Recitals and Moments

And just like the snap of our fingers, the month of February is here! This month we will have a birthday party for Chandler, enjoy winter break from school, and hopefully,  sneak in a winter getaway as a family to go snow tubing. We will also have our 100th day of school celebration, and lots of classroom Valentine parties! Roger and I were discussing that our family gives a valentine to every student in our school and to one classroom twice!! Since I help in the preschool classroom, I’ll give those students a Valentine, and then each of our kids will give valentines to their classmates. Since Travis and Wyatt are in the same classroom, we will give those students a Valentine twice! I’ll be having simple valentines this year! But having mostly boys in our family, it’ll be a food Valentine. Travis says all the valentine cards are dumb, and  he just plans to give food to his friends...no note or card, just food! Sounds like a boy, right?

Last Thursday night, we went to a piano recital for Wyatt and Garett. They were by far the most inexperienced piano players at the recital, and they were the first on the program. Garett gave a huge grin of relief when he finished up his songs, and Wyatt was relieved too. They’ve worked hard this past semester, and we were thrilled to go to their recital. The rest of the recital was a bit long and uninteresting to the kids, but they had good manners. I had warned the boys that there would be some voice performances at the recital and to not making any faces! They did very well, but Chandler  let out a huge sigh when we made it back to our vehicle! He said, “English is a hard enough language to speak and understand, why on earth would anyone want to sing in Latin or German or some other  language that no one has any idea what they are singing?!” Well, I don’t know, but he does have a point. Of course, to be honest, I feel that way about some Christian music. Honestly, if I can’t understand the words that they are singing to “praise and worship the Lord”, I’m not too interested in listening  to the song again. I totally realize that not everyone has that opinion, and that’s okay too!

On Friday afternoon my friend, Allison, and I were able to get away to the hospital to visit a brand new baby! You forget how tiny they start out!!! Baby Ruth is an adorable little squish, and it was so nice to see her and her mama for a few minutes. We did not stay long as Claire wasn’t feeling well, and she needed to rest. Allison and I were able to have a quick lunch together before the afternoon was practically over. I’m thankful for Allison as this year has been full of changes and transitions for me, and she has provided a listening ear or a hug on more than one occasion!

By Friday evening, Roger and I were both emotionally drained. We had gone to a meeting earlier in the week, that had left us with quite a bit of information to process. With Rogers work schedule and having our children getting older, it’s harder to find moments when no one is around to overhear our conversations! As my dad used to tell my mom, “I’d tell you something, but the ears are in the cornfield.” Meaning, us kids were around and listening! We really needed to have a date, but that just wasn’t an option. We were able to have a few moments of conversation early on Saturday morning before Roger left for work.

I had a wonderful conversation with one of my dear friends from Wisconsin last week, and it was so good to have a deep conversation about things on my heart. Jenna and I have a friendship that is one that can be picked back up whenever we both have moment. We might go weeks....or even months, without really corresponding, but then when we do it really is an “iron sharpenth iron” friendship. I am very thankful for her.

Roger worked on Saturday, but Garett was able to spend part of the day with him. We are so thankful for a job that provides an opportunity for our kids to spend time with Roger. Roger was done a bit early due to the weather and a slow schedule, so we went bowling on Saturday evening. The bowling alley wasn’t too crowded, and it was fun to bowl with our kids. They have the opportunity to go bowling through the school, so they are all better bowlers than I am! Chandler was in the lead for most of the game, but Garett managed to pull off a win in the last frame. Chandler tends to be a methodical and smooth bowler, while Garett puts a lot of power behind his ball. They are such different bowlers, but yet they managed to stay within a few points of each other. It was a fun night, and fairly cheap family fun!

Travis was having a rough time in school, but then his teacher gave her students a “fun” learning day! They were still learning but they didn’t realize that they were learning. She played learning games with her classroom, did her teaching a bit different, and that seems to have helped Travis out tremendously! He seems to have turned a corner, and he is back to enjoying school again. I am so thankful for teachers that are willing to “think outside the box”! Travis and Wyatt have a great teacher who works very hard to teach her students, but yet sometimes uses different approaches to learning. We are so blessed to have our children attend such a great school.

Life is full of mountain too experiences and valleys. These opportunities are each designed to draw us ever closer toward our Heavenly Father. I might not always appreciate the challenges as they come, but I know that Gods ways are not my ways. Emma’s Bible verse this week is Psalm 103:14 “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.” I’m so thankful for mercy!

Love, Sarah

Birthdays, Blessings and Blahs

Our second child, Chandler, turned 12 years old on Sunday. It’s hard to believe that 12 years flew by so quickly! Chandler is lively, energetic, an entrepreneur, hard working, and we are so thankful for him! Of course, he has flaws too, but since it’s his birthday, we won’t mention those!

Last week was a busy week for Roger as he had a school board meeting, a missions board meeting, and he went to a men’s retreat on Friday- Saturday. While it was a busy week for Roger, and he was a bit overwhelmed with also preparing for ground school on Sunday, we are so thankful that Roger had the opportunity to go to the men’s retreat. We all need encouragement and good fellowship from time to time, and this retreat provided that for Roger. He came home greatly encouraged, and it was such a delight to my heart to know that his walk with God was encouraged. There was a group of five men that went to the retreat from our church, and I think they all came away encouraged and blessed.

Chandler’s birthday was on Sunday, which is kinda a rough day to have a birthday as it’s hard to plan a party around church services. However, our church had our annual meeting after church with a potluck lunch and then we took our youth and teens ice skating. We had a good turnout of about 25 kids and teens at the ice skating event, and a good time was had by all! Chandler asked if he could have over the boys in his class for a small birthday party, so we are planning that for a few weeks down the road.

It’s been a rough last couple of weeks in our community and school, as we’ve had several tragic events that have affected families in our school and community. One of our community families had a tragic death occur and another family lost a small child to a drowning incident. Our hearts have been heavy as we’ve prayed fervently for different outcomes, I’m thankful that we serve a God who is timeless, and He sees our hurts. He outpours grace on us, and loves us more than we could fathom. Twenty years ago, on January 27, 2000, my family experienced our own heartache, as my mom gave birth to a beautiful baby girl...stillborn. Oh, how our hearts hurt and the grief was so strong. I’ll never understand why God in His infinite wisdom choose to take home my baby sister before we even got to know her, but I do know that I can trust God. Twenty years flew by, but my heart does hurt sometimes for the sister that I never got to know and the aunt our children have never known. We have two choices when our lives are shaken by tragic events. We can either become bitter, angry and withdrawn from God or we can choose to lean into His everlasting mercy, grace and comfort. Choosing the latter doesn’t make the pain magically erase, but we can have peace in the midst of heartache. We don’t know what the future looks like and certainly none of us would choose pain and suffering, but peace, oh sweet peace can be found when we cling to the promises of God.

