I've heard for years that as your children get older, your lives get busier. I found that hard to believe when my kids were little, but last night made a believer out of me! Jessica went to this event with our youth group. Mike and Rebecca went to a planning meeting for our home school group. And I followed Mikayla and our Awana group to watch her compete in Quiz Bowl. She and her partner got third place for her age group! I was very proud of her, especially when she buzzed in to answer a question in the microphone--that's the scariest part. But as I sat there watching her, I flashed back in my mind to the last time we went to Quiz Bowl, 2 years ago. She and Jessica were in different groups, one upstairs and one downstairs, so I kept going back and forth trying to catch their turns answering questions. Rebecca was 4, and I remember her being there, and needing to go potty, but other than that she just followed me around, sweet as pie. I sat there last night just shaking my head at how things have changed.
More on Jessica's experience later...
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Thankful Thursday
Today I am thankful...
that my mother was born ?? years ago today!
and that we live close enough that I can see her more than once a year.
for signs of spring!
that my bahooky finally quit hurting from my tag-on-roller-skates incident. A month later, I can finally sit down, stand up, go up and down stairs, bend over, and pick things up without yelping in pain.
for children who love to read.
that my mother was born ?? years ago today!
for signs of spring!
for children who love to read.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Last week and this
Last week we made shortbread heart cookies...
And made MORE heart cookies--with frosting and sprinkles, this time.
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| No comments on Rebecca's outfit, please. Hey, we're home schooled. |
But he couldn't go to our church Valentine banquet, so he missed hearing Mikayla and Rebecca sing/rap, and seeing our ministers as the "Four Sinatras"! I was catching this cold I have, and didn't even want to be there, but they made me laugh so hard I think it made me feel better!
We also had our home school Valentine party at the library, with 24 kids! Cards, cupcakes, and craft--a good time was had by all.
Yesterday Rebecca wanted me to curl her hair, just for fun, so I did! It lasted all of 5 minutes.
Last night the big girls went to a skating birthday party so Rebecca and I played "Don't Break the Ice," (she won 3 out of 5) and Mike joined us for "The Littlest Pet Shop" game, and she beat us both! I think she enjoyed having us all to herself. When J and M got home, we introduced them to "Hook". Such a fun movie!
This morning was Rebecca's last Upward game, and she scored twice!! And the team had pizza together afterward. She had such a good time this season.
And that is run-down of our lives for the past 2 weeks. Stat tuned for related videos...
We also had our home school Valentine party at the library, with 24 kids! Cards, cupcakes, and craft--a good time was had by all.
Yesterday Rebecca wanted me to curl her hair, just for fun, so I did! It lasted all of 5 minutes.
This morning was Rebecca's last Upward game, and she scored twice!! And the team had pizza together afterward. She had such a good time this season.
And that is run-down of our lives for the past 2 weeks. Stat tuned for related videos...
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The many faces of Mikayla
In honor of her 11th birthday, here is a slide show of the many faces of Mikayla over the years:
Happy Birthday, Mikayla!
Happy Birthday, Mikayla!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
10 on the 10th!
Since my mom was the one to remind me that today was the 10th AND since her birthday is 2 weeks from today (I won’t tell you how old she is, but she was born in a year that ends in zero, which makes it easy to remember. And the first number starts with an "f".) here are 10 things I learned from my Mom!
1. “Be ye kind, one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Too-too, toodly-doo, Ephesians 4:32.” This is the first thing I remember learning from her--probably because shehad to sing sang it so often to me when I needed to hear it.
2. Reading is amazingly fun! She read to me, read her own books in front of me, labeled everything in the house, bought me books--basically made me a life-long lover-of-books.
3. “Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other’s gold.”
4. Harmonize. One of my fondest memories is the 5 of us singing “Amazing Grace” in 4-part harmony driving down the interstate. Or “Rhinestone Cowboy.” Or the dooby-doo song. (Your love is lifting me higher)
5. Be your husband’s biggest fan. Laugh at his jokes, no matter how often you’ve heard them. Never criticize him in public. Don’t keep secrets from him. Follow him wherever he goes.
