Team Dewhurst

Important!! Read this!!

2011-05-17T14:52:00.003-05:00

I've had enough with the blogger issues... I'm moving teamdewhurst to wordpress. It's another blog site. Everything will be there... all the old posts will come with us... it will be great :-)

The new address will be teamdewhurst.wordpress.com

I'm working on all the details so be patient!!!!

Click here to get to the new blog and be sure to update your link on your favorites or your blog roll... Thanks!!!

Once Upon a Time...

2011-05-11T23:10:00.000-05:00

Once Upon a Time there was a beautiful princess ballerina and a brave Spiderman prince. They were brother and sister. They set off one day to make the world a better place... could they reach one person... make one person smile???

It wasn't easy... there were times when they wanted to give up...

but they stuck together...

Soon they were headed in the right direction... looking for someone to help, someone to bring happiness and delight to... and what did they spot off in the distance...

They spotted someone...

They decided to investigate further... to see if they could bring a smile...

They faced the challenge without fear and were able to make a 92 year old neighbor smile. Mission accomplished...

Just another day at work for these two...

Bringing smiles to a neighborhood near you...

Gardening 101

2011-05-09T07:00:00.003-05:00

For Mother's Day the kids and Bryan treated me to lunch at my favorite restaurant and then they all took naps while I went to Lowe's to pick up some garden goodies :-) I got back just as everyone was waking up and they were SOOOO excited to help me plant... but not nearly as excited as they were when I told them we needed to water all the plants... look out!!

The made as many trips back to fill up as we would let them. They had a blast and our plants are not adequately watered and ready to grow!

Yes, you can wear stripes with camo... ;-)

Signs of Spring at Grammy's

2011-05-03T19:53:00.002-05:00

We ventured out to Grammy's yesterday morning and had a great day spending some quality time with her. We took a trip to the auto shop, the coffee shop, the cafe, back to her house, and then on to Sam's Club later. It was so much fun!!

We made the kids pose by the blooming tulips...

Aren't they beautiful?!?! I'd never photographed flowers before outside... I had such a good time...

Dressed for Easter...

2011-04-26T11:47:00.000-05:00

Not sure how they ended up so darn amazingly beautiful but they sure did ;-)

Now I know where they get this side of them :-)

Max's buzz...

2011-04-17T15:07:00.002-05:00

Last summer we buzzed Max's hair for summer and I loved it. It was easy to wash and to scrub sand box sand out of so last night we headed to Mom's to have her give Max his summer buzz.

For holding still he was rewarded with a blue sucker...

Pretty handsome little dude if you ask me...

Maddy didn't get a haircut but wanted her picture on here too :-)

How we roll...

2011-04-15T19:43:00.002-05:00

I saw this idea in Family Fun magazine...

You collect paper towel, toilet paper and other cardboard rolls around the house. Once you have a few you let the kids paint or decorate them.

When they are dry you cut the ends or cut them in half and put magnet strips on one side. Then you let the kids arrange them on the refrigerator to make a marble game. Let them try to arrange the tubes so that the marble drops from one tube to the next without falling to the floor.

Max especially loved this project! I was surprised at how fast they designed the maze and how well it worked. Cheap fun!

Mysterious shirt incident

2011-04-12T13:40:00.001-05:00

Max walked up to me today and told me something was wrong with his shirt... I could tell after a quick glance the story would be video worthy... enjoy ;-) Notice the direction his loving and well practiced sister is providing... ha!

Omaha so far..

2011-04-01T14:14:00.002-05:00

Here's some pics from our trip to Omaha so far... no time for captions!! More fun to be had!!

Friends

2011-03-27T21:15:00.002-05:00

Have I mentioned how much I love staying at home with our kids??? Well, if I haven't lately... I LOVE STAYING AT HOME WITH OUR KIDS!!! We have so much fun!!

We had a play date last week with the Bartons. Sarah, Roman and Viggo came over for some good ole dress up fun :-)

Maddy was wearing the lovely purple crushed velvet gown...

Roman was the black Spiderman... with huge diamond shaped necklace to accent his eyes :-)

Max was Spiderman/Construction worker/Mardi Gras parade attender...dream big buddy :-)

Maddy noticed he had a purple string of beads that matched her dress so she went for them.

You really shouldn't mess with a super hero's beads...

Max gave her the business and we ended up with this typical pair of expressions... classic sibling rivalry...

But one look at Roman cleared the air and all was well again!!

Cause really... who's going to mess with this guy???

Later last week we did date night swap with the VanCleave's and had a great time with Brenna and Lauren. Here's the older kids showing us their silly faces...

And beautiful Lauren who had just finished off some frozen blueberries... cutie!!

Crazy shoes and Mustaches

2011-03-16T20:51:00.002-05:00

We go through a lot of kleenex around here and for once that was a good thing... I had seen an idea like this in Family Fun and started keeping the empty boxes...

I used drywall tape to partially close up the openings and then covered them with construction paper and let the kids paint them...

I called them Crazy Shoes!!

It was a great chilly day project and the kids loved wearing them around when they were dry.

Last night Maddy and Daddy went on a date and left Max and I to fend for ourselves. Max decided to break out his dress up costumes. There was one with a Barbarian on it and Max kept looking in the bag for the piece that was on the kid's face...

Which, of course, was a drawn on mustache... so I busted out the eyeliner and all was well :-)

Worship

2011-03-14T14:01:00.004-05:00

I LOVE the worship at our church. LOVE IT!! I love the music. I love that I can turn my full attention to the Lord and engage with Him in worship alongside fellow Christ followers. It is hands down the highlight of my week. I know there are different opinions as to what is the right or wrong way to conduct worship.

I've been reading through the Psalms and... here's the deal... I think they can tell us a lot about what God loves to see in our worship to Him.

Psalm 98:1-9
Sing a new song to the LORD, for He has performed wonders;
His right hand and holy arm have won Him victory.

The LORD has made His victory known; He has revealed His righteous in the sight of the nations.

He has remembered His love and faithfulness to the house of Israel;

all the ends of the earth have see our God's victory.

Shout to the LORD, all the earth;

be jubilant, shout for joy, and sing.

Sing to the LORD with the lyre,

with the lyre and melodious song.

With trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn shout triumphantly

in the presence of the LORD, our King.

Let the sea and all that fills it,

the world and those who live in it, resound.

Let the rivers clap their hands;

let the mountains shout together for joy

before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world righteously and the peoples fairly.

Psalm 100

Shout triumphantly to the LORD, all the earth.

Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.

Acknowledge that the LORD is God.

He made us, and we are His

His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the LORD is good, and His love is eternal;

His faithfulness endures through all generations

Psalm 149: 1-6

Hallelujah!

Sing to the LORD a new song,

His praise in the assembly of the godly.

Let Israel celebrate its Maker;

let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.

Let them praise His name with dancing

and make music to Him with tambourine and lyre.

For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;

He adorns the humble with salvation.

Let the godly celebrate in triumphal glory;

let them shout for joy on their beds.

Let the exaltation of God be in their mouths

If you are truly ascribing praise to the Lord who created all the earth and sent His son to redeem you from all your sin there is no wrong way to worship. You can stand as still as you want. You can sit quietly. For me, I will stand and sing. I will raise my hands in worship to the Lord my God. I will celebrate Him who breathed life into existence. I'm so looking forward to Heaven someday and the ability to worship in the very presence of God. I can't say for certain but I'm pretty comfortable believing there will be singing, there will be hands raised, and we will shout for joy... so why wait for Heaven to engage in such worship?

However you choose to worship, remember that is between you and God. Don't judge how others proclaim their praise if they don't share your opinion. It's not about us it's about ascribing glory to God.

Look at what He has done for us!! He deserves all our praise!! If we can't get excited about that, what are we getting excited about?!?

Psalm 144: 15

Happy are the people with such blessings.

Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.

2011-03-09T14:21:00.002-06:00

Our kids rock... literally...

Yesterday they put on an impromptu jam session with drum sticks and pan lids, thanks Grandma Carolyn :-)

They played with emotion...

with reckless abandon...

together...

they were really into pointing...

and stretching...

and at one point got just too dangerous to document :-)

Feedin' time!

2011-03-03T14:41:00.002-06:00

Max disappeared halfway through lunch... which isn't a rare occurrence but after a while I got curious as to what he was up to...

Apparently it was lunch time for his farm animals and the super heros... animals eat first on this ranch :-)

Max Birthday Palooza 2011

2011-03-01T20:12:00.002-06:00

Max is 3!!! Crazy stuff!!!

For the occasion I created this Max Story 3 cake...

He loved it!! He's just woke up from his nap here to see it for the first time :-)

Here's the whole set up on party day... Max and Maddy gathered all their Toy Story toys to make the look complete!

I think Buzz and Woody look at home ;-)

After a quick lunch it was time to blow out the candles!!

and dig in!!!! Who needs forks????

Then all the sugar buzzed cousins gathered around for a quick pick before Max started tearing into his presents...

It was really fun to see him open presents this year. He was genuinely surprised and excited about what he got and it was so fun to watch!

Here he is sporting one of his gifts... a vest from Grandma Kathy and Papa Bob! In the background is our adopted Grandpa Chuck who lives next door. Chuck is almost 90 years older than Max... wrap your head around that one!

I liked this photo because of Bryan's expression... I think he is wishing it was him in the vest on the scooter :-)

After a round of naps we headed out to Perfect Games for some bowling!! Max may have been more impressed by the hand dryer...

But Miss Maddy was born to bowl!! She had a blast!!

The birthday boy also provided free coaching advice from the sidelines to Grandma Kathy :-)

He did take a few turns at pushing the ball down the lane...

It was a bit trying but overall pretty fun! Then we headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant where Max was sung to and got to wear a giant sombrero and eat fried ice cream... not a bad day, huh?

Blog you must check out...

2011-02-25T15:14:00.003-06:00

I have been reading through the Psalms for almost a year now. I try to read one a day but sometimes God leads me to other passages in my Bible and so I get a little behind MY schedule :-) My good friend Tori mentioned she knew a couple girls that started a blog on reading through the Psalms. I checked it out today and was blown away...

These two girls have committed to taking a Psalm a week for the next 3 years and creating something musical, artistic, or poetic from the inspiration they gain from what the Holy Spirit shows them in each Psalm... below is a link to the current week's Psalm and a song one of the bloggers wrote after reading through Psalm 3... it's AMAZING!! You have to check it out!

