Published!

Our community puts out a little local newspaper every week. BuhBuh's class wrote about what they were thankful for and it was published in this week's paper.


"I am thankful for God because he helps me. I am thankful for my mom and my dad because they love me. I am thankful for my dog because I love him"

Give Thanks

There are lots of holidays that I have issues with. I'm always so glad when Halloween is over so that I don't have to keep having the conversation with my children on why we don't dress up as evil, scary things. The commercialism of Christmas makes me nutty. If you watched any of the You Tube videos I posted, they pretty much sum up my feelings. My soap box is SO tall on that subject I don't even want to go there. Hence the You Tube links.

I really like Thanksgiving though. Believe it or not, I don't have any soap boxes in my back pocket. Thanksgiving is a time where family and friends come together for a day and sit around a table for a day of sharing. They share a meal, they share conversation, they share their joys and sometimes their pain as they reflect on the past year. They come together in love for one another.

This is just what Jesus did in his ministry. He shared meals, shared conversation, and listened to the joys and pain of the people he was with. Relational ministry: being with others and simply loving them for who they are and where they are. Our family should be our first mission field and Thanksgiving is a great time to do relational ministry. In fact, you've probably been doing it all along without even realizing that's what you have been doing.

Thanksgiving is simply a time to be together; a time to look at the past year and give thanks.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says at we are to, "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"

We each have been given so many blessings. Some big, some small and some in which we may have to squint to see, but a blessing nonetheless. Give thanks for all that you have been given. Enjoy this season of sharing with your family and friends.

Tis the Season....

Here are a few links to check out. The first one is what I showed at the beginning of a sermon I gave last December. The other two are ones worth checking out too. Let them sink in then watch them again.

What Would Jesus Buy


Advent Conspiracy: Spend Less, Worship More



Advent Conspiracy: Worship More

Thanksgiving Turkey

BuhBuh: HEY MOM!!!!!!!!! Can we go huntin' for our Thanksgivng Turkey this year????

Me: UH.....you'll have to ask your dad about that one. (he was so excited about this idea. I didn't want to break his heart, ya know?)

BuhBuh: OK! Because 'da oder (the other) day when I was on my way home, I saw two turkeys walkin' and gobblin' across the street.

Enjoyable Outings with Little Dude

Little Dude has really been a sponge lately. He seems to have exploded with vocabulary since having his big brothers home this past summer. He is really able to communicate with us and we have been able to understand him better.

I've enjoyed all the fun that this adorable 2 1/2 year old has brought into our home this fall.



Once of my favorite things, believe it or not, is to take him to the grocery store! I know, weird huh? Trust me, we have had days in the not so distant past where going to the grocery store was a chore. He doesn't like to sit in the cart anymore. NO WAY! So, I just plan it out so that I don't need a lot and that we have plenty of time and I let him walk. We talk about all sorts of things and it's just a nice time when we are connected to each other. He helps push the cart , likes to put things in the cart and gets oh so excited when we find the marshmallows! Especially when he knows that we have run out at home. He knows when we are at the grocery store he gets a cookie. He knows when we are at Target that we get a Starbucks. When he's not helping me push the cart he's walking down the isles tagging the items on the shelf saying, "duck, duck, goose, duck, duck, goose" Every now and then he mixes things up by getting down on his hands and knees and either says "oooh-oooh ahhh-ahhh" as if he's a monkey and sometimes he says "ruff, ruff" like he's a dog. I wonder what the other shoppers think???

Another one of our favorite things to do is to go to "class". Twice a month we go to MOPS. He has LOVES going!! It has been good for him and good for me. Last week when we were getting ready to go, I let him know we were going to class. He was SOOO EXCITED! He began to tell me about the trains. I started asking other questions about class and asked him if they sang soungs in class and he sang to me, in the right tune and everything, "Jesus 'wuvs me" and even tried to sign it. SO CUTE!!! I hadn't heard that before. He sings it ALL the time now.

We have also enjoyed our weekly library class. He likes doing projects and isn't shy at all. He's in the younger group and I might consider putting him in the older group in the winter, if I don't hibernate.

What a blessing it is that I'm able to be home with him and experience all of these little things that make me smile.

