My Simple Cheerful Blog

Snowflakes

2012-01-18T14:55:00.003-05:00

Here are some new snowflake pictures that I have taken recently.

Walter's Eagles

2011-11-04T18:42:00.003-04:00

Walter, the man we bought our new house from, must have loved eagles and was very Patriotic. There are eagles everywhere in our house! We like them though. They are pretty cool. I decided to take pictures today of all the eagles that Walter left us in the house. They are on the wallpaper, on light switch covers, on picture hanging hooks, on the walls, on door knobs, on a hurricane lamp, and more. Enjoy! :)

Emily's White Dresses

2011-11-02T00:18:00.000-04:00

I thought I had posted this before, but can't find it. My Mom wanted my Aunt to see it, so I'm posting it now. These are Emily's white dresses. I buy her a new one every year. I plan to keep buying her white dresses until she reaches the ultimate white dress-her wedding gown. :)

Instagram App on iPod

2011-10-30T21:06:00.003-04:00

I've been playing with an App on my iPod called Instagram. Here are some of my pictures that I've edited using the App. :) 11-1-11 I decided to add my original photos as well. :) The originals are above the edited ones. The originals are as I photographed them originally (get it, Originals) :) I do not enhance any of my photos normally. I just thought this App was cool and wanted to show what it could do. I think my original photos are pretty impressive just the way they are. They show God's Creation and That doesn't need improvement. :)

"Treasures"

2011-10-18T15:45:00.000-04:00

I found a bunch of these bricks on our property today while I was exploring.

I discovered a spot near one of our swamps where previous owners discarded lots of metal and glass. The metal was all rusted, but some of the glass was still in good condition. Here's some stuff that we found today.

Autumn Olives

2011-10-18T15:40:00.002-04:00

My Mom and I picked a bunch of Autumn Olives today. I'm going to make some jam out of them. They are really good just to eat. They taste like currants. Yummy!

Open House

2011-10-08T22:24:00.001-04:00

We had our Open House party today. It was a beautiful day! I ended up making 15 apple pies. We had around 50 people show up. I wish we would have had more time to talk to each one a little longer, but I think everyone enjoyed their visit. We feel really blessed to have this wonderful home, but even more blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family to share it with! God must really love us to bless us as He has! We are very thankful!

Here are the apples I picked for pies

5 pies worth of apples peeled, cored, and sliced

4 pies about ready to go into the oven

15 finished pies ready for company

Ben getting a plate of snacks

Some sweet cards and gifts from our dear friends and family

Flowering Quince Jam

2011-10-06T22:20:00.001-04:00

Today I made Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles) Jam. I discovered that we had flowering quince on our new property a while ago and saw that some of the bushes had fruit on them. The first time I picked one of the fruits, I cut it in half, which was very hard to do because they are so hard. I wasn't sure what it was at that point. I tasted a little of it, but didn't like it. It was really bitter. Then I did some googling and found out that it was the fruit of a flowering quince bush. It's not exactly like a regular quince I guess, but I did find a recipe for using it to make jam.

http://straightfromthefarm.net/2009/12/05/quince-jam/

It's so pretty and tastes good too. It has a bright citrusy flavor and is almost like a marmalade.

Here is a picture of all the fruit I picked. They are small, about the size of a golf ball and I had to core them. Even though I didn't have that many, I did have enough to make half a batch of the jam.

Here is a picture of the minced quince, (ooh, that's fun to say, Minced Quince) simmering to soften the fruit.

Mmm, it's getting prettier. Now there is sugar mixed in with the minced quince. :) It's boiling and thickening.

I had to get a closeup of the pretty minced quince glistening. :) Aaah, there's just nothing like pretty glistening minced quince. :)

Here's the jam in pretty jars. Pretty Glistening Minced Quince Jam. (I do so like it Sam I Am)

I know you must be tired of listening
to me go on about the glistening
But don't you agree that the minced quince is pretty
glistening on the knife? (I know I'm so witty) :)

Clara's First Deer

2011-10-06T21:58:00.001-04:00

Clara got her first deer tonight! She shot it with a crossbow. It's a button buck. It wasn't the biggest deer around, but it will make some real good dinners! We are really proud of our newest hunter! Way to go Clara!

Allison

2011-10-06T09:41:00.000-04:00

Allison just had her birthday recently! I can't believe that she's 15 years old now! Here is a picture of her all ready for the Homecoming Dance last weekend. She sure is growing up! :)

Emily's Red Coat

2011-10-06T09:34:00.001-04:00

We found this really cute coat on Amazon.com for $20! Emily just loves it and wanted me to take some pictures of her wearing it. She is a little cutie! :)

Spider Webs

2011-10-06T09:15:00.001-04:00

Here are some pictures I recently took of some spider webs in our backyard. I think they are really pretty! :)

Open House Party

2011-10-05T21:01:00.003-04:00

We are having an Open House party this weekend so our friends and family can visit us and see our new house. It's not really to show off the house itself since we aren't the ones who made it as lovely as it is. We haven't really made any changes yet other than building rooms for Allison and Clara. The party is more for us a time to enjoy the company of many friends since we now have the room for company! :) It is just wonderful to have so much space now and know that lots of people can gather here and be comfortable. Also the party is just a small way for us to thank everyone for being there for us the past couple of years when things weren't always going so well. We just want to treat everyone to a nice day.

I was going to cook a big meal for the party, but decided that might get costly. I decided instead that since we have at least a million apples on our property that I would just make a bunch of apple pies; so that's what I'm doing. I got started today. I've made 5 pies so far and I'm hoping to make 15 to 20 of them. I'm hoping for a good turnout of hungry friends this weekend. I'm also planning a couple of fun things to do that day. I want to have a scavenger hunt for the kids. I'm going to fill some big container with apples and have everyone guess how many apples there are. There will be prizes for the winners. :) I'm also hoping to have a campfire going with the fixin's for s'mores. I'm really excited about sharing the day with our special friends and family! :)

Here are a couple of pictures of the apples I picked today and the pies I made today.

New Home

2011-09-21T13:42:00.000-04:00

Wow! I haven't updated this blog for quite a while and there is so much in our life that has been updated recently!

We just bought a new house! We love it! It's so much bigger than our old house and there is so much storage and land. We have 30 acres of property now. There are lots of fruit trees and plants that the previous owner planted. We have apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, and grapes! There are also a lot of different flowering trees, bushes, and flowers growing all over. It's really beautiful!

In our old house, the 3 youngest kids were sharing a room. Now everyone has their own room, except for Tim and I, we're still sharing. ;)

Here are some pictures of our new house from the outside. I'll try to take some of the inside to post soon.

My Rap! :)

2011-04-28T20:59:00.000-04:00

Last year on the way home from the Dare 2 Share conference, I wrote a rap that I feel like God gave me. This year I actually got to perform it at the Dare 2 Share conference in Chicago! I posted a video and there is a little more explanation of it there on Youtube.com :)

Shea's Rap Dare 2 Share Chicago 2011

November 2010

2010-11-07T21:57:00.000-05:00

Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since I've updated this blog! We have just been super busy all the time, especially since school started back up.

Allison is in Highschool now! She's had a lot of stuff going on with band like marching in parades, football games, and a concert. This is her 4th year of playing the clarinet. She went to her first Homecoming dance this year. She was so beautiful all dressed up and had a good time with her friends. It's fun seeing her grow up, but also kind of sad too. She'll be all grown up before we know it! :( She is doing great in school as usual. She still loves reading.

Clara is in her second year of Middle School. She's in band too; and got to march in one football game and do a concert as well. She plays percussion. School is going well for her too. She got to be the school mascot for one of the football games! That was really cute. I cried because I was so proud! :)

Ben and Emily are in First Grade this year. They are doing really well. It's fun listening to them read and spell words on their own now.

We are all still involved in AWANA and youth group for the two older girls. Tim and I are still Cubbie leaders. Ben and Emily are in Sparkies. We love it! It's fun working with the preschoolers and teaching them about God. It's amazing how well they can memorize verses at such a young age!

Tim and I just started babysitting a friend's 3 month old! She is adorable and so sweet! I feel blessed that we get to spend the day with her. It's fun to have a baby around again for a little bit each day.

Tim has had some health improvments recently with his pulmonary fibrosis. At a recent check up, testing revealed that his lung diffusion capacity is up to 43% now! That is the highest it has been in probably close to 10 years at least! It had been pretty stable at 40% for a long time, but then about a year and a half ago it was decreasing and got to 29% and possibly even lower. Once when they tested him, he did so poorly that they couldn't even get a result! We really thought there was a good chance that he wasn't going to be around more than 6 months at that time. Since he has quit working though, he has gradually gained back up to the 40% and now to 43%! We credit this to God because the Doctors say that scar tissue cannot heal in the lungs and they didn't expect him to gain beyong 40%. We are very thankful for how well he is doing now!

I go to Bible study on Tuesday mornings. We've been doing a study by Kay Arthur called Covenant. It's really cool. We are learning about different covenants in the Bible and how God always keeps His covenants with us! It is a great group of ladies that I study with! I've been with them for a few years now and they are a huge support in my life!

Tim and I are also involved in small groups at church. We are doing a book right now about growing spiritually together in a marriage. We haven't really gotten very far into that yet.

We are still in the CMA (Christian Motorcyclist Association) and have meetings for that every month. Our whole family and two of the girls' friends had a great time at our State Rally this year over Labor Day weekend. This is the 3rd one we have been to and we are always blessed when we go. The last night there we have a talent show. I did my "rap" that I had written after Dare 2 Share last year. Everyone loved it! It makes me feel really good when people like it, but mostly I hope they are liking it for the words of Truth and not just because it sounds cool. :) I am trying to figure out how God wants me to share it with others.

Tim has been deer hunting a lot since bow season opened, but he hasn't gotten us any venison yet. Usually he would have one or two by now. I hope he will get some soon. He also takes Allison and Clara hunting, so we hope they will also get some. Allison got her first one last year, but Clara has never shot one yet.

In August I got to go to something called the Emmaus Walk. It's a discipleship training thing that goes on for a long weekend. I had a great time there and learned a lot. I made some really nice friends there that I've been able to keep in touch with. We have reunions every month, but I only just got to go to one so far. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I recieved many blessings there.

Well, I guess that is enough updating for now. It's just regular life, not too much is new lately. I hope to post more exciting things as they happen. :)

Busy Days

2010-06-02T21:07:00.000-04:00

We have been really busy with the end of the school year and all lately! There is so much going on and I'm so glad that we've been able to do so much.

Tim and I celebrated our 14th anniversary in April! It's hard to believe that it's been that long already and yet it is only a small portion of our life long marriage! We are still as much in love as ever, even more so as each year goes by! He is a wonderful husband and I am very blessed to have him! I cannot imagine anyone loving me more than he does!

On May Day (May 1st) my Mom and I and my kids made little flower boquets and took them around to friends and left them on their doors. We had a great time doing it and only wish we had made more boquets. We did 17, but Mom says next year we'll do 50!

It's motorcycle season again! We have taken a few rides recently. I love it! I love the smells of fresh cut grass, wild flowers, and pine trees. I love how we can feel the temperature in the air change from here to there. I love the sun shining on me and the wind blowing against my skin. It is such a fun thing for us to get to do together. Last week we went for a ride and got ice cream.

Allison and Clara had a band concert last month. Ben and Emily had a singing concert the same night. Tim went to the band concert and I went to Ben and Em's. They were so cute! They were all dressed up and just did a great job singing. Tim said the older girls did a great job at their concert too. Clara was the only percussionist in her band for the concert, so she got to play a few different instruments that night.

