Welcome!!!!!!

Hi Everyone! Welcome! I have been dying to get back into blogging so being that Kellys Korner is hosting "Wanna make some new friends" I figured this would be a great time to do so! I'm Stacey From South Jersey. I grew up in Central Jersey in a small town only 1 square mile Ocean Grove. you know the kind of place that still has a main street and everyone knows everyone? That was it! Then I met my husband while I was a senior in high school at a Christian Camp and basically the rest is history!! We now live in south jersey where he was born and raised and have just celebrated in Feb. our 10th wedding Anniversary have 3 great amazing kids Madyson 7, Bryson 4, and Meya (Mia) Hope 2. We love God. We try to do our best to show others his love! We love our church shorefellowship.net We've had a quite a journey! Please look around and see what we are all about from precious blog post and I hope to get to know you too! Thanks for stopping by and leave a comment! Thanks for stopping by Blessings, Stacey

A wife, Mother and Ministry leader

Hi Everyone over from http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/!! Welcome to my little corner of the world! At first I wasn't sure if I should link up but I decided to! I am on Staff at our church http://www.shorefellowship.net/ and Have been since Sept. 2011 . I am a wife, Mommy of 3 and part-time Nursery Coordinator at our church! I work up to 8 hours a week and am so thankful that the Lord put me where I am! I am still able to be a full time Mommy and wife but I also get out just a little bit.
My job basically includes staffing our Volunteers for 3 services which are Saturday night at 5:30 and 2 Sunday Morning serves. My area we have 3 rooms and the are Guppies babies up to 1, the Turtles 1 year old room, and our Starfish who are 2! On weekends we have about 30 Volunteers I over see. I know most of you are from the south, but here in NJ I'm so thankful that God lead us to our church a little over 6 years ago!
Just to give you a little history on me and my husband, We both grew up in church our parents were both very active in ministry but our families were not pastors, they were active members in our churches, where our parents showed us what it meant to serve God weekly through the gifts of not only our money but how it was just as important to serve him and his people. Our parents were ushers (dads of course), Sunday School teachers and Superindendts, served in the kitchen for many meals being served. Youth group leaders the list goes on. It is there where both my husband and I understood what it means to be in ministry real ministry reaching real people through everyday life. I think sometimes people think you are only in ministry if your parents or you are pastors or Missionarys, but I want to encourage everyone that we are in ministry everyday of our lives. My mom taught me very early on that when you say you are a Christian it's a huge responsibility because people will always be watching how you live your life. How you handle situations and how you all others to see God as a very real and big part of your life. It is something both my husband and I hope we teach our children and instill in them to be in ministry in their churches with their families. It's very important for us to be examples to our children and teach them what it means to serve our amazing God!!!

I will tell you a little bit about us, My husband Jayson and I have been married 10 years and we have 3 amazing kids and an exchange student. We have Madyson who is 7, Bryce who is 4 1/2 and Meya (Mia) Hope who is 2. Our exchange student her name is Lingya in chinese but in English her name is Sandy. She goes to our local Christain School and will be with our family until June. She hopes and we do too that she will come back and stay with our family again next year. That is something else i want to touch on really quick. Sandy is a Christain she excepted Jesus into her heart last year when she was here in America going to school we are also ministers to her. We may very well be the only examples of Christians she will ever see in her life and that is not something we want to take lightly. Anways back to our family. I lost my dad last Feb. 2011 to a long fight with cancer. he is now in the best place ever but we miss him terribly here. I hope you enjoyed stoping by and please leave a comment and let me know you were here! Thanks so much
Blessings!!
Stacey

A New School Year is Upon Us!

