Friday Favorites!

Helloooo friends! 

What a {fun and busy} week it has been! How about for you?

I'm linking up again with these sweet ladies...

Andrea from Momfessionals, 

Narci from Grace and Love Blog 

and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything blog 

for Friday Favorites.

{#1}

This yogurt is totally delish! I love most yogurts but this one was so creamy and sweet... instant favorite! I love the Strawberry Rhubarb flavor and Raspberry (and probably all of them :) ).

If you go to their website HERE there's a coupon to print. Win!

{#2.}

This Clif Kid Z Bar in chocolate chip is awesome. 

Austin is a 1st grader so he brings his own snack every day. 

I was looking for an extra good snack that is healthy and yummy yet filling. He loves these bars and I was a happy Mom. I even tried one and they are really good. 

He now refers to them as the "Kid's healthy bar." I love it!

Check out their website HERE.

{#3.}

My lovely friend, Crystal, is having a Bible Study at her home once a month. It started last month and it was wonderful to spend time with such lovely ladies who all want to grow in their faith together. Praise God!

We've been reading this book along with the book of Matthew in 
the Bible for our next meeting. This book is filled with amazing truth about the real Jesus. I am loving it. 

You can find it HERE.



And we have already ordered our 
set of Bibles study books to dig into for the following months. They are from The Women of Faith Study Guide Series. And I love "Women of Faith." It is such a fun conference to attend. 

Super excited about these!! 

You can see them HERE.





Have a great weekend !!

Jamie :)

Labor Day Weekend

Last weekend was the perfect ending to a wonderful summer! 

School started on Tuesday for Austin.

 It was great to be *busy* because I think it kept my mind (and kinda sad heart) off of the cry wagon of Austin entering the FIRST grade! My how time really does fly by. And also for him to stay busy with all the fun with family! 

We went on tractor-trailer rides. The kids loved that. They got to spend some time with out of state cousins and family which was amazing!

A kick-ball game was played and that was a blast to watch. 

Austin doesn't love me taking lots of photos of him, so this is him pointing at me to put the camera down. He played so well!

Here are the other men in the outfield waiting for the ball.

Morning breakfast of champions...Reese's puffs. Austin loves that cereal.

He even knows the song on the commercial for the cereal. It's really cute, it was a surprise when I heard him singing it because I didn't know he knew the song. 

He didn't mind me video-taping it either :).

Sunday evening we cleaned up our camp stuff and went home. These were the clouds by our house. I've never seen them like that before. It rained a lot but we were safe in our home :)

Jamie :)

Frogs, Fishing and The First day of First grade

I want this to be my online family album of special memories, thoughts, praises, growth and faith. 

I love my sweet family so much!

Today I am talking about some of our special moments.

We went to the State Fair last week. 

Austin and Troy (& Boppa) loved going to the DNR building and seeing all of the fish. 

And we all loved to eat some good food, too!

Yesterday was Austin's very first day of first grade! He went to bed the night before happily and woke up happy! We prayed a couple times before he went onto the bus, for him, his friends, the teachers and school. 

On the bus he went. 

He had a wonderful first day and I was so happy. 

After school picture. Smiles!

If I could use some words to describe our summer, some of them would be FROGS & FISH.

The kids caught 5 frogs and 3 salamanders at the camp site one day. They were so happy!!

This boy brought this tree frog all over the place. And put it on his head...

on his fingers and arms.  

He EVEN brought it into the house because he couldn't let it go he loved it so. And after our fun weekend of camping with family....I found it on the wall by the front door.

 Troy must have left it in the house when we left. Silly boy! I thought he let it go. 

This big boy caught this bass! Daddy and him went out fishing last Sunday morning and caught this one all by himself. Daddy landed it for him. He was one happy 1st grader!! :) And we were so proud of him.

We all went out on Labor day and Troy fished.

Daddy caught this fish when we were getting ready to call it quits for fishing. My happy & handsome boys!

Hope you had a wonderful summer, too!!

Jamie :)

Inspirational Monday #4-Glory to God

Hearing my kids sing worship songs is the very best thing! 

*Beautiful music to my ears*

(Photo credits to Crystal's photography)

I just love hearing their sweet little voices singing praises to God who made them :).

Last week we were driving and all of a sudden I hear Austin singing "Glory to God!"

And "Hey Mom! I know this song! I learned it in Sunday School!" 

He then keeps singing louder and louder...

"Glory to God, Glory to God, Glory to God FOREVER!"

Tears came to my eyes. I smiled at him and said that was awesome that he knew the song. I told him that God loves it when we sing along with worship songs. 

KTIS (MN radio station) I LOVE YOU! :)

I love to be able to listen to great and upbeat songs that are safe for my kids to listen to. And MOST importantly that the songs glorify God! Amen to that!

I do love country music as well but some of those songs are no good for little kids to listen to. Especially when they talk a lot about getting drunk. I can just picture Austin asking me "What is getting drunk?" How do you explain that to a 6 year old? And there is much worse things they talk about than that for a little kid to hear. I know that they will eventually hear all about that, but for now if I can protect them from it, I will. 

