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  • A little about a lot

    It's been a week since I posted anything and I know you have all been waiting on pins and needles for my updated hair picture.  So, here it is...

    It was a busy week around here... nothing too exciting... just life in general.  Swimming lessons, grocery shopping, doctor's appointments, trips to the park, etc.  Thankfully, all of the tests I had last week came back negative.  I am still recovering from what my doctor is calling a "kamikaze virus."  It attacked just about every system in my body.  I am still not completely over it... and it's been more than two weeks now.  My husband is now suffering from it as well, but not as badly as I was.  Praise the Lord, the children have yet to come down with it, and we're praying they won't.

    "God is Sovereign, He is not a slave."  Our pastor said that today in His sermon, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.  How often to I treat God as if He is my slave; telling Him to give me this or that or to take care of this or that.  Who am I to demand things of a Sovereign God.  I am only a wretched sinner who should be praising Him for all He has done for me, not telling Him what He should be doing for me now. 

    It's back to school time and as I run into moms around town that I know from various playgroups or library activities or swimming lessons, I am constantly being asked where Ainsley is going to school.  She is only three, mind you, but it has started none-the-less.  When I say she isn't going anywhere and that I am schooling her at home, I get one of two responses:  "'Bob' is in Such and Such school because the academics are so good.  I want to make sure he is ready for kindergarten.  They'll make sure he's reading before then."  Or... "Oh, I don't believe they should be forced to learn all that stuff (letters and numbers, etc.) already, 'Sally' is just going to school for fun and for social reasons.  Don't you think Ainsley needs some socializing?"  I try not to take either response personally, but they usually do bother me.  So, to you homeschoolers, does it get easier to handle those kind of questions the longer you home school?  Should I just ignore such comments and get over it?  I know I'm doing what God has for us right now, but I also want to handle such comments appropriately... without having the superior attitude I feel I'm getting from the other moms.  Any suggestions?

  • If she doesn't make you smile,

    there's something wrong with you.
    I'm home from church on a Sunday trying to recover from a nasty something-or-other that has made me feel pretty lousy for the last week.  This thing has really knocked me out, especially the last few days.  Thankfully, my husband has taken over most of the household and childcare duties and I have spent life on the couch or in my bed.  Tomorrow morning will be a very rude wakeup call.  Please pray that I feel better and have a little more energy for the week ahead.  I have also been having some other health concerns and have had some tests run last week.  I should hear about them on Wednesday.  I'm just praying that I will be feeling more like myself very soon.

    As for my hair... I took miss amelia's advice and used an ash blonde.  It took the orange and brassiness out, but still left it looking a little like highlights.  When I'm feeling better and actually have washed hair, I'll take a picture.  I promise.  Thank you for all of your advice and sharing with me your past stories of hair disasters.  It made me feel much better.

  • Change is a good thing, right?

     

    It has been cool the last few days.  Autumn has definitely been in the air.  We even had to wear jackets when we went to the park one morning this week.  But the heat and humidity of late summer have returned today.
    The above leaves were found by Ainsley and me this morning in our front yard.  I love the changing of the colors of the leaves.  Fall is a beautiful time of year... especially in New England.  The seasons God has created are gorgeous and are little gifts to us, I believe.  In that respect, change is very good.

    But what about this kind of change?

    Yup that's me.  I had the bright idea yesterday that I would highlight my own hair.  Yes, yes, I hear you laughing at me, but it gets better.  My husband offered to help.  (How else was I going to get the back of my head???)  Anyway, between him grabbing too big of strands of hair with his giant hands and us not having any clue what we were doing, it came out like this. No, this change, definitely not good.  It's even better in person, let me tell ya.  It's my punk rocker hair, I call it.  My husband is convinced it actually looks good.  He means it when he says it.  After eight years or marriage and 10 years of knowing him, I can tell. 

    I am definitely not leaving it like this.  I can hear my mother from 900 miles away breathing a sigh of relief. 

    So, if I just buy a darker shade of brown and do my whole head, will it fix this hideous mistake?  I could really use the advice.  I don't really want to go to church like this on Sunday.

    Isn't it a comfort that even though anything in life can change, our God never changes. 

