Time to plan

New Years is a couple days away and I've been thinking about planning the things I want to do in the new year.... ya know- goals! I'd hate to call them new years resolutions since those are soo easily broken, but in reality goals, things I'd like to accomplish but realistic too. So, here's my top 5...

1. Live a Radical Life For Christ! To make Disciples of men, to make an eternal impact!
2. Be inspired to take more photographs. Not for money but honestly just to fall in love with it all over again because at one point I loved it and I've forgotten why. Perhaps take a weekend trip to Chicago to view this women's Photography exhibit (Jan- April)! She's amazing and I'd love to see her work. It's too bad that she died before she knew what a truly amazing photographer she was. What a history she tells! http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=42,8,80&pid=A1hO97qcWo7ViDL_rWniVH2LakYxNa7J
3. Take a family vacation- not paid for by the Federal Government, though I do love those business trips, I think I'd like to see Minnesota with my family this year!
4. Be more spontaneous!
5. Do the Warrior Dash with Patrick ; )

So, those are just a few of my goals for the year 2011! I can't wait to see what the new year holds! Happy New Year and may you be brave enough to try new things and step out of your comfort zone!

Remember...

We are called to remember and to reflect over the past so with a new year almost upon us and a sick child asleep on the couch I've decided today is the day to do just that. So, my 10 best memories from 2010.
1. Waco- X 2. See here for more details.
We had two really great trips to Waco the beginning of last year. Yes, we found out that Zoe gets car sick, but we also learned that our girls, age 5 and 2, can in fact stay in a car for 10 + hours without a DVD player. It can be done and I challenge each one of you to attempt it at least once yourself. It was a great time to just get to know the girls better, play games and really bond.
2. Bunk Beds- Silly, I know, but it's still big for us! The girls are in their own twin beds now. No more toddler beds or cribs in our house, we have two big girls now. See more here
3. Vincent family trip to Colorado- What a blast! Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, Balancing Rock, Helen Hunts Falls, Cheyanne Mountain Zoo, Focus on the Family etc... See more here
4. Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays- see here, here and here- That covers me (the big 28), Zoe (5) and Lexi (2). My attempt at a Barbie Birthday cake and a horse birthday cake- interesting.
5. Theater in the Park- July 23rd, Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella! What a great evening for it too. The girls loved it! A live play in an outdoor amphitheater all for under $20 for the family! For more details about the program visit here one last family outing before School forever changes our schedules.
6. One nice day for Summer pictures of the girls! Seeing more and more the things I won't be able to just up and do anymore with Zoe and Lexi. I'll miss her when she's at school and I'll miss the fun things we've done together without really planning them. That's what I'll miss the most! See the pictures here
7. Lexi Potty Trained! Even night trained! Wow! What a great thing anytime, but before the age of 2 1/2 is pretty great for one of my kids! Yeah! Good job Lexi! Sorry I didn't make a bigger deal out of this then I did, but it's been nice having no more diapers in our house! I'm soo proud of you!
8.Zoe's first day of Kindergarten! What a bittersweet moment for me. Thank goodness Patrick took off work that day for moral support. She's getting soo big! To read more and cry go here
9. Aunt Esther's wedding- September 17. Both the girls got to be flower girls and they did GREAT! Lexi became the little hero for a day and mine forever! See here
10. The Holiday Season! Gifts bought and wrapped 2 weeks before Christmas! Wonderful time with Friends and Family despite sickness that ravaged our household the week before Christmas! Gifts that were both given and received and well loved! The best gift given by me was Patricks "sound asleep" pillow. You plug your iPod into a pillow and the speaker is inside! It's awesome! I think I love it more then he does, but still.... great gift! For under $20.
Zoe got her Vtech Digizoom camera, her LIV doll and a robe
Lexi got a remote control dog (he walks and barks), look and find books, and pj's- Jingle Jammies from Old Navy (dresses)
Patrick got an air compresser, the above said pillow, photo keychain and a usb/car lighter coffee travel cup.
I got the Rachel Ray pots and pans set, tupperware and other things. I love them all! I'm spoiled!
So, today I remembered and reflected on such a great year with such a great family. My goal sometime this week is still to write out some goals for the coming year!
I hope you all take some time this week to remember and reflect on your last year and perhaps what your goals will be for the coming year as well.