Click here - The Psalm Project

Ice Cream Cones!!

2011-02-22T14:25:00.002-06:00

I acquired a pack of gluten free ice cream cones the other day so we had to give them a shot... I shared with everyone, of course. The kids were so excited to get to eat ice cream in there jammers :-)

How sweet is she :-)

Max appears to be in pain but he's not. He's actually trying to figure out how to the most ice cream in his mouth at one time :-)

Most of it ended up around his mouth...

What a fun way to end the day!!

Rocks and the Bible

2011-02-21T13:53:00.002-06:00

The kids insisted on going outside this morning. They wanted to play with the rocks in our landscaping. It was so cold out!! I had no intention of going outside. I bundled them up and sent them out on the porch. I could watch them from the warmth of the kitchen and let them get some fresh air.

Maddy took her Bible so they could have some devotions to start out with :-)

Then it was off to pick up rocks and throw them into a pile...

Then they closed in some light Scripture reading and called it a day!!

Is it God? or is it you?

2011-02-17T07:09:00.001-06:00

Who is responsible for your salvation?

Our church is going through the book of Philippians. We have come to...

Philippians 2:12-13 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to will and to act for His good purpose.

This is a challenging passage and pastor Troy did an amazing job unpacking how this applies to our lives, to our salvation. The message is only 30 minutes long and I was extremely encouraged and convicted by it. I'd encourage you to check it out!

Scooters!!!

2011-02-13T20:22:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Max and Maddy used the Valentine's Day money they got from Daddy and Mama plus a little from Grandma Carolyn for Valentine's Day to get.... SCOOTERS!!!

But... before I can show you photos of that I must start with this photo because when we got home from the store and started assembling Max's scooter we discovered the package didn't contain the back wheels and we had to pry the scooter parts out of Max's hands while he was screaming so Bryan could take it back and exchange it for a complete scooter... Here are Max and Grandma keeping their minds off that tragedy...

Ok... on to the scooters!!!

Maddy picked a Disney Princess scooter...

Max went with Buzz Lightyear... check out his crazy excited expression... Love it!!

We hauled the scooters to the basement and they were off...

They went around...

and around... and around.

Max stopped to show his appreciation to Grandma Carolyn by giving her a book he found in the corner of the basement.

After several spins around the basement the scooters were do for some routine maintenance...

Guess they weren't made in America...

Maddy parked her scooter by her bed last night so she could touch the streamers while she was sleeping. She rode it out of her room this morning... I think she likes it ;-)

Father Daughter Valentine's Dance

2011-02-12T10:49:00.002-06:00

Bryan and Maddy went to a dance the other night for Valentine's day. They had a ton of activities to do together and they both had a great time!

Here they are all dressed up for the event :-)

Valentine's Box!

2011-02-09T14:54:00.003-06:00

Today a box arrived from Grandma Kathy and Papa Bob!!

Here's what we discovered inside...

Little known fact...

2011-02-08T20:25:00.002-06:00

Here's something you may not know... Spiderman can't swim...

Lucky for him, they make Spiderman life jackets ;-)

and looks who's letting me take her picture!!! Yay!!!

I told her to look natural... we'll work on that one ;-)

Max and flour

2011-02-05T15:09:00.002-06:00

I baked sugar cookies the other day along with my 2 favorite helpers :-) This guy snatched up every little bit of stray dough on the counter any time I turned my head. It was a bit crazy. The result... flour everywhere. I picked the wrong day to dress him in black :-)

Here he is with the spatula waiting for the cookies to come out of the oven so he could eat them... I think he kinda likes my sugar cookies...

I couldn't pass up this shot with his undies sticking out... a little boy can only wear undies with a red band so long before that's not cool anymore... I'm glad we're still in that stage where it is :-)

I wish I had some pics of Maddy but she's in a phase that she really doesn't want me to take her picture... I hope that stage ends soon :-(

Sing along at YaYa's

2011-02-02T15:31:00.002-06:00

Max and Maddy went to play at their friend Savannah's (YaYa)house. Apparently there was an impromptu rock out session complete with personalized lyrics by YaYa's dad... Mr. Travis. :-)

Finger Painting

2011-02-01T22:10:00.002-06:00

So, it's no secret that this is what it looks like outside our house today...

We had to pick up a few things from Target so we grabbed a new set of finger paints while we were there. The kids love to paint and it's really not that hard to clean up... most of the time so I gave in.

Maddy wasted no time digging right in an mixing up all her colors.

Max was mixing it up a bit but really seemed more organized about it and less messy...

He was definitely having fun getting dirty but he seemed very intent on his art.

Maddy was all about creating new colors and spreading it all over the plate and the paper. Maybe Max was destined to be the more clean, less haphazard child... and that's ok...

Then I left the room to come back to Max laughing hysterically while rubbing his paint plate on the top of his head... so much for that ;-)

Did you notice the "Busted!" look on his face :-) and I didn't even get mad. I laughed and picked up the camera but I think he was kinda scared about what his head looked like!

Of course this meant an early bath... and he soon got over feeling anxious about his hair...

Yeah... I'm pretty sure he didn't care at all :-) He's all boy!!

The night before the removal of the Nuk

2011-01-30T20:15:00.003-06:00

OK folks... hopefully this is the last ever sighting of Max with a Nuk... yeah... we've realized it's time for the Nuk to leave the Dewhurst house for good. I'm posting this tonight because tomorrow when the reality sets in I will probably have no opportunity to blog about it. If you think about it, feel free to pray for us :-) It's going to be a rough week!

Bye-bye Nukie... it was fun while it lasted...

Bendaroos...

2011-01-26T17:45:00.000-06:00

my card

2011-01-23T15:35:00.006-06:00

Rugby Sky 5x7 folded card

Modern greeting cards and party invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

I discovered this promotion Shutterfly is doing on one of my favorite blogs... http://innermostaspirations.blogspot.com/
If you make a photo card on Shutterfly and embed the photo on your blog you get a $25 gift certificate to Shutterfly... so here's my card...

Dance!

2011-01-21T14:21:00.002-06:00

Friday = Dance

Last year was Maddy's first year in dance and this year is even more exciting... for me, anyway :-) She is really starting to catch on to a lot of the "moves". They have specific names but I don't think I could spell any of them correctly!

First up is ballet

Then tap...

She obviously inherited all my grace and fluid motion... which is why she is in this class ;-)

Here she is hopping...

It was hard to get too many good shots... something about a small person crawling all over me every second...

Then on to a little tumbling...

the older girls are great with Max and let him burn off some energy on the trampoline

Doesn't he look exhausted... well it was worth a shot!

Sunday

2011-01-17T18:50:00.002-06:00

Sunday we headed to H-town after church to hang out with my family. We wanted to just enjoy each other's company and spend time remembering Dad and sharing favorite stories. First we went to Mom's and spent some quality time with her...

Then we headed to my brother's house for dinner and some cousin ruckus time...

Jade was lovin' the camera time ;-)

I think this was the only time Max was not moving all night...

How cute is Clara?!

Sybil was a little more difficult to capture...

and then this guy... this guy is cute as can be... and a bit naughty... just like a little boy should be :-)

and can eat cheese like a MACHINE!! ha!

It was a good day. Bittersweet... but good.

Playing with my camera

2011-01-15T20:02:00.003-06:00

One of my new favorite things to do...

Sometimes I practice on my slippers...

Sometimes my willing children...

Sometimes I catch them off guard and they have no choice...

Sometimes they turn out really cool because I'm playing around with the settings and end up taking a great shot of well... a doll :-) Cool composition though, I think :-)

More to blog stalk

2011-01-14T20:24:00.002-06:00

For a bunch of reasons that probably don't make perfect sense to anyone but me... I've decided to start a food blog. There it is, out in the open :-)

I've only done a couple of posts but I'd love to have you all stop by and check it out at your leisure, no pressure :-) It's not going to have any of the personal family stuff that I post on here. Strictly food. So, keep on checking here for all that good stuff and pics.

Ok, here ya go... enter at your own risk... I warned you... maybe just look through your fingers...

http://kitchentutor.wordpress.com/

Have you met Chuck?

2011-01-12T08:42:00.002-06:00

Chuck, our 90+ neighbor across the way...

Everybody needs a "Chuck" in their neighborhood. He knows how to "neighbor". He does a good job of keeping us connected. He stopped over the other day to check in on us. Chuck is probably more outgoing than we are most weeks. He goes dancing, he goes to potlucks, he volunteers here and there... he's a busy guy!!

and you're probably familiar with this gal...

and this guy...

Typical snowy day...

2011-01-11T12:19:00.003-06:00

It's snowing... it has been for a while... typical Iowa winter day...

I don't know how the typical snow day goes at your house but here we just stand quietly next to the wall and...

our snowpants just put themselves on...

our boots pop right onto our feet...

our gloves slide right on to our hands all by themselves...

and our hats and coats wrap around us without effort...

then we head out into the winter wonderland... without the new expensive camera... after about 30 minutes we come in and the hot chocolate is ready and waiting for us...

Our clothes take themselves off and will eventually hang themselves up to dry...

kids share chairs and eat every bite of their foods ever so polietly...

just a typical day here ;-)

2 years ago...

2011-01-08T14:21:00.002-06:00

2 years ago tonight Dad went into the ER having a massive heart attack. I updated prayer requests on her starting that night and through the week until his death on the 15th. To read through those posts scroll down the page and on the right side of the page there is are the previous years of posts. Click on the arrow next to 2009. Then click on the arrow next to January. Then scroll down to the post Please Pray and click on that. After reading that you can read the rest of the posts in order by clicking on "Newer Post" on the bottom left hand side of the bottom of each post.

I had been scanning old photos for Mom into the computer for a while and then was reminded of a song by Hillson United that really moved me. I put some pics together to that song and made this video... I hope it touches you like it did me to make it. I'm excited to imagine Dad walking on the streets of gold with confidence and his body made new :-)

Ruckus

2011-01-07T13:51:00.002-06:00

The best way to describe the hour before naps and the hour before bedtime... ruckus. By definition... a disturbance. They get a second wind and anything goes. You can't grow faint... they can smell your fear. It's best to just ride it out and watch from a safe distance... and not make eye contact.

