And, yes, we did take Gavin to Chuck E Cheese for his 4th birthday. The only friend he wanted to invite was a neighbor friend. Even after we suggested other friends, he still only wanted to invite Will. Will also happens to have a twin sister, Emma, so it worked out quite perfectly for Gavin and Ivey both to have someone to play with. So, off we went to Chuck E Cheese (aka Germ Fest) on a rainy Saturday night. It was quite crowded, but the kids didn't care and all in all we had a great time. The only problem now is that Gavin asks every day if we can go back. I'm trying really hard not to say "Son, you don't know how hard I try to not get within 100 yards of that place." So, I smile and say, "Sure, honey. We'll go back one day." The following day we had a family party for him. He had a great birthday weekend.

Yes, I know... it's been almost a month since I posted last. Life is busy with the every day needs and wants of the family, time with my husband, church activities, personal interests and hobbies and trying to live in the grace and mercy of Jesus. Also, I begin to think... does anybody really care that I took my kid to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday? Or that I made a cute little shirt for my niece? Or that I'm praying about one of the biggest, life-changing decisions of my life so far... homeschooling my teenager? So, I guess it is what it is and I guess people are interested. At least I'll pretend that they are today.

So, here goes...

The last few weeks have been a time of realizing, once again, that God is so much bigger than me yet he cares about every small detail of my existance. He cares that I felt like I was hitting a brick wall with my teenage son, so he sent me to a discipleship class called "The Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens." Yes, it has been most definitely a God-send that has changed my life. Literally.

My teenage son and I now spend each night not only praying before he goes to sleep but reading from the Bible. For lots of reasons, more than I have time to write and more than you have time to read, this is huge. God has made me keenly aware of the spiritual warfare surrounding my child and I will not allow Satan to devour him. I will do everything in my power, by the One whose power is within me, to protect, to teach, to show and to live out the importance of living for Christ each day.

No news is good news, right?

Not much going on here. We're taking it easy this January... lots of time inside because of the cold weather. Although, Chris was able to take the kids out to play this afternoon - Hooray for 53 degrees!

Chris turned 33!!

It is a rare occasion that we get all three brothers in the same picture... Chris (middle brother), David (little brother) and Matt (big brother). We took this picture at Chris' family birthday party.

*Sidenote* MOPS started back today and that was a lot of fun. We have four people on the waiting list though. Please pray that we can find more childcare workers so that we don't have to turn people away!

That's it for now... stay tuned!

We had a fantastic Christmas... getting to spend time with our extended family is always blessing. The kids and adults all had a great time talking, playing games and watching football! No catastrophic events, trips to the ER or sick tummies is a successful day in my book!

This year, we had the awesome privilege of attending our first Beginners Band concert!!! It was a hoot and the kids did really well. I couldn't really get any pictures of Morgan as he was hiding behind his music stand. However, I did make him take a picture before the concert in front of the Christmas tree... hey, what else are mom's for???

Grammy began a tradition years ago of baking Christmas cookies with the grandkids. We have a good time hanging around in the kitchen unwrapping chocolate candies, putting cookie dough on baking sheets, sharing our latest news and watching the children make a huge mess. Grammy is so patient with the kids and they all have a great time. Here are a few pics from this years "Cookies with Grammy".

Ivey, Gavin and Arden get ready to spoon out the M&M cookies. Although, Gavin didn't really help, he just ate all the cookie dough!

Let's face it... Grammy did most of the work. Thank you, Grammy!

Alex and I - she's such a sweetie!

Best buds, Gavin and Andrew. They are definitely two peas in a pod!

Contrary to popular belief, I did help (some) :-)

Ivey and Grammy decorate sugar cookies

Yesterday was Ivey and Gavin's last day for preschool until January. Ivey's class sang a few songs in front of the parents. Both classes had a Christmas party. Here are a few pics from our day.

Best buds: Daddy and Gavin

Gavin wasn't very excited about getting his picture taken with the class...

