Party of 5!

I wake up everyday to my Party of 5! Always an odd number, no balance, never can even us out. But that's ok! I can't imagine it any other way. It's what I'm used to. Sometimes I stop and breathe and am just so thankful for what's in front of me. We love our Brady, Jack & Annie! Sometimes my Party of 5 can really wear me out, but I'm glad to "party" with my family each and every day. Thank you God!

BE YOUR BEST YOU!

Today all I have to say is to "Be your best YOU!" No one can be YOU, but YOU! So how can you be your BEST today?

Sunday, January 10, 2010 - WHAT!!!!! A YEAR ALREADY WENT BY!

So, it's been awhile since I've downloaded some pictures. Where did the time go? I missed posting Oct, Nov, and December. Oh well, I made it to September! That's some progress. So now it's January 2010. Yes, 2010! What is that? We started off the year with a blanket of white. The kids think it's great! Snowmen and sledding. What could be better than that? This week Brady went snowboading from Thursday to Sunday. I thought he'd actually turn purple. But no, not kids! We obviously had thicker skin when we were kids. My feet are freezing half the time in my own house! I love it that he loves the snow so much. Annie and Jack built snowmen a few weeks ago. Annie's wasn't very big. She worked so hard. There were a few tears when the facial features would not stay on. Mom finally had to step in and help. You shouldn't be crying over your snowman. (it could melt:) In the end, it turned out just sweet. She was very happy with it. Keep warm and make fun snow memories with your kids! God Bless!

Annie's little snowman!

Aren't they both so cute in their coordinating outfits?

Little man Jack with his snowman. Again, no coat? It's not that cold out mom! He just needed to pose by his snowman, so don't worry, I don't let my kids play out in the snow without coats:)

Saturday, September 26, 2009 - WE SAW A RAINBOW!

Well, I have quite the exciting story to share... Saturday late afternoon we were heading on over to Bloomington. It was your average drive. However, I can remember entering a dark patchy area that was raining, but to the right was the bright sun, and ahead you could see clear skies. Once through the rain, I told the kids, "Maybe we will see a rainbow today?" Well, we didn't see one. So I fell asleep. Shortly after, Jeff shouts, "Look I see a rainbow!" It was on his side of the car. The kids and I (especially me, was so excited). We were yelling and screaming as to how cool it was and how vibrant the colors were! It seemed to be following us down the highway. I am scrambling in the back for my camera so I can attempt a picture. I am leaning over Jeff with the window open trying to get a shot. Brady shared the story about God giving us a rainbow as a promise he would never flood the world again. (or close to it). It was a glorious creation from God we could all atest to that! Then all of a sudden Jeff says, "Look, there is the other side!" To our amazement, the rainbow stretched over the entire highway over to the other side! Yeah, now I could look out my window and take pictures!

When I snapped the picture on the right side of the highway, I noticed that I even got the mile marker where we witnessed the rainbow. So just out of curiousity, I chose a book of the bible to see what it might say in 7:1. I looked up Psalm 7:1, it reads: "I come to you for protection, O Lord my God" (NLT) How cool is that? Jeff was kind enough to stop the van on the side of the road so I could video tape it too! Crazy I know, but it was just HUGE! And we were right under it!

It was an amazing, beautiful RAINBOW! I have been waiting to take a picture of one all summer. I told the kids that rainbows are gifts you don't always see, and when you see one, you better just stop what you are doing and look, smile, and be thankful!

Well, if that wasn't enough excitement on the drive.... As we are getting closer to Peoria, we are listening to KLOVE, and the Britt Nicole song "The Lost Get Found" comes on. Annie yells, "Turn it up, I like this song." So Jeff does, and she's just back there singing away. I'm looking out the window at the sun starting to set, listening to Annie, observing the lovely clouds in the sky and as I glance to my left, I happen to see a black billboard, that read: " I love you... I love you... I love you - God" Oh my gosh, really! Did I just see that?! And my camera was not in my hands for that moment! It just seemed to be something unreal at the moment, that all I could do was smile from ear to ear! Amazing all the little details you see if your eyes are open!