What a week!

It's been a rough week here at home. Zoe was sick for a few days and missed her first 2 days of school, then I got the flu and Patrick thought he was starting to get it. I think though we might finally be on the upswing and praying that we all continue to heal and focus on Christ this Christmas season!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I am thrilled! I am officially done Christmas Shopping! Well, I finished last week technically but am still picking up the occasional stocking stuffers whenever I find something for them. Does anyone else struggle finding stocking stuffers for their husbands? I'm struggling with it very much. It's easy for the girls, but Patrick probably doesn't care much for earrings and necklaces with Ariel on them. So if you have any ideas for what you do for your hubby's stocking stuffers I'd love for you to share them, but I digress....
I'm am soo happy that the pressure to get the perfect gift for everyone, to check off every name on our list and to just have the best Christmas season ever is off. I feel soo much better! Really, this is something I recommend to everyone- finish your Christmas shopping early and truly spend some time this CHRISTmas season remembering what the season is really about! Rembering this, rembering that our God came as a baby, born in a manager in a stable when there was no room in the inn. A perfect baby, a perfect sacrifice born out of a perfect love!

Where would we be without Jesus?
He was born of a women so we could be born of God...
He humbled Himself so we could be lifted up...
He bacame a Servant so we could be made heirs...
He suffered rejection so we could be His friends...
He denied himself so we could freely recieve all things...
He gave Himself so He could bless us in every way!
May you know His Love this Christmas!

Jesus
He came not to a throne, but to a manager.
He lived not as a king, but as a servant.
He chose not an earthly kingdom, but a Cross.
He gave not just a little, but Everything!

Christmas rush

It's officially Christmas time! The tree is up, the lights are shining bright and the presents are getting bought. And I'm still finding time to read for pleasure....

I recenly read this book that had a great "sermon" in it about the busyiness of life and what we miss by being soo busy... here's the excerpt from Never Say Never by Lisa Wingate. It was perfect timing for me in my life right now. I hope you get something out of it too.

The pastor was demonstrating his point while juggling eggs. He started with one and as he was tossing that egg in the air he was talking to different people in his congration.... then he added another egg and kept talking to several different people.... then he added a 3rd egg and only talked to two or three people in the congration. He then added a 4th egg. While juggling the 4th egg he just focused on one person and then he went for a 5th egg. With the 5th egg in the air he just focused only on juggling- not talking to people just focusing on the eggs. Then he caught the eggs and went back to talking to different people- asking about particular issues in their life once again. He then asked a boy in the congration the difference between juggling 1-2 eggs and juggling 5 eggs to which the boy answered "At first, you was jugglin' just a couple and talkin' to folks and lookin' out here, but the more eggs you got in the air, the more you had to look at the eggs and not the folks"

"Exactly the right answer!" He then went on to ask that maybe when the Levite and the priest passed by that man who'd been robbed and left on the side of the road, maybe they had lots of things going on? Maybe they had a couple meetings to get to, the potluck list to worry about, some business deal to do, and a fund-raiser going on down at the Moose Lodge? Maybe they had so many eggs up in the air, they just didn't hardly look twice at that man layin' all beat-up and bloody, ya think? Maybe, But the point of the demonstration and the questions was that "the enemy of havin' our hand ready for God's work is having them full up with other things."

Is this you? Is this you especially at Christmas time? This is me! I find myself being too busy to focus on others during Christmas time with all the busyiness of the season- the shopping, the baking, the decorating, the dinners, but that's really not what this holiday is about! So, today as you take the time out of your busy lives I hope you can remember to focus on others, to build relationships, to be soo focused on others that the enemy won't get a hold of you!

