Friday, December 30, 2011

Surprise, We Are Going to Disney

For the last two months, we have been keeping the biggest surprise from the kids and let me tell you, it was hard!!! About two months ago, my mom surprised us by telling us that she wanted to take us all to Disney World for Christmas. We knew that the kids would be so excited but wanted to wait and tell them until Christmas Eve night. Santa came to our house while we were at church. When we got home there was a gift that said, " Open last". Inside the gift were Mickey shirts, and items that had Mickey on them. Wrapped was the can that they have been putting money in for four years. Inside the can was a note from Mickey. Here is the video of them finding out, it is priceless...
To say the least, we had a wonderful time. We got back late last night and I can tell you, it really is the most magical place on Earth. I will be updating my blog in a few days with pictures and details of our trip.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Praying For Our Husbands

My husband Josh just graduated with his masters degree in hopes of going into administration. Our family is so proud of him. He is hopeful that a job opportunity will become available for him. In the meantime, I am praying for God's will in my husbands life. He knows my husband more than I do, he knows our future, he knows where He can put Josh that will bring Him glory. I actually emailed Josh today and told him that I want us to pray together tonight about this... then an awesom email pops up. It is a beautiful step by step for praying for our husbands. I love it and wanted to share it here.

http://reneeswope.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/PrayingForMyHusband.Head2Toe.pdf

I pray that this will bless you and in turn bless your husbands.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

A Child of God

The David study has touched my heart very much this week. The virtues that David possessed our some of the many virtues that Jesus Christ possesses as well.
1. He has shown me kindness
2. He has initiated a relationship with me.
3. He has accepted me completely.
4. He has shown me His calming Spirit.
5. He delights in my restoration.
6. He DESIRES for ME to be His DAUGHTER! Wow, me?
That is just so hard to comprehend, that God seeks you out in a crowd, yells your name and says, " Yes, you!!!! I desire for YOU to be my daughter."

This challenges me to also seek a heart like His. A heart that shows kindness, is an initiator of meaningful relationships, accepts others completely, shows a calming spirit, delights in the restoration of others and above alllllll else, desires a relationship with my Father in Heaven that calls me HIS.

I hope that you are blessed today by the video below. During this Thanksgiving holiday, I pray that you give thanks to the one that calls you "daugther".

Monday, November 14, 2011

Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas

I am getting so excited for Thanksgiving. For those of you that know me, you know how much I love to cook. It is a part of me. My mom and grandma are the same way... my sis just likes to look at cooking magazines and have someone else make the recipe:) Below are some great recipes for your family for Thanksgiving dinner. I would so appreciate if you would leave a comment telling me your favorite must have dish at Thanksgiving. Also, do you plan on making anything new this year???

Thursday, November 10, 2011

A Life That Will Inspire You

I am sitting here in front of my computer with tears pouring down my face. You will soon see why. This morning I received a message from one of my beautiful friends, Meredith Murrey. She shared with me a story and a message from a woman named Denai Vaughn. She was a women very close to my age that had a heart for God. She was a woman who lived out generosity. You can find more of her story on Meredith's blog, http://www.murrayfive.blogspot.com/

This woman lost her life yesterday instantly in a car accident. A year ago, to the day of her death, she left a video message about Outliving Your Life. She had lost many friends that day to death and her message was a message of hope. She reminded all of us to share our life with our families and our friends TODAY! Not waiting for a wedding or a funeral to share how much we love them. She challenged everyone to live today with the goal and passion of leaving a legacy. This woman and this video has touched me in a way that I don't know that I can describe with words. If you do anything today, take the time to watch this video.
 To all of you that are reading this, I LOVE YOU! I am blessed beyond measure for the relationships in my life. To my children Sawyer and Ava, thank you for giving me more joy than I will ever deserve, thank you for teaching me lessons and for loving your mama even when I am not too pretty. To my husband Josh, thank you for sharing this life with me. I am grateful that God gave me a husband who I love, who embraces me and who I can say is and forever will be my best friend. To my mom, dad, step-parents, brother, sister, Kayt, Mitch and Greyson... I LOVE YOU! Let this be a lesson to us to spend more time together. To stop and take the moments to appreciate eachother in our lives. To Mops, Pops, Jason, Trina, Kaitlyn, Kelsey, Wesley, and Breck... thank you for loving me, thank you for being in my life and I want you to know how much I love you. You are my family too. To my friends, thank you for loving me through the good and the bad. Thank you for celebrating the joy in my life and thank you for wiping the tears through the broken times. And to my loving God, thank you for never leaving me, for giving Your Son as an example. I want to leave a legacy that makes you proud. I want to walk into Your gates and hear you say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Monday, November 7, 2011