I can't believe we are in our 2nd week of school already!! Things are a little crazy over hear, and we are getting used to our new schedules and all the running and craziness! Madyson is a 1st grader now and our Bryson is in Pre-K! I am so thankful our district offers pre k. Bryce is in the afternoon class and it goes from 12:35-3:10 so its just enough time for him and he just Loves going! Madyson is having a great year so far also. She Loves her teacher and Is really liking all her new friends. Mady also started taking 2 dance classes this year! Every Monday she has Lyrical Ballet and then Jazz. She loves it and she loves her teachers especially "Aunt Amy" our dear friend who is now her teacher! She couldn't wait until she was old enough to take one of her classes! I can't believe how quickly they are growing up and it makes me sad yet so happy also! We have also added to our craizness a bit..We now have a new member of our family! Sandy our exchange student. She is here for the whole school year and she is just as sweet as can be! Sandy is in 10th grade and goes to Atlantic Christin School in the next town over. The only hard thing is we have to take her and pick her up each day and that becomes a little crazy with all the kids but it is what it is! All in All it's been a great start to hopefully a great school year! I am sot thankful for all of what God is doing even though it's a mixture of craziness and bliss! Love these little ones! Enjoy the picture over load :)

Celebrating a Sweet 4 year old!!!!!!!

Saturday we had the such a wonderful day celebrating our Bryson Matthew! He turned 4 on the 4th of July, and we were up celebrating with my family in Ocean Grove, so we decided to celebrate a few weeks later! WE had such a fun day! WE set up all kids of water toys and little pools for the kids to play in, we had put these cute dinosaur skeletons in the sand box so the kids could "dig for fossils", had a dinosaur egg (water balloons) games, and snacks and dinosaur rice cripie treats for favors and smore pops cup cakes ice pops all the fun stuff to have a party! I just want to thank everyone for coming and helping us celebrate our sweet boy! we had some of our good friends from church/mops come and family! Enjoy the picture over load Ha! Bryson Matthew We LOVE you more than words can say! You are such a joy to be around and you really know how to make everyone you come in contact with fall in love with you and smile!! We love you our sweet 4 year old!!!!



Sweet Birthday BOy!
Favor's all ready to go!

Dinosaur rice crispie treat favors! My husband Made the tags Love them!
Love this picture!!
He is such a sweet heart!
My sweet boy digging for dinosaur's with his cousin and friend!
My sweet husband and I
My father in law holding sweet Meya Hope, Madyson and some of the kids friends enjoying a treat!
My big girl holding her little cousin Jossara! So sweet!
The kids were digging for Dinosaur in the Sand Box and Had a Blast!!
Some of my sweet friends
My sweet mother in law and sis in law!!

