Tidbits, Treasures, and Toils

A little rant

2012-01-29T21:04:00.002-05:00

I was forwarded this article by a friend the other day...and it fired me up! If you don't have time to read it, it's from The Christian Post and talks about an athiest activist who plans to target FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) in 2012 for their "proselytizing at public schools while targeting the impressionable minds of our children.""

This paragraph really got me:

‎"Regardless of majority demographics, not everyone is Christian and these two groups in particular use nefarious methods of passive-aggressive proselytizing that affects the children of non-Christian parents who should be able to send their kids off to school without the worry that they will be exposed to religious propaganda (magazines, tracts, fliers, etc.) that these organizations leave behind, or via the training they give school teachers and administrators to integrate into their daily activities..."

Really?? Then we should be able to send our kids to school without worrying that they will be exposed to secular/liberal propaganda {"safe" sex education, evolution. etc.} as part of their educational experience. Shouldn't it work both ways??

At least FCA and Good News Clubs aren't a required part of the educational experience.

I think this hit close to home for me because, this school year we made the hard choice to give up attending our church's Wednesday night "Adventure Club", so we could get involved with the Good News Club at Ethan and Karis' school on Wednesday afternoons. For those of you who might not be familiar with this program, it's an after school club, similar to a VBS or Awana Club, run by volunteers from CEF. In our district, the schools will not advertise this club. The only way to let kids know about it is through word of mouth. {We've gone from having 5 kids at our first meeting back at the end of October to having 30 registered kids...and we've passed out 6 Bibles to kids who didn't have one!}

When a kid is invited to Club, a permission slip goes home clearly stating what the club is all about...if a parent doesn't want their kid there, then they don't sign the form {contrary to what this guy seems to think, we are not handcuffing kids and dragging them into this club without their parents knowing what's going on}..simple as that. I wouldn't like it if there was an "athiests' news" club meeting at the school, but since I value my First Amendment rights {and I want GNC to be allowed to meet} I'm not gonna put up a stink {or at least a huge one :o)}...and if someone invited one of our kids to it, we obviously would tell them that's not what we believe, why we don't believe it, and we wouldn't allow them to attend.

I'm not sure I see why this same logic would be so difficult for an athiest family that might find their kids invited to a Good News Club?

As Christian parents who send our kids to public school, we're well aware that they are going to encounter things that go against the core of what we believe. We already have every intent of pulling them from the standard "sex education" course provided by the schools. We have plans to purchase some of our own supplemental materials to help provide our kids with a more "rounded" study of some eras of world history and fields of science. We fully realize that we have to counteract the parts of the education system that don't align with our way of thinking...that we have the responsibility to make up for the areas where we feel the schools fall short {while these are some of the very reasons some pull their kids from public schools, they are part of the reason we feel like the Lord wants us there}.

Again, would this same philosophy really be that difficult for an athiest family?

It's our prayer that the Lord protects these organizations from the attacks of {Satan} this group....that we will be able to encourage the students that call on the name of the Lord to stand firm in their faith each day...and that we will continue to have the opportunity to feed those children who are hungry for something that they aren't even aware of.

Projects Lately...

2012-01-25T13:12:00.013-05:00

So, here comes an attempt to bring the ol' blog back to life. Here are some of the fun things we've worked on recently while I could have been blogging {:o)}:

Craft Stick Snowmen
I was in charge of Ethan's class Christmas Party and we made these for the craft. I came across something similar to them while looking for ideas online, but these are really my own creation. The kids loved at school loved them and we had fun making more here at home to give as Christmas gifts.

Slouchy Slipper Socks
Karis signed out a fleece craft book from the school library and picked out this fun project. Of course, Natalie is making a pair, too. They are super easy...Karis {who has never sewn before} picked up the backstitch really fast. I'll have to post pics of the girls wearing them when we get them all finished.

Wall Verses
I finally finished the verse in Karis' and Natalie's room. Love the way it turned out {...now to finish the flowers around the room!}. I also started on Ephesians 6 around the front door. I went with a simple all caps "font" and a paint marker. Goes so fast if you're looking for something a little more subtle. Of course, after I finished the main part of it, Ethan pointed out that I forgot the "s" on the end of Ephesians...so there will be some touching up happening!

Sled Riding and Snowmen
Okay, I know this isn't really a project but the past two weekends we've spent probably a total of 6+ hours sled riding!! We were getting worried for a while there that we weren't getting any snow this winter, but we've had two snowy weekends in a row. We're still waiting for the BIG snow, though :o)!

5...going on 15....

2012-01-01T13:58:00.001-05:00

Our Natalie-girl turned 5 on the 29th of December. Such a crazy time to have a birthday. {I had every intent of completing her slideshow on time and getting it posted on her actual day because I hate that it seems like her celebration gets lost in the hustle and bustle, but, of course, I forgot to take the computer on our trip to my parents' house and failed on the supermom gig once again.}

At five years old, Natalie often has the attitude you might expect from a 15 year old {which I never expected from one of our kids}. With the attitude, though, comes a unique maturity and ability to communicate that our first two didn't have. It is so interesting to watch her express herself. There were days in her younger years when we had worried that she might be the trouble maker of her class at school, but she has proved us wrong. Her teacher has stopped me more than once to commend her obedience...doing the right thing even before she is told to. She is a people watcher and people pleaser...constantly observing what is going on around her. She is a girl of prayer...often catching on to a need in a passing conversation and then bringing that need to the Lord later in the day. We love her like crazy and can't wait to see how she'll grow this year.

Blessings

2011-12-13T12:36:00.001-05:00

Here is a wonderful article written by my friend Ashley. It's a great reminder for all of us to keep things in perspective as we end one year and begin another. The Lord gives and He takes away...

Blessings

Over the months of 2011, I have come to realize the many blessings that occurred, in a year full of heartache. On my father’s side of the family we lost his sister and brother to cancer. Although there was much sorrow that occurred, I did see many blessings in the births of two very special baby boys. Two of my closest friends were given the gift of a baby boy and they have helped changed their lives in a special way. Here are their stories.

Jen and I grew up on the same street in Galion. In fact, our parents still live there today. In January of 2011, Jen was seven months pregnant with her second child and was preparing to say goodbye to her mother, who was in the last stages of cancer. Hospice was called in around Christmas and she knew it wouldn’t be long. Jen called me one day and said, “I just don’t think I can do this.” By “this” she was meaning that she didn’t think she was strong enough to deal with all that was going on. A co-worker of Jen’s had gotten up in a meeting that day and had thanked everyone for their support because the co-worker’s father had passed away. Jen knew she was next. She was picturing herself having to get up and do the same thing. She just couldn’t face that she was losing her mother. Jen said to me, “I can’t do this.” I knew Jen would be just fine, and God would give her strength. The truth is, I had never seen anyone in my life have more strength than Jen. Only a year before I watched her stand strong when her first child, Sam, was born with Down Syndrome. She had to stand strong when Sam was only 3 months old and had to have open heart surgery to correct the two holes in his tiny heart. Jen was such an encouragement to me. I would think I had problems and then I would think about what Jen was enduring.

Jen’s mother passed away on January 15, and God gave Jen the strength to make it through. Jen’s mother, Mary Ann, was a fantastic sewer, and at the funeral home, over every chair hung one of her quilts. It was such a joy to see all of her works on display. Jen and Mary Ann had a special bond, and I can see a lot of Mary Ann in Jen. Jen is a wonderful mother and the birth of her second son, Daniel, was a great blessing for her in 2011. Daniel was a blessing because he brought Jen’s light for life back. Daniel was born in March and he helped Jen to regain her spirit back after losing her mother. Although Jen and her husband, Francisco, were mourning, Daniel came at God’s perfect time when they needed the hope.

In January of 2011, my best friend since the 5th grade, Andrea, decided she and her husband, Tom, were going to adopt. After many years of tests, infertility treatments, and pain they were ready to be parents. They knew that God had called them to be parents so they began the process of adoption. They knew they wanted to adopt a baby from the United States and said they would start first by word of mouth. Telling everyone they knew that they were interested in adoption. They hired a lawyer and began making a portfolio about themselves to share with birth mothers.

Just three months into the process they got a call from a friend. The friend said a coworker of hers had a young daughter who was pregnant and interested in adoption. Andrea didn’t waste a minute and drove to her friend’s house and dropped off their portfolio. Andrea had worked hard on the portfolio and in it were pictures, stories, and why Tom and she wanted a baby. Andrea’s friend shared the portfolio with the family and a meeting was arranged with Tom and Andrea on April 9th. At the meeting was the family of the young girl, as well as, the young boy’s family. Tom and Andrea answered lots of questions about themselves and felt good about the meeting. Andrea shared her pain in not being able to conceive her own child, and I know it was a hard day for her.

The next day, Tom and Andrea went out and bought a crib. Andrea had her eye on one special crib. They knew that they would need a crib eventually, but that day they didn’t know just how soon they would be using it. On April 13, they got the call from the family they had met, and they wanted Andrea and Tom to be the baby’s parents. The mother of the young girl stated after their meeting, “We liked Andrea and Tom after seeing their portfolio, but we fell in love with them after we met them.” Family and friends rejoiced with Tom and Andrea and were pleased to learn the baby would be here in August. Tom and Andrea were invited, by the young girl, to come to all the doctor’s appointments with her. Tom and Andrea were able to hear the baby’s heartbeat. They were there when the first ultra sound took place and learned they were having a boy. Then on August 15, at 3:28 in the morning, Andrea and Tom became the proud parents to Kaiden Thomas. Andrea was in the delivery room when he arrived and in a matter of minutes she and Tom were in their own hospital room. Andrea and Tom were moved to their own room to bond with their baby. What a blessing from God!

As this Christmas approaches I can’t help but thank God over and over for the lives of these two precious baby boys. The births of these babies have brought such joy to two people I love very much. Even though I dealt with a lot of death in 2011, I am reminded of the verse from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” Did you experience an event this year that you just know God was right there? If so, give thanks for the blessing. I just love seeing God’s miracles at work.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-11T12:25:00.000-05:00

I'm all about coupons and discounts these days, so when shutterfly.com offered me $10 credit to post our card to my blog...I jumped all over that. I'm so behind in printing pictures, so this will come in handy :o). So...from our home to yours...Merry Christmas!

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Our "Christmas Countdown" Verses

2011-12-08T20:10:00.001-05:00

I contributed to another post for Mommy and Me Fitness...this time sharing our idea for an Advent Calendar. We call it our Christmas Countdown. If you've been reading this blog for a while, it probably seems like this countdown gets posted about every year...and I think maybe it has been. Recently, I've had a few people ask for the list of verses that we use, and Julie created a google page of them for her post so people could have a printable version, but I'm not sure everyone will be able to open it. So...I thought I'd just post them here for easy access. I've interwined the accounts from Matthew and Luke, so we could include as many details of the story as possible.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

In the sixth month, God sent an angel to Nazareth . . .The angel went to Mary and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Luke 1:26,28

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus . . .” Luke 1:30,31

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his Father David, and he will reign forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:32,33

The angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:35

“For nothing is impossible with God,” said the angel. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered.”May it be as you have said.” Luke 1:37.38

An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife . . .She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20,21

All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Mary will give birth to a son, and they will call him 'Immanuel', which means, 'God with us'.”Matthew 1:22,23

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. Matthew 1:24

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken . . . So Joseph also went up from Nazareth to Bethlehem the town of David. Luke 2:4

Joseph went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. Luke 2:5

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no room in the inn.
Luke 2:6,7

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. Luke 2:8,9

But the angel said to them, ”Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.” Luke 2:10

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. . . You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger,” said the angel. Luke 2:11,12

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:13,14

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:15

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. Luke 2:17

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. Luke 2:17,18

Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God . . . Luke 2:19,20

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star and have come to worship him.”
Matthew 2:1,2

. . .They went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. Matthew 2:9

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. . .and presented him with gifts of gold, incense, and of myrrh. Matthew 2:10,11

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6,7
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

I only put the Revelation 1 verse on our #24 card, because the Isaiah verse is obviously way too long...but I love reading both of them on Christmas Eve.

Homemade Christmas Gifts

2011-12-05T18:48:00.000-05:00

I contributed to a blog post on homemade Christmas gifts for Mommy and Me Fitness (a company owned and run by several friends of mine). If you're looking for some fun, creative, homemade gifts check it out. We've done the cinnamon ornaments in years past and LOVE them. In fact, I realized the other night that we need some new ones...so it might be a project for this weekend!

Any ideas for homemade gifts you'd like to share??

A Mom Who Acknowledges Answered Prayer

2011-11-17T13:41:00.001-05:00

{continuted from previous post}

Because God will answer your prayers, I challenge us to be moms who acknowledge the results of prayer. I think this helps us pray expectantly and it reminds us that we are not doing this on our own. When we watch for God to answer our prayers, and acknowledge the answers when they happen, we see that He is faithful. When we experience His faithfulness we will expect Him to continue being attentive to our prayers. Even if we cannot see anything happening, God is working. Answers might come days, months, or years from now, and in a way we’re not expecting, but God will answer according to His plan. Acknowledging God’s answers to our prayers keeps us humble, too. Did you pray that prayer before you took the kids to the grocery store…and did things go amazingly well? Remind yourself and your kids it wasn’t because you’re supermom…it’s because the Lord answered your prayer, so thank him out loud on the van ride home. Have you prayed diligently for protection for your "wild child" two year old? And did he only rip his fingernail out of the nailbed instead busting out his front teeth and giving himself a concussion when he tipped the jogging stroller? Acknowledge the results of your prayers even when you would have expected something different...like no injury at all. When we look for the answers and results, we become fully aware that it is not our work that is accomplishing things in our families…it is our reliance on God that gets things done and ensures their protection.

{I left the following three paragraphs out of my talk for time's sake, but figured time isn't an issue here :o). This story actually comes from a post I wrote a while back.}

I want to share a quick story about something that happened in our home about a year and a half ago. I don’t share it to make you think that things always play out this nicely for me…believe me, there are many times I’ve offered sarcastic prayers in moments of frustration and dealt with a mess of a situation as a result. There have been times that I’ve been too self reliant to remember to pray and paid the price. This experience, though, turned out to be great example of how things can go when we pray continuously, specifically, and expectantly…and then acknowledge the results. I share it as a call to myself to face this challenge to be a praying mom with renewed fervor.

Just to give a little background, we had a 2 year old in the house for the fourth time in our lives...and it really wasn’t any easier than the previous three experiences…in fact it might have harder. Levi had recently formed a strong opinion about wearing clothing with balls on it...like if it didn't have a ball on it, he's wasn’t wearing it and, once he got it on, he wasn’t taking it off. He had fallen asleep the previous night on the way home from church and, therefore, slept in his clothes, so I felt it somewhat important to change him that morning since he had sat in a puddle of bubbles, hiked the nature center, dribbled milk, and done who knows what else in those clothes the day before. He, of course, did not think taking off the ball sweatshirt was a good idea and proceeded to throw a fit, fighting me tooth and nail about getting dressed. In an effort to reach a compromise, I had taken him up to his room (where Natalie was still sleeping) to see if we could find something he was willing to put on. He continued to fight and, sure enough, he disturbed Natalie, who, of course, flipped out because I couldn't stay up there while she fully woke up because while all of this was going on I was still trying to get Ethan and Karis ready for school and out the door for the bus.

At the time, I had been trying to get myself in the habit each morning of asking Jesus to just wash over our home and help us fight the battle against Satan as we went through our day. Although I had had my quiet time that morning, I hadn't prayed that prayer and, in that moment, knew I needed to because I was ready to lose it. I left both babies screaming in their room and prayed that prayer as I walked out of the room and down the stairs to help Ethan and Karis…waiting to see how the Lord would make this work. As I got breakfast, juice, lunches, etc. ready, Ethan went up the stairs in an effort to calm Natalie down. Levi had made his way down the stairs, half dressed and still crying, and Karis purposefully caught his attention with a few small toys. I hadn't asked them to do this (as I had on some occasions), but it was almost like they knew it would take that big brother/big sister love to change a situation that could have unfolded much differently. Peace settled quickly into the house. I hadn’t expected that God would use Ethan and Karis to answer my prayer, but I know He did. And maybe the most amazing part of it was that when I realized what He had done, I thanked Ethan and Karis for their help and told them that God had used them to answer my prayer. If you could have seen the smiles that crossed their faces...it still gives me chills when I think about it.

I want to leave you with one last verse...perhaps my most favorite on the topic of prayer. In Matthew 18:18 Jesus tells this about prayer: “Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” He’s given you authority, moms, to impact those eternal souls of your children. I pray that you will do just that.

A Mom Who Prays Specifically and Expectantly

2011-11-14T16:50:00.001-05:00

{continued from previous post}

Praying through our house brings me to my second challenge…that we be moms who pray specifically and expectantly. I have used the Power of a Praying Parent book when it comes to this aspect of my prayer life as a mom. She goes through 29 specific things that we can pray for our children and I’ve used it as a tool to make lists of things to pray for and to find Scripture to claim as I pray. Scripture is your weapon. In Isaiah 55:11, God says “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” God’s word is living and it always has an impact when we speak it.

For me, getting specific has been the easy part. I could easily go on for pages with examples on this one. Here are just a couple ideas: When I pack a lunch, I don’t just pray that they’ll have a good day at school, I pray that God will find them a seat next to the right friend at lunch, that they will make wise choices in the words that they say and the things they laugh at, that they will remember to put their name on their paper {we've had an issue with this this school year}, that their hearts and minds would be protected from bullying or false teaching. A verse that I love for these “off to school” prayers is Psalm 91:11 “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!”