Generosity

Our church is currently doing a series, "Practicing Extravagant Generosity". I have really enjoyed it. Pastor Mike talked about a scripture from Matthew that I want to put on my mirror to read first thing in the morning as a reminder of why I am really here.
" Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and praise your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:16


The more I thought about that verse, the more I thought about my children. I don't want Ava and Sawyer to grow up thinking that they live in a "me" world. I want them to grow up knowing that God has called them to help others. God uses us to meet the needs of His people. What a responsibility but also what an honor!!! Over the weekend, my beautiful friend Nikki led our children in an awesome project. She bought all of this food and created a mock grocery store in her living room. The kids had a grocery list and went around shopping for our items. They put these items in a box that would be taken to a mission for families that need it. It was beautiful to watch. Nikki, thank you for creating a fire within me and reminding me that my children need to show generousity, and their mother does as well. We can be generous with our time, with our finances, with our forgiveness, with our compassion and with our love. Below I have included a few ideas to do with our kids over the season... I found these ideas on http://www.blissfullydomestic.com/

  1. Prepare and deliver a meal to someone in need. Your local church could help identify a recipient if you don’t know someone already.
  2. Prepare a care package for an overseas soldier. These men and women are often especially homesick during the holiday season. A care package is a sweet pick-me-up for them.
  3. Gather some of your old books that are in great condition and deliver them to a local children’s hospital.
  4. Sort through old toys for items that can be taken to Goodwill or Salvation Army.
  5. Make some Thanksgiving crafts to deliver to a senior center or veteran’s home.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Thanksgiving Printables

I am starting to get excited for thanksgiving so started looking around the web for some fun things. I found a few prints that would be fun to put around the house. They are from Honey Bear Lane. Just click on the image and you can print off and put in a frame.


Also, here are some conversation starters for the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day from Skiptomylou.org. I think these would be fun to pass around the table and take turns asking the family. You can print these off after clicking on the link below.


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The 2 Words that Can Destroy Your Marriage

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about marriage, my marriage in particular. I can tell you that in the past, I was queen of the "if onlys". When I married my husband, I had no idea that it would follow 9 1/2 years of being alone on the weekends. I married a teacher... didn't know that a career in acting would follow. I use to resent my husband for this work, and I promise you, it didn't lead us to a good place. People have asked me recently how Josh and I are so good. My first answer is, grace and mercy. Only by the power of Jesus Christ do we have a good marriage. But I also follow that up by saying, "respect and honor". Both have been built over time in our marriage, not given with a ceremony and a ring. I read this article on www.refineus.org. I am attaching it below. If you journal, I would encourage you today to make a list of the blessings your spouse brings... not the "if only's".

There are so many things that your marriage can survive. You marriage can survive miscommunication. Your marriage can survive busy schedules. Your marriage can overcome conflict with your in-laws. Your marriage can get through sexual brokenness and unforgiveness. But, there are two words that will eventually bring an end to your marriage…if not legally then definitely emotionally.
The two words are…
…IF ONLY…

If only my wife had sex with me more often
If only my husband looked at me like my boss does
If only we had kids
If only we made more money
If only we lived in a bigger house
If only we would have dated longer
If only she took care of herself like the lady at the gym
If only my high school boyfriend and I would have stayed together
If only we hadn’t had kids so young
If only she understood me
If only he listened to me
If only I knew we were soul mates
If only she cooked more or better
If only he could do things around the house