They look so peaceful when they pretend to sleep :-) Happy Friday :-)

Bust a move...

2011-01-05T20:24:00.002-06:00

So, if there was any doubt... any buyer's remorse... any feeling of regret... any second guessing about the purchase of my new camera... these next 3 shots eliminated all of the above...

ENJOY!!

First my dear, dance crazed, still slightly awkwardly coordinated first born bustin' a move while moving toward the camera...

Next my baby in a shot that will likely haunt him for years to come. It's not a secret that the boy loves his Cinderella baby blue high heels to our close friends and family but now it's going viral...

This is one in a series of about 10 that almost has me in tears giggling. This one is by far my favorite... mid dance move... both dancing like no one's watching... both looking awesome... captured electronically forever :-)

Drumroll please...

2011-01-03T20:36:00.002-06:00

Thanks to my Christmas money and an extremely generous advance on my birthday money for the next 15 years from my Mom there is a new toy in our house... and it's not for the kids to play with...

Today I picked up a new camera!!! Yay!!!!! I'm now the proud owner of a Nikon D3100 and really have no idea how to use it correctly :-) I got it all set up this afternoon and was really excited to take some test pics but I just couldn't find any willing subjects...

Just couldn't find anyone willing to stand right in front of my new camera...

No one to make goofy faces...

or ham it up...

just couldn't find anything like that in our house...

guess I'll have to hire some stand ins...

someone willing to look a bit silly...

where would I find such people...

Maybe I'll try the bathtub...

the land where princess attack dinosaurs without fear...

where wayward dwarfs are sentenced to walk the plank...

uh oh... I've been spotted...

Just when I've finally found some good subject matter... it's bed time...

It's a 4 nuk night here tonight :-) Sleep well!

Picture Bonanza

2010-12-30T12:10:00.002-06:00

Here's our Christmas in a nutshell... a picture nutshell...

One of our traditions is making homemade sugar cookies. The kids each made a giant "gingerbread" girl/boy out of sugar cookie dough to decorate for Christmas dinner.

The carefully frosted their cookies...

Maddy is demonstrating precise sprinkle sprinkling technique...

Max is explaining where his artistic inspiration for his cookie came from... something about Buzz and Woody

Max's version...

Maddy's version...

On Dec 19th we spent the day with my Mom, my brother and his family. Here are the Below grandkids...

Many presents were opened in a short amount of time... paper was in the air!

The girls had a great time playing with a new doll house

Grandma Kathy and Papa Bob arrived the next week to stay with us through the weekend. On Thursday night we headed to Ankeny to look at Christmas lights and drive through Gingerbread Lane and Frosty the Snow Man. It was a lot of fun...more so for those that were not pinned between two car seats in the back of the Tahoe :-)
Maddy took a self portrait on the way to Ankeny

Max took one as well...

It was so great to have Grandma and Papa around to play with and spend the days with.

Christmas Eve day was beautiful!! We suited up the kids and headed out into the falling snow!

These smiles were permanent on their faces until we told them it was time to go inside.

No, that's not a sherpa... that's Grandma Kathy...

The trampoline was not as bouncy covered in so much snow :-)

Max making a snow angel...

Here's Max on Christmas morning enjoying his Happy Birthday Jesus cupcake for breakfast...when else can you have cupcakes for breakfast!?

Maddy had inhaled her cupcake and was on to her Trader Joe O's

Next it was time to open stockings!

After that it was all a blur...

Maddy got a stamping kit that the kids enjoyed for quite a while together

As always there were moments of disagreement...

But in the spirit of Christmas peace was restored :-)

Of course there were many more stories and experiences but I know you all just love the pictures so much so there ya go :-)

New Year's Psalm

2010-12-28T13:32:00.002-06:00

I'm working my way through Psalm 119 and the section, Heth, I came across today seemed really timely for it being the week of New Year's. Maybe just because the word 'midnight' is used...maybe because it has a tone of getting on the right path again... who knows but to me it seemed appropriate so I'm sharing it with you :-)

Psalm 119:57-64

You are my porth, O LORD;
I have promised to obey your words.

I have sought your face with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.

I have considered my ways
and have turned my steps to your statutes.

I will hasten and not delay
to obey your commands.

Though the wicked bind me with ropes,
I will not forget your law.

At midnight I rise to give you thanks
for your righteous laws.

I am a friend to all who fear you,
to all who follow your precepts.

The earth is filled with your love,
O LORD; teach me your decrees.

If I'm still awake at midnight at New Year's... my intent is to rise to give God thanks. Thanks for all the blessings of 2010 and for knowing He intends to walk with me through 2011 no matter what it may bring.

A few things about Christmas...

2010-12-14T13:26:00.002-06:00

I love Christmastime. It's definitely the most wonderful time of the year! Here are a few thoughts that have been swimming through my mind this Christmas season...

Here is an article by Mark Driscoll on what him and his wife teach their kids about Santa Clause (click here). I really like their approach to teaching their kids about the original St. Nick and how we can enjoy the idea he lived out in giving to others during Christmas without actually telling our kids Santa is real and will fill our house with presents on Christmas Eve. The story of St. Nick is a great story. He was a great example of living out the selflessness of Christ by serving others. I see nothing wrong with having Santa be a part of Christmas as long as he's not the focus of Christmas and that I'm not lying to my kids about a man who magically delivers presents to every one's house once a year... but that's just how we roll. To each his own :-)

My friend Sarah posted this video on her blog a while back. They had showed it at our church last year and I kinda forgot about it. I can't watch it without tears coming to my eyes... what a great song choice to put to these clips. They are from the movie The Nativity Story, which is another one of my new favorites. Great movie, some scenes are obviously added for dramatic effect (donkey in the river scene), but all in all a great movie to help you put yourself back in the day of Jesus's birth.

As Sarah said... the look on the face of the third wise man says it all. If only we were all so awestruck at the significance of what Christmas represents

Next up is a blog my friend Wendy discovered (click here). She tells of how for the last 10 years her family has not exchanged gifts on Christmas morning but rather spent the weeks preceding Christmas choosing gifts, as a family, that they could "give" to Jesus on his birthday. They look through catalogs put out by Samaratin's purse and others who present opportunities to buy supplies, animals, and food for people in need in foreign countries. There are so many opportunities to give back in our own neighborhood and abroad. I love this idea... can't say I'm ready to convert our Christmas into this same concept but it's very convicting to read about, check it out :-) Good stuff.

Those are just a few things I've been thinking about this season. Ultimately my prayer this year is to be heavy with purpose in how I worship and celebrate the King of Kings. Merry Christmas!!

Pajama Day

2010-12-14T13:11:00.002-06:00

Yesterday the kids and I stopped into Target to get some items and Max discovered a major deal on pj's. There was a small shelf against a wall with CLEARANCE on it and a few stacks of pajama sets. The set were marked down to $1.25!! What a steal!! I grabbed a handful of sets. Most of them were girl sets but Max found an Ironman set. All the girl sets were fairly small sizes so I didn't even look at the Ironman set.

We got home and the kids insisted on wearing their new jammers... that instant. I didn't have any really good reason they couldn't so we opened them up. Maddy's were a girl's size small and were slightly baggy... Max's were a boys size 8... as in should probably be the correct size for an 8 year old boy... ugh oh.

I tried to explain this to Max and even held up the pants, which were taller than him just on their own but Max insisted on wearing them. The sleeves had to be rolled a few time and the waist and the bottoms of the pants had to be rolled as well. It was quite a ridiculous site but he loved it so I decided it wasn't worth fighting over. He kinda had a M.C. Hammer look going on :-)

I gave the kids a bath later and was hoping I would be able to negotiate a different set of clothes on Max... no dice...

In this picture Maddy was trying to explain to me that the beads she was choosing for her picture made it look more "Christmaser" :-)

Another good one...

2010-12-09T18:40:00.001-06:00

“The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father,
the greatest unkindness you can do to him,
is not to believe that he loves you."
— John Owen

It's pretty important...

2010-12-06T14:48:00.003-06:00

As a church we are just finishing up our study of 1 John. Last night at connection group we discussed the final section of this book. One group of verses sparked quite a bit of discussion.

1 John 5:14-15 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him."

That's ok, I had to read it a couple times too ;-) What exactly does this mean? Are we only supposed to pray prayers we KNOW God will answer? If so, how do we know which ones he will answer? If we're confident we know what his will is why aren't all our prayers answered? How do we become confident it knowing what his will is? and so on...

The discussion was great and probably could have gone on for hours. I don't think any of us walked away feeling like we knew exactly what it all meant and confident from now on we'd always know God's will in the things we asked and therefore all our prayers would be answered from last night on. But Wendy, I think it was Wendy, hit on a great point... we do have a way of becoming more confident in knowing what God's will is... reading our Bible! There it is folks, simple as that :-)

How do you get to know anyone? You spend time with them, listen to them, observe their actions and reactions. How do we get to know our God? Spend time with him=prayer, listen to him=prayer and reading your Bible, and observe his actions and reactions=read your Bible. Do you think God would agree with this concept? Let's check out what he has to say, in his own book...

Psalm 119:33-40 is a terrific passage to start with, notice each line refers to the importance of God's Word in maintaining a godly lifestyle.
"Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end.

Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.

Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I delight.

Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.

Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.

Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good.

How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness."

I've learned this week that there a couple ways to "use" God's Word and apply it in our lives so that we can know him and his will more intimately.

First, we must study and meditate on God's Word DAILY -
Psalm 1:2 "But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night."

Joshua 1:8 "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

I believe that is what D.L. Moody was referencing in the quote I posted the other day and you can read if you scroll down.

We must also OBEY God's Word -
See the passage from Joshua 1 above...

Ezekiel 33:31-32 shows an example of those that heard God's Word but did not obey "My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice."

James 1:22"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

John 14:15 Jesus says "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

Hebrews 4:2 "For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith."

How will we start to know if what we are asking of God is in his will? The more we learn about him by reading his word, the more we will see what he loves, what he desires out of us, how he wants us to treat others, what he hates, what grieves the Holy Spirit. It's right there for all of us to discover...

There are a lot of great books out there and devotionals and study guides. These tools are great to help you in your understanding of what you're reading in God's Word but should never be a replacement or substitute in your DAILY study of God's Word.