We celebrated Clara's 12th birthday last month. She had a birthday/slumber party with a few of her friends.

On May 16th, Tim and Clara rode the motorcycle to Baldwin, Michigan with our Christian Motorcyclist Association group for the Blessing of the Bikes. They had a good time and it sounds like it was pretty awesome with around 30,000 bikes there!!!!

My niece, Katlyn threw a going away party for my brother (her dad), Shawn last month because he will be gone for a couple months to Oklahoma for training for work. We also were celebrating Shawn's birthday. It was a surprise party, which was really cool, because he had no idea about it! My parents were there along with Tim and I and the kids, Katlyn and her husband, Doug, Shawn and Tracy and the rest of their kids (6 of them), Tracy's brother Jimmy and his wife Sheila and their kids (6 of them and 1 in the oven at the time), and Tracy's sister Julie, her husband Dale and their 2 kids. I think Shawn really was surprised! Katlyn made a nice dinner for us of grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and she bought some delicious cakes and icecream. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and we all had a really nice time visiting with eachother.

I went to a Beth Moore Conference in Grand Rapids May 21st and 22nd. A couple of my friends from Bible Study rode with me. We had a nice time, but it wasn't as exciting for me as the Dare 2 Share conference. I love Beth Moore though! We've done a few of her Bible Studies, and I always learn a lot from them.

Allison's class went on a field trip to a local camp for the day. Tim went along as a chaperone. It was a beautiful sunny day and they had a great time! The kids could swim, fish, climb rock wall, ride horses, and lots of other stuff.

Ben and Emily's class took a field trip to the Children's Museum in Grand Rapids on May 26th. Tim and I got to go as chaperones and we had a fun time! There are so many neat things for the kids to do there! I wish we had a whole day to spend there! On the way home we stopped at a park to eat lunch and play for a while. The kids really enjoyed all of it! They have a big class of around 28 kids. I think only 3 of them didn't go on the field trip.

May 29th our town had a Memorial Day parade and Allison and the school band marched in it and played. It was nice and I was really proud of them! It was a beautiful day for it!

Tim's parents came up about a week ago. They bought a "cabin" near us to come up and visit in the summer. I'm glad that they could come when they did. They got to go to the parade and see Allison in the band and also got to attend Grandparent's Day at Ben and Emily's school last week.

This past Sunday we had a special Church Service. We had it at a beautiful place calle Fox Hill. The service was outside in the sunshine and then we went into the hall for a nice lunch and great visiting time with our church family.

Today Clara's class took their field trip to a bowling alley/game place. It's kind of like a Chuck E Cheese I guess.

Next week, Ben and Emily will have their Kindergarten Graduation! All of our kids will be done with school on June 9th for the summer. Tim has a check up at U of M on the 7th. I'm anxious to see how all of his testing goes then.

This past weekend I took the kids swimming for the first time this year. They had a slumber party Sunday night. So, you see that we've had a lot going on. It's been a fun time though.

I'm looking forward to summer vacation, but I don't really think that things are going to slow down much for us. We are hoping to do some traveling and looking forward to friends coming to visit us as well. Clara is going to be going to camp for a week. The girls still have Youth Group throughout the summer and Tim and I will be teaching Kindergarten Sunday school every other month as we have been doing. We will also be helping with VBS at church for a week in July. I hope it will be a fun and exciting summer for the whole family. I'm looking forward to more motorcycle rides, walks with the family, camping, ice cream, camp fires, smores, bicycling, great conversations, and just growing closer as a family!

Happy Summer Everyone!

Out Back

2010-04-29T22:02:00.000-04:00

I took a walk out back yesterday. Here are some pictures that I took back there.

Pretty new leaves

These are little wild strawberry blossoms.

I just think they are beautiful!

A trillium

Ahh, pretty blue sky!

Sunshine in the woods

This trillium was bound by this leaf that had somehow gotten stuck on it. I set it free! :)

Apple blossom buds

Does anyone know what this is???? I think an insect must have made it.

Honeybees and dandelions

A morel mushroom

I love living in the country! It's so beautiful here!

A Walk to the River

2010-04-26T07:48:00.000-04:00

Last weekend the kids and I went to my Mom and Dad's house and walked back to the river with them. It was a beautiful day! Dad showed us lots of little "falls" and streams that I hadn't seen before. Here are a few pictures from the day. :)

Walking through the pines

Ben and Emily in a tree

A pretty purple wildflower

I thought this curvy root was pretty cool.

A mossy log, it looks a mile long.

We saw two of these ant clusters. They weren't on an ant hill or anything. Dad said they huddle like that to keep warm.

This pine tree is huge and probably really old. Dad just had to climb it! :)

Allison loves all animals so she could resist picking up this little guy.

Mom, Allison, Clara, Emily, and Ben and the puddingstone. My Mom has always wanted to take this rock home with her. We wonder how big the part underground is.

Puddingstones are cool because they have all kinds of little rocks in them. Weird. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puddingstone_(rock)

Our little Emily is just so adorable! I can never resist taking pictures of her.

We came upon this Blue Racer and Mom and Dad's friend, Brian, had to pick it up! It is kind of pretty.

I thought this moss was cool.

This is actually back at Mom and Dad's house. I forget what kind of flowering tree this is. Pretty though. :)

Trip to Kentucky March 2010

2010-04-26T07:20:00.000-04:00

For Spring Break, Tim and I took the kids to Kentucky to visit our cousins there again. Tim has 4 cousins who live there, Roy, Lenny, Mikey, and Billy. We always have a good time with them and their families. This time we got to fish for catfish which was a lot of fun. We had a big fish fry one night. One day we got to go to Pilot Rock. It's the highest place in Western Kentucky. Indians used to be there and so you can find arrowheads there sometimes. I found one! I was so excited about that. We climbed to the top of the rock. It was kind of a scary climb, but it was very much worth it for the beautiful view from the top! Here are some photos from the trip. We had a great time!

Here is Benny with Mimi. She is so adorable!

Miss Emily with some wildflowers (weeds)

The Moon

We went fishing in a cow pasture! I have never done that before, but we had a great time and the guys even caught some big catfish!

I call this one Esau because it means red and hairy :)

Tim and Emily with a big catfish they caught together.

Allison really wanted to pet a cow.

Tim and Benny with the catfish

Our cousin, Lenny, took us to Pilot Rock. It was beautiful!

I found an arrowhead all by myself! Part of it was broken off, but I was still very happy about it!

Me, on top of Pilot Rock.

Our Family on top of Pilot Rock! It was so cool being up there! Beautiful!

FrEaKy! fReAkY!

2010-04-09T12:58:00.003-04:00

This is a "note" I shared on Facebook recently and I just thought I would post it to my blog as well.

I just heard the song "Jesus Freak"! I know it is a super old song, but I never heard it before. Anyway, I think that I want to be a Jesus Freak! I'm thinking about the way I worship. Thinking about WHO I worship! When I'm in Church or even at home or in the car singing worship songs, am I really worshipping God or just singing along with a nice song? If God loved us so much that he sent his Son to die for us and He is willing to forget our sins and He wants to have an intimate relationship with us, isn't that something to be excited about? We sing that He Is Worthy! But do we give Him what He is worth! Do we honor Him in the way He deserves? If we aren't going to give Him His Worth then let's not even sing to Him that He is Worthy. It's like luke warm water that He spits out and it makes Him sick. Be Hot or Cold He says. Don't say one thing and do another.

I want to be obedient to God because I love Him! I love Him for all that He has done for me and just for How much He loves me! He is infinitely bigger than I am, but He loves me deeply and cares about me even though He doesn't HAVE to! So often during the Worship service, I want to raise my hands to Him, Lift my face to Him, Close my eyes and feel myself in His presence! We ARE IN HIS PRESENCE! Sometimes I want to shout "Woo Hoo!" Or "Yay God!" or "God is Good!" But most of the time I don't do any of that. Most of the time my heart feels as if it could burst at any moment because it is so full of Joy that I am not expressing! I hide the Joy because I'm worried about what other people will think of me! I hide my JOY in CHURCH of all places!!! Hello?!?!? If there is anywhere that we should express our Joy I think that Church is a good place to start. Aren't we there to Worship Him? To Praise Him? To Adore Him? To Honor Him? To give Him all that we are, laying our life down and letting His Spirit fill us with love, joy, and songs that overflow to HIM!

Worrying about what others think is not consistent with obeying God. Worrying is Fear and I think that if we let Fear in Church, we are letting Satan in Church! Sounds pretty rough huh? Sounds harsh? But isn't it True? Satan is real! There is nothing He wants more than distracting us from the TRUTH! He wants us to be afraid. He wants us to worry! He wants us to be concerned with others watching us. GOD IS WATCHING US!!!!! The virtue of the month is HONESTY, so we ought to be honest.

The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. Proverbs 12:22 Do we want God to DETEST us in Church?!?! Let's give Him what we truthfully feel He deserves! Let's be honest with God and ask Him what He wants from us and be obedient to Him. He may not tell everyone to worship in the same way, but he does want us all to worship in some way.

I'm excited about Easter! Jesus was dead and buried for 3 days! He was dead, as dead as anyone who dies! He was dead, wrapped up, still, not breathing, silent, buried for THREE DAYS! Then, on that third day, He came back to Life!!! It wasn't like when we pass away and our souls slip out of our bodies into Heaven while our body stays in the ground decaying, His BODY and ALL That He was came back to Life!!! He walked and talked on the Earth after that. His friends saw Him, Heard Him, Felt Him! He was real and He was really alive! What could be more exciting or worthy of praise than that?

Anyways, something to think about. I'm praying and going to try so hard to be obedient to God from now on, especially in the matter of worship, because He SO Deserves it! Just sharing my heart with Ya'll so you don't freak out if you see me TRULY Worshipping God at Church! He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!!!!!

Love, Shea

Dare 2 Share Weekend Photos I Should Have Taken

2010-04-09T12:52:00.001-04:00

I hardly took any pictures during the weekend in Chicago for the Dare 2 Share conference. So, here are the memories captured in my mind that I should have taken pictures of.

* The sunny blue sky ALL DAY Friday

* Betty and I with our hands in the toilet tank at a gas station fixing it for the girls.

* Alanna and Rebecca having a contest to see who could get the most people to wave at them.

* Darin with his orange hunting hat seemingly permanently attached to his head.

* The balding guy with a faux-hawk. (Sorry Pastor Ryan)

* A lady trying to reason a small dog into moving out the door at Subway. ( I didn't see that one, just heard about it)

* All of the confiscated water bottles at the entrance of the Arena.

* The signs at the concession stand announcing $4 bottles of water and $5 pops. (so that's why we couldn't take water bottles in with us)

* Snow covering the ground and cars ALL DAY Saturday.

* Pastor Ryan and I constantly squeegy-ing the windows on the INSIDE of the van to keep them clear. (Yes, with a squeegy)

* My prideful smile when I finally got the windows to stay dry.

* My embarassment when the windows fogged up again. (11 chatterboxes and a walkie talkie addict all putting too much breath in the air) :)

* Matt scanning an arena full of like 5000 kids searching for the ONE with the laser pointer. And He DID find him!

* Rebecca and Alanna having a dance off with some boys. (no photos, but I did get some video of that one) :)

* Thad's blue mouth from a snowcone. (Oh yeah, I did get a picture of that)

* Dan taking representations of the whole groups guilts and laying them at the cross for us.