If only causes you to focus on what isn’t rather than on what is. If only allows your mind to fantasize about someone that isn’t your spouse. If only believes the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. If only paralyzes us in the pursuit of our spouse and convinces us that a perfect marriage is competently up to the other person. If only will slowly destroy intimacy and leave you in a place of resentment. If only will trick you into believing that the best days of your marriage are behind you and and not ahead of you.
The best thing you can do for your marriage today is remove “if only” from your mind and heart.
You can’t change the past, but you can prevent the past from destroying your future.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Things I Don't Want To Forget

We are at that time in our lives right now where Family Time is just good. The kids are at an age where we can mess around, we can watch shows together, we can talk about more serious topics and life is just good. I don't want to forget these things. I already look at my children and feel like the time has moved so quickly, and I have forgotten so much. I don't want to forget... I don't want to forget... I don't want to forget the...
1. The sound of Sawyer's feet coming down the wooden steps in the morning, coming to my side and quietly whispering in my ear, " Mommy, can I get in bed with you... I'm scared".
2. Ava sitting at the kitchen table, reading to me and in her teacher voice, telling me all the things she knows about Texas..." Mom, did you know?..."
3. Ava singing at the top of her lungs through the house and always giving me a giggle with a new Ant Farm or Shake It Up move.
4. Josh yelling for the kids shouting, " It's Tickle Time"
5. The 4 of us laying on the couch, watching the Sing Off, pretending that we are the judges. Then Sawyer breaking out in a little Beat Box and some freestyle dance moves.
6. Ava and Sawyer racing eachother to see who can fill up the chore chart the fastest.
7. Watching the two of them pick out pumpkins and actually able to carry them to the car now. What????

Time is going to fast, I want to press hold, and take in every moment. They are just going by too fast. Our parents are right, life flies by and they grow up in the blink of an eye.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

World Series Time

It's that time of year and I am so excited for tonight's first game. I grew up in St. Louis watching the Cardinals. I can remember 3rd grade, Sister Mary not even teaching that day because she was too busy listening to the Cards and the Royals on the radio. It will be a fun night watching the game with my family. I wanted to share a really cute recipe I found online that is perfect for the kids. They are B for Baseball Cucakes. ( click on the link for the recipe).


Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Highs and the Lows of Marriage

Many of you know that one of the biggest passions of my life is marriage. I believe that God started that fire in me at a very early age. I was a child of divorce and it was very hard. Being the oldest, I felt a huge responsibility and a major sense of loss when our family became broken. Over the years, I have had to work through a lot of pain associated with that time of my life. I have learned many things along the way. I have learned to not be judgemental over anyone's circumstances, I have learned to have empathy for everyone involved, but unfortunetly most of all, I have learned the habit of fear in my own marriage. For many years, I allowed my fear over what happened with my own parents to affect my own marriage. I thought that as long as I had control over my husband, he wouldn't leave. It was a very suffocating way to live I promise. I have talked in some detail about the hard times of my own marriage. There was a time in my life where I didn't think we would make it but I learned a huge lesson through that time. I had to stop making my husband a god in my life. In other words, I had to stop putting such high expectations on my husband that he would never be able to meet. I started letting God be God and my husband be my husband. I had my priorities out of alignment and had to realign them. God became the most important thing and Josh and I allowed God to be at the very center of our marriage. After I got to that place, the rebuilding happened, and today I can tell you, we are in the best spot we have ever been in. We have a mutual respect for one another, we honor each other, and we are best friends. I say this is in the most humblest of ways. We were on our way to being a statisitic but because of God's grace and mercy, we are a living testament today that anything is possible. I found a book today that I will start reading soon. It is called "What Women Fear" by Angie Smith. There are many fears discussed in this book: Marriage, Children, Dying...etc.. I will start posting about this book, but if any of you would like to join me in reading this, let me know and maybe we can start a little coffee house book club of some sort. I also found a wonderful website on marriage that I wanted to share with you. Please read these if you are interested:
This is a website to go to that is awesome for marriage
These are also great tools:


