3 random things i think you should know

ok, so here are 3 random things that i think are useful to my life this week. and might be to yours.

(the 2 people that read our blog) ha!

1- Panera has a rewards card! and just by registering it online i have a free pastry waiting for me! ;)

2- something that has saved me money on buying fruit in the winter months- getting fruit from the salad bar. i get a scoop full of fresh cut strawberries for like .99! instead of 4.99 a pint. we sure cannot afford that! Also we buy frozen fruit at Trader Joes. Strawberries and blueberries.

3- a friend who was going through some major health problems told me about this and it is something that i have changed in our house. I buy organic dish washing soap and dish washer detergent. She said it is one simple change that can make a great impact. it makes sense..you are eating out of and on the dishes that you wash. And the regular detergent has all kinds of crap in it. I don't know the correct language but i know it reads like this - ghudkslfjslfjslfjslfjslfjslfsjl. that is the products we are using to wash our dishes that goes into our bodies...not good! So at the beautiful store Target you can get Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid and they have the dish washer detergent. Its nice to see non-toxic on what you are cleaning your dishes with :) and its not that much more money. Believe me, i am the queen of saving money.

So just wanted to share those things while they were on my heart this week! :)

So thankful...

we are so blessed by these 2 beautiful boys! what joy they bring us each day!! we love you sweet Noah and Owen :)

we love vacation!!!

we had a great 10 days in North Myrtle Beach!! Some friends from our church were kind enough to let us use their condo again....what a huge gift!! We had a blast and had some much needed family time! we try and make vaca full of fun things that we normally don't get to do or do much of. So we borrowed some new toys from a friend. Borrowed some movies. bought popsicles. (we never buy them...i make juice pops-so these are a real treat) got candy and ice cream a few times. went out to dinner most nights. I had a coupon or gift card for almost every place we went!! :)) love e-clubs! went mini golfing 3 times. went to the pool and/or beach every day. bought lots of sweets to enjoy at the condo. Chris and i got 1.00 red boxes quite a bit :) we just had a laid back blast! our air conditioning broke down 20 minutes into the drive there!!! but we were able to get it fixed for a good price. the parts were expensive, but the labor was done by a friend of a friend. so we are thankful that the last few days and they way home we had air! thank you Jesus!! Noah still called the beach house his "other house". when we pulled up he said.. "oh, a light is on in my house." so sweet!! I tried to get Chris to stay another day! But he said he had to go back to work! what is that?!

we are so thankful!! we pray the Lord's blessing on our friends!!

the boys :)

Chris is quite the photographer.....he is talented and does not even know it! check out these sweet pics he surprised me with when i was at work last week!

The older that Owen is getting, the better they are playing together. It is the sweetest thing to see them playing and laughing together! They love each other so much and it is so fun to think about the brotherly fun they are going to have as time goes on!!

summer at Inniswoods Park

This is one of our favorite metro parks. We are so blessed to have some really fun parks here in Columbus! The boys love it! We had a picnic lunch and then explored the woods!

Little Piggies

Owen loves when our fridge door is open :) Lets just say...as much as our boys eat now, i cannot even imagine how much its going to be when they are teenagers! ha! What healthy and wonderful boys we are blessed with!

high school halls

We went to my alma matter for a musical called "Cabaret". I used to be in it and some friends from church were in it and we were able to go. It was really special to walk around and share with Chris about the halls i walked and how i lived. I even went into my Spanish class room and sat at a desk :) i didn't do so well in that classroom...but i do remember a good amount of espanol :) These halls are full of flashbacks from back in the day. The memories start from being so anxious to have more freedom at high school as a freshman. Going to school the week after my Dad passed away and knowing that my Father was with me always and forever...Jesus. Playing volleyball as a freshman and sophomore. Singing lots and lots at this school. Praying tons for my fellow students who knew me as a Jesus lover...but at least they voted me "best personality" our senior year! Having bible studies, prayer groups, and FCA meetings. But mostly i wanted Chris to walk down memory lane with me. For me to share with him the life i lived here. For him to know in these very halls i thought of him often. Prayed for him often. Hoped for him often. Stayed pure for him. And loved him. I always wondered if my future husband was among me in my school or if he lived in another state? I always had a thing for Tennessee. :)

Happy Birthday Owen!

Our sweet Owen, we love you so much! We cannot even believe that you are ONE! what?! Even though it does seem like a year ago that we were at Mount Carmel East holding you in our arms...when we look at how big you are, it does not seem like a whole year already! You have a way of making people feel loved...and you are just one. your smile lights up the room. you and your brother laughing just melts our hearts. you are so loved Owen Michael Moseley...Happy First Birthday!

