Marching In

I can barely believe it is March.  So much life has flown by in everyday moments, preparing meals, sleeping, showering, planning, working, homework, encouragement, discipline, tears, laughs, you name it.  One thing that recently happened is that I told Gwen about the "birds and bees".  I wasn't really planning on having that conversation that night, but we were just casually talking about the boy that Gwen "loves" and then she mentioned that some girls in her class had kissed a boy.  I asked her if she was planning on kissing a boy and she said "yes" with a smile.  The thing about that conversation that struck me is the look on her face.  When she really "got it" and asked about several couples including daddy and I.  The innocence she had before and the knowledge she now has and the look of shock on her face was something I'll always remember.  I found out about sex in third grade too- from a fellow classmate.  I am very grateful that I was the one to begin to tell her about that subject and tell her that God invented it to be a pure and loving act. 

At the preschool I teach at they have these plastic meatballs.  They make me laugh. 

I'm very ready for spring and growing things.  I made this wreath recently.  I added some daffodils to it the other day.

I saw this on Gwen's homework... very telling don't you think?

I took the kids to the zoo on a day off of school.  I love looking at the orangutans.

This is a golden pheasant.  It is absolutely beautiful!

My mom's group did a service project where we put bags of food together to give to a local ministry partner that helps the needy.

Romy had her first visit to the dentist yesterday.  She was feeling very important and loved the balloon and prize she got.

Zeke.  He is such a funny little guy.  He has recently been dressing up just for laughs.  He jumps on the trampoline like this, and takes out the recycling like this.  I just let him because soon it won't be like that. 

 

February Times

This year, these weeks, they are flying.  Some days though, moments stand still and I stop and appreciate them.  That's partly why I do this blog- to remember the good moments and learn from the bad. 

Here's Romy and her friend Claire playing princesses. 

Zeke is working hard on his sight words as he is still inching along with reading progress.

This cat... Max.  He is enjoying his life here I think.  I am ready for his claws to be out.  He climbs curtains and bats me as I come down the stairs in the morning.  I try to remember that he's still young and frisky and he doesn't get out much. (or at all) Here's Romy tending to him.  He gets "tended" often.

Romy playing.

I am working twice a week at a preschool and there is a child in my class that looks quite a bit like Romy.  Here they are together.  They could be sisters I think.

Grandma Georgie was in the hospital after having a knee replacement and having back pain.  We went to visit her.

Ben is the children's story teller at the new church plant we are a part of.  It's a big responsibility, but he's doing really well.

Claire and Romy again... silly

A friend came to visit and two of her children came along with her.  We went to Aldi one night and they went behind shelves- see their little eyes?

We also went to Ikea- and here are mine enjoying the floor.

Max is so spoiled.  Here he is napping in clothes.

Romy and Larkin

Whit, Romy and Larkin.  It was so nice having them... and no, there isn't a fire in the background.  That's the sunlight.

Napping again- sometimes I wish I was a cat.

Beki had a birthday and I was happy for the challenge to make a from scratch cake.  This one was delicious.

My mom's group learning about conscious discipline.

Gwen made her Valentine's box herself.  I think kids need to do those things-and not parents!

New Things

Romy playing piano while I practiced for a recording project I was doing with my choir. 

I have a new Mother-in-law.  Her name is Leanna and she is from Russia.  Here she is on their wedding day with Ray, my father-in-law.  I was at home with a sick Romy.

At the church we recorded at I snapped this photo of a painting.  Isn't it pretty?

This is where we recorded.  Doing a recording makes you really appreciate all the time and effort put into them.  It is a very long process but so rewarding.

Turning 40 and 7

I took down my Christmas decorations the very next day after coming home from Alabama.  I was looking for something new to look at.  I decided to go with a bird mantel using things I already had.  I just got the wooden hanging this Christmas.  I was happy the way it turned out. 

I saw this picture on Pinterest and knew I wanted to make it at some point- a mint chocolate chip cake.

Max makes himself at home in different places at night.  Mostly on the top bunk.

Zeke sprouted a pumpkin seed at school.  He's been tending it and this is his inside his room. He's my little gardener.

I turned 40 on January 6th.  I can't believe it in a way, and then in another, I feel every moment.  This chicken and dumplings helped so very much with the trauma of turning 40.

Our neighborhood friend, Chris, goes to church with us most weekends.  He got a suit for Christmas and he wanted to wear it.  I told him there's nothing like a sharp dressed man.

I made Zeke's birthday cake all from scratch.  You guessed it... mint chocolate chip.  It was absolutely the most delicious cake I've had in a very long time.  He wanted a chameleon on the cake and after looking for a while settled on this one from the movie "Tangled". Zeke is 7 now!

We took him and some buddies to a Japanese steak house where they cook in front of you.  They were pretty amazed.

Max looks at me a lot like this.  He greets us when we walk in the door and always wants to be where we are.  He's a sweet natured cat and overall I'm glad he is our guest.  The kitty litter is the only thing that I have to adjust to.

Family Photos

Poem by Russell Kelfer

You are who you are for a reason,
You're part of an intricate plan.
You're a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God's special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb
You're just what he wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones he chose,
and no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God's plan in mind,
and they bear the Master's seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
and God wept that it hurt you so,
but it was allowed to shape your heart
so that into his likeness you'd grow.

You are who you are for a reason,
You've been formed by the Master's rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God.