Friday, October 7, 2011

Meal Plan Monday for October 10-14

I know this is early to be planning meals for next Monday but I have to get to the grocery store today and need a list. Josh and I are still on the Daniel Fast ( Day 10 and going strong) so all of our meals need to align with what we can have through the fast. We are including meat in the fast due to our running schedules.
Monday- Roast Beef with Mushroom Gravy
Tuesday- Grilled Fish and Peppers
Wednesday-Chili and Baked Potatoes
Thursday- Slow Cooker Jamalaya
Friday- eat out with the kids

If you need any of the above recipes, email me and I will send them to you.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Halloween Oreo Truffles

I told you all that I loved fall... this last weekend, I did the best I could to get my house ready for Halloween. Josh and I aren't the knick knack shoppers. I don't have a bunch of holiday decorations. But because the kids were asking, I got out everything I could find and decorated the house for Halloween. I found this recipe today for Halloween Oreo Truffles. They look amazing. Josh and I aren't going to be able to eat these, seeing that they aren't quite on the Daniel Fast but I really hope the kids enjoy them. If you would the recipe, you can find it hereHalloween Orea Truffles

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

A Fall Bucket List


I found this awesome fall family bucket list and can't wait to put it up in my house to start checking off all the fall to do's with the family.
Last night, we sat outside with the kids, made a fire and roasted marshmallow's for smores. It was a perfect evening. Fall is by far my favorite time of the year. Football season, cooler temperatures, great patio talks, soup, hot cocoa, playing in the leaves, pumpkin patches, apple pie. 

If you would like to print a fall bucket list for your family, you can find it hereFall Bucket List.
Leave a comment and let me know what you love to do in fall? Also, let me know of any fun places that your family goes.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Running for a Cause

Some of you may or may not know that about 2 years ago I ran with some friends in the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but very spiritual for me. The first long run of my training was 4 miles, and I will tell you that I barely made it. My mind kept spitting out at me, " how do you think that you are going to 13 if you can barely do 4?". It a scary thing to know how long 13.1 miles is. But I will tell you, over those 3 months of training, I worked up my stamina to do it. The day of the race I was so excited and very nervous. I remember at mile 11, an older gentlemen who I didn't know and will never see again said to me, ( this was at a point where I just wanted to stop) " you are almost done, I am so proud of you." With tears in my eyes, I finished that race, never walking. I knew that finishing that race meant two things... I really can do anything through Christ who gives me strength, and that humanity really is a beautiful thing. A voice from a man who didn't know me from Adam, said the words that I needed to hear to finish. God is Good and he is Big Enough. This brings me to the point of this email... I am running the White Rock 1/2 again, but this time it is for a cause greater than myself. I am a HOPE runner for the Miles for Hope Team. This team is led by the pastor of our church, David Alexander. We are running for Zoe Ministries, an empowerment program that is bringing hope to orphans in Africa. Thousands of children have lost both of their parents due to AIDS, disease, and war and left to take care of themselves and their siblings without the resources to do it. This leaves them hopeless and abandoned. Zoe Ministries gives them the hope, the resources, the education they need to break the cycle of poverty and to have a better life.


Our Miles for Hope Team goal is 25,000 and my personal goal is 1,000. My goal is to raise this money by December 4th, race day! Our church's goal is 250,000 ( amazing)!!!

If you would like to help me offer hope, you can do so by clicking here Hope Runner.
If you would like to learn more about Zoe Ministries, click here http://www.zoeministry.org/

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I would appreciate your prayers leading up to race day, December 4th. Thank you for being a part of my journey.

