I might be back...

So...when I take breaks from blogging...I always have this internal debate about whether I should even start back up...which ends up making my break even longer.  I'm having a hard time figuring out if I really miss reading the blogs that I do, and writing mine, enough to "come back". 

Life has been busy for the past month and a half...and isn't showing signs of letting up yet.  We've done soccer, baseball, gymnastics, strep throat, wedding showers, babysitting an infant for a few days, graduation parties, picnics, yardwork, couponing and more.  I've had about 25 students finish their American History course in the past several weeks, which equals many emails, phone calls, and much grading. 

Amongst all of this, I can't pinpoint the value of reading other people's blogs...but when I write mine, I get sucked into reading other peoples'. And that causes too much distraction in my brain, and I lose focus on what I should really be spending time doing.  I have the same problem with Facebook...hence my break from there, as well.

I still want to record our life's tidbits, treasures, and toils. Yes. I do. I just felt like I needed to explain my hiatus a bit...to you...and to me.  So...yah...get ready for some updates :O)     

My heart will sing no other name

I'm listening to this song over and over this week.  I recently read in a book {sorry that I can't disclose which one at this point} about how our hearts are deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9)...that we should be careful not follow our hearts, but lead them instead. If I do not lead my heart, it will pursue whatever feels good at the moment.  There are moments that on it's own, it will choose to sing the name of Jesus, but there are too many others it will choose to sing the name of "me" {anger, selfishness, impatience, materialism}. I'm making an effort to call on the Holy Spirit to help me lead my heart in singing no other name, but Jesus.

If we get to sing earthly songs in Heaven {which I doubt we will}, I hope we sing this one...I imagine this has got be about as close as we can get here on earth to what worship will be like there. I need to get me to a Hillsong concert before I die!

{Sorry for the ads...YouTube didn't allow embedding with this video so I had to use Yahoo :O(}

 

Anticipating Easter

I always dislike taking down my winter mantle decorations. Not that we have a ton of people over that would see that there is nothing on our mantle, but I just like to have it decorated {because, basically, our fireplace is huge and ugly}. I have some cozy Fall and Christmas decorations that I've accumulated over the years thanks to my mom, MIL, and little bit of clearance shopping, and I keep my snowmen up until the end of February. Even though I usually complain that I don't have anything to replace them, I very rarely find myself able to justify spending money on decorating.

A few weeks ago my friend Laura posted a link on Facebook showing this cute little Spring mantle decoration, and I finally convinced myself that I just needed to quit my gripin' and put one together. My mom was here for a couple days and {since she has much better decorating sense than I do} helped with some ideas {and moola :O)}

My mom and I were talking while she was here and discussing the fact that there doesn't seem to be much in the Protestant church about anticipating Easter Sunday like there is with Advent for Christmas. Catholics, of course do Lent, but we don't really have anything. {Although, I must insert here that we've witnessed our wonderful children's pastor has really been emphasizing this the past several weeks on Wednesday nights...asking the kids to "ponder their ways" each week in anticipation of the sacrifice that Christ made to forgive their wrongs...and we have greatly appreciated that.} Anyway, I added in an Easter "countdown" similar to the one I made for Christmas a few years ago. Each card has a several verses for us to read for the 28 days prior to Easter Sunday. My thought is that we'll read the verses and do some reflection on what Easter means for us as Believers.  Some nights we'll just have individual quiet time {at least the big kids will}, some nights we'll pray together, and some nights I'd like for us to pray for those friends and family that don't yet know Christ as Savior or have fallen away. The cards get flipped after the reading is complete and I put the words "He is Risen!" on the back.

So, pretty much mine ended up looking nothing like the inspiration {except for the birdhouses, I guess}, but I like it. A lot. We're not really finished, since the kids are helping paint the birdhouses and we haven't had enough time {nor have I had an abundance of patience} to get them done. I'd also like to get something to fill it out a bit more...some grapevine or something...so if you have any hanging out in your {local} backyard that you'd be willing to part with, I'd be forever grateful.  Here are some {not so great because the lighting in that corner stinks and I still don't know the best settings to use for our camera} pictures.