* Pastor Ryan giving away both of his coats to freezing children. (Clara and Reanna)

* Zane and Greg in their Kung Fu Gospel video.

* Propaganda when he pulled me up on the stage and we rapped together. (Oh yeah, no picture because it didn't really happen) :)

* Starfield leading AWESOME Worship!

* The whole group hugging Zane.

* Clara and some of the other kids telling their waiter about the Gospel!

* Kevin, Thad, and I rapping in the van. (really happened)

* The kids sleeping on the 5 1/2 hour drive home Saturday/Sunday morning.

* The 100 empty Red Bull cans in the van trash can at the end of the weekend. (ok, I'm exaggerating a little bit)

And the last picture I wish I could have taken is

* The feeling we get when we are close to God, close enough to worship Him in the ways He wants us to. :) It was such a great weekend!

Dare 2 Share Chicago March 19th and 20th

2010-04-09T12:20:00.002-04:00

On March 19th I got to go on a Youth Group trip to the Dare 2 Share conference in Chicago, Illinois. I was excited to go, but had no idea of how much the weekend would change me, or I should say, how much God would change me!

My daughters Allison and Clara went too along with their best friends Reanna and Sheyanne and and about 15 other kids from our Youth Group.

We left early Friday morning and it was about 7 hours I think to get to Chicago. It was a beautiful day Friday, all day! The sun was shining. The sky was blue and it was so warm! We got to our hotel and the kids had time to swim in the pool for a while. After that, we went to the Sears Arena for the start of the conference.

The conference was great! We got to worship with the band Starfield and they really have some awesome songs! We got to hear from Greg Stier and Zane Black who taught us more about sharing our faith with others. (Dare 2 Share) :) There was another guy there called Propaganda. I don't know what you would call him, a rapper? poet? But he did this thing that I just thought was really cool. I guess it was like a poem, but not read in the usual way. I was really impressed!

The last night there, we all went out for pizza at Uno's. There were probably about 50 of us (we went with another church from our town) so we couldn't all sit together. They just divided us up as they could and we were spread out all over the restaurant. Clara was at a table with some other kids and no adults. I was so proud when I later found out that she and her friends had shared the gospel with their waiter. They were already using what they learned to share their faith!

The conference ended around 9 or 10pm on Saturday night and then we headed home. The ride home was awesome! A couple of the boys and I decided to write a Propaganda style poem/rap for Pastor Ryan. I wrote 1 or 2 lines about Pastor Ryan, but then God started giving me some really great words for HIM. I started writing and couldn't stop! It was so exciting! I felt like God was really doing something to me and I was pouring out my worship on this little notepad. I was in charge of giving Pastor Ryan money to pay the tolls when we came to them. At one point he said we were coming up to a toll booth and I said "I can't pay the toll, I'm writing here!" :) Eventually I stopped writing for the rest of the ride back to church. The rest of the ride was just as cool though. I got to talk to Pastor Ryan about how he was saved as a little child and I got to share with him some of my life story. We sang worship songs on the way home, and I just felt such peace and happiness come over me!

We got back to our church around 2 or 3 am so we spent the night there instead of going home. The kids went to sleep right away and I couldn't wait to wake up in the morning to write some more! As soon as I got up, I went into one of the classrooms and wrote some more! I went home that day and wrote even a little more. I didn't want to do anything else except be with God.

He did something to me that weekend! Since I've been home, so much has changed for the better!

My whole life I have loved food! Our family loves food. Whenever we have an event coming up or a trip all we think about is "What are we going to eat?" I have always been an emotional eater too. I would eat if I was happy, if I was sad, if I was depressed. Well, since I have been home from Dare 2 Share, I haven't been hungry! I haven't had any cravings! I haven't been consumed with what I'm going to it or when I'm going to eat. I don't even care if I eat! This is definitely from God. Only He could fill that emptiness and that hunger. I feel like I only hunger for Him now. I crave Him and my time with Him. He fulfills my longings!

Another thing that has changed is my love for Tim, my sweet husband! I have always loved Tim greatly, but at the same time, I know I can be negative towards him and sometimes put him down even if subtly. Since I have been home from Dare 2 Share I haven't felt those negative feelings toward Tim! I feel more in love with him than ever before! I just want to be sweet to him and treat him the way God wants me to treat him.

I have been more faithful in praying and reading my Bible since I've been home. I've also been trying to share my faith more with others. I feel strongly about being obedient to God and I just want to please Him!

Anyway, I wrote this poem/rap thing and it's really cool. I'm going to be reading it in my Church on April 18th. After that, maybe I will post it on my blog to share it with everyone.

Can Time Just Slow Down a little bit???

2009-11-02T22:33:00.009-05:00

If my days could just quit going by so quickly and the months and years quit flying by, I would really appreciate it. :)

It really seems like every day is buzzing by faster and faster. Some days I am up from 5:45am to 12:00am and yet I don't know where the time has gone and it seems that nothing has been accomplished! I feel like so much time is wasted and that I am missing so many opportunities. I feel overwhelmed though as to what to do first or what opportunities to take and I end up not doing anything!

I just decided I really needed to update this blog. I haven't posted for so long and of course a lot has happened in that time. Being a Mom with 4 kids, 5 if you count Tim, I can't even remember everything! :)

I guess I should update on Tim first. A while ago he began being evaluated for a double lung transplant. He had a heart cath and a bunch of other tests done. His oxygen diffusion capacity had gone down a lot 5 or 6 months ago, but then in August or September, they had come back up. We thought that since they were up again, the lung transplant team would decide not to list Tim yet for a transplant. However, they called about a month ago saying that they were ready to list him if he so chooses. They did want to perform a couple more tests first though. He had those tests done a week or so ago and will be meeting with his doctors again in a week. We will see what they have to say then and hopefully determine whether now is the right or wrong time to be listed.

The kids are doing great! They all like school and are doing really well in their classes. Allison and Clara have their first band concert of the year tomorrow. Allison's in her 3rd year of band playing the clarinet. This is Clara's first year of band and she's playing percussion. I'm excited to see them play tomorrow.

Emily is as always our little princess in every way. She loves to dress up and she certainly acts like a princess. I took her to a "Fancy Nancy" Tea party a couple weeks ago and she loved it. She and her friend dresses up really "Fancy" for it. Here's a picture of her at the tea party and a couple other princess times. :)

Ben adores his Daddy and wants to be everywhere Daddy is and wants to do everything Daddy does. Basically I think he wants to be Daddy. :) He's the only one in the house who likes Tim's beard as much as Tim does. Us girls are not very fond of it, especially when he tries to kiss us. Emily says it pokes her neck. I second that! :) Just look at that thing, waiting to stab my lips! He looks so charming doesn't he? The dimples win me over!

Allison got her first deer this year. She got a big doe during the early youth hunt. We were all very proud of her, especially Daddio! He may have been even more excited for her than he is when he gets one himself! (That's very very excited!)

And here are the kids trick or treating. I didn't think about getting a picture of them with their coats off. It was freezing! Ben was Iron Man, Emily was Cinderella, Allison was a princess, and Clara was a spy.

I will try to update more regularly. :)

Random Pictures

2009-08-03T11:47:00.002-04:00

I took this photo at the scenic overlook. The kids said it looks like God is shining down.

A sheet tent that I made for the kids to play in.

Here's me and my sister, Trish.

My little princess, Emily.

My princess, Emily on her bike.

What is This????

2009-08-03T11:40:00.004-04:00

Does anyone have any idea of what this is? It's all over this oak tree. It's kind of pretty I think. It must be some sort of parasite or something.

The Family Piano

2009-08-03T11:28:00.003-04:00

Recently, my parents got rid of our old piano. I had to take some pictures of it before it was gone forever. :) We have so many great memories of it from growing up. Our family used to gather around it and sing many songs while Mom played. We would entertain company, practice for Church, or just have some quality family time singing together. It was taking up too much space in my parent's house and no one every really plays it any more. So, I can understand why they wanted to get rid of it. I'm thankful though for all the great memories it provided for our family.

Local Wildlife

2009-08-03T11:12:00.004-04:00

We saw this Momma deer with 5 spotted fawns! I think she must have adopted some of them. There are two nursing on her and 3 to the left of her. 2 are behind the tree branches, but you can see them if you look closely.

I thought these bugs were kind of cute. They were on the milkweed in our backyard.

I don't know what kind of insect this is, but thought it was interesting.

A dragonfly

This is our chicken up in the pine tree. I don't know what made her decide to go up there.

A hognose snake. It looks kind of like a cobra.

Fishing with Tim

2009-07-30T22:45:00.004-04:00

Tonight Tim took me fishing on a lake near our house. It was so nice and peaceful just the two of us. We were the only ones on the lake. I haven't gone fishing in a long time. The last time I went with Tim, I didn't have a license so I was just the photographer. This time I caught 6 bass! The biggest was 15 inches. Here are a few pictures from our evening on the lake.

My handsome husband taking us "out to sea"

The very first fish I caught was this 15 inch bass

Wow! He must be reeling in a huge one!!!

Oh Yeah! That's a keeper. (Not) Ok, the above picture was from a different fish. :)

Our first "date" was fishing together 15 years ago! It was so nice to be able to do it again.

Tim with a bass

Me with another bass

This was a lovely way to end the day!

Mother/Daughter Getaway 2009

2009-07-02T21:27:00.013-04:00

June 11-14th My Mom, sisters, and I went to New Buffalo, Michigan for our annual Mother/Daughter Getaway. Every year we go to a new place. We had a great time this year at the New Buffalo Inn and Spa. We rented a great little cabin, did a little bit of shopping, played our favorite card game, ate yummy food, and even had spa treatments. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Bobbi Jo, Mom, Grandma Irene, Me, Tricia, and Jen. We had a nice visit with my Grandma. We don't get to visit her very often.

Here is our cute little cabin for the weekend.

Bobbi and Tricia's room

The dining room

The living room

Mom's room

Me and Jen's room

The dining room

The kitchen

This is part of a yummy breakfast that Trish made for us.

This is me after my really relaxing massage.

At the spa

This is me after getting ready for dinner. I even curled my bangs. :)

We had dinner at the Tabor Hill Winery.

They sell these beautiful and delicious chocolates at the winery.

Aren't they pretty?

Smoked salmon canapes

Asparagus and morel tart

Thinly sliced beef tenderloin with capers, asiago cheese, and grilled bread.

A blurry photo of skewer appetizers. Beef, chicken, and veggie, each with it's own dipping sauce.

Another blurry shot of fried cheese and crab cakes.

Chicken and barley soup

Cream of asparagus soup

Mini sandwiches, chicken, beef, and tuna

Ravioli and Pesto Chicken Pizza

Tempura prawns and veggies

Bok Choy and Sesame Peanut noodles

Beef or Buffalo burrito

Salad

Tropical cake

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cheesecake

More pictures of the pretty chocolates.

Trish in the doorknob

A beautiful blue house in New Buffalo

Tricia, Mom, me, Bobbi, and Jen

Tim and the kids met us in New Buffalo on Sunday so that we could go visit some relatives down state. We met at a place called "Oinks". :)

Recent Photos

2009-07-02T20:55:00.007-04:00

This is a beautiful ring that my friend, Sarah made for me. I love it! Her family owns Wexford Jewelers. http://www.wexfordjewelers.com/

Tim and the kids gave me this ring for Mother's Day. It has my birthstone and Tim's birthstone in the middle and the kids' on the outside. I believe my friend, Sarah, made this one as well as the one above it.