I’ve been reading though a book about raising boys this week “Strong Mothers, Strong Boys”. It’s been a good read, but ever read books on parenting or raising kids and think, “Well, I hope I’ve done something right?!” I’ve made so many parenting mistakes that it would be easy to be bogged down by the failures, but I know that my strength is not in my own but in Jesus. One thing that I’ve really been trying to do more of is just listen to my boys. I’m good at formulating responses before they’re even done talking! These teen years are hard! And I love my boys (and Emma) but sometimes I wonder if we are going to get through these years and come out loving each other and loving Jesus! Any prayers would be appreciated!

These months from January to spring (whenever that comes) sometimes tend to feel a bit long and slow. Chandler made the comment to me that “there’s not much fun stuff happening right now.” Ha! I know the feeling...sometimes we just have to ask God to help us be content regardless of the circumstances or “fun”. The boys have been trouble getting the ice skating rink to stay in working order so I know that has them a bit frustrated and discouraged. The weather hasn’t stayed cold, so that’s been a struggle. Lord willing, they’ll be able to use it again soon. This is the time of year that sometimes the monotony seems long...school, packing lunches, chauffeuring, making meals, laundry, etc...again, we are to be content regardless of our circumstances! “For I have learned in whatsoever state I am, there with to be content.” I’m still a work in progress for sure!

Also, Emma started off in kindergarten strong and knowing a lot of the material. However, she has been really struggling as of late in her phonics and reading. We just need wisdom in how to help her understand and retain the material. She seems to enjoy going to school, but she comes home tired and worn out.

A few smiles and praises:
* the kids are taking tennis lessons once a week through the school. Travis comes into the preschool classroom last week on the morning of tennis, and says, “Mom, I have a problem.” I ask him what the problem is and he points to his feet. He has on matching shoes, but two different sizes!! How on earth did he mange to get all the way to school before realizing that he had on one of his shoes and one of Chandler’s shoes?! I asked him what he was going to do about his problem. He didn’t have any suggestions, so I told him to think about it. He thought a few minutes and then said he would wear the shoes to tennis and then wear his snow boots the rest of the day. Well, that seems like a solution son! He survived the day, but Roger and I had a good laugh about it in the evening.

* Emma lost one of her front teeth on a baseball bat this past week. It was a plastic one, and she was swinging it around and managed to knock her tooth out...yes, it was already loose! The boys were in complete awe of how she managed to do that!

*Wyatt has figured out how to solve the Rubik cube! He has patiently read directions on how to solve it, and has asked a friend for help, and has now practiced it to perfection! I have no clue where to even begin on solving a Rubik cube, so I’m impressed!

* I shop for Christmas presents and birthday presents year round, and I have several boxes of gifts that I’ve accumulated for when the need for a present arises. While at Walmart last week, I found many markdowns on toys, clothes, and shoes. I bought some things for our preschool class, gave some things to Emma’s teacher, and stocked our present box. We spent $90.00 on items that the retail value is over $400.00! The boys are stocked up on flannel shirts ($1.00 each) and shoes ($3.00 a pair!). Emma was thrilled to get pink tennis shoes! She’s been wanting some pink shoes for a while, and I was happy to be able to get her a pair for $3.00! God is so good at providing us with so many blessings!




God is good and faithful even in the midst of discouragement or disappointments. We’d appreciate your prayers as we continue to parent our children and work to point them to Jesus.

Love, Sarah

Fall Beauty in Maine (and falling in Maine!)

If you’ve ever tried to plan a quick getaway as a family, and you have a large family, you know the struggle! It’s a struggle to find something for a large family to do on a shoe-string budget! Our boys are getting bigger, and it’s nearly impossible to fit us all into one small hotel room. Then there is the food cost factor on top of the lodging factor that makes planning a family getaway seem a bit daunting!

However, God is so good to us! He gives us unexpected blessings and surprises at every turn just because He loves us. Roger has a friend that has a small cabin up in Northern  Maine. When I was lamenting to Roger about struggling to find a place that we could get away as a family for a night, he thought of his friend. This friend had offered up their cabin to our family if we would like to use it for a day or two. This fit into our budget quite nicely, so we decided to do it! We planned a spur of the moment trip to Millinocket, Maine. We left on Friday afternoon and we came back on Saturday evening. It was a quick trip, but a beautiful one! The cabin was quite lovely, and it was right on the lake. Chandler was up at 4:50 am. On Saturday morning to go fishing! All the other kids slept in...until 5:20am! We enjoyed the lake sunrise, and the boys did catch some fish. Most of them were too small to keep, so we put them all back.

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you have two left feet?! That was definitely me on Saturday morning! First of all, I went to try out my own magnet fishing experience. Roger had tied my magnet to some paracord (50 feet), and I was anxious to see if I could snag anything magnetic. Well, on my very first attempt, I forgot to hang on to the string, and promptly threw the magnet and the rope into the lake! My boys were just in awe of how I managed to do that! Chandler managed to snag the rope with his fishing rod, and we rescued my magnet. I then decided to tie my rope to the tree so that I couldn’t do that again! The boys were fishing off the dock, so I decided to climb down on some rocks to use my magnet. All was well for a few moments until I leaned over too far, and fell into the lake! I was soaked from head to toe! My boys gaped at me with open mouths for a few seconds, and then they all burst out laughing! I must have looked a sight with water dripping off everywhere...it was so cold!!! I managed to haul myself out of the lake with Roger’s help. (He wisely refrained from asking me how that happened!) I waddled back to the house, any thankfully my clothes from the day before weren’t too dirty! I managed to hit my shin bone pretty hard on a rock, and it’s been a bit painful for a few days! It was just that kind of a morning!

We enjoyed God’s beautiful creation, hiked on some great trails, went down into an ice cave, and made some wonderful memories together. Garett and Chandler did miss out on an opportunity to go on a teen active, but sometimes you just can’t do it all! We chose to do this as a family, and I am so glad that we did.

 Roger has had some rough days at work as he prepares a plane for paint. He is missing being in the  plane, and he is ready to get back to that.  My friend, Allison, and I were able to have lunch together last week, and I certainly enjoyed that! Since she has a daughter in high school, and I’ve been working, we just do not have very much time to spend together! I’ve been missing our deep conversations and laughter together. Hopefully, we will be able to find our routine, and we can get back to sharing a bit more time together.

I had a meeting with Garett’s teacher, speech teacher, and several others today to discuss Garett’s education process. Garett is a slow learner, but he is progressing. His teacher reports that he is a hard worker, and his speech teacher gave him high praise also. Out of all the speech teachers that Garett could have gotten, God gave Garett a wonderful Christian lady to give him lessons! She has been such a blessing to us, and we are so very thankful for her work with Garett. I’m thankful that Garett
will be able to continue to receive speech lessons twice a week, and we are looking at getting him    
  some additional help in reading. Garett is a hard worker, and a great kid. We will continue to pray for God to work in his heart and life.



And now for pictures...lots of them!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A “Down Week” or not so much?