For those of you with babies, especially girls, I encourage you to, at each feeding, pray against eating disorders and food addictions. Pray it now before they’ve developed the insecurities or habits that will lead to these things. Include Romans 12:1 in your prayer…put your baby’s name in the verse. “Lord, I pray that Karis will honor you with her body because of all You have done for her. That she will be a living and holy sacrifice-one that You find acceptable.”

When you see your baby boy play with his tool set, pray that he will grow into a man that values hard work and is willing to work to provide for his family. Pray Colossians 3:23… “God, I pray that Ethan will work willingly at whatever he does, as though he is working for You, rather than people.”

When you wake each morning, pray that your children will come to know Christ as their savior. When you tuck them in at night, pray that God will reveal to you the gifts he’s given each of them and that, as their mother, you will seize opportunities to grow those gifts in them. When you wake in the night with a fussy baby or toddler, pray that they will live a life free of fear.

When you pray these specific prayers, be sure that you are praying with the expectation that God will answer them. This expecting part is important. Praying expectantly is about having faith that God is listening and trusting that He is working. All too often, I have underestimated the power of God to really answer all the little prayers I send up as I go through my day...either I have felt like He's got better things to do than pass me some extra patience for the 800th time or He’s too busy to give my 2 year old more self control in the throes of a tantrum.

I can’t give you a formula for expecting God. The thing that has made a difference to me, is reminding myself who I’m praying to. I am praying to the God who designs each snowflake, hand paints each sunrise, raises up kings and takes them out. He is the God that selected every personality trait our children have, every strength and every weakness, and He is the God that placed them into our care for a reason. He is the God that sent His son to die for me and my children. Would this God really not be attentive to the details that I pray over? I think not. He is about details and He is about the hearts of His children. He will answer these prayers.

A Mom Who Prays Continuously

2011-11-11T13:47:00.000-05:00

{Continued from previous post}

My first challenge is that we be moms who pray continually…or without ceasing…as some versions of I Thessalonians 5:17 read. I’m sure this sounds like an overwhelming…maybe even impossible task…especially with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers running rampant around your house at all hours of the day and night. But I want to encourage you that it is not. For a while I believed the lie that Satan fed me…that I didn’t have time to pray. I was too tired to wake up before my munchkins, too busy dealing with the results of the day after I put them to bed, and too distracted in the hours in between. It was true that I didn’t have time to spend an hour on my knees praying every morning, but I learned that I did have time and opportunity to pray continually throughout the day. I had two minutes here and four minutes there…I just needed to train myself to use them for prayer. Here are some of the ways I’ve kept myself praying throughout the day: I have done things like set my watch to beep on the hour every hour. At least 10 out of the 18 times a day I heard that watch beep, I’d be doing something where I could mentally say a 1 minute prayer for one of the kids, my husband, or even myself. I have taken bath crayons and written the Scripture that I want to pray for one or more of our kids on the wall of the shower so I could wake up praying that for them. I pray for the next day as I lay clothes out on bedroom floors the night before. I pray at school desks at the beginning of a new school year. I pray as I fold laundry. I pray as I pack lunches. I paint Scripture on the walls of our house and pray those verses for our family.

Here are two other big things that have made a difference as to how often I’m praying during the day…and I fear I may step on some toes with them, but just know that the Lord has laid this on my heart: One thing we do is keep Christian radio on in the van and many of the hours we are at home {sometimes it's even on when we're not even there} and I pray the songs over our home and the lives of my children and husband. Take a minute to think about what the background noise is in your vehicle or at home. What’s on your TV…Dr. Phil, Days of our Lives, Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Office, Bones {I don’t know…maybe some of these shows aren’t even on air anymore? Tells you how much TV I watch}. What’s on your radio or in your CD player? Y105, Taylor Swift, U2 …I don’t even know who’s popular in this realm either, but I am certain these things….these things that we believe our children are too little to understand, that they’re not even really paying attention to or that really aren’t that big of a deal…play into the attitude and behavior of our kids {and us} so much more than we are aware. I’m not saying get rid of your TV or CD’s, but imagine the impact you could have if you exchange even just half of those minutes or hours of background noise with life-giving prayer and praise through music.

The other thing is one that I’m still working on...it required me to take inventory of ways I’m investing or wasting time. It’s the computer or phone… or whichever gadget you access the internet on… Facebook, blogs, and I’m sure there are some of us onto this new thing I’m hearing about called Pinterest. I fall victim to these time wasters so easily since I teach online classes….I’m waiting for a student to Skype or need a quick distraction from grading papers and before I know it I’ve lost 30 minutes of my life reading about who’s making homemade spaghetti sauce from their homegrown tomatoes or the life story of some mom across the country who’s struggling with whether to stay home or go back to work, or even updating my own status and vigilantly waiting for comments to affirm whatever I’ve posted. You know how it goes. I’m determined to redeem those minutes and give them to the Lord on behalf of my family. When I need a distraction during my work time, I have a list of things to pray for the kids that I leave next to the computer, and instead of heading to Facebook, I pray for one of those things. I’m laying my Bible out on the table opened to the Psalms or Proverbs and praying a few of the verses for myself when I have just a minute or two between phone calls. I’m quite sure we’ve all got opportunities to exchange some of our activity for time in prayer….redeeming some of our time to better carry out this mission God has laid before us.

If we really want to be praying continually it’s also so important to incorporate our family and pray with them. Let your children hear you pray frequently over day to day things. No detail is too small. God is always bringing things to our attention through circumstances and interactions. These are perfect opportunities for us to teach our kids how to pray. As you’re driving down the road and your three year old notices a beautiful sunset, take the chance to let him hear you say a prayer of thanks to the Lord for this amazing world He created for us. How about if before you make that dreaded trip to the grocery store with kids in tow, you let them hear you pray for their behavior, for your patience, for wisdom as you make choices about what things to spend money on, and give thanks that the Lord has provided the means for you to even make this trip to the store. Pray out loud during colicky crying fits and temper tantrums. Pray as part of your discipline process. Pray at mealtime and bedtime. Something that we tried out recently, and will definitely do again, is praying through the rooms of our house as a family. I know that Jesus was walking with us as we moved from room to room praying for all different sorts of things….like discretion in our choice of television viewing, gratefulness for a full pantry, kindness as we play together, protection for our home as we burn fires in the fireplace this winter…our 4 year old {who I truly believe the Lord has revealed that He has given the gift of prayer to} even prayed that mommy and daddy would have fun in their bedroom….which, of course, gave us a good laugh. If she only knew, right?!

A Mom Who Prays

2011-11-10T10:05:00.002-05:00

This past week at MOPS I partnered with two amazing {inspiring, challenging, beautiful, humble, Jesus-lovin'} mommy friends to share on what we see as the mission of motherhood. It was probably one of my top 3 or 4 favorite meetings in the 8 years I've been doing MOPS. The Lord just "brought it" on Tuesday morning! It was so awesome to see the moms going away from the meeting with a fresh challenge to be the moms that God created them to be! I thought I'd share my notes as a few blog posts. I talked about prayer {Andrea talked about intentional mothering and legacies. Brooke talked about discipleship and evangalism}. Now, mind you, praying is something I'm passionate about...but I'm definitely not perfect at it. There are days that only one or two prayers will cross my lips. Other days, my conversations with the Lord are frequent. My challenges were as much for myself as the rest of the moms.

Motherhood provides us with an opportunity to lay down the things you cannot keep on behalf of the people that you cannot lose. They are eternal souls, they are your children, they are your mission field.

-Rachel Jankovic

So, if your children are your mission field, then prayer must be a part of the work you do for and with them each and every day. I liken parenting, without expectant and intentional prayer, to running on a treadmill….you might be working hard and racking up the miles, but you’re not really getting anywhere. Prayer is a key to making good things happen in our children’s lives today and in the future…it’s a key to growing them into adults that chase after God’s will for their lives. We live in a day and age when we cannot afford to leave the destiny of the eternal souls of our children to chance.
As a mom, you should be covering as much of your children’s lives in prayer as you can. I love how Stormie Omartian describes prayer in her book The Power of a Praying Parent, which I highly recommend. She says “Prayer is much more than just giving a list of desires to God, as if He were the great Sugar Daddy/Santa Claus in the sky. Prayer is acknowledging and experiencing the presence of God and inviting His presence into our lives and circumstances. It’s seeking the presence of God and releasing the power of God which gives us the means to overcome any problem”.
When we pray, we are recognizing our need for God’s power and His presence…that we can’t do this mothering thing on our own. This means that each of us have the privilege of being used by the God who created the universe and knit each one of our children together, to focus His power on the people or circumstance we are praying for. How amazing is that?

Each day, especially now that my two older children are attending public school, I’m becoming more and more aware of the unseen battle that is going on for the lives of our children. Praying is my chance to get into that battle alongside of them…to hold a shield in front of their tender souls. It’s my way of foiling Satan’s plan for my children and helping God carry out His plan for them. Don’t think, though, that just because you’re a mom who only has a newborn, and that baby isn’t even mobile yet and is rarely out of your site, that this battle hasn’t begun for you...that you’re exempt from this part of the mission for a couple more years. Satan seeks to destroy those precious souls from the very first day that the Lord entrusts them to us. If you haven’t already started praying for and with your children it’s never too early and it’s never too late to embark on this part of your mission.

Lamentations 2:19 says “Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children.”

So here’s my challenge for all of us...

{Come back tomorrow to read more :o)}

Write them on the doorframes....

2011-10-15T10:44:00.007-04:00

So, after my post about the Doorposts contest, I was glad that I was actually able to find the "talk" that I gave to MOPS back in 2008. It was so good to go back and read it {especially as we prepare for having people into our home and discuss the idea of moving out of this house more and more often}, so I'm just going to paste some paragraphs from it amongst the pictures. The theme for that year had to do with home, and it will help you make sense of some it to know that the topic at the first meeting I spoke at was interior decorating.

"...if you were ever to come to my house, you could take one look around and know that I have very little expertise in the area of decorating. In our family room, for example, we have a brown plaid loveseat with a slip cover that doesn’t really fit, along with an overstuffed gray chair, and a blue plaid arm chair…my decorating philosophy on that one was: they were free.

Just to give you a little background my husband and I met in college and got married in 2001, right after he graduated (I still had a semester of student teaching left). Well, not only did he get a beautiful wife (haha), but he also got $30,000 worth of college loans! Our plan was for me to teach for a few years to pay them off. Six months into our marriage we realized God’s plan was for us to have a few babies and find a way to live off his teaching salary! Our son Ethan came along in September 2002, our daughter Karis in September 2003, my husband went through some crippling back problems that ended up requiring surgery in 2005, Natalie came along in December 2006, and our son is expected to arrive in April.

Needless to say, I think I can count the things that we have actually bought to furnish and decorate our home on one hand. The rest has been given to us by friends and family, and although pieces rarely coordinate, we have been so blessed by their generosity. The Lord is teaching me to be satisfied with what we do have to make our home a comfortable one. We have so much more than some, and so much less than many others, but it is just right for us because we know it has all been provided by God for the here and now. He is also teaching me, as I slowly read through a book called Heaven, by Randy Alcorn (which I highly recommend), that my focus should be on decorating the home I’ll receive at Christ’s return. This is no easy task in our immediate gratification/materialistic society that pressures us to believe that if our children, our homes, and our own selves don’t look like they came off the pages of American Baby, Martha Stewart Living, and Self magazine we must be doing something wrong. I’ve been convicted to think about how I spend my time. Am I working for things that look good to the world, or am I working to store up things that will fill my eternal home? Are the things people see decorating my home things that are beautiful and expensive, or are framed fingerpaintings displaying the priceless treasures God has entrusted with me with? I don’t mean to say I’m going to neglect my home here on earth…I want to be a good steward of what God has blessed us with and I want our home to be one that builds relationships, creates memories and legacies, and glorifies the One that has given it to my husband and me, but I know I need to work hard to not get caught up accumulating things that will only fade away....

...A few years ago our pastor at Berean, gave a sermon where he highlighted the following verses in Deuteronomy 6… “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
At the time these verses were written, the Jews literally did these things. They had God’s commands written on paper that they strapped to their foreheads and wrists and boxes mounted to their doorframes with God’s words in them. As they prayed they would recite these things. I’m not so sure how literally God expects us to take these verses today, but I was convicted by the fact that these people felt it necessary to keep God’s words so accessible and visible as they went about their day. I was also reminded of the fact that, just as Christ is the gatekeeper for us, allowing us into his sheep pen (as it says in John 10) so that we may find salvation and shelter, my husband and I are called to be the gatekeepers of our home. We must provide shelter and protection for our children and be the filters, when possible, of the knowledge and information they take in.

At a time in my life when I consider it an accomplishment to even open my Bible at some point during the day, I began thinking to myself, how neat would it be to have the words of God covering the walls of our home? It would provide a perfect chance to memorize scripture, the daily opportunity for my family to read the words of our God, and a constant reminder of the life we can have in Him. The idea milled around in my head for a while as our family transitioned from one house to another. I looked at the beautiful paintings at the Bookery, but knew there was no way we could afford one of them, let alone one for every room of the house. I knew I had some artistic abilities, so I just began collecting verses in a prayer journal. Verses that spoke to me about what Christ’s hopes for me and my family might be. Verses I wanted my children to see every day as they grow up. Verses that I need to remind me of how my life needs to reflect Christ.

...my husband and I chose a verse for [Ethan and Karis'] bedroom that has been one of our prayers for our children. 1 Timothy 4:12 says “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” I thought it an interesting coincidence, after I had spent a couple days thinking about what I would say the for this testimony the first time I gave it, that one evening while we were saying goodnight, Karis looked at the verse on the wall and asked “What does d-o-n-t spell?” I read the whole verse to her and Ethan and asked them if they knew what the words meant. What an opportunity to share with them what God expects from us as His followers, no matter how old or young we are. We talked about how one of the best ways to teach others about Jesus is by doing things that are good and right.

I would like to be able to say that there are verses in every room of our house by now. In actuality, I have only completed one more as a border above the cupboards in our kitchen. Matthew 6:24-25 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Our reminder that if our family plans to withstand the storms that might come our way, and we are sure the storms will come, we must find our strength in Christ."

I started the Song of Solomon verse above as a "headboard" for mine and Mark's room while I was pregnant with Levi. I got too pregnant to position myself on the bed to finish it...and almost 4 years later it remains the same. Sad, I know, but such is our life. I was finally able to really get a lot accomplished on Natalie and Karis' this past week {the I Peter 3:3-4 one} and, I LOVE how it is turning out.

Basically, my method is to use a laser level to chalk some straight lines. Then I chalk in all of my wording and paint over it. Sometimes I will type the verse up in Word in a font that I like, and then I copy that freehand. I just use an acrylic craft paint, but I'm thinking for my next one I may try those paint marker/pens they make. I want to get Ephesians 6...armor of God...up over our front door so we look at it each morning before heading to the bus stop.

A Doorposts Contest

2011-10-13T22:06:00.001-04:00

I subscribe to a blog called "Write Them on the Doorposts of your House". It's {obviously} a blog centered around the verses in Deuteronomy 6 that talk of teaching the Lord's commands to your children at all times...and writing them on the doorframes of your home. These are verses that I decided to take literally a few years ago and I was excited to see this blog running a contest related to this very thing. I spoke to my MOPS group and another local group about my method for writing scripture on the walls of our house a couple of years ago. In the next day or so, I'll post some pictures and talk about how I do mine. Wondering if any of you have creative ideas about displaying Scripture. If you do...enter the contest here! And post to my blog, too, so we can all get some ideas!!

In Eight More...

2011-09-26T09:50:00.000-04:00

....she'll be asking for the car keys! I'm almost a week late getting this posted, so for all of you {grammies} that were anxiously awaiting, here it is.

Last year sometime, Karis wrote us a note and, with tears in her eyes, made us promise not to laugh when we read it. The note told us that she was the only girl in her class that didn't have her ears pierced. We told her we weren't going to run out and get her them pierced just so she could be like all the other girls in her class, so she patiently waited...and waited. We decided to let her get it done for her 8th birthday if she wanted. As the day approached, she showed a mix of excitement and nerves {I have to admit I was super excited myself}. We went right to Claire's after school on Tuesday, and she played brave as she climbed up in the chair, but didn't make it through without quite a few tears. A week later, she's taking care of all the cleanings and can't wait until she gets to change them for the first time. I think they've added the perfect sweet little shimmer to her beautiful face.

I'm pretty sure that in another eight years, we're gonna be pretty glad her daddy knows how to use a gun :o)! {Of course, I'm kidding...maybe. a little.}

For EVERY Parent

2011-09-16T08:50:00.005-04:00

I came across this blog post the other day, and even though it is geared toward {Christian} Homeschooling parents, I am confident that, no matter how you educate your children, most of the points of this article pertain to you. I'm storing a copy to come back to, as a reminder for myself in the coming years.

Even There....

2011-09-14T12:35:00.004-04:00

Psalm 139:10...Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

I'm having one of those weeks where I need to remind myself of what the Lord has shown me in the past year and half....what He's assured me of about who I am, and why I'm doing what I do. Because it's one of those weeks where I'm feeling like we are the Hunter Family Cyclone. One of those weeks where I'm sure you'd judge me on the condition of my house {No, really....you would}. One of those weeks where I wash loads of laundry twice because they sit in the washer too long and four other loads of laundry sit in the baskets waiting to be folded for two days and yet another load waits at the top of the steps since the weekend to be put away. One of those weeks where the battle cry for Mark and me is "Divide and Conquer". One of those weeks where I can't keep up with any of my email accounts. One of those weeks where I look back on last week and look ahead at the one to come, and realize they aren't any better. One of those weeks where the piles of papers multiply and divide and then multiply again. One of those weeks where I ask the Lord {again} if we're really not supposed to homeschool and why our kids can't stay pre-schoolers forever.

