Borrowing

I have come to terms with the fact that God gave Brad and I three handsome men to raise for him. Although, I have wanted a girl from the first pregnancy- I really love my houseful of testosterone (check back with me in a few years ;-)
However, I am also lucky enough to have family and friends that have little girls!
This little lady, Adrianna, is a special friend. For her 6th birthday I decided to take her on 6 dates over the course of a year. This past week we went on our 3rd date- to an American Girl Party! How cool for me to be able to borrow a daughter for a totally girly night!

Coffee, Kindle and Candles

Yesterday was Brad's birthday. The boys and I had a little "party" at home with some gifts and whoopie pies. Then we went on a double date with our friends. We went to Kobe where the cook the food in front of you- I was personally proud of the chicken tossing from the chef to Brad- he didn't miss a single one!
Since I'm a working gal now ;-) I decided to splurge (like a lot for me!) and get Brad a Kindle for his gift from me. If you don't know what a Kindle is it's a little handheld devise that you download books on and read it from there. It's super lightweight and easier than carrying a book around. Although it might seem a bit silly- if you know ANYTHING about my hubby- you know he's not only a HUGE bookworm- but he's a techy geek too. Combining them just made sense! =)

Happy Birthday!

Take two...

While putting away some things on a top shelf in my closet I was surprised to hear water dripping. I looked further to discover the ceiling of the closet was cracked and discolored from water damage. Fortunately, (for me at least) it was a Saturday that Brad was home. He found what he thought was the problem- but just an hour ago Seth and I were hauling out soggy supplies from the closet again. Soooo... take two.

What can I say?

There was a party going on in my living room today.
We had Snow White, Cinderella, Dorothy from Oz and an assorment of other various princess creations being chased my a power ranger/pajama man. Then there was Superman and Buzz Lightyear "playing" with bracelets.
Oh the blackmail opportunities... ;-)

Project continued

See yesterdays post first.
Today we (finally) went to retrieve the goodies from her garden to bring them back to our own. This is what we came up with. I can't wait to see it in the Spring with fresh mulch and new buds!

A new project

My dear Mom in Law told us in the spring that she wanted to get rid of her perennial garden and we could help ourselves to anything we wanted!
Soooo- it's almost October and I started to clear our front yard area about a week ago.

Yesterday in the Meijer parking lot Seth wanted to pray for "Desus to come into mine haht."
Sacred Sweetness.

Outdoor Art

Art Prize began here in Grand Rapids yesterday. It's a huge assortment of art that is on display literally all over the city. We decided to go while my mom was still visiting with us. We spent an hour and half walking around and only saw a handful of some really... interesting...and neat things. This copper man was a favorite- He's very much real and startled the kids by talking to them after they were staring at him a for a bit. Seth said he "yiked the talking statue the best."

A morning person in the making

I remember my Dad teasing me when I was younger about his need to wear protective headgear when he came to wake me in the mornings. I am NOT a morning person by nature- I was quite surprised then when recently asked my favorite time of day I found myself saying "early morning". Now, I know "early" has different meanings to different people. My "early" is anytime in the 6 o'clock hour.
In my quest for developing a consistent quiet time I have discovered- again, with surprising pleasantness, the joy- and brevity- of a quiet morning. My sister-in-law deems it her "Coffee with the King" time - I like that. Granted I quite often have a little prince or two join in on my visits to the throne - but I'm pretty sure the King is ok with that.

Homemade yumminess

And to quote Seth's prayer last night:
"Deah Desus,
Dank you foh today and dank you foh Mommy and Daddy and dank you foh yetting Gamma come so she can make donuts foh us. Amen."
Amen.
=)

My freezer runneth over

Although my mom did drive the 10 hour trek to our house by herself- she certainly did not come empty handed. Her backseat was (literally) full of produce from their garden- squash, watermelon, potatoes, pumpkin, peppers, tomatoes- as well as canned soup, and some frozen berries and corn. Such a blessing for our family.
Oh- and I was very faithful about labeling this time! =)

What happens when Daddy plays...