Or about singing Jingle Bells.



Ivey and her good friend, Kathryn. These two are like two peas in a pod.

Ivey begins decorating her gingerbread man. By the time she finished, I think we had about a pound of sugar on that thing.

The Pre-K classes sing for the moms and dads. Very sweet.

Today I have been working on a embroidering a few Christmas gifts for others. I don't really advertise, but I love to embroider things for friends and family. And, many of them ask me to embroider gifts for them to give to others. It's a fun hobby and the extra cash is nice. I'm told that my prices are much cheaper and my turn-around times are much faster than an outside embroidery business. I appreciate the votes of confidence and the fact that someone can give a very special gift to someone they love.

Aren't these mother-daughter aprons adorable?!?!?!

Well, the past 36 hours have been... interesting. Sunday evening, while we were celebrating my mom's birthday at her house, Gavin and Morgan were horseplaying. Gavin had a pencil in his hand from pretending to play drums earlier and Morgan tripped him while playing. Gavin fell onto the eraser end of the pencil, the eraser was pushed out and the metal part cut his eye lid and tear ducts on his right eye. (Lesson #1 - Don't play while holding sharp objects.) His eye started bleeding within a few seconds and we immediately scooped him up, put on his shoes and headed out the door to the ER. Mom and Papa kept the other kids while we headed to a nearby hospital. I obviously wasn't thinking with a right mind because we decided to take him to a regular hospital rather than driving down to the children's hospital. We spent several hours at the regular hospital before they told us that they couldn't treat his injury and that we would need to take him to Scottish Rite. (Lesson #2 - Always take children to Scottish Rite to begin with.) So, a couple of hours and two $200 ER co-pays later, we were taken back into the emergency department at Scottish Rite. They called in a pediatric opthamologist who told us that they would probably go ahead and do the surgery to repair his eye. However, after the trauma of trying an IV in one hand without success and then putting it in the other hand, we were told that it wasn't enough of an emergency to call in the opthamology team, so we would need to go home and schedule surgery for later in the day. Great. We finally got home around 4:00 AM on Monday morning only to wake up Gavin at 8:30 to eat breakfast since he couldn't have anything after 9:00 because of the upcoming surgery. He went back to the outpatient center in the afternoon, had the surgery at 5:30 PM and was home by 10:30 PM. Everything is sewn and fixed and he looks great. Just a little redness and swelling around his eye. We are so happy that the pencil didn't cut his eye ball or cornea or that it didn't just go straight through. All in all, it was a fairly minor injury. We feel very blessed.

The morning after the surgery. He looks pretty good doesn't he? He has several stitches in the top corner of his eyelid and a small tube inserted into his tear duct so that it will heal correctly.

“This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him” (John 9:3)

It is in the nature of man to ask why. We see tragedy in our world and we ask why. We encounter hardship in our lives or suffer loss, and we ask why. We want to know the reason for it all, the unifying purpose behind this strange, needy world. Jesus reminds us: It is all for the glory of God. The universe exists to display His splendor.
We can see many specific examples in Scripture. The Israelites were kept as slaves in Egypt in order that God might be knows as Deliverer (Exodus 11:9). He led them to near disaster at the edge of the Red Sea in order that He might gain glory (Exodus 14:4). Many psalms of David would never have been sung if not for his persecution. This man in John 9 was blind for his entire life “so that God’s works might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). Paul suffered in order that Christ’s power might be seen (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
But we are slow. We can’t help but think this universe is about us, and when life is hard on us, it doesn’t make sense.
If we remember that it is all about Him, we begin to see. It all makes sense. By our captivity He is known as Deliverer. By our sin He is known as Savior. By our weakness He is knows as powerful. Next to our hatred, His love amazes. Every evil we can think of has the potential of being a platform for the goodness of God. It’s all about Him.
Do we suffer and question God’s goodness? Do we complain about our hardships? If so, we have forgotten that the universe is meant to glorify God, not us. Consider how His power might be made known in our trials. Redirect your prayers not to improve your situation but to have your situation demonstrate His glory. Thank Him for making Himself known.