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from who you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears wan to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

How do you know if a resource is of sound teaching. Look at what the resource claims and/states. If it does not line up with the Word of God on all accounts, do not continue to rely on that resource. Be aware that there is false doctrine out there. How do money handlers learn how to spot a counterfeit? Do they spend hours studying counterfeit bills to recognize them? No, they spend hours and hours studying the real money, learning everything they can about it so that when a counterfeit comes along, it is easy to spot. The same will apply to false doctrine. If you intimately know God's Word from studying it, meditating on it, and obeying it false doctrine will start to stick out like a sore thumb.

That's one of the things I really love about our church. The teaching teams decide on a book of the Bible we will study as a church and then we study it. From the very first verse to the very last. Our teaching pastors don't skip around and gather passages to make them work for the message THEY want to get across. We use the Word of God just as he laid it out, how he inspired it, to get the message across that HE wanted to get across. Love it!

Anyway... There are great resources out there for help in studying and when you find a good resource do take advantage of it to help you understand the context of passages and even application help but be sure each day you dedicate time to reading God's Word alone.

www.blueletterbible.org is a great website for looking up word meanings and accessing commentaries. I also like to keep around my Word Study Greek-English New Testament which has a complete concordance.

Bottom line... get into your Bible... DAILY!! You will not be disappointed, you will not walk away thinking that was time wasted. You will be blessed and you will undoubtedly learn more and more about God's character and his will for your life. Start now!! ;-)

I'm reading through the Psalms. I read one a day and meditate on it and journal what God wants to teach me about myself and what he wants to teach me about him. It's been really amazing and it seems like there is something so applicable in each Psalm. If you're looking for something to read to draw you closer to God and see what it means to praise him and to plead to him, Psalms is a great book.

Anyway... stop reading blogs and go read your Bible!! :-) Love ya!

Just a thought...

2010-12-04T13:12:00.002-06:00

I came across this quote from D.L. Moody in my Bible study materials this week... just have to share it :-)

"A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God's boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it."

WOW!!!

Random stuff

2010-11-30T14:10:00.002-06:00

We're juicers now... we juice stuff... thought you'd like to know that. We spent Thanksgiving weekend with Bryan's parents in Omaha and I didn't want to drag along the juicer and all the produce so I juiced up 5 mornings of juice in one batch... here's what 5 days of breakfast juice looks like in our house... we also add cranberries but you can't see them here.

I had been kinda anxious about the fact that most of Maddy's friends were writing their names and Maddy had really no interest in writing letters at all. I thought I had failed as a mother. Then she sat down last week and did this all by herself...

And Max wrote his name... kinda...

The kids helped me pack for Grandpa and Grandma's house...

and brused their teeth with their new Sponge Bob Square Pants electric toothbrushes...

Unfortunately I totally forgot to take pictures in Omaha over the weekend so I have nothing to show for it!!Sorry!! Maybe I'll get some pictures from the Grandmas and post again soon :-) Hope you all had a terrific Thanksgiving weekend!!

Hello There :-)

2010-11-12T14:05:00.002-06:00

Just a minute to say Hi and let you know we're alive and kickin' We've been busy outside enjoying the beautiful weather. It's raining today, which is the first sign of winterish weather we've seen yet.

Maddy and Max took advantage of the rainy day weather and decided to make some wonderful handmade beaded necklaces. We also headed out to dance class today, which was interesting in the rain and cold. Max was looking for puddles to jump in and Maddy and I were just trying to stay dry :-)

Halloween Fun...

2010-10-29T14:55:00.003-05:00

This year Halloween was a weekend long event... it was the first year the kids had really grasped the idea of dressing up and going out to gather obscene amounts of candy...

It all started Friday morning. We headed downtown with some friends to trick or treat at the main street businesses...

Here the kids are ready to head out... sorry that SpiderMax's reflective headgear caused a bad reaction on the picture... Maddy was a lot more excited about her Unicorn costume that she appears here :-)

We had quite a crew! Down town was full of little creatures and super heroes...

One of the bars down town had a bowl outside their door on a chair with this crow in the middle of it. It looked harmless until you reached for a piece of candy and it started moving and talking with red glowing eyes... it was a bit creep! Most of the kids moved on... except for the fearless Ya-ya :-)

Later that day a Halloween package arrived from Grandma Kathy and Papa Bob. It was FULL of treats, toys, stickers, and all sorts of goodies. The kids were delighted!

Later that night we headed out in a nearby neighborhood with our friends, the Jorgensens. Anya is in the fairy costume here, Maddy is running to ring the doorbell, and Max is trying his best to keep up :-) They had a BLAST!

Saturday we took a break from trick or treating but enjoyed some treats throughout the day. It was a gorgeous day and we headed out to the park. Sunday was another great day and the kids and I headed to Hubbard for one last round of trick or treating. We visited the Great Grandmas and Grandma Carolyn and some friends around town.

One of our first stops was to Uncle Denny and Aunt Trudy's house where the kids scored a big bag of Skittles! It took a while for Max to warm up to a 3rd round of Halloween, as you can see here, but after a few candy bars he really started to perk up ;-)

This week is Below birthday week featuring my brother Lance's birthday (Nov 1st), his oldest daughter Sybil's (Nov 1st), his second oldest daughter Clara's (Nov 3rd), and his son Jag's (Nov 5th). We're looking forward to celebrating this weekend!!

Birthday gifts at work...

2010-10-29T14:51:00.002-05:00

For her birthday, along with tons of other great gifts Maddy recieved this adorable Cupcake apron...

Thanks Alan and Garland!!!

and a super sweet Play-doh kitchen set...
Thanks Uncle Lance, Aunt Jessica, Sybil, Clara, Jade, and Jag!!

Meet the Dewhursts

2010-10-26T20:24:00.004-05:00

Ok, so these aren't the finished product quite yet but Stacey brought these over tonight and I couldn't keep them to myself...

He thought he was going to get some alone time with Stacey... he was disappointed when he found out we were all getting our pics taken :-)

With Bryan's parents...

The kids with my Mom :-)

The men of the house...

My favorite little girl in the whole wide world...

Another one of my favorite girls...

Four generations...

And there are sooo many more to pic from!!! Hopefully I can make some decisions by the time I need to order Christmas cards...

Thanks Stacey!! We love you lots!!

Maddypalooza 2010

2010-10-25T12:03:00.003-05:00

This year was the first year we invited friends to Maddy's birthday celebration... and it was truly a palooza...

Before the party really got started our favorite Stacey came over and took some family photos... here are some of the poses from Grandma Kathy's camera... Stacey's pics to follow...

Here's our family with my Mom, my Dad's Mom on the left and my Mom's Mom on the right

Here are the kids with my Mom, Carolyn. Super excited to see more of these shots...

Next the cake...Maddy asked for Snow White cupcakes and a Sleeping Beauty cake

Snow White cupcakes.... check!

Sleeping Beauty cake... check!

Kinda creepy that Sleeping Beauty is sleeping with her eyes open...

Maddy was excited about how it all turned out, and that was really the true test :-)

Then the party began... We started out with just family for dinner. We had pizza, chips and salsa, dip, salad, lots of good stuff. Then friends started to arrive!!

We headed out to the garage for some pumpkin painting...

This was so much fun! It was a bit messy but with washable paint I really didn't worry about it :-)

After everyone had exercised their artistic side we headed in to sing to the birthday girl...

This is one of my favorite pics from the party... look at all these little folks just enjoying some cake together. I wish I had listened in longer to see what the topic of discussion was...

Next Maddy moved on to opening gifts. This is where it got a little crazy! We were definitely overwhelmed with how generous all of our friends are and how giving they were towards Maddy. Very Cool...

All in all it was the perfect party. Lots of food, lots of friends, lots of fun, did I mention lots of friends?? :-) We were very much reminded of how blessed we are with great friends and family!

Here is Maddy on Sunday morning modeling one of her new outfits. Doesn't she look so grown up!

Most fun way to spend a Monday

2010-10-18T21:18:00.002-05:00

Today was Maddy's 4th birthday!! It was, by far, the most fun day I've ever had being a Mama. LOVED it!! Here's how it went...

The morning started with Maddy climbing in our bed around 7:30 where I gave her gigantic smothering hugs and kisses and reminded her it was her birthday. She then asked when she could start eating cake and ice cream :-)

Next she made her way into Max's room where Max was snuggling in the guest room with Grandma Kathy. She got more birthday hugs and kisses. Next it was homemade banana bread with Daddy and 0pening a few presents.

Maddy and Max listened to a new CD Grandma had brought for Maddy while Grandma Kathy and I got ready for the day. Then it was off to Center Grove Orchard. We had never been there before but had heard good things. It was amazing!!! It was perfect for kids Max and Maddy's ages. They had fun cut outs to take pictures in...

Soon Grandma Carolyn and Jade arrived to join in the fun! We headed into the Corn Pool... seriously a genius idea. About 1000 square feet of corn. What more could a kid want. You could slide into it. Jump into it... Max was a huge fan. This picture isn't clear but it's my favorite because it captures exactly what he was like in there... smiley... and non stop :-)

Maddy had a great time running around on the hay bales.

Then we were off to check out the animals. They had horses, turkeys, chickens, ducks, and goats... the goats were really cool and the kids got to feed them, which was a hoot to watch...

Next it was on to the giant bouncy pillow thing. I'm sure there's a specific name for this thing... whatever it is... it looked like a lot of fun. Here's Jade, Maddy and Max jumping together

Love this action shot of Maddy... look at that hair!!

After the pillow we checked out the giant slide... this thing was intimidating to me but the kids didn't even think twice about hopping on. The slide started off with a straight down drop of about 12 feet and then down the hill.

Max started out ok for about the first 10 feet... then each time something went wrong and the size and weight of his head would spin him around and he would end up sliding down upside down and head first the majority of the ride...

So, him and I decided it was best if he just rode on my lap :-) Maddy and Jade went down more times than I could count. The steep climb back up the hill didn't even phase them :-)

They also had pedal tractors...

Scenes from storybooks you could play in...

A one room school house...

and a peculiar little outhouse style building that was just the right size for a very worn out and hungry little guy...

We soon grabbed a bag of apples from the store and headed to the car. We traveled back to town for lunch at Burger King and the kids inhaled some nutritious fast food delights :-) and played on the play land equipment.