I'm thinking I may never be asked to play "trains and houses" again...

A visit from Grama

Less than 3 hours of her much anticipated arrival we had a roaring fire going on Friday night.

Piano lessons

Subsisting or Satisfied?

I had a rare evening last night-
I was alone!

The boys were asleep and Brad was at band practice.
After seriously considering going to be at 8:30, I decided instead to pull out a devotional DVD that Brad had gotten me for Mothers Day....yes Mothers Day!
It was an hour-long devotional by Beth Moore. I have so enjoyed previous studies I've done led by her and last night was no exception.

She had me looking up several passages- including Psalm 63- but the heart of her time was quite simplistic-
Am I satisfied with God ALONE?

In Luke 4 it states that Jesus came to tell the Good News to the poor- or literally- the "ones who subsist on the alms of others".

She then held out an empty cup. What does it look like for us to have ourselves- our cup- full of satisifaction? How do we go about filling our own cup? God created us with a longing to be satisfied and we spend our lives going around trying to fill it up.
Perhaps we have a good husband who affirms us, tells us we're beautiful, appreciates our work.
That's worth a few coins in the cup I think. Chink.

Maybe even our kids thank us unprovoked (hey- I said maybe! ;-) or somehow affirm our parenting efforts are not in vain-
chink. chink.

Maybe a friend encourages us, a co-worker builds us up, someone we respect acknowleges us...
chink. chink.

Even after all that goodness- and let's be honest... ain't no WAY all that happens all the time every day or sadly at all... to any of us... but even if that DID happen - the cup is still relatively empty.

The question being- am I going to be one who holds out my cup for people to fill- collecting any alms they may be generous enough to throw at me- or can I say with David from Psalm 90:14-"Satisfy (me) in the morning (as in this is a daily thing to ask for!) with your unfailing love..." Perhaps if each morning I am to begin my day holding out my cup for God's richest of alms to fill- then perhaps as I go through my day and I receive others "alms" that they may offer- then perhaps because my cup has already been filled those will allow my cup to simply overflow!
May it be so with me.

Schooling Seth

Seth and I have started a daily "schooltime" together. Since I am not sending him to pre-school I am trying to be very intentional about giving him opportunities to socialize as well as learn some basics. I am, however, of the opinion that it's more important for me to teach him Jesus than his ABC's. I know he'll hone his counting, cutting, writing and reading skills while in school- but he won't be taught about the kindness of Boaz, the friendship of Jonathan and David, or the wise sayings of Solomon. I know that's our choice because we chose for our kids to go to a public school. But I'm hoping I don't loose sight of teaching my kids what really matters- along with the skills for life stuff too.

Sundays are for...

snoozing,
snuggling,
reading,
ready-ing,
laying,
and lazing.
What's not to love?

Goodwill Hunting

I call is good stewardship.
Brad calls it an addiction.
Maybe it's a bit of both.
Goodwill/thrift store shopping!!
I have found so many treasures I'm almost embarrassed by it.
Almost.

These two costumes were the find of the day today. The mask was a Christmas gift for Jaedon so he was ELATED to get a costume to go with it.
Now to find an Optimus Prime mask...

New Friends!

Today is my 4th first day of a not-so-new job. I'm going to be taking care of a friends kiddos just 2 days a week. We already had a fun filled first day of painting, coloring, walks, tumbling, swinging and reading.

Slight cheating

Sometimes there's just nothing like a loaf of homemade bread. I feel like I cheat a bit though because I use my bread machine instead of mixing, kneeding and rising. The yumminess factor is still huge and this single loaf was devoured easily enough by my crew.

Family Nite

I've been inspired by another's blog about posting a picture a day. It intrigues me if for no other reason than for me to look back over a month and see my life in snapshot form. So- I think I'll try it for a month and see how well I accomplish it.
Last night was our re-instituted family nite. We found a new disc golf course (actually 3 of them) and enjoyed our time together.

Second Grade

He looks the part doesn't he?
I am reminded to me that he may be the one going to school but we all have learning to do.