Sabbath Sunday

Sunday was a good day. After a good worship service and message at Church we came home and had some lunch then decided to go on a family outing. We packed up and headed about an hour away for some caves. However, after getting there and hiking down to the entrance we saw that the main parts of the caves were closed for the winter as to not disturb the bats who were hibernating.

I'm perfectly ok with leaving bats alone. So we hiked around elsewhere in the park.


We let the boys climb...

and explore

and enjoy being boys.

It was hard for this mommy not keep the leash short in fear of them smashing their heads on a rock, but they were careful and had fun.

These are my favorite kind of days; days when we can just be together doing something fun as a family.

BuhBuh had the best quote of the day. He said, "Anyone can cross the water walking over rocks....but I'm going to walk through the water." And he did just that....stopping a few times along the way to empty the water from his boots

Happy 13th Birthday

Me: Do you know why you are so special to me??

The Boy: Because I made you a mom.



The Mommy: Do you know what my most favorite thing to do is??

The Boy: Being our mom.



I can hardly believe he is 13. I can hardly believe he is TALLER THAN ME!!!! I know, it's not a huge task to accomplish, but this guy was my smallest baby!!!! LOOK AT HIM!!!!

One of the best decisions I ever made was to quit my job to stay home with my kids. I do wish that I wouldn't have been so selfish when he was little so that I could have been a better mom when he was younger. But, we have made the best of the time that I have been home with him since. I think it has paid off. I remember the sweet summer before he started kindergarten that we had together before our family grew. Since kindergarten time has gone faster than I could have ever imagined it to have gone.

Now he is 13 in 7th grade.

He's wanting to be more independent; searching for his place within our family and among his friends; questioning the way the world works; relying on his strong faith in Jesus to keep him grounded; working hard to make good grades; trying new things; experiencing the ups and downs of crushes; growing in height; growing in appetite; growing in intellect; growing in faith.

He is an amazing young man.

His birthday was last Wednesday.

The Daddy may have just out done himself with THIS streamer art!


The Boy has always enjoyed the fact that his birthday falls on Veterans Day....he NEVER has had to go to school on his birthday. I tell him that's one gift I gave him to last year after year. :)

On birthday mornings we let them open their gifts from us. He did in fact get one of the items from his list.

He's been pretty happy with it. I have to admit, it's REALLY COOL!!!! Is it sad that my son's IPOD is cooler than my cell phone????

Our traditional birthday breakfast are cinnamon rolls. They all expect it!

The Friday after his birthday we had a family dinner with his grandmas and grandpas and some of his aunts and uncles and cousins. All in all I think he enjoyed celebrating his special day.

I'm not really sure how to parent a teenager. But then again, I wasn't really sure how to be a parent of any kind when he was first born. The only thing I DID know was how to love him.

Our family has certainly changed over the past 13 years.....

Even though we were young parents when we had him unsure of what the future was going to bring and with lots of growing up to do ourselves, I am so blessed that it began the way it did and when it did....

Because I LOVE where it has lead.....


Happy 13th Birthday, my sweet boy. Thank you for making me a mom and us a family. I love you!

Freely, Freely

We sang this hymn in Church today. It wasn't the first time we have sung it, nor even the second time. But today, for some reason I recognized the beauty of the lyrics. I had such a lump in my throat that I could hardly sing.

God forgave my sin in Jesus' name,
I've been born again in Jesus' name,
And in Jesus' name I come to you
To share His love as He told me to.

Chorus:
He said, “Freely, freely you have received; Freely, freely give.
Go in my name and because you believe, Others will know that I live."

All power is given in Jesus' name,
In earth and heaven, in Jesus' name;
And in Jesus' name I come to you
To share His power as He told me to.

Chorus

Sleeping Habits: The Good, The Bad and the Cute!!!

Sometime after my babies turned one they turned into not so good sleepers. Not that ANY of them ever slept through the night as babies but it seemed that I allowed for bad sleeping habits to develop. Habits that I take full responsibility for and habits that I have had to break.

With The Boy it was as easy as me leaving the work world to be a SAHM and getting him on a schedule the summer prior to him starting kindergarten. For BuhBuh it took some tearful nights and an established, predictable bedtime routine. He will still occasionally come down to our room if he's had a bad dream. This is something I know he will grow out of and as seldom as it is, it isn't really much of a problem.

