LeighAnne with an E

I am always looking for fun ways to incorporate our family values and  how to preserve their 'littleness'. This is a little craft I did this past week with the kids. It is a little hard to keep the 2 year olds still enough to get a good print, but totally worth it. DISCLAMER: Once the kids realize they can paint their hands or feet with paint, their entire bodies will be covered! They had a blast painting themselves while I finished up writing in the words. I wish I had taken a picture of the kids when they were done painting themselves.  Now that we decided not to try and sell the house, I am planning on putting up pictures and scripture in the house. Can't wait to see how the rest turns out.  What fun things have you done with your little ones this summer?

3 years and 7 months ago I had no kids (well, one in the womb). Today I have 4. Yes, 4 wild and crazy beautiful kids! I am by no means an expert mama, but I have had one crazy crash course in mothering. Every where I go people keep telling me I must be super mom; Nope just really, really fertile! You may call me Myrtle! Here are some of the things I have learned in the last 3.5 years: 1. Being a mom is hard work. 2. Sleep when the baby sleeps. (This only applies to moms who have 1 child. After you have 2 you will not get to sleep again. Ever. Just sayin') 3.  Join am MOPS group , like yesterday!!!!! (Can't stress this one enough-notice all the exclamation points- Even if you don't make any friends at MOPS *highly unlikely* you will get encouragement from the speakers- and you get to drink your coffee while it's still hot! Whoop whoop!) 4. Let the kids get messy. Kids and cloths both wash. Find some mud and let them play! 5. Your house will be a mess. It wa...

On the rare occasion that I am in the car by myself I like to listen to sermons on the radio. You never know what little nugget of wisdom you might get that way. A while back I heard a sermon that blew my mind and it still has me thinking about it today. I do no remember who was preaching or even what the subject was, but what the preacher said was so good, like, so, so good! It was one of those a-ha moments. Ever have one of those? Well, I have been in need of another one lately. So, I thought I would share about my last one and maybe it would help me find my next one! Here is what the preacher said: Jesus was both full of grace and full of truth.   Isn't that incredible?! Amazing! Jesus' grace did not diminish the truth and the truth did not diminish His grace.  He was both full of grace AND truth. Together, at the same time , grace and truth! John the Baptist could have said anything about Jesus. He could have said he was kind, that he was a healer, miraculo...

What is it about being a women that makes us compare ourselves to others? There are two ways to compare- one way makes me look better then you, "At least I'm not as fat as she is, I look better in that dress, my kids act better, are cuter, are smarter then hers...." The other makes me look worse then you, "I wish I had her body, hair, husband, car....." Both are dangerous. The first leads to pride (and inevitably the hard fall) and the other leads to feelings of low self worth. One sweet mom confided in me recently that she is worried because her 3 year old doesn't talk about Jesus. She had heard another mom talking about all the cute things her 3 year old says about Him. This sweet mom is doing an amazing job with her kid. She prays for him, reads bible stories to him and brings him to church faithfully. Then that little voice entered her head, "You aren't doing enough, you kid doesn't talk about Jesus. You fail."Lies! Anot...

This is what the Lord says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man,  who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,  in a salt land where no one lives. "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,  whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought  and never fails to bear fruit." The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. who can understand it? "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind,  to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." Jeremiah 17:5-10 I have been enjoying a bible study called she reads truth . I have ...

Time for FMF over at  lisa-jo bakers blog Todays word is Rhythm Go! Someone once told me relationships are like a dance. Some times you lead, sometimes your partner leads. But what if you ain't got no rhythm? Back in the dating days with my hubby, our "dance" looked like this: inseparable for 2 months, take a "break" for 2 weeks, back together full time for 2 weeks, break for 2 days, back together for 2 more weeks.... you get the picture. We were all over the place. We had no rhythm. We each wanted what we wanted and would do what ever it took to get it- even if that meant stepping on each others toes. Rhythm was hard for us to find- we kept dancing around each other- fighting for the lead. Finlay, we stopped took a real break and tried again. Relationships are hard. You can not have two leaders. Two people leading means no one is following. I choose to follow my husband. When I decided to trust him and let him lead, he got the confidence to do so. No...

 Dear sweet moms, lets learn to be intentional while raising our children. Lets 'train them up in the way that they should go' all the time . Lets use every teachable moment and not waist it! Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 Recently one rainy day I took the kids to a bounce house near our home. Apparently everyone in my area had the same thought! There were lots of kids and their mamas there. I saw lots of amazing, awesome behavior from lots of the kids. I saw older kids waiting patiently for my two year old to   s l o w l y     climb the slide ladder. One older girl liked my twins so much she would play with them and watch out for one while I ran to find 'the one that got away.' I found her mama before we left and told her what a sweet girl she was raising.- You should have seen that mama smile! With lots of kids you are bound to see some not so good behavior as well. I saw ki...