 

 

I feel like I was supposed to have a “down week” last week. However, the week is over and while I can’t remember much of what I did, it certainly didn’t feel like down time! I do know that I have been very busy (read a tad overwhelmed) with the school Auction in a few weeks, the Christmas program prep, and the responsibilities that the rest of life at the moment brings! I’m ready for a vacation!

Roger is now single engine sea plane certified! Hooray! He’s been excited about this opportunity, and we are so thankful to his boss for helping Roger achieve this goal. Garett  has been excited about this as well, and he was disappointed to not be able to go along for Roger’s check ride. Garett will be having his first official flight lesson to log in his own flightbook by the end of next month. Garett is very excited!

Roger and Chandler will be taking a trip to Ohio this weekend. Roger is picking up some type of airplane part that was bought out there, and Chandler has the opportunity to go along! They will be flying out to Cleveland, staying overnight with a friend, and driving a U Haul back to Maine. All of our kids wanted to go...at first. Then Roger mentioned a long drive at which point Travis and Emma decided that they didn’t want to go! Garett was eliminated from the opportunity simply because in a few weeks he will be going on a teen activity with Roger. That left two boys who really, really wanted to go with Dad. Budget and space would only allow for one child to go. We torn up eight pieces of paper with the words either “stay” or “go” written on them. Then Wyatt and Chandler both picked four pieces of paper. In the end, Chandler was the one who had picked the right pieces of paper. Wyatt was so very disappointed, and it’s hard to see your child sad. I know that God has given this opportunity to Chandler for a reason, and we will work it through. Roger did take Wyatt out for a dinner date last night, so that gave them the opportunity to visit together. Wyatt is a quiet child, so  sometimes it takes a bit to get him to open up and start talking. While I would’ve enjoyed a date with Roger too, I’m thankful that the two of them had the opportunity to have some one on one time.

Our school fundraiser auction is three weeks from Friday, and it’s been an uphill climb! For some reason, I’m finding it difficult to find people to donate to the school auction. I’m not sure if it’s money related, Christian school related, or I’m just not good at asking! I’ve reached out to over thirty businesses. It would be nice if businesses would at least email or call back to let you know that they will or won’t donate! I can be a very persistent person though, so the next step is to follow up in person! However, God knows exactly what He is doing. I can trust Him for whatever the outcome may be for the school auction. Roger’ boss graciously and generously gave us several gift certificates for our auction. I’m so thankful for those that are willing to help us in this endeavor. I’ll even happily write thank you cards!

Last Friday my friend, Claire, surprised me with a thoughtful gift bag. I enjoy giving gifts, but I also enjoy receiving them. Her thoughtfulness blessed my heart. We served soup on Friday for hot lunch. You know we live near the coast when one of the soups is Fish Chowder and many of the kids enjoyed it! I made beef stew, which I’m also assuming was good as there wasn’t any left.

After hot lunch, I went to Garett’s classroom to see what boys wanted to sing in the Christmas program. Originally only about four boys had said that they actually wanted to sing, but when I said whoever wanted to come and try out for the group could come, all seven of them came along! We worked through several different people combinations and some with everyone singing together. I asked the boys which ones of them wanted to sing and were willing to work hard at the song. I was surprised when all seven boys said that they wanted or were willing to sing. Truth be told, there voice combinations together aren’t as great as if it was a trio or quartet group. However, these are pre-teen boys that are willing to get up in front of an audience and sing! It’s not going to be their music  teacher that tells them they aren’t going to make the cut! The Bible says to make a joyful noise, and if these boys are willing to work at that, then that’s what we will do! I’m actually really thrilled that these boys are willing to step out of their comfort zones and sing! I am confident that God is going to use their lives greatly if they will continue to be willing vessels in The Master’s hand.

On Saturday Roger had the day off. That was nice because cooler weather is coming and we need to get ready! We cleaned up the yard and the basement, and worked on various projects around the house. Chandler had been invited to a birthday party in the afternoon for a classmate. He was excited about going, but when we arrived he was the only boy and about ten girls! However, Chandler did really well. He interacted with the girls, was polite, and he told me he had a good time. He also thanked me for not leaving him at the party, but for staying with him. It was a good time for both of us, as I enjoyed some fellowship with a few of the moms in Chandler’s classroom.

On Sunday afternoon I whipped up three pans of Mac n cheese, four dozen cookies, and cut up carrot sticks for our children’s program in the evening. While that project did use up most of the afternoon, cooking is something I really don’t mind. I also enjoy the challenge of seeing how inexpensively I can prepare a meal while keeping it balanced and kid friendly. Every once in a while, it’s enjoyable to have the opportunity to try that. Sometimes the opportunities are really close together but that’s okay too!


Yesterday was Monday, and a fresh new week! After dropping the kids off at school, I had a few errands to run. I had placed ten dollars in my back pocket, but later in the morning the money was missing! I searched high and low, retraced my steps, became irritated with myself  for being irresponsible and careless, and in truth, I lost my joy! After about thirty minutes of searching, looking, and being frustrated, I took the time to pray. (Yes, I should’ve done  that first!) God brought  to mind the verse “I have learned in whatsoever state I am, there with to be content.” Well, I certainly wasn’t content! I wanted my ten dollars back! However,  I was reminded that I was allowing ten dollars to steal my joy. This money was ruining my day and affecting my attitude. I confessed my heart condition to God, and I felt peace sweep over me. Truth is, I never did find that ten dollars. But then again what’s ten dollars in comparison to sweet fellowship with my Heavenly Father?! Here’s the really cool part though...the mail! In the mailbox today was a sweet card from my sister, and a gift of money for the kids education! I was brought to tears at how God continues to provide for our needs, his love for our physical needs, but also our hearts condition. I serve a great God, do you?


Well that about sums up my “down week”! Perhaps it also explains why I’m a bit tired on this Tuesday afternoon! It was a good week. We would appreciate your prayers as Roger and Chandler go off on their adventure this weekend. We love you all,
Sarah


Few funny moments from the week:
1) I asked Travis to bring me down a brush from the upstairs bathroom so that I could brush Emma’s hair. He came back with a brush...the toilet brush! Um,  no!

2) I’ve been working out in the mornings before the kids get up. They are usually up as I’m finishing up my workout. A few mornings ago, it was a difficult workout. I was about dead on the floor, when Wyatt pipes up “That’s funny. You don’t look any skinnier yet!” Thank you, son! Ah, the memories to laugh about bring joy to my soul!

First Week of School!! (Survival of the Fittest)

As students across the country were returning to classrooms this week, our children were no exception! We spent our last day of summer break preparing for Tuesday. Roger had taken the three older boys fishing last weekend (Travis missed it because he was sick), and they arrived home around eight on Sunday evening. Chandler came home sick! Poor boy! Roger said that he started feeling pretty miserable shortly after they woke up and by the time the float plane had dropped them off at the lake, Chandler was really not feeling well! Chandler spent much of the day laying on a log, covered with Rogers jacket. It was a real bummer for Chandler as he certainly does enjoy fishing! However, it was still a good day for Roger and the boys. The boys have been looking forward to this all summer, and as our days are getting limited in how many more opportunities are available, we were glad to see this adventure happen! They weren’t very successful with catching fish, but memories were made.

