Summer updates

Summer stuff.....so far......

Ethan is:
*on his own time (like at swim lessons where he won't get in the water until he's ready....then when he gets in and our teacher tries to help him, he gets right back out...can we say "I'll do it my way"?!)
*POTTY-TRAINED! (we fully expected this little adventure to last the whole summer....but it took only a few days - see * #1)
*playing T-ball (or at least "learning" T-ball fundamentals - or at least attending T-ball fundamentals) :)

Addison is:
*now FIVE (5) - holy moly - she partied it up for at least a week ("since I'm the birthday girl...")
*loving everything girly and pink
*so excited about kindergarten (except that she told me she didn't want to go to K when she found out she had to get FOUR shots)
*enjoying swim lessons (although she does NOT want to put her face in the water)

We are working on some landscaping projects. And now that we actually have time to work on it, of course it is in the 90s and no rain in sight.

Tomorrow we will enjoy the zoo with some friends. And we've been enjoying "Yo Yo's" lots! (the new frozen yogurt place close by....so yummy!)

Enjoy your own moments!

There is a reason

It's over. Another year of teaching. What a long, trying year. This year full of both personal and professional trials. There were even recent times where I felt totally defeated.

And then came the last day of school. Started off by 3 girls who made a gift basket for me complete with cookies, a necklace, and Bath and Body Works goodies, along with a note that read "thanks for being a great teacher! We love you!" The rest of the day was tiring, but satisfying. Students who you think couldn't care less offering up a sincere thanks for teaching them well. I have to say, after 180 days of complete exhaustion, career questioning, tears, sighs.....I am reminded:

There is a reason I do what I do.

A reminder that following God's will and doing HIS work really does make a difference.

So, dear God, I pray I don't let you down!

Be blessed.

I wonder

I remember reading a few articles in which family members who had lost a loved one said how they felt about not having that person around anymore. And I wondered "what will that feel like?" I remember one quote: "I think of my dad every day."

How true.

I do think of my dad. Every. Single. Day. Sometimes it is with tears and a deep longing for him to come walking through the door and grabbing the kids for a big hug. Sometimes it is with laughter as I picture him laughing at something we've said or done (last night I literally giggled out loud because I could just see Dad laughing at something Brad had done earlier in the evening). Sometimes it is with pride as I imagine what his reaction would be to an accomplishment achieved by one of his precious family members.

Mostly I just miss him. But I am forever thankful that what I have to fill that void is a vast array of amazing memories and nothing but a blessed full life.

*grrr

The "strong man" post I just did is bothering me. I had spaces between paragraphs that will not show up. I'm not sure what's wrong. But....they were thoughts I needed to write, so you, the reader, have to deal with the one large paragraph (unless blogger decides to put all the spaces in).

Strong man

My cousin just said "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord." I couldn't agree more. We are at day 7 of "waiting up on the Lord." Dad took a major turn downhill last weekend. There were several moments this week we didn't think he would make it through the night. But he did. Again. And again. We are all at such a peace with the situation. We've told Dad it's okay to go. We've encouraged him to enter Heaven's gates. I NEVER imagined telling one of my loved ones that it's okay to go. But I also never experienced such a great peace. This peace that surpasses all understanding. This peace that can only come from the Lord. And so we gain strength. We wonder what is left to learn. And I suppose maybe we'll never know. And maybe we will. Rest in the Lord. If you don't really know Him, I encourage you to. This peace and love is only from God and I can't imagine what this would be like without HIM.

Trials

Funny how we begin a sermon series at church about James, and suddenly life hands you a full deck of trials.

I started getting sick Wednesday night. Just achy and blah. Thursday, due to said blahness, I locked my keys in my car at work, but didn't realize it until the day was over. Thankfully two co-workers who live near me were both in the parking lot still, so I was able to get a ride home. On the way home, my babysitter calls and Ethan is having some issues. I called the doctor, but it was too late in the day to get him in. My co-worker dropped me at my babysitter's house, where Brad picked all of us up. We went home to find NO spare car key for my car. :( So while Brad took Ethan to the clinic, my cousin (thank goodness she was home) took Addie and I back to my school to meet the locksmith. We were all glad to see the bed after that crazy night.