The next appointment for the day was for Maddy to have her nails done. Grandma Kathy took her to a local salon and she picked out some purple glittery polish to match her outfit for her birthday party on Saturday...

Her and Grandma then headed to the Cafe for some ice cream...

Meanwhile Max and I headed back home for a much needed nap on Max's part and some laundry/dishes/fun house stuff for me :-)

Maddy got to come home and rest for a while before the next and last big excitement for her birthday-palooza :-) Maddy, Max and I headed to the mall to watch Toy Story 3. On Mondays tickets are 75 cents if you have 3 or more people in your group!! So, for 2.50 we got to hang out and watch Buzz and Woody on the big screen.

I don't have any pictures of this event but it was definitely the highlight of the day for me. I had brought in some bootleg popcorn and m&ms and lemonade for snacking :-) There were several times I was more into watching the kids' faces then the movie itself. They were so caught up in the characters on the big screen. I got a little teary eyed thinking about what a blessing the day had been and how we got to spend time with such important people in our lives. It couldn't have gone better!

After the movie we headed home for dinner and baths. The kids hardly made a fuss about bed time. I think they were exhausted! Thank you to the Grandmas for making today such a special day and sharing it with us. I have so much to be thankful for today :-)

Sleepover!!!!

2010-10-16T21:33:00.002-05:00

Tonight was Maddy's first friend sleepover! Kind of a big deal!! We went and picked up her friend Anya this afternoon. It was kind of a double sleep over due to the fact that they started their time together taking naps :-) All 3 kids took a great nap! They woke up later in the afternoon and we had a quick dinner and the headed off to their friend Brenna's birthday party.

After a lot of fun and sugar we headed back home for a quick bath. The kids had so much fun playing in the tub. They discovered the fun sounds you can make when you squish a rubber duck against your tummy. All of them were laughing hard and really enjoying themselves. Next it was pajama and Bible story time. Then after prayers they were off to bed... kinda... So far we're on about our 5th try of sleeping arrangement and it seems to be keeping things quiet :-)

The girls own the same shirt so I dressed them alike for the birthday party. They were so excited to be twins :-)

Max also enjoyed having Anya around to play with...

The 3 of them ready and "patiently" waiting to go to the party and eat cake and ice cream :-)

What good is a sleepover if you're not going to jump on mattresses in your jammers?!

The girls getting settled in for the night...

Our hero...

2010-10-09T12:11:00.002-05:00

Last night something happened at our house... a hero emerged...

We're pretty sure Max is a big fan of his Spiderman costume... and how do we know this?

Maybe because when he's not wearing it he carries it around in the package... in the car... around the house...

and when I told him he couldn't wear it into the sandbox...

Yeah... I think he likes it :-)

Do I love you?

2010-10-04T10:17:00.009-05:00

This weekend the message at our church was about "Loving the Church". Pastor Troy did a great job. For the entire message click here to go to our church website and then you can click on Media Player to get to the current sermons.

Yesterday's passage was 1 John 2:7-11. It brought great conviction to my heart and I'd like to share with you what God has put on my heart. The passage reads "Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him."

A powerful rebuke to those of us who have hatred in our hearts against fellow brothers/sisters in Christ... but do we really HATE many people?? How much anger and bitterness do we have to have in our hearts before we truly hate someone? Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:21-22 from the sermon on the mount that "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement."

Still think you can justify that bitterness towards someone in your life... 1 Samuel 16:7 says "...The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." in another passage in 1 John (3:20) we read "For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."

Suddenly that number of people in our lives that God sees that we have hatred in our hearts towards can start to multiply.

Sure, John mentions this command but is loving one another a priority in God's eyes? It's always easy to recognize the importance of something someone is trying to tell us when they repeat a key point over and over again. God does this in His Word about loving each other. Let's check out some of those examples...

In John 15:9-12 Jesus says "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." Not only are we to love each other but we are to love each other as God the Father loved His Son! What is at stake? Joy. Without having this love for one another we risk a life without true joy. If we are not experiencing the true joy that Christ's love and salvation brings, this may be an area we need to check ourselves.

II John 4-6 says "It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady(the church), I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love." It's clear here that loving each other is not merely a suggestion God hopes we will pick up on, it's a command that if we do not follow, we are walking in direct disobedience to Him.

1 John 3:23-24 tells us "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." Here the command to love one another is given in the same breath as the Gospel itself! It also tells us that a Spirit of love for our brothers/sisters in Christ is a sign showing that we belong to Him.

There are so many passages on this subject but this next one seems to be the most powerful by far. John 13:35-35. The scene is the last supper. Jesus is pouring out as much info as He can to His disciples knowing His time on earth is running short. He addresses the disciples "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know what you are my disciples, if you love one another." 3 times in 2 short verses!! Once again telling us that our love for each other is how all men will know that we are His disciples. If all men are not seeing this fruit, the fruit that lasts (John 15:16), we have to question what we are portraying as claimed Christ followers.

What is at stake if we choose not to obey this command? 1 John 2: 9-11 tells us we will walk in darkness, we will stumble, and we will remain in darkness not knowing where we are going because the darkness has blinded us. 1 John 3: 11-20 is packed with instructions on loving one another and tells us in verse 14 "...Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him." That's pretty powerful, huh.

So, how do we apply this? How do we start to love those who anger, frustrate, exasperate us. First, we need to realize alone, we can't. It is only through the love the Father passed to the Son, and that He passes on to us that we can start this process. We need to ask for the Lord's help. We need to pray for hearts and eyes to see people as God saw them when He sent His Son to die. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

We need to remember that passages like Psalm 139 and Isaiah 43 were written for all those created by God to reflect His image on this earth. At the foot of the cross we are all on the same level, none is better, none is more worthy of love. Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" We really have no grounds for judging others. No justification for having pride in our spirituality or religiosity over any other.

I have not kept this command. I have not loved all those put into my life. I have allowed brokenness, therefore allowing the darkness to creep in. We all have. What are we to do then, when we come to the realization that we have not kept this command. 1 John 1:8-10 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."

Meaning... we confess. We humble ourselves and take this sin issue to the throne of grace. We are warned against "leaving a gift at the altar" (Matthew 5:23-24) when we have bitterness in our hearts towards another. We cannot enter into true worship and communion with God when we are harboring this sin.

Thankfully, we do not have to wait for a special occasion or weekly, or monthly event to be forgiven of sin when we are followers of Christ. As it says in the passage above from 1 John, all we have to do is confess our sins to Jesus and He is faithful to forgive us, right where we sit. That is the freedom we have in Christ. We are to be confessing daily our sins to God. In the example prayer Jesus gave us in Matthew 6: 9-13 we are told to pray "give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts,..." We need not... should not wait until Sundays, we need to keep short accounts with God on a daily basis.

What a radical change there could be in our relationships with those around us if we all clung to the determination to follow this great command and love each other, love each other, love each other, just as the Father loves us. It's not easy and without the love of Christ in us... it's impossible. But for those who have received the gift of eternal life from God (Romans 6:23), it is expected of and commanded to us.

Join me in praying Psalm 139:23-24 today "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Amen!

Pumpkins!!!!

2010-10-02T19:58:00.007-05:00

This morning we were packing up to head over to the Ziel Farm pumpkin patch to score some super cheap and big pumpkins when we got a call from Grandma Carolyn. She was also in the mood for some pumpkin hunting so she zoomed down to Ames and off we went...

This place is between Ames and Boone and the pumpkins are all $2, no matter how big. Small pie pumpkins are only a buck and decorative pumpkins and gourds are 3 for $1... seriously can't beat that! There are no games or attractions or marketing ploys... just a bunch of pumpkins in rows and a box with a hole cut in it do drop your money in. Love it!

Max thought he needed every pumpkin he put his hands on...

Maddy was being a bit more careful in choosing...

Posing for a picture with Grandma :-)

Later we got home and arranged all the pumpkins plus the 2 scarecrows we picked up at Hobby Lobby on our "patio". The kids re arranged them after this photo was taken.

Max had been a bit rough with the pumpkins so I told him if he dropped them they would bust open and all the seeds would fall out. He was also convinced they were full of tiny spiders that would crawl out and was demonstrating here how they would climb out...

Maddy was so excited about the pumpkins...

They look so innocent and well behaved here... wait for it...

and here's how they are the other 99% of the time. Ha!

When it started to get dark we headed inside and took the "baby" pumpkins in so they wouldn't get cold.

Thanks Grandma Carolyn for coming down and spending the day with us!! We loved going pumpkin hunting, napping, shopping, and El Aztecaing... with you :-)

Random pics...

2010-10-02T19:52:00.001-05:00

Dancing with the stars cast hopefuls...

One of the kids took this picture of our 91 year old neighbor Chuck. Love this guy!

Another weekend flies by!

2010-09-20T15:41:00.002-05:00

The kids and I headed off to Omaha this weekend for some fun! We got to hang out with Grandma Kathy, Papa Bob, Aunt Barbie and Uncle George.

Max would tell you he had a great time playing with Play doh...

Maddy avoided most photo ops so I'm sorry to say I don't have a lot of her to show off...
Judging by the look on Max's face, maybe there was some terrifying bug or something on the front of the camera I just wasn't seeing ;-)

The kids had a great time playing Play Doh with Uncle George and reading stories with Aunt Barb

Sunday late afternoon Grandma Kathy, Aunt Barb, the kids and I headed to the zoo. It was close to closing time so there were no crowds to fight. I think it worked out as perfect timing.
Max and Maddy LOVED the aquarium, it is pretty awesome.
Max snapped a picture of a penguin...

He was so fascinated with the sharks and the sting rays...

Maddy had a great time watching them swim right past her on the glass. She loved looking for the giant turtle.

Here are two mermaids we spotted...

In the gorilla house Max and Grandma had a close encounter. Grandma was a bit shaken, Max was thrilled.

For those of you who read Madeline books... To the tiger in the zoo, Madeline just says "Pooh, Pooh" :-)

It was a great weekend! The ride home took longer than usual. We stopped at Stuart for lunch. The Burger King has a play land that the kids had to themselves. Here is a picture of unconditional love. Max was a couple inches too short to climb up the equipment to get to the slide so big sister saved the day by picking up his legs and shoving him up each and every ledge... twice. It was very cute :-)

Fallow ground

2010-09-10T14:58:00.002-05:00

I started a new Bible study this week at our church. We are going through the book Seeking Him by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Tim Grissom. The introduction talks a lot about the real meaning of revival and how it's so much more than big flashy evangalistic meetings of the past. Revival literally means "to bring back to life." I'm anxious to get into this study and learn more about revival and how it can change my life to give more glory to God.

