ahhhh spring.

Tomorrow I will probably regret writing this. I will wonder why on earth I claim to love this area so much when the gray and dreary rainy days come back. But for now I am going to just enjoy the days we have had with beautiful, sunny(ish), warm days. ahhhhhh spring.

We took the kids to the New York state Zoo at Thompson Park on Saturday. We adore Thompson Park. not only is it over a century old, its still so beautiful. The kids love playing on the giant wooden playground and getting to enjoy a picnic lunch with the family is always a plus. Biggest bonus: it ALWAYS wears the kids out and they fall asleep on the way home!!!! ;-)

J with one of the snakes. He LOVES those things

can you see the crazy horn on this goat!!!!?? its INSANE!

meet the newest "catamount"!! My husbands previous unit (known as the Catamounts) sponsors this exhibit!

J in the eagles nest. seriously kid stop growing!!!

B didnt quite get the whole put your arms out thing.

Yesterday we had another awesome service at Life Church. Me and my bff were both in tears at different points of the service. I got to be reminded (again) that God is in control, He wants to help me, wants to see me bring glory to Him, and will be faithful to us no matter what. I just have to trsut Him 100%. Man is that hard. I am so thankful that I have some amazing friends here though that can help see me through my darkest days. We spent lunch out with my bff and her hubby and kids. We had a great time and got to laugh a lot. Thankfully our kids do so well together that it isnt even that stressful to have a table of 9 where the kids outnumber the adults!

 But the best part of all about yesterday was that JACKSON LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH! AT TARGET! Thankfully our Target has the most AMAZING pharmacist who was able to give me a baggie to put it in. She also gave J a lollipop for being so awesome (B got one too cause she has Miss Barbara wrapped around her little finger!) He is so excited! Tooth Fairy came and went last night and left $5!!!! LUCKY!

Today B and I are rocking out at home. I have some usual stuff like laundry and dishes to do as well as about a zillion phone calls to make! J and I are overdue for dental cleanings (and he needs x-rays), and I hate hate hate going to the dentist. Also need to make lots of March for Babies fundraising calls. We are not even close to meeting our goal yet and I am bound and determined to get there! Wanna help?! Visit www.marchforbabies.org. Ok Time to put on my big girl panties and work on the house and phone calls. Wish me luck!!!

STOP IT!!!!!!!

Kind of a crazy title I know. Just hang with me for a minute. Our church us going through the book of Psalms this year....in the order they were written. What a task!! But thanks to the amazing talent God has given Pastor Chad and the other pastors at Life Church, we are learning a LOT!

So yesterday we landed on Psalm 69.

Not exactly the Easter story. Not exactly the call to worship a risen king.

But some where in there is that exact call.

In Psalm 69 David is crying out. He is lost, feels totally down, like every enemy is against him. And he asks God to strike them down, to punish his enemies. Then the Psalm takes a turn.  David remembers that though

 "I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me.

The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his captive people,

Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all hat move in them,

for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah." (Psalm 69:29, 33-35 NIV)

That salvation came when Christ died on the cross and rose again. It was the perfect sacrifice so that our sins (all the stuff that makes us feel worthless, unlovable, undone) are forgiven. So we were challenged to STOP IT!

Stop making excuses about our walk with Christ.

Stop making excuses why we can't be a living, breathing, walking testimony to the love of God.

Just Stop It.

This rang so true for me. The demons I feel like I have been battling have been strong (stupid depression), but you know what, God is stronger. He is love. He is alive. He is RISEN.

After church we spent the afternoon exploring one of the trails and a park by the pond on post.

 I loved getting to watch my children just run and play in the sun.

See how He is renewing the earth and growing new life.

I got to see once again how God is MOVING through our family. 

Not everyday is gonna be great or perfect or even good. (ie: the major tantrum J threw downstairs because he was tired and had WAY too much sugar yesterday.)

But through it all, I know that its going to be ok. My purpose on this Earth is not to feel sorry for myself, not to hate those who persecute me, not to be down, or discouraged or anything remotely even close. My purpose on this Earth is to love and serve God, worshipping Christ my savior and bringing Him glory by sharing the gospel. It is what I intend to do from this day on.

Am I a perfect Christian, NO WAY!!!! Never could be. I know though that God will bring me through the darkest days, He will use my pain to bring healing and I have to trust him 100%.