Hi Everyone from Karen ~at~ Home! I am so excited to be guest blogging with you all today! My name is Stacey from aspenbergfam.blogspot.com and I am a wife to the Love of my life Jayson and together we have 3 amazing crazy kids! Our oldest Madyson is 6 1/2 our son Bryson will be 4 in a week and our littlest Meya Hope is 18 months! Here is a picture of the 3 of them from last Sept. when we went to Disney!
I do love being at home with them but my days are busy and some days seem longer than others but, I am so thankful that God lead me to this role! Some days I am so weary, but through Him I find my strength and make it through! I have to tell you all honestly that this year 2011 Has been our toughest and most challenging year thus far since I have been home. So much has happened in such a short amount of time that sometimes I am still wondering what God's plan is for Our family and where he will take us but trying to rest in him. On Febuary 6th, in the early morning hours my dad passed away after a long 4 years fight with stage 4 prostate cancer! I am so thankful for the man God gave me as a daddy and miss him more words than ever express you can read more on this here http://aspenbergfam.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-few-months.html . Just 2 short weeks later my husband was let go of his job of 5 years and I didn't think things could get any crazier than we got that news and it was almost to much to bear. But through those crazy times I have to tell you I feel as though my role as a Stay at home wife and Mom was completely redefined and never felt so needed , yet didnt feel like I had much to give and the Grace God gave me to get through and the Way he poured out his Love was just so powerful and Moving! I must say the biggest reward with being home is I'm there for my husband and kids and I get to be the very first one who watches them talk for the first time, take their first steps , smile for the first time and those moments are far more precious than anything else and I wouldn't trade those things for anything in the world!
I know you all don't know this but my husband does suffer from depression and it has also been such a blessing to be home and be there for him when he needs me also. Between him and the children the best reason to have me home is I am able to be there for them and all that they may need. I am a Hairdresser turned stay at home Momma, and I am fortunate that I still do a ton of hair out of my home and it makes for a nice side income and always seems to be there when we need it most. When we were dating and engaged my husband and I had a ton of long talks and we decided way back then that when we had children that I was going to be home with them. My husband was more for it than most since his mother was a stay at home mom of 4 and grew up wanting that for his family as well. So when we found out that we were expecting our 1st I went out on Maternity leave and never came back. Also for me and my profession it did not pay me to go back to work especially with the cost of Day care that we new that what I made wouldn't cover the cost. I don't really think I miss anything about working because for me I have the best of both worlds. I do hair when and if I want and I am able to plan it for during Nap and rest time or when my husband is home in the evening and I can make it to school for parties and whatnot. One thing I love is for the 2nd year I was our church's MOPS (Mothers of Preschooler's) co-coordinator. It was so awesome to see so many lives changed by God! If you are contemplating staying home the one thing I would offer as far as advice is get connected with other Mom's ! That is a must you need your girlfriends to help you get through the crazy times the happy times and the most trying times and days! There is nothing like your friends and you need to surround yourself with them! Look at your church or local church some may offer MOPS groups there or bible studies or Play groups any of the above! Its a great way to meet friends and get out there it will make the days go by shorter!
Here is a picture from a few months back (above) There are my husbands 3 sisters and their husbands! They are truly some of my closest friends and we try to sneek out every few months just us to have fun without the kids! between the 4 siblings there are 9 soon to be in a few weeks 10 cousins and it makes for some crazy fun times! Its so nice to be able to have a close family and have cousins to grow up with for our kids!
Here is just 1 picture of only a small group of us form our annual MOPS spring tea! These ladies helped me get through this some of the toughest times! Esepcially my friend Lauren to the right of me! I am so thankful for her friendship and the long talks and tears shared on the phone she is gem and I don't know what I would do without her! As far as career goals or going back to work goes, as of now I am not planning on returning anytime soon, I thing the choice we made for our family was the right one for sure!
If I am getting long winded I am so sorry but before I close I really want to share a few things with you if you are considering staying at home or even returning to work: I would tell you to Pray about it. For us its not about the money at all. we struggle at times but you get creative on ways to save money and one way or another we somehow make things work (Usually by God's grace) you get creative with meals, coupons, and whatnot! Also I would say Get Connected! Its the one thing that is so important! Get connect with the Ladies around you, you need friends! And Lastly dont just look at the finacial aspect of staying home look all all areas because it goes so much further than money! I just want to Thank Karen so much for giving me this opportunity to share with you all and thanks for taking the time to read my long winded post! Please come visit me over at aspenbergfam.blogspot.com or you can email me at aspenbergfam@gmail.com and would love to get to know more fellow bloggers out there!!
Blessings,
Stacey!

Celebrating Sweet Madyson!

WE had a fun filled weekend!!! Madyson had her 4th Dance Recital this weekend and we had so....much fun celebrating with her!!!
The Girls Madyson has danced with the same girls (almost of all them) for 4 years! We have such a good time each week and we have seen these girls grow up so far and its been great!
She LOVES dance class !! Its such a fun moment to see your little girl on stage and be soo happy!
Madyson and Jayson's Mom she Loves her Nanie!
My Mom and sister, it was bittersweet for me because it's the 1st one since my dad passed away.
Sweet siblings! Meya was far to busy running around to stand still for 30 seconds to get a picture ha!
Each year I always make a cake for her! We try to celebrate as a family for all the big and little things!! So fun!
A blogger friend Jenny over at sophieshope08.blogspot.com had this posted on her wall last week and i thought that would be so fun to try for Mady's big day and i think it turned out pretty cute!
She was soooooooooo excited to get flowers and celebrate her!! So thankful for her and fun spunkiness!!


Madyson, Daddy and I LOVE you so much and are sooooo proud of you!! You are, our little star! So thankful for you and your love for dance!!!

He Is Risen!!!

Happy Easter
Our Lord IS Risen and Alive!
Love, The Aspenberg's