Meanwhile back at home, I had the opportunity to play the piano for worship service on Sunday. It’s always refreshing and soothing to my spirit to feel the music pour through my fingers as we worship the Lord together. We had lunch and a short Sunday school meeting after church, and then we headed home. Emma and Travis played outside for much of the day on the swing set that God provided to us for free! (On Saturday I had seen a post on Facebook about someone getting rid of their swing set and it was free!) I was the first to respond, and Roger picked it up for us on Saturday! A swing set wasn’t even something that I had specifically prayed for in awhile, but God choose to answer that prayer on Saturday. I see many hours of fun especially for Emma and Travis. Sunday was also our thirteenth wedding anniversary...it was highly romantic with Roger away for the day! But we have plans to maybe try to get away next year with just the two of us on a vacation...that would be so fun!    

Monday dawned as our last day of summer break. Roger and I went on a walk; I did grocery shopping; prepared for music classes on Wednesday; packed lunches; and savored our last day! The summer certainly flew by! The kids are excited about a new school year, and I’m looking forward to seeing how God continues to work in their lives. Chandler has been very, very nervous about the school year, and he finally told me that he was going to miss being in class with Garett this year! Who knew?! For all their arguing, I know that they really do love each other. Roger said that when he  was away with the three boys for the fishing trip, each of the boys commented at different times how much it didn’t feel right without Travis along with them. Just maybe, just maybe, someday they will become the best of friends. That is one of my prayers.

 

                                                        Free swing set!

Tuesday rolled around, and it was a hot and sunny day! It did not feel like a daybto be going to school but everyone was up early to start the day. Emma will go to school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, so she was disappointed that she did not get to go to school today. Roger and I, along with Emma, spent the day catching up on some errands, visiting some folks in our church, and enjoying Rogers day off. I had some work to do at the school, so I picked up the kids from school. It had been a hot day in the classroom, and Roger was going to take them swimming when they came home from school. Garett told me he was worried about the school year and getting all his school work done. Chandler was in tears and told me his day was terrible. I asked why and he replied that there are just do many girls in his classroom (7) and of the three boys, he is the only one that doesn’t play video games and has no idea what “Fortnight” even is (me either!). I’m praying that God will provide a friend for him this school year. I did remind him that sometimes girls like to play games like soccer or kickball and he could ask some of them to play with him. Roger had a long talk with him and they prayed about the school situation. And we are ready to go back tomorrow and try again!  When I asked Travis and Wyatt about their day, Travis replied that he had already gotten a 100% on something. Wyatt indignantly replied that that wasn’t even possible as their papers haven’t even been graded yet! Travis confidently assured him, “Yes, I did! I KNOW I spelled my name right!” Well, that brought some laughter to our conversation! God is good, and we are looking forward to and praying   for a wonderful year.

Emma was ready for school in Wednesday, but when it was time to drop her off, she cried. Being the  mom of five kids, I left her in the good hands of her teachers and walked away. The teachers told me  that the tears were shortlived and she was soon off to go play dress up! Yeah, that’s what I figured! I had a full morning with teaching music classes. I’m excited about the schoo year, and what God is going to teach both my students and myself. I introduced the Christmas program to them, and we started preparing for the upcoming program. It seems so far away, but with only fourteen weeks of music classes, we have plenty to do! I find teaching music both challenging and delightful. It’s defin a challenge to make lessson plans, prepare for a wide variety of ages, and point them to Jesus, but I’m thankful for the opportunity.

On Friday we had our first hot lunch of the school year! We started off the school year with tacos, which is always a hit with the students. We even had some parents come to eat lunch with their students, so that was good. When I was talking with Garett about what God would want me to do to help at the schoo, this year, he asked me to please keep doing hot lunch. I replied that someone else could take that over, but Garett said how much he liked his mom’s cooking and that he enjoyed seeing me at lunch every Friday. Aw...I love that boy!

All in all, it was a good first week. God is good and faithful. I’m excited about how God is going to continue to work in our lives. Garett will be having some testing done next week. Please pray that the results would be clear and we would know how to best help him learn. He is already struggling with schoolwork, and we are only four days into the school year! He has a great teacher though, and I know that God will give us wisdom as we continue to move forward. Chandler reported to me at the end of the week that his classroom was getting better. He had made some friends with some of the girls, and he told me that the girls weren’t too bad to play with! :) Travis and Wyatt wrapped up the week with a few papers returned that DID have grades written on them. And yes, Travis did get a few 100%!


A few things to pray for:
1) Wisdom for Garett’s education and his educators (our other children too, but especially Garett)
2) Unity and harmony among teachers, staff, and the church
3) Wisdom and clarity of thought as I teach and prepare for music classes and teaching handbells
4) Continued provision for our family and also the needs of the school

Jeremiah 10:6 “Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and they name is great in might.” 

 

First day! 

  

                                                          Music Room!

School for Emma! 

More Birthdays and Interviews!

This was our last week of summer vacation, and we certainly worked at getting the most out of the week! We started off with celebrating Travis’s birthday last Saturday. It’s hard to believe that our youngest son is already eight years old! Travis had a great day as Roger was off of work and it was a beautiful day! We did some work around our house to finish up the lawn mowing and weed whacking. Then we spent the rest of the day doing fun family adventures. We went to play mini-golf together. That was something we haven’t done in a really long time so this was a treat for our family. Emma didn’t quite get the concept of mini golf as everytime someone hit the golf ball she would run over and pick it up for them! (Her brothers very quickly informed her that that is NOT how you play!) It was a bit of a warm day, but we had a good time. The boys tried out the batting cages after mini golf, and they enjoyed that also. We explored a couple of new places in the area including a discount grocery store, and I was excited about that! It’s a grocery store that sells damaged and outdated food items. It doesn’t bother me to feed outdated food to our kids (within reason), and prices were certainly more reasonable than the grocery stores. We were able to stock up on granola bars, jerky, crackers, and snacks for the start of the school year. Saving money makes me happy! We ended Travis’s birthday with ice cream and a few gifts. My sister, Jen, had sent him two remote control cars that were a lot of fun for everyone. Roger and I weren’t sure what to give to Travis, so we gave him a twenty dollar gift card to Walmart. He was very impressed with that and spent the evening dreaming of things he could spend it on the next time he was at Walmart.

 

 

Roger worked on Sunday, which has been a fairly frequent thing of late. It’s not ideal, but we manage. I packs a lunch on the Sundays that he works, and we head to the airport after church to eat lunch together. Sometimes Roger is still not able to eat with us as he is on a flight, but at least we can try. The company has lost a few pilots again, so being short-staffed is always a challenge. Things will     slowly start to slow down over the next month or so, and the days are getting shorter.