In May, I shared a testimony about how the Lord is right where I'm at. So I'm reminding myself, He's in the questions and the hurry and the shortcomings. He's in the group hugs and family cheers. He's in the school morning prayers. He's in the bleacher conversations at the soccer game. He's in the scheduling of gymnastics classes during the same hour. He's in library books on the swing in the backyard while dishes are put on hold. He's in poems that Karis reads to me each night before bed. He's in MOPS steering team meetings where huge prayers are answered. He's in the in the van on the way home from school. He's in the trading off of keys to get from one activity to the next. He's in leftover pots of potato soup and sauce and meatballs that are shared with friends. He's in Story Time connections. He's in the kiss good-bye in the morning and the kiss good night, too.

He didn't bring us to this week by accident and we didn't get here because we ignored Him. We've walked hand in hand to this place...and I know He's got plans to use it.

Halfway to 18!?!?

2011-09-05T11:28:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Ethan's 9th birthday yesterday. It was a sweet day. I love that kid. There was nothing extraordinarily amazing about the day. Surprisingly, Karis, Natalie, and Levi played together around the house, while Mark and I played a game of LIFE with Ethan, which he handedly won {he's just lucky I had to give up my career as a doctor to become a hairdresser so I could spend more time with my four kids}. We had the dinner of his choice {breakfast, of course}. He had already gotten on of his presents last week {an MP3 player that we wanted to give to Karis and him at the same time since they were both getting one and we wanted them to be able to load them before school started}, so the only thing left to open was a card {which he read each word of with a smile and assured us it was going on his dresser so he could save it...I love that he "gets" the message in it} and a game for the DS, which he was thrilled to see under that wrapping paper. And, of course, we all enjoyed huge slices of ice cream cake.

As low key as the day was, at bedtime, we put to bed a 9 year old boy who was absolutely satisfied with his day. He said good night to us with a huge hug and kiss and an "I love you, Mommy and Daddy...thank you so much." I pray we still hear those words nine years from now, when we put an 18 year old to bed on September 4th.

Mark and I played around with creating this video for a while yesterday. We still can't figure out why it cuts off the "e" on the end of cause on the last slide when it publishes {it's not cut off when you preview it in the creator software}. Oh well...still makes me tear up after watching it 25 times yesterday.

In the Blink of an Eye...

2011-08-24T14:03:00.000-04:00

...this...

...grows into this.

I thought for sure I'd be able to hold it together, seeing as this is the third time we've sent a kid to pre-k. Then I turned around and walked out that door, and it was hopeless.

Summer's Over...Already?

2011-08-22T15:48:00.000-04:00

Being that I'm teacher's wife, I always think that summer passes by too quickly. This one has been a record breaker in my book, though! We jam packed the past three months with a flurry of activities, which made the weeks fly by even faster than we expected.

We started the summer off by giving the house a face lift since our front porch was cracked and the brick facade was falling off. Hopefully next summer we'll be able to reside the rest of the house. We had two out of town weddings for friends that we've known since childhood. Baseball stretched throughout the summer, with Ethan being asked to play in a couple of tournaments. Mark and I got to celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a trip to New Hampshire, Maine, and New York City...thanks to the three free hotel nights I won from Sevenstar! We took the kids to Niagra Falls and rode the Maid of the Mist. Mark headed to Cross-Country camp for 5 days...we joined him in a tent one of the nights. I headed to Tennessee for 4 days to enjoy MOPS International Convention. It was great time with 8 wonderful ladies...we got to hear from Max Lucado, Sara Groves, Mandisa, and Steven Curtis & Mary Beth Chapman. Two hours after returning from that trip I headed to Hocking Hills with the kids to spend a couple days with my mom's side of the family for our annual Barbaro Family Reunion. This past week we squeezed in a Backyard Bible Club and now we're jumping in to inservices, welcome calls, orientations, and cross-country meets.

Here are a few picture highlights some of the things we've done:

He Truly Does

2011-07-11T08:11:00.001-04:00

Really, he's simply amazing. Not sure what we did to deserve Mark, but we thank God He loved us enough to put him in our lives!

Should I start charging?

2011-06-29T09:38:00.000-04:00

"Hi, we're Mark and Valerie. We're your neighbors. The ones with four small kids already. Yes, we'd love a couple more, but, no, we do not want yours."

We've struggled with this issue at different times over the past year or two {sort of natural when there are almost ten kids the same ages as ours within 300 yards of where we live}, but nothing like it's been the past few days.We're not quite sure how to handle it. We're both introverts and despise conflict, but it's getting slightly out of control. We feel like maybe we should say something, but when you live across the street from the people and see them 400 times a day, it's awkward. And on the other side of this, these kids...this family...are a big mission field.

The household is made up of a set of grandparents, their daughter, her five kids, and her {18 year old} daughter's three year old son and her boyfriend {not the little boy's dad}. The "adults" are in and out of their driveway several {or 50} times a day. There are also 4ish dogs and at least 10 birds living in the house/garage. The youngest of the five kids is the same age as Ethan and Karis. She and the three year old have taken to coming down to our house at every opportunity possible. If we step out of the house, they're in our yard in a matter of minutes. I think she rang our doorbell three or four times yesterday...one of them was after 8:30pm. Another time the little boy was playing in our yard for a while...it was dinner time for us, so I wanted to send him home, but no one was out at their house...no vehicles in the driveway. I had no idea if anyone was even home. As I was walking him home {and my family's dinner was getting cold} a couple of rough looking guys pulled up at another neighbor's house to do some landscaping. No one came out to meet the little boy, but he said his mom was inside...I asked him to go inside to make sure she knew he was back, but he didn't go in. I couldn't in my right mind just leave him there, with these guys I didn't know right next door watching the situation. I waited a couple of minutes and thankfully Grandma came driving up the road.

I don't mind them stopping by to play for an hour or two a couple days a week, even if the "favor" isn't really returned {I wouldn't really be comfortable even if it was}. But several hours everyday. Inviting themselves to eat lunch here and go on outings with us to the Nature Center. Seems a bit much to me. Natalie {our extrovert} enjoys playing with them and so do Levi and Karis sometimes. But this other little girl can be very bossy and rough, and that makes me uncomfortable...especially since Natalie just does whatever she says.

I'm tired of making up excuses for them to go home or hesitating to go play in our front yard. Last night I dreamt that they were standing on our front porch looking in our windows, waiting for someone to let them in.

My memories of how often we played with our neighborhood friends as kids have faded. But I definitely remember that things were reciprocated...some days we played at our house, some days we played at someone else's {and I'm pretty sure my parents were comfortable with that}. It's one of the reasons that I wanted to live in the "burbs" for this season of our life. Mark grew up in the country, miles from anyone else his age. He's a huge fan of privacy. If he gets his way, we'll be on 20 acres sometime in the next five to ten years.

All that said, the opportunity we have here is not lost to us, but where do we draw the line? What is the boundary between being a good neighbor/ministering and being taken advantage of? Can we charge a boarding fee { :o) }?

Reading for a Purpose

2011-06-15T10:59:00.000-04:00

One of the many things we've been working on these past few days is a little service project/fundraiser to help raise support of my sister, who will be heading to the Philippines next year (Lord willing) as a missionary.
Last Friday we started our local library’s summer reading program like we do every year now. As part of the program the kids get a reading log to track every 15 minutes of reading. They get five logs…one for each week of the program. Well, by day two of week one, and Ethan had already filled two and a half logs and Karis was half way through her second one. Needless to say, they’ll probably be able to turn in most, if not all, of their logs by the end of their first week in the program. We were trying to think of a reward they could earn here at home (even though they don't really need the extra incentive) once they’d collected their prizes for the logs they turn in at the library. We threw out ideas about earning 25¢ for each log or maybe 10¢ per book. It got us thinking that maybe this would be a way they could do some fundraising.

Our plan combines two lessons that we’d love for our kids to remember: First, reading is fun and rewarding. Second, if we are unable (or not called) to go to the foreign mission field, then God calls us to support those who are.

We'd love it if you would pray about sponsoring Ethan and Karis on their reading adventures this summer. This will be a combined effort, because the Lord knows there is already enough competition between the two of them. You can pledge per book (they will mostly be either chapter books or longer non-fiction books) or per reading log (each one equals 105 minutes of reading). We’ll keep track of both through the end of July and your donations can be made in August so that they will be matched by One Mission Society.

You can make a pledge by filling out this form. You can read more about Lauren's ministry plans here.

They are my Sunshine

2011-06-08T21:36:00.000-04:00

(Cookie puzzle treat from the neighbor lady!)

Our Little Athletes, Part II

2011-06-07T10:21:00.000-04:00

Ethan's first baseball game...here is one of his three doubles.

Karis' gymnastics recital.

Our Little Athletes

2011-06-07T09:06:00.000-04:00

Here are some highlights of the older two in their recent athletic endeavors...

Karis perfecting her back handspring. She has landed it, without help, a couple times at home.

Ethan kicking the game winning goal in the last 3 seconds of the game against his teams big "rival".

Last week we ran in our church's Hustle for Haiti 5k. We had every intent of getting some training in beforehand, but that didn't pan out with our crazy schedule and rainy weather. We ran once the week before...at which point Karis decided she no longer wanted to do the full 5k. The morning of the race, though, she changed her mind, so I pushed Natalie and Levi in the double jogger and ran with her. I was proud of her for running more than she walked and we came in in right around 37 minutes. Over 200 people participated and we were in the top 90! Ethan took off after the first half mile and we cheered him on when we saw him around the half way point. He finished in just over 28 minutes, for third place in the 12 and under age group!

I have two more videos I want to upload, but I think I'm overloading this post. If you care...look for Part II in the near future.

I might be back...

2011-06-03T12:31:00.000-04:00

So...when I take breaks from blogging...I always have this internal debate about whether I should even start back up...which ends up making my break even longer. I'm having a hard time figuring out if I really miss reading the blogs that I do, and writing mine, enough to "come back".

Life has been busy for the past month and a half...and isn't showing signs of letting up yet. We've done soccer, baseball, gymnastics, strep throat, wedding showers, babysitting an infant for a few days, graduation parties, picnics, yardwork, couponing and more. I've had about 25 students finish their American History course in the past several weeks, which equals many emails, phone calls, and much grading.

Amongst all of this, I can't pinpoint the value of reading other people's blogs...but when I write mine, I get sucked into reading other peoples'. And that causes too much distraction in my brain, and I lose focus on what I should really be spending time doing. I have the same problem with Facebook...hence my break from there, as well.

I still want to record our life's tidbits, treasures, and toils. Yes. I do. I just felt like I needed to explain my hiatus a bit...to you...and to me. So...yah...get ready for some updates :O)

My heart will sing no other name

2011-04-19T08:05:00.002-04:00

I'm listening to this song over and over this week. I recently read in a book {sorry that I can't disclose which one at this point} about how our hearts are deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9)...that we should be careful not follow our hearts, but lead them instead. If I do not lead my heart, it will pursue whatever feels good at the moment. There are moments that on it's own, it will choose to sing the name of Jesus, but there are too many others it will choose to sing the name of "me" {anger, selfishness, impatience, materialism}. I'm making an effort to call on the Holy Spirit to help me lead my heart in singing no other name, but Jesus.

If we get to sing earthly songs in Heaven {which I doubt we will}, I hope we sing this one...I imagine this has got be about as close as we can get here on earth to what worship will be like there. I need to get me to a Hillsong concert before I die!

{Sorry for the ads...YouTube didn't allow embedding with this video so I had to use Yahoo :O(}

Anticipating Easter

2011-04-07T12:52:00.004-04:00

I always dislike taking down my winter mantle decorations. Not that we have a ton of people over that would see that there is nothing on our mantle, but I just like to have it decorated {because, basically, our fireplace is huge and ugly}. I have some cozy Fall and Christmas decorations that I've accumulated over the years thanks to my mom, MIL, and little bit of clearance shopping, and I keep my snowmen up until the end of February. Even though I usually complain that I don't have anything to replace them, I very rarely find myself able to justify spending money on decorating.

A few weeks ago my friend Laura posted a link on Facebook showing this cute little Spring mantle decoration, and I finally convinced myself that I just needed to quit my gripin' and put one together. My mom was here for a couple days and {since she has much better decorating sense than I do} helped with some ideas {and moola :O)}

My mom and I were talking while she was here and discussing the fact that there doesn't seem to be much in the Protestant church about anticipating Easter Sunday like there is with Advent for Christmas. Catholics, of course do Lent, but we don't really have anything. {Although, I must insert here that we've witnessed our wonderful children's pastor has really been emphasizing this the past several weeks on Wednesday nights...asking the kids to "ponder their ways" each week in anticipation of the sacrifice that Christ made to forgive their wrongs...and we have greatly appreciated that.} Anyway, I added in an Easter "countdown" similar to the one I made for Christmas a few years ago. Each card has a several verses for us to read for the 28 days prior to Easter Sunday. My thought is that we'll read the verses and do some reflection on what Easter means for us as Believers. Some nights we'll just have individual quiet time {at least the big kids will}, some nights we'll pray together, and some nights I'd like for us to pray for those friends and family that don't yet know Christ as Savior or have fallen away. The cards get flipped after the reading is complete and I put the words "He is Risen!" on the back.

So, pretty much mine ended up looking nothing like the inspiration {except for the birdhouses, I guess}, but I like it. A lot. We're not really finished, since the kids are helping paint the birdhouses and we haven't had enough time {nor have I had an abundance of patience} to get them done. I'd also like to get something to fill it out a bit more...some grapevine or something...so if you have any hanging out in your {local} backyard that you'd be willing to part with, I'd be forever grateful. Here are some {not so great because the lighting in that corner stinks and I still don't know the best settings to use for our camera} pictures.

Happy Birthday, Levi!

2011-04-03T12:51:00.000-04:00

Our baby boy turns three today. Yes, three years ago today, I called the school to tell Mark he better not leave for his away track meet, and I drove myself {plus the 5,4,and 1 year old} the 25 mintues to my OB-GYN {and soon after, the hospital} appointment while 6-7cm dilated and contracting. Feels like it could have been just last week.

I was kind of hoping this day would have taken much longer to get here. I'm just not ready to say good-bye to the baby days...there are many days where I still wish God had it in the cards for us to have a couple more, but since that doesn't seem to be the case, I'm so thankful that Levi is the munchkin that he gave us to be our "baby". He's such a perfect mix of mischief and sweetness. There are moments where he forces me to ask myself, "Really...you think you could handle another one of these?" and moments where I say to myself, "How could I expect God to give me a better last born than this?" {I mean, I know He can do anything, but this is my expression of contentment at what He has given me...if that makes sense.}

We've loved watching Levi find his voice this year. He hardly talked at all a year ago...to the point that pediatrician suggested having his hearing tested. I knew he was just waiting. We all talked for him so much, I think, that he just didn't feel like he had to. Now, any conversation with him is so animated and enthusiastic. I just love the way he draws out certain words and his eyebrows...oh his eyebrows...I'm in love with the way he uses them to make his point. He's always the first to make sure you're okay if you pinch a finger or step on a toy. He hardly ever sits still, often challenging the laws of physics, but when he does rest, he gives the best snuggles.

As much as I'll miss having a baby in the house, Lord, I'm so ready to see what you have planned for this amazing little boy. I pray that You continue to protect him physically and grow his compassionate little heart.

A Fous Fete!

2011-04-02T17:09:00.000-04:00

For Valentine's Day my friend Julie shared an idea about doing a mystery dinner. She got her idea here. Fun stuff. So, of course, I had to steal the idea, but I didn't want to wait till next February! I decided to do mine for April Fool's Day, since I never think any good jokes to play. I'm just not a funny person...I'm horrible at lying...a little silly is about as good as it gets from me. Silly on April Fool's Day is good, too, right? This might actually be the most elaborate silly thing I've ever pulled off {I know...I'm pathetic.}

Anyway, here's how it went down: I put the menu in French {A "Fous Fete" is French for A Fool's Feast} and had the everyone choose what they wanted for each of four courses. They even had to order their utensils. I told them they should choose at least two items for each course, and could order something more than once...or not at all....whatever they wanted.

I worried a bit about how the kids {mostly Ethan} would do with this, and prayed throughout the day that it would just be a fun experience. They are very particular about how they like their food and "hiccups" in the routine don't typically go over so well {and I fully admit I'm the one who has made them that way}. Everyone did great...except Ethan. He was a turd about not knowing what he was picking...and trying to guess what everything was and write down his choices in English. He finally gave in and filled out a menu the way he was supposed to, but wasn't thrilled about the whole thing. Karis had fun choosing her items and helping Levi with his menu, too.

The laughter and fun overshadowed the few complaints. Everything went really fast {you were so right, Julie!}, so it was hard to get good pictures. Karis ended up ordering soda, cool whip with sprinkles and cookie for her first course...she had to lick her cool whip off the plate since she didn't order a fork or spoon! Levi had noodles, but nothing to eat those with either. We were especially proud of Natalie, who watched all her siblings get Sprite at some point throughout the meal {a special treat in our house}, but didn't once ask where hers was...and of course I rewarded her patience before she left the table. We'll definitely do it again...Lord knows our kids need pushed out of their comfort zones more often.