6. Be your kids’ biggest fan. She always used to say, “If my kids aren’t perfect, they’ll never know it.”
7. Make your bed every day. Even if the rest of the house is a mess, it gives a sense of order to the room.
8. There are 2 kinds of moms. One kind, when her daughter comes home in tears, says, "Honey, lets walk/job/run around the block and talk about it." The other kind, when her daughter comes home in tears, says, "Honey, have a cookie and let's talk about it." Now a lot of my favorite people are walk/jog/run, healthy-food-eaters, and I admire them so much. And like them, too. But, um...my mom and me...
we're cookie moms.
9. Every place has a beauty of its own. When I delight in the sun sparkling on the snow, tiny grass flowers, uniquely-shaped rocks, or colorful leaves, I’m just following her example. It obviously doesn’t come naturally, because she loves to tell the story of how when I was 4 or 5 and we were moving from Florida to Virginia, she was exclaiming over the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and said, “Kids, LOOK--isn’t it beautiful?!” I popped my head up from the back seat, looked out the window, and said, “All I see is a bunch of trees.”
10. Cling to God and follow Him no matter what happens. She was just 61 years old when my dad died, and her world was shattered. But I never saw her blame God or get mad at God--in fact, she praised Him through her tears at his funeral. In the months following, she expressed a feeling of lost-ness. Since her kids were grown and the one who had been her life for 42 years was gone, what was she supposed to do with her life? Well, she put 2 Cor. 1:3-4 (Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.) into action. She found other women who were going through the same things, and gathered them together to comfort each other, minister to each other, laugh and love and keep-on-keeping-on together. Then she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. She could have just given up, dropped out of everything, and just sat around feeling sorry for herself. But instead, she studied up on it (and tried to get her heads-in-the-sand, if-I-don’t-think-about-it-it-isn’t-there kids to study up on it, too), and kept right on serving and growing and being involved.
She is, without a doubt, my hero. I want to be like her when I grow up.
1. “Be ye kind, one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Too-too, toodly-doo, Ephesians 4:32.” This is the first thing I remember learning from her--probably because she
2. Reading is amazingly fun! She read to me, read her own books in front of me, labeled everything in the house, bought me books--basically made me a life-long lover-of-books.
3. “Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other’s gold.”
4. Harmonize. One of my fondest memories is the 5 of us singing “Amazing Grace” in 4-part harmony driving down the interstate. Or “Rhinestone Cowboy.” Or the dooby-doo song. (Your love is lifting me higher)
5. Be your husband’s biggest fan. Laugh at his jokes, no matter how often you’ve heard them. Never criticize him in public. Don’t keep secrets from him. Follow him wherever he goes.
6. Be your kids’ biggest fan. She always used to say, “If my kids aren’t perfect, they’ll never know it.”
7. Make your bed every day. Even if the rest of the house is a mess, it gives a sense of order to the room.
8. There are 2 kinds of moms. One kind, when her daughter comes home in tears, says, "Honey, lets walk/job/run around the block and talk about it." The other kind, when her daughter comes home in tears, says, "Honey, have a cookie and let's talk about it." Now a lot of my favorite people are walk/jog/run, healthy-food-eaters, and I admire them so much. And like them, too. But, um...my mom and me...
we're cookie moms.
9. Every place has a beauty of its own. When I delight in the sun sparkling on the snow, tiny grass flowers, uniquely-shaped rocks, or colorful leaves, I’m just following her example. It obviously doesn’t come naturally, because she loves to tell the story of how when I was 4 or 5 and we were moving from Florida to Virginia, she was exclaiming over the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and said, “Kids, LOOK--isn’t it beautiful?!” I popped my head up from the back seat, looked out the window, and said, “All I see is a bunch of trees.”
10. Cling to God and follow Him no matter what happens. She was just 61 years old when my dad died, and her world was shattered. But I never saw her blame God or get mad at God--in fact, she praised Him through her tears at his funeral. In the months following, she expressed a feeling of lost-ness. Since her kids were grown and the one who had been her life for 42 years was gone, what was she supposed to do with her life? Well, she put 2 Cor. 1:3-4 (Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.) into action. She found other women who were going through the same things, and gathered them together to comfort each other, minister to each other, laugh and love and keep-on-keeping-on together. Then she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. She could have just given up, dropped out of everything, and just sat around feeling sorry for herself. But instead, she studied up on it (and tried to get her heads-in-the-sand, if-I-don’t-think-about-it-it-isn’t-there kids to study up on it, too), and kept right on serving and growing and being involved.