The Great Date Experiment

So i have such a sweet and creative husband! And i wanted to share something cool that we are going to be doing over the next few months. Have you heard of Northpont Church? its an amazing church in Atlanta that Andy Stanley is the pastor at. Chris and I had the pleasure of going there when we lived in VA. Chris has been to a leadership conference there as well. Anyway, Chris is always checking out their website and their worship. They have a great Married Life program there where they focus a lot on the importance on marriage and all that jazz! Well they have a cool series they started called "Great Date Experiment". 6 dates with your spouse...you download the material and each date you do not know what you are doing...the paper will tell you. the 6 dates focus on the essentials of a great marriage. Nurture Romance, Cultivate Communication, Hurry Home, Celebrate Differences, Finish Together, and Trust God. The cool thing is that you cannot look at any of them ahead of time...which is kinda hard for us not to plan! ha! We are big planner people! We are looking forward to this! The first date is thursday! Let love be your greatest aim!

happy 7 years!!

In a few days Chris and I will be celebrating 7 years of marriage!! March 22,2003 was the best day of my life! December 18th and May 6th are my next 2 favorites :) I am so thankful for the man God made for me. He could not have matched us any better! I love being Chris Moseley's wife. I love taking care of him. I love everything about him. I love that he makes me want to live life better. I love that he makes me love Jesus more. I love to see him be the amazing Daddy that he is. I love how you love me. Happy Anniversary to the man of my dreams...i love you!

funny boys!

i love how Owen looks at Noah. I love how when Noah walks in the room Owen's face lights up. And Noah loves his brother and is so sweet with him. so sweet. We love to see them make each other laugh!

My Dad

My Dad and Mom :)
My Dad and I snuggling :)
I took this picture a few days before he died

Today is November 9th. November 9th, 1996 is a day i will never forget. It changed me and my family life forever. I remember that morning pretty well. God was preparing me for my father's death for a few weeks. I could write a 20 page blog about all the things that God did to prepare my heart for what was about to happen. But i will tell you that he gave me His peace. And it has still not left me to this day. My Dad was an amazing man of God. He would pray every morning before he left to go to work. It would be 5am and he was literally on his hands and knees praying each day. He worked 3 different jobs and drove the crappy of crappiest cars to provide for our family. He had the best sense of humor- the best! He was such a teaser all the time. He would dance down the isles of the grocery store and embarrass the heck out of me. :) His death brought a lot of people closer to the Lord. Including me. His death brought people to come to know the Lord. Including my Grandmother (his mom). He impacted so many through his life and death. At his funeral a chef and several of the workers of my Dad's favorite waffle house came. He was one of a kind.

My heart breaks that Chris cannot know him. My Dad would have loved Chris as another one of his sons. He would think Chris was just the greatest. When i think about my Dad and how in love he would be with Noah and Owen it always brings me to tears. He would have been an amazing Grandpa. I have a feeling he would have wanted to move in with us because he couldn't get enough of them. One day...he will get to meet my family and it will be an incredible day.

I have so much to say about my Dad, his death, and how it has changed my life. Thank you Lord for blessing me and Corey with 15 years with my Dad. Thank you for blessing my Mom with many years married to him. We will forever love and miss you Dad.

Owen the bird

Owen is our little loud bird- what you are about to see is nothing compared to what he does! And Noah is joining in! :)

sweetness

our little pumkins. thank you Lord for blessing us with the sweetest boys!

Owen's dedication

A few weeks ago Owen was dedicated to the Lord. What an amazing day. Our church gives the babies their first bible, a letter about Jesus, a certificate, and a lullaby CD. They also cater a nice lunch afterwards for family and friends. A day to celebrate the birth of our sweet son. A day to thank the Lord for allowing us to take care of Owen. To teach him to love the Lord, to serve Him, to follow Him. That is the one thing Chris and i hope to instill in our boys, to be a Christ follower. Thank you Lord for trusting us to be Owen's Mommy and Daddy! We are so blessed to have such a happy and adorable baby. Each day, help us to be the parent's that you want us to be Lord. That Noah and Owen need. thank you.

haircuts and bowling!

This past friday we took Owen for his first haircut! He had a mullet growing longer by the second and his bangs were past his eyes! So as hard as it was to let my 4 month old get a haircut...we did it! Owen did great and pretty much smiled the whole time! Like normal! :) All 3 boys got haircuts that day. I think this will be a normal occurrence now. Good thing my sweet cousin Carrie gives us a family discount!

