Water Balloon Fight!

It warmed up a bit on Saturday and I had bought some water balloons a few days prior. That was enough for Hope. After some pleading, we decided to fill a bunch of balloons and have our firts Starr family water fight! The kids loved it. Levi and I stayed out of it and just watched, laughed and took pictures.





~Rose

Happy 30th Tim!

Joshua Tree, CA ~1999?

Wish we could be there to celebrate with you Tim.
May this year be blessed beyond measure for you!
We love you!
Love, Desi, Rose, Hope, Owen, Emmaline and Levi

Emma Bear Sleepy Head

I took the girls to the mall today to get Emma's 3 yr old photo taken this afternoon. We shopped at Children's Place (had a gift certificate) and found a TON of great deals. I bought clothes for Owen and Hope...some they fit in now, some for later and everything was $4.99 or less! I bought Owen 2 (diff sizes) sweatshirts for $4.99 each regularly $24.99! I love a good deal and knowing I have 4 kids to clothe, I really only buy things on sale. Getting good quality clothes means I can probably hand them down to Emma and Levi :)
Emma fell asleep on the way home and I ran in to get the camera...so funny how she's resting on her hand!


~Rose

Two Things

Well, three things.

One, my little guy is teething and I woke up ill again...really, I mean REALLY sore throat and my left ear is still plugged. My Dr says it should clear up soon, sigh...looking forward to hearing well again. Nothing like something going away to make you really appreciate it! So, prayers for Levi and me would be appreciated... :)

Two, my best friend from high school, Kameron, just posted what look to me like FANTABULOUS summer salad receipes. I have printed them all off and will try all of them. I'm a sucker for new receipes :) Thanks, Kameron and congrats on the new little blessing in your belly!

Three, I played a kids worship album (Courage) this morning and heard Emma singing along...well, bless my heart it did. Here's the link to the post in Girl Talk (the blog that mentioned the album) and the Seeds Family Worship website. All of the songs are Bible verses and there are 4 cds. We bought one and I love it so much, I think eventually we'll get 'em all. Nothing better than to hear your 3 year old singing Bible verses!
~Rose

Yeah, that's me...

Hope read to me today out of her Bible reader- "Jesus Calls Matthew". We talked about the pharisees and how they were so bugged that Jesus was eating with Matthew's sinner friends. Jesus said that healthy people don't need a doctor, but He came to save sinners...yeah, that's me! Boy, it's amazing how quick I am to get bugged or angry at my kids. Lord, help me!
This picture shows the party that Matthew threw. Pictured are Jesus and Matthew..."Where are the other people" I ask Hope..."I don't feel like drawing them" she replies! She said there were life-savers on the table so that when they ate too much sugar, they could eat a life-saver to feel better.

I've recently been thinking about my daily schedule. I have had my eye on Managers Of Their Homes for awhile and finally got it. It arrived Friday and I'm almost done reading it. Now begins the writing down of all I feel God has called me to do as a wife and mother and the time I need to do those things. Next I'll do a page each for the kids. This is to be done prayerfully over a week or so. After that I'll discuss with Desi, revamp if needed and then write them on colored blocks of 30 to 60 min segments. The final step is to attach them (4 colors: Mom, Hope, Owen and Emma...hmmm, maybe Levi too?) to the master schedule. I'll probably do a slightly different one for Fridays, which are lighter school days and a few hours spent with friends. All this to say, please pray for me as I pray and seek God's will for my daily life. I know a schedule will keep me on track, help me to get more accomplished, help my kids to get more accomplished and ease a lot of frustration that comes from trying to managae the chaos that is our household! So, you, my friends, will you please keep me accountable to this? Thanks! Time to get Levi...he's calling for me!
~Rose

He Is Risen!

We had a white Easter this year! Here are some of my favorite shots from the day. Click here to see all the photos from today on our church website. Hope your day was blessed with friends, family, joy, peace, hope and love.







~Rose

Getting to know people takes time...

I went to see our neighbor's new baby today. Boy is he a cutie pie. Little Benjamin is only 4 days old and 6 pounds something. It was nice to chat with Rich and Barb and I even got to hold the baby! My other neighbor, Nafisa stopped by to give me about 15 tomatoes...she just had extra. We chatted a bit. I really like her and we see each other a few times a week. I was out with Emma running some errands and saw Aunt Debi in the Safeway parking lot. She said she might need to stop by and see if we had something to eat...the fat ladies at the place she lives take all the food she tells me! She and her man stopped by a few hours later and wanted to sell me a noisy musical bunny. I didn't have any cash (didn't really want that bunny anyway :), but made her a few turkey sandwiches to go with some bananas and pumpkin bread. Yesterday our next door neighbor's daughter Devin stopped by to give us a gift cert to Children's Place where she works (a thank you for using our dryer once when hers broke).
All this to say, I LOVE our neighborhood and neighbors. It seems to really take time to get to know people these days. Maybe it's just that you have to take the time to reach out and step out your door, but it's so worth it. I feel like I have family all around us and if Desi were gone and I needed something, I'd have a ton of people I could call. What a blessing. God is so good to give us this thing called friendship and community.
Speaking of friendship...Micah was over and snapped a few pics of Levi.
Here are my two fav's...


~Rose

Good Friday

Today is was a nice day. The kids and I went over to my neighbor Priya’s house for playtime and lunch (she has two kiddos Emma and Levi’s ages). After that we did a bit of school beginning with Owen’s Math U See. He is totally PUMPED about math and it’s so cute to see him get so excited about it! I met my mom around 3:45 for coffee and picked up a pizza after for dinner (we love Papa Murphy’s). After dinner Desi and I gathered the kids together and talked about what Good Friday is. I read the crucifixion story to them from a kids Bible and we asked why it’s called Good Friday if Jesus died? Hope answered, “Because He died for our sins!” We sang a few songs, prayed and then got down to the business of decorating hard boiled eggs. This was our first year doing it and the kids LOVED it!

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Now by this I’ll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Thank You Lord for your ultimate sacrafice!
~Rose
P.S. This is my 300th post. I LOVE BLOGGING!