We also took a trip to the lake this past week. It’s been very, very warm here, so the lake was a great reprieve. Travis had asked to go to the lake for his birthday, but we couldn’t make it work on Saturday. Instead I took the kids on Tuesday morning to the lake and we came back on Wednesday afternoon. Roger has a great boss and his wife is also special to our family. We’ve been able to make many memories at the lake  this summer, and spend time with Terry (Kevin’s wife). Terry had brought cupcakes and ice cream to celebrate the August birthdays, and we had some excited kids! Travis was ecstatic with the farm rug, tractors, and farm animals that he was gifted with for his  birthday. He greatly enjoys  anything to do with farming, and it was the perfect gift for him. As you know, Garett has a great interest in aviation, so guess what his gift had to do with? Kevin gifted Garett with his first flight bag. It was also the bag that Kevin had used when he first started flying. Kevin had also included a dvd set on flying, a flight log book, and written a note to Garett. As Garett realized what he was being given, his whole face lit up! Garett will receive his first official flight lesson as part of his birthday gift...I have tears in my eyes as I know this is a gift that Garett will remember for many, many, years to come. We are so blessed to have those in our lives that are willing to also invest in the lives of our children and show them that they care.

Although the weather was hot at the lake, it was a great way to wrap up summer break. We spent hours in the lake, visiting together, soaking up the sun, and enjoying the relaxation that the lake brings. We headed home mid-morning on Wednesday as I needed to cook some food for the school open house on Thursday.

Thursday was a long day....are we ready for this? Emma had a preschool open house in the morning, and I came with four of the kids. Our parent group was providing coffee and donuts for the open house, and I was able to interact with some new parents...and hopefully some willing volunteers! Garett turned twelve on Thursday!!! Pure craziness!! He asked if he could go to work with Roger for his birthday. Kevin graciously agreed, so I had dropped Garett off there in the morning, then set up for the open house, the open house, a staff meeting, back to pick up Garett, run a few errands, and  back for the picnic and open house for the elementary students...whew!! All in all it was a good day,  but we are waiting until Roger has another day off to celebrate Garett’s birthday as a family. He made  a five dollar tip at the airport. We needed to go to Walmart and Travis was excited to spend his gift card. Chandler asked Garett what he was going to buy with his five dollars. Chandler hinted strongly that they needed some pellets for the pellet gun. Garett thought for a moment and then replied, “ It’s my birthday and I’m sure I will get a gift. I will buy pellets because we can all use that together.” Wow! So they do know how to be sweet!! At Walmart Travis looked at many, many, things to buy with his gift card. However, it didn’t take him long to tell me he had decided on what to get with his gift card. He said, “I’m going to buy a backpack and lunch box for school. There are a lot of  things that I really like at Walmart, but I need those things for school.” I was so happy for his decision! He may struggle with school work at  times, but he made an excellent choice in spending his  gift card.

We spent Thursday evening at the school for the open house. It was a long day, but I’m thankful that the open house was well attended. We are welcoming several new families to the school, and it was good to have a few of those families attend. I’m excited about the future, and continuing to pray that God will direct the right ones to our school both for staff and students....He is so faithful. I often think that we fail to get God’s very best simply because we don’t ask for that. Our God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think...and I firmly that!

We had two school friends come home with us on Thursday night. Josiah and Caleb are good friends with our boys, and their parents are in Ukraine for an adoption finalization. Our boys were so excited to have their friends stay over. They spent time outside, and time on the Wii, and time just playing with LEGO’s and eating lots of food! I’m glad that we were able to have them over, and it made the day pass quickly. Roger worked on Friday, but he has off the next three days!! Roger has as special outing planned for the boys. Chandler greatly enjoys fishing, and Garett and Wyatt do as well. Roger has planned to take them up north to camp, fly out to a lake and fish. Travis was planning on going, but he has had a bad headache all day. I think he’s a bit worked up about the school year, and he probably just needs some time to chill. It’s not ideal for the boys to miss a Sunday, (and our anniversary), but Roger has worked SO much this summer. I know the boys need some time with just Roger, and this has been a plan that we’ve been trying to make happen all summer. There will be othe days to celebrate our anniversary, and our boys are approaching the age where they need to spend time with their dad. I’m thankful that Roger has been able to make this happen. Roger left with the three older boys and I took Travis and Emma to the lake this afternoon. We had a good time at the lake with our friends, the Philbrooks and another family from church.

Roger and I will be celebrating our thirteenth wedding anniversary tomorrow!! The years have certainly flown by, and I’m thankful for my best friend. He loves me, provides for me, quietly points me to Jesus, loves our kids, he is faithful, honest and true...I am blessed.

Since we’ve had so many birthdays this month, I’m also including the interviews I did with the birthday kids. It’s always so fun to hear their responses and to look back over the years. These responses are unprompted and unedited.

Garett: Age 12 
What is your favorite color? Blue

What is your favorite restaurant? Hu Hot or Culver’s (neither of which are on the east coast)

What would be the perfect amount of money to be given for your birthday? $100.00

Who is your best friend? Dad

What is your favorite food? Tacos

Favorite movie: The Apple Dumpling Gand

Favorite place to visit in Maine: Monkey C, Monkey Do (an adventure ropes course) or Mrs. Terry’s cabin

Favorite thing to do: go to the airport and fly with Dad

What do you think you might like to do when you grow up? Be a pilot and be as good of a husband and dad as I can be

Travis: age 8

Favorite color: blue

Favorite place to eat: Culver’s

Perfect amount of money for your  birthday: $1.89 (I asked him why this amount. He replied that it wasn’t too much money and if he didn’t ask for too much money, he might get it!)

Best friend: Dad

Favorite food: salad and corn on the cob

Favorite movie: Minions

Favorite thing to do: play farm or build legos

Favorite place to visit in Maine: The lake

Favorite animal: horse

What do you think you might like to do when you grow up: be a farmer in Haiti


Emma: age 5

Favorite color: pink

Favorite food: fruit

Favorite restaurant: McDonald’s

Perfect amount of money for your birthday: $2.00

Best friend: Charis (her little cousin)

Favorite movie: Minions

Favorite place to visit: Story’s house in Wisconsin

Favorite animal: cows

What do you think you might want to do when you grow up: Be a worker at Sam’s Club (one of her favorite places to go)

It was so fun to do this with the kids, and it’s so fun to look back at their responses over the years. I am so blessed to be their mama, and I don’t take this blessing lightly. Roger and I have a big responsibility and challenge to raise these kids for God’s glory, and we have no time to waste. Please pray with us as we strive and work to raise them for Jesus.

Our love,
Sarah

Grins and Giggles

Do you ever come to the end of a week and look back in amazement at all the blessings you've experienced? Truth be known, we should live our lives being thankful for so many things, but it's easy to get bogged down by the cares of life. However, this was a full week of many blessings and memories. My heart is full. We've been blessed by friendships, family time, memories, birthdays, and several laughs along the way this week.