This is Ben, Tim, and Emily on Father's Day. Allison and Clara were not home then.

This is a sunset at the scenic overlook.

Emily with a dandelion

This one of Emily dancing in the flowers reminds me of "The Sound of Music"..."The Hills are alive..."

Dandelions reaching for the sunshine

This is some sort of a flower in the milkweed family I think.

Emily's using her fingers because these seeds are not as easy to blow off as the dandelions.

She manages to huff and puff enough to send some seeds soaring.

Tim, Ben, and Emily, and I went fishing recently and Benny caught this 21 inch bass all by himself. He hooked it and reeled it in with Daddy's encouragement. We let it go after we got lots of pictures.

Our friend, Amy, did Emily's hair up like a princess.

Update on Tim

2009-07-02T20:40:00.003-04:00

Tim and I went to U of M again on June 18th. This was to start the lung transplant evaluation process so Tim can get on the waiting list. We met with different people that are part of the lung transplant team. They told us about preparing for a lung transplant and some of what to expect. At the end of the day, the last person that we met with was a lung transplant surgeon. He had never met Tim before or seen his case. He told us that he didn't think it was the right time for Tim to get on the transplant list. He thinks that Tim is too healthy. It was frustrating to us. I asked the surgeon if he thought that Tim would not continue to decrease 2% per month with his diffusion capacity. He said that Tim most likely WOULD continue to decrease at that rate. Right now, Tim is at less than 29% so that does not give him very much time as it is to wait on a list for lungs. We really don't understand why this surgeon thinks it's too soon to list Tim.

I was really upset and angry that day. It just seems like time is slipping away. Many times, patients have to wait more than a year on a list before they get their new lungs. With the rate Tim's health is decreasing, it doesn't seem that he'll have enough time.

Tim is still in the process of the evaluation. He has to have some testing done on his heart and some other tests. The heart tests are scheduled for July 21st and 22nd. After that, the whole lung transplant team will get together and look over Tim's case. They will decide whether or not to list him and if they do list him, they will decide at what priority to list him. We are just praying that if the surgeon we spoke to is wrong about his opinion that the other people on the team will "Outvote" him.

We are still hopeful and positive that things will turn out well for Tim.

Financially, we are doing ok right now. We have had some help from anonymous friends along with our church and family. Tim has been approved for disability, but will not receive payment until November. We are happy to know that that is approved though.

Please keep praying for Tim, our family, the doctors, and just that God's Will will be done in our situation. We know that it's all about Him and we want Him to be glorified through all of this.

Update on Us

2009-06-09T23:18:00.002-04:00

Life has been pretty busy around here lately. School is done now for the summer. Ben and Emily had a preschool graduation. The teacher gave each child a special award. Ben got the "Junior Teacher" award and Emily got the "Rest time" award. :) She loves nap time and is always the first to fall asleep.

Clara had a D.A.R.E graduation and 5th grade graduation. The 5th grade grad. was really fun. It was Hawaiian themed. The kids had to hula hoop to a limbo stick and then limbo under that before getting their diplomas. It was a fun night. They had dinner for us and everything.

On Allison's last day of school, there was a drawing for some pretty nice prizes. That morning Allison had told us that she hoped her name would be drawn because she wanted to win a portable DVD player. Her name ended up being the very first one called, so she got to pick any prize she wanted. She got the DVD player. She was so happy!

Ben and Emily are playing T-ball this summer. They haven't had a game yet, but have had a couple of practices. Clara is playing softball too. She's played a couple of games so far.

This weekend my Mom and sisters and I are going on our annual Mother/Daughter get-a-way. This year we are going to New Buffalo, Michigan. None of us have been there before. It's always exciting exploring new places. I know we'll have a great time!

After the weekend, my sister Bobbi is taking Allison and Clara home with her to Illinois for 3 weeks! My other sister, Jen, lives there too, so the girls will get to spend time with both of them. I think they'll have a lot of fun and it might be nice for Tim and I to have some time with just Ben and Em.

Tim quit working on April 3rd. He is in the process of getting on the double lung transplant list at U of M. He has an appointment for next week to meet with surgeons, financial coordinators, a psychologist, and have tests and bloodwork done. Shortly after all of that, he should be on the list.

We are doing pretty good with everything. We have "down" days, but we try not to both be down at the same time. :) We are still really positive about everything and we have complete faith in God. Still, it can be frustrating waiting and just not knowing what to do in the mean time.

Long term disability has not been approved yet for Tim, so that's kind of a bummer. He has been approved for a supplemental income though that will at least pay our house payment each month. Our church has offered to help us with our car payment too and we have friends and family who have been anonomously sending us "gifts" in the mail or at church. We are so thankful to these people!

I can't think of any more updates at the moment. I wish I had something more interesting to post. :) I will try to post again soon.

An Update on Tim's Lungs

2009-05-10T07:31:00.003-04:00

Tim and I went down to U of M this past Thursday and Friday for a check up. His hallwalk didn't go well. A year ago he walked over 1600 feet without using oxygen. This time he was only able to walk a little over 400 feet and that was with the use of 4 liters of oxygen.

Last time he went, he learned that his oxygen diffusion capacity was down to 29%. At that time it was determined that he had been consistently losing 2% per month for the past 9 months. This time, the test that gives that percentage was inaccurate because it requires Tim to exhale for at least 6 seconds and he was only able to exhale for 4 seconds.

Based on the hallwalk, the Lung Transplant Specialist came in to see us and right away told Tim and I that it is definitely time for him to get on the double lung transplant list.

He will now start that process, which includes some testing, a heart e.k.g., appointments with surgeons, psychiatrists (or psychologists, I get those mixed up), and financial advisors, etc. Hopefully it will not be too long until he actually IS on THE LIST! Because of the rate that his health has been decreasing, I am slightly worried that there will not be much time to wait.

We are excited about Tim receiving new lungs though! It will be so nice when he can breath normally! We are hopeful and positive that things will go well and that it will all work out. We are very peaceful and happy about everything, thanks to our trust and faith in our Wonderful God. We know He is always Good and we DO trust Him in this and everything.

Please continue to pray for us and our family and friends. Thank You! :)

Isn't he a handsome Fella? :)

Cake Balls

2009-04-25T12:53:00.004-04:00

My friend, Ellen, told me about these cake balls. You bake a cake, crumble it up, stir in some frosting, form little balls from the mixture, dip them in chocolate, and decorate them however you want. Ellen put them on lollipop sticks, which is pretty cool. I just put them in little cupcake wrappers. Here are some pictures of the ones I made yesterday. I made red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

God is Always Good!

2009-04-21T18:02:00.002-04:00

The past couple of weeks have been so different for us! Tim and I have had so much time together since he quit working on April 6th. We have had some wonderful conversations and have been sharing lots of fun and happy moments together.

We feel SO happy! We both have such a strong faith in God and Love Him so much! We trust Him with everything and it has just given us this Awesome Peace! It doesn't make sense to me for people to be so happy in such a situation, but we truly are.

Tim has not seen the doctors again since he went to U of M in March. His lung diffusion capacity could be another 2% lower by now (it was 29% in March and consistently dropping 2% per month for the past 9 months), but we won't know until he is tested again. We felt it best that Tim quit working even though we have no other means of income at this time. It just seemed that he would be healthier and happier to be home now. I think he has definitely been happier although he misses his friends at work. We are not concerned about finances. We know God will take care of us in many ways. We are confident that we will be able to get disability even if it takes some time.

We have prayed for so long that God would touch Tim and heal his lungs completely. We know that He can do that if it is His Will. We have prayed expectantly, believing that in the next moment Tim would take a full breath and be healed. I've laid hands on him and prayed while he's slept, totally knowing that the next morning he could rise and be well. That has not happened yet. We know that God can do it, but He may not choose to do it. We are ok with that. We are hopeful that God will use a lung transplant to heal Tim. Tim hasn't gotten on the waiting list, but hopefully will be doing that soon. We pray that he has time to wait for lungs and that they will be provided. We trust God completely. We know that another way he may heal Tim is by taking him to live in Heaven with Him. We have no doubt at all that Tim will definitely be fully restored there if not sooner!

We know, we know without the slightest doubt, that God Loves Us! We know that he loves us and wants good things for us. We know he is not trying to hurt us or punish us. We know that His Ways are NOT our ways. We know that His Way is so much better than our way. We trust Him in that. We trust His good and perfect plan. We want His Will to be done. We only pray that God uses us and our situation to witness to others and to show them the strength and hope that only comes through Jesus Christ! We feel that what we are going through can and is making us stronger. It makes us individually stronger, it makes us stronger as husband and wife, and it is making us stronger in our faith. We know that our situation really may have nothing at all to do with us. It may be something that God is using to benefit someone else.

Tim and I and all 4 of our children have accepted Jesus as our Savior. We know that He is the Son of God. We know he died on a cross for our sins and was buried and that he rose again and is living in Heaven, preparing a place for us. Because we know that, we are secure in our life. We have eternal life with God. Others in our life do not have that security. We pray that God uses us to affect others so that they will know the Love of God. We just want to be used by Him in whatever way He chooses because that is the best way.

Monday, Tim and I will celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary! His parents recently celebrated their 39th. We think it's cool that we are married exactly 1/3 of what they have been. We feel that 13 years is a good start to our forever together! We are hopeful that we will grow old together, raising our children, loving eachother, and serving God.

We will never doubt or question God. We will rely on Him knowing that only in our weakness can His strength be our strength. We will praise Him forever and thank Him for all that we have been blessed with including the trials he lets us go through.

Please pray for Tim, that he will get on the list soon. Pray that he will be able to have the double lung transplant and that it will be a new start for him. Pray for comfort for our loving family and dear friends. Pray that others will have the peace we have. Pray that we do not fail in our faith, but that we always keep believing in the goodness of God. We know that no matter what happens, God is Always Good!

Easter Eggs

2009-04-11T22:35:00.004-04:00

Today we colored our Easter eggs for tomorrow. The kids did a great job! They look so beautiful!

Update on Tim's lungs

2009-04-06T18:54:00.001-04:00

Tim recently went to U of M for another checkup. He goes every 3 months. For those who don't know, Tim has pulmonary fibrosis. The doctors think he has had it for at least 17 years now. One of the tests that they do on him when he goes for checkups tells them how well his lung tissues absorb oxygen. For the past 9 months Tim's has been decreasing about 2% per month and the measurement is now at 29%. If it continues to decline at this rate, he will be down to 0 in a little over a year! Obviously the doctor said there is no such thing as 0.

The doctor put him on prednisone. If it doesn't help, then he wants Tim to meet with the lung transplant specialist again. He was told a couple of years ago that eventually he will need a double lung transplant. It is pretty scary, but I'm trying not to worry too much until we see what happens. So far, Tim says the prednisone has not been helping. It usually helps him within a couple of days.It didn't really hit me until today, but if the decline continues at 2% per month, we really don't have much time to wait on a waiting list for lungs. We will see the doctors again soon and I'm sure if the prednisone doesn't work, they will have other ideas for slowing down the progression.

We trust in God and we know that He will get us through whatever is to come. We know He has the power to completely heal Tim. We know He can do it miraculously or use doctors and medicine (which in Tim's case would still be miraculous). We also know that He doesn't always choose to heal us here on Earth. It will not keep us from praising Him, because we know that God is always Good. It feels good to have that hope and just to know that He never leaves us alone.Please keep Tim and our family in your prayers. Pray that God's Will be done in our lives and those around us. God can use this for His Glory.

"Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt & Beth Redman

2009-03-30T15:43:00.003-04:00

Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
And Blessed be Your name when I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in, Lord Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name when the sun's shining down on me
When the world's "all as it should be"
Blessed be Your name
And blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name.

This song has really been speaking to me lately and I really feel this way. Even though we have hard times, God is still God. He never changes. He is always Good. Here are my own verses I could add to the song.

Blessed be Your name when I prayed for twins and you gave them to me
Blessed be Your name when we moved and Tim was able to keep his job

Blessed be Your name when we couldn't buy my "Dream Home"
Blessed be Your name when we found out about Tim's lung disease

Blessed be Your name when we could buy whatever groceries we wanted
Blessed be Your name when all we have is Ramen Noodles. :)

Blessed be Your name when we got to take a 2 week vacation
Blessed be Your name when we're sitting home all week during Spring Break

Blessed be Your name when my sister was cured from leukemia
Blessed be Your name when my Dad had to have a heart bypass surgery

Blessed be Your name when the children we are teaching listen well
Blessed be Your name when the children we are teaching won't sit still

Blessed be Your name when we are happy
Blessed be Your name when we are sad

Blessed be Your name when we want to bless You
Blessed be Your name when the rocks have to cry out because we don't

God is God all the time. God is Good all the time. He doesn't change. He doesn't move. He can do no wrong. His Will is perfect. He has plans for us, good plans. We are the ones who change. We move. We sin. We are not perfect. Our ways are not His ways. I am so thankful to know Him and to trust Him. Without Him there would be no Hope. With Him there is always Hope!

Christian Motorcyclist Association Season of Refreshing

2009-03-26T16:17:00.003-04:00

This past weekend, Tim and I took the kids to Gaylord, Michigan for a Christian Motorcyclist Association Conference. It was called "Seasons of Refreshing"; and it's an annual event. We had a super weekend and really were refreshed and revitalized!

Friday night was mostly an introduction. We sang some worship songs and heard from our speakers, Rodger and Rayleen Wilson. After the program that evening, we had a pizza party.

Saturday was the main event. Usually Rodger will speak for most of the conference, but this year they did it a little bit different. You have to complete a ministry training program in order to earn the right to wear the CMA back patch. So, we all did the ministry training on Saturday. Tim had already taken it and had is back patch, so it was a refresher for him and many others there. Allison, Clara, and I all completed the ministry training, so we are all official Christian Motorcyclers now! :) They have a special training curriculum for the teenagers. I was so proud of the girls for doing it and proud when they recieved their completion stickers. Tim bought all 3 of us CMA back patches, so now we just need jackets or vests to put them on.

There were over 500 people at the conference! It is always Awesome to see such a big group of Christians all together. It's encouraging and exciting to be able to talk to others and hear their stories. The Wilsons are great speakers. We love to listen to them tell their stories and often they include a tear jerker or two. We are really excited to go to some rallies this summer! I can't wait to ride again with Tim.

Saturday night, after the conference, we went swimming at the hotel. The kids really enjoyed that. We ordered pizza and watched tv. Allison and I stayed up pretty late watching some shows on the Food Network.
Sunday morning after we checked out of our hotel, we visited Tim's cousin, Jimmy. It had been years since we'd seen him so it was nice to catch up and show of our beautiful children. ;)

We decided that since the Mackinac Bridge was only 45 minutes away that we would take the kids over it. Allison is the only one of the kids who had been to the Upper Peninsula before and she was a baby then. We ate lunch on the other side of the bridge and then came back over.

We stopped on the way home to visit our Uncle Eddie and Aunt Marge. We had some coffee and enjoyed a nice visit with them. They are the ones that got Tim and I together many years ago! Aunt Marge had shown me a picture of Tim and I thought he was so cute. I asked for his address and we started writing letters back and forth. A couple of months later we met in person and our life together began. That's another story though. :) We got home around 9:00pm Sunday night. It was a great weekend!

Worship Service

A CMA Back Patch

The Mackinac Bridge from the Upper Peninsula side

Sweet!

2009-03-25T22:54:00.005-04:00

Just for fun, I took some "up close" pictures of something sweet...Sugar! I just think it looks pretty. :)

Regular white sugar

This one is that new sweetener called Truvia.

Red decorating sugar

Green decorating sugar

Pink decorating sugar

Blue decorating sugar

Another shot of pink

One more shot of blue

Jelly Beans

Candy Sprinkles

Can I still call 5 year olds "Babies"?

2009-03-04T10:47:00.005-05:00

The other day was Ben and Emily's birthday. I cannot believe that they are 5 years old already! We had a little party with my Mom and Dad. My friend had made a 7 layer jello cake for her daughter recently and it looked so cool that I decided to try one myself. It was beautiful! :) My babies are growing up...

Shadows

2009-02-18T10:32:00.003-05:00

I saw a picture on my friend's page of her kids' shadows. I thought it looked really cute, so I decided to take some myself.

Ben and Emily

Nose to Nose

Emily's profile

Benny's profile

Emily with her teapot

Batman!

Allison's profile

Clara's profile

Another Round Of Snowflakes

2009-02-16T13:35:00.008-05:00

Here are some pictures that I took this morning of snowflakes and ice crystals in our yard and on our van.

A Day In The Life Of...Me

2009-02-14T22:45:00.029-05:00

My sister, Tricia and I have seen this done on other websites, so we decided to try it. Here is my Day in the life of Album. I made this a week or two ago, but just now got it on here. Enjoy!

This is what time I get up each weekday morning to get the kids ready for school. Their bus comes at 6:10am.

Ah, this is what I look like when I first get up. What would you expect?

The kids are ready for school.

They are waiting for the bus.

I read my Bible most every day after the kids get on the bus. Getting my daily dose of God's plan for me.

Another daily ritual, talking to my Mom on the phone.

Ah, coffee

It's so yummy with French Vanilla creamer!

I'm on the computer.

This is looking out my front door.

The sun is rising.

Breakfast...Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds.

Yum!

This is looking from the computer out the front window.

There is always lots of laundry to do in our house.

Here I am taking my bath. Aren't I cute?

The towel/turban trick...dries my hair and keeps it out of my way while I "put on my face".

Mascara

Putting on my lipstick. My Mom loves this one. It's called "smooch".

Ah, much better than that 5:30am pic.

My Mom called and asked if I would take her to the bank.

So off I go.

The sun is getting higher.

Starting the car up. It's freezing!!

I'm heading to my Mom's house.

I'm pulling into my parent's driveway. This is the house I lived in my Whole life until I got married. My Dad built this house! :)

My beautiful Mom, getting her coat on so we can leave.

Around these parts, we don't use road signs to give directions. Instead, we say things like "turn at the big smiley face". Road signs are small, you can't miss this though. :)

The long drive home after driving Miss Daisy, a.k.a Mom to the bank.

It takes 5 minutes max. to get from my parent's house to ours.

I'm back home at 11:20am.

Here I was looking out the peephole at an unfamiliar man walking his dog. (He's gone out of my range of view).

More laundry

Messy table

Tim calls me every day during his lunch break. "I Love You!"

Oh look, the table cleaning fairy must have come while I was on the phone. This table really is clean despite it's permanant marker and paint stains.

Vaccuuming the living room.

If I were a cat I'd curl right up in that sunny spot and sleep the rest of the day away!

Messy countertop

Ta da!

I would like to tell you that this virtuous green leafy salad was my lunch...

but I had to add bacon bits, cheese, and dressing. I would have added croutons and garbonzo beans if I'd had them too. :)

It was tasty!

I gotta have my coffee to keep me going. :)

Onto the dishes. That's Tricia's favorite little snowman mug looking up at me.

A friend from Church called me.

Looks like High Noon to me.

Another messy countertop.

I'm putting some elbow grease into it.

Voila!

I'm editing my photos.

Wash it! Dry it! Now it's time to fold it!

What a beautiful sight!

Ahhh, even more beautiful. Why haven't I made nap time part of my day in the life of. Must keep going. :)

Now it's time to study for the Cubbie Skit tonight.

The first busload of kids arrives home. Ready or not, here they come!

"Let's get to work on messing up this clean house!"

Into the bath with Ben and Emily.

While they play in the tub, I need to clean this counter.

So clean...

and shiny.

I'm telling you that the laundry at our house is never ending!

Bus #2 brings Allison and her friend home from school at 4pm.

Yes, this is the first time I've brushed my teeth today.

I'm ready to go to Cubbies.

"Alright kids, get your stuff on and let's get going." We had to leave early because there is dinner at Church before AWANA. I love it when I don't have to cook.

I wish I could have been home a little bit later to show you the beautiful sunset that we usually see.

We stopped at the store so the kids could each get something to drink.

We got to Church at 5:20pm. Dinner started at 5pm and goes until 6pm. It was a good dinner with subs and wraps.

Here's Tim, our Cubbie Director/World's Greatest Husband. He's getting ready for our little Cubbies to check in.

I'm having a little chat with Cubbie Bear.

Cubbies get's over at 8pm, but we are still waiting for a couple of kids to leave and we have to clean up. We left about 8:20pm.

On the drive home.

I stopped for gas around 8:30pm. $1.99 per gallon. That's not too bad considering how high it was a while ago.

Home Sweet Home.

We watched the sun move throughout the day. Now it's the moon's turn to shine. (Yeah, I know it doesn't shine, it reflects the sun's light).

This is the last photo I took for the day even though I was up until about 11:30pm. For the rest of the evening I edited pictures on the computer, ate popcorn, brushed my teeth for a second time, read the Bible with Tim, and went to sleep. There's still plenty of laundry left for tomorrow.

AWANA car race

2009-01-28T09:56:00.003-05:00

Last weekend our church had the AWANA Grand Prix. The kids (and adults) make little pine wood cars and race them. This time was just for our church. In a couple of weeks we will go to the finals where there will be lots of area churches. Here is Clara's car and the two first place trophies that she won last weekend. She got a first place for speed and a first place for design. In this race she was only racing against 3 other people, so it's hard to guess at how well she will do in the finals. I think her car looks really good and she did a great job designing it. If you notice splotchiness on the pictures it is because I covered the name of our county to post the pics online.

Haircut

2009-01-28T09:47:00.002-05:00

I decided to get my hair cut the other day. I think it looks pretty cute! The hair stylist actually cut 7 inches off. I didn't realize it was that long.

The need for change (in my house)

2009-01-21T12:38:00.003-05:00

Brrr, it sure has been cold lately! The sun was shining yesterday, but today it's gone again. It's snowing lightly right now. I got up late this morning so I had to drive all of the kids to school. I just can't seem to get motivated to do much today. I've been working on dishes and laundry (as I do EVERY day). I talked to a couple of my sisters earlier today.

I really want to start decorating in the house. I want to do some painting and just make things look nicer than they do now. The kids' rooms are so small and cramped, but I think if I try hard I could do something cute for them. The one room has 2 sets of bunk beds in it along with a dresser and a bookshelf (actually an old headboard bookshelf). There are also some toys in there. I want to figure a way to make more room in there. I might take one of the bunk beds out and put it in Allison's room. I could put the toys in boxes that slide under the bed. Maybe we could put up a bookshelf on the wall in there so that it wouldn't take up floor space.

Allison's room (which she just sort of claimed) has a lot of stuff in it and it's really really small. She has been sleeping on a love seat sofa in there. There's also a huge dresser, a bookshelf, a play kitchen, a big bin of toys (Ben and Emily's), a stack of plastic drawers, and a hamster. We had all 4 kids in one room, but she really wants and needs her own space. I wish they all could have more room.