By the way, trying to talk the sweet hubby into joining on the run, I'll let you know if I am successful:)

~Andrea

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Seeing God through a Parent Conference

Today, I sat in a parent conference of one of my ESL students. This student has been struggling for the last four weeks. She came to our school speaking no English. The parents really want her to learn English so they have chosen to have her in an English classroom instead of a bilingual. For the past four weeks, this child has struggled. Her behavior is an issue, her defiance is an issue and she is struggling to learn the English language. Talking to her parents today broke my heart. They adopted her two years ago. This child is 5 and before they adopted her, she was in 5 other homes. She has had no structure, no control over her life and she is a broken little girl who has experienced more pain in her 5 years than I have in almost 35. I heard the pain that these parents feel, how much they love their daughter, how much they want for her. The mom described putting her little girl to bed, and than crying because she wants to protect her, to erase those previous years from her daughter's memory. All I could do was grab the mom's hands, tell her how brave she was, tell her what a blessing she was to this little girl, and tell her how God sends people like her to change the course of these children's lives. Coming back to my classroom, I starting thinking about how God feels about us. He is like that mother. He has adopted us and we are a new creation. He takes us in his arms, calms our fears and over us, he says, "let me be your protector. Let me make all things new. I am so sorry that you have gone through your pain, but please, stay with me and we can get through it together." I found a song that says better what I feel.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Daniel Fast

Right now, I am apart of this amazing bible study on the life of David. Last Sunday, during a video I was watching of Beth Moore's, she described the benefits of fasting. After doing some research on it, and talking with Josh, we have decided to start the Daniel Fast. I am excited about it and really interested to see what God is going to do. It is actually a very clean way to eat, and not bad at all. It usually requires no meat, but because I am in training for a half marathon right now, I am including meat because I really need the protein. If you want to know more about this, you can go to this website.http://daniel-fast.com/about.html.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Meal Plan Monday September 26

Meal Plan Monday
Monday- Buffalo Wild Wings for Jason’s birthday
Tuesday- Baked Spaghetti recipe
Wednesday- Wingless Buffalo chicken pizza recipe
Thursday-Chicken Stir Fry Wraps recipe

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Your Hands

My friend Lareta sent this to me yesterday and I really wanted to share this song with you. I am so amazed at God's love. It is so perfect. There have been times in my life that I have prayed for things to happen or pleaded with Him to never allow certain things to happen. I have walked down some hard roads and wondered, "God are you still there"? He is always with us, never leaving us... I love how the song says, " I never leave your hands." A good reminder to me today.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Ava's Singing Debut at Church




Today goes down as one of the 10 best memories of my life. Ever since Ava could talk, she has been singing. In fact, at Little Hearts when she was two, the class did a Thanksgiving Feast and were given Indian names. The teachers decided that hers should be, "Sings-A-Lot". She has been asking Josh for quite some time now to sing at church. Today her dream came true. I was so overcome with emotion for her. Watching your little girl be so brave when you know good and well she is shaking like a leaf. She started off a little shaking, but when she got it together, she was shining. Josh was awesome with her and I fell more in love with him today. I was truly blessed today. Below is the video as well as some pictures from today. A word of caution though, I am doing my normal "sway to the music" and didn't even realize I was doing it. The video is going to feel like your worst amusement ride. Sorry about that, but what can I say, I was side tracked. You know me!!!







The Jailbreak

On Saturday, my friend Dahlia and I ran the Jailbreak in Roanoke, Tx. Our best friend Nikki had asked us back in April to run. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. It is basically a three mile obstacle course of mud. It was so challenging but one of the most fun things I have ever done. Our friend Nikki couldn't run at the last minute... but we have all decided that next year we are running this again, all decked out with matching outfits.
Before
After


Sawyer's a Soccer Player

Mr. Sawyer has been faithfully watching his sister play soccer since he was two years old. We told Sawyer that when school started, he would get to start playing. All summer he has been talking and now, it just so happens, he is the same jersey number as his sister. Presenting #2, Sawyer Roberts, a player on the Mustang soccer team.


Monday, September 12, 2011

Chores, Chores, Chores

For those of you that really know me, you know how unorganized I truly am. I am scatter-brained to say the least. I lose my keys on a daily basis, I never know where anything is, and I have piles to be filed that just never seem to find their way into a folder. Going back to school has brought with it so many challenges. Half the time, I feel like I am drowning in my own chaos. Last year, I used chore charts with my kids. They would receive a sticker on every chore that they completed, and I would give them a dime for each sticker. They would then collect the money in three jars, a "Save" jar, a "Spend" jar and a "Give" jar. My kids loved it and it really helped me. I felt like the evenings were a little more managable. I wanted to give you the website for you go to to print off the chore charts http://www.goalforit.com/. You can personalize the charts which I love. For example, Sawyer has chores that are more suitable for a 4 year old than a 7 year old. The charts look like this:


So to make a long story short, the charts are back in full force this Monday morning and hopefully the evenings will be a little less stressful at the Roberts house. 

