Merry CHristmas 2018 and Happy New Year 2019

Merry Christmas!

It's been almost a full year since I have done a blog post. How is that possible!? 2018 was a good, full year for us!

In January, our sweet Emma Marie turned 3! Emma really is our sweet child! She is sensitive to other's feelings, is good with sharing and playing well with others, and she also plays well by herself. She started Preschool this fall, and is having fun learning alongside he two older siblings, She loves playing with Chloe and doing whatever she is doing. She is picking up Chloe's love for art, and loves to do it with her, just not as long as Chloe likes to ;) She loves her baby sister Carsyn, and like PawPatrol and Little Einsteins. We love our sweet Emma!

In March, our sweet Carsyn Faith was born! She was, and is still adored by her 4 older siblings! She is 9 months old now. crawling, standing up, and taking a few steps while holding on to something. She has 2 bottom teeth and loves chewing on anything she can get her hands on. She loves food, and would much rather have "real" food than baby food! He favorite is any kind of bread! She says "Da-da-da, Na-na-na, and Ma-ma (sometimes), and is Mommy's girl! She is a very good and "chill" baby. We love our sweet Carsyn!

In May, my brother Brandon, and sister-in-law Cassidy were married! Joshua and Chloe were a ring bearer and flower girl for this wedding! They were both thrilled to be a part of this special occasion. Josh and I have really enjoyed getting to have some double dates with these two. We are super excited that they are expecting their first little one next June! Now my kids will have a cousin on the Madison side!  I have been blessed to grow closer to Cassidy this year, and especially this fall as we connect with baby things and our Young Living businesses! Our kids love their aunt and uncle, and we all love hanging out with them whenever we get the chance!

In June, Josh and I celebrated our 8th anniversary! We got a (belated) weekend away in Philly and had so much fun spending time together in a beautiful hotel, seeing the sights, eating good food, and just being together! We are looking forward to many more special years together! A huge thanks to my mom and sister for keeping 4 of the kiddos for us! ;)

In August, my brother Daniel and sister-in-law Julia got married! It was a beautiful wedding, and Emma was so excited to have the honor of being the flower girl this time! We love Dan and Julia so much, and it's always a good time when they're around! They (and all of our siblings) are so good with the kids, and we all love them so much!
A couple days after the wedding, Josh left for Augusta, GA for an extended Army training period. He has now finished 5 months, and has 2 to go. He is enjoying the easy pace of classes from 8-4, and free afternoons, evenings, and weekends. It is hard for him to be away from us for so long, so we are really enjoying his 2 week Christmas break right now.

Also in August, Joshua turned 7, and Chloe turned 5! These two are both first-borns, and definitely have their power struggles (with Chloe coming out on top more than you might think lol), but also get along and have fun playing together a lot!
Joshua is in 2nd grade, and doing very well in school. He doesn't enjoy it quite as much as he used to, but definitely does very well when he puts his mind to it. Joshua is a a great big brother and loves to help out, especially with the youngest girls. He is good about doing his chores, like taking out the trash, unloading the dishwasher, and putting his clothes away, when asked. He has discovered that he likes reading, and will sometimes head up to his bed by himself to read. He still loves Legos, and has a whole collection of his constructions up on his bed. He also loves Eagles football, like his Dad :) This year he has been working on memorizing Philippians 1 with Daddy. Joshua has a desire to please his parents and the Lord, and loves learning more about God through reading his picture Bible and having family devotions. He has lost 3 teeth in the past couple of months and is getting so tall! We love our Joshua Caleb!

Chloe Madison is a special girl! She is dramatic, artsy, and has a tender heart towards God. It was my great joy and privilege to lead her to the Lord this fall when we were in Greenville! I wasn't planning to do this, so it was so neat how the Lord lead! I was talking with Chloe about something she had done wrong, and explaining how it was sin. This lead to my explaining the gospel to her, but I still wasn't expecting her to receive Christ right then. But she started asking questions and then said that she "wanted to become a Christian like Mommy and Daddy" so we prayed together right then and there! She was so excited and wanted to tell everyone about it! And that evening she drew a picture of a heart in a box. She sad "Mommy, guess who is the only one who can unlock the box to get to the heart!" I was across the room and not thinking to hard about it, so I gave her a couple guesses, to which she replied "nope!" So I asked her "who?" and she said "God is the only one who can unlock the box to get to the heart!" I started choking up. She really understood! Since then, she has had a hunger to learn all she can about God, and excitedly shared everything she learned in Good News Club about God and Jesus.
Chloe is in K5 and loves school! She is excited to do it every day, and is usually the first one done! Chloe has been doing so great this month since coming home from SC! Almost every single day she is one of the first ones up. dresses herself, washes her face and brushes her teeth, cleans her room up, and asks to do school! Then every night, she gets herself ready for bed, and hops in all by herself. She keeps her room clean and neat, and is such a great helper around the house and with her little sisters! We love our Chloe!