Funny, on the way home, I tried to look for the billboard so I could take a picture of it driving home.....and I could not find it? I asked Jeff if he had seen it yesterday, and he said he did. (so I knew I wasn't going crazy). I guess you could say, for me that was my special God moment. I couldn't of made that stuff up:) Good story I"ll be glad to share when I see this picture of "The Ellison Family" rainbow. (the laughter, the screams of joy, and the amazing wonder of how the color of light can arch it's way across a highway in perfect symmetry!)

And this is what I saw out my rear view mirror the closer we got to my sister's house! A sunset! Again, how awesome is that!

Sunsets are my ultimate favorite thing to stop and look it!!!! Always!!

Have you had a God moment lately? Did you see it? Share it!

God Bless.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - Remodeling

What is the definition for the word "remodel" - To rebuild or redesign in order to improve; renovate. To improve! This family room has been a project in the works for over 7 years. What to do with it? It just sat, just as is, for quite awhile. Many reasons put it on hold: babies, time, or money. But now we are at the at point to make a change. I knew it would take work! (I should of added that to the list). I'm exhausted even writing this entry. But I thought it might be neat to see it be transformed. So here's a bit of the before....


This is the family room in a more demoed phase. I didn't take a picture in it's original state before we started taking it apart. However, in the background of my baby pictures I can remember what it looked like. The room was always dark and too woody. What do you do with that? I look forward to something bright!

Ok, you are probably wondering....what's up with the semi-truck? I was so fascinated by the delivery of the materials from Menards today. This semi pulls up. Detaches the cab, which had a fork-lift attached. The cab then lifts the pallet off the trailer. Somehow, the driver turned around on the street and backed up into the driveway right up to the garage. Crept in a bit, and there you go.....set the pallet down right dab in my garage. Too about 10 minutes for the whole job! Amazing! PS. I'm sure the delivery guy thought I was crazy when I was out taking pictures of the drywall. Do you think?

Lifting pallet into garage

Fork-lift in garage!

Truck in my garage!

There you go. Done!

Little by little, bit by bit, this project will be completed. I have to work a bit each day, more stuff around my house, try to reorganize, etc. But one of these days...........

However, I have to remind myself that no matter what the state of my house, the state of my heart is always more important. Did you ever look up the word "heart" up in the dictionary? Check it out sometime. It's so much more than an organ. What a "big" word! I need to remember that each day is a gift. That the Lord is working in me everyday, to transform my heart! I am a work in progress too, just like my family room:) God Bless.

Sunday, September 6, 2009 - Laugh!

While on vacation, Jack took pictures of my many funny faces. Do I dare post them? Why not! It makes me laugh. Try to make a funny face without laughing. I dare you. Try! Have a funny face contest with your kids. Are they attractive? Hm.......? Not so much. I want my kids to remember that mom was not afraid of her camera and being silly. Silly is fun, it's free! Let go once in awhile. And if you dare, have your kids capture it forever on film. Will I regret this years from now?......or just laugh? I choose laugh. What made you laugh today? God Bless.

Okay, this might be the scariest! What was I thinking? I must be loosing it:)

Luckily my face did go back. Thank goodness:)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - My Storyteller

Jack has a wonderful creative spirit that I just love. Yesterday in the car within 10 minutes he drew "The Monster Attack". Tonight at bedtime he drew and wrote the next two stories. This is the child I wondered if he would ever hold a pencil, know his colors, or even write his name! I try to encourage his creative nature. Since he hasn't been a big fan of reading lately, I started asking him to try to write stories. At least he has to come up with words. Then he reads them to me. I am going to try to scan in all the stories and pictures he draws. He checked out some drawing books from the library and looks at them often. He even asked for a compass. I had to remind him that a compass is a tool and not a toy and that he needs to take care of it. I found my grandfather's old compass in the basement and passed it onto him. Only God knows where Jack's creativity is to go. I can enjoy and encourage the gift. Enjoy the gifts your children have no matter what they may be! God bless.