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Meal Plan for week of September 12th

Monday- One Dish Chicken Bake ( click on the link for the recipe)
Tuesday- Green Chile Chicken Soup ( email me for recipe, superrrrr easy)
Wednesday-Biggest Loser Chicken Recipe ( click on the link for the recipe)
Thursday- Biggest Loser Pineapple Pork Chops ( super yummy!!!)
Weekend--- who knows????

If any of you have any suggestions for Meal Plans, let me know. Always looking for new recipes. Have a great week.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Learning A Life Lesson From a Little Girl Named Rachel.

This morning at church, our wonderful pastor, David Alexander, gave us a very powerful message about  God and Suffering. It was one of those messages where I was hanging on every word he said. I can't tell you how many times I have been in a discussion with someone, where questions were raised that I felt ill-equipped to answer. Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Why are children dying from starvation? Why did my mother die of cancer when she never smoked a day in her life? Why was that young child's life cut short? Why?? Pastor David centered our attention on a verse from Romans.

Romans 8:28
"And we know in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

God gives us the responsibility over all creation. When you have a world where each human has been given the choice of free will, sometimes things happen that God didn't intend for our lives. Some things we just can't explain, some things are unfair and we want to scream out and say, "Why?" and sometimes there is not an answer. But in those moments of suffering, what are we going to do with it?
" An answer can be an explanation or a response. Sometimes, there is no explanation, but there is always a response." Harold Kushner

The world has so much pain, but it is full of goodness too. That is where the story of a little girl named Rachel comes in. Rachel was a little girl who was moved by an organization called Charity Water. She decided to ask for money for this organization instead of birthday presents. She had a goal, but it was not met by the time her birthday came around. A little over a month ago, Rachel was involved in a car accident and her life was cut short. Please watch this video to see how God made something beautiful out of this family's suffering.
This little girl's story has captured my heart. It inspires me to be a better person, it inspires me to appreciate today and it inspires me to remind myself and others that God is always working for the good, even in the mist of suffering.
If you would like to give to her goal, please follow this link http://mycharitywater.org/p/campaign?campaign_id=16396.

The message today reminded me of one of my most favorite songs. It is "For the Good" by Shane and Shane. Watch this, or listen to the song, hug your family, and say a prayer for the family of Rachel.



Saturday, September 3, 2011

A Lazy Saturday

Now that teaching has started back, soccer, and homework... lazy Saturdays are no longer taken for granted. We got some burgers, hot dogs, and are just enjoying a break from the crazy week. It all started with the boots...
First Ava decides that boots would be a wise choice for swimming in the pool. For those of you that know Ava, I am sure that you appreciate this. 
Josh is having just as much fun as the kids.


Then they decide to have a "garage sale" by the pool. 
No pool party is complete with out a cookout. 

Such a fun day, and I'll top it off with a nap now.

Menu Plan Monday

Okay Family... we have been talking about this most of August. That is why we all went out in a blaze of glory! We will miss Joe's for breakfast on Saturdays and the pizza that we would pick up because I was too tired to cook a meal. The Roberts Family goal for the month of September, no eating out during the week. Mom and Dad have to lose some weight, kids. So, I am giving the Menu Plan Monday a try. If you are curious as to what this is or how to get started, you can check it out here Menu Plan Monday. So here we go. This is what the Roberts will be eating the week of September 5-9th.
Monday: Fish Tacosfish tacos recipe ( from the June All You magazine)
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken  ( from the June All You magazine)
Wednesday: Tomato Basil Soup
Thursday: Barbecue Chicken Quesadillasbarbecue chicken quesadillas ( from the June All You magazine)
Friday: Make Your Own Pizza with the kids