Then after haircuts and Noah's flu shot we went to a new bowling alley in town! Let me tell you it is sweeeeet! Brand new place called Rule 3. Noah loved it! Except he was a little scared of the mini bowling. We didn't try the real bowling because the mini one was only 2.00 and seemed more his size! But we will just go back and try it again! Just like Chuck E Cheese..he loved it the second time!

Doing a "scary dance" because we was scared of the bowling!

Chris trying to encourage him to bowl :)

He is so handsome!!

mullet in the back!!!

Owen loving getting his first haircut! Such a little love bug!

Sonfest!

This is our son dancing to a group that preformed at Sonfest. Could he be any cuter? Our brother in-law Whit gave us tickets to come to this event where he performed with Plumb. More pictures to come :) So fun!

Big Boy Room!

So here is Noah's big boy room!! Chris did such an awesome paint job! Its been ready for a while...its just now time to move Owen into the crib..which means its time for Noah to go into his bed. Which he was very content in his crib. :) and so was i :) Noah has done great though! He only fell out once! In the middle of the night and he just stayed on the floor crying until i came in. Poor guy! But other than that he has done great! My Mom was sweet and found the Elmo toddler bed set...so that has helped! We removed all the toys that were in there. (doctors suggestion) So far, it is much easier transition then i though it was going to be! Thank the Lord! When he is done with his nap or gets up in the morning, he just opens the door like a big boy and is ready to play. Wow, where has the time gone?!

31 of a million....

31 of a million reasons why i love Chris Moseley.

1- His heart is so beautiful. He loves all and is kind to everyone even when its hard to be.

2- that beautiful smile, those gorgeous eyes, well i could go on and on about this one...

3- how hard we laugh together!

4- your incredible voice that the Lord has blessed you with.

5- seeing you praise the Lord each sunday morning with such beauty and ease.

6- our love of food and movies :)

7- how you have tears in your eyes when you are so excited to surprise me with something.

8- seeing you with our boys.

9- how you are such a great friend to people.

10- you provide for our family, and i am so thankful.

11- we have the same taste on just about everything! makes life easy!

12- how you always order water when we are out to eat and i always get the pop ;) (not coke)

13- i love that you love to cook! and you are reallllly good at it too!

14- how i feel so loved by you.

15- your desire to always be learning.

16- you never complain about the house being a mess or that the laundry is not done. but when these things do happen, you are always so encouraging about it and actually notice it.

17- i love that you always want to try new things. you are most adventurous with food :)

18- you are so honest.

19- so faithful.

20- i love that you , Noah, and Owen have a little dimple in your chins :)

21- i love to hear our singing voices together. we have been singing together since 2000...and that is what brought us together!

22- i love that people say you "light up" when you talk about me and the boys.

23- i love that we love the same shows and are perfectly content spending the evening together with each other and our beautiful tv :)) and some snacks :)

24- the hard worker that you are.

25- that you love cherry coke as much as i do.

26- that you can take everything in while i am sitting there overwhelmed with all the info, and you remember all that was said at the boys doctors appointments! :) ha!

27- you listen to me so well.

28- you give such wise advice.

29- i am so glad you are so smart.

30- i hardly ever hear you complain.

31- because you love our family so much.

so i could go on and on...but just wanted to tell you that you are so loved and so appreciated. thank you for being the best husband and father ever! happy birthday to the love of my life.

second times a charm!

Chris took the day off on tuesday since he worked so much last week with the worship retreat. He surprised me with the entire day. It was so sweet! He sent me an Evite that said he was taking the day off and we were going to all 4 go to Chuck E Cheese and Jason's Deli. And then later that night he arranged for our friend Nicole to watch the boys and we went to dinner and a movie. We had gift cards for both, so that was nice! Bucca De Beppo and we went to easton to see The Proposal. It was so nice to have the time with each other and not two little ones. :)

Noah's first experience at Chucky E Cheese was hilarious. He was overwhelmed by it all and really didn't enjoy it that much. This time we walked in and he ran to all the games and toddler space. It was so cute! He was just loving every minute! There were tickets everywhere, so we picked all of them up and got about 200. So Noah got to pick out some prizes :) He thought he was going to have a birthday party though because all of the commericals for chucky e cheese show kids having b-day parties and blowing out the candles. So he said "Woha(Noah) birthday cake" and then he pretended to blow candles. This is such a FUN age!!! here is a much happier Noah at Chuck's.....