Fruits of frustration

2011-03-21T08:44:00.001-04:00

I wanted to share two new resources I found recently while dealing with two {very minor} frustrations I've had. Thought there might be a few that would be interested in using them, too.

The past few years, I've tried to make an attempt at redeeming St. Patrick's Day...at least in our home. It just sort of boggles my mind how many people "honor" {I use the term loosely} St. Patrick by getting drunk on green beer and sending kids on hunts for leprechauns and pots of gold. I like to remind the kids of who he was and how God used his circumstances for amazing things. I saw a post somewhere about the idea of honoring St. Patrick through raising awareness of human trafficking, since he was kidnapped and sold into slavery, which is what drew him to the Lord and led him to reach out to the Irish. I love this idea and hope I remember it for next year.

Anyway, as I was looking for a good source to share with the kids about Patrick's life I came across this website that I really like. Here's the link: http://www.awesomestories.com/ . It would be great for homeschooling families, I'd like to find a way to use it in my American History course, and I'll definitely be encouraging our kiddos to use it for school projects in the future. I just loved the way the information is presented and the amount of faith based material that doesn't seem too over the top or pushy to be used in the public school setting.

Another frustration that I've had recently is trying to find good books for Ethan to read. I think I've mentioned before that his reading level is pretty high, so I'm finding that we are quickly exhausting age appropriate books that he finds challenging and interesting. He reads quickly, too. We just found an author with several series of books, one of them had six 175ish page books in it.  He completed them all in less than a week {while reading his reading group books at school, as well}.

The other aspect of this issue is that his school participates in an "Accelerated Reader" program...there are books on a list and each is labeled with a certain reading level and number of points. Once the book is read, the student takes a short quiz to test comprehension and earn points. In the next few years, the students are required to complete a certain number of quizzes each month and attain a certain number of points for the year.  Being the competitor that he is, Ethan doesn't like to read books during the school year unless they are on the AR list. Of course, books that I know would be okay for him to read (Frank Peretti, Jerry Jenkins) aren't on the AR list. I don't have time to read through every book to find out if it's appropriate or not.

I usually just try to google a certain title to see if I can find a good review of the book, but recently I came across a new blog through Tim Challie's blog {on my sidebar} called Redeemed Reader . The authors post Christian based reviews of secular books. There isn't a huge number of books reviewed yet, since it's a new site, but I'll definitely be using this resource as I try to find books for Ethan...and all the kids, for that matter.  If you have suggestions, I'd LOVE to hear them!

Shoulda' had some green beer...

2011-03-19T21:50:00.000-04:00

This has been one of those weeks {plus a couple of days} that I sort of wish that I actually enjoyed wine or beer or something....or that I lived closer to my mom and sisters...or maybe both. I don't think a half hour has passed in the last ten days where I have not wiped a nose, taken a temp, administered some form of medication, been whine-ely asked for a tissue, wiped a butt, pressed play on the DVD player, wiped a nose, scooped out bite-size chunks of ice cream, thrown away handfuls of used tissues, passed out snacks that were never eaten, or wiped a nose....and it was only slightly less frequent during the sleeping hours :O). Yah, there were a few days where it would have been nice to have something to take the edge off.

It all started last Thursday with Ethan waking up in the middle of the night nauseous and fevered. He was sick all weekend and started to come down with it on Saturday. I babysat a friend's two kids on Monday (something I'll be doing every MWF for the next month), one of whom was fighting a cold and needed to do breathing treatments every four hours. Levi got worse Monday night and Natalie woke up at 1:30am Wednesday morning vomiting and fevered. I called off the babysitting on Wednesday and made a double doctor appointment. I was kind of hoping it was something antibiotic-worthy {even though I hate giving them} since Karis had her surgery scheduled for Friday. Of course, it was not. Most likely all three of them have been/are victims of the seasonal flu. Ethan came home from school Wednesday with a fever and aches again, so he stayed home Thursday, as well. Thanks to an army of praying friends and family, and a God who answers prayers, Karis did not get sick and she was able to have her surgery. Of course, the first few hours were rough...a lot of pain and swelling and she was so hungry after not having been able to eat since the night before. There were many futile attempts to get ice cream, jello, and pudding in her before things got better.

Ethan seems to have recovered, but the other three are definitely not back to themselves yet. I'm thankful for for one more day of rest and having my helpful hubby home before we get back to the grind of another week.

Even though we didn't have any green beer on Thursday, we {well, some of us did, anyway} did enjoy some green cupcakes and green kool-aid in hopes of pulling us out of the funk. I even added some green color to our alfredo sauce for dinner, but that attempt at being festive and fun did not go over so well with the masses. Maybe next year.

ps...mom, I may actually take you up on your offer to come visit if it's still on the table :O).

...and another!

2011-02-25T12:25:00.001-05:00

Yes, another snow day. It's actually Mark's second in a row. Roads were icy yesterday morning and since a two-hour early dismissal was already scheduled due to parent/teacher conferences, they couldn't just delay and decided to close for the day. Today is day #10 for him. I estimate he'll be in school until June 20th at this rate...but he did say there is talk of just adding 30 minutes to the school day for the last couple months of the school year, rather than make up all those days. Sounds like a good plan to me, but at the rate teachers are being targeted by the politicians these day, I'm not gonna count on it actually happening.

Karis was scheduled to have oral surgery this morning at 8:30. When I got up at 5:45, I couldn't even see the neighbors house across the street. I knew that it was only supposed to get worse in the next couple of hours, so we decided to cancel the appointment. The drive was about 45 minutes in good weather, and we it just wasn't worth it! Hopefully they'll find us a new appointment in the next couple of weeks.

The plan for the day is to be thankful that we don't have to go anywhere and we have a nice warm house to play in {and hopefully the play will include happy kids}! I do have to say, though, that I love all the snow. You won't catch me complainin' about it until the middle of March :O).

In honor of our blizzard here are some pics of our beautiful snowbunnies from back in January {...you've already seen them, though, if you're on facebook}.

Another Snow Day!!

2011-02-22T20:58:00.000-05:00

Surprise, surprise, right?!?!? This one was actually a bit of a surprise in that Mark only got a two-hour delay, but the kids' district cancelled. That very rarely happens because of his district's {ridiculously} horrible country roads. I'm usually all gung-ho about snow days, but I was a little torn this time around since we had MOPS this morning and I was scheduled to share a testimony, as were some other ladies that I was looking forward to hearing from. When schools cancel, so do we, since there would be an overabundance of extra kids!

Aside from a few "incidents", we enjoyed our time together. There were messes made, video games played, Newsboys blasted while we cleaned up around the house a bit, a batch of soft pretzels made, and, of course, some snow fun enjoyed!

Did you know?

2011-02-09T08:59:00.004-05:00

Did you know it's National Marriage Week?

I love that, nine and a half years into our marriage, God has put us both on our own little journeys towards making our marriage a better one. I'm working through the book Feminine Appeal by Caroline Mahaney right now in my ladies' Bible study. Mark is working through Loving and Leading by Bruce Wilkinson in the guys' Bible study at church. I'm learning to be a better wife and mother...I'm being challenged to cherish Mark and our kids in ways that I've been too tired or comfortable to do in recent years, to have more self control in the way I manage my time, and to honor the call to homemaking in the way Scripture commands, among other things. Mark is being challenged to love, invest {two things he's already great at}, and lead us.

We've always had a good marriage, and I'd be foolish not give God the glory for that, because there have been times that it's been on the back burner and could have easily gone downhill. When you start out buying a "fixer-upper" house, have your first two kids in the first 2 years of your marriage, and deal with near crippling back problems that lead to surgery by the end of year #3, survival is about the only thing on your mind.

We've always been good to each other. We've compromised when needed. He's been way more patient with me than I've ever had to be with him. We've laughed at each other and with each other. I could probably count the number of fights {if you could even call them that} we've had on two hands...and 98% of them were my fault. We've held each others hands through the worst pain of our lives.

It seems cliche, but we're perfect for each other. Yet, I know, in no way, does this make our marriage immune to falling apart. Too many of them are today because we're all so darn self-centered, busy {perfectionsts and workaholics}, and materialistic, and this whole marriage and parenting game gets in the way so much more than we expected. Unless you've been living in a cave, I'm sure you've seen the statistics on the failures. As teachers and parents of kids with friends, Mark and I are all too familiar with the results of all the dysfunction.

We're feeling a new call to work at this, alongside the Lord, like we haven't done in a while. Not only do we refuse to become one of the statistics, we refuse to be one of those marriages where we go through the motions. For us, this doesn't mean fancy dates every couple of weeks {just not possible in our financial situation}, or chocolates and flowers. "Quality time" is no good if it only happens once a week, and "quantity time" is no good if it's not quality time, too, in my book. For us, this means being present to help each other {quality + quantity everyday, if at all possible}. Asking each other how we can best serve each other. Sitting on the couch together when the kids go to bed and actually talking to each other. Setting a lot of less important things aside make sure our kids know they are loved every day by both of us. Taking the focus off of what Valerie wants to do or what Mark wants to do, and asking God what He wants us to do for Him. I pray that our next ten years are even better than our first ten because of it.

A week in the Life

2011-01-29T22:35:00.004-05:00

Here's a rundown of a crazy week in our home. Most of the activites have been in my planner for days or weeks. There are, of course, plenty of everyday things like dishes, laundry, getting kids out the door to the bus, etc, that didn't make the list. A few other things got thrown in unexpectedly...hence the "Added bonus".

Monday: 5:45am workout and Bible reading. Catch up a little bit on pace warnings, grading, report cards, and invoicing. Coordinate with schools/parents/students to get a bunch of midterm exams taken in the next week. Make chocolate chip muffins for tomorrow's breakfast. Pack lunches. Do dinner and shower girls. Online teachers' meeting {during which Skype will not work so I have to call in on the cell} 6:30-7:30. Bible Study 7:30-9:30. Couch "date" with Mark.
**Added bonus: Mark bringing home a letter from school informing all employees that there is a budget deficit in the district which will very likely lead to staff cuts. This is something that we have actually discussed the possibility of lately based on some things that have gone on there in recent months...things that lead us to believe that is not out of the question that Mark could be one of the teachers let go {this is a whole 'nother post that I'm not even comfortable putting "out there", so you'll have to just trust me on this one}.

Tuesday: Early morning Bible reading/quiet time with the hope of fighting off looming anxiety. Get dinner in the crockpot while getting everyone ready for school and MOPS. Coupon hunting and grocery list/meal planning. Pick up house and sweep/mop floors....it was bad...I even found an {at least} three day old grape smashed under the leg of the kitchen table. Memory and coloring. Talk and pray with Mom and Dad. Quick run to the grocery store when Mark gets home {taking Levi to the store when he expresses disinterest in going, as he did this day, is equal to commiting parental suicide}. Put away groceries and get dinner on the table. Take all four kids to Ethan's basketball practice 6:30-7:30. Mark to Bible Study 7:00-9:00. Grading. Lunch packing/couch "date" with Mark.
**Added bonus: Got to the MOPS meeting to find that they were waaay short on Moppets workers, so I got to work in the 2 year old room. They were {thankfully} pretty easy and I think I only had one snotty finger wiped across my shoulder.

Wednesday: 5:45am workout {after a restless night of crying from the two year old, 5am complaints about what I suspect were growing pains from the eight year old, and spilling a huge cup of water on and behind my nightstand}. Deal with the disaster that has been our bedroom/bathroom the past few days. Finally take a look at the Adventure Club lesson for Wednesday night church. More grading and helping students. Late lunch and Bible reading. Playdough. Bake cookies. Shower kids and eat dinner. Church. Crash in bed at 10pm.
**Added bonus: One of Mark's students calls after school to bring over a load of firewood. He comes into the house for a few minutes after they get it unloaded and I invite him to stay for dinner. Good thing we were having spaghetti...there's always some to spare!

Thursday: Early morning Bible reading/quiet time. Read 112 books and build GeoTracks masterpiece. Finally separate chicken and beef stew meat from Tuesday's shopping trip for freezing. Exercise while folding and putting away laundry. Make blueberry coffee cake and popcorn. Enjoy a frappe while starting progress reports. Help a student on Skype while trying to clean up the huge mess in the kitchen and start dinner. Fight with Natalie about eating dinner so she can go to gymnastics with Karis. Gymnastics 6:00-7:30. Grade papers, answer questions from students, get kids in bed.
**Added bonus:   Helping a student who calls at 9:45pm (5 minutes before we were headed to bed) because she can't get the password to the midterm exam to work. After several attempts to remedy the problem, I finally just resorted to removing the password so I could just go to bed and she could get the exam done because she waited until the last minute and her school wants her grade tomorrow.

Friday: Stay in bed longer than I should.  Quiet time.  Help desparate student who will probably fail my class, grade a few papers, send a report card. Mid-morning workout and shower thanks to Barney and Max & Ruby. Dance party and cupcake making with munchkins. More dancing and frosting cupcakes. Make chicken rice soup. Mark comes home for 45 minutes and then leaves to work concessions from 5 to 9:30 for tonight's basketball games at school. Bathe kids, Skype Grammy and Papa, pick up the house put kids in bed. Eat ice cream.

Saturday: Word time, shovel driveway, make bacon and eggs before 9:30. Put together spinach casserole for the "winter birthdays" party at the in-laws. Set timer on oven to cook casserole. Basketball game 12:00.  Home to pick-up casserole and cupcakes, stop to get some cards, then get to in-laws by 2:00. Try to avoid puking over the fact that there 17 items on my "to grade" list and that the number kept going up faster than I could get it down. More progress reports. Cut Mark's hair after kids get to bed.

Looking forward to tomorrow. Family Worship Sunday at church. My mom is coming down to stay with Natalie and Levi, while Mark and I take Ethan and Karis to the WinterJam concert in Cleveland. Very excited to see Newsboys and David Crowder Band and a few others!!

This next week has the potential to be just as nuts...three doctors/dentist appointments, at least one activity every night of the week, and volunteering in a classroom.

Weeks like these {in the quiet moments I do get} make me count my blessings, though:  our busyness means we have a houseful of healthy people; we really have amazingly well behaved kids that make all of these activities manageable; I have a hard-working, fun, available husband; we have the resources to provide our kids with opportunities; we have a church community to serve in and be challenged by; if I'm willing, I have a God who is willing to come alongside me to refresh and care for me in the big and little things.

So, while part of me wants to turn my back on weeks like this and run the other direction, most of me embraces it for all it's worth.

Funnies

2011-01-26T10:31:00.001-05:00

Here are just a couple quick funnies. Lots of mental and physical busyness happening around here, so I'm hoping this holds ya'll over till I can {hopefully...probably...maybe} get a bigger post written towards the end of the week.

Levi after taking his amoxicillan: "I have a pistachio (mustache)?" {We've been eating a lot of pistachio's recently :O)}

Dinner time discussion about whether family members are right or left handed...kids naming off relative after relative asking which hand they use...
Mark: "I think Aunt Mary {Mark's aunt} is left-handed."
Natalie: "Nooo...she's too old to have a left hand."

This is a video of Levi praying. He always starts with "Thank you for...", then continues on with sort of "hummm". We are thinking maybe he's preparing for the monastary. In this one he says "Thank you for praying...". If you watch closely, after he's done humming, you can see his lips moving as he whispers prayers for some other unintelligable things. The innocence and sweetness of it makes us chuckle everytime!

Just Plain Cute

2011-01-14T12:56:00.000-05:00

Only the offspring of Mark and myself could be this reserved as they play Just Dance (Kids) on the Wii...ya know...gettin' jiggy, but not *too* jiggy :O). {Sorry, I know it's a bit dark, but stinkin' cute, nonetheless.}

My Prayer for 2011

2011-01-03T09:18:00.001-05:00

I'm not picking a word this year, but I do have a prayer for it...from a song that we sing at church every once in a while. We had some great teaching on perspective yesterday and ended the service with it.

Lord, give me one pure and holy passion. Give me one magnificent obsession. Give me one glorious ambition for my life. Lord, I want to know and follow hard after you. I want to grow as your disciple in your Truth. I know that this world is so empty, pale, and poor compared to knowing you, God. Lead me, Lord, give me strength, Holy Spirit, and I will run after You. (Adapted from "One Pure and Holy Passion" by Mark Altrogge)

I want this prayer to influence my perspective on life. It's not only for me, though, it's my prayer for my whole little family. We made some changes and sacrifices in 2010 that rocked our boat a little bit, but I know we've got a ways to go before we get off our cruise ship and find our spot on the war vessel, as our pastor put it yesterday.

I want this prayer to shape the decisions we make this year about how we spend our time and money {one specific thing that has been on my heart lately in regards to this is what kind of "getaway" Mark and I will do for our 10 year anniversary in June}. I want it to be the filter through which we decide what activities to say yes and no to. I want it to be in the forefront of our mind as choose what books, movies, and TV shows to be entertained by. I want it to be the thing that pushes us to invest in the relationships that are beginning to form with the families we deliver food to for the church food pantry. I want it to be what gives me the desire to read through the Bible this year {using my new (thanks, Babe) chronological Bible}, not just so I can say I did it, but so I can know my God and my Jesus the way I desire to know them. I want it to be what either reaffirms our schooling choice or calls us to pull the kids out. I want it to be what gives Mark and I the strength to consistently train our children in love and grace, instead of nagging and frustration.

I'm confident that God will work through this prayer in the coming months, but I know that, realistically, I will get in His way all too often. Here's to hoping I'll be at least one step ahead of where I am today.

