Celebrating Konner's 1st Year

On Sunday we celebrated Konner's 1st Birthday with a farm animal themed party.. He loves chickens, horses, and all animals so that's why I decided to do that. It was a fun day with family and we all enjoyed it. Now for a few pictures!

Goodies

Chicken head candy pops

Cupcakes!!

Time to sing!!

He loves the cupcake

and more food...

Present time

He loves books, especially ones with animals!! :)

"Shine"

I have seen a few posts about the word of the year and after pondering for awhile I decided to pick my own word.. The word I think of when I think about how I want to live in 2013 (and beyond..not just for one year) is "shine".. Shine: to give or cause to give light.

When I speak about my children I want my love for them to shine through.

When I talk about my husband, I want our love to shine through and be encouraging for other married couples! (No we are not perfect, but we do love each other very much!)

But most of all, when people look at me I want Jesus to shine through me. I really want my life to "cause to give light" for Him. Someday when I am no longer on this earth (and I really hope that is awhile yet!!) my prayer is that people will remember me not for how well I cook (but that wouldn't be so bad either..hehe), BUT for how I live for the Lord. I want them to say "You know what? Amanda really lived for God's glory!!" And so that is MY word, that is how I want to shine this year!! I want to "Live Like That".....

Live Like That

by Sidewalk Prophets

Sometimes I think
What will people say of me
When I'm only just a memory
When I'm home where my soul belongs

Was I love
When no one else would show up
Was I Jesus to the least of those
Was my worship more than just a song

I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do
Points to You

If love is who I am
Then this is where I'll stand
Recklessly abandoned
Never holding back

I want to live like that
I want to live like that

Am I proof
That You are who you say You are
That grace can really change a heart
Do I live like Your love is true

People pass
And even if they don't know my name
Is there evidence that I've been changed When they see me, do they see You
I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do
Points to You

If love is who I am
Then this is where I'll stand
Recklessly abandoned
Never holding back

I want to live like that
I want to live like that


I want to show the world the love You gave for me
I'm longing for the world to know the glory of the King

I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do
Points to You

If love is who I am
Then this is where I'll stand
Recklessly abandoned
Never holding back

I want to live like that
I want to live like that

Christmas Pictures

And so I am slowly getting pictures uploaded, my computer is being so slow!!

The kiddos in their pjs from Grandpa and Grandma Stenersen.. (Grandma added the writing and material to the shirts and the two youngest's pants)

Scones with Devonshire cream

Yum!!

Working on gingerbread houses and trains

Tyrel's

Kirsten's.. her sides wouldn't stay together, so she decided to name it "Hurricane Candy"



Laban's

Shiloh's

Dinner time.. we had homemade grape juice too!!

Tablecloth

Baby gets to open the first gift!

"ooohhhhhh"

Shi got a 3DS

Laban and his new (to him) XBox controller

Kirsten got an atrists sketching set (She had seen this at Hobby Lobby!)

Tyrel and his Nook (my awesome Black Friday deal!)

My gift from my kids.. They had given money for a gift for Tim..well when I went to pick it up one of the things was out of stock so I had to get something else..as I was browsing the book clearance bin I saw this.. I was like "ya right", but figured I would bring it to the checkout to see.. Well it wasn't on clearance, but they gave it to me for that price anyway, and it was the exact amount left of the kids money. When I got home I asked if they wanted their money back or wanted to wrap this for me..You can see what they decided! Happy me!!

Snack time!

Our traditional prune tarts and sugar cookies!

Happy Baby

Little and Big

Stuffed stockings..


I hope you all enjoyed the pictures and it didn't take you as long to look at them as it did me to upload them!! :)











Christmas..

We had our Christmas on the 29th.. We had scones with Devonshire cream, fruit, and stuffed french toast for brunch. After that we made gingerbread houses and trains, followed by a game of Tri-Bond..  Dinner was ham, cheesy potatoes, rolls, and salad. Then came the time for gifts!! The kids all were pleased with what they got, but I think they would have been happy with just about anything.. :) I love it when I put so much thought into something and it turns out perfectly! The only bad thing about the day was Little Man ended up puking that night.. All in all it was a great day! I am trying to upload pictures, but for some reason my browser won't pop up!!So when I can get that working again, I will put pictures on.. until then....

Liebster Award

Clarissa at Counting Our Blessings nominated me for the Liebster Award.. 

Here is my Liebster Award!!! Thank you Clarissa!

Want to know more about Liebster??

The Liebster Blog Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have not yet hit the 200 follower mark. The award is presented by a fellow blogger as a sort of pat on the back "you've got a great thing started" type of award. "liebster" is German for "favorite"


The rules-

1. List 11 facts about yourself.

2. Answer the 11 questions given to you.

3. Create 11 new questions for the bloggers

 you nominate for the award.

4. Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or less

 followers to nominate.

5. Go to each bloggers page and let them

know about the award.

6. Thank the person who nominated you and

link back to their blog.

11 Facts about myself (this could get

interesting!)

1. I am one of the younger half of the

 children in my family!

2. I was married at age 16

3. I have 6 children

4. I had my first 4 children in 4 years

5. There is an 8 1/2 year space in between two of my children

6. I have 6 babies in heaven

7. I had 3 "natural" births and 3 c-sections

8. I have grown spiritually through my losses, tho I do NOT ever want to go through that again.

9. Something that haunts me is that my sister-in-law, Sue worried about me getting cancer because of the many miscarriages I had. I never worried about HER getting cancer, yet a year after she told me that, she had lost the battle with cancer.

10. I may be outgoing, but can actually get my true feelings across better by writing..

11. I am a princess of God!

My answers to Clarissa's questions.

1. What is your favorite thing to do as a family? We enjoy many things together, one big thing is spending time on the water in our boat!

2. What is one prayer that God answered in your life and how? He gave me my miracle, Brandt Matthew, when I thought for sure there was no way we would have another baby!

3. What one goal (hope, dream, prayer) do you have for 2013? That when people look at me, they will see Jesus! "I Want To Live Like That!"

4. What one thing do you hope to instill in your children? A love for God!

5. What do you do to relax or de-stress? I read or take a bath..

6. In what area/subject are you most creative with your homeschooling? Oh, boy.. don't know that I am creative with anything.. maybe math with Little Man

7. What is one thing you learned from homeschooling your children? Every child learns differently and needs different techniques of teaching..

8. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? I actually like where we live right now, but would just like to live in a new house. (or newer!)

9. What is our favorite homeschool curriculum? Abeka, it is what we are all used to.

10. Do you speak or teach a foreign language? No, I wouldn't mind learning Spanish tho..

11. Where is your favorite place to vacation as a family? I really enjoyed the time we took our kids to Gatlinburg, Tennessee..

Here are the blogs I am nominating for the Liebster Award. I actually don't have 11, but will do the ones I have!!

1. Pat at ...and red shoes

2. Anna at A Glimpse Of My Life

3. Emma at Blooms Buttons and Budgets

4. Taj at a little healthier

5. Christine at Quiet Ramblings

6. Amy at Non-Stop Mom

My 11 Questions for you:

1. What is your dream vacation?

2. What is something that you want your children to remember about you?

3. Have you ever broken a bone?

4. What is a goal you have for 2013?

5. What is something you always have dreamed of doing? ie: writing a book, etc.

6. What is your favorite candy?

7. What is your dream house like?

8. What is your favorite car?

9. How many states have you visited?

10. How has God blessed you the most in your life?

11. What is the most imporatant thing you learned in 2012?