Our Family 2013

Greyson Nathaniel Moore joined our family March 24, 2013. It has been a wonderful 5 weeks with him. He is little sweetheart; and we are in love with him and his little grunts. Giana is adjusting well to having a little brother. She loves to give him hugs and kisses and has been a big helper for mommy. We are thankful for this new blessing in our lives. God is so good!

My sister made this adorable video of our family that I wanted to share. Enjoy!

Love,

AGM

Indianapolis Children's Museum

A couple of week ago, we were invited by another family to go to the Indianapolis's Children's Museum. It was our first time going and we were in awe of it! It is the largest children's museum in the world. We did not have the time or energy to see all of the museum but what we did see was fantastic. Giana loved the Gecko Exhibit and Mr. Bear's PlayHouse. Here are some pics of our first visit to the children's museum:

Someone doesn't look too excited for the museum ;)

Gecko's and Trains

                              

Sunkissed Creations

For Giana's huge bow collection, I decided to make a special bow holder for her room. In an older post, I had been using ribbon bow holders. Check it out here. The ribbon holders are now filled, so I wanted to make something that can also be used as art work on a wall in her room. I bought some cork board, fabric, ribbon, and buttons to make a special bow holder. 

1. I painted the frame of the cork board red. 

2. I glued the fabric on the cork board and used yellow ribbon to frame it. 

3. Buttons were glued on to bring more color and interest. 

4. Lastly, I added Giana's bows!

As Giana gets older, she can use this as a jewelry holder by using the buttons to hold necklaces and bracelets.

 Check out the pictures:  

 I was inspired to make this bow holder by my friend Christy Kempson. Christy's craft business is called SunKissed Creations.  She creates a lot of wood pieces into coat/towel holders, book shelves, and so much more. She made this amazing jewelry holder. She used buttons and clothes pins to hang the jewelry. Awesome! Check it out:

 Here are some of her other Sunkissed Creations:

I am going to have her make a couple of book shelves for baby boy's room. If you are interested in  Christy's work  please email her at christykempson@gmail.com for more information.

Thanks for reading! -AGM

Papa and Nana's Visit

My mom and dad came to visit last week. They were a great help with watching Giana and helping prepare for her new baby brother's arrival. I put my dad to work on painting furniture and he did a great job. I will share the his hard work soon! 

Giana was certainly spoiled for the five days they were here. Giana loved patting Papa's "ball" head. She is hilarious! Giana also had her first haircut. Nana did a great job even with a squirming 17 month old!

I hope you enjoy the pictures of Papa and Nana's visit. Thanks for reading! -AGM

Papa and Nana

Going for a ride!

Of course, we took Giana for some pasta!

Giana's first haircut

Nana did a great job!

Never Alone

Our small group met tonight and it was awesome. The study "What on Earth are We Here For?" has been so helpful and enlightening. I can't get out of my head what we discussed tonight. The session was about fellowship and being formed for God's family. God wants us to know and love each other. He wants us to share our experiences and support with each other. The book gave this verse and I love it: Acts 2:44 "All the believers met together constantly and shared everything with each other." I love that the verse says "shared everything with each other." God wants us to share our joys AND our sufferings with others. He doesn't want us to go through hardships alone. He wants us to be able to share our hearts. As much as God wants me to grow in my relationship with Him; He desires I do the same with others. God wants us to develop relationships with people He has placed in our lives. My goal is to give of my time and to be intentional with investing in these God-given relationships. I will strive to not allow my fear of getting hurt stop me from allowing God to work in and through my life and my relationships.

I encourage you to check out this book! Thanks so much for reading.-AGM

Family, Friends, and Fun

 We have had many visitors this month! I am actually getting ready for my mom and dad to visit this week. It has been fun sharing our "new" city with friends and family. My sister was able to come out for a couple of days. It was so adorable to see Giana get so excited to see her Auntie. Ashley even took some great pictures of our family.We all had a wonderful time together.

Rudy loves Ashley

We loved their chai's!

Auntie and Giana reading before bedtime

  Here's a glimpse of Auntie Ashley's pictures of our family:

Our friends Jon and Noelle visited this past weekend. It was great seeing them and having our kids play together. Their little boy Zachary is in love with Giana. (The pics will prove it!) We also had our friends Trevor and Carrie visit. These two couples are a part of our launch team. Our launch team will be a strong part of our church plant. We are so thankful for their faithfulness to God's calling on their lives! (I will share more about our church plant in future posts.)

It's Amore!

Giana and Zachary at church

Downtown Noblesville

              

Fantastic Pizza Place!

Garden pizza? yes, please!

Noelle and I

It was Noelle's b-day so I made this Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Check out the recipe: Here

Thanks for reading! -AGM

What on Earth Am I Here For?

