Proverbs 1

The Purpose of Proverbs:
"...to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise.
...to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair.
They will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young."
"Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge..."
Proverbs 1:2-4,7 (New Living Life Application Bible)

I want to encourage you to seek out God's wisdom through His Word. There have been many times in my life when I have come upon a struggle and immediately sought out the answers from friends, family, books, etc. Though these can all offer support or affirmation, I have realized that I first need to seek out Christ and His guidance. He has a plan for each step of our lives, including the times that we struggle. I have found great guidance through the Proverbs. I want to encourage you to read Proverbs everyday, especially with your children. Let us fill them with God's wisdom while they are young and encourage them to seek out His Will for their lives.
God Bless!

A week in pictures...

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We are so blessed to serve such an amazing God that sent His Son to earth as a little baby to later die for our sins. This year has been such a blessing to my family. I look forward to this new year to see what God has instore for my family. Praise His Name!
Here are a few pictures from our week.

Christmas morning


Playing in the snow



My little helper



Loving our new baby sister

Christmas #2

My family came down this last week to meet Hallie and celebrate Christmas with the family. My children all had a wonderful time with their Grandparents. On Wednesday we opened our gifts from my side of the family. Katelyn loves her new doll house and tea party set, as well as many other fun gifts. Brenden is all boy with his basketball hoop, football, tape measure, and Superman pajamas (with cape)! Makenna loves being mommy's helper with her new vacuum!
Katelyn, Makenna, and Grandma also enjoyed baking cookies from Katelyn's new cookbook!

My little Shepherd boy

Hallie Linnae Potter

December 4, 2009
7lb 13 oz
20 inches

Oatmeal's Biggest Fan

I have converted!

I am always looking for ways to save money! Two ideas have caught my eye, but took some time for me to jump into. The first was making my own laundry soap. I have been waiting until my current stuff was out, but due to idea number two, I needed to start earlier. I'll explain in a minute. Making my own laundry soap was actually very easy. I searched online for different recipes and ended up using the one in the Duggar book. The ingredients cost me about $7 (which includes the one-time cost of the bucket) and this first batch should last me about 6 months.
The second idea was cloth diapers. This one took a little bit of time as I did some researching on which to use, and then searched around for the best deal. I ended up buying some chinese prefolds and covers from a lady in Boise that I can use for about the first 6 months. I also purchased some pocket diapers online that can grow with the child. I can use those the entire time. I bought the prefolds because I was told that the pocket diapers might not fit a newborn's little legs right at first, causing leaks. Anyways, a few days ago, I realized that Makenna only had a few diapers left, so I decided to start my adventure. You are only supposed to wash cloth diapers in enzyme-free laundry soap, which is why my homemade laundry soap adventure started now as well. After washing all of my new pocket diapers, I was ready! So far, all as been good. I have had to play with things at naps and bed, testing out how many layers I need in the pockets so that she does not leak.
I am sure that many of you are shaking your heads and thinking, "She is crazy!", and well, I may be, but at this point, I do not need to buy any diapers for this soon-coming little girl and now for Makenna until she is potty trained! One step closer to being debt-free!