I started off the week with the blessing of playing the piano for Sunday church services. As usual playing the piano blessed my soul and prepared my heart for worship. It was a blessing to me. As a family, we started off the week by getting away to a cabin.  Some friends of ours have a cabin on a lake about an hour away, and they offered to let us use it. We've been trying to coordinate this all summer, but with Roger's work schedule it's been impossible to make it work. We had wanted to stay for two nights, but that wouldn't work as Roger needed to be back at work on Tuesday morning. Instead we left after church on Sunday afternoon. Before heading up to the cabin though we made a visit to a local farm market. This farm market was hosting their annual neighbor night which included a free meal! Whoo hoo! We went with another family that we've become friends with recently. We had a great time enjoying each other's company, watching our kids play, and feasting on a delicious meal that I didn't cook!


We had beautiful weather for our overnight stay at the cabin. It's a beautiful spot on a lake in Maine, and we had such a good time together. The boys slept out on the screened in porch...even though  there were plenty of beds in the cabin! We had told the boys that they couldn't go outside in the morning without one of us as we wanted to be aware of where they were at and what they were  doing. A few minutes after six am, Garett comes into our room and whispers (loudly) "Dad, we need to go fishing. Can you come outside?" No time to waste sleeping, the boys had things to do! Roger  went outside with the boys to go fishing. Within ten minutes a lure was stuck on a rock in the water,  and the fishing quickly escalated to swimming! The boys didn't catch any fish that day, but we did enjoy swimming, boating, water tubing, and the three older boys tried water skiing. The boat motor was a little small to pull Garett, but he did attempt the water skiing. Chandler managed to get up on the skis on his second attempt. He was so excited about that! Then Wyatt wanted to try. Wyatt is quite  competitive against his older two brothers, and it doesn't seem to phase him that he's quite a bit smaller and younger! Oh well! He tried hard a water skiiing, but after seeing him swallow a bunch of lake water, he thought he would be done with that! It was a fun day with lots of memories. I'm thankful that we had the opportunity to go up to the cabin as I knew the rest of the week would be busy for Roger.

      

 

On Tuesday Roger went back to work, and life went back to normal. Actually, I have no idea what normal is so I just go with whatever the day brings! We needed to do grocery shopping, and that's always exciting with five kids. I've learned to try not to go grocery shopping when someone is hungry, needs a nap, or take all the kids. However, usually I don't manage to meet all three of those criteria, so I just deal with it. We managed to stay on budget at least so I'm considering that a win!

We hosted a family get together on Tuesday night as well. We invited several families, and ended up with two extra families joining us for supper. We had eleven kids and six adults, so it was one of our smaller supper gatherings. When you get families with a bunch of kids, that's when the numbers  escalate quickly. I'm happy to have people in our home though, and we had a great time of fellowship together. The kids played together nicely outside and inside, and Roger was able to get home to eat   supper together with us. We've really come to enjoy fellowship with this family from New York City that is here for the summer. They have four boys, so they will be missed when they return home after Labor Day.

Wednesday was lake day with the Philbrook's at their cabin. The boys enjoy the water, Emma enjoys playing with different toys, and I enjoy the visiting. The Biddy family the family with four boys, also came to the lake. Allison also had other family members at the lake, so we had fifteen kids at the lake. Just another day of fun and memories as well as lots of craziness and food!

Thursday was the open house at the school. Emma had an open house for her preschool class in the morning, and the boys had an open house in the evening. So between the two, we spent quite a bit of the day at the school. Emma is very excited to go to school, and she waltzed into her classroom, gave  the teachers hugs, and immediately put on some dress up clothes! She would've spent the whole day there, but I needed to work on a bulletin board. The boys helped a bit with the bulletin board, and cleaning up a few things, but after a couple of hours, it was time to go. I didn't finish everything I needed to do, and I could've certainly made the kids stay and endure the time there. But sometimes it's better just to go and come back later. I had kids that were getting hungry, and that is a volcano waiting to happen. Do you get tired or irritated when hungry? Well, that is about one hundred times worse in growing boys! It was time to go home.

After everyone was fed, it made the afternoon a bit better. The boys had a rough day together today, and no one had a good rest time. It was just one of those afternoons where there just isn't enough coffee to make it all better! We survived it. The boys were excited to go to their open house, visit with their teachers, and see their classrooms. Roger was unable to get to the open house, but that's just the way it is right now. Roger called me shortly after we left the school to say that he was wrapping up work and would be home soon. Since we were already in the area, I decided to drive out  to the airport. At least that way some of the boys could ride home with dad. I know the boys love me, but it's probably tiring for them to have mom parenting them a lot! It's goo to have time with dad too, so we try to figure out ways to make that happen. Sometimes it means being creative and driving out to the airport at 8:00 on, so the boys can spend time with Roger. Roger's boss was still at work also, and we had a good visit with him as well. Long hours are hard on everyone, but it's just one of the  ways of the summer. In the winter the hours will lessen, and we will be thankful for that too.

Travis turned seven on Friday. How is that even possible?! I remember the day he was born and thinking, "Another boy?" We had the four boys in four years, so when Travis was born Garett was still three. We had three kids in diapers and one in pull-ups! It was a crazy adventure for a few years,  and it's hard to believe that those years passed so quickly even though the days were long. Travis is a fun loving, sweet boy. He delights in annoying his little sister, and he is just to quick to love her the next moment. He struggles with school, but he is all about outdoor play! And in the picture below he has on blue gloves...why? It's what he picked out at the dollar store and he has been delighted with all ten pairs! He's filled some with soap, made a few balloons, and has had a wonderful time playing with those. Sometimes it's the simple things in life that are the funnest!

We had some friends over on Friday morning also, so the boys were excited about that. Wes and Levi won't be returning to school with the boys, so we will have to be consistent in maintaining that friendship. The boys had a great morning repelling out of trees, jumping on the trampoline, eating, and enjoying ice cream cake in honor of Travis' birthday. I enjoyed visiting with Bethany, and it was a fun morning.

I had made an appointment for Chandler with the doctors office that morning. They were able to get him in at 4:15pm. He has a toe that seems to be infected, and it's been getting worse. I was able to take the other three boys to the airport, where Roger's boss graciously allowed them to stay there while Chandler, Emma, and I went to the appointment. Chandler has a toe that has the beginnings of a staff infection, and it is painful to walk on. However, it also hasn't stopped him from climbing trees or being adventurous, so it can't be that bad! We did get a prescription to prevent further infection, and  he should feel improvement soon. After the appointment we went back to the airport to get the other boys, went to get the prescription filled, and snagged a quick snack.