       

Happy Birthday, Levi!

Our baby boy turns three today. Yes, three years ago today, I called the school to tell Mark he better not leave for his away track meet, and I drove myself {plus the 5,4,and 1 year old} the 25 mintues to my OB-GYN {and soon after, the hospital} appointment while 6-7cm dilated and contracting. Feels like it could have been just last week.

I was kind of hoping this day would have taken much longer to get here. I'm just not ready to say good-bye to the baby days...there are many days where I still wish God had it in the cards for us to have a couple more, but since that doesn't seem to be the case, I'm so thankful that Levi is the munchkin that he gave us to be our "baby". He's such a perfect mix of mischief and sweetness. There are moments where he forces me to ask myself, "Really...you think you could handle another one of these?" and moments where I say to myself, "How could I expect God to give me a better last born than this?" {I mean, I know He can do anything, but this is my expression of contentment at what He has given me...if that makes sense.}

We've loved watching Levi find his voice this year. He hardly talked at all a year ago...to the point that pediatrician suggested having his hearing tested. I knew he was just waiting. We all talked for him so much, I think, that he just didn't feel like he had to. Now, any conversation with him is so animated and enthusiastic.  I just love the way he draws out certain words and his eyebrows...oh his eyebrows...I'm in love with the way he uses them to make his point. He's always the first to make sure you're okay if you pinch a finger or step on a toy. He hardly ever sits still, often challenging the laws of physics, but when he does rest, he gives the best snuggles.

As much as I'll miss having a baby in the house, Lord, I'm so ready to see what you have planned for this amazing little boy. I pray that You continue to protect him physically and grow his compassionate little heart.   

A Fous Fete!

For Valentine's Day my friend Julie shared an idea about doing a mystery dinner. She got her idea here. Fun stuff. So, of course, I had to steal the idea, but I didn't want to wait till next February! I decided to do mine for April Fool's Day, since I never think any good jokes to play. I'm just not a funny person...I'm horrible at lying...a little silly is about as good as it gets from me. Silly on April Fool's Day is good, too, right? This might actually be the most elaborate silly thing I've ever pulled off {I know...I'm pathetic.}

Anyway, here's how it went down:  I put the menu in French {A "Fous Fete" is French for A Fool's Feast} and had the everyone choose what they wanted for each of four courses. They even had to order their utensils. I told them they should choose at least two items for each course, and could order something more than once...or not at all....whatever they wanted.

I worried a bit about how the kids {mostly Ethan} would do with this, and prayed throughout the day that it would just be a fun experience. They are very particular about how they like their food and "hiccups" in the routine don't typically go over so well {and I fully admit I'm the one who has made them that way}. Everyone did great...except Ethan. He was a turd about not knowing what he was picking...and trying to guess what everything was and write down his choices in English. He finally gave in and filled out a menu the way he was supposed to, but wasn't thrilled about the whole thing. Karis had fun choosing her items and helping Levi with his menu, too. 

The laughter and fun overshadowed the few complaints. Everything went really fast {you were so right, Julie!}, so it was hard to get good pictures. Karis ended up ordering soda, cool whip with sprinkles and cookie for her first course...she had to lick her cool whip off the plate since she didn't order a fork or spoon! Levi had noodles, but nothing to eat those with either. We were especially proud of Natalie, who watched all her siblings get Sprite at some point throughout the meal {a special treat in our house}, but didn't once ask where hers was...and of course I rewarded her patience before she left the table. We'll definitely do it again...Lord knows our kids need pushed out of their comfort zones more often.   

    

Fruits of frustration

I wanted to share two new resources I found recently while dealing with two {very minor} frustrations I've had. Thought there might be a few that would be interested in using them, too.
 
The past few years, I've tried to make an attempt at redeeming St. Patrick's Day...at least in our home.  It just sort of boggles my mind how many people "honor" {I use the term loosely} St. Patrick by getting drunk on green beer and sending kids on hunts for leprechauns and pots of gold. I like to remind the kids of who he was and how God used his circumstances for amazing things.  I saw a post somewhere about the idea of honoring St. Patrick through raising awareness of human trafficking, since he was kidnapped and sold into slavery, which is what drew him to the Lord and led him to reach out to the Irish. I love this idea and hope I remember it for next year.