On the page margin of the first lesson was a verse that shook me up a bit. Hosea 10:12 "Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, til He comes and rains righteousness on you." I looked up the definition of "fallow ground." It means - left unplowed and unseeded during a growing season. Wow!! What a powerful word picture!

Maybe it's just due to the fact that I live in the middle of Iowa and thousands of corn fields but this image is so powerful to me. I can picture 2 fields in my mind.

One... with hard, unplowed ground, weeds growing, but nothing fruitful. When the rain starts it really doesn't change the fact that nothing has been planted, nothing grows, nothing changes.

Two... a dark, rich field where the soil has been stirred and turned up and seeds have been carefully, lovingly sown. Work has been put into preparing it for the growing season... and then... the rain starts... Unlike the first field, this ground has been waiting anxiously for the rain. It knew the rain was coming and it was ready to recieve it. The rain covers the ground and starts to nourish the seeds in the soil. Soon growth starts, even if it is small and can't be seen on the surface, it starts. Days and weeks go by and soon the well tended soil produces fruit.

This verse struck me and forced me to ask myself which field I had become. Had I eased into fallow ground... it took a lot less effort on my part and I didn't have to worry about any uncomfortable changes... I think I had for a bit. Today though, I'm breaking out my plow :-) I'm praying for God to stir up the ground around my heart to prepare it for His righteous reign :-)

Ugly Dance

2010-09-09T17:15:00.002-05:00

I know my loyal readers have come to expect a level of maturity from my blogs of wisdom... (snicker) but today... I must make an exception!

I found this website on a friend's Facebook page and created a page for myself. It is EXTREMELY silly and addictive... be warned!!

To change up the moves click on the names of the dance styles... enjoy :-)

CLICK HERE!

Picnic at the Park

2010-09-05T14:32:00.002-05:00

We headed to the local school playground Saturday for a picnic and some play time. It was great to have Daddy along with us for a picnic as usually we go to the park during the week.

Daddy had taken on the task of packing up some goodies for lunch...

Max tried to eat all of his at once :-)

Maddy and Barbie were taking their time

After lunch it was off to play!

What a great way to spend Saturday lunch!

Gluten free pizza...mastered!

2010-09-05T14:12:00.003-05:00

My one year anniversary of being gluten free is coming up in October and it's been a great learning process. Finding food to eat hasn't been a problem... finding food to eat that I actuallyl WANT to eat... that's been a problem!

I've found several replacements for most of the foods I used to love. Brown rice pasta is now a staple in our cupboards and I can't even tell the difference between that and flour pasta. One thing I had really struggled with was the lack of pizza. I LOVE pizza!! It's so versatile! You can put anything on pizza... anything!

There are several gluten free pizza crust mixes. I've tried a few and haven't been impressed by one yet. They are mostly edible but nothing I'd get excited about eating. I then moved on to frozen pre-made gluten free crusts. Whole Foods sells crusts that are decent but way too thick for me. I'm a thin... THIN crust kinda gal. I had pretty much given up on ever eating a pizza I really wanted to sink my teeth into again... cue the violins :-)

Then one Sunday I was trying to think of a quick and easy lunch for us and the kids are remembered how we used to make personal sized pizzas out of flour tortillas. I knew we had a some in the fridge for Bryan and the kids and I remembered I had some brown rice tortillas I had been using for quesadillas. I figured it was worth a shot to make a quick pizza with them... and then everything changed ;-)

These little beauties... Food for Life Brown Rice Tortillas.

If you are a thin crust pizza fan...you may want to pick up a case of these... even if you don't have to eat gluten free!! They make the most amazing... crispy... crunchy... wonderful pizza crusts... ever!! and at a fraction of the cost of the gluten free pizza crust mixes or pre-made crusts!! I'm in love...

Here are a couple of my favorite pizzas so far...
Pepperoni, red pepper, and spinach...

Oh... and this one... this was a game changer... taco pizza
Imagine this if you will-incredibly crispy thin crust topped with seasoned taco meat, black beans and melted cheese. Then topped with sliced black olives, diced tomatoes, shredded spinach, diced avacado, more shredded cheese, tortilla chips... drizzled with fresh salsa and plain yogurt (the healthy alternative to sour cream, folks... try it) This was one of those foods you wish you could eat for hours :-)

I'm am now officially at peace with my wheat allergy...

Painting-Outside is best

2010-09-05T14:02:00.002-05:00

I found some cheap washable paints on a recent trip to Staples. I decided to break them out the other day and let the kids have some creative expression time. It was so nice outside that I thought maybe it'd be fun to paint on our front patio... boy, was I happy with that decision as the creative expression time played out :-)

It started out pretty calm... each child painting away...

BTW... this is my current favorite picture of Maddy :-)

Not long into the process the painting become more "hands on"

Soon it turned into body painting...

And an impromptu pedicure...

I love the attention to detail here and the multiple color mixes going on in the paint pots :-)

Maddy soon joined in on the nail painting...

I didn't want to be left out either... I love the irony of my son wearing a THOR t-shirt while painting my toe nails, ha!

Soon not even the rocks were safe... the kids had a great time and I'm very thankful this project was not on my dining room table/carpet/walls/chairs... etc.

Back to my normal life... wait...

2010-08-31T20:50:00.003-05:00

After 2 weekends away from my kids I am so thankful to be home this week enjoying my "normal" life... where I plug in my camera memory card and find that my son has taken a picture like this of his sister when I wasn't looking...

and I get to capture photos like this of Batman "flying" around my house with Woody and Buzz Lightyear...

Max refers to Woddy and Buzz as "My guys" and asks for them as soon as he wakes up, at nap time, bath time, anytime we leave the house, and bed time, oh and about 100 times in between there. Check out the bottoms of their feet. Max noticed from the movie that the boy that owns them, Andy, had his name written on their feet. So Max, wanting to be true to the movie requested that his name be written on each of their feet :-)

This beautiful young lady has spent the last 2 days in her recital costume :-) For what we paid for it... she could probably wear it until her 10th birthday and I wouldn't mind :-) I love that she loves to dress up!!

Needless to say I've spent plenty of time hugging and kissing and cuddling with these two so far this week and so that is why my blogging has been slow... I figured you'd be ok with that!

Rosebud

2010-08-31T20:19:00.002-05:00

This past weekend I had the privilege to travel to Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. There are 6 families from the Ames/Huxley area that are hosting teenagers from Rosebud for the next school year. This opportunity will bring a chance at a better education and a dramatically more routine home life.

I was not going to pick up a teenager though... I was going to WORK! One of the women on the reservation had sustained severe damage to her home due to a wind storm in July. The winds had ripped the roof off of half of her home and rain poured in causing mold and water damage.

She was able to find help to rebuild her roof and walls but was left with a shell of a kitchen and living room. That's were we came in! Chris and Kris Gardner of Bella Homes
lead Ashley and I on an adventure in construction 101. We taped and mudded the sheetrock walls, sanded, applied texture to walls and ceilings, painted, installed cabinets and appliances and doors, and replaced trim pieces and light fixtures... whew! We did have quite a bit of help from others from our church that stopped in during our 14 hour day and we were VERY thankful for their help... especially the really tall guys that so graciously covered the ceiling work :-)

Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of all that we did... not sure why I didn't think of that, shoot! But... I did get a few shots of the pow wow that was going on at the Rosebud festival that weekend... the costumes and attention to detail were amazing!!

This was definitely an experience like I've never had before...

Here was a pow wow area just across the road from our motel... the luxurious Throughbread Motel :-) (emphasis on sarcasm here folks)

Sunday morning we enjoyed a pancake breakfast with the host families of the students returning to Ames and the parents/guardians from Rosebud. I could go on and on about the stories I heard and what I learned about the culture of reservation life... there weren't many things that didn't cause me to hold back shock and sometimes tears. The lives of the people on Rosebud deserve our most sincere prayers. There is brokeness beyond anything I've ever even dreamed of.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to help out and my life will be forever changed from what I saw and experienced.

Getting there...

2010-08-31T12:22:00.001-05:00

Got lots to blog about... just discovered Picasa so using that for my pics now... just need a little bit of time and I'll get some fresh posts and pics... to be continuted... :-)

the latest

2010-08-26T14:02:00.002-05:00

Here's the latest folks!!

Kids are loving the final weeks of summer!

A week ago Monday, the day we went to the fair, I came down with a NASTY ear infection... and my ear is still plugged despite SEVERAL attemps both natural and harsh to open it up. Going crazy here!!

Last weekend Bryan and I went to Chicago to a wedding for one of Bryan's college friends... LOVE this picture of us... aren't we just cute!

I had an adveturous day driving around and shopping by myself while Bryan golfed on Friday and then Saturday was the wedding and all the festivities that go along with that. I got to know a couple of the other ladies that were attending as well and made some quick but great friends!! Next to me is the lovely Laura and then the beautiful Ali on the right! Great gals!

The kids got to spend the weekend here with Grandma Kathy and Papa Bob and they had a great time baking and playing and visiting local parks and the library.

Monday was a day of recovery...

Tuesday I had a filling done at the dentist...

Wednesday I had a root canal at the endodontist...

Today... I'm on a lot of Ibuprophen :-)

Isn't this weather gorgeous!!! LOVE it so much! Thank you, Lord, for this weather!!

Hope everyone is able to get out and enjoy it a bit!

The State Fair!!...kinda

2010-08-17T19:00:00.002-05:00

So we headed off to the State Fair on Monday morning. We went along with Ashley and Anya J and it was... an experience... ;-)

We got started a little later than expected. We took the way I have usually gone in the past and haven't had much traffic trouble... not the case on Monday. Back to back, bumper to bumper traffice... for miles!! Then, the car overheated... then we found a parking spot, Yay! Once we got to the gate I realized I had forgotten my wallet... not so Yay.

I had bought tickets early online and needed to pick them up at the will call window... which was on the complete opposite side of the fair grounds from the gate we were at... not great. Bless the heart of the worker watching that entrance that day. Let's just say he made our life easier :-)

Once inside the fair we toured the animal barns and ate some delicious and oh so nutritous fair food :-) The kids and moms quickly tired as the heat turned up and the patience ran low. Praise the Lord for the Cup 'O Cookies stand!!!!

