Tristan and Basketball

Tristan is quite the energetic boy and he loves any sport with a ball involved. Since it is winter and we stuck inside quite a bit, he needed someway to release some energy. We signed him up for Upward Basketball. It is a Christian program that helps kids learn the game of basketball, while using Bible memory and devotion time to teach the kids about God. We had the program recommended to us by quite a few friends. They practice on Friday evenings and have games on Saturday mornings.
His team has been practicing for about four weeks now and they had their first game last Saturday. The whole family attended, even grandma, grandpa and uncle. It was so fun to watch the first and second graders learn/play the game. Tristan did really well, too. He scored 4 of the teams 7 baskets. He was quite proud of himself. At the end, he said, "I like basketball better than soccer." This melts my heart, because I have a great love for basketball, also, as I played through high school.

Daybook

Outside My Window

Another cold and dreary day.

I am Listening to

The dryer as the towels, dry and one son doing his homework. The others are either napping

or downstairs watching a bit of tv.

I am Wearing

gray longsleeve t-shirt, my yoga pants and slippers

I am so Grateful for

- We all seem to be on the mend. It helps that most of us are on antibiotics.

- naptime

- quietness

- God's Word

- A warm house

- time spent reading with my little ones today

I'm Pondering -

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevail."

Proverbs 19:21

I am Reading -

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns ( a life changing book and oh, so good, so good that I don't want to finish it as I feel like I will forget about all the meat therein).

Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider (also, so good and very practical)

Somewhere to Belong by Judith Miller

I am Thinking

I should get dinners started and try to coax my 7 year old to do his reading. Why does

homework time have to be so difficult?

I am Creating

I'm not really sure. I need to finish a baby hat that I've been working on. Then, I hope to make

my older girls each a hat. I got some pretty yarn this weekend. I also still have to make those

baby doll slings.

I am Hoping and Praying

HEALTH for the rest of the winter

Around the House

The kids bedrooms need some serious attention. If I can get up the motivation toward the end

of the week, I need to sort and organize in there. The main floor will get cleaned tomorrow.

From the Kitchen

I did the grocery shopping this morning with the three youngest. They were so good. I did bribe

them with donuts, though :)

Monday - Baked potato bar, salad and crusty bread

Tuesday - Chicken Enchiladas, corn

Wednesday - Roast, mashed potatoes and veg

Thursday - Taco Casserole

Friday - Homemade pizza

Saturday - ?

One of My Favorite Things

snuggling with my older boys

A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week

Getting the house back in order and still to work family goals and vision for the new year.

Picture thoughts

We had quite the rivalry in our house yesterday

A New Day

As I pull back the curtains early in the morning, I see the snow gently falling on the trees and the ground. As I look to the back yard, the ground is covered with a NEW, FRESH blanket of snow. It is absolutely beautiful. I realize then, that not only is there fresh, clean white snow covering my yard, but what it covers is just as wonderous.

I am reminded that it is a NEW DAY!

You see, after every new snowfall at least five of my little ones head out to explore, build, play, and roll in the new softness that awaits them. This also means for days or weeks after that, until we get more snow, my yard has tracks, roads made from shovels, partial forts, and toys scattered throughout it. At times, I look out and think it's not pretty anymore. Most of the time it looks quite messy, actually.

As I pulled the curtains open today, it was as if God was whispering to me in the new snow. He was reminding me that it is a new day. That the messy things, the complicated things, the challenges I have faced during the week or even just yesterday are all erased, just as the snow covers the tracks in my yard.

In the stillness and the quiet, I whisper a prayer of thanks to God for making all things new in his time.

This is Our Life...

Right now!

Isaiah 40:31

...but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

I have to admit,

I am WEARY.

I am tired.

I am overwhelmed.

I am helpless.

But, My God is NOT!

Because of His great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

Lamentations 3:22

Another day proves another visit to the doctor's office. This time for Zoe. She came down with a fever in the middle of the night. Since she has been exposed to Strep, I needed to take her in for a test since she is just a baby. Thankfully, her Strep test came back negative. The doctor gave her a good look over though and it turns our she has an ear infection.