Thank you Jesus for taking my sins on the cross and giving me the chance to worship you now and forever.

Easter Eggs

Well trying to make the best of this very Good Friday here at the Simon house. Ran to Wmart to get dye so we could (finally) do eggs. They were seriously OUT! Ok so thanks to the fabulous Pinterest I was saved. KOOL-AID! My house doesn't reak of vinegar (although I may do that kind tomorrow) and the kids had a blast helping me set it all up.

Best of all, THIS is what we ended up with!!!!

Here is the original tutorial I used from Hey! Jen Renee.

It was so easy!!!!!!!!

  It smelled like summer!               I love having lots of craft supplies         He was way too excited

             







    Some of the coloring came out A.MAZ.ING!

I love how they turned out. Well onto my next adventure of the day. Braving the Commissary for milk. Remind me why I forgot to get it at Wmart? Have a very blessed weekend!!!!!!!

Growing in Gods perfect grace

A couple of weeks ago (when the weather was amazingly warm) the kids and I planted some seeds for our garden this year. Since we live in on-post housing we have to do all container gardens. This makes my selection of things to grow a bit smaller but fun anyways. I love watching these tiny plants grow as much as my kids do. And its such an awesome tangible way to show them how awesome God is.

So this year we have planted carrots, lettuce, green beans, sweet basil, oregano, and lavender. I also plan on planting blue potatoes if I can ever get around to going back to Lowes to pick up the starters.

I have been in awe of just how fast they are all coming up!!!!! It has been a reminder to me this past week of just how quickly god can change something in our life. How one tiny seed of an idea, or thought, or emotion, can be so quickly transformed into something useful in His kingdom. How awesome is our God?!

For me, I see God really growing our faith as a family. I see Him really starting to use us for things that have been in the works for months. I am so proud of how our family has changed and grown. I am so proud to say that I know we will be ok.

How is God growing in you this week?

my sleepy child

So my close friends and family know that my daughter is notorious for falling asleep in random places and random times. No this is not a disorder of any kind, she falls asleep when tired (aka late afternoon nap) so I am not concerend but man when she is OUT she is OUT! Girl even sleeps with her eyes cracked open when really dead to the world. (Seriously she looks DEAD!) When she was little bitty I would have to put my hand on her chest to make sure she was still breathing, thats how gone she gets. So today she made me crack up with her exhaustion and I thought I would share some of her most awesome moments passed out. (She will probably kill me when she is 15 but oh well!)

Enjoy my sleeping beauty!

didnt even finish her lunch

this would be the creepy eye open thing!

yes she was REALLY asleep

oh the viking. this one was classic. she wore this to bed one night and actually fell asleep in it. mommys little warrior.

a friend pointed out that she is signing "I love you" after I posted it to fb. <3

She was still half wearing her spider-man costume

I think she was TIRED!

This was today. She woke up when I tried to move her. She was already rubbing her eyes when I took the pic.

So there is my sweet sleepy girl. Now of course She is bouncing off the walls and I am totally jealous of her energy. I think right now she is in a growth spurt. She is hungry all the time and sleeping a lot more than normal. And she is cutting her last set of molars. Poor thing. I hope you enjoyed a little peak into our life here. Please excuse any mess in the photos. I am all for the sign thats floating all over pinterest:  

I dont have a source, My link on pinterest was from Google. So if you can take credit pease let me know!

ROCK CHALK!!!!!

Ok gotta say this:

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS GO KU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<3 my Jayhawks!!!!

THE BOYS ARE BACK!!!!

I meant to post these pics the other night but totally forgot (this is what happens when you go to a welcome home ceremony at 1:30am!!!!!) Main body 11 comes in today and just makes my heart swell to see so many of our guys finally home. 2 more flights and thats it! then everyone will be home!!! but for us, all our "boys" are home. its incredible. I had to share the pics of main body 10 because well.... you will see. ;)

Riley, Simon (my <3), and Dutton before the ceremony

Formation. I can see the Lt!!!!

Riley was just a little excited to see Carman

the Lt and his minions this pictures makes me so happy!

so there you have it. our little army family is finally all back together. I am so super excited for my friends that are getting their husbands back today and in the coming week. SO glad this deployment is over!!!!!!!!