Just another day...

My family

I haven't blogged in a while and I have had a lot on my mind, but not a whole lot worth writing about honestly. However, I did plan on blogging more frequently when I started this. That means that today I will blog and as uninteresting and unoriginal as it might be, I've decided to write about my day.

 One of my favorite things, recently, is getting up on Sunday mornings and getting to be on the worship team, at church, with my husband. I love to worship by singing and doing it as a family is even better! This morning Kyle and I woke up early, got showered and dressed, packed a bag for the little guys, woke them up and got them dressed, made sure they had breakfast (and made sure I had my Diet Coke) and we were out the door by 7:30, heading to church. We were supposed to be there at 7:30, but I thought we did pretty well. Being part of a church family has been a huge blessing to us. While we were up on stage during second service, I looked down at my 2 year old and he was raising his hand, praising God. It was like a little hug to my heart. It was a reminder how impressionable he is and how he really wants to be like mommy and daddy. That single moment had to be my favorite of the whole morning. The sermon was good too! My heart had been a little heavy the past couple days. I know God has the perfect plan, I know he loves me more than anyone else, I know he cares for me today and always, I know, I know, I know....but today I just didn't feel it in my heart. I prayed. I worshiped. God is awesome and capable of handling me even when I am stubborn and want things the way I want them. It's so funny that I still struggle with letting go of my plans when I've seen how they've turned out without seeking God for the right direction.




Brody my little fireman.



After church it was lunch. The boys were hungry and tired and we were a little short on cash, so McDonald's was the restaurant of choice. Luckily I never watched all those videos people were posting on Facebook about how McDonald's burgers are made or how they don't digest (?) well and can live in your stomach forever. Denial? Maybe, but I'm okay with that because we don't frequent McDonald's, except for sweet tea, and don't most Americans experience McDonald's every once in a while? Either way, the boys loved it and ate well.

Sawyer and "the look"

Naptime and football was next at the Hoff home. Two things that go so well with a Sunday afternoon. I would have stayed to enjoy them both had I not decided to go hit up a couple bargain stores. I saw an opportunity to get out of the house without kids, so I took it. I found some great deals and was able to get some Christmas shopping done. At Aldi I bought an 18 pound turkey and at the Meijer outlet store I and found all sorts of things. Next, I hit up the Dollar Tree for some ovulation and pregnancy tests. I got so excited that I only have to spend a dollar on each one, before I knew it I put way too many in my cart. Okay, so maybe I had 10 ovulation tests and 5 pregnancy tests. I personally didn't think that's extreme but when I got up to the register, with about 10 people behind me, the cashier smiles and says loudly "Is this some kind of joke or something?". At this moment I even think I am weird, but we ended up having a long conversation about how Wal-mart also has good deals on pregnancy tests and how my husband and I are going to be trying for our next one. Now everyone who was waiting in line also knows I will be having sex this month in order to "try" for our next baby. It was a little awkward and I was so glad to get out of there.

My next stop was to the Christian book store for a book I never ended up finding, but I did find some great Christmas CD's. While I was checking out I started looking through the different pictures of kids that are looking for sponsors through World Vision. Kyle and I had talked about sponsoring one before, but I hadn't felt peace about it before. Today I did. I asked her who I should pick and she handed me the picture of a little boy named "Danny" from Bolivia. He had just had a birthday and she really wanted him to have a special birthday present. I felt peace about sponsoring this little boy. I am excited to write him letters and for the boys too as well. He doesn't have any siblings. He's so cute I just want to squeeze his cheeks! We've already prayed for him a lot today. At Christmas time we get a catalog so that we can buy him some chickens or a goat for a present! I guess that is a big deal there! We're excited to bless him and pray for him, so I guess you could kind of say he's the newest member to our family. The cashier told me we were the first person to sponsor a child there in over 30 days!

 Once I got home, I started downloading and listening to my new Christmas music. I loved it! I get so excited for Christmas. I really don't know why. It is, by far, my favorite time of year. My mom made a lot of little traditions around Christmas so special. They weren't expensive traditions, just memories we'd make year after year. They are the most precious of all my childhood memories. Baking cookies, decorating, Christmas caroling (which I did hate sometimes), Favorite holiday movies, hot chocolate in the mornings before school...all small but wonderful! I try and hold off even listening to the music before November, but this week I just couldn't. My Pandora radio was on almost every day playing Christmas classics. At least I wasn't decorating....but then I just had this little urge to pull out a few things.

And then the urge got a little bigger, but not too big. Oh my husband is just wonderful! He understands and loves me and puts up with me, and sometimes I even think he likes it a little.



Our play room. The fish were there already.



Now I do know this is not normal, and this is the earliest I have ever decorated. I have a lot more decorating to do, but I will wait until November. I did all this while we watched the Vikings lose to the Packers. I don't know how the game ended because I was too stressed to watch. My husband wanted to tell me about it, but I just couldn't bring myself to hear about it. I really did have a wonderful day! Looking forward to this week. My numbers are back to 0 so we have the "OK" to start trying again for our next baby. We've been praying for God to prepare our hearts for what he has planned for us. Hoping that his plans for us will mean a baby sooner than later. I know whatever his plan is, it is perfect.



Random pic to make my blog less boring.