  • Some fun and interesting milestones from our week

    1.  Lorelei has added "uh-oh" to her verbal repertoire.  She is having a great time dropping everything on purpose and showing off her new skill.
    2.  We do some sign language in our house.  Lorelei has learned to sign please.
    3.  Lorelei is finally drinking from a sippy cup.
    4.  Ainsley turned my living room into a fort for the first time.
    5.  Ainsley has learned to draw a pretty good dinosaur.
    6.  We have learned the hard way that Ainsley is not allergic to bee stings.

    That's what's going on in our house.  What's going on in yours?

  • Birthday Weekend Extravaganza

    Not mine... Josh's.

    Josh celebrated his 30th birthday on Sunday, and I surprised him with a weekend away.  I had arranged for babysitters for the girls, taken care of all of his (and mine) duties for church on Sunday, planned the trip and had to enlist several friends to help make sure everything went off without a hitch.

    He had no clue until he got home from work on Friday afternoon and discovered the note I had left for our house-sitter.  He was completely floored.  And I was so excited that I was able to do this for him and had pulled off the secret.  I had been planning this for quite awhile, and keeping a secret from my husband that long was very hard.

    We had the nicest time together.  We didn't do anything huge, but we relaxed, spent time together and got to eat several meals all alone.  All of you with small children know how nice that is.

    I am so thankful for my husband and all he does for the girls and me.  We are very blessed.

    It was the first time I had left Lorelei for more than a few hours, so I was a little nervous about how she would do, and how I would do.  She is a mama's girl. (I had to get one of them, right?)  She did just fine.  She stayed with my mother-in-law, who loves the girls, but doesn't always like babysitting.  I think she grudgingly did this for sake of her youngest child's 30th birthday. 

    I am also very thankful for our wonderful church family.  One of my good church friends had volunteered to take Ainsley, but her little one got very sick last week, so I had to find a replacement sitter for the weekend at the last minute.  God supplied a great alternative and Ainsley had a great time with a little friend her age.  She didn't even seem to mind that we were gone.

    I loved the time with my husband, but by Sunday night, I was ready to be mommy again.  I missed my girls!!

    The girls missed each other, too.  Last night when we were putting them to bed, they were like giggly 13 year olds.  They couldn't stop making each other laugh. 

  • Finally Updating...

     It has been a busy two weeks.  I spent nearly a week at my parents house in Chicago.  Then when I got home, my husband's brother and his family were here.  They left yesterday.  Now I am desperately trying to get caught up on a lot of things and get my children back on schedule.  I promise to be visiting everyone's site in the next few days.  I just haven't had the time recently...

    We were very busy while we were in Chicago.  We arrived quite early in the morning and were able to go to the Brookfield Zoo for the day.  It was a lot of fun.  I hadn't been there since I was a little girl.  Ainsley and Luke (my nephew who is just about 2) had a great time seeing all the animals and they held hands a lot while walking around.

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    My brother carrying a very wet Ainsley after she ran through the splash pad at the zoo.

      The next day we went to my grandma's house to swim in her pool.

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    My dad and my brother with all the kids.

    On Friday I got to spend the day with my college friend, Carissa. She lives in Indiana and we decided to meet at an outlet mall in between. (I had to squeeze some shopping into my visit, of course. ) Her little boy Mark and my Lorelei were born about 8 weeks apart after we both lost babies about 8 weeks apart the year before.  Our bond is even closer now, I think.

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    On Saturday... more water.  We went to a Splash Pad near where my parents live.

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    This was our attempt to get a picture of all four kids together after the Sunday morning service.  They weren't really in the mood for posing. (Luke and Ainsley didn't want to sit still.  They were blurry in every picture I took.  This was the best one.)

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    On Monday we went to the Children's Musuem at Navy Pier.  We had a lot fun, but it was VERY busy. 

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    Ainsley digging for dinosaur bones.

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    Lorelei checking out her stuck-out tongue in the mirror.

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    Flower-child Ainsley.

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    Lorelei and Ben playing together.

    That's just a sampling of the more than 100 pictures I've taken over the last 2 weeks.  I won't bore you with the rest.  Thank you to those who prayed for me as I flew with the girls by myself.  The flight there, I had to hold Lorelei, so it wasn't terribly fun and I ended up having smooshed food all over me, but we got there safely and we didn't get kicked off the plane.  On the way home, Lorelei had a seat, slept nearly the whole time and Ainsley kept herself busy reading and coloring. 