Last week, our church launched a 40 day Spiritual Growth Journey called, "Discovering My Calling: What on Earth Am I Here For?" Through small group study and weekly messages, we will be exploring our purpose in this life. Jared and I started our small group this past Tuesday and are excited to learn and grow with our new friends. We will be studying Pastor Rick Warren's book "What on Earth am I Here For?" The first week of reading has been awesome. Jared and I love Chapter four of the book called Made to Last Forever. I loved this sentence in the chapter: "Measured against eternity, our time on earth is just a blink of an eye, but the consequences of it will last forever. The deeds of this life are the destiny of the next."-Wow! Looking at life as preparation for eternity should change so many of my priorities. The chapter shares that I (we) will place a higher value on relationships and character instead of fame, wealth, and achievement when we live our lives in light of eternity. (pg.40) Spending time with our small group is more important than watching our favorite Tuesday night TV shows. Or on a more personal note, my Bible reading needs to take more priority than 30 minutes on the elliptical...ouch! The chapter gave this verse: "This world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever." (1 John 2:17) 

Have a great day! -AGM

Fabulous Finds

            One thing that I love is a great deal. I have been introduced to some adorable antique malls that are filled with fabulous finds. I love to just roam around each booth to get ideas for future projects. Sometimes, I am lucky to find a great deal. I have been looking for a little side table for Giana's new big girl room. I really don't like the thought of her growing up; but the planner in me wants to get everything ready for when baby boy makes his arrival.

 Here is what I was looking for in regards to a bedside table:

I absolutely loved this piece but not the price of it. $160.

I have been searching around to find a piece that resembles it.

Here is what I found:

I am going to redo this little table and add a basket for storage. It is only missing a little drawer but I can work with it! It was only $15! Love this fabulous find. ;)

This was redone sewing machine desk. I couldn't pass it up for only $24! I put it in our kitchen nook because the kitchen colors are blues, yellows, and reds. I may want to use it as a desk when Giana gets older.

Hope you have enjoyed my fabulous finds! I will share the finished product of the red side table soon! -AGM

Love is in the air!

 I love the month of February! This year, I wanted to add a few Valentine's Day decorations around the house. I had extra burlap from Giana's first birthday party, so I decided to make a "love" banner for the fireplace. I used twine, acrylic paint, and letter/heart stencils to make it. I also made a mini "love" banner for my yarn wreath. The yarn wreath was a Christmas present that my sister made for me. I love it! To make the wreath appropriate for Valentine's Day, I took off the Christmas decor and added fabric flowers and the "love" banner. I love that the wreath can be used throughout the year! FYI, It is super easy to make fabric flowers. I just found a tutorial on Pinterest to learn how to make them. For some reason I am obsessed with glass domes. To add a touch of love, I placed the glass dome on a red charger and added red flowers to the potted plant. I hope you enjoy the simple touches of love around our house! Happy February!

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Love, 

AGM

Saved by the Bell

Jared turned thirty in December, and I wanted to do a surprise party for him. Well, I did not have much luck keeping it surprise. But I did try to keep the theme under wraps for as long as I could! Jared always loved watching Saved by the Bell when he was growing up (he even has the seasons on DVD).  I decided to throw a Saved by the Bell party where people could come dressed in 80/90s or Saved by the Bell character attire. It was a blast to celebrate with friends from MI and Indy. 

I wanted to share the party planning and pictures of the event. Check it out! 

The decor:

Good will was my friend during the whole planning process. I found great 80/90s decorations, such as an old clock, huge boom box, retro tv....I also found some fun blow up guitars for photo props. I made the "pom poms" to add color to the room. I have to thank our awesome friends Kiersten and Dane for making the fun signs with the Saved by the Bell characters and sayings. They looked awesome and made the room come together. I made Bayside High Detention/Desserts sign with chalkboard spray paint and chalk. FYI chalkboard spray paint works great! Oh, we also had a photo "booth" for fun pics of everyone in their attire!

The food:

I made a table of Bayside High Desserts. Each dessert had a character theme. 

"Screech on a stick"- marshmallows with melted chocolate and sprinkles on a stick

Lisa "Turtles"- yummy turtles

Zach Attack Snacks- funfetti brownies

Jessie's "Energy Pills"- skittles in little cups

Slater's Sugar Cookies: sugar cookies with funky 80s designs

Saved by the Bell characters pictures on chocolate cupcakes

Zack's Huge Cellphone- Jared's Birthday Cake

The Max was where the characters would hang and eat burgers.

I had a table for mini burgers, fries, and chicken sandwiches.

We also had root beers and waters labeled with the Saved by the Bell emblem.

Thanks for reading! -AGM