Anyway, as I was looking for a good source to share with the kids about Patrick's life I came across this website that I really like. Here's the link:  http://www.awesomestories.com/ .  It would be great for homeschooling families, I'd like to find a way to use it in my American History course, and I'll definitely be encouraging our kiddos to use it for school projects in the future. I just loved the way the information is presented and the amount of faith based material that doesn't seem too over the top or pushy to be used in the public school setting.

Another frustration that I've had recently is trying to find good books for Ethan to read.  I think I've mentioned before that his reading level is pretty high, so I'm finding that we are quickly exhausting age appropriate books that he finds challenging and interesting. He reads quickly, too.  We just found an author with several series of books, one of them had six 175ish page books in it.  He completed them all in less than a week {while reading his reading group books at school, as well}. 

The other aspect of this issue is that his school participates in an "Accelerated Reader" program...there are books on a list and each is labeled with a certain reading level and number of points.  Once the book is read, the student takes a short quiz to test comprehension and earn points.  In the next few years, the students are required to complete a certain number of quizzes each month and attain a certain number of points for the year.  Being the competitor that he is, Ethan doesn't like to read books during the school year unless they are on the AR list.  Of course, books that I know would be okay for him to read (Frank Peretti, Jerry Jenkins) aren't on the AR list.  I don't have time to read through every book to find out if it's appropriate or not.

I usually just try to google a certain title to see if I can find a good review of the book, but recently I came across a new blog through Tim Challie's blog {on my sidebar} called Redeemed Reader . The authors post Christian based reviews of secular books.  There isn't a huge number of books reviewed yet, since it's a new site, but I'll definitely be using this resource as I try to find books for Ethan...and all the kids, for that matter.  If you have suggestions, I'd LOVE to hear them! 

Shoulda' had some green beer...

This has been one of those weeks {plus a couple of days} that I sort of wish that I actually enjoyed wine or beer or something....or that I lived closer to my mom and sisters...or maybe both.  I don't think a half hour has passed in the last ten days where I have not wiped a nose, taken a temp, administered some form of medication, been whine-ely asked for a tissue, wiped a butt, pressed play on the DVD player, wiped a nose, scooped out bite-size chunks of ice cream, thrown away handfuls of used tissues, passed out snacks that were never eaten, or wiped a nose....and it was only slightly less frequent during the sleeping hours :O).  Yah, there were a few days where it would have been nice to have something to take the edge off.

It all started last Thursday with Ethan waking up in the middle of the night nauseous and fevered.  He was sick all weekend and started to come down with it on Saturday.  I babysat a friend's two kids on Monday (something I'll be doing every MWF for the next month), one of whom was fighting a cold and needed to do breathing treatments every four hours.  Levi got worse Monday night and Natalie woke up at 1:30am Wednesday morning vomiting and fevered. I called off the babysitting on Wednesday and made a double doctor appointment.  I was kind of hoping it was something antibiotic-worthy {even though I hate giving them} since Karis had her surgery scheduled for Friday.  Of course, it was not.  Most likely all three of them have been/are victims of the seasonal flu.  Ethan came home from school Wednesday with a fever and aches again, so he stayed home Thursday, as well.  Thanks to an army of praying friends and family, and a God who answers prayers, Karis did not get sick and she was able to have her surgery.  Of course, the first few hours were rough...a lot of pain and swelling and she was so hungry after not having been able to eat since the night before.  There were many futile attempts to get ice cream, jello, and pudding in her before things got better. 

Ethan seems to have recovered, but the other three are definitely not back to themselves yet. I'm thankful for for one more day of rest and having my helpful hubby home before we get back to the grind of another week. 

Even though we didn't have any green beer on Thursday, we {well, some of us did, anyway} did enjoy some green cupcakes and green kool-aid in hopes of pulling us out of the funk.  I even added some green color to our alfredo sauce for dinner, but that attempt at being festive and fun did not go over so well with the masses. Maybe next year.    

ps...mom, I may actually take you up on your offer to come visit if it's still on the table :O).