    I hope everyone is having a great week.

  • I'm off...

    I'm heading out bright and early tomorrow morning.  I'm flying to Chicago at 6:45 a.m.  This will be my first flight alone with both girls, so once again, pray for our safety and sanity.  I'm looking forward to spending nearly a week with my family. 

    Have a great week everyone.  I have a very early morning, so I'm goingto bed.

  • Blueberry Picking!

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    The girls and I went blueberry picking this morning.  I'm sure that sounds a little crazy to go with a three year old and a nearly 10-month old, but it's something I really enjoy doing with them.  Ainsley actually does really well picking fresh fruit.  She likes to help and more gets picked than gets eaten, I promise.  I took her last year, too.  She was only 2 and I was seven months pregnant.  Does that sound even more crazy?? 

    We picked nine pounds of fruit and I just finished putting about 30 cups of blueberries in the freezer.

    I love picking and freezing fruit.  It's so nice to open my freezer in the middle of winter and make an apple pie or a peach cobbler or blueberry muffins.  It seems to mean a little more to know that you picked that fruit fresh off the tree.  My parents now laugh at my fruit-filled freezer.  They would drag my brother and I kicking and screaming out to pick blueberries when we were children.  We hated every minute of it, but now I appreciate what they were trying to do, even if I didn't at the time.

    This song has been running through my mind lately.  The words have so much more meaning now that I'm a mom than when I first sang this song as a duet with my mom.

    Molding a Masterpiece

    Master Potter, why do you labor all day,

    Giving such effort to rough worthless pieces of clay?

    Why such feeling in your hands?

    Why such care in every touch?

    Why all the struggle?

    Your creation is nothing but dust?

    I'm molding a masterpiece, a work of great beauty.

    I'm molding a masterpiece; My labor's not done.

    A trophy, a treasure of worth beyond measure -

    I'm molding a masterpiece, a masterpiece of love.

     

    Loving Jesus, why are the children all here,

    Gathered around You and so eagerly clinging so near?

    Urgent matters clamor loudly, and the children interfere -

    Why do you hold them and so tenderly dry every tear?

    I'm molding a masterpiece, a work of great beauty.

    I'm molding a masterpiece; My labor's not done.

    A trophy, a treasure of worth beyond measure -

    I'm molding a masterpiece, a masterpiece of love.

     

    Heavenly Father, sometimes I question Your way;

    Why do You ask me to mold simple pieces of clay?

    Give me eyes to see the future, though it's hidden from my view;

    Give me compassion as I'm molding a treasure for You.

    I'm molding a masterpiece, a work of great beauty.

    I'm molding a masterpiece; My labor's not done.

    A trophy, a treasure of worth beyond measure -

    I'm molding a masterpiece, a masterpiece of love.

    ~Ron Hamilton

     

  • Is it Friday yet???

    VBS is over and I'm feeling tired and out of sorts today.  My big girl Ainsley got the award for having the most points of all the 3-5 year olds.  She got a new Bible and a blue ribbon. We're very proud of her.   I missed her getting the award because I had been called out of the service because Lorelei was crying.    Oh well. 

    We're having a busy, but very tiring week.  I'm impatiently awaiting the weekend...

  • Weekend Update

    Thank you to all of you who saw my post and prayed that Kelly and the boys would come to Bible School.  They did come and they had a great time.  The Bible says that God's Word does not return void.  I know a seed was planted.  I'll just have to keep praying for more open doors with them.

    Speaking of Bible School...

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    Doesn't Ainsley look cute? 

    She had the most visitors for the night and she got to be queen for the day.

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    She looked like such a big girl standing up on stage.  As queen for the day, she got all kinds of things mommies love... soda, candy and McDonald's gift certificates.  I'm thrilled.

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    There's Josh as Black Bart with his gang of bad guys. 

    The first night of VBS went well.  We had many visitors, praise the Lord. 

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    And congratulations to our men's softball team on their big win this weekend.  Yup, the tall one in the back is my husband. They won the league championship on Saturday.

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    Josh was given the "Defensive Play of the Year Award" for a bare handed catch and then throw to second for a double play.  As soon as he got the award, Ainsley ran and jumped into this arms.  It was adorably cute.

    I hope everyone had a great weekend and is having a happy Monday.