Happy Birthday, Natalie!

2010-12-29T15:50:00.001-05:00

I'm sort of baffled at where the last four years have gone! Much of them has been spent asking ourselves if there was a mix-up in the hospital. Everyone always says all your kids will be different. Well, our first two weren't very different, and they were much like the two of us. Then Natalie came along. We love the girl like crazy, but I know that we will spend much of the coming years asking the Lord for wisdom as to how to handle her, since she is so very different than Mark and I. She definitely acts and talks older than she is. She loves people {not that we don't, but she's the true definition of an extrovert and we are extreme introverts!} and has been known to count friends instead of sheep in order to fall asleep. She loves clothes, shoes, and jewelry...anything she deems fancy. She also has a cute {albiet a tad annoying} habit of collecting things from around the house in grocery bags as she pretends to shop or be a mom. I think I've mentioned that if you can't find something in this house, she's the first person to go to...even if she has 15 bags around the house stuffed with stuff, she knows just where to find what you're looking for. If you asked either one of us what we think Natalie will grow up to be, we'd probably say something along the lines of a fashion saavy mom to 14 kids or a hoarder. Seriously, though, I do see some sort of ministry in the girl's future that brings together caring for children and collecting that other people don't need anymore.

We pray that the God uses her sweet and colorful personality for His work...that she will spread the joy of the Lord to all those around her.

What's new

2010-12-20T12:26:00.000-05:00

Here are a few {mostly good, but a couple bad and ugly} tidbits about what's going on in the Hunter house lately:

We're starting off our Christmas break with a sick kid and a clogged kitchen sink. I've come to expect these types of things happening. Ethan came down with a fever Saturday night and, since he's had this lingering cough for a bit too long, my first thought was that he's probably come down with pneumonia. His throat is red, too, so maybe strep? I called the doctor this morning, but their earliest appointment is later this evening and carries an extra $27 charge. I made an appointment for tomorrow morning, but he's had no fever this morning and is, of course, running around like a crazy man right now...so, we'll see if we actually keep the appointment!

As for the sink, it's my fault. Once again, I've managed to clog that darn garbage disposal. In the past couple of years, I've learned the hard way that it can't handle potato skin, large amounts of egg shells, or gobs of spaghetti. FYI: it also cannot handle a bunch of month old turkey. {Yes, you can laugh in disbelief at the fact that the rest of the turkey from Thanksgiving was still in our fridge until last night.} Usually we manage to unclog it with a few plunges, and maybe some Drano. This time it's not budging. We {well, Mark} plunged, and snaked, and Drano'ed, and used the "zip-it" thingy. We went to bed hoping the plumbing fairy might work some wonders, but it was still clogged this morning. I've been praying over it this morning, and so far, I've had to just keep praying for patience, as well. Mark will probably have a fun afternoon dismantling pipes when he returns home, and I'll be using the rest of the paper Star Wars plates from Ethan's birthday and washing dishes in the bathroom sink today.

Natalie has been making some huge progress in the learning letters/writing department. She has been quite stubborn about the whole thing until a couple months ago. She is now writing her name without asking how to spell it. She is also writing a lot of other words by asking how to spell them. Here's her shopping list {candy canes, syrup, eggs...just the essentials, right?} from an episode of "house" the other day. I was impressed that even her "s" was facing the right direction!

We got a fun {as in the kind where you have to hunker down and enjoy it from the house} snow storm last weekend. It started Saturday night/Sunday morning, making our trek to church almost impossible. We were two minutes ahead of the plow, so we couldn't make it up the big hill we have to take to get there. We backed back down and let the plow clear the way before we tried again. It was still "warm" on Sunday, so after church we went sled riding. There is a good kid-sized hill at the entrance to our neighborhood we like to use. Our neighbors came out for some fun, too, and my friend got a few good pics of the kids having a blast.

Last weekend we went to see some movies. We hardly ever go see movies. Mark and I just rarely feel like it's one of those things worth spending money on, so it's a special treat when it happens. Mark took the girls to see Tangled and I took Ethan to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Natalie is SUPER sensitive about villians in movies, so I asked around to see what people who had already seen it thought, and most of them said it was one of the most mild Disney princess movies they'd seen. So, we decided she should be able to handle it. Unfortunately, she didn't do so well and cried through parts and wouldn't watch others. I felt bad that her first movie theater experience was a pretty miserable one. Live and learn, I guess! Ethan and I really enjoyed the Narnia movie, and it was the first 3D movie I've seen, so it was a fun time for us! Our dates with the kids also included some Christmas shopping for siblings. They exchange names and buy for one other kid in the family, and this year we made it work so boys bought for girls and vice versa, so we could make the movie dates work. It's always so interesting to see how they choose what they buy for each other. I loved watching Ethan put some sweet thought into picking out gifts for his sisters (he picked out Levi's gift for Natalie).

Levi has expressed some interest in potty training, on the condition that we purchase some "choo-choo train" underwear. So, last week, I took him to the store and he picked out some Thomas and some Diego undies. Next morning I optimistically put them on him, but shortly after saw him heading for a private place to do his "business". I quickly sat him on the potty in time for a tiny terd to plop into the pot. He did sit for a few minutes and ended up tinkling. I rewarded him with some of the gummy worms he had also picked out...and then he promptly refused to put underwear back on and his been in diapers since. I had a feeling he wasn't really ready, and I'm a firm believer in not pushing training. All the other kids were SOOO easy because we waited till they were ready {Natalie did it in like a day without ANY help from me, three months before her third birthday}. I don't want to be mommy trained...asking him every 30 minutes if he has to go and constantly worrying about accidents. The years are too short to spend any portion of them on that kind of a headache! I know he'll do it when he's ready, and I'm more than content to wait for it.

We are so ready to enjoy this Christmas break. We're done Christmas shopping and have been for weeks. We're hoping for some more sledding, making some birdfeeders {once the sink is fixed}, baking, imaginative play, visiting with family, celebrating Natalie's fourth birthday, reading good books, watching good movies, and thanking God for giving us His son. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Which is Your Favorite?

2010-12-10T12:51:00.000-05:00

So, {for the sake of doing a seasonal post when I'm not feeling extraordinarily creative when it comes to blogging lately} I'm wondering what your favorite Christmas season tradition is?

Cutting down your tree? A cookie exchange? The Christmas Eve service? Maybe carolling? Is it a tradition from your childhood or your spouse's that you've decided to carry on? Is it one that you and your spouse have started for your family?

I think I've mentioned before that my favorite tradition has become our Christmas Story Advent Calendar. Ethan and Karis love this one, too, and Natalie is growing to enjoy it. Niether Mark or I really did the "Advent thing" growing up, so this is one that we've started for our family. Granted, there are some nights that we forget and have to do two {or even three!} the next day, but I so look forward to hearing the kids take turns reading the verses {minus the times they fight over who's turn it is}. I like that this spreads the Christmas story out over the course of the month because the Christmas story didn't all happen on Christmas Eve...it was centuries in the making. I pray that in the coming years our children will grow to understand {and that I will renew my understanding again and again} that what Christmas gave us isn't a one day a year thing...that Christ came for everyday that we live and breath...and for our eternity.

Well, I'm kind of hoping I'm not just talking to myself with this post...that my "peeps" will humor me and comment...and that you lurkers might come out of the shadows on this one :O).

I've been following...

2010-12-10T10:34:00.001-05:00

I added a new blog I've been following to my sidebar...one you might be interested in checking out if you're into reading about culture, society, religion and how they all intertwine in our changing times. It's called Challies Dot Com. I've linked to him before in a post about schooling. I really love reading through his "A La Carte" every morning {that I have time to}. It's either good, sound stuff or relevant comic relief, in my opinion.

Two songs I can't stop singing

2010-12-01T14:40:00.006-05:00

I am addicted to these two songs. Seriously, I could listen to them over and over and over. I almost can't contain myself when I listen to them! If no one is around...I don't bother trying.

That first Christmas

2010-11-29T11:59:00.001-05:00

I love hearing stories that tell the first Christmas story from the different perspectives of those who experienced it. Obviously, we're limited in what we really know about what the innkeeper, or Mary, or even the sheep in the manger felt and saw that night. It's something fascinating to imagine about, though, and I love when word artists paint the picture for us through song or story.
One perspective that I wish I would hear more about is that of Heaven's {actually, I've been really interested, lately, in looking at more things from that "heavenly realms" (Eph 6:12) viewpoint}. Maybe because it's more difficult for our human minds to grasp what Christmas was like in the spiritual realm, we hear less about it? I'm not sure, but I did actually blog about it two years ago here (scroll down to the "on another note..."section). I'm not sure if my thoughts are theologically sound, but I believe there's a good chance that they're not completely off-base.

One of our pastors taught on this topic yesterday morning {you can imagine my excitement as I read the sermon title on the bulletin} and I learned there is more to the Heavenly story than what I imagined...

That first Christmas was a declaration of war. A declaration of war. I guess it's possible that this sounds morbid, but I love that statement. Read Revelation 12 and work your way through the symbolism. When Jesus Christ was born to Mary on earth, Satan set out to destroy. The battle between God's angelic and Satan's demonic forces was taken to the next level. I picture a scene resembling one out of Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia. An embrace between a Father and Son. The Son walking a path to earth, lined with angels, swords raised in reverence and awe. Angels turning to take their place in the ranks. On the other side of the battlefield are the demons jeering and scoffing with an "enormous red dragon" poised to sound the battle cry. Not the typical peaceful Christmas Eve we often picture, is it?
While we must come to grips with the fact that this war will have casualties, we can rest assured that the victory is, without a doubt, the Lord's. Because I know this battle is still waging around me everyday {and, I believe, becoming more deadly by the day...as we near the war's end}, this is where I'm choosing to focus this Advent season.

Scrooge...or Excessive Christmasness?

2010-11-18T13:43:00.003-05:00

Is anyone else annoyed with Christmas? I should rephrase that. Is anyone else annoyed with what the world is doing to Christmas?  I love Christmas, but I also love Thanksgiving. So, I love Christmas starting December 1st. I'm a huge fan of celebrating Advent more so than Christmas, I guess. I know I should be used to the fact that the world takes everything overboard, and, for the most, part I am...and I just ignore it. Excessive Christmasness {yah, totally made that word up} is kinda hard to ignore, though.

I mean, really, do we need to put up Christmas decorations the day after Halloween? Do we need to send out the Black Friday ads three weeks early? As if they don't bombard us enough with all the things we should be doing and buying for each other to make Christmas magic and memorable, they've got to start doing it a month earlier? How are Mark and I supposed to teach our kids to find the magic in the ultimate gift that was given to them in this environment? Seriously, I'm asking.

I feel like maybe if we took the time to focus more on Thanksgiving and how much we really have, then maybe we wouldn't feel such a need to be so excessively materialistic at Christmas. I keep hearing people {including myself} say they're going simple, but it sure doesn't look like it. I feel the pressure to have gifts for teachers {school and church}, busdrivers, mail carriers, neighbors, etc. Am I scrooge for opting out {cuz I feel like one sometimes}? Is a kid-made card and a couple homemade cookies enough to spread the joy of Christmas? Again...seriously, I'm asking.

I do love to give at Christmas. I just love to give to people who aren't getting. I love taking the $100 we could have spent on gift cards for the above mentioned people in our lives and putting it into 4 Operation Christmas Child boxes instead. I love that mine and Mark's siblings are all either in situations where they can't or don't want to exchange gifts, and we can put that money towards buying goats and chickens for a starving family in another country or to buying some gifts for a child in our own town whose family needs help.

Reading over this, I feel like it sounds prideful.  I'm not trying to toot my horn about how much we're giving, or say that if you give gifts to your kids' teachers you've got it all wrong...or even that if you break out the Christmas lights and music pre-Thanksgiving your messing with the meaning of Christmas.

I guess I'm just venting about what feelings the season stirs up in me, and, once again, trying to find that balance between scroogeyness {how in the world should I spell that?} and excessiveness. Have you found it?

My confession...

2010-11-11T11:32:00.003-05:00

At our MOPS meetings this year, members of the steering time are taking turns confessing some of their mothering mishaps, inadequacies, imperfections, etc. We stand silhouetted behind a white sheet of anonymity. It's really quite comical. This past Tuesday was my turn and my confession wrote itself into a nice little blog post. I got plenty of laughs...I hope the girls were laughing with me and not at me, though!?!? Here goes...

Before I gave birth to our first little babe, I made the mistake of convincing myself that I would never be "that mom". You know the one. She's got four kids going 80 different directions and loses more of her mind with each passing week. She locks her keys in the car {while it's still running}. She forgets about doctor's appointments and goes to the grocery store unshowered and in sweats. Yah. I was never gonna be that mom.

Oh, how naive was I?

I can say I haven't locked the keys in the car...yet...

But I've had my share of that mom moments...beginning just weeks after my first, not my fourth was born.

I am that mom who, early one Sunday morning {after 6 weeks of sleepless nights} put my breast pump parts in a pot on the stove to sterilize them, then lay down to rest my eyes for just a minute, only to awake 45 minutes later to the smell of burning plastic.

I am that mom who brought a basket full of dirty laundry and two poopy diapers, an infant, and a barely one year old down the stairs and forgot the diapers were in the basket by the time a had a moment to toss the whole load into the washer.

I am that mom who has lost birth certificates and car titles, forgotten parent/teacher conferences and show & tell days, and paid $15 in library fines on late DVD's.

I am that mom who made a meal plan and a detailed grocery list and still forgot the mozzarella cheese, but never realized it until the lasagna was already started and so resorted to peeling a few sticks of string cheese to complete the dish.

I am that mom who, just two weeks ago, talked to a friend about our kids' hour early dismissal from school the next day, only to receive a call from the school office the following afternoon while I was out running errands wondering if I'd forgotten about my kids.

Yep...I'm definitely that mom.

**Oh stink. As I was reading over this I realized I lied. I just remembered I have locked the keys in the car. After grocery shopping I somehow loaded the groceries and my purse, with the keys and cell phone in it, in the trunk of our car and closed the hatch. All doors locked. I had to go back into the store to call Mark, who had to make the 20 minute drive into town with the two little ones and no carseats because they were in the car I had. At least the car wasn't running, right?

Score another one for that mom. :O)

Our Pumpkins

2010-10-28T13:56:00.000-04:00

I just had to post these pictures of our "pumpkins" carving their pumpkins Sunday. We had a beautiful day, and for the first time ever in my life {at least that I remember}, we carved our pumpkins out on the driveway. You'll note Natalie's {fancy} shoes in the one picture and understand why she spent about 12 seconds participating in the carving process.

I look at these pictures of these beautiful kids and know, without a doubt, that God is in the business of creating masterpieces. We know that we are blessed every day that He gives us glimpses of the destiny He has for them and allows us to partner with Him in the process of fulfilling it.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2010-10-18T14:23:00.001-04:00

Well, true to my expectations, September and October have been incredibly busy. Aside from a few days here and there when I've been moments away from an anxiety attack, we've had a lot of fun. Here are some of the highlights and a few pictures:

Wednesday Adventure Club is off to a good start. I love the kids in the small group and love that Mark has decided to join me in serving them. It's not free of challenges as we try to adapt the material to their maturity level some weeks and keep a couple ornery little boys in line, but I love to hear their sweet and faith-filled prayers!
Ethan had a great time at his "Minute to Win It" birthday party. It was great to see him interact with his friends...some of whom we met for the first time.
It's been a great soccer season. Ethan loves the game and has an amazing sense of it. He handles the ball like a pro and can play any position well. It's so exciting to watch him play. Karis does not love soccer...in fact, multiple times she has said she does not like it. It's crazy {and somewhat disappointing} because the girl has great ball control and is faster than probably 97% of the other girls she's played against. She easily scored 4 goals in Saturday's game against a team that evenly matched her team. She's good, but she doesn't have that competitive instinct. {It will be fun to see her go back to gymnastics instead}
I was able to go in and eat lunch with Ethan and Karis during Family Lunch Week. After lunch I got to spend recess time with them. Although it was a bit disturbing to see what elementary recess looks like these days, I was proud of our kids and their responses to what was going on around them.
Natalie, Levi and I have enjoyed some good times at the Library Family Story Time and Nature Center Mommy and Me class. While I hate that Ethan and Karis aren't here to participate in these things with us, I love having the time with our two little ones.
We kicked off our MOPS year. I love being back on steering team. There are days when I wonder whether I should have committed to it or not, but I am always reassured when I see things come together and see moms needs being met. I love the team and I love our children's pastor, who invests so much in this ministry. I'm excited about what the Lord has in store for our group this year.
We've had two weekends full of the stuff Autumn is made for. One weekend we went to Mt. Geez (a big hill that over looks miles of rolling hills) to watch the sunset and then hit up DQ one last time before it closed for the season, rode bikes/ran on the bike trail {Natalie's first trip riding on the trail and she went 3.5 miles!}, and hiked a trail at Mohican State Park {during which 875 rocks, leaves, and sticks were thrown into the river}. This past weekend my family came down to visit and enjoy staying up way past bed time, blueberry pancakes, soccer games, picking out pumpkins and jumping in leaf piles with us, and we went to a Harvest party with some friends for hayrides, decorating pumpkins, and a super intense soccer game involving kids...and middle aged adults...:O).

Happy Birthday, Babe...

2010-10-03T07:40:00.004-04:00

On this day, 32 years ago, before you even took a breath, God had numbered and designed every single one of your days...placed everything inside you that would make you who you are today...an amazing husband, daddy, teacher, coach...I am amazed and so thankful that, in those moments of creating you, He had me {us, these kids, this life} in mind. He's given me more than I could have asked for or imagined. Love you, babe, and so do they!