We are trying to get by with what we have, but it is hard sometimes. I wish we had just one more bedroom. We don't really have any storage space in the house either. There is a closet in our bedroom, but it's already full. That's the only closet in the house. We don't have a garage or basement either. We do have a little shed outside, which is full of storage bins, and Tim's stuff like the lawn mower, bikes, and things like that. We've thought about getting another shed.

Anyway, I just wouldn't mind our little bit of space so much if it had a little more personality. It could be cute and cozy instead of cramped and cluttered. :)

I hope the sun will come out again tomorrow and that I will be motivated to start making some changes.

Monday January 19, 2009

2009-01-19T21:31:00.002-05:00

Well, so far 2009 is going pretty good. The kids are back in school. It's been really cold lately. The kids haven't been able to play outside very much because it's so cold! The sun came out today though and it was beautiful! It was nice to see some blue sky. The trees had snow crystals on them. I took a couple pictures of some of them. I also took some pictures of snowflakes on our front porch.

I spent some time with my Mom and Dad today. We went shopping and then out to lunch. It was nice even though I had a lot of housework that I should have done. Dad really had to twist my arm to go. I was still in my pajamas when he called and said "We'll be there in 5 minutes to pick you up." I don't know if I've ever gotten ready so quickly! I washed my face, brushed my teeth, got dressed, and even had time to put on my makeup before putting my hair into a ponytail. I was ready and waiting for a few minutes before they got to my house. :) It just seems like we haven't gotten to get out very much lately, so it was nice to get away from the house for a while.

Tim is working late tonight. It's 9:30pm now. I'm not sure what time he'll be home, but I hope it's soon. The kids and I went over to my parent's house for about an hour tonight. My Dad had bought some Chinese finger torture toys and wanted to see how Benny would react to them. His fingers were so small though that it didn't really keep him trapped for long.

There really is not anything new going on lately, so that's why I haven't been posting. I've been trying to keep up with my Bible reading and I'm doing pretty good with that. I'm in Ezekial right now.

Some of our friends from Church invited us over for dinner last week. This family started coming to church months ago and Tim got to talking to the mom and found out that she and her brother had gone to Elementary school with Tim. Her brother was in Tim's class. She invited us over last week because her brother and his family was coming for dinner. It was nice for Tim to get to catch up with his old friend and I really enjoyed meeting them and spending time with our new friends. We had 13 kids there between our 3 families! It was a really nice time. The kids had fun playing together and we got to visit. Our friend made a yummy turkey dinner with stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, bread, and a yummy oreo pudding pie dessert. We didn't want to leave, but we finally did around 9:00pm. I hope we can have them over to our house sometime soon.

My sister Tricia got a tattoo last Wednesday. I went with her while she got it done. It took 4 hours though and I could only stay for the first 1 1/2 hours. She got a tattoo on the top of her foot. It's of a fairy. I guess she has wanted it for about 6 years.

Well, that's all I can think of right now to post. Hopefully, there will be some fun things coming up soon. :)

Happy New Year!

2009-01-07T14:08:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year!

We had a very nice Christmas this year. The kids woke us up at 5:30am. We talked about Jesus being born and how the people had waited so long for Him to come. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus before we opened our gifts. We recognize Jesus as being the best gift we have ever received! I feel sort of frustrated that there is nothing we can physically "wrap" up for Jesus because I want to give him everything! I know that what He wants though is for us to live our lives as a gift to Him by doing His Will.

We took our time opening our presents. Usually it's a crazy time of everyone unwrapping things at the same time and the kids aren't sure who the gifts are from and we don't see everything being openend. This year we opened one gift at a time as everyone watched. It was fun seeing the kids get so excited about certain gifts. Ben's body just started shaking when he realized that he was opening a remote control car. It was all that he wanted for Christmas and when he saw it he just couldn't rip the wrapping paper off quickly enough! Allison's favorite present was a digital camera. She would have never guessed that she got one though because it was wrapped 4 different with the outside box being Huge. :)

Emily's favorite gift was a Barbie doll and Clara was most excited about getting a guitar. My favorite thing is a scarf that Tim gave me, even though it doesn't match any of my clothes. I think Tim's favorite gift was the first season of "ALF" on DVD that I got for him. The whole family has had fun watching those.

We went to my Mom and Dad's house in the afternoon for Christmas dinner. My sister Bobbi and her husband were there along with some friends of my parents, Jerry and Luann. We ate roast beef, cheesy potato casserole, dinner rolls, 7-layer salad, and pasta salad. It was delicious. We played a card game later and just enjoyed eachother's company.

For New Year's Eve we stayed home this year. Tim's brother and his family came over for a while. We played "UpWords" and ate yummy food. Allison and Clara each had a friend over for the night too. We stayed up to watch the ball drop on tv and then went to bed.

The weather hasn't been great for the past few weeks, so it really seems like we were cooped up in the house for most of the Christmas Break. We haven't been to Church for the past 3 weeks! We did get to go to the Christmas Program at Church on December 21st though and we had a really nice time there.

Before Christmas our friends John and Ellen and their kids, JJ and Maddie came over for a visit. It was really nice to see them again. They live in Kansas but came to Michigan for a few weeks for Christmas. We had a couple of other friends over while they were here and we played Joker's Wild (Our favorite card game). The kids had a lot of fun playing with eachother too.

Well, I want to write about my plans/goals/resolutions for this year, but can't do it right now. Emily is being very cranky today and I need to go have a talk with her. :) I hope to post again soon.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Wrapping Up Her Love

2008-12-22T09:48:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Emily and I were talking about how close Christmas is. She said she wanted to wrap a present for Jesus since it was His birthday. I told her it couldn't be a regular present like a toy because she couldn't actually give Him something like that. I told her that obeying Mommy and Daddy was a gift she could give Jesus. A little bit later I saw her folding some tissue paper into a square. I asked her what she was doing. She said "I'm wrapping up my love to give it to Jesus." I was so proud and happy to see that she can understand such things.

Snowflakes (photos)

2008-12-18T17:46:00.005-05:00

Here are some photos of snowflakes that I took on my back porch. I wish I could get them to be more clear. I will keep trying. Enjoy these first attempts. :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2008-11-27T08:23:00.001-05:00

Here are some of the many things I am thankful for this year.
I'm so thankful for God and his Awesomeness! He is always good! He is so compassionate and merciful to me. He brings me joy and teaches me how to live for Him. He has blessed me with everything that I have. He gives me so much when I don't deserve anything. I know that he cares about me and what happens to me. He has good plans for me.

I'm thankful for my husband, Tim. He works hard for our family. He puts up with my moodiness. He always tells me that I am beautiful, and I believe him. He loves me so much! I'm thankful that we have been married for nearly 13 years now!
I'm thankful for my children. They help me to practice patience. They bring me joy and pride. They make me want to live for God so I can be a good example for them. They make me laugh and smile. I like to play with them and talk to them. I love being their Mom and I am so thankful that God gave them to me. I'm thankful that I can see them growing and getting smarter and smarter all the time. I'm thankful for each of their special talents.

I'm thankful for our Church. I love our Church so much! I love singing during the worship time and focusing on God. I love to learn about Him. We have so many wonderful friends there that are like family to us. I'm thankful that I get to teach the children at Church for Sunday School and Children's Church. I feel so priveleged to teach them. I love to tell them about God and how wonderful He is. I am so thankful for all of the children in our Church. I'm thankful that we have AWANA at our Church too and that I can teach children there. It is a great feeling to tell those little ones about Jesus and how much He loves them.
I'm thankful for my family. I'm glad that my Mom and Dad live just around the corner and that I get to talk to my Mom every morning. I love spending time with my parents, my siblings, and their families. I love the way our family laughs together.

I'm thankful that Ben and Emily got saved this year! It's such a good feeling to know that everyone in our house will someday be in Heaven together!

I'm thankful for my Bible. I love reading it and learning more about God and Jesus Christ. I love hearing what God wants to say to me. I love the way He encourages me through His Word and shows me His Will for my life. I am thankful that I can go to the Bible for any situation I might be facing and find wisdom and guidance.

I'm thankful for all of my friends, near and far. I'm thankful for long distance phone calls and being able to share everything big and small with my friends. I love knowing that they care about me. I love seeing good things happen for them. I'm thankful for all of my wonderful memories that I've made with my friends.

I'm so thankful for the many "material" things that God has given to me. I'm thankful for our house, as small and cluttered as it is. We are blessed to have a warm, safe, and comfy place to live. I'm thankful for our clothes. I'm thankful that we always have food to eat. I'm thankful that we have running water and hot water that is clean. I'm thankful for our vehicles. I'm thankful for my books. I'm thankful for my computer, especially that I can use it to connect with friends and family.

I'm thankful for the talents that God has given me. I love taking photos and hope He will show me how to use them for His Glory. I'm thankful for the time I have to write letters to friends. I'm thankful for my positive attitude and my patience.

I'm thankful for the beautiful world that God has made. When I see a beautiful sunset or sunrise, I feel like God made it just for me. I am always thrilled to see a rainbow and remember God's promise to us. I love seeing beauty all around me in the trees, the plants, the animals, the rocks, and everything else that He made for us to enjoy.

These are just a few things that I am thankful for. Most of all I am thankful that God loved us so much that He would give up his very own, one and only, beloved son for us. Especially when I look at my precious Benjamin, I can't imagine giving him up for anybody, especially for a world of sinful people. My salvation is the most important thing and if it were all I had, it would surely be enough! Although I have a purpose here and enjoy my life on Earth; I'm thankful that this world is not my home. Someday I will spend eternity with God! That is something to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Hearts

2008-11-21T10:39:00.002-05:00

A friend took this picture this morning. I think it's pretty cool. No one made it on purpose, but it does look like a couple of hearts doesn't it?

Silly kids

2008-11-20T23:23:00.004-05:00

Emily is our adorable little 4 year old...but there is another side to her. It's the side that constantly has her finger up her nose, which is pretty yucky.

Last night she said something pretty gross. She took her socks off and was picking the fuzz out from between her toes. She turned to me and asked "Can you get sick from eating the fuzz in your toes?" I told her that yes, she could get very sick; and she said "But I want to eat it!" Kids are so crazy sometimes!

The other day my sister called to tell me a story about her son, my 3 year old nephew. She said he had gotten into trouble for biting someone at school. I don't remember the other boy's name, but we'll call him Dominic. My sister said "Kinson, you know we don't bite anything that isn't food. Why did you bite Dominic?" He replied "Well I thought Dominic looked like food." :)

Ben, our other adorable 4 year old is really excited about letters right now! He knows most all of them and can write a lot of words already. The other day he brought me a piece of paper with a word he had written on it. He asked "What does this say?" I said "Well, actually, it says 'butt'. Who told you how to write that? Did Daddy tell you to write that?" "No", he said, "I saw it on a towel in the bathroom". (It's a crazy towel that one of my sisters gave us as a gift a few years ago, one end labeled 'butt', and the other 'face'. You don't want to mix those up.) Anyway, I think it's time to get rid of the towel and check for any other writing in the house that we may not want to see him writing.

VENISON

2008-11-20T19:54:00.003-05:00

Yay! Tim finally got us some venison tonight! Actually he got 2 deer! He got a 4 pointer and a doe about 20 minutes apart. I'm so proud of him and so thankful, because we really need the meat. Way to go Babe!

Just for Fun! :)

2008-11-19T11:14:00.007-05:00

Just for fun, here are some of my photos that I've been playing with.