Little Dude was so used to nursing to sleep that once he was weaned I didn't really have a plan on what to do next. At his worst he would go, go, go until he crashed late afternoon, stay up late at night and go to bed in our bed every night. It was exhausting.

For the past few months we have done things to fix this. He is now sleeping in a toddler bed (still in our room), we have an established, predictable bedtime routine, and he has been taking naps during the day which has made the evenings a little easier to get through. I am happy to report that Little Dude is falling asleep on his own, in his own bed and staying there all night. I have reclaimed at least an hour where My Sweetie and I have to ourselves in the evenings before I head off to bed.

Last night I discovered we may still have one or two little problems.

One of them being THIS is NOT where I put him to bed last night!!!!

Either I need to get him to take a nap during the day in his own bed, or it's time to move him out of our room completely!

The List

We have a rule in our house. You are not allowed to speak of your birthday until two weeks before. The Boy will be 13 here in less than two weeks. We've talked about the different foods he wants, made arrangements for his family dinner and talked about what he would like to do with friends this year. He also presented us with this list.

"The Boys" Birthday and Christmas List

1. Hawkeye covers for my bed

2. I Pod Touch (Seriously, why not just a regular I Pod???)

3. DSi (You have a DS. You don't need the latest greatest thing)

4. Cell Phone (You don't talk on the phone. When we feel that a cell phone is a need, like when you start driving, then we will talk about it later.)

5. Money/Gift Cards

6. Lego Republic Gunship

7. A Computer (You will never have Internet access in your room. So you might as well just use the family computer downstairs. But I'll gladly put this on your high school graduation list.)

8. WOW-World of Warcraft ($15 a month when you are only allowed video games on weekends when you've done all your homework doesn't sound like a very good deal to me. I don't think we need access to yet another addictive game)

9. XBox Live (Considering the XBox is Daddy's, probably not.)

10. Yu-Gi-Oh Cards

11. Dungeons and Dragons mini characters

12. Cream Puffs (You'll have to hope your great-grandma does this for you!! And if she does, will you share??)

13. Mini Fridge (The house isn't that big. Walk downstairs and get yourself a snack)

14. Small Plasma screen TV (I really like you a lot and I would prefer if you would watch TV downstairs with us. Also I can monitor what you are watching that way.)

15. Diary of a Wimpy Kid-Dog Days

A boy has to dream I suppose. Hope he's not too disappointed come time to open his gifts.

Poor Kiddo....

It's hard to be The Boy when his mom is me.

Yesterday....

**The Boy: UGH! I feel like a Pastor's Kid! Always one of the first to get here and one of the last to leave.

Me: I'm sorry???

Pastor: No you're better behaved. The PK's are usually trying to sneak out.


Today.....

Me to The Boy: You know I'm going to be teaching your Wednesday Night group for awhile.

**The Boy: That's THREE of MY church things now!!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why do you have to be so involved???? Why do you have to love me so much???

Don't you feel sorry for this poor child???

**Note** He was generally smiling and using his "fake" whine during these conversations.

So long October...

Soccer is done. Football is done. First quarter report cards were good and so were conferences. This has been a busy start of the year. Our trip was refreshing and just what I needed to hopefully carry me through the holiday hustle. It has taken me this long to get back into the swing of things though...but we've managed to finish out October.

We had a day which the weather was perfect and the leaves were beautiful. I tried to get some good fall pictures of the boys.



The Boy had is fall music concert. He's once again in both choir and band.

We attended a family Halloween party. The party was at 4 on a Saturday. At 1 in the afternoon we still had no costumes. We bought all of the camo gear that the Good Will Store we visited had on its racks.

I turned 33. My Sweetie bought me all kinds of goodies for me feet. Then he and I drove an hour and a half away from home to an Italian restaurant. The drive was lovely, the food was great. We also celebrated with a Sunday brunch with my mom, dad and brother.

This past weekend was Halloween. The boys were adorable as always and we now have a TON of candy. I sent two gallon sized Ziploc bags with My Sweetie to work. We still have two large bowls of candy.

October was Ministry Appreciation month. I sent out 31 cards of appreciation and thanks to different people in our church.

Here we are in November. I'm sure the next two months will fly by. Looking forward to all the fun upcoming events in the next couple of months but I'm also looking forward to the months of January-March when life kind of slows down for the winter.