Fruit Loops and Annie

What a great combination, right? I tried to put on Dora, Sesame Street, and the Wiggles. Nope, she wanted to watch Annie. And sing with her mouth full. You always wonder what your kids will be good at when they get older. I wonder if she'll really be a singer, or if this is just a toddler phase. She can sing on pitch, but she doesn't always get all the words. I do love it that she loves musicals! She'd rather watching singing and dancing anyday over a kid's show! I signed her up for dance classes for the fall! We're excited, I hope she can pay attention and follow directions. I'm currently in the process of shopping for ballet and tap shoes. We had a crazy weekend. Yesterday we had "Homecoming Sunday" at our church. It was pretty good. It's nice to return to your roots sometimes and be sentimental. Josh put together a 10 minute video of a pictoral history of the church. It was really cool to go through all the old pictures and understand how the church started, and see how far it's come. Our District Superintendent, Rick Hudgens (used to pastor at Sturgis Wesleyan in Michigan) came and preached. We got to spend some time with him and his wife, Sharon, at the pitch-in dinner after the service. We think they are a great couple, and really enjoyed getting to know them better. On Saturday, Josh and I worked ALL DAY. I clean the fellowship hall and classrooms once a week, and this was my longest day ever. We had a nasty clogged up toilet downstairs. I swear, someone exploded and then tried to clean it up with paper towels. The whole basement stunk, then we had to actually buy a special plumbing tool to get in unclogged! Luckily, my dad is a plumber, so he gave a us a crash course over the phone! Josh worked on the video and re-setting the stage all day. We are tired! I feel like a truck hit me today! My parents are coming to visit on Friday!! I am so excited!! We haven't seen them in 3 months, so I'm ready. They'll be here for a week, and 4 more days can't come soon enough! I'm really missing home this week, and so is Josh. (Just for all of you Richmond residents, did you hear me?! Josh MISSES RICHMOND!!) So their visit will be great, bringing some of home to us. That means lots of cleaning and getting the guest room ready! I better get started!

It's happening

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Originally uploaded by amandavivan©.

When Josh and I were at Saddleback, we really felt like God was telling us that He wanted us to do something big for Him. (Easy to feel that way after you've spent a week at Saddleback) When we got back, we almost immediately went to our district conference, where the "theme" seemed to be re-focusing your church, or re-starting your church. A few couples went along with us, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that they were hungry for much, much more. We knew that we couldn't leave the church... we've only been here for 6 months! We really do like it here, and we've met some amazing people and made some very good friends. God seemed to be putting people in our path who are all desiring the same thing - change. Not just a change in church, not just the music style, but a completely different change in ministry. Josh and I started praying, as did some of the other couples. After praying and talking and brainstorming, we thought it would be a great idea to have an alternative venue service. We would be our own church within the church, meet off-site, and develop a whole new ministry to offer to people in our community. There is nothing relevant or un-churchy near us, and that is what we are hungry for. So far, we have 14 people that we want to gather together as a "launch" team. Josh and our part time youth pastor approached our senior pastor today about this idea. We were very worried that he wouldn't be on board with it, because he thinks our church is just fine the way it is. He said he didn't feel the urgency that we do, but that doesn't mean that we don't feel it, or that he should discourage us just because he doesn't feel that way. He gave us permission to start meeting together as a group to pray and seek God's direction for this - PRAISE GOD!!! We feel this stirring, we know that God wants to do something huge, and we are ready to be used. Our 14 people will begin meeting together to pray, and we're going to do 40 days of prayer, and if they want, fasting a little bit. Josh is ordering copies of "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" for everyone, as that book is very relevant to our situation. I just wanted to share this and ask you to pray with us, and be happy with us! I'll keep you updated!

I Found Yellow, Mommy!

Ok, this may look and sound gross to a lot of you, but we are very proud and happy! Just 2 days ago, Ellie decided it was time to start using the potty! She WILLINGLY sits on it and goes! #2 is another story.. but hey, we're off to a great start. She has coined her own terms for using the potty... like, instead of saying "pee-pee" she says, "I found lellow!" And instead of "poop", she says, "I haffa sqeeze!" Creative, isn't she? I am overjoyed and so relieved! This is like a major burden lifted off of my shoulders, and not only are we proud of her, she is proud of herself! FINALLY!!!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

We have a pumpkin patch. We didn't plant it, the previous pastors did. They also planted strawberries, weird plants, and all kinds of garden-y things. We do not garden. I had to learn when the strawberries were ripe, so we could pick them, and now I've just learned that pumpkins are ripe when they fall off the vine. I wouldn't have figured that out on my own, I would have been taking them off the vine when I thought they were ready! This pumpkin patch is over taking our yard, as you can see! Right now we have about 6 orange ones, a couple of green ones, and we've found several more little baby ones, about 10 of them. Needless to say, we are more than prepared for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then some. Anybody want some pumpkins?

Weary Travelers

We had a huge storm last night and all some interesting things "washed" up. It's so dry here that normally when we get rain, the ground is dry again in about an hour. However last night's rain left puddles - something rarely seen around here!

I found this little guy taking a stroll in front of our house on the sidewalk... yes, he was walking down the sidewalk.


He was not too hip on coming out to say hi.

I'm not sure the locust has anything to do with the rain, but I saw it fly off the church's roof and onto the sidewalk on the other side of the fence. Now I can be in the Jana Day Locust Club! (See Jana Day's blog if you have no clue what I'm tlaking about)

The minute he starts to invite his buddies over for a molting party, he's gone!

Ellie Delph: Fashionista & Musician

Ellie loves clothes, shoes, bows in her hair, singing and "playing" piano. She picks songs up very quickly, remembers words, and tell US what songs to sing on Sunday morning! She must always have dressy "Annie" shoes on, lacy socks, and barrettes or bows in her hair. They don't always look the best, but hey, she's only 3. Who am I to argue with her?!