Before heading home we found Grandma Carolyn who had brought down a couple of the cousins. We had time for one quick photo op before the final meltdowns and then we were headed home!

Berry Patch

2010-08-14T14:57:00.003-05:00

This morning we decided to skip town and head to the Berry Patch Farm outside of Nevada. Here is their website.

We had never been to the Berry Patch and didn't really know what to expect. We were very pleasantly surprised!! We decided to pick blueberries and raspberries.

Our friends, the Pierce's, joined us for some picking fun.

Max had a blue bucket and was set to pick...

Maddy got a red bucket with hearts and did a great job picking berries...

Just look at these beauties!!

Maddy had fun helping Savannah fill her bucket...

Max and Sav snuck away for a little alone time :-) How cute!!

Maddy eventually took over the picture taking and snapped this one of Sav which I think is really good!

We ended up with 3 pans like this of blueberries and 1 pan of red raspberries, which were not really fun to pick... bugs and weeds... ugh.

And now we have a freezer full of fresh organic hand picked berries!! Yay!!

Yes, that's a jar of water in the corner. I'm not canning water just yet but if this boil order keeps up... it may be an idea ;-)

Ice Cream Sandwiches

2010-08-14T14:48:00.002-05:00

Hello there! Yes, we have water in our basement but it's not the first time for that and it really wasn't very much. Yes, we still have to boil all our water before using it. Yes, it's a huge pain in the neck and I'm ready to stop living like pioneers... ok, that's enough about all that water drama :-)

The water drama did inspire me to pack up the kids and I and head to Hubbard for a while to escape the worries. Bryan still had to work so he stayed in Ames.

While in Hubbard we had the treat of ice cream sandwiches from Grandma Carolyn... the kids weren't so sure about these at first...

Once they realized it was ice cream surrounded by chocolate cookie... they were interested

very interested...

Max used his usually "fit the last 3 bites in my mouth at once" technique

Notice Maddy still has 1/2 her sandwich left :-)

Max found a stray sandwich on the plate...

and for a moment all the worries of rain and floods were gone from our minds. Thanks Grandma Carolyn!!!

No, we didn't go to the pool again...

2010-08-09T21:47:00.004-05:00

Well, at least not the one we usually go to :-)

We headed to H-Town to see Grandma Carolyn this afternoon and to hang out at the pool she frequents!

We did our best to blend in with the locals...

Maddy spent most of the time working with Grandma on jumping in. It's been one of our biggest hurdles!

As you can see by the look on her face... she LOVES it :-)

Max was spending some quality time with Buzz Lightyear or "Buzz Light" as Max calls him...

Barbie must not have had time to prep Buzz about what all happens at the pool. Here he is sinking to the bottom. Thanks to our waterproof camera I took this pic underwater! Love the bubbles coming off his feet :-)

Max made quick friends with one of my good friend's kids, Taten

They bonded over Toy Story while Audrey and I caught up

Boys...

Shortly after this pic was taken Max tripped on the cement and deeply scraped open both of his knees and we had to leave the pool in tears and bandaids... no photos are available of this incident :-(

Thanks for letting us hang out at your pool Grandma Carolyn!!

Birthday Ice Cream!

2010-08-09T12:10:00.004-05:00

Saturday night we headed out to Dairy Queen to keep on celebrating Grandma Kathy's pre-birthday!

Everyone found a treat that fit their appetite!

It was very hot outside and the ice cold ice cream hit the spot!

The kids devoured their cones in no time!

and we had to squeeze in a few goofy faces...

cause those always go with ice cream??

Some got into their ice cream cones with reckless abandon :-)

and then shared that slobbery goodness with Grandma ;-)

Max was hamming it up as usual

We all had a great time!

Right down to the last bite!!

Unwrapping

2010-08-09T12:05:00.003-05:00

We drove to Omaha Friday to spend the weekend celebrating Grandma Kathy's upcoming birthday!
The kids were excited to finally deliver the precious package they had so carefully wrapped a couple days earlier...

Grandma was hesitant to open the perfectly wrapped package :-)

She finally tore into it!

and revealed the purple lunch bag the kids had picked out for her... along with a pink thermos bowl

and a ladybuy icepack to keep things cool!

Later in the weekend she opened up a package that was packed ever so carefully and to the max by Aunt Barb!

It was full of so many goodies!! Max enjoyed "reading" the cards :-)

Grandma was touched by the personal notes and was very excited about her new digital frame!!

Wrapping...

2010-08-05T09:56:00.003-05:00

The kids must be up to something... they assembled quite an array of supplies this morning...
Then began to assemble and work with the materials in a very precise manner...
'
Ribbons were carefully measured...

Extra caution was taken to be sure it was secured in just the right place

Details were tediously added...

Personal touches were added with care...

Distorted facial expressions were used...

Glue sticks...

and regular glue was used to secure decorations...

Stickers were placed with precision...

This picture was taken by one of the artists...

Finally some meaningful words were carefully written...

A couple more stickers were needed to finish it off

and Voila!! It was finished...

But... what is it??? and who could it possibly be for???

Details on Monday :-)

Whatayaknow!

2010-08-01T20:27:00.002-05:00

You'll never guess what we did twice this weekend...

I love this pic of Max! It's blurry in some spots because of water droplets on the camera lens but it makes the picture interesting...

One of Maddy's infamous self portraits...

Maddy snapped this one of me on the lazy river

She's really getting good at these... :-)

And our friend Wendy... if only she'd smile :-)

Maddy and Daddy were blowing bubbles in the water with their mouths

Another weekend at the pool! Our pass has more than paid for itself!!

The hang out...

2010-07-31T14:08:00.002-05:00

There is a spot in our house that seems to attract the kids any time they free play... our bed. It can be made perfectly well but in a matter of seconds it is turned into a tent/fort/safe haven/playground every day... every day people :-)

A place to eat bananas

Pack a bag if you're coming along cause you never know what you'll need

bring a hat...

or 2...

bring a friend in a hat

seriously... this kid loves shoving the last 3 bites of any food in his mouth at once... lovely :-)

Oops! He heard me... sorry Max, keep up the good work :-)

Iowa

2010-07-31T13:59:00.002-05:00

What does months of hot, humid, rainy, stormy, ever changing Iowa weather get ya anyway...

A pile of this... which guarantees close by you will find a pile of...

This! Which is only about 1/4 of the corn I shucked this morning...

and my resident corn-cutter-off-the-cobber Bryan worked on...

then we threw it in a couple big stock pots and added lots of butter, salt and pepper...

cooked it, cooled it, and bagged it up!

Ahhh... a good morning's work for a winter full of "fresh" Iowa sweet corn!

Zoo of a morning

2010-07-29T15:26:00.002-05:00

We got an invite to head to the Des Moines Zoo this morning and we jumped at the chance. We're flexible like that :-)

Here are the lone boys of the group, Max and Leif... Max is about a year older than Leif... that apparently is a big year in the growth cycle :-)

Max, Maddy, Anya, and Kayley checking out the birds...

Here is a pic of one of the river otters. It's a wierd picture but they were really fast...

Some sort of Tortoise... much easier to get a picture of :-)

A seal...

If you look between Maddy and Kayley you can see a lioness...

She looked pretty relaxed

They were feeding one of the giraffes so we got a close look

I love how it looks like both the giraffe and Maddy have the same expression!

Ostrichs

Here are the "big" kids sharing a bench on the train. We asked Max to smile, that is what we got :-)

Leif enjoying the train ride...

Max and Maddy next to the train... and an old lawn chair :-)

Max playing at the Kid's Kingdom. It was a great play area...

Halle was glad to get out of the stroller and stretch for a while!

Max and Maddy loved this tight rope/balancing thing...

I'm not sure exactly what this was but Max thought it was cool

We made a stop at McD's for ice cream on the way home...

Max loved...

every...

bite!

And that was our zoo of a morning. Another whirlwind day but I wanted to keep you all in the loop!

Just another day at the pool

2010-07-28T12:56:00.003-05:00

It's been hot here folks! But... that doesn't bother us a bit!!

We headed out to the pool again yesterday

Max tested out his goggles...

and took them off every couple of minutes then asked to have them put back on :-)

Maddy brought along a Barbie who was subjected to doing whatever Maddy wanted to do :-)

Whoa Barbie... did you swallow some water on that one?!

I'd love to tell you what my dear son was son intently checking out in this picture but... well I'll save that for another day!

Maddy helping Barbie "swim"

At break time we refueled with cold water and a snack...

A good time was had by all...

Well... mostly all :-)

Sorry, no pictures

2010-07-27T13:35:00.002-05:00

I know it's been way too long since my last post. Summer works like that sometimes!

Here's some things that are going on here:

~The house sale fell through and our house is back on the market. I feel like it was a way of God closing a door so we didn't have to and I'm TOTALLY at peace with the whole deal and have no fear He has us on a path to better things :-)

~Due to the above bullet point I'm UNpacking the stacks of boxes around our house.

~Also, I'm UNpacking a lot LESS stuff thanks to all the junk we didn't need that we got rid of to pack thinking we were moving. It was a good thing :-)

~Summer is flying by!!! We've been at the pool regularly and loving it! The kids are getting more and more brave in the water.

~Our garden failed. We have black walnut trees that apparently emit some chemical into the soil that kills off tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers... etc. pretty much everything I planted except the jalepenos... yeah salsa!!

~I've been cleaning apartments at night to help out with the college turnover to make some extra money. Dirty job... not crazy dirty like I've heard stories about but... pretty dirty.

~Events coming up: Grandma Kathy's Birthday :-), wedding in Chicago, 4th anniversary, women's conference... stuff is on the calendar... be sure of that...

Ok, so as soon as I find the camera... which I'm pretty sure is in Maddy's room and she is hopefully sleeping right now... I'll post some pics... I promise...

Happy July!!

Rice Panda

2010-07-20T19:08:00.002-05:00

I found this idea in Clubhouse Jr. Magazine...

How to get kids to think white rice is cool...

Start by cutting up some celery to make them look like bamboo trees, I believe these are extremely accurate replicas... :-)

Break out some black olives and cut the following pieces...

Find a small round bottom bowl and pack it full of white rice...