Candy Houses

2008-11-08T22:12:00.002-05:00

Today Clara, Emily, and I went to a Girlscout candy house making event. Clara's best friend Sheyanne and her Mom, Karla, went too. They had a potluck lunch and then the kids get to make candy houses. They used graham crackers, frosting, and candy to make them. We had a nice time. Clara's house ended up crashing though before we left. I think all the weight of the candy was too much for it. :) At least we got some pictures first.

My Life Lately

2008-11-02T21:17:00.002-05:00

Things are going pretty well in my life right now.

The kids are all doing well in school. Ben and Emily really love school and love riding the bus, even though it picks them up at 6:15am! A couple of times I have driven them to school and that makes them mad. They would rather ride the bus. It is easier for me to put them on the bus than to drive them but I just don't like them having to ride for so long in the morning. They get ready quickly in the morning as long as we have everything laid out the night before. They eat breakfast at school, so that makes it easier too. Allison and Clara are getting good overall grades in their classes. Allison has a few of her good friends in all of her classes this year, so that helps a lot. Clara really likes school and is doing better at reading this year than last year. This is her last year at the elementary school. It's hard for me to believe that she will be in Middle School next year! She and her classmates just seem younger to me than Allison's class did at that age.

Time goes by so quickly! I say that over and over, but it is so true! When Tim and I first got married and then had Allison, I noticed that the years started going by faster and faster. After that months started passing more quickly and now it just seems like weeks and days breeze by leaving me no chance to catch up. I do wish that my time would slow down some. I think I just need to be way more organized and prioritize better. I am working on it. I am just not that type of person anymore. I think that when I was younger I was a little bit better at that. I used to always be early for everything and now it seems no matter how hard I try I am more often running late or at least feeling like I will be late. I guess I have always been bad about procrastinating though. I used to do school reports and projects on the night before they were due. Luckily I did a really good job under pressure and always made the honor roll. I'm still that way too. I struggle with keeping the house clean, but if I invite company over, I can get the whole house cleaned in mere hours. I don't want to be that way though. I want to be more prepared so that I don't have to stress out and rush around last minute. Tim and I would like to have people over for dinner more often, but we feel like the house just isn't presentable. Like I said though, I am working on it, slowly but surely.

I have been really good about reading my Bible consistently. I try to read it every morning as the first thing I do when I get up. I might make a cup of coffee first, or call my Mom first, but I try really hard to read my Bible before I turn on the computer or tv or radio each morning. When I read my Bible in the morning it is easier to keep my focus right throughout the day than if I read it before I go to bed at night. I really do love reading my Bible too. There are some books that I struggle through at times, but most of it I really relate to and can see what God is telling me. Right now I am in Ecclesiastes and that is not one of my favorites. Maybe at a different stage in my life I will get it, but that's not where I am right now. I am fortunate I guess that I don't feel like my faith has been tested very often. I very rarely question God. I always know that He is Good and that His Plan is Good even if it isn't my plan. I never have felt that God has abandoned me or that He has done me wrong. I always feel that I have more than I deserve. I am so thankful that He doesn't give me what I deserve, because that would not be anything good at all. Anyway, I have a hard time relating to parts of the Bible where people feel forsaken by God or angry at Him. I just haven't been there yet.

I love our Church! Our Church is doing really well right now. I think we are really on the right track of doing God's Will. We are seeking Him and trying to do what He wants. I feel really blessed with our Church and the wonderful family that we have there. Tim and I both look up to so many people there and we learn so much from all of them. I enjoy teaching when it's my turn. Today I taught the Children's Church service with my friend Mary. It went really well. The kids were good listeners today. We are teaching them about gratitude this month and today's story was about Jesus healing the Ten Lepers. Only one came back to Him to say Thank You! We look at the other 9 and think how ungrateful they were. How often though, do we forget to say Thank You when we are shown kindness?

Awana is going well. Last week we had a lot of kids there including 2 new ones. Most of the time the kids are good listeners. We have such important things to teach them that it really makes me happy when they listen well. Even when we don't think they are listening though, they often learn more than we think. I love being a part of teaching them and helping them memorize scripture. They are all such special children and they all deserve to hear the Good News we are sharing with them.

My Mom came over for a couple of days recently and helped me with cleaning the house. She is so opposite of me when it comes to stuff like that. She is a hard worker and seems to "love" cleaning. I love her so much! I'm thankful for her and glad that she is so near. Even when I feel that I am failing sometimes, she always supports me and cheers me on. She lifts me up and helps me to not be down on myself. She really helped me a lot when she came over last week.

Oh, here is some exciting news. I am going to go on a mission trip with some other people from church to Mexico. We have really good friends who are missionaries there. We are going to help them with a new building that they are building there. I am really excited about going! Tim doesn't know if he will go yet or not, but he said that I can go. It will be for a little over a week and we will be going sometime in the spring. I have never gone on a trip like that so I am really looking forward to it. Our friends who are missionaries there, Ben and Beth, are some of Tim and my best friends. They are a couple that taught us a lot when they were here a couple of years ago. They live so much for God and they are so obediant to His Will for them. We really look up to them as people we want to be like. I can't wait to see them again and be able to help them out in some way.

Well, I guess that is enough blogging/updating for today. It's getting late and I am tired. I want to try to update this a little more often than I have lately. Keep checking in for more updates and photos. :)

Have a great day!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T16:51:00.004-04:00

We had a fun Halloween. We went trick-or-treating close to home this year. We went to the school for a while because they had games for the kids to play and of course lots of candy and treats. :) The church right around the corner from us had a Trunk-or-Treat so we went there too going from trunk to trunk getting candy. That was nice because we got to visit with some friends that we don't see very often. When we were done trick-or-treating we got pizza and then came home. We were all pretty tired then, so we didn't stay up too late. Here are some pictures of my cute kids. :)

Emily was a Ballerina Bunny Fairy

and Ben was a Pirate Aaargh!

Clara was a motorcyclist and Allison

was a Renaissance Queen :)

Emily was as cute from behind as she was in front.

Tea Party

2008-11-01T16:22:00.005-04:00

Last weekend my sisters and I went to a Tea Party. My Mom and her friend Mary were hosting a table there so we went with them. It was nice. They had set the table up really nice with Mary's china. They put sugar inside a hollowed out lemon to give it a little bit of flavor. They made lots of yummy things to eat too. We all had to make paper hats. There was a band of ladies playing music. There was a speaker too that spoke on being a mother. The best part of it all was just visiting with my Mom and sisters. Tricia and I don't get to see our sisters, Jen and Bobbi, from Illinois very often so it was nice to spend a little time with them.

Jen, Bobbi, Tricia, and Me

My Birthday

2008-10-18T09:03:00.004-04:00

Here are some pictures from my birthday. We went to my Mom and Dad's house for dinner. My Mom made homemade chop suey like she used to make for my birthdays when I was a kid. Tim bought me a pretty cake with sunflowers on it.

32 years ago, I was there little baby. :)

Me and my wonderful husband. :) He loves me so much and sometimes I just don't know why. :)

Here's our first baby. Allison is 12 years old now.

Here's our silly Clara. she just got a harmonica and has been playing it.

Emily is all dressed up for Mommy's birthday.

My Mom made homemade chop suey. It was delicious!

Me and Benny. I don't know why he's making big eyes. :)

Tim got me a new monitor for our computer.

Tim did a good job picking out a cake. He knows I love sunflowers.

Allison's Birthday

2008-10-18T08:28:00.003-04:00

Here are pictures from Allison's 12th Birthday. She and her friends call themselves "Casserole" as a group. They all have nicknames that go into casserole. Allison is Chicken and some of her friends are Broccoli, Cheese, and Rice. Cheese and Rice came to Allison's Casserolean Birthday Sleepover. Allison wanted me to make a cake that looked like a casserole. I also made real casserole for dinner. Allison's friends ended up staying over two nights and we all had a fun time.

Allison decorated this box that we hid some treats in for a scavenger hunt.

Here are the casseroles. The one on the left is the dinner casserole. The one on the right is the birthday cake.

Tim's Birthday

2008-10-16T18:55:00.004-04:00

In the past 3 weeks, we've had 3 birthdays at our house. Tim's was first, then Allisons, and then mine. Here are some pictures from Tim's birthday.

I can't remember how this happened, but somehow Allison ended up with cake on her glasses and nose. I think she was trying to lick the frosting off of her cake or something.

Dentist visit, Tim's birthday, and "take me some venison;"

2008-09-26T11:16:00.004-04:00

I took Allison to get a tooth pulled yesterday morning. I couldn't believe how quickly and easily the dentist took the tooth out. I've never had it done or seen it done before. I thought she would cut it out or else really yank it out, but it appeared that she just grabbed it with her tweezers and gently pulled it right out. It was a baby tooth, so maybe that's why it came out so easy. Allison did really well and didn't have any problems. All 4 of the kids have had something done with their teeth that they had to get numbed for. None of them even realize that the dentist gave them shots in their mouths though. She puts the numbing gel on first and then she is so sneaky with the needle that they never see it. I'm not going to tell them either.

After the dentist appointment, Allison and I went and visited my sister, Tricia for a while. We had lunch and then went and did a little bit of birthday shopping for Tim. I got him the first season of "The Dukes of Hazzard", a motorcycle movie that Al picked out, and some candy (Hot Tamales, Lemon Heads, and Whoppers). Allison and I got back home just in time for Clara and the twins to get home from school.

Yesterday was Tim's birthday. My Mom watched the kids last night while Tim and I took a motorcycle ride and went out to eat at Applebees. We had such a nice ride. It wasn't freezing cold this time! I'm hoping that the weather will stay nice enough so we can go on a ride for my birthday in a couple of weeks.

We had a nice dinner at Applebees. Tim had what he always has there, the Bourbon St. Steak. I had a trio of shrimp, buffalo wings, and spinach artichoke dip with chips. It was all good. :) We got back home around 8pm. The kids and I gave Tim his cards and presents yesterday, but we didn't have cake yet. His Mom just came up late last night so we're going to have cake and icecream with them tonight.

I watched "The Office" last night. That show is so cooky, but it's funny most of the time. I watched "E.R" after that and was bawling at the end of it! I couldn't believe that Pratt died! It seems like that show always ends with unanswered questions though, that they don't answer even in the next episode. Last night I wondered what was up with Abbey's foot. She never did get it checked out. What about the hero guy that saved the old lady. What was that really all about?

Anyway, that was my day yesterday. Today I'm trying to get the house cleaned up for dinner and dessert tonight with the family.

Allison gets to go hunting for the first time tomorrow. There is a special Youth hunt just for this weekend. She's hunting with a bow and arrow and she is really good at it. I hope she gets one. She will be so proud and we will be so proud of her. We are all hungry for venison too, so I hope she gets a big one.

(From the King James Version)
Genesis 27:3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;

It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

2008-09-21T22:51:00.003-04:00

Well it was a beautiful day in our neighborhood and as it turns out, a beautiful day for a neighbor. :) We have a new neighbor moving into the house across the street from us. A family had lived there when we first moved here, but they left a couple of years ago. Yesterday we saw a U-Haul truck there, so we figured someone was moving in. Today, we met our new neighbor, Ann. She seems very nice and very friendly. Tim and I and a couple of other neighbors helped her unload the truck today. The house is big and very old. There is a lot of cleanup needed there and probably repairs as well. I'm hoping to help out a little bit if I can. I think it's a lot for one lady to do.