 We had plans to meet up with a few other families at a church activity at one of the local churches. The boys were excited because their friends where coming, but I don't think I realized all that this activity was going to be! The announcement had said that the doors would open at 5:30 pm, and the event would start at six pm. I took that to mean that we should be there early to get a seat. I arrived with the kids at about 5:45 pm. We were greeted at the door and told to sit anywhere and someone would be by to take our order for refreshments. (Yay for food, right?!) There were plenty...plenty...of open seats, so we picked a table  and waited for our friends to arrive and for someone to take our refreshment order. This was a "coffeehouse" event that a local church was hosting. The idea is to give a commmunity event and invite them to hear gospel singing, enjoy refreshments, and get to know people.  After sitting there for over twenty minutes and still waiting for our friends and for refreshments, I was wondering what we had got ourselves into. The first hour was the "open mic" event where the church people are invited to sing, play instruments, etc. Then at seven pm., there was a main event singer who is a professional singer. Our first friends arrived at about 6:15 so that helped the children enjoy it a bit more. The waitress also arrived to take our refreshment order...hooray! Unfortunately, she just asked our friends what they wanted, and I had to ask her if we could also get something. (At the beginning of this event, the host had announced that refreshments were free and to enjoy as much as you'd like.) She told us that there was nachos, popcorn, root beer floats, and various other drinks. Now take in mind that the waitress was a sweet older lady, so it was probably a bit confusing with those orders! She came back with three root beer floats, but we had seven children at the table. Oh dear! Chandler and Travis were among those that didn't get a root beer float. We received some nachos to share and bowls of popcorn, but we were still missing a few root beer floats. We asked the waitress about the root beer floats to which she replied, "oh, we are getting more ice cream." (Like out of the freezer or at the grocery store?) Meanwhile another of our friends arrives  with their four children. The waitress comes back and the kids are multiplying! While all of this is going on, various church people are singing in the front. So we are trying to manage small amounts of food, eleven children, and be quiet!     As well as having children whisper in my ear, "mom, where is the rest of the food?" "Mom, they said we could eat all we wanted to, and I'd like some more." "Mom, is this it? This is what we came to do?"

And all things considered, I thought the eleven children we had there did very well for being in an environment that wasn't their favorite! (And I can be pretty picky about good behavior!) Around seven, the host event announced that the serving of food would stop when the main singer was singing, and they would serve food during intermission. It was then that we realized that this event actually was scheduled until nine pm!  I politely stayed for several of the main singers songs, which she did a great job at singing, and then excused myself to take our tribe outside. I had eleven delighted children outside, and I was also thankful to be out of confinement. I don't think I do a terrible job at single parenting, but it's not my favorite,  and I miss Roger at events like these. The  adults stayed inside a few more minutes, but then they came outside to join us. Another family had planned to come to the event, but they were delayed by an activity at their own church. By the time they arrived with their four kids, we were already outside! But now we were up to fifteen kids, so it was time for a walk. We walked towards the harbor which meant walking through downtown. I can't imagine what the tourists were thinking as fifteen kids,  all 12 and under, and seven adults paraded down the sidewalk towards the harbor! It was a good chuckle, and the kids were delighted to play in the harbor for a bit. All things considered, it was a great evening. Much of that was due to the laughs and giggles as memories were created with our friends and family. Poor Travis was a bit disappointed about his birthday evening, but he said that was mostly because, "Mom, the food was good. I just wish they had given us more!" As usual with the boys, it's not the event they remember, it's the food that went with the event! We have plans to do something as a family when Roger has a day off of work again to celebrate Travis' birthday.

On Saturday we enjoyed the morning at home and then attended a birthday party in the afternoon. The party was at a lake, so the boys enjoyed swimming with their friends. I'm glad that we've made friendships over the last year that provide opportunities such as this one to get together with our friends. This has been a very busy week for Roger, so I'm looking forward to enjoying his days off next week.

Today marked the beginning of yet another week. Since the pastor's family was away on their vacation, I had the privilege of playing for the church services. Roger and the three older boys went to a local air show this afternoon. Travis and Emma stayed with me, and although Travis was disappointed at first, we had a good day together. We were invited to have lunch with our friends from New York City, the Biddy family. We enjoyed lunch and fellowship together. Travis, Emma and I spent some time just being together as the three of us, and it was a good opportunity for me to interact with them on a more one-to-one level. Roger and the three boys had a great time at the air show and it was a good time for Roger to spend time with the boys...they've missed him!

Tomorrow marks the last day of summer break! School resumes on Tuesday, and everyone seems ready to get back at it. I'm looking forward to seeing God at work in the lives of our children as well as our lives this school year. God is so good and faithful, and we are so blessed.

Our love,
Sarah

Photos!

 We love to eat, and sometimes I feel like that's what we spend the majority of our time doing...but I sure do love these little ones!

Grass cutting, pool cleaning, and "slime!" Thursday, June 12, 2014

Yay! I am thankful for my parents, and how much they love me! My dad brought over their riding lawnmower, the push mower, and Garett's fixed bike! Unfortunately, we broke two lawnmower belts on our lawn and ended up cutting most of the lawn with the push mower, but it's all done! I'm thinking maybe our yard has issues with getting the grass cut...we've cut the lawn only a handful of times thus far and have broken something every time!

My dad also fixed the air compressor, which had a hole in the tube. Hence, it wouldn't put air in anything! And dad helped get the pool filter off the pool and we changed the filter...no more green! I put some bleach in there and the water is blue again...yay!! And my dad fixed the seat in the back of our car that wouldn't stay in its proper position. Also, dad fixed Garett's bike tire, so I think everything is in working order for one more day. :)

Happy Father's Day

I had a very pleasant surprise in my mail box today. Someone sent me a very encouraging note and told me that they loved us and praying for us. As difficult as some of the days have been, I am 100% sure that we made the right decision. Roger is very busy with adjusting to the heat, finishing school orientation, and studying in preparation for class to start. This is very hard, this separation, but in the scope of long term; we are doing the right thing. Although extra prayers would be appreciated! :)

While my parents were here, I ran to the post office with Travis to mail a package to Roger. The boys were super excited to put the box of treats together for their daddy. I'm so thankful that they have such  a high regard for their daddy and I certainly will do all I can to support that.

Also, if you ever come across a book called "How to Make Slime", I firmly suggest you run the other way!! This was a children's book we got from the library, and because I'm crazy, we decided to make some. That was mistake number one. Secondly, the directions call to mix cornstarch, food coloring and water. Mistake number two is to let a child put in the food coloring! Third mistake...? Oh yeah, making one bowl for all four boys to "share", equals a disaster in the making! Picture green slime all over the front porch, with four little boys all trying to get their hands in the bowl! As if that wasn't enough chaos, I decided to make up a more slime so they could all experience it. However, when cornstarch absorbs the water and starts to dry up, the slime turns into this horrible green powdery dust that seeps into clothes, shoes, cupboards, and tables...yuck! Needless, to say we've had our science project for the month and that's enough of that! :)

We have almost made it through our second week, some days are good, some not so great, but we are getting through this one day at a time. I've had lots of hugs from the boys, they've had lots of fights with each other and my worst enemy is opening my mouth before I think about what I'm saying or how I'm saying it. We are adjusting, and we thank God for so many of you that have helped us! We are blessed!