{Well, I couldn't not post for Mark's birthday after doing Ethan and Karis'. It'd be too much work for me to pull out and scan his baby pictures this morning, though, even though I'd love to show this one we have...so you could see that, at one point in his life, my husband was chunky.}

Deep Thoughts...

2010-09-27T09:34:00.003-04:00

My friend Mandy posted this question on her blog over the weekend:
Moms, I Need Your Opinion

Moms, are you more content when:

A) You know all you have to focus on is your kids & your home?

B) You have additional passion outside kids & home to focus on?

Why?

I was struck by the fact that I didn't have an immediate answer. It took me a while to think through where I am at on this spectrum. Here is what I posted in response on Mandy's blog:

...I’ve determined that I am really most content when I’m doing A, although sometimes I’m called to B. I am most passionate about knowing and serving Christ, and there are times when He calls me to focus outside of my family/home in service to Him. There are seasons when He gives me rest, though, and allows my focus to go back to home/family. I feel like my other “passions” (running, teaching, etc) can easily be set aside with very little impact on the contentedness of my soul.

If you're a mom, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you think it's possible to be only A or only B? Is it a spectrum? Are there seasons for each? Post your thoughts!

Happy Birthday, Karis!

2010-09-20T06:32:00.006-04:00

A {short} year and 16 days after Ethan came along, Karis joined our little family. She was sweet and gorgeous from day one...and all three of us fell in love with her.

It seems that Karis has spent much of the first six years of her life being "Ethan's little sister". She learned ABC's with him, potty trained with him, laughed with him, loved Star Wars with him, shared a bedroom with him...sometimes because she wanted to...and sometimes because that's just the way life is when you're born that close together.

I love that in the past several months, Karis is finding herself. She's strong and great at gymnastics. She creates amazing abstract art. She loves broccoli, but not asparagus. She has an eye for making beautiful jewelery. She can catch fish likes it's nobody's business. She loves animals and wants to be a veterinarian. She doesn't like soccer so much, and wishes there was cross-country for elementary school. She is embracing her role as big sister more and more every day. She's still painfully shy, but her friends are starting to number two hands instead of two fingers. She can share the gospel story {even if it is only with her little sister at this point} like she just graduated from seminary.

Although there are days our personalities clash and I'm much too hard on her, I love this girl like crazy. I don't know what I'd do if God hadn't surprised us with her. Lord, please guard this little girl's heart, mind, and body as she grows into a young woman in the coming years. We pray that she will continue to cherish things that are pure and innocent, and that she will gain the confidence to share Your Love Story with everyone that she meets.

I did it!!

2010-09-16T11:46:00.006-04:00

Well, I ran my half-marathon this past Sunday. Don't look at me funny, but...I really enjoyed it!! I know it sounds so weird to run 13 miles and say that you've enjoyed it, but I did. I think I might officially become a half-marathoner.

(my cheering squad...that's one of my high school track coaches in the yellow jacket :O))

Seriously, though, I had the "perfect" experience.

I could train while my hubby was home with the kids or they tagged along on bikes. {There were two times I left the kids with a neighbor friend for quick work-outs, and I managed to get over the guilt of that. I mean, how many times have you left your kids with a friend so you could get to your hair or doctor appointment or whaterver. I've convinced myself it's not any different...}

I experienced no injuries and never even got a blister until my 12 mile run.

All the kids started sleeping all night for about the last month, so I was well rested.

The training plan worked step by step. {I did alter the last week a bit since our schedule was crazy, I had that wonderful monthly visitor, and the mileage just seemed really high to me.}

I don't think I could have asked for a better race morning. The weather was overcast and cool. The crowd wasn't overwhelming. My nerves settled after my second "potty" stop before the start, and I didn't have to take any potty stops along the way. Everything went smoothly.

Once the horn blew, I just settled in and had almost two hours of "church". It was really an amazing feeling. I was doing what I feel like God created my body to do in a place that He created for me to enjoy while quietly singing prayers and praise to Him.

My goal was to cross the finish line in 2 hours or less, with no walking. At about 9 miles I knew that {unless something crazy happened} I was going to finish under 2 hours. At that point my goal became to get as close to 1:50 as possible. I finished in 1:51 and some seconds (official times haven't been posted yet)...and I didn't have to walk at all!
It felt good accomplishing this goal. I still think, at some point, I'll try a full marathon, but I'm waiting till the time is right...and I think I'll only put myself through one of those, just to say I did. But this half-marathon thing I could definitely see myself doing on a somewhat regular basis. That's okay with you, Mark, right? :O)

Happy Birthday, Ethan

2010-09-04T07:09:00.006-04:00

Today our first born {strong-willed, athletic, intelligent, emotional, stubborn, hard-thinking, germaphobic, reasoning, thrill-seeking, handsome, never wrong, family-loving, scientific, quiet} son turns eight years old. Lord, we pray that You will use the foundation we've partnered with You to build these past 8 eight years and grow this boy into a man that loves You...brings others to love You...and chases hard after You.

He always provides

2010-08-28T09:08:00.003-04:00

Here in the Hunter house we are used to coming into summer with the extra cushion of Mark's track coaching pay check. Since he didn't coach last spring, things have been pretty tight the past few weeks. I've been trying to figure out what things I can cut out so we can build the checking account back up and find a way to pay off Mark's car by March, almost 4 years ahead of schedule. I couldn't find much of anything that we can do without, though (believe me...there aren't many extras happening in this house). So I resigned myself to the fact that I was just going to keep saving our nickels and dimes by using my coupons and shopping the clearance racks...and pray they'd add up to more than I was expecting!

I'm so thankful that the Lord knows our hearts and our desire to make the most of the resources He gives us...and then does more than we expect.

On Tuesday night a neighbor called, out of the blue, and asked if they could pay me to watch their kindergartner a few days a week. He is actually our neice's half brother, and one of the little boys that came to our Backyard Bible Club. Dad is going back to school and Mom works full time. He'll be in morning kindergarten, so he'll get off the bus at our house on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and spend about 8-10 hours a week here. He's a good kid and it shouldn't be much trouble at all. I'll still be able to do the morning activities I planned to do with Natalie and Levi, and I think Natalie will really enjoy having him around (I lost track of the number of times this summer she told me she needed to play with someone besides her family!)...hopefully he won't mind entertaining her a bit!

The Big Switch

2010-08-26T07:28:00.010-04:00

We made the big switch last week. From cribs to bunk beds. From a big kid and a baby room to a boys' room and a girls' room.

It was almost kind of spontaneous. Mark was done staining and oiling the second set of beds, but we weren't quite sure when we were going to have time to take the cribs down and get the beds put together. I think, for me, that was the way to go. We had just picked gobs of peaches and blueberries that morning, so I was busy in the kitchen and Mark got busy making the change upstairs. I didn't have a chance to get too emotional about it. Before I knew it, it was done, and the kids were super excited. I didn't even have time to shed a tear {until later that night when I saw my sweet, tiny little boy asleep in that big huge bed and realized in the blink of an eye he is going to stretch from headboard to footboard}.

I was glad they were ALL excited, too. There was a time when Ethan {hater of change} said he wanted to share a bedroom with Karis forever. In the last several months though, he has become more "big boyish" and realized sharing a room with his little sister isn't quite that cool. I wasn't sure how Levi would respond either. He was a bit upset to see his crib go, but once we put the sports balls sheets on his bed, there was no turning back for him. I also figured he'd spend the first week or so climbing out of it 150 times before falling asleep. Thankfully, since the boy rarely naps anymore, he was beat by bedtime and didn't give us any trouble at all.

I love that with "big" beds I can climb in with each kid for prayers, cuddles, and kisses at bedtime. I hate that with two sets of bunk beds I want to chop my arms off every time I have to change sheets. There are some final touches to be done to both rooms. I need to paint over the handprint border in the boys' room and hopefully find them some curtains. I'd also like to paint some flowers and a verse on the wall in the girls' room. Two projects that will probably have to wait for some colder weather.

We joined the battle

2010-08-19T21:19:00.003-04:00

Tuesday night we jumped out of the boat and physically joined the spiritual battle for our kids' schools by standing on the front steps of the schools and praying for them. There were only a handful of people at each school, but I'm not in the least disappointed by the turnout. The prayers that went up to the Throne of our God came from the hearts of parents and other community members that believe mighty things will be done in and through our children, and through our involvement in the school system. Satan's footholds will be weakened. Our children will be stronger. I walked away from the 45 minutes or so we spent there knowing, without a doubt, that I obeyed the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Can't wait until November when we can do it again.

Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children.

Lamentations 2:19

A few favorite things...

2010-08-13T21:30:00.003-04:00

A few things that have made me smile lately:

After completing the summer reading program at the library, Ethan picked out The Magician's Nephew from the Narnia series as his free book reward. He read all but the last few pages in about a week, and refused to finish it until we went to the library to get the next book, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. He just didn't want the story to end.

A crazily true quote from my younger sister about Natalie while Ethan, Karis, and Natalie spent the weekend with them: "its funny because when she is totally exhausted is the only time she actually acts like a real 3 yr old. the rest of the time its like she's 25."

When you ask Levi a question his response is often an innocent "uuhhh...no".

Taking the big kids out on school shopping dates. I love seeing what kinds of things they pick out (whether I approve and let them purchase is another story :O)).

Trusting God to provide and stretch our paychecks each week...and not giving into the temptation to worry about whether it will stretch far enough.

Spending a long weekend with extended family at Oglebay Resort in West Virginia.

Meteor Showers.

Levi going potty on the toilet on a random, but almost daily basis.

Skunk {and other fun} adventures with our friends the Butchers. (and, no, the irony is not lost on us that when we hang out together we are the "Hunters" and the "Butchers")

Running 800m repeats and bringing back some memories of high school and college.

The dryer choosing one of the hottest, but also breezy, days of summer to break down. And my amazing husband who figured out the problem, bought the part, and had it fixed in less than 24 hours and for less than $20.

How much Karis' attitude has changed in the past 6 months. She's far less emotional, cries/whines much less, and smiles much more!!

Mandy's E-book

2010-08-04T08:16:00.005-04:00

If you've been reading my blog for a while you might remember about a year and a half ago when my friend, Mandy, created an online life group called Angry Homemade Noodles. It was a bunch of moms connecting online and seeking to allow God to help us overcome some hangups and sins we were struggling with. Mandy is a wonderful writer, and has put all of the teaching/learning from that group into an E-Book that you can purchase.

If you are struggling with something over and over and would like to find freedom from it, you are not alone. There is freedom in Christ, but even if you know that (as I did), sometimes you need some help finding it. If that's the case, I encourage you to check out the book at the Messy Canvas bookstore on Mandy's blog.

Gasp...Gulp...Splish...Splash...

2010-07-31T08:16:00.005-04:00

That's the sound of me trying to keep my head above water for the next three months....

It all seems to start with Mark going away to Cross Country Camp, which happened this past week, and my first students enrolling, which happened Friday. I like some busyness for short periods of time, but, the past few years, the end of summer/beginning of the school year seems to have the potential to drown me.

Mark is coaching cross-country, I'll be getting 35ish online students off the ground {read: insane amounts of phone calls to be made/received, emails to be sent/received/responded to, questions to be answered, and papers to be graded} in their American History class, a family reunion trip, Ethan and Karis will be playing soccer {on separate teams}, MOPS steering team planning gets busy, and this year I'm leading a 2nd/3rd grade small group on Wednesday nights at church and running my half-marathon training. September is also Ethan's and Karis' birthdays and it's Ethan's turn to have a party this year. Throw in there all the typical things like school shopping, orientation nights, picking kids up from school, grocery shopping, laundry, packing lunches, and helping with homework and things are going to get a little crazy!

To help maintain sanity, I'm taking a break for Bible Study and Karis is taking a break from gymnastics. We had thought about sending Natalie to pre-school one day a week this year, but I think we'll hold off another year. I think I'll probably give up cleaning the house, too...it'll probably just be too much ;O)

I know we'll survive and have some fun amidst all the craziness...but if you see me going under....throw me a life preserver!!

Poundin' the Pavement

2010-07-26T07:39:00.004-04:00

Well, I'm 5 weeks into my half-marathon training, and I'd have to say, so far, I'm really enjoying it. Yes, I enjoy running. I'm a little weird like that.

In my first 5 weeks, I think my favorite run so far has been my 7 miler. It was a nice evening and I was able to keep a consistent, sub-10 minute pace. Although it was extremely hot, I enjoyed my 8 mile run, too. The big kids were at my parents' house for the weekend, so Mark joined me on his bike with Levi in the bike trailer. He was my travelling water station...how nice is that?? I tried my first energy gel pack on that run, too. Umm...that's some pretty gross stuff trying to taste good.

I have had two longer runs that have done weird things to my stomach/intestines, and I haven't been able to pinpoint whether I'm eating something that doesn't agree with running or if it's my pace. Both runs I've done with a friend and we've pushed the pace under 9 minute miles for 6 and 7 miles, which is a bit faster than I usually do long runs at. Hopefully, I'll get it figured out in the next couple weeks!

I love that I'm achieving a goal. {It's been years since I've had a specific goal to work towards, aside from just surviving with four small children and completing the typical motherly tasks of each day, all while maintaining sanity :O)} I love that there's purpose in my running. I love watching the training plan work. It's fascinating to me to see longer and longer runs get easier and faster. It's nice to see some more muscle tone in my legs, too!

I don't love that it usually requires time away from my family or that some days it costs us our relaxing dinner or bedtime schedule. I don't like that I feel like I'm being pushy with my need to "get my run in". Mark just had to reassure me last night that I'm doing okay. That I'm not being pushy. I'm still trying to convince myself that I'm not being selfish. I've got 7 more weeks to let go of that. Hopefully, I'll have time next month to keep you updated on how that's going.

Public School Parent Prayer Nights

2010-07-23T12:22:00.002-04:00

Say that 10 times fast!! Seriously, though, this is something that has been on my heart for about two years...really ever since Ethan started Kindergarten. I actually made mention about starting a group like this over a year ago on this blog, but admitted that my own prayer life wasn’t where it should be, and nothing came of it. I have to say that, although I have been a born-again Christian for more than 25 years, I have never been a “prayer warrior”. I’ve lacked the intimacy and expectation it takes to pray with any sort of power until recently. I’m in the process of learning to allow the power of the Spirit to strengthen my walk, to pray in faith and open my eyes to the Lord’s answers, and be open to His call on my life. I believe that God has used the past year and a half to bring me to the place where I should be in order to do this with success and for His glory.

It has been an absolute struggle for us (mostly me) to send our kids to public school. My husband and I are both teachers, and before we had kids, we felt strongly convicted that our kids would attend public schools because we see them as mission fields. If all Christians pull their children out, who will be the light? (Don’t take that wrong…I definitely believe God creates some families for homeschooling, some for private school, and some for public). Kids often have so much more opportunity to witness than Christian teachers do. When it came down to actually putting our kids in the schools, though, I wondered if they were really equipped and if we were doing all that we could to ensure their spiritual, mental, and emotional safety. We want to do all that we can to protect them, so we pray individually as parents, but I also believe there is power in corporately covering our children as a community.

I have recently re-read Power of a Praying Parent, and it has reaffirmed the necessity of praying specifically for each of our children and using prayer to protect them from the Enemy that is lurking the halls of those schools. I feel like as a community of believers we have the ability to be much more effective in protecting our kids and breaking Satan's strongholds in the school if we join together in the effort.

At first I was thinking that this group would just be moms...and I was going to stick to those that lived in my neighborhood because that would be so much more comfortable for me, and we could just meet in each others homes, etc. I really feel like God has asked me step out of that area of comfort, though, and include any parent who wants to pray for their children attending our local schools. After the Life Action Summit at our church and the emphasis on the leadership of husbands and far reaching impact of revival, I don't think it should just be moms or just my neighborhood.

If you know me well, you know that initiating this group is truly the result of the tugging of the Spirit. I am a good assistant, not a leader (probably one of the reasons I keep saying I’m initiating and not leading this group). I rarely pray out loud around people, especially those I don’t know. I don’t even really like big groups of people, and I somewhat despise speaking in front of them. I was nauseous in the days leading up to emailing some friends about the possibility of this starting and had to force myself to hit the send button once I wrote the email. I was shaking yesterday when I called the Superintendant's office to get the okay from him. After each of these steps, though, I have had relief and peace knowing that God will take this out of my hands and make it what He wants it to be.

My prayer is that God is in the process of empowering us to bind Satan and his strongholds in our schools and empower our children in their witness and ability to stand firm in their faith.

What should I post about?

2010-07-22T08:05:00.002-04:00

After reading my post on what I would have blogged about if I made the time, is there anything you (if anyone is even reading this after my long absence) would want to hear more about? Let me know, and I'll try to get some posts together in the next couple of weeks :O).

Pictures of Life Part 2...

2010-07-20T21:38:00.002-04:00

Pictures of Life...

2010-07-20T12:28:00.002-04:00

What I WOULD have blogged about...

2010-07-18T22:45:00.011-04:00

It's official. I'm not a summertime blogger. We fill our days and weeks with too much activity for me to find time to blog! Summer moments are so fleeting when your kids are school-age (and go to school outside the home) that we try to make the most of every single one of them! If I were a diligent summer blogger, here are some things I might have written posts about, in no particular order:

*Our trip to Erie...cornhole, the beach, ice cream, haircuts, fishing, hikes, and lots of fun.