--taken from the December 2009 issue of Journey: A Woman's Guide to Intimacy with God

We decided this year to buy a real Christmas tree. Chris and I both love the "feel" of a real tree, but of course it's more economical to have an artificial one. This year we decided to go with what we really wanted, so we went out to buy a 9' Fraser Fir. We absolutely love it. We decided that we want this to be our family's tradition, so now we're looking for good homes for our fake trees. We had a great time decorating the tree with red and white lights and all the home ornaments from years past.

I thought this picture that Ivey drew of our family was really cute. It will definitely take its place in the keepsake box!

Holy Smokes!! Time is flying! Between preschool, basketball practice, watching football games, handbell concerts, Wednesday nights at church, cleaning, laundry, exercising, shopping and family activities time is just flying by! It's been really fun!

This past weekend, Chris and I took our family and his parents to see "Back to Bethlehem" at a nearby church. They did a fantastic job and we all loved it despite the freezing temperatures.

Mary and Joseph with Jesus.

The kiddos having a good time, Gavin, Ivey and Morgan.

We posed with this nine month old camel that was making the craziest noises the whole time! We all got a great laugh out of it!

Jim and Chris bundle up near the fire of a shepherd.

Another really good recipe. I'll be taking this one to church Sunday night for our Harvest of Thanks dinner:

Chicken Enchilada Soup (A little spicy but really tasty - everyone will be coming back for more! You may want to cook grilled cheese sandwiches as well in case it's too spicy for the little ones) serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 can (11 oz.) condensed fiesta nacho cheese soup
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 2/3 Cups milk
1 can chunk white chicken, drained (feel free to add more chicken if you like)
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies

Directions:
Combine ingredients. Mix well. Heat on stovetop. Garnish with sour cream if desired. Also really yummy served with Fritos.

Enjoy!

My creative outlet for today

I wanted a cute Thanksgiving shirt for Ivey to wear this week. I orginally thought I would buy one but couldn't find one in the stores that I liked. I went on Etsy.com and saw some very cute shirts... but I wasn't willing to pay $20 for one!! So, I decided that I could make one myself. I definitely didn't come up with this idea, I stole it from some other really creative person... but there were a hundred more like it, so I don't really feel bad about it. I used some material that I already had and went to Target this morning to buy a shirt for $5. Now, that's more like it!

Every week or so, I try to find a new recipe to make for dinner. Of course, we have the standard dinner menu just like anyone else... tacos, spaghetti, lasagna, meatloaf, breakfast, salmon cakes... but, for a while now, I have wanted to broaden our horizons. Lately, I've found a few really good new recipes. My kids are not extremely picky eaters, so that really helps. Plus they have found that they like things that they normally wouldn't have eaten. But, if you do have pickier eaters, then just make changes as you see fit. Also, the recipes that I use have normal ingredients, not things that are hard to find or some random spice that you'll only use a pinch of. I'll try to remember to put them on the blog as we try them so you know that it's tried and true - even for preschoolers!

Pineapple chicken salad with balsamic vinaigrette (serves 5-7)

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 can (8 oz) unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained except for 2 tablespoons juice
2 cups fresh broccoli florets
4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onions

For the vinaigrette:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons of leftover pineapple juice

Directions:
Cut each chicken breast into cubes. In a large, nonstick frying pan, heat the olive oil under medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, about 10 minutes. In a large serving bowl, combine the cooked chicken, pineapple chunks, broccoli, spinach and onions.

To make the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, reserved pineapple juice, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Serve on the salad, or allow each person to serve himself.

**I used more chicken because I like lots of chicken in my salad. Also, I used more pineapple, or it would also be a good idea to use a can of pineapple tidbits instead of chunks. The dressing is absolutely delicious!