Have a Merry Christmas and remember the true meaning of Christmas this holiday season!

A Week of Thanks

So, this week is Thanksgiving! 2 days until Thanksgiving to be exact! 2 days until we stuff ourselves full-overfull! 2 days until we hopefully take 5 minutes to think of the many things we have to be thankful for! Well, this year I'm doing it ahead of time and I'm taking a lot longer then 5 minutes to write out several things I'm thankful for...in no particular order

1. Family-both near and far
2. God and His word
3. Friends
4. Food
5. Husband who's also a GREAT father
6. House- roof over my head
7. 2 little girls that make me smile
8. Clothes to cover myself with
9. Washing Machine and dryer to keep said clothes clean
10. Other appliances that make my job easier
11. Couches to sit on
12. Beds to sleep on instead of hard floors
13. Heaters and Air Conditioners
14. Cars and Trucks to travel to and from places
15. Horses to ride on with family
16. Indoor plumbing
17. Grandparents that love my daughters as much as I do
18. Sisters
19. Tv shows that make me smile
20. Internet- even Facebook as my link to the outside world
21. Books to encourage
22. Answers to prayer even when it's no
23. Toys and Puzzles
24. Eating picnic lunches in November
25. Wearing wings at lunchtime with my youngest
26. Crayons and kid size scissors
27. Parents that have become friends
28. Great neighbors
29. Stable jobs
30. Good health
31. Even pet cats
32. Cameras and pictures to remember things I may soon forget
33. Little girl who loves combing my hair- wayy more then I like it
34. Fall
35. Christmas Decorations
36. Christmas Music
37. Knowing that my children know the true meaning of Christmas
38. The hope of Spring
39. Shopping for down on their luck families
40. Black Friday ads- and friends that will do the shopping for you
41. Late night conversations with my best friend
42. Scrapbooking
43. Days of giving thanks
44. A merciful God
45. A Forgiving God- over and over again
46. Someone else in control
47. Candles
48. Homecooking
49. Warm days to snuggle with my favorite people
50. I love you's said in so many different ways

Oh I could keep going but one of my favorite little people is wanting to snuggle right now and no matter how much I sometimes need reminded to give thanks and to remember what a big God I serve I know that we can actually be worshiping Him in the everyday little things like snuggling with the loves of my life too! God is Good! Have a Happy Thanksgiving

It's that Time Again!

Merry Christmas Cards!

That's right! The Holiday season is upon us! Which means hopefully a good family picture to put in our Christmas Cards and then there is the actual card! What a process! Well, we've ordered from soo many places for cards and this year we'll be ordering through Shutterfly! Why? Because they have great cards! Their prices are pretty right on with everyone else out there and they are soo easy to use! http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards I love that you can narrow down the various chioices of cards by number of photos, color, size etc. It's so easy! They even have a new holiday collection this year! Yeah! I'm soo excited about them! In fact here are a couple of favorites of mine for this year. They are in the running for our Christmas cards!

Of course, we've once again gone with a theme for our Christmas card this year... you are going to LOVE It! You'll have to wait though to see it! Though I'll admit we picked a challenging theme this year with colors that aren't your typical Christmas colors so I LOVE that you can narrow your choices down on Shutterfly just by picking the color and they have soo many colors to choose from!! It's been soo helpful! I love that they even have a plain black one that is just amazingly classy too! Here are more that I can't decide between... what do you think? Beware though that if you go check these links out you'll be spending at least 30 minutes on there looking for that perfect card for your Christmas message this year! Let me know which one you pick! I can't wait to see!!

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/color-me-merry-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93476

choice # 123 for our Cards this year... decisions decisions decisions

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/starlight-joy-christmas-5x7-folded-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93491

Bloggers- do you want to see if you can qualify for 50 free cards from Shutterfly just by blogging about their amazing cards, go here