After taking her bath, she likes to look at what she's wearing. Here, she can see her reflection in the oven door.


"Holy is the Lord! Goooood Alminy! The Errrrrrt is pill wif his glowy!" I know you can't hear it, but that's what she was singing.



So serious. Must have the Sprite in the Subway cup to concentrate.


You must push the pedals every now and then. And watch out, Jonathan Antin and Nick Arrojo. Only Ellie Delph can wear a ponytail, 2 barrettes, and a ribbon in her hair all at the same time and STILL look cute.

They grow so fast!

I can't believe she's so big that we're already thinking about preschool. She's 3 1/2, and it's time, I guess! Most people I know didn't go to preschool until they were 4, but I know she'd love it. The social interaction with other kids alone would be great for her. It seems like you can never prepare yourself enough for how quickly they grow up. I'm still getting over the fact that she doesn't need bottles, almost doesn't need sippy cups anymore! She can pretty much hold her own with a regular cup if I only fill it halfway. She still sleeps in a crib ( I know some people think this is wierd ), but friends of mine with older children say if she's not climbing out, don't put her in a big girl bed yet! We can have regular conversations with her now. She says pretty much whatever she wants. Sometimes she gets her words mixed arouond, but you can still understand what she's saying. She can put her shoes on by herself and she can almost dress herself. I am not ready for her to be 4 yet! And I know it will come quickly. She knows her ABC's, she can count to 10, knows all her shapes and colors, and can pick up words to songs in a heartbeat. She knows all the words to "You Raise Me Up" because Josh and I practiced it in the car for an hour on the way to a wedding! She loves FFH, especially "You Found Me". Hates Barney (thank goodness) and loves the Doodlebops. She likes to "do" mommy's hair with her pretend curling iron and blowdryer. She tells me, "Now sit still! I'm almost done! Look at me!" It's so amazing that in 3 short years she has developed into her own little person with likes and dislikes, favorite songs and movies, and is almost ready for school. It's a little sad for me when she sees a baby and says, "Look mommy, a baby!" And I think to myself, "NO! You're supposed to be the baby!" And even though she's barely in 2T clothes, she's not a baby anymore! Now if we can just get her potty trained......

Challenges and Organization

I am not a naturally organized person. I love organization, I just can't seem to get there. Why is this? I have been challenged to do a better job at this. More than anything, I want a smoothly-ran home, a clean home, and no weeds growing in my backyard. (Although Josh is the yard master) I want toys in neat little bins (we have little bins, they are not organized) I want clutter to disappear. I want my house to have that crisp-clean smell. (Not that it stinks, but you know what I mean) I love waking up to a clean house. What a great feeling. It just seems there is always something that needs to be done. Clothes put away, toys put away, dishes need to be washed or put away, the bed needs to be made. We used to make our bed everyday, now we're out of the habit. There really is no excuse. I STRONGLY desire to have a daily schedule with Ellie, a cleaning schedule, days that we do certain things, like the library on Mondays, or the playground on Fridays. This whole staying home full time thing is new to me, and I'm starting to get bored! Isn't that awful?! Here is my "schedule" now : Get up around 8:30, give Ellie a poptart (because she loves them) and some milk, then go downstairs and check my email and turn on Playhouse Disney for Ellie, hang around in my pj's until around 10am. Then the shower, then clean a little, launder a little, then it's usually lunchtime and Josh comes home. After lunch, we might go to the library or whatever. It's been WAY too hot to take walks. (105 last week) Ellie goes down for a nap around 3:00 and wakes up around 5:00. What do I do during that time? I relax. I watch Oprah or read Real Simple (the magazine that I cannot live life without, and, ironically, is all about organization in your life) or journal, maybe take a nap if I'm really sleepy. Now that I look at all that - I can seem lazy. What should I do with myself? What do I do with Ellie? I am also not a natural mother, and at this age, I have no clue what to do with her. She will not play by herself. She must follow me around everywhere I go. That's fine, I just wish I could find something free and constructive for her to do. She's not into coloring anymore, she likes to play with babydolls now, but she wants me to play with her. Which is fine, except I have things to do around the house. Josh keeps saying to me, "I thought you were going to make a daily schedule? What's happened with that?" I don't know! I don't know what to do in my daily schedule!!!! Am I lazy?! Or just un-motivated? I want to see myself as one of those moms who gets up at like 7 and is perfectly groomed and showered and has breakfast ready for my family on the table (except we don't have a table, we have a bar) and then starts housework while my beautiful child plays outside on her brand new swingset that her grandparents bought for her (except she won't play outside by herself, and it's been so hot that the swings and the slide burn her little legs) and my house is clean ALL THE TIME. Do you see what I did after all of that? I made excuses. I'm tired of making excuses, I need to find solutions to my excuses. I know God has given me the wonderful privelege of staying at home with Ellie, and I have 24 hours in my day just like everyone else to make the best of. I really feel like making the most of my day is what God would have me to do. I know it will make me a better mother, wife, and will truly affect my time w/ God when I have those few hours to myself everyday. Does anyone else find it extremely hard to get up in the morning and try to connect with God? I so badly want to be a morning person! To be wide awake at 6:30 am would be wonderful! Of course... it's 12:19am and I'm sitting here blogging. The old saying "happiness starts in the home" is probably true, and I really think God is telling me to take it to heart. I know that true happiness starts with my God, and that is true in my life. But I think I could love my family more and take care of them better if I organized my home well and made better use of my time. I will be praying about this and ask God to fill me in on how I can do this. And any suggestions from all of you would great! I'll keep you updated.