Also, I wanted to show Annie's picture she drew today. Our words to remember for the water unit we are working on are "Jesus gives my spirit living water to drink". Here is Annie's illustration of Jesus giving her water:

The last few weeks have been mostly fun and eventful, but I am always ready to get back to routine. Getting back into homeschool has been really good and the kids haven't skipped a beat (such a blessing for me!). Even though our lives have been so full lately, there isn't really anything that stands out that I would like to blog about. So instead, I'll post a yummy recipe I tried yesterday that was a hit for 3/4 of our little family (usually its 1/4 or 1/2). I'm going to really celebrate when I make something we all really like! :)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Makes 8 servings. Ideal slow-cooker size 4 or 5 quart.

4 uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I used the thinly sliced fillets and it worked great)
2 15-oz. cans black beans, undrained
2 15-oz. cans low-sodium Mexican stewed tomatoes, or Rotel tomatoes
1 cup low-sodium salsa (mild, medium, or hot, whichever you prefer)
4-oz. can chopped green chilies, undrained
14 1/2-oz. can low-sodium tomato sauce
Baked tortilla chips
2 cups grated cheese

1. Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in large slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on low 8 hours.
3. Just before serving, remove chicken breasts and slice into bite-sized pieces. Stir into soup.
4. To serve, put a handful of chips in each individual soup bowl Ladle soup over chips. Top with cheese.

Taken from the "Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly cookbook