Since we were in the doctors office and I had Nate with me, I asked her to check him too. He hasn't had the Strep yet. He hasn't been sick, sick, but he just hasn't felt well. She looked in his ears and he, too, has an ear infection. I'm so glad that I took them both in.

More antibiotics for our family.

Let's see that officially makes it, four on antibiotics for Strep, one on antibiotics for Pink-eye, two taking eye drops for Pink-eye, and two on antibiotics for ear infections. That just leaves Steve and Anna, but Anna finished antibiotics for an ear infection just last week.

I need rest.

I need to fill myself with the promises of God.

I need his strength to get through this, because on my own I can't!

I am so thankful that I have a God who LOVES me!

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.

Psalm 62:5

A January Daybook

Outside My Window

its a cloudy, rainy/snowy kind of day.

I am Listening to

the kids with all their giggling and conversation making new Wii characters. Everyone is off today for Martin Luther King Day.

I am Wearing

Jeans, my new black belt, a black longsleeve t-shirt and bare feet.

I am so Grateful for

the fact that we have medical care and treatment so accessible.

I'm Pondering -

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am Reading -

The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns ( a life changing book and oh, so good, so good that I don't want to finish it as I feel like I will forget about all the meat therein).

Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider (also, so good and very practical)

Somewhere to Belong by Judith Miller (my fiction fix as I have been sick)

I am Thinking

a nap sounds good, but I will probably just end up reading my fiction book the rest of the afternoon instead.

I am Creating

Still thinking of what I will create next, maybe baby baby slings for the girl's dolls.

I am Hoping and Praying

*that I can go with Steve to small group tonight, its been ages since I have been.

*for no one else in the family to get Strep Throat.

*to be feeling better as Steve heads back to work tomorrow.

Around the House

a good cleaning needs to be done tomorrow once everyone is back to work and school. Not much happened over the weekend with mom being sick.

From the Kitchen

Thankfully, I planned our meals for the week and got out to the grocery store before I got sick on Saturday.

Monday - Tuna noodle casserole for kids as mom and dad hope to go out before small group

Tuesday - Tacos, refried beans and applesauce

Wednesday - Chicken and Rice Casserole, salad, veggies and maybe homemade bread

Thursday - Baked Potato Bar and salad

Friday - Sloppy Joes, french fries, and fruit

Saturday - Pizza night or out

desserts and snacks to include: homemade cookies and chocolate souffle

One of My Favorite Things

hearing the kids playing and getting along.

A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week

Getting the house back in order and still to work family goals and vision for the new year.

Picture thoughts

Our Big Three Year Old

On Christmas, we celebrated Nate's third birthday. Nathanael is such a good-loving little boy. He is pretty laid back and so happy. He goes off and plays by himself in the basement for hours. He also makes it his goal, while he is down there, to dump each and every box of toys. The next time I head downstairs, it looks like a tornado went through. The other kids don't like that he does this very much, because they are the ones who we make clean it all up.

His birthday and Christmas gifts pretty much consisted of trucks, tractors and cars. It made this little boy VERY happy.

Here, one of the boys put dish cloths in his shirt to be like football pads. This is the face and the growl he thinks football players do.

One of the funniest things he does lately is tell everyone how old he is. For example, someone will ask him how old he is and he will respond, "ten." We then tell him, "no, three." Just the other day, we asked him and he responded, "ten!" We said, "ten?" He then said, "no, probably eweven." He cracks us up more than we can count everyday and we are blessed by him.

One Of the, I'm Sure, Many Things...

(this photo is from back in the Spring when the entire family minus Steve and Z were treated for Strep Throat)

...no one ever told me about having a large family.

Sickness

You see in a large family when one person gets sick with something contagious, like let's say Strep Throat, a cold, or the stomach flu, it gets passed from one person, to the next person, to the next, and so on. By the time everyone has had the sickness and been treated for it, the cycle begins once again. It then makes its way back through the family again. Sometimes, it changes from Strep, to the stomach flu, and then on to Pink Eye. It is even conceivable to think that we could have everyone sick with a different kind of bug all at once. God, have MERCY, please!