Friday proved to move Ethan and I deeper into illness. It's so hard being the mom at times like this! I'm pretty sure I had a fever when I took him to the pediatrician, and I was miserable, but God got us through!

We've just been chilling out all weekend trying to get better. I finally got medicine today. And I am so thankful for the day off tomorrow. Brad has been AMAZING taking care of everyone! Addie has been able to stay healthy so far - and she got to spends LOTS of time with Grandma and Grandpa this weekend.

Which brings me to my next bummer: my uncle and cousin were in this weekend from out of state to visit with my dad. They are some of my closest family members and I cherish every moment with them. But, I didn't get to spend any time with them. :( It's been so hard having to stay away from Mom and Dad's house, but at least they all had some good quality time together this weekend.

Here's to a better week.

Be blessed.

Ahhh...Friday!

We decided to stay in tonight, although we did order out and treat ourselves to some Friday night pizza. After pizza, we played a family game of CandyLand. Ethan won!! :) (although he tried to move daddy's piece as a joke several times.....and then said "daddy, when we're done with this game, can we go shoot hoops?!") Love that boy!

Addie wanted to start working on her valentine's for school. She got about half of them "addressed" and then it was on to other things. This experience tested my patience for sure. :)

I played in a students vs. staff basketball game today at school. We raised money for heart disease. I wanted to be a cheerleader, but was told they needed more female staff to play, so I needed to play. Oh my, I so cheered in high school for a reason. And I have a whole new appreciation for basketball players. Holy moly. I was pooped. We'll see how sore I am in the morning. :)

Bring on the weekend...

February 6th thoughts...

I'm really not sure if more than 3 people read this. But, whatever. It's an outlet sometimes, so I shall write. :)

About the kids:
Addison attended a birthday party this weekend. She came home with a pink butterfly face painting that covered her entire face and flowers painted up and down both arms. She looked pretty darn cute, but it also made me realize that she's growing up. Fast! She also had a TON of sugar. We're talking way more than typical 5-yr-old party fare. We definitely had a little talk about self-control. :)

Ethan continues to make us laugh. He is just so funny. He comes up with the most hilarious things to say and do at the most random times.

About life:
We started studying the book of James at church this morning. One major point that stuck out for me was "God wants to shape our character so that we grow up to maturity in faith by working through...life circumstances." How true. How appropriate to hear at this time in our lives. I've been trying to be more diligent about digging in to the Word, and it has struck me in the past couple of weeks how much more spiritually mature I could be. I feel like I was living on the faith that I had grown up with and developed along the way, but had sort of hit a rut. I let my life get so busy and filled up with little things that really didn't help me grow spiritually. So now I'm trying to be better at filling my life with God.

Please continue to pray for Dad - for a miracle. Praise Him for good days we've been able to spend with Dad recently, and definitely for all the good times we've always had with Dad. Pray for Mom - for strength, comfort, peace. Thanks for my aunt, who is giving so selflessly of her own time to help take care of Dad and the house, etc. And many Thanks for all the people who are giving of their time, talents, and touch. We are so blessed. (you can check out their blog for a daily update - my mom is so good about that)

Be blessed.

Whew

The past month of my life has been a whirlwind. Staying "on top of things" is next to impossible. Full-time teaching, full-time parenting, full-time daughtering... (yes, that's a word for now!) We started a new checklist system to try and get more of the little things accomplished. It is motivating (I'll share more about that another day), but this week has been so busy that only 2 things have gotten checked off the list. However...semester grades were turned in today, so that is a huge load off my back.

Please continue praying for our family. Dad is doing okay - he has good days and not so good days. But I am encouraged every time I visit because he is more himself these days...cracking jokes and having a great spirit. Mom is amazing - she takes such good care of him and the strength God gives her is amazing.

My friends are soooooo great! Little messages from various people remind me that we are truly loved and so blessed. So many people willing to help in any way possible - and I know they mean it.

I'll leave you with the verse I chose to memorize for our women's ministry Scripture challenge:
"The Lord longs to be gracious to you; The Lord waits on high to have compassion on you. The Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him." ~Isaiah 30:18