Jesus Loves Me

The Star

Last week, I went out by myself. On the surface, this may not seem like such a big deal.  But let me assure you...it was.  It was a gift.  I left home mid-afternoon and didn't return until after 9 PM. I went to stores that I wouldn't ordinarily visit. I took my time walking around the stores.  I even sat in Panera Bread, sipped some coffee, ate a salad, and blogged on my computer. I spent precious time at a used bookstore pouring over books that I knew my children would love to read. It was renewal time for me. I am so thankful that  I was able to do it!

The children were okay about me leaving the house without them, but they weren't super excited about it.  Jonathan assured me that he would love to go visit home stores with me, and that it wouldn't be boring at all. He went on to tell me that all he had to do was put his shoes on and he'd be ready to go.  (oh, how I adore him!) Rich had other plans for the children, though. He took them out for dinner (a pretty rare occasion for our children) and bought them a snack that I would have never bought them and they had a fantastic time with him. When I got home, he told me that the children were so well behaved and that they had a really great time.  He went on to say, that the reason he enjoyed it so much was that he got to be the star. What an interesting concept! Usually, when we all go somewhere, it's all about me. The children fight over who gets to sit next to me, and they are all over me the whole time. Since, I wasn't there it was all about him. He liked that a lot! It was a win-win situation all the way around. I was so relieved that everyone had a good night. I was especially glad for Rich that he was able to bond with the children and enjoy himself in a way that (although unintended), is usually reserved for me.
I am a thankful woman...on so many levels.
...thankful that my husband works so hard
...thankful that my children love him so
...thankful that our family is together 90% of the time
...thankful that even when I don't get to steal away for a few hours that I can still say that I am richly blessed.

Confessions of a Mom ...

It's possible that you may not know that Jonathan rarely stops talking.    At first glance, he is not the most obvious choice of the non-stop talker.  He's not the most outgoing, nor the most intellectual, nor is he the most cuddly of my 4 children ... however ... he is the most energetic of the 4.  Perhaps that is why he talks so much.  He stays in his room each morning until he hears me rattling around in the kitchen, and his talking starts before he is even half-way down the stairs.  I am convinced that he starts thinking about what he is going to say long before he sees me, and he starts talking to me as soon as he sees me.  It's probably worthwhile to mention that he was almost 2 years old before he said his first word.  We used to wonder if he was ever going to talk.  Now, it's quite the opposite.

So, here is my confession.
I often think to myself:  "Jonathan, please stop talking. You have said 2000 more words than you needed to say" - and then I think more emphatically - "JUST STOP TALKING - I CAN'T TAKE IT ONE MORE SECOND!"
Then, when I hear Rich chuckling in the background, I realize that ... I actually said it out loud.

Consider this sentence:  I need water.  It's short, concise, and it's all you need to know, right?  Jonathan may mean that he needs water, but 3 words is not enough for him.  He will say that very same thing using about 100 words.  Once he gets to the end of whatever it is he is saying ... I most often don't have any idea what he means anymore.  The danger that I fall into is that I can easily become disengaged and not hear him at all anymore.  Jonathan loves to talk.  He loves to be heard.  I have to make special time for him to be heard.  I need to teach him to talk and be heard appropriately.  It may seem to me and others that I am always in the "training room".  Well, indeed I am always in that "training room" in this season of my life!

I imagine that I am not alone in this.  In fact, I think it's more common than one would think.  I bet that you have a talker like this in your family.  If you don't, I am sure you have a confession of another sort that I would love to hear.  So, this is your chance to leave me with your confession in the comment section of this post and I will pray for you.   Being a Mom is hard work.  Being a Mom who desires more than anything else to capture my child's heart for Jesus and point them to a fully devoted relationship with the Lord and Savior can at times seem insurmountable ... especially in light of my own lack of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control that creeps up at times. My desire is to be a woman who encourages other moms with the following scripture:
Galations 6:9
⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.


How can I pray for you? 

Some pictures that Aaron took ...

You'll have to ignore the date on the pictures ... we haven't gotten that quite right yet.  Aaron got a new camera for his birthday.  He is having so much fun taking pictures with it!

I LOVE that I have another picture taking member in our family!  

I love this shot of Martin and Jonathan!

Now that someone else has a camera (besides me), it's possible that a picture of me might get taken every once in a while.  I've always wondered if the children would look back at our pictures and wonder why I am not in very many of them!   

Love this picture of my Mom, Rosalie, and me!

Finally, Aaron gets in a picture!

Mom and Martin

Working on the school room

This is a picture of our school room ... before ...
There is a space between the two closets where I kept the bookshelf with all of our school books.  The school room also serves as a guest room, so I had a bed set up in there as well.  Against the back wall is a table for the children to do their school work.  (can't see it in this picture)

Now between the two closets is a desk, and a shelf that Rich is building.  We will use the desk for our school computer, and the shelf above it will be used for a television.  (to be used for anything educational that we may need ... and for the wii system)  This is truly becoming a multipurpose room!

I am so thankful for Rich ... this man can do anything!

It's not quite done yet ... but it will be done by the end of the week.  I will post pictures of the room in it's completed form next week.  I also bought a futon for this room and moved the twin bed out.  Getting our house the way we want it is a very slow process ... but it's coming along.  I am so thankful that my husband is so handy and can fix, build, or repair just about anything!

New Years Eve

Every New Years Eve I make a spread of appetizers for us to eat.  This year we had 7 layer mexican dip,  veggies, pretzels, and potato chip with dip, pepperoni rolls, and a stromboli type thing that Rich prepared using the dough that I made, thinly sliced pepperoni, and provolone cheese.  

We filled up our plates and ate our yummy appetizers while watching a movie called Dolphin Tale.   

That's right ... had to get a close up of this little girl ... too cute that she had a plate of food in front of her and she was laying on her side.
We love this tradition so much and look forward to it each year.  As the children get older, it's so much fun to listen to them talk about the traditions that we are setting and get excited about them!  Rosalie and Jonathan were sleeping soundly by 8 PM.  The rest of us played wii sports resort and settled down for another movie to watch.  Martin and Aaron really seemed to have it in them to make it until midnight ... but Rich and I couldn't manage it.  So, we all headed to bed at about 11:15PM.  That's okay, we'll try again next year!

Happy 2012!

A recap of 2011

*Rich celebrated his 40th birthday*

*Rosalie entered her terrific 2s*

*Martin turned 9 entering his last year of the single digits*

*Martin and Aaron completed 1st and 3rd grade*

*Jonathan started school and turned a WHOLE HAND*

*We got to spend lots of time with family in VA this year*

*We got to spend some time with family in PA - and got to spend lots of time with Rich's sister Lisa and our niece and nephew this year*

*We went on a wonderful trip to Disney World and made lots of happy memories*

*Rich had plenty of work to keep him busy and provide for us*

*Aaron turned 7*

*Rich finished his book that will be published and available summer of '12*

*Rich took a 2 week hunting trip to PA*

*Larissa and the children took a 1 week trip to Nashville*

We have had a really great year.  We have had ups and downs just like every other family does.  We are thankful for the blessings of children, family, friends, work, and home.  

Fall 2010

Fall 2011 - Look at how much they've grown!

We are grateful for a year full of growth in loving God, loving each other, and loving others.  We look forward to another year of growing in Christ, and growing in our love toward others.  Happy 2012!