We had Strep throat go through just before Christmas. All of the boys were treated and the girls made it out safely. This week already, I have had one daughter in to the doctors for a nasty ear infection on Saturday. The other daughter had a fever last Thursday and Friday and stayed home from school. She was fine over the weekend and on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, morning she kept saying she was cold. I thought she was just trying to get out of going to school. After I helped get her dressed, I took her temperature...101.4 degrees F. She got to stay home. After a while of her laying on the couch, she threw up. It was then that I knew she had Strep Throat. I called the doctors and got her in later that morning. She tested positive for Strep. If my doctor had not been a man, I probably would have cried. All I could think is here we go again. My mind then begins to fill with the steps we have to take to keep this from spreading and to get rid of this bug.

Number 1 - Stop at Walmart on the way home from doctors. Pick up prescription, Tylenol, Ibuprofen (lots of it). Recently I decided that when I buy Tylenol to always buy at least two bottles at a time. We go through it rather quickly.

Number 2 - We have to make sure no one shares cups. Everyone uses their designated color.

Number 3- New tooth brushes all around, but we can't open them for 24 hours.

Number 4 - No sharing chap stick.

All of these are hard when you have a three year old running around drinking from everyone's cups and chewing on everyone's tooth brushes.

When they/we get sick, I have to switch into survival mode. I need to do what comes next. I need to love on my sickies and show them I care. I can't be worried about tomorrow or who will or won't get sick. Heaven forbid it be me, although, secretly I do sometimes wish I would be the sick one so I can hibernate to my bedroom for a whole day. Not sick enough to be paralyzed, but just enough to nap and read ALL DAY LONG.

I do have to say that I love Winter, but due to the fact that our family is sick ALL winter long, I'm having second thoughts. Everyday, I need to remind myself that my God is Healer and my God is Protector. My prayers are filled with those cries this winter.

Everyone's bottle labeled with their initial so we can keep them straight

A New Year Daybook

Outside My Window - its cloudy as we await the coming snow storm. Dare I say "Snow Day" tomorrow?

I am Listening to - the dryer with a load of towels in it and little girls drawing and cutting.

I am Wearing - my uniform (black yoga pants and a grey longsleeve t-shirt) and purple slippers - my all-time favorite thing to be wearing.

I am so Grateful for - the opportunity to be a home with my kids, taking the time to paint my little girl's finger nails, napping babies, and quiet.

I'm Pondering -

“God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible.

What a pity when we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.” -A.W. Tozer

I am Reading - The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns ( a life changing book and oh, so good, so good that I don't want to finish it as I feel like I will forget about all the meat therein).

Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider (also, so good and very practical)

I am Thinking - five minutes will have the boys bursting through the door and it will be homework time, I'm not really ready for this today. Lord, help me get through it!

I am Creating - a fleece and flannel baby blanket for Z.

I am Hoping and Praying - for my two children who are really disliking school right now.

Around the House - everything is pretty tidy as we have a man coming to take appraisal pictures (for our refinancing) in a few minutes. A thorough cleaning needs to be done, though.

From the Kitchen - I planned our menu today, now just to get to the store.

Monday - Poppyseed Chicken, veggies

Tuesday - Taco soup with corn bread

Wednesday - Spaghetti with homemade sauce, garlic bread, peas and salad

Thrusday - Cheeseburgers on the grill, cheesy potatoes, veg

Friday - Quesidillas and chips and salsa

Saturday - Pizza night

also Peanut Butter Swirls sometime soon to fix my craving :)

One of My Favorite Things - cloudy, dreary days with nowhere to go.

A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week - groceries, cleaning, making a baby blanket, working on my blog by getting a new template and working family goals and vision for the new year.

Picture thoughts:

Things We've Created This Break

With the kids off school for Christmas and lots of company, we tried to keep our hands busy. Following are some of the things we've created over the break.

Lethal Peppermint Chocolate Cake

for a very SPECIAL BOY'S SECOND BIRTHDAY on Christmas!

Felt Tic-Tac-Toe game, thanks to my sister, Laura, for the great idea, the help and the motivation to actually get it done.

Lace Snow Flakes (the kids made these)

Knitted hats (again thanks to my sister for the idea and the use of her nifty looms). We now have our own looms and I'm sure there will be plenty of hats going around.

Cason just finished his today and he is so proud.

And last, but not least...

***MEMORIES***