Recipe found on: www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-recipes

Luke 10:38-41

38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

I have a confession to make - I am Martha. Lately, I have been very busy doing many things. Although those things are not necessarily unimportant, I have been putting them above spending time with my Savior. Sure, a couple of times a week I take a few minutes to read my bible and pray, but then I'm up and on my way... instead of sitting and and listening at the Lord's feet. Jesus knew that Martha was busy and I'm sure that he appreciated all the effort that she was putting forth, but what Mary was doing was even better.

The laundry can wait another 30 minutes... the groceries will still be in the grocery store in a little while... surely the internet won't dissappear into a black hole... my muscles won't deteriorate if I absolutely can't get to the gym today... that other crazy couponing mom won't buy up all the specials at CVS...

Sure, I understand that there are things that must be taken care of now. Like a crying child, a dirty diaper or cooking dinner. But the problem lies within the things that can WAIT. This week, it is my goal to spend time every day with the Lord before doing any of those other things that can wait. To read, pray and listen before I get bogged down with all the chores of the day. Let's see what it's like to Mary.

This weekend was Ivey's turn to bring home "Happy Turtle" from school. My first thought was "yay, something else for the kids to fight over." And that, they did. However, after the first day they were much better at sharing the turtle. We were supposed to take the Happy Turtle for the weekend and write about what we did with him. Luckily, we were going to the lake house for the weekend. I was pleased that we might actually have something interesting to write about... something other than our normal weekends. The kids had a great time playing with the turtle and taking pictures of him in the leaves that Mom and I raked up. I hope that Happy Turtle had a fun weekend, too.

I was catching up on my friend's blog and he had something really interesting to report. One of his favorite authors (or maybe it is his favorite, Ginger??) is John Piper. I love John Piper, but a lot of times, as is the case with my friend Michael who's blog I was reading, I have to carry a dictionary when I listen to him speak. I like to tease Michael about it, but really it's just because I'm jealous that I'm not as smart as he is. Anyway, John Piper had to say this about the idea of people "choosing" hell:

"So when a person chooses against God and, therefore, de facto chooses hell—or when he jokes about preferring hell with his friends over heaven with boring religious people—he does not know what he is doing. What he rejects is not the real heaven (nobody will be boring in heaven), and what he “wants” is not the real hell, but the tolerable hell of his imagination."

I thought this was interesting because I believe it's true, I'm just not that good at articulating it. If any one REALLY knew what hell was like, then NO ONE would want to go there. And if any one REALLY knew what heaven was like, then we wouldn't rather be here than there. But, the fact is, that even though the Bible has clear explanations of what the real hell and the real heaven are like, we can't imagine that they are really that way. Instead, we have these thought up images, figments of our imaginations that we choose to believe. So when people carelessly walk through life wanting their own way and choosing to live their lives apart from God, therefore choosing hell, they aren't thinking about what they are really choosing. They don't believe they are choosing hell, they are choosing the "tolerable hell of their imagination." The problem is that they're wrong.

"When he dies, he will be shocked beyond words. The miseries are so great he would do anything in his power to escape. That it is not in his power to repent does not mean he wants to be there. Esau wept bitterly that he could not repent (Hebrew 12:17). The hell he was entering into he found to be totally miserable, and he wanted out. The meaning of hell is the scream: “I hate this, and I want out.”

If people only knew what they were really choosing...

Inspired by my friend Ginger who made a quilt for her parents, I thought to myself "I can do that!" So, I set off on my journey of making my very first quilt and boy was it an adventure!! Several months later, a couple of trips to Joann's, LOTS of extra material and a quilt that isn't quite right... I have my very first quilt finished! I decided to make it for my niece since I drew her name for Christmas this year. Plus, I figured that it probably wouldn't meet most quilt-maker's standards and I knew she wouldn't mind. It's only a lap quilt, maybe a little bigger, but it was definitely just about as much or more than I could handle. I definitely learned a lot and am ready to set off on another quilt-making journey. Hopefully, this time I'll be able to do the edges the right way. :-)