In September, our Morgan Grace turned 2! This little girl has such a big, and "loud" personality! She runs headfirst into everything she does, and puts her all into it! She is learning new things every day. She got along so great with her cousin Esther (who is only 2 weeks younger) this fall! Morgan does well helping out when encouraged, does great counting to 10, and loves to copy what her older brother and sisters are doing! We're so glad to have her as part of our family!

In October, my sister Staci drove down to Greenville, SC with me to visit my in-laws so that we could be near Josh, and get to visit him on the weekends! My mother-in-law and father-in-law were so wonderful, and accommodating, and made us feel right at home and loved the whole time we were there! I feel very blessed to have such wonderful in-laws whom I love like my own family!
We stayed in Greenville for a full 2 months! And had such a great time visiting our family and getting to know them better! The kids especially loved getting time with their close-in-age cousins several times a week!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Cooks, and are looking forward to seeing everyone again for the bi-annual Cook Family Vacation in April 2019!

Also, while we were down there, my awesome sis-in-law Bekah did our family pictures! We love her and her talent for capturing great photos!

My Mom flew down to drive back with us on December 1st. We've had a busy month this December! While we were gone in SC, my awesome Dad installed a new floor in our kitchen and dining room for us! I am loving it so much (especially since we had carpet in our dining room before! :P). Then I painted the cabinets to match the floor better.
We had our annual Madison Family Christmas party and Nicole and Angelo came in for the occasion! All of my kids absolutely love "Aunt Cole" and get so excited when she and Angelo are in town! They are from IL so we love seeing them anytime they come down for a visit! They are both generous and loving and we love spending time with them!
Uncle Norm is another awesome uncle! He loves his nieces and nephew and is so good making time to play and hang out with them! I am so blessed with such awesome siblings!
Staci is my all-time best babysitter and friend! I love being close and getting to hang out and have movie nights with her! She is unselfish, and sweet, and always willing to help me out with the kids! Josh and I have enjoyed many date nights thanks to Staci!
I am very grateful for Kevin too! He has been a big help with the kids recently too! He is 16, in 10th grade, and works at the YMCA as a lifeguard.  We are continually grateful for his recovery from leukemia, and thankful that he is doing so well now!

We are grateful to the Lord for His faithfulness and so many blessings! Our prayer for 2019 is that we continue to grow closer to and become more like Him every day. and that we continue to seek His will for our lives and family.
Lauren jumped all in to working her Young Living essential oils business in September, and is excited to see that start growing! She keeps pretty busy with that, homeschooling, and taking care of the kids. Josh will be in Army training until the end of February. We are looking forward to seeing where God leads us in 2019!

We are blessed to have such wonderful family and friends and wish all of you the merriest Christmas and happiest New Year 2019!

Merry Christmas 2017 and Happy New Year 2018!

Since we didn't do a Christmas card this year, I wanted to post an update from our family from 2017! It's been over 9 months since I've posted on here! I definitely want to post a little more often this year! Time flies and life just gets away from you!

Josh & Lauren

It was a good year for the Cook family! In April, we had our vacation with the Cook side of the family. We went to the mountains of Tennessee, and had a great time boating, fishing, playing games, relaxing  and just hanging out together!
In May, my sister Nicole got married to our new bro-in-law, Angelo! We are super excited for them and have a blast hanging out with them when they come visit! Excited to have Angelo become part of the family!
In June, Josh and I celebrated 7 years of marriage! We so enjoy doing life together, and become closer as the years pass! We are so grateful to the Lord for giving us the perfect person to balance each other out and help us to grow closer to Him each year!
In July we found out that we were expecting baby #5! Honestly, we were a little overwhelmed at first, but prayed about it, and quickly found peace and got excited about this newest little blessing! I can't wait to get in some newborn snuggles and am super excited to meet this new precious baby! Also in July, we took a trip up to Waterloo, IA to see our sis and bro-in-law Kristi and Nik, and to Chicago to see Nicole and Angelo! That was a super fun trip, and so wonderful to see family we don't get to see that often!
In August, we had our vacation with the Madison family at the beach in New Jersey! We had a great time relaxing on the beach, earning tickets and prizes at the arcade, mini golfing, playing board games, and watching movies together at the beach house!