Carefully overturn that bowl of rice onto kid's plates...

Add olive pieces to make a rice panda... awwwwww, now isn't that the cutest :-)

Seriously... I may start serving rice like this all the time. Why wouldn't I?!

Bridge

2010-07-18T16:58:00.002-05:00

I was packing up some things in our basement today and found a bag of photo frames. Some were empty and some had pictures I had taken years ago... then I found this...

This is me and my Dad.

I'm going to have to ask Mom exactly where it was taken and the background info. Note to Mom: Go ahead and add that to the comments :-)

I love this shot. I love that Dad's standing up on a bridge...strong and confident of his balance, something he wouldn't have been able to do with his bad feet later in life. I love his full head of hair! I love the worn out outline of his wallet in his back pocket :-) I love how even though it's a picture it seems so quiet and serene.

What a cool image to see Dad in good health enjoying looking down on the people below. I do often wonder if Dad gets to look down from Heaven and see what we're up to. If he does I picture him kinda like this :-)

Quick Change

2010-07-17T15:00:00.002-05:00

Drum roll please... our house SOLD!! Yeah for that!! Another drum roll please... we have to be out by July 31st!! Whoa there!!

We are excited that the house sold and excited to see where God leads us in 2 weeks. We're wanting to rent for a couple years and save a bit of money to eventually build a place of our own or buy a place that meets our needs. One nice thing about the quick move is that we live in a college town and so every Aug 1 all the rentals in Ames turn over. Everyone renting either renews or lots of places become available. We do have quite a few options at this point and we're going to be exploring them more deeply... quickly :-)

I did find a great 4 bedroom house to rent here in Ames on Craigslist and emailed the owner... unfortunately he recently relocated to West Africa and needs us to send him all our personal information and a check for the deposit before he ships us the keys to the house... Yes... I know this is a scam :-) Grrrr Craigslist scammers!!! What is your purpose in life!?!? Get a real job!!!! Ha!

Anyway... please pray for us in this slightly anxious but mostly excitiing adventurous time in our lives. We trust the Lord will direct our path and know if all else fails... we'll live in one of your basements :-)

None but Jesus

2010-07-12T12:44:00.002-05:00

Psalm 13:6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

These two songs were part of worship this weekend at our church. So powerful! Please give them a listen and see if they might move your heart today :-)

Psalm 62:1-2 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Ice Cream

2010-07-09T18:46:00.001-05:00

Just proves once again that our kids act exactly like we wish we could :-)

The POOL!!!!!!!

2010-07-09T12:43:00.004-05:00

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... pictures from the pool!

Here is Maddy's favorite attraction at the pool... the Beaver slide... why not :-)

She rides down this slide over and over until she is completely worn out

Here is one of the play equipment pieces in the "pond", the area designated for kids 6 and under.

Here is one of Max's favorites. The fountains that squirt up randomly...

Here's Max getting read to jump in...

This is the giant red bucket that fills and then dumps every now and then. Max LOVES it!

Here he is right under the bucket dump

If this pic doesn't steal your heart for just a second... well I don't know what :-)

Max riding in a tube on the lazy river. This look is because he wants to be ON the bridge we're going under. He's fascinated by it... boys

Maddy getting ready to jump in. Before each time she says "Don't let my head go under!"

Maddy riding in her own tube for the first time. Such a big girl these days :-)

Seepytime

2010-07-09T12:40:00.002-05:00

Max and Maddy like to pretend to nap or "seepy" as Max says on an old trunk near our computer desk. Here they have pillows set up, sippy cups, blankets... and each other... Awwww :-)

How He feels about you

2010-07-08T13:10:00.002-05:00

I've been reading through Isaiah and the Psalms lately and it's been incredible to see the parallel messages in God's Word. Scripture continues to back up and confirm Scripture time and again. Love it! I only regret that I haven't share more of this with you readers. Pray that I be more bold and confident in relaying the things God is showing me in His Word.

I love this section of Isaiah 51... it's a bit long but trust me, it will warm your heart and encourage you to bits :-)

Isaiah 51: 7-16 "Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts; Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults.
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations."
9 Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of old. Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced that monster through?
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over?
11 The ransomed of the LORD will return. The will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
12 "I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass,
13 that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread.
15 For I am the LORD your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD Almighty is his name.
16 I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand -- I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, 'You are my people.' "

Psalm 60:11-12 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

Who/what are you looking to for strength and encouragement? To bring you through times of trouble and criticism? Look to the one that churns the sea, for Almighty is his name. Does He call you one of His people? I pray today that all my readers are ready to give an answer to this question.

Love,
Laura

Quiz

2010-07-06T11:37:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine (Erika) did this on her blog, she got the idea from another friend, I'm just stealing the idea :-)

I quizzed the kids on a few of their current favorite things. I am writing the answers exactly as they were told to me. First is Maddy...

Favorite Color: Purple
Food: Christmas cookies
Cartoon: Dora
Friend: Ariana
Sound: Talking
Place: Either Grandma's house
Game: Candyland
Thing to do at the pool: Beaver slide
Thing to play at home: jump into the bathtub w/ clothes on
Thing in her room: Kitchen

Then Max...

Favorite color: my glasses
Food: pumpkin
Cartoon: Big Dog (Clifford)
Friend: Kiki (Chiara)
Sound: Nana
Place to go: park
Game to play: park
Thing to do at the pool: lay down and sleep
Thing to play at home: Bubbles
Thing in his room: Tic-tacs

There you have it!

Blocks

2010-07-02T13:21:00.002-05:00

Nothing exciting here... just a picture to reassure you we're doing great! This rare moment was captured one morning while the kids were playing with blocks inside. We spend the majority of our time outside, at the pool, or the park so it was a nice change of pace to play blocks and just hang out for a while :-)

I found Bryan's "old" camera today and it's waterproof so I plan on taking it to the pool on our next trip so look for some pool shots in the next couple of days!!!

Fav photos to date...

2010-06-24T14:03:00.002-05:00

Ok folks... I know I'm a bit bias but I think my kids are maybe just the cutest kids in the entire universe...

Exhibit A - I walked out our front door to see this one night when Bryan was playing with the kids... it is important to note that our driveway is on a slant and he was more than likely rolling backwards when this was taken... that aside... it's pretty darn cute :-)

It's pretty obvious why I love this one...

And Maddy... oh, dear sweet fashionista Maddy. The frames might be a smidge too big but does it really matter cause she's just too cute :-)

Family pics

2010-06-22T13:33:00.002-05:00

Bryan and my Mom drove out to meet up with us in Omaha on Friday. Saturday morning we had an opportunity to get some pics... Here's my crew... love them!

Oh, and there's me added to the mix...

and then I was switched out with Aunt Barb or Bawbie as Max called her. We were so fortunate to get to spend so much great time with her last week. We loved every minute and miss her terribly already...

Sorry Maddy... didn't get the memo on wearing all blue... :-)

Boy and Dog

2010-06-22T13:31:00.002-05:00

Max and Kali (Grandma and Papa's dog) have a complicated relationship. Mostly because all Kali wants to do is sleep and all Max wants to do is pester Kali...

Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha

2010-06-22T13:15:00.003-05:00

The kids and I headed out to Omaha last Tuesday to spend some time with Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Barb.

One of the highlights was a trip to Lauritzen Botanical Gardens in Omaha. They have a wonderful collection of flower/plant gardens and the garden below which has models trains built into it... genius...

You could borrow a back pack from the office filled with papers, crayons, and other goodies... such as binoculars...

The kids wanted a picture in front of the purple flowers... how beautiful!

Two ladies chatting it up...

The kids took a break to throw coins into a wishing well in the middle of the Victorian garden.

Grandma Kathy is checking out all the work that goes into keeping the gardens looking good.

This little guy pulls out his binocs for a closer look... or would that be farther away considering he's looking in them backwards...?

They also had a Children's Garden with lots of fun things for the kids to check out.

After a couple hours exploring, this young adventurer was tuckered out... and sweaty... and hungry... and after we got back to the exit we discovered a bit stinky as well :-)

Dance Recital

2010-06-14T14:34:00.005-05:00

Maddy had her first dance recital this Sunday. It was super cute!! Grandma Kathy and Papa Bob were in town to see it and to celebrate Bryan's birthday. Here are a few pics...

and it's Monday again...

2010-06-07T18:59:00.002-05:00

Lazy summer days... whoever said that?

2010-06-03T16:01:00.002-05:00

So, I'd love to report our summer has begun and we are relaxing daily poolside with lemonade and napping away the hot part of the day... fully rejuvenating every evening... but I can't :-)

Summer has been crazy!! I don't remember it being this hectic when I was 12. All I did was get up, eat breakfast, do some stuff around the house, eat lunch, ride my bike to the pool and be there waiting when the doors opened, swim until I was so hungry and tired I nearly passed out, ride my bike home, eat, ride my bike back to the pool and swim until it closed, ride my bike home, eat supper (this is the midwest people, it's supper), play outside or chill with my family, go to bed after dark.

Oh, how I wish I could go back there sometimes... but if I was 12 again I wouldn't yet have these 2 in my life... don't you just want to smash yourself right in there with these 2 cuddle bugs :-)

Let's not forget my princess... we went to "Princess Day" at the Story City Antique Carousel one day...and Max... well he now drinks exclusively out of watering cans

What princess doesn't dream of riding on her valiant white horse... or jagged toothed pig... hmmm...

What about these 2 little old ladies... with their fancy shoes, big purses lounging on the porch on a nice summer morning... enjoying carefree summer days while their mothers try to gather their sanity and prepare for the next event :-)

Hope your summer is off to a great start :-)

Fawn

2010-05-22T13:18:00.003-05:00

This morning Bryan was looking out our window and noticed this... Mama deer... how did we know she was a Mama??

Because we soon saw this :-)

We all hovered over the windows to see the baby fawn and unintentionally scared away the Mama. Max was visibly upset and worried as he called for the Mama deer to come back. We were hoping she would soon return to get her little one... and she eventually did.

But if she hadn't... we would have probably adopted her :-) How cute!!

Hanging with Roman

2010-05-19T12:57:00.001-05:00

Sarah and Roman came over to hang out with us this morning. I had started potty training Max yesterday and was afraid to leave the house this morning... more on that saga later when I wrap my head around what has taken place :-)

For now...