In honor of Father's day coming on Sunday, I've posted Wyatt's school project. This is his view on dad! :)

A Look at Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Thoughts from a Mother’s Heart

As Thanksgiving day approaches, and Facebook, blogs, and the internet becomes flooded with days of thanks, thanksgiving crafts, devotionals on thanksgiving, etc., I decided to write my own post on Thanksgiving. I could do the 30 days of thanks as many are doing, and I enjoy reading their thoughts. But God has been at work in my own life again, and I’m determined to write down my thoughts…before I forget them! J

I love Thanksgiving, enjoying time with family, feasting on a huge dinner and all the other things that go with the holiday. But as I’ve had more children, I’ve discovered that it’s easy to be thankful most of the time, but I’m not always as joyful as I should be…especially with young children. It’s hard for me to be joyful as I wake up to an overflowing toilet (“too much paper, Mommy?”), deal with children who seem to do the same thing over and over again…like wake up the baby, “She wanted to smile with me, Mommy!”, and find that someone used the shower curtain for toilet paper…always, “Not me, Mommy!”. J However, God has been working on me gently correcting my attitude, giving me numerous opportunities to share grace and teach my children. (For example, on our way to someone’s house this week, a child ended up with the dessert on his shoes and all over his pants…it was an opportunity to dig deep … and keep my mouth shut! J Sometimes, the best thing to do is to take a deep breath and say nothing (at least for the moment).

Painting!

Well, all those ramblings to say I’ve come up with a few words that go with THANKSGIVING. Please take the thoughts I've come up with the humor that I've intended to go along. I love my children, and I do love being a mom!

T-

My baking helpers!

          Teachable moments…oh how God has been working on this with me! J Before I had children, I envisioned sweet little children quietly sitting on the couch, while reading stories together. Not so much, reading time consist of usually ½ of a story while sitting under the dining room table which is made into a fort! J  I envisioned cheerful dinnertime conversations discussing how God made the world and the things He’s done for us. However, God gave me lots of boys who want to know things like, “Why did God give me boogers and why can’t I eat them?” or “Why do I need to change my underwear, they don’t have any streaks in them?” I’m learning that life is much different through the eyes of boys…but I wouldn’t change it for the world! J

          Time…I’m thankful that God gave us time…He made the sun to come up and the sun to go down. I love the hugs, kisses, “I love you” from my boys, and I’m also thankful that God gave us a time for rest at night! J

H-

          Health- It’s easy to take for granted that my children are healthy; but since sickness can take place overnight, it’s definitely something I’m thankful for on a daily basis.

          Home- I love, love the fact that we have a place to call home. I’m not always thankful or joyful about how it looks, but that’s a work in progress. J One closet will look decluttered and organized, but meanwhile the troops have emptied out the laundry baskets to make “boats”. J

          Heritage- I’m so thankful that my parents raised me in  Godly home, where Christ was King. I never want to forget that I’m so blessed to have a heritage where I never knew parents that were not saved and that our children have Grandparents who love and pray for them.

A-

          Attitude- We have a either a good attitude or a bad attitude, but I’m thankful for both. A good attitude shows me that maybe one of our children is grasping the concepts we’re trying to teach…a bad attitude shows me exactly what we need to work on-sometimes a NAP! J

N-

          Naptime- This one is at the top of my list! J While some of the boys are outgrowing nap time, I still insist on quiet time (i.e. “sanity hour”) every day.

Craft time

          Noise- Perhaps something weird to be thankful for, but in a house full of young children…usually, silence is NOT a good thing! J Generally, if I can hear them playing, I can envision what’s happening; however, when things are quiet that’s usually when drawers are being emptied, shampoo is being rubbed on the rug, or the hinges are being taken off the door! Yes, I’m very leery of silence! J

K-

          Kisses- Nothing brightens my day like getting a kiss from my children. While our lives are a work in progress, kisses remind me that these days are short!

S-

          Salvation-Oh, how I’m thankful for this one! Every morning is a reminder of how thankful I am that God saved me. God loved me enough to send His Son to die for me, and Jesus has saved me from my sins. I have admitted that I’m a sinner, believed that Jesus died for me, and confessed my sins to Him and my desire is to spend eternity singing His praises.

          Spouse- Outside of my salvation, my spouse, Roger, is next on my thankful list. While not perfectJ, he loves me, loves our children, and loves the Lord…I am blessed!

          Soap-Where would I be without this?! We go through a lot of soap here, although on occasion we do have to remind certain children to use it! J

Siblings

          Siblings-I’m thankful that God blessed us with more than one child…at least with having them close together they can always play with a different sibling if they can’t get along with one! J

G-

          Grandparents-Roger and I are both blessed to have parents that are saved. My mom has been a HUGE help to me in homeschooling the boys this year, and I am so thankful for all her time and effort.

I-

          Irritations-It is extremely easy to get irritated at the little ones in my home, (“Why did it seem like a good idea to jump out of the tree with trash bags for parachutes?!” or "Why did you use the toilet plunger on the toliet WITH the stick part?!)  but the irritations are a reminder that I have another opportunity to respond rightly! J The days are filled with teaching opportunities, and I need to see them as opportunities not irritations.

V-

          Victories-The battles that are won on the parenting front leave me with much to be thankful for every day. Sometimes, it just the child that responds politely (a work in progress!) or perhaps a bigger battle such as being kind to the annoying sibling! J We try to offer lots of praise in our home for right actions, attitudes, and responses, but it sometimes seems like we’re moving forward at an immeasurably slow speed! J Sometimes, it seems like we’re constantly fighting the same battles,(“please use your fork”, “we don’t talk about butts at the table”, “did you use soap when you showered?”)  but I have to remind myself that we’re working with a different child than last week. J

I-

          Interesting- With having four boys in four years, and then a girl, I can honestly say my life is always interesting! J I’ve never been bored, haven’t finished a book in one sitting in over three years (at least not one that’s on my reading level! J) and I’m never caught up on laundry. BUT…I laugh every day (and sometimes cry), I get hugs and kisses from little boys every day, I always have someone to read a book with or build a fort, I never wonder whether the day will be “interesting”…because it will be interesting! J

N-

          Nature-I am so thankful for the great outdoors! J We are blessed to have a great yard, and the kids go out EVERY SINGLE DAY! J They build forts, drive their daddy crazy by dragging “supplies” out of the garage J, ride bikes, climb woodpiles, throw wood in the basement, plant gardens, dig for worms, and it’s not every mom that gets to have frogs living in her camping cooler! J

G-

          Girl- Wow!  I’m so blessed to have a little girl in our house. To say she is loved would be a GROSS understatement! J She has someone kissing, touching, or in her personal space just about every waking moment! I have to put my foot down in order for her to be left alone! J Emma “Cake” (as Wyatt still calls her) made the top of the list for the boys thankful lists this year, and I’m delighted to have a little girl in our house.

Siblings

 

So, there you have it…my take on Thanksgiving this year. We are so thankful for the friends and family relationships we have and we don’t take them for granted. We are blessed beyond measure!

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.