 I know that Austin forever has the love for The Lord in his heart. And he is not afraid to show it. 

I pray that that love grows stronger and stronger daily.

I want my boys to be strong and mighty men of God. 

(Photo credits to Crystal's Photography)

I am SO grateful for Christian radio!!

Kids are always listening, they are like little sponges absorbing everything they hear.

Jamie :)

Friday Favorites #4--Grateful edition

Happy FRIDAY! 

 I'm linking up again with these lovely ladies...

Andrea from Momfessionals, 

Narci from Grace and Love Blog 

and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything blog 

for Friday Favorites.

1.) I'm grateful to be able to spend so much quality time with my kiddos. It is a HUGE blessing to work very part-time as an RN. Being a Mom is my most important job. I love these kids SO much and I don't want to miss a thing.

I love going to Walmart and standing in the fishing tackle aisle for 15 minutes while the boys pick out "the best" fishing tackle. Austin is very serious about what he picks out. He examines the package and makes sure it'll catch the big ones. Troy just picks anything and Austin has to help him out. 

I remember when Austin was a toddler and he'd have a fit if we couldn't go down the toy aisles to buy a toy at Walmart/Target. Now, I can't even remember the last time we went to the toy aisles together.  I'll take fishing tackle over toys any day. :)

#boymom

2.) I'm grateful for the wonderful and hard working husband I have. He does the very best he can and I am so thankful for him! We had supper with some friends a couple weeks ago and had a really fun time. 

We took some silly selfies...of course :)!

And sweet photos.

3.)  I'm grateful that these boys have each other. When they get older, I think they will be more appreciative. They are awesome brothers with BIG and kind hearts. 

They were playing tug o' war and having a total blast. Troy and I were on a team for awhile. It brought me back to when I was younger playing it. I want to do pillow case races one day before school starts, too. 

Strong lil' men.

4.) We went to a pool and park this week. On the way there, I was deep in thought over some decisions to make and then I heard Austin start singing "Glory to God" along with the radio. He shouted "HEY, I learned this song in Sunday School!" And he kept on singing "Glory to God, Forever." In that moment, I was so grateful to God for filling my son's heart with love for Him. I try to instill faith in my children and sometimes it may feel like I'm not doing a good job,  but that is the time when God shines in a very special way! Glory to God, forever!

Love!

Jamie

Inspirational Monday #3

When I have time, I love to sit and read a book.

Today I'm going to talk about some books that I need to get reading or finish. 

I start like 3 or 4 books at a time :) because I want to start reading my new books at the same time. Are you that type of person, too?

My sweet Mom got me this book and I really am enjoying it! Click HERE to get it. 

The title says it all: "Parenting with Scripture." Oh, so important. Using scripture to parent. Much needed.

Here's another wonderful book for #boymoms. It is really helpful for me as a Mom.

My Mom also got me this book. She is so thoughtful :)! I love her so much!!

Click HERE to check it out. 

My 6 year old is getting to be such a big and independent boy. And my 3 year old still loves to be held by his Mommy (I love it). But he also enjoys doing more tasks by himself. Like put bread in the toaster to make his own peanut butter toast. 

I'm so proud of the little men they are becoming. 

Here's my last book that I need to read and already own. "You're Already Amazing" By: Holley Gerth. God already thinks we are amazing just the way. we already are. How fabulous is that?! 

Click HERE to see it.

I am constantly being unwise with my time. Instead of turning on the TV when the kids are in bed, I could be reading a book.  I am going to pray that God helps me use my time more wisely so I can finish these awesome books. 

Because, reading just a couple pages of an inspiring book completely can change my mind set on positive and good things. 

And that's a great feeling! 

Happy Monday to YOU!

Jamie :)

Friday Favorites #3

Friday Favorites is here and I couldn't be happier to share 4 of mine.

 I'm linking up again with these fabulous ladies: 

Andrea from Momfessionals, 

Narci from Grace and Love Blog 

and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything blog 

for Friday Favorites.

1.) This tablecloth. Is fab! It's from Walmart. 

Here's my dining room table with some beautiful roses :)! 

It is bright and beautiful. I actually saw it at Walmart a couple times but talked myself out of purchasing it because I maybe didn't *need* it. But I'm so glad I finally talked myself into it. It really brightens up the table!

Click HERE to get it.

2.) This favorite is something simple yet very practical!

 Kid's toothbrushes that stand up by themselves. Yay!

I love it! 

It is sometimes hard for me to get all of the families toothbrushes to fit in the holder without their bristles touching. Because I just don't like that. So, these are perfecto! I found mine at our local Walmart but I can't find them online to link to. Sorry!

3.) This scent From Bath & Body Works reminds me of the beach. It is light in scent and smells super good! You will smell super summery!

Coconut Water chill

Get it HERE. It's on sale by the way!

4.) Running while listening to praise and worship music is one of my very favorite things to do! While running, I talk & pray to God while running on the ground He created. And I'm able to gaze at the gorgeous sky, trees, ponds, world He has made. It's a wonderful experience.

What are some of your favorite things? I'd love to hear!

Have a lovely Friday!

Jamie :)