I {HEART} my Firefighter!

This past Thursday, my wonderful and amazing husband graduated from the Houston Fire Academy!

It was such a joy to watch this part of our lives unfold.

Like I have talked about before, this has been long awaited.

I am so proud and honored to serve a man who has sacrificially committed to this calling.

Earlier in the day, before the graduation ceremony, we got to watch David first hand in a fire demonstration.

My heart was filled with pride, while my eyes were filled with tears! .....Yes, it was a little scary for me.... BUT I know my husband has a passion for this.

.....Today .....Sunday......was his first day of work!! Crazy isn't it!

I awoke with him this morning at 4 am to see him off to work! I resisted the urge to take his picture all "uniformed" up!

......I am now on my journey of learning the steadfast faithfulness of our Father to see safety and provision over my husband!

I am {Dreaming}.....

Of This............

Or wait ....am I dreaming?.....or is this soon to be real.

Not sure?

Time shall tell................

Isn't she a beauty!

*Singing IN the RAIN!! *

Last week was wet and rainy, BUT not very cold.......so i thought it was the perfect opportunity for Ava to play outside with her new umbrella!

I love the days that we get to go outside! A two year old can only deal with confined walls for so long! (Of coarse I could not resist the urge to take some cute pics!).....pics to follow at the end!

On a different note.......has your child ever done something that just melts your heart into a million pieces?.....Ava has been doing this to me alot lately.

She is finally at the age to where she is saying things that are so reassuring to me .....that she is starting to get it!!!!

The other day we were walking into Target and she looked at me and told me " Mommy, Jesus lives in my happy heart, and not in my mean heart!"........It was PRECIOUS!!!


AND THEN.....yesterday....she opened my flood gates....the kind where it became suddenly pointless that I even spent time to put make-up on that morning. On our way to our destination....(mall and Chick Fil A) ....my ears were filled with the most JOYFUL, amazing thing ever! Ava singing this song almost from start to finish!!!




This momma needed to hear those sweet words coming from her two year olds mouth!!! Oh how they sounded more beautiful than they have any time before. ..... lately I feel like my days have been eaten up with constant discipline to Ava. Don't take me the wrong way here, it is not constant spankings, although she does get her fare share of those, it is just constant redirection and correction. We are trying to teach Ava the blessing and security of obedience....and to be honest, some days it is just plum exhausting!!! Hearing this just gave me some encouragement that she is learning!.....The best part was on the Holy, Holy, Holy part she had her hands lifted and all!!! ( yes, she was imitating her mommy, there is nothing wrong with praising Jesus while driving down the road!)
Anyway....here are some pics enjoy!!!!

{NeW}

In almost 2 short weeks our lives are going to change.

They will change in a way we have been waiting for,
for a very long time.



My husband will graduate from the Houston Fire Academy, and begin his career as a Houston Firefighter/EMT. I cannot tell you how proud I am of this man. Any man that finishes a college degree and graduates from a Fire Academy practically in the same year is a HERO!! My hero!...(all the while upholding his duties as husband and father)

I cannot believe this day has finally come.

The day that NEITHER one of us are in school, the day where we can "settle" down and focus on just life....our life...our families life! How exciting.

This has not come easy, as we have experienced many ups and downs along the way.....but needless to say WE HAVE ARRIVED..only to bring GLORY to God because none of this would be made possible with out him.

So now what?

I am not sure .....I guess that is what I am struggling with, I am struggling to find my JOY in all of this!

Have you ever felt just plum disoriented with life??? .........

I know I am probably piddling in my own pitty...so forgive me for a minute.

But if you are not aware of our living situation...we are not in our own home. Meaning we rented out our house to get us through this journey that was full of many unknowns, and now we have until August to be back in the comfort of our own home......So we are living with my parents!.....It is not terribly bad, it is just not our home.

I am struggling with this newness of our life, because I have waited for this day for a long long time...to feel "settled"......but really I still feel so unsettled.

All of that to say.....I know that the Devil is just trying to steal my JOY! I mean don't get me wrong, I am so happy for my husband BUT why coundn't this have worked out better.... my way...like the way I always dreamed it would be.

Lord forgive me.....I am selfish and in need of a savior!......Thank you Jesus!

I wish I had some fancy words for you on how I have overcome all of this....but I don't! My heart is aching for what I longed for! ( selfish I know!)............BUT I can tell you that I am praying against all of this.....I know that I have plenty to be Thankful for.

We love you Daddy!

{ LoVe It } - {HaTe It }

So I have this new Love Hate relationship!



It is with something that is soft, Messy, colorful, slatly and causes my OCD radar to go off.



You want to know what it is....................



Play Doh!!!!!!!



I love that it keeps my 2 year old occupied.



I hate that my daughter likes to "tatend" ( pretend) to eat the play doh, but really eats it.


I love that it lets Ava use her creativity.



I hate that it caueses my OCD tendencies to come out in a mighty big way, when the colors get mixed.


I love that it helped Ava learn some letters of her Alphabet when we built them out of Play doh.


I hate that I feel like the living room rug will be polka dotted with dried play doh.


I love that play doh is only .99 cents a piece and can be easily replaced.



I love it even more that you can make your own play doh!


I hate that Play Doh "crumbles" are taking over my life!


I love that Ava always asks to "play my play doh!"



I love to watch Ava play with her Play Doh.



I love it when she makes flowers out of Play Doh and brings them to me, or when she serves me Play Doh pancakes.



I love it that I can get an entire meal cooked while Ava plays with Play Doh.



I guess I am falling in love with this messy glob of goodness!



I guess I will have to learn to deal with little jars of mixed Play Doh. It just fits into our little life that is less than perfect but always colorful!