Family Rules!

Kolbe William - The First 3 Weeks in Photos!

2 Days Old- still in the hospital

Meeting the Siblings for the first time!

6 Days old

2 Weeks old

2 Weeks old

lil John Deere boy

3 Weeks old

Photo Card

Whoo's That Blue Baby Announcements

Birth announcements, Valentine's cards, & invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Any day now ..... !

We anticipate the arrival of our new little guy! I'm 39 weeks now- our due date is 9/7.

Be Kind ....

"If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them." ~Francis Bacon

"Good manners are the technique of expressing considerations for the feelings of others." ~Alice Miller

"Life is short, but there is always time enough for courtesy." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. The third is to be kind." ~Henry James

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." ~Plato

"It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice." ~Author Unknown

"Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are." ~Author Unknown

"I always prefer to believe the best of everybody, it saves so much trouble." ~Rudyard Kipling

"The kindest word in all the world is the unkind word, unsaid." ~Author Unknown

"If we cannot be clever, we can always be kind." ~Alfred Fripp

"To err on the side of kindness is seldom an error." ~Liz Armbruster

"Always be a little kinder than necessary." ~James M. Barrie

"If you step on people in this life, you're going to come back as a cockroach." ~Willie Davis

My Cinco de Mayo Nina - 4 Years in Photos

1 week old

10 days old and 10 lbs!

1 month old

3 months old

5 months old

6 months old

9 months old

1 year old

18 months

2 years old

3 years old

3 1/2 years old

4 years old!

Happy 4th Birthday today to my sweet Kaila Noelle!

The ABC's of Me!

Age: 34

Bed:  Tempurpedic!

Chore You Hate: All of them!

Dogs: 2 of them- Tessa, a Yellow Lab & Samson, an English Mastiff. They are the same age, 10 months!

Essential Start of Your Day: enough sleep!

Favorite Color: I'm an equal opportunity appreciator of color!

Gold or Silver: Silver

Height: 5'6"

Instruments You Play: Does my iPad count??? ;)

Job Title: Stay at home Mom, Farmer's wife

Kids: Kyler Anthony (9), Kristen Joy (7), Kaila Noelle (4 this week!) & Baby Boy EDD 9/7/11

Live: SouthWest Nebraska

Mom's Name: Karen

Nicknames: "Squeegy" from Jr. High/High School & DH calls me "Woozle"

Overnight Hospital Stays: Kidney stones when I was 24, birth of Kyler in 2002, birth of Kristen in 2003 & birth of Kaila in 2007

Pet Peeve: not being able to find something at the exact moment I need it

Quote From a Movie: "In my world everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows, and poop butterflies." -Horton Hears a Who

Right- or Left-Handed: Right

Siblings: 1 younger brother

Time You Wake Up: My "natural" wake up time is around 8 o-clock, but most mornings I get up at 6 to get the kids ready for school. DH has been helping out A LOT with this lately as this pregnancy has really been kicking my butt.

Ultimate vacation destination: Bora Bora

Veggie You Dislike: Brussell sprouts, blech!

What Makes You Run Late: Life!

X-Rays You Have Had: Lots of them.... too many to recall.

Yummy Food You Make: Chili and chocolate chip cookies

Zoo Animal You Like Best: Lions, Tigers and Bears, OH MY!!!

Yes, as a matter of fact, Heaven IS for real...

And what source might I base this bold claim on...?

Brace yourself.

...

It's

...

THE BIBLE!

Yes, it's true, the Bible ...

The breath of God himself ...

His WORD ...

tells us about Heaven!

I don't know about you, but I believe the Bible

and it is enough for me!

I believe that the Bible is the Revelation of God

through His Son Jesus Christ.

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son,

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

Jesus was the physical embodiment of the Word of God.

Everything in Scripture points us to Jesus.

God gave us the Bible so that we would know Him.

Everything He wants us to know is in His Word.

What He wants me to know about sin,

is in the Bible.

What He wants me to know about Love,

is in the Bible.

What He wants me to know about forgiveness,

is in the Bible.

What He wants me to know about money,

is in the Bible.

What He wants me to know about Heaven ....

well you guessed it-

it's in the Bible!

So you may be wondering what exactly my point is?

Am I just here to bash Todd Burpo's book "Heaven is for Real"

and other books like it?

No, I'm not.

I simply want to point you back to Jesus.

If we truly long to know what God wants us to know

about Heaven then why not go to the ultimate source-

HIS WORD?

And what do we find when we go there?

It's interesting that the only account in Scripture

of a man going to Heaven and then coming back down to Earth

was Paul...

and he was forbidden to tell anything about it!

What is it that we're looking for

when we read a book like "Heaven is for Real"?

Are we looking for a sign?

"A wicked and perverse generation will seek a sign" Matthew 16:4

What should we be looking for?

Let's look for Jesus.

"Does this book say anything significant or of substance

about Jesus Christ or his atoning work on the cross?"

-Bill Wright (my Sunday School teacher)

"The Burpo family offers us confidence,

through their experience,

that what God says is true.

This proof is exactly the kind of proof

we should not need

and should not want.

If hope is to be found in any person,

it will be found in the person of Christ.

It is the Spirit working through the Word

who will give us confidence in our faith.

And what is faith?

It is simply believing that what God says is true.

We do not need tales of heaven

or stories of those who claim to have been there.

If God's Word is not sufficient for you,

if the testimony of his Spirit, given to believers,

is not enough for you,

you will not find any true hope

in the unproven tales of a child.

This hope may last for a moment,

but it will not sustain you, it will not bless you,

in those times when hope is waning and times are hard."

-Tim Challies

Let me challenge you to immerse yourself in GOD'S WORD!

When you go to outside sources for spiritual nourishment

scrutinize every word against scripture!

If it lines up with Scripture

it will always point you to Jesus

and what He did on the cross.

Other Reviews I recommend:

Cheryl @ Moms In Need of Mercy

Reid Ferguson @ Responsive Reiding

Tim Challies @ challies.com

Nashville - Photo Overload!

So this is about 2 months overdue,

as I was in Nashville for the

Women of Faith Group Leaders All Access Event in February!

Oh well, better late than never I guess!

Over 2000 Group Leaders for Women of Faith

gathered at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center

for 3-4 days of fellowship & leadership training.

What a wonderful time & spectacular place to stay!

Sit back, relax & enjoy!

stain glass dome in the grand lobby

glass sculpture in the grand lobby - Is it a Chihuly?

bottom of the same glass sculpture

The inside of the Gaylord Opryland Hotel is amazing.

Massive atriums filled with living plants and flowing rivers, waterfalls & fountains....

Bird of Paradise

Thanksiving Cactus

Orchid

Waterfall (front view)

Waterfall (view from behind)

Aside from putting us up in one of the coolest hotels ever,

Women of Faith really spoiled us with

great speakers & awesome concerts!

Mary Graham - President of Women of Faith

Natalie Grant on stage

Amy Grant

Awesome Bible Teacher - Lisa Harper

Natalie Grant

Marilyn Meberg

Luci Swindoll

The one and only - Patsy Clairmont!

Sandi Patty!

Author of "The Traveler's Gift" & motivational speaker - Andy Andrews!

Powerhouse vocalist - MANDISA!

Lisa Whelchel from The Facts of Life

Mary Mary!

Good friends & great times!

Thanks Women of Faith!

Well-known blogger Angie Smith & her girls

also wife to singer Todd Smith of Selah

long time friends Sandi Patty & Lisa Whelchel