It was a busy year for me with my 4 kiddos! I absolutely LOVE being a mom and homeschooling my kids! It's so much fun watching them learn new things every day, and getting to be involved in each area of their lives!
Josh stays very busy with work as an Optician, monthly drills for the Army Reserves, work as assistant to our pastor & leading music at church, his basketball league, and of course, being an awesome husband, and daddy to our 4 (soon to be 5!) kiddos!
In December, we started our new journey with essential oils (more on this in the next post!) and are loving it!

Joshua Caleb turned 6 this year! (How is it that we have a 6 year old already!?) In April he made the life changing decision to give his heart and life to Christ! Josh and I were so thrilled and excited to be able to lead him to Christ, and to have the awesome responsibility of guiding him in his walk with the Lord! He is sweet and eager to please. He loves playing outside, building Legos, and playing board/card games! In September he started 1st grade! He is doing very well in school and loves math! (Mommy is hoping this is a love that will last! lol) Joshua is an awesome big brother and big helper to Mommy and Daddy! We are blessed to have this little man as our 1st born son and are looking forward to seeing the Lord's work in his life!

Chloe Madison turned 4 this year! She is our creative one. She loves art, and not a day goes by that she doesn't have the construction paper, crayons, markers, stencils, play dough, and paints out, making her beautiful projects for anyone and everyone around! She has also become a big helper to Mommy and Daddy, and although she is a little more stubborn and independent than Joshua, also has a desire to please and help those around her! She started K4 in September, and is doing very well with her letters and numbers, and is learning to spell now! She loves stuffed animals (and real animals!), and was so excited to get her "fishy" for Christmas! She is a people person, and has so much fun playing with her siblings every day! She also loves to help me bake! We are blessed to have this energetic, creative, sweetheart as our firstborn daughter, and are excited to see what God has planned for her life!

Emma Marie (3) turned 2 last January (2017). She is our little sweetheart, and has the quietest personality out of all our kids. She loves playing pretend with her big sister Chloe, but also plays very well by herself. That has been so wonderful for me when I am homeschooling Joshua and Chloe! I can lay Morgan down for her nap, and Emma enjoys playing quietly by herself! She likes to join us sometimes, and has her own school book with coloring and tracing that she likes to work in a couple of times a week. She loves helping Mommy, and when I tell her she's a big helper she will say "Yes, I am a big helper!" She is great helping me clean up, take care of Morgan, and most of all cook and bake! She loves coloring, artsy things, and stuffed animals too. She has been into the Pixar movies recently (Toy Story 1, 2, & 3, Finding Nemo, and Monsters Inc.!) We are so grateful for this sweet girl!

Morgan Grace (1), is our talkative, outgoing one! She knows what she wants and has no trouble letting everyone know! She has by far done the most "talking" or babbling of all my babies! It was a big year for her! She was only 4 months in January 2017, so this year she learned to roll over, sit up, crawl, and walk (just before her 1st birthday)! She, like her daddy, puts all she is into whatever she is doing! She is curious and fun loving, and we love watching her learn and explore each day!

So that is the update from the Cook family for 2017! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a great start to the new year! Our family verse for this new year is Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." May God bless you and your family this year!

Cook Family Vacation 2017!

Visit with Kristi and Nik!

Congrats Nicole and Angelo!

Relaxing beach day!

Family fun day after Christmas!

Madison Family Christmas 2017!

Cook family Christmas 2017

JCLM & baby #5!

My Purging Journey

I am now in my third month on my decluttering/purging journey. It is definitely going well! I still have a long way to go, but I have gotten a ton done! Allie Casazza's course"Your Uncluttered Home" has changed my way of thinking! Before this, when I went into a room to clean, my first instinct was to organize and put things away. I almost never even thought of getting rid of stuff. Now, that is my first thought when I start cleaning a room! I have gotten rid of boxes and boxes, and bags and bags of stuff! I cannot believe the amount of stuff I have gotten rid of, and how much we still have! But I'm making really good progress, and am excited to see the results already!

Most of my progress has been in the past couple of weeks. My husband was away for 2 weeks for Army training, so it was a big motivator to get things done before he came home! Josh has always been the one saying that we need to get rid of stuff, so I am finally doing that for us! It was kind of slow going for the first two months. It's hard finding the time to purge when you have four kids 5 and under in the house! But for the two weeks Josh was away, my awesome sister Staci came and stayed with me and helped me to get so much done! We have made several trips to Goodwill already. I have even gotten rid of several major pieces of furniture because I was able to purge most of what was in/on them! It feels so great! 