She is, without a doubt, my hero. I want to be like her when I grow up.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Snow and other fun stuff
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| I wish you could see how the sun sparkled on the snow this morning! |
It really was a beautiful snow, and the fun part was that it started in the morning, instead of overnight like they usually do here, and that it was actually SNOW and not just sleet, or rain mixed with snow, or all 3 mixed together. It was great, big, fluffy flakes, and I got to watch them fall all day long. And the kids got to play in it all they wanted and I didn't even worry about getting behind in home schooling because Friday's our easy day anyway. And we had 3 logs left from the oak tree Mike cut down, and they lasted all day long, too. I was really happy when the snow covered up the top of the grass. We made snow ice cream, and Jessica made the candy Laura Ingalls made when she was little, and that night we watched THREE episodes of Little House on the Prairie season one. What a happy, cozy day!
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| I love watching my birds. There's one of our daddy cardinals. |
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| And there's the mama! |
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| The snowbirds are sweet, too. And I love bird tracks in the snow! |
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| Snowman time! |
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| Mike helped with all the hard work this time, so I documented it and helped with the finishing touches. |
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| This was Rebecca's first experience with "sledding." That's Jessica's laundry tub with 2 scarves tied on it. The "hill" wasn't steep enough without help. And yes, she pulled her UPhill, too. |
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| Jessica made a snow squirrel--can you see it? |
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| She added a blue background to help you. Isn't it cute! |
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| And here's Mike and Mikayla's finished product! Yee-haw! |
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| Aaah, comfy TV watching. |
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| Mikayla's radish sprouts |
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| Isn't she the cutest thing?:) |
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| When I held him, he snuggled up under my chin and it felt sooo good! |
And, of course, celebrated Jessica's birthday!
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| Opening her new camera! |
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| Birthday cheesecake |
Friday, February 4, 2011
Jessica's poem
The Rich Man and Lazarus
(A "Found Poem" based on Scripture)
There once was a rich man
dressed in purple and fine linen
and living in luxury every day.
At his gate was laid a beggar,
Lazarus, covered in sores
and longing to eat what fell
from the rich man’s table.
The time came when the beggar died
and angels carried him to Abraham’s side.
The rich man also died and was buried.
In Hades, where he was in torment,
he looked up,
and saw Abraham far away
with Lazarus by his side.
So he called to him,
"Father Abraham, have pity on me!
Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water
and cool my tongue,
because I am in agony in this place."
But Abraham replied,
"Son, remember that in your life time
you received your good things,
while Lazarus received his bad things
but now he is comforted
and you are in agony.
And besides all this,
between us and you a great chasm
has been set in place,
so that those who want to go from here to you
cannot,
nor can anyone cross over from there to us."
He answered,
"Then I beg you my father
send Lazarus to my family.
Let him warn them
so they will not come to this place of torment."
Abraham replied,
"They have Moses and the Prophets.
Let them listen to them."
"No Father Abraham," he said.
"but if someone from the dead goes to them
they will repent."
He said to him,
"If they do not listen
to Moses and the Prophets,
they will not be convinced
even if someone rises from the dead."
(A "Found Poem" based on Scripture)
There once was a rich man
dressed in purple and fine linen
and living in luxury every day.
At his gate was laid a beggar,
Lazarus, covered in sores
and longing to eat what fell
from the rich man’s table.
The time came when the beggar died
and angels carried him to Abraham’s side.
The rich man also died and was buried.
In Hades, where he was in torment,
he looked up,
and saw Abraham far away
with Lazarus by his side.
So he called to him,
"Father Abraham, have pity on me!
Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water
and cool my tongue,
because I am in agony in this place."
But Abraham replied,
"Son, remember that in your life time
you received your good things,
while Lazarus received his bad things
but now he is comforted
and you are in agony.
And besides all this,
between us and you a great chasm
has been set in place,
so that those who want to go from here to you
cannot,
nor can anyone cross over from there to us."
He answered,
"Then I beg you my father
send Lazarus to my family.
Let him warn them
so they will not come to this place of torment."
Abraham replied,
"They have Moses and the Prophets.
Let them listen to them."
"No Father Abraham," he said.
"but if someone from the dead goes to them
they will repent."
He said to him,
"If they do not listen
to Moses and the Prophets,
they will not be convinced
even if someone rises from the dead."
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