*Getting out of the boat and initiating a prayer group for parents in our public school district.

*Half-marathon training.

*Going back to Erie to say good-bye to my grandpa who passed away in June...and the sadness over the very distant relationship we had.

*How much I LOVE the book of Ecclesiastes.

*Hosting a Backyard Bible Club with some great helpers and lots of great kids from the neighborhood.

*Having a garage sale and letting go of all the baby stuff.

*Delivering food to, and praying with, some needy people in our community through our church's food ministry...great way to serve as a family.

*Forgotten God and seeing evidence of living more in the Spirit than in the flesh.

*Ethan and Karis competing in their first track meet.

*Bible study on Revelation and the minor prophets with some great girlfriends and getting to do my own book study on the book of Amos.

The one my heart loves...

2010-06-09T07:13:00.007-04:00

There is no question that Mark is the man that God created me for. I wish the journey to him had had a few fewer distractions, nevertheless, I thank God for each day that brought me to the moment that I knew he was the one.

It seems crazy that it was 12 years ago {when I hardly knew who he was} that I was invited to tag along on a weekend trip to his house by some mutual friends {who I'm quite sure knew what was potentially brewing}. Twenty four hours later {thanks to those same friends} I was riding in the cab of a truck with him back to Malone. That hour and a half was all it took for me to know that he was the man I was going to marry.

It seems crazy that it was 10 years ago that he sat {shivering} next to me on a couch at my parents' house at the end of July. I couldn't figure out why he would be cold on the hot evening until a few minutes later when he got down on one knee in front of me.

It seems crazy that it was 9 years ago that {with butterflies in our stomachs and tears in our eyes} we pledged faithfulness to one another. We had no idea what the future held, we just knew we wanted to find out together.

Nine years {4 babies, 756 sleepless nights, 2 houses, 1 back surgery, and 8 football/cross-country and track seasons} later, I have never once felt the need to look back and wonder. While I do cling to many memories we've made through the last nine years, I know they are only the beginning of our story.

Mark balances out my emotionalness (is that a word?). He stands consistent in the face of my mood swings and has never once lost his temper with me, even though I have with him. He has amazing eyes. He makes every effort to understand my insecurities. He tells me on a regular basis {with all sincerity} that I'm beautiful. He gave me four of the most beautiful kids on the face of the planet. He doesn't need a special day of the year to show me or tell me how much he loves me...he does it all the time by being present and investing in me and our kids. He has sexy legs. He has to be the most selfless husband and father I have ever met. He probably is also one of the most capable fathers I know {I still recall, with awe, that he was the first one to take care of our one year old and one week old alone...while I went to the ER with some mysterious internal infection}. He understands why our house is almost always a mess or why he sometimes has to dig through a laundry basket to find a clean t-shirt {and has never once made me feel bad about it}. He loves the Lord with all his heart.

I could go on and on. I am blessed with more than I could have asked for. "...when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go..." Song of Solomon 3:4

How Spring weekends are meant to be spent...

2010-05-17T08:30:00.005-04:00

One thing that I am ADORING about this Spring is the fact that Mark is no longer coaching track. This is the first Spring in 9 years that he's been home at a reasonable hour during the week and isn't gone half weekend. It has been so nice for him to be able to be at all of Ethan's soccer games and take Karis to some of her gymnastics practices. That has made the financial sacrifice worth it. I know that I am so blessed to have a husband who understands the value of being with and investing in his family as much as he possibly can...especially while the kids are little.

Anyway, we enjoyed what seemed to be the first nice weekend, weather-wise, in weeks. Karis had her gymnastics recital on Friday night. My parents came down to see it and Mark's parents came along, too. Here are a couple videos of her performance. We were thrilled that she actually got out there and did her stuff. Karis is a girl who wouldn't get on stage at her Pre-K graduation, and practiced for weeks for a Christmas program at church then decided at the dress rehearsal she wasn't getting up in front of the church. She fell off her bike a couple hours before the show and skinned her whole left side up. Injuries are the one time the girl will draw attention to herself. You would have thought her arm fell off and leg was broken the way she screamed! It wasn't till about 5 minutes before we had to leave the house that she decided she'd be able to perform. We loved watching her and cheering her on in "her thing". (I couldn't figure out how to flip the one horizontal...sorry!)

My mom, the "master gardener", helped me put together some flowers for a big tiered flower post my MIL got me for Christmas. We had a nice time browsing the garden market down the road with Natalie. The girls enjoyed watching Grammy work her magic and picking up some tips on how to split the roots.

The guys spent the day putting together our new playset. The big kids have far outgrown the one we've had since they were 2 and 3, so we decided to take the plunge and go for a wooden one. We spend so much time outside, we knew it would get a lot of use over the next several years. It was great having my dad's carpentry/contracting expertise and power tools to help with the job.

More Revival thoughts

2010-05-14T08:02:00.005-04:00

I wanted to share a couple more things about our Revival Summit...

I bought a set of CD's if you're interested in borrowing them. Or you can listen to the teaching from the week at Berean's website.

A great ministry that you can access online is Revive Our Hearts. I am currently doing their "True Woman Makeover", which has had some great teaching on the Proverbs 31 woman and is now moving onto to modesty and purity. I am also doing the 30 Day Husband Encouragement Challenge. Lots of good stuff to sift through on this site.

The whole week and a half was draining and refreshing at the same time. It's something hard to describe. The testimonies that came out of it were amazing. The Holy Spirit definitely moved. Which brings me to some thoughts on what the Summit did for me. I have been a Christian my whole life...prayed the prayer of salvation at the age of 4 and was baptized in 4th grade. This video from Francis Chan pretty much sums up how I feel like I've lived the much of my Christian walk:

Well, I'm determined to get off the "middle road". I feel like God spent the week calling me to let go of the complacency and fear of looking a little "crazy" and just tap into the power that the Holy Spirit offers. I want to be a believer that hears God's voice and obeys...whether it be spontaneously praying for a friend, neighbor, or complete stranger or paying for a random person's groceries, or sacrificing time and resources to serve wherever there might be need.

I don't feel like I know the Holy Spirit and what He makes possible for the true believer. It's like any good person could do the things I do. There isn't much that sets me apart as holy. Ever since I read Crazy Love, and read the excerpt from Forgotten God at the end of it, I knew that it is my relationship with the Spirit that is lacking and I needed to find out what being a Spirit-filled Christian should really look like. I know I was given the gift of the Holy Spirit when I prayed that prayer 25 years ago. And I know there have been times where His guidance has kept me from disobedience and moral destruction. But, I also am realizing that He has so much more to offer me if I know Him and His power in a real way. I want people to notice that "I've been with Jesus", to quote our pastor as he referred to Acts 4 this morning. So, I'm burning my ships (look up the story of Hernando Cortez to understand that analogy), reading Forgotten God and Acts, and training myself to conciously tap into that power. It feels good to see the Fruit growing as a result. I expect more changes in the days to come.

Beautiful Faces

2010-05-12T09:17:00.003-04:00

I realized it's been quite a while since I've posted pictures of our sweet kiddos, so enjoy...

It's been a while...

2010-05-09T21:45:00.000-04:00

Goodness, it's been a while.

We've been busy this week seeking some refreshment from God. Our church invited Life Action Ministries back for an 8 day revival summit. If you've been reading my blog since the beginning you might remember they came for a 4 day conference back in November 2008. It was great then, and has been truly amazing this time around. I know that different people and denominations, etc. have varying ideas of what "revival" is all about.

To me, the intent of this ministry (and our pastors intent in bringing them again) has been to transform lives...to get people on their knees and their face before God and each other. To get people to love like they should, pray like they should, give like they should, and lead like they should. And for it to not end on Sunday night. That we would not just get caught up in emotion of the week, but that our lives would be changed long term and that our families would look different for generations.

We started the week with three hours of church on Sunday morning, two hours on Sunday evening, and 2-3 hours every night this week. I went to a lunch on Tuesday and we'll go to a family seminar for 4 hours Saturday. Then Sunday we'll finish up the week with morning and evening services. It has been a little bit hard having the kids out every night and not getting them to bed until 10 a couple of the nights, but it has been worth every minute.

Many of the team members from Life Action are the same ones that were here previously, but this time they also brought along a man named Tom Nesbit who has focused on speaking to families. Seriously. If you EVER get a chance to hear this man speak, you must take it. His call to men to lead their families is the best I have ever heard. His Scriptural teaching on submission to authority, binding the devil, and seeking/giving forgiveness were amazing.

There is no way I could share everything that I have gained from this week, but I wanted to post a few thoughts and quotes that I'm holding close.

I Kings 18...repair the altar, make the sacrifice, pray...refreshing will come. One of the things that especially struck me from the teaching on this passage was that the real sacrifice was not necessarily the bull, but the water. The drought had been going on for so long...how could these people afford to pour that much water on the altar just to prove Elijah's God? So many times we think we are making a sacrifice that will prove who God is, but how much more or what bigger thing is He calling us to give up?

The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toils, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray. -Samuel Chadwick

Matthew 12:25-29 "Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house." How long does Satan need to bind up a husband/father with things like pornography, sexual immorality, dishonest business practice, and self-centeredness until he is able to steal that man's wife/children and destroy them with the same sins? The answer: not very long.

A mother who prays for her children can bind a thousand demons. A father who prays for his children can bind a thousand demons. But a mother and father that pray together for their children can bind 10,000 demons.

I Timothy 5:14 "So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander."
Ephesians 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church." Tom asked the congregation who the head of the household is and most of us said the man. But he pointed us to the verse in Timothy and assured us that the women is the head of the home, and according to Ephesians, the husband is the head of the wife. God is the head of the husband. There are umbrellas of authority. While the woman is to manage the home, the husband is responsible for what happens or doesn't happen under his roof. He is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of his marriage and the children who live under his roof.

To piggy-back on the previous verses and thoughts, Proverbs 14:1 says "The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." Tom preached that a woman who tries to be the spiritual leader in her home will end up tearing it down. This is the husband's responsibility, and she is foolish to think that she can do a job that he is commanded to do. I heard it as a call to women to give up control (we tend to be control freaks) and allow the men to lead.

Well, I have more, but I want to get this posted before it's too long or outdated. I'll try to come back this week with some more resources and thoughts about what God has stirred in me.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T15:30:00.002-04:00

Well, I have another post about where I've been at lately, but I haven't been able to finish it yet. But I wanted to post a Mom's Day thanks to my mom.

Mom, I don't tell you enough how thankful I am for the legacy you and dad started when you became Christians and raised us in the church. I know that it wasn't easy doing that with the background you had, and I praise God that He brought you out of that, and that Mark and I now have the chance to raise Godly children. Generations to come will be impacted...and will impact others...because of the mom you are. Love you.

God in the Little Big Things

2010-04-22T08:46:00.003-04:00

I've been reading through Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian again this past week. Lately, we've dealt with a major "bullying" issue, some serious discontent and whining, huge amounts of bickering, and some instances of downright meanness between our kiddos. While I know much of this is just part of the territory of having kids, I've felt a stirring to take it as a call to really step up my specific prayers for each of our children. I LOVE the tool that this book is for me in forming lists of things to pray for and learning Scripture to claim in the battle for our childrens' lives and hearts.

All too often, I underestimate the power of God to really answer all the little prayers I send up as I go through my day...either I feel like He's got better things to do than pass me some extra patience for the 800th time, or I get too distracted to see that He has actually given me what I asked for. I'm still working on praying expectantly and sincerely for what I see as little things and learning that when it comes to our children's attitudes, behaviors, and hearts, there is nothing little about it...not in this world that is seeking to destroy them.

Anyway, I wanted to share an example of God taking care of a little big thing this morning, mostly as a reminder to myself to expect Him.

{Just to give a little background, we now have a 2 year old in the house for the fourth time in our lives...and it's really not any easier the more times you do it. Levi has recently formed a strong opinion about wearing clothing with balls on it...like if it doesn't have a ball on it he's not wearing it and once he gets it on he's not taking it off kind of deal. He fell asleep last night on the way home from church and therefore slept in his clothes, so I felt it somewhat important to change him this morning since he had sat in a puddle of bubbles, hiked the nature center, dribbled milk, and done who knows what else in those clothes the day before. He, of course, did not think taking off the ball sweatshirt was a good idea and proceeded throw a fit and fight me tooth and nail about getting dressed. In an effort to reach a compromise (typically not a good idea when working with a 2 year old), I took him up to his room (where Natalie was still sleeping) to see if we could find something he was willing to put on. He continued to fight and, sure enough, he disturbed Natalie, who, of course, flipped out because I couldn't stay up there while she fully woke up because while all of this was going on I was still trying to get Ethan and Karis ready for school and out the door for the bus.}*

I've been trying to get myself in the habit each morning of asking Jesus to just wash over our home and help us fight the battle against Satan as we go through our day. Although I had had my quiet time this morning, I hadn't prayed that prayer and, in that moment, knew I needed to because I was ready to lose it. I left both kids screaming and prayed it as I walked out of the room and down the stairs to help Ethan and Karis. As I got breakfast, juice, lunches, etc. ready, Ethan went up the stairs in an effort to calm Natalie down. Levi had made his way down the stairs, half dressed and still crying, and Karis purposefully caught his attention with a few small toys. I didn't ask them to do this (as I have on some occasions), but it was almost like they knew it would take that big brother/big sister love to change a situation that could have unfolded much differently. I never expected that God would use them to answer my prayer, but I know He did. And maybe the most amazing part of it was that when I realized what He had done, with tears in my eyes, I thanked Ethan and Karis for their help and told them that God had used them to answer my prayer. If you could have seen the smiles that crossed their faces...

I'm still crying as I thank God for evidence of Himself this morning.

* I know if you're a mom of more than one child, you can totally relate to this and, quite possibly, lived the same thing this very morning. If you're not a mom...kids are great...really! You should have lots of them.

Our weakness

2010-04-20T07:41:00.002-04:00

I loved the devotional by Mary DeMuth from Proverbs 31 Ministries this morning. I think this paragraph paints the most amazing picture, and I wanted to share...

Our weakness and frailty are not merely places of desolation; they are dance floors—holy places where the God of the universe is allowed to freely move in our lives. Our own lack allows for and welcomes this sacred dance where God's talent outshines our capabilities, where only He receives the glory.

Where is God dancing in your life these days?

A look at my Imperfect...

2010-04-09T09:02:00.010-04:00

After writing that post on imperfection a couple of weeks ago, I just wanted to give you a look into my window to see a little of what "imperfect" looks like in my {physical, spiritual, family} life right now...

I've been too tired and busy to exercise or run for the past two days......and I've eaten waaaay too much chocolate...and I've squirted cool-whip into my kids mouths so many times lately it's become an expectation instead of a special treat...

Levi has become a biter. You might be laughing that I'm highlighting this as something imperfect in our house, but I've never had a biter. Ethan and Karis were such a breeze as munchkins. So far Natalie has been his choice victim. Since he doesn't have many words to express himself yet, if she really makes him mad (which she's good at doing) he just clamps on. He got her right on the Achilles' tendon and left a mark for two weeks! I keep warning the workers in the nursery at church and MOPS, hoping he won't pull this there!

My peace about some things in life (ie...being done having babies) has become a bit "blurry" these days. I know it's directly related to the fact that Levi turned two this past Saturday and doesn't really fit into that baby category anymore. I'm just feeling this really strong longing for another baby right now. I find myself asking why God would put this desire in my heart, but not put us in a position where we feel like we have the resources for another. Which leads me to ask whether we just haven't trusted God enough. Which leads me to ask where the line is between trusting and testing God. Which leads me to ask whether this desire is, in fact, not from God, but from that selfish part of me that Satan still holds on to and uses to take my eyes off of God and what He has for me.
I usually grocery shop every two weeks and keep the freezer stocked, but I completely ran out of bread this week without realizing we had NO more. I had to make Mark's PB&J sandwich with the heel of the loaf the other day.
It's been kind of a grump-fest with this girl the past couple of days. All of her clothes irritate her, which has led to major meltdowns before school and gymnastics (and, of course, this doesn't bring out the best in her mama), she's having a hard time sharing with the little two, she's fallen off her bike, she complains about what she has to eat for dinner...
We've noticed that much of this usually stems from our parenting short-comings. She has a real need for her voice to be heard and to feel accepted...when we're not giving her the positive attention she wants (and usually deserves)...she gets grumpy.
Our house is a mess. This is the third morning I've woken to this mess in the family room:

Those are Levi's shorts from Wednesday still laying on the floor today.

The kids have actually played really good amongst this mess...they've gotten along extraordinarily well, even though I think it would be so extremely irritating to play in this chaos. Last night at dinner, I had to consciously turn my body away from this room so I didn't feel that wave of anxiety that usually comes over me looking at something like this.

So, yah. Just wanted to let you see that I don't have it all together, even though I kind of doubt you thought I did. I did dust my downstairs furniture and clean a shower this week, though. Woohoo for me!!

I am Redeemed

2010-04-02T08:17:00.001-04:00

I am redeemed. The sinful life I was destined to lead was bought for the ultimate price and exchanged for freedom. As a mother, I do not even want to think about sacrificing the life of one of my children to save the life of another, let alone all of mankind - especially when it breaks my heart just to see them in pain. How is it possible that God loves me so much that He would give up His perfect son to be beaten and crucified . . . and how could Christ agree to leave heaven for this earth . . . for me? I cannot comprehend this love, yet I am convicted to respond to it. There is a hymn that proclaims a love as divine as this demands my soul, my life, my all. Since I am redeemed by Him, I must live my life for him.