Like I said, I still have a long way to go, but I can already tell a big difference! There is a lot less to clean up, so straightening up the house takes less time, and it stays straightened for longer. I can find what I need faster because I am purging the stuff we don't need. There is more room in our small house because so much stuff & furniture is out! And Josh is loving the change! It is movating me to keep going. :)

Through all of this, Chloe has been my little laundry helper! She asks me almost every single day: "Mom? Can I help you with the washer?" It's cute, and she's keeping me on top of the laundry! I often run out of clothes to wash, partly because we have a little less now, but mostly because she wants to do the wash with me multiple times a day! She has been obsessed with this for a couple of months now! Joshua was into it for a little bit too, but Chloe has really stuck with it. Now there was that one time that Chloe "helped" me by pouring the entire bottle of detergent into the washer! And it took about 4-5 extra wash and rinse cycles to get the suds out! But other than that, she has done a great job!

This pic is of Joshua and Chloe having fun just watching the washer go! lol.

By the way, for those curious, we have not missed anything that I have gotten rid of! The kids have not missed any of the toys, and we have not missed any of the junk! I probably couldn't even tell you half of what I purged. It was just all stuff we didn't need/use! 

Pic of us enjoying free cones at DQ on the first day of spring! Just for fun :)

Looking forward to being even further ahead on my journey the next time I blog! Here's to more time enjoying my kids and enjoying life!

Getting Back to Blogging/Purging My Home

It has been 4 years since I posted on this blog! A lot has changed since that post. We had just found out that I was pregnant with our sweet Chloe and were in the process of buying our first home! We have now been in this home for almost 4 years, and have added Chloe, Emma, and baby Morgan to our family!

I have started on a journey to de-clutter our home! A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law Anda posted an article by Allie Casazza on having a purposeful mom life, and living in an uncluttered home. I could totally identify, and was answering "yes!" to her questions such as: "Are you tired of cleaning up all the time and never getting ahead?", "Do you clean, and clean, and clean, only to have your kids come behind you, making messes all over again?", "Are you tired of having to go around picking up the house every night after the kids are in bed?" "Do you have to choose between cleaning and spending time with your kids?" That last question is my biggest reason for doing this. It's so hard when the kids are asking me to play with them, and I really want to, but I know I am going to pay for it later with even more to clean up!

So I read through the article, and came to the bottom where there was an option to sign up for emails. (I rarely do this because I hate sorting through dozens of junk mail each day, but this was definitely something I wanted to sign up for!) I was reading the emails and being encouraged and challenged each day for a week or two, when I decided to check out the course Allie Casazza offers for moms. It looked very in-depth, and helpful, and like something I needed to do.

Stuff accumulates so fast, especially kid's stuff! And when you have four kids 5 and under, you end up with a lot of toys, clothes, and just STUFF! Stuff everywhere! My poor husband has been telling me that we have too much stuff for years! So when I came across this course, I went to ask what he thought about me taking it. His first reaction was "No way, we are not going to PAY someone to tell us how to get rid of our stuff." But after looking around for a minute, he said "Well, if it helps us de-clutter this house, maybe you should go for it." lol. We still weren't quite sure that we wanted to invest money into this, so after discussing it a little more, I "slept on it." The next morning I checked my email and found an offer for 38% off the course! I had been praying about it, and really felt like the Lord was leading in this dirsction. So I talked to Josh again, and he said to go for it! I feel like I am in a good place to do this right now. We just switched the kid's rooms around, putting Chloe (3) and Emma (2) in the same room, and getting the baby (4mos) out of our room and into her crib in Joshua's (5) room. Morgan (4mos) is doing great with sleeping through the night, and since we are done switching the rooms around, nothing "big" will get in the way of my purging now. So I feel like this is a great time to dive in and purge the house!

I wanted to start blogging again, to keep myself accountable, and to see my progress as I move along. It is not easy finding the time to declutter with four kids 5 and under in the house! But one suggestion the course gave was to pick a time to de-clutter and stick to that. I am going to make Wednesdays my purging days, with other times here and there throughout the week as my schedule/kids allow. Josh works until 8:30pm on Wednesdays, so I drop 2 or 3 of my kids off at my Mom's house for my sister to babysit, and come back home to purge!

Since this post is already pretty long, I will stop here for now, and start blogging about my purging journey in my next post!

 My sweet kiddos! Joshua -5, Chloe, -3, Emma -2, Morgan - 4 mos (3 mos in pic)

 Cook family pic - Thanksgiving 2016

(Photo credit: Bubbly Photography - Rebekah Joy Odio)

New baby on the way!

Josh and I are very excited! We heard, for the first time today, the heartbeat of our new baby! Expecting this little blessing sometime at the end of July/beginning of August. Joshua is going to be a good big brother. He is fascinated with babies. He loves seeing pictures and videos of them on the computer and meeting them in the store :)

Joshua is growing every day! He is talking a little now. He has a vocabulary of about 10-15 words he uses. It's so fun at this age. He's starting to talk and play with us and interact a lot more. We are loving it.

We have had a busy start to the year! Looking to by a house and working through all the papers and details of that has taken a lot of time. Hopefully everything goes through with it and we can move in early spring!

Praising the Lord for good health! Just about everyone we know has had the flu this winter but our family has been spared(so far!). Praising Him for this precious new life He is giving to us too! God is good :)

Happy 1st birthday to my Little Joshua! :D

My sweet little boy turned 1!

     I can hardly believe a year has gone by already! Just last night I was remembering the night he was born. He was so tiny and sweet! I could hardly believe he was finally here!
     Joshua is so sweet and smart and loving. He adds so much joy to our lives just by being himself! Josh and I love him soo much. Joshua loves playing outside. Especially when Daddy and Mommy go play with him. He likes it when his aunts and uncles or grandparents play with him too. He especially loves mowing the lawn with Daddy. Sometimes Josh puts him in the baby carrier, and sometimes he just holds him with one arm and pushes the mover with the other one :) I have such a sweet husband. I am so blessed! God is so good.

     Joshua is learning sign language. He has picked it up pretty quickly. He knows about 5 or 6 signs including "please," "more," "all done," "thank you," and "yes." We introducing some new ones now. Joshua likes to play with cars and balls and likes to read books. He does so well kicking a ball around in the yard. He really enjoys bath time too!

     Here is a family pic taken when Joshua was 8 months old.

 

     Joshua started walking at 10 months. He has his daddy's friendly personality and will wave hello to anyone and everyone while we're out and about. :) His favorite foods are smoothies and eggs. He also loves peanut butter & jelly and yogurt. Recently he has taken an interest in bubbles, which he comes and asks me fore by making a blowing sound! I love my little man so much and am looking forward to the excitement of his new discoveries and learning to talk soon!

Happy 10th birthday Kevin!

Happy birthday to my youngest brother Kevin! This amazing little boy has been battling leukemia for almost a year now. He has gone through soo much and yet through it all he remains calm and has such a sweet spirit about it all! He amazes my family and I every day!

Please be praying for this special little boy. I love him so much. He has a special place in my heart and the hears of my entire family. God is answering prayers, but Kevin still has a long way to go. Praying that his 10th birthday is special for him. Love you Kev!!!

When we found out we were expecting, Josh and I were so excited! It was so special when we went to the midwife and heard his little heartbeat for the first time! And when we got the ultrasound and found out it was a boy! We were so happy. We decided to name him after Josh :) Our Little Josh has brought so much joy into our lives. He was born on August 4th, a perfect little baby 7lbs 6oz :)

Being a mom is awesome! It can be a little challenging at times, and takes a lot of work, but it's so worth it! I love it. Our sweet little boy is already 6 months old. How time flies!

So precious!

God is so good :)

Wow, I haven't been on here in forever! Life is good :) Full of challenges, adventures and joys :) So many major things have happened in my life since I was on here last. First would probably be my wedding! The most wonderful day ever! I like to say the second best day of our lives (next to getting saved that is :)



Life has been good. God's plan for marriage is the best. When you do things God's way He will bless you for it. Being married has been awesome! Not always perfect, but definitely good :) Josh and I moved to Greenville SC after our wedding. He worked there as an optician. I loved getting to know his family and friends there and now have many wonderful friends there myself!
We have a wonderful church family there as well. No matter where you are in your Christian walk, it is so helpful and encouraging to have a body of believers around to support, encourage and love you. We have been so blessed by Greenville Christian Fellowship and by Josh's wonderful family and friends!

About 1/2 way into our first year of our marriage, we announced a new addition to the family was on its way!

It was a wonderful first year for us. :)

Psalm 18:30 "As for God; His way is perfect..."

'Tis So Sweet

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”

Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
Oh, for grace to trust Him more!