Zoo Trip

2010-04-01T07:22:00.008-04:00

I took the kids to the zoo yesterday since they're on Spring Break. We were wishing Mark could have joined us, but, alas, no spring break for him...plus he needed to get some golfing in for one of his teaching recertification classes.

It was the PERFECT day...beautiful sunshine, high 60's...and the kids were amazing. I forgot the tires on the jogger needed air and were basically completely flat, so I thought it was going to end up being a really long day as we started off. Thankfully, the first aid center/miantenance staff is super nice and helpful and hooked me up with an air pump!!

Cleveland Zoo is a lot of walking with a lot of hills...but they were troopers, even up the big hill to see the gorillas and sharks. I'm still exhausted this morning (although that might be partly due to the fact that Ethan was up all night coughing and when he wasn't up, Levi was...) from pushing various combinations of kids in the stroller. At one point Ethan and Karis were riding, while Natalie and Levi walked. Even in a jogger, 110 lbs is a load!

Here are some pics from our fun day:

God is AMAZING

2010-03-18T21:33:00.003-04:00

I have been filled with so much joy today after reading a friend's blog this morning. I've been friends with Molly since preschool. We rarely talk anymore due to miles and circumstances, but she still holds a very special place in my heart. I wept uncontrollably two years ago, when she lost a baby girl to stillbirth. Today I cry tears of joy, as she shares that yesterday they found out she is having twin girls. I get chills as I type that! Seriously, how amazing is the God we serve?
http://mollypiper.com/2010/03/we-had-an-ultrasound-today-wanna-know-more-2/

Chasing Imperfection

2010-03-17T11:41:00.002-04:00

My friend Mandy asked me to share some thoughts on perfection and how to let it go. You can read my post at her amazing blog. She is a beautiful writer, artist and chaser of God. If you have time for reading blogs, I suggest adding her's to you list!

Get Stackin'

2010-03-16T21:47:00.004-04:00

Ethan was introduced to Sport Stacking by his phys ed teacher last year (If you've never seen anyone do it before, you should YouTube it...it's kinda nuts...this video is from Saturday of the Canadian record holder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvlowkEgX-c ). Since it was something that involved competition, he, of course, loved it. We looked all over for a set in stores, but didn't find any. We ended up going to the "official" World Sport Stacking Association website to order some...who knew such a thing existed!?!? Anyway, it's actually quite fun! Mark ended up ordering a big set for his phys ed classes, along with a timing mat. We found out there was a regional competition here in Ohio, so we decided to try it out for a family fun day. It turned out to be a really long day, but definitely a memory making one. They both ended up winning a handful of medals, trophies, and ribbons. Ethan broke a state record, but was beat by another little boy that was on a relay team with him. Karis was just tenths of a second off of the state record in her age group...she actually broke it in a warm-up, but they only count finals! We didn't really expect our quiet, reserved kiddos to do so well, but they loved it and it was really a growing experience for them.

Making my declaration

2010-03-10T09:32:00.000-05:00

I'm making my "public" declaration...September 12th I'm running the Erie Half-Marathon. So, I have to do it now, right? ...crap...now I'm scared...

I've said for a long time that I'd like to run a marathon some day, and I still would, but there is no way I can invest the amount of time it would take to accomplish that goal right now. I'm having a hard enough time believing that I'm going to be okay with the amount of time it's going to take to prepare for a Half.

I love to run. I love the sense of accomplishment when I finish a few miles. I love how I feel when I'm in shape. I love having conversations with God while I'm pounding the pavement. I love feeling refreshed by the quiet.

But I'm so bad about spending time on myself! I rarely feel like I need time away and sometimes feel guilty when I take it. Seriously, I get out about once every two weeks without kids and it's to go grocery shopping. I go to a Bible Study once a month and about once every other month I might go out with some girlfriends for a couple hours, but that's about it. I don't get my hair or nails done, I don't soak in the bathtub, I don't have a TV show I watch every week, I hardly ever read anymore. I might get 20 minutes to read my Bible and journal on a good morning, and after the kids are in bed I'm grading my students' work.

I spend A LOT of time with my family, so why do I feel selfish for wanting to do this? I have a husband who is perfectly capable of taking care of the kids (sometimes I think he's better at it than me!) and enjoys opportunities to be with them on his own. I know plenty of moms, with 3-5 kids around the same age as mine are, who are training for half marathons and triathalons and I know, in my head, it's not bad to set this goal and go for it.

I just have problems letting go of the idea that since I asked to be a mom, I need to fully invest in that (especially in this season when our kids are young)...and that when I spend time on me, I'm being selfish. These years pass much too quickly. Before I know it they'll all be in school all day, and I'll have more than enough time for a goal like this. So, there are days where I have almost convinced myself that I should just wait.

But I can't. I need to do this this year. This is becoming an element in my process of learning to let go this year. I'm letting go of the idea that spending time on me = selfishness. This doesn't mean that my family is never going to see me anymore :O). It means that it's okay for me to set a goal and put in the time and work to accomplish it. I know there are probably plenty of people who probably think I'm crazy for choosing a half marathon to train myself in taking "me time", but for me, this is an investment in my mind, body, and soul.

The timing of the race is what is making this goal attainable and will make the letting go process less stressful. I've been asked to do several tris and halfs by friends, but I'm not willing to commit to them because of the timing. I picked Erie's half because it lets me do a majority of my training over the summer, while Mark is home, our obligations are limited, our schedule is pretty free, and I have a minimal amount of students. (The last couple weeks of the training plan might get a little hairy as Mark starts cross-country, the kids start soccer, and my students start their new school year, but I'll figure something out.)

I'm running a half-marathon.

Learning to Enjoy

2010-03-08T15:08:00.004-05:00

I loved this email devotional from MOPS International today and wanted to share it. I don't know too many moms who don't struggle with this! I've been asking God for help on this one for a while now....and slowly, but surely, I feel like He's helping me get somewhere!

Come Enjoy Us
By Jeanne Rohrs

The other night my boys and I were sitting down to dinner as my husband entered the room. My three-year-old looked up and said, “Daddy, come enjoy us!”

I love puns, but this one stood out to me because it revealed the heart of my child.

I often miss out on enjoying my children as I herd them from one errand to another. Most of the time I join them but don’t enjoy them. Why aren’t those words synonyms for me as a mom?

Maybe it’s because no matter what I get done, there’s always more to do; more that I think I should have done; more that I think I should be. And there’s guilt over all that I have yet to do. That’s how it happens – my kids become roadblocks.

But when I stop keeping-up-with-the-Joneses and trying to be like June Cleaver, and I really look at my kids, I see their desire for me to enjoy them – to delight in them. It’s then that I ask myself if my agenda is really that important, and if the floor is really too dirty.

Lord, you delight in your children. You quiet them with your love and rejoice over them with singing. Give me your perspective. Help me to enjoy the gift that my kids are.

Life Lately

2010-03-03T09:32:00.004-05:00

Ugh...I just can't seem to get on the ball. Not that I really think I need to be blogging everyday, but I thought maybe I'd be able to do once a week, at least! I'll have just a few minutes here and there throughout the day, so I wanted to work on a little tidbit update about what has been going on around here!

February came and went...as did my 31st birthday! I'm old. It feels kind of weird to be IN my 30's, but I'm enjoying it. I remember the days when 30 seemed so far off...I couldn't really picture what life would be like at "that" age. I'm so thankful God has given me another year spend with my sweet little family and accomplish more of what He has for me. I went out shopping on the night before my birthday, all by myself and enjoyed that. While I was out, Mark "snuck" out with the kids to Kroger to get a cake, which they made, decorated and hid in the kids' closet till the next morning! Very cute. And of course we ate some big pieces of chocolate cake for breakfast. They also got me some new workout videos that I've been hinting around at. We ended the day with a chocolate fondue session. Seriously...what could be better than starting and ending the first day of your 31st year with chocolate?

Ethan is testing this week for grade acceleration/advancement. Way back in January his teacher sent home a note in his report card suggesting that we move him to second grade. We knew he was doing well and feeling bored, but we were a bit surprised by that recommendation. After thinking, praying, and talking, we decided to move forward with testing and push for grade acceleration. This would put Ethan in second or possibly third grade for math and reading, while allowing him to stay in first grade with his current classmates. I know that if we were in a different school district with a later cut-off for starting kindergarten, Ethan could be in second grade this year, and after his first year of pre-K we briefly considered having him tested and sending him early. We really determined at that time it would probably be in Ethan's best interest (socially) to hold off. I'm still glad we did. Kids are growing up way faster than they need to these days...no need to rush him. So anyway, now, after weeks of snow days and 2 hour delays, we are halfway through another grading period and finally doing the testing. We are praying for God to put Ethan where he needs to be when all is said and done.

My parents gave me some birthday money to go buy a webcam for my computer. We have since been having fun "Skyping". Anytime something exciting happens the kids want to call Grammy and Papa on the computer. It's something that makes the miles seem a little shorter :O).

Karis started gymnastics last week. She has been begging to take classes for quite a while and gave up soccer and art classes so she could try it out. I had to take all four kids for her first class since Mark had parent-teacher conferences so I couldn't get any pictures, but she definitely has some areas where she is really strong and some where she will benefit a ton from the coaching. I'm excited for her to have her own thing that she can shine at and I'll take the camera on Thursday since I won't have the kids!

I took Karis and Natalie to see Disney on Ice in Columbus this past weekend. Karis saw the Princesses on Ice show a couple years ago with my mom and has asked when she'll be able to go again ever since. They had been looking forward to it for a month and had a great time. Seeing their faces light up was well worth the ridiculous cost of making the day fun!! (We were there really early, so the first pic is us making "silly" faces in the van :O))

Well, of course it has ended up taking me more than a day to get this post finished. Such is the story of my life...

Random Schooling Thoughts

2010-02-18T11:23:00.003-05:00

I was sorting through the bookmarks on my computer, and I came across this one that I found while we were going the the schooling decision making process. I so wish I could put my thoughts down on paper as clearly as this guy at Challies.com has. Be sure you check out the "Part 2" post, as well. Here are some of my favorite quotes"

"As my pastor says in this article, depending on your view on this subject you may fall into the weak category or the strong category. In either case, you will be “tempted by the devil, the world and your flesh to either despise or condemn those who hold a different view from yours…Depending on whether you are weak or strong, you are being tempted to despise other members of this church or condemn other members of this church. If you deny that, you deny God’s Word. Paul does not say, some of you are in this weak/strong struggle. No, he says all of us fall into one or the other classification.” The strong are tempted to despise and the weak are tempted to condemn. Let’s be sure that we do not fall into either sin."

"Trusting that my children will grow up to be believers, I am convicted that it is my duty as a parent, and as a Christian parent, to prepare my children to fulfill that calling in their lives. I believe they can best heed this call by being in the culture in which God has seen fit to place them. I want them to be with kids who are not Christians, to be friends with them and to love them, to learn what separates them from their friends, and to begin to understand how their convictions make them different from others. I want them to see and know and understand and believe in the superiority of Christianity to any other religion or way of life. I want them to see what the world has to offer and to see that it quickly loses its lustre."

"Now some may argue that young children are unready to be evangelists and that it is unfair to expect them of this. Once again, both experience and Scripture prove this a false assumption. If our children are believers, they are filled with the same Holy Spirit as you and I. They are equipped to reach out to the most tender-hearted segment of the population."

"The key to escaping worldliness is not to avoid the world, but to avoid acting like the world and thinking like the world. To do this we do not escape the world, but allow ourselves to apprehend the allure of the world so it might lose its glow."

"The fact is that worldliness comes from within. Worldliness is not something that is forced upon people or that is extrinsic to them. Worldliness is intrinsic and arises from a person’s sinful nature. A person who never experiences the wider culture can still be worldly. A child who never darkens the door of a public school may be far more worldly than one who does so every day."

If you're thinking through this decision right now, I really encourage you to read all that he has to say because context is important. It's long, so be sure you have a good chunk of time, but it's really worth it, I think.

In his "Part 2" post, Tim links to another blog that I also really like. The author of the Cerulean Sanctum blog is an educator with much experience in so many aspects of schooling...public, Christian, and home. He's a parent who homeschools, but points out the flaws of that system and gives credit to those families who know that homeschooling is not what God has called them to (assuring them that there is no guilt in choosing not to homeschool). There are a bunch of great posts related schooling on this blog, among other good topics.

Both mens' postings were/are refreshing to me as we continue to seek out what God would have us do with each of our children, day by day and year by year.

Crazy Love

2010-02-16T22:01:00.002-05:00

My friend got me the book Crazy Love, by Francis Chan, a few weeks ago. I've been wanting to read it for a while, ever since our youth group talked about reading it while they were doing their missions trips over the summer. It's a quick read, but, for me anyway, really kind of heavy spiritually. As I've mentioned before, I'm a slow processer, but I'm really hoping to post a few thoughts on the book and how it is stirring my soul. Unfortunately, my time to think is not abundant at this point, so you're gonna get some small, random chunks...hope you don't mind :O)...

So here is the first quote that struck me:

R.C. Sproul writes, "Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God."

I serve an amazing God. The One who placed trillions of stars in the sky and knows each one by name. The One who is, at this moment, dropping snowflake after unique snowflake outside my window. The One who knows exactly how many seconds my heart will beat on this earth.

In the great scheme of the universe and history of the world, my life isn't more than a speck of dust. Niether is yours. Yet, day after day, we try to convice ourselves that we are something. That we can accomplish something. That we are entitled to the "American Dream". We chase after careers, beautifully furnished homes, perfect children, name brand wardrobes, retirement nest eggs.

Really? These are things we are going to put time and effort into?

This amazing God, who spoke mountains into place and designed every atom in every particle of matter on earth, created us for relationship with Him. Not only did He create us for himself, but He loved us enough that He sent his only Son to die for us. He sent his Son to die for me...to erase every stupid, cruddy, foolish thing I've ever done and will ever do.

And we're going to invest ourselves in things that mean nothing ten years down the road, let alone eternity?

I think our society makes it so hard for us to take our focus off of what the world sees as significant and focus on what God sees as significant. I say this with my own conflict over the idea that I do believe that God wants us to be happy and live life here on earth "to the full"...because that's what anyone wants for those they love. He allows us to experience joy and happiness for a reason. He gives us dreams and passions for a reason. Yet, I feel that we, too often, strive after things that we think will make us somebody, when God just wants us to be His. He just wants us to sit in his "lap", look around us, believe that we are a result of his majesty, and fall crazily in love...

Snow Day

2010-02-09T21:29:00.007-05:00

It was obvious that we needed to get out of the house and play in some snow after Natalie made a "princess" with her provolone cheese at lunch today.

Here are some pictures of our fun:

Something Cute

2010-02-07T14:58:00.005-05:00

Just wanted to record this really cute story about Levi:

The other night he didn't seem ready for bed when we put all the kids to bed. He hadn't eaten really great at dinner and had taken a good nap that afternoon, so we let him come down and have an extra snack and play around for a bit. After about a half hour we put him back to bed, but he still was rolling around and whining in his crib. About 5 minutes later we heard him get out and come down the hall. We waited as he made his way down the stairs and on his way picked up a random sock that was laying on them. He ran over and handed it to Mark, like that was his reason for getting out of bed the whole time. We said "thank you" and told him to get back in bed.

He slowly made his way up the stairs, and we heard him walk down the hall. We waited to hear some more whining, but, surprisingly, he stayed quiet. About a half hour later we went up to bed and when I turned the light on in our room there he was...he had climbed into our bed, snuggled under the blankets, and curled up to sleep on my pillow. Little stinker got moved to his crib, but not without a few kisses and a wish for a hundred thousand more moments like this!

I Am a Work in Progress

2010-02-04T08:43:00.003-05:00

I am a work in progress. I see myself kind of like clay in the hands of a potter. The same artist who designed the universe is molding my life into a masterpiece.

Some days I find myself questioning why He seems to work so slowly. Other days I wonder how He's accomplished so much, while I've been so difficult to work with. Thankfully, He sees the finished project and continues to shape as He takes me through life.

Moving away from family and friends, two surprise pregnancies in the first 18 months of our marriage, my husband's back problems, our hard financial times, trying to achieve supermom status, sending our kids to public school.

Each experience shows me that my sculpter's hands never stop working . . . a little less worrying here, a little more trusting there . . . a little less anger there, a little more grace here . . . a little less busyness here, a little more peace there.

Some Tidbits...

2010-01-27T14:25:00.010-05:00

Here are some random tidbits (mostly in the form of pictures) about what's been goin' down in the Hunter house...

Natalie is kind of obsessed with playing "house". She loves playing with her babies and shopping. She is always packing stuff up in grocery or diaper bags. For a while, we were randomly loosing things like keys or cans of olives. We soon realized the first place to look was in one of the 15 stuffed full bags laying around the house. Behind this chair is one of her favorite places to "live".

Just 4 cute kids being cute.

Ethan is playing Upward Basketball this year. He was excited to try out a new sport and is doing well. He's still a little bit hesitant during the games, but you can be sure whoever he's gaurding isn't going to get the ball!

We made our pinecone birdfeeders again and the birds are LOVING them. One morning I looked out the window and there were 2 pairs of Eastern Bluebirds, a pair of Cardinals, 3 different kinds of woodpeckers, a couple of nuthatches, a few juncos, sparrows and a chickadee or two. It was crazy!

Still working for Levi's naptime. I don't mind doing the "bounce around"...I usually try to squeeze in some squats, lunges, and calf raises while I'm doing it. Ha ha...I know, I'm a dork!

Seriously? How cute is this face??