We did have a really nice day today. It was sunny outside and just such a nice fresh day. We went to Church and Sunday School this morning. Tonight I went over to my Mom and Dad's house for a little bit. My sister Tricia was there too, so we got to visit for a little bit.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm hoping to get some more cleaning/organizing done around here. I don't plan on going anywhere tomorrow and the kids will be at school; so I should be able to get a lot done. I might invite Ann (The new neighbor) over for a visit tomorrow. We wanted to have her over for dinner tonight, but she must have left to get another load with the U-haul truck.

Well, it is getting late and I'm really tired tonight. I guess I am off to bed to get rested for working tomorrow. :)

Our Whole Family Will Be Together In Heaven!

2008-09-19T23:46:00.002-04:00

Friday September 19, 2008

I am so happy today! Today I was so honored to lead our little Emily to accept Jesus as her Savior! :)

We (Ben, Emily, and I) were talking about Heaven. I said that I was going to go there someday because I am a Christian. Ben said he was too, because a couple of days ago Daddy had prayed with him to accept Jesus into his heart. :) Emily asked if she would go to Heaven. I told her that she would if she became a Christian. I took her and Ben and sat down with them with my Bible (My precious Bible), God's Holy Word. I reminded them that the Bible is inspired by God and He told men what to write. I reminded them that everything in the Bible is true because God is perfect and he cannot lie. Then I went through some verses with them, explaining each one as I read them.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (I explained that we are all sinners from the time we are born and that sin is when we do things that God doesn't want us to do such as lying, cheating, hurting people, and disobeying. I told them that even Mommy and Daddy are sinners)

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (I explained that because we are sinners we will be separated from God when we die and won't go to heaven. But then I told them that God made a way for us to get to heaven in Jesus.)

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (I reminded them of how God loves us even when we are sinners and showed us that by sending Jesus to die for our sins. I told them that Jesus was perfect and never sinned)

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. (I explained to them that Jesus is God's only son and that God sent him for us so that we wouldn't have to die [be separated from God] and we could live forever in Heaven with God.)

Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (I asked them to say that Jesus is the Lord and asked them if they believe that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after he died. They said that they did know that.)

Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, (I explained to them that since they said that Jesus is their Lord that now when they sin, God can forgive them if they ask him to because of Jesus.)

Romans 5:10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (I explained that if God forgave us when we were still sinners because Jesus died for our sins then he will even forgive us now when Jesus is alive in Heaven)

Then I asked Emily if she wanted to pray to God. She said that she wanted to go to Heaven, but didn't want to pray right now. Then Ben said a prayer and in his prayer he asked God that Emily would pray. Then Emily prayed and told God that she believes in him, that she knows she is a sinner, and she thanked him for sending Jesus to die for her sins.

Emily saw me crying and I always tell them that sometimes when Mommy is happy, she cries. Emily started crying too and said "Stop! Oh, you're making me so happy!" :)

I told Ben and Emily that when you become a Christian, God says that we are born again. So, tonight, we had a birthday party for Ben and Emily! I made cake (Angel food cake by coincidence). Emily said she wanted presents. I reminded her that God's gift to her was eternal life with him in Heaven. (and I bought her and Ben some candy and some bracelets and a necklace for her). :) They were so happy today, especially Emily. She called quite a few people to tell them the Good News. When she would get on the phone she would say "It's my birthday!" and eventually explain that she was saved today.

Tim was with Ben when he got saved the other day, so I don't know all of the little details.

What a good feeling it is to know that everyone in our house will one day be in Heaven together. I told Ben and Emily how wonderful Heaven is. I told them that we won't need medicine or bandaids there. I told them no one will ever be sad or mad or mean in Heaven. They asked if there would be toys there. I said that God would make sure that they were happy there. Emily said she wanted to go there now because it was boring here. I told her that God will take us there when he wants us to be there. :)

More Photos

2008-09-18T09:18:00.005-04:00

Here are some pictures that I took yesterday at my Mom and Dad's house.

This is a poor little plant that is being eaten up by something, but I thought it looked so beautiful and lacy.

Here is a four leaf clover that I found. They are pretty hard to find, so I was excited about it. :)

Hearts

2008-09-17T12:29:00.006-04:00

These are pictures that I took this morning that look like hearts to me.

A Beautiful Day!

2008-09-16T22:23:00.006-04:00

I had a beautiful day today! I got up at 5:30am and took a nice hot shower. It was so cold this morning in the house. I woke the kids up at 6:00am and got them dressed and drove them to their cousin's house where they get on the bus. Then I had a nice cup of coffee and a visit with my sister-in-law, Kim. She always pours me a nice big cup and puts just the right amount of flavored creamer in it. :) I took my niece, Tara, to school at 7:45am for a meeting she had.

Then I went up to my sister, Tricia's house and visited with her for a little bit. We went to the coffee shop and she had coffee and I had a peach muffin top. It was really yummy. I took her back to her house and then I went to my Bible study.

Bible study went really well and I made a couple of new friends, which I am really excited about! It is so good to talk to people who are similar to me and have the same struggles and desires. I love the group of ladies in the Bible study because they are all so supportive and encouraging. I learn a lot from listening to them.

After Bible study, I went back to Tricia's and we went to the farmer's market. There were so many yummy fruits and veggies there and pretty flower boquets. I like the little pumpkins that one lady paints up with cute faces and puts a bow on their "head". I bought some beautiful Indian corn. I'm not one to decorate very much, but I mostly bought it just because it was so pretty and I like to look at it. I will probably do nothing more with it than to just sit it on the counter and look at it. :) I also bought a squash. I forget what kind it is. It's dark orange and kind of squattier than a pumpkin. I bought some last year and loved them even though I don't usually like squash like that. I also bought some homemade sheeps milk soap. I felt compelled to buy it because it smelled really good and it had shea butter in it. If it's got shea in it, it has to be good right? :) Oh, and I also bought some huge sweet hot peppers. I'm not sure what I'll do with all of them because there were so many, but again, they just looked really pretty. I do like peppers though. I'll probably make some salsa and freeze the rest of the peppers for later.

After the farmer's market, Trish and I went out to lunch. She had a grilled roasted veggie sandwich and I had a grilled ham and cheese with onions and apples on it. It might sound a little different, but it really tastes good! We both had a cup of chili too that was made from elk, lamb, and bison burger. That was also yummy.

Trish and I went to the Dollar store and got a few things there. We had time to go into Claire's for about 5 minutes. It is probably good that we had so little time to go there because we both really like the stuff in that store and would have likely bought a bunch if we had stayed longer. We managed to just look today though an didn't buy anything.

I took Tricia back home and then I came home right before Clara, Ben, and Emily got home from school. I was supposed to have a meeting at church tonight, but it got rescheduled. I was kind of glad that it got rescheduled because I just wanted to relax. I made a nice dinner and just got to rest for a little bit. I read some new books to Emily and looked at a book my sister loaned me called "Earth From Above" by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. It has some really amazing photos in it from all over the world taken from above (in a plane or helicopter).

Tim and Ben went squirrel hunting and got a squirrel. I think Benny feels like such a big boy when Daddy lets him go hunting with him. Yesterday was opening day for small game and they went out then too. Tim got a squirrel yesterday too and let Ben carry it back to show us. I don't really like it when Tim shoots squirrels. We believe in eating what we shoot. I love eating venison, but I don't like cooking squirrels. They taste ok, but I don't like the way they look when they are skinned. I'd prefer Tim to only shoot deer, but I will cook the squirrels for him anyway. (I probably won't eat any of it though). :) Oh, and speaking of things I won't eat...Tim's chickens have finally started laying eggs. Actually only one hen has started laying eggs. They are cute little white eggs. I know they are good, but I just can't bring myself to eat anything other than store bought eggs. It is just something silly in my brain I guess but I especially won't eat brown eggs, even if they do come from the store. It drives Tim nuts, but I can't help it. I'm even kind of picky with my store bought white eggs. I can't eat them unless I take out all the white squiggly things. I do eat them boiled though and I know the squigglies are boiled in there too, but it doesn't bother me then. I know I'm weird, but at least it's not really anything too serious. I suppose I could eat them if I HAD to. :)

Anyway, today was just a great day all around. The sun was shining and I felt so happy! It was nice to spend time with my sister and nice to meet some new friends today.

More Beauty from Nature

2008-09-10T16:32:00.005-04:00

Here are some pictures I took this morning after I took the kids to school. Except for the picture of the road, they are all taken in our back yard.

Dew drops on pine needles

A puffball mushroom

Dew drops on a leaf

I think that all of these caterpillars were huddled together because it was so cold last night. :)

This is on our road

Dew drops in the grass

Dew drops shimmering in the sun

I love this closeup of the water droplets on this dandelion.

Mystery Dinner Ride

2008-09-10T16:26:00.002-04:00

Last night our chapter of CMA (Christian Motorcyclist Association) went on their monthly mystery dinner ride. The group meets at 6:30 pm and then we all follow the leader to the mystery dinner place. It was Clara's turn to go with Tim, but for $3.00 she said I could go. :) Tim and I rode 30 miles along with my Dad to the meeting place in town. Then we went with the other 7 people on another 30-40 minute ride to the restaraunt. The ride there was really nice. The sun was shining then. The air was so cool but it felt so good rushing against my face and smelled like cool water. One thing I really notice riding on the motorcycle is different smells in the air. We passed by a sweet smelling freshly cut lawn. Certain fields had fragrant smelling wild flowers. I also smelled wood smoke from a campfire. I love breathing in those smells deeply as we pass those spots! Other places, I wanted to hold my breath, like the dairy farms or the spot where there was a dead skunk on the road. :) We got to our destination and had a great time visiting with everyone as we ate dinner. Most of us drank hot coffee which warmed our hands and our bodies. It's fun getting to know people better and fun for Tim and I to get to do something like that together.

By the time we left the restaraunt to head home, it was dark out. It was about 9:00 pm then. With the sun gone, the air was bitter cold, and not as pleasant as it had been earlier. I added another jacket to my layers as well as a pair of gloves and a bandana on my face. We made it home about 10:00 pm, tired, freezing cold, but with a happy and content spirit. I'm so glad that I went with Tim. I'm really excited about being in the CMA and going on all of these rides! I enjoy meeting new people and making new friends and riding on the bike with my husband.

Beautiful Nature

2008-09-06T13:18:00.005-04:00

Pine cones with sap on them.

We have these poky things all over our yard. Ouch do they hurt!

This is some sort of weed. I just thought it looked cool.

These look like daisies, but they are a lot smaller. They are called asters.

Here's another weed that I think is pretty. We used to put these in boquets we picked for our Mom. :)

Purple clover. If I were an animal, I'd want to eat it. It looks sweet.

This is a side view of Queen Anne's Lace.

Here's the Queen Anne's Lace going to seed.

Sweet peas are my favorite flowers!

These are on the lilac bushes. They must be seeds.

Here is golden rod, best left outside because it makes me sneeze when it dries in the house.

This is a tiny weed flower, but pretty I think.

Mom's Birthday

2008-09-05T23:28:00.002-04:00

I surprised my Mom tonight by taking her a Dairy Queen icecream cake for her birthday. Tricia and Bum went over to Mom and Dad's house too to give Mom her birthday present. My Aunt Sandy (Mom's sister) was visiting, so we got to see her too. I haven't seen her for a couple of years. We had a nice time visiting and eating the yummy cake. :)

Mom is opening gifts from Allison and Clara that they made.

Here's Mom looking at a cute picture Clara drew for her. Clara says it is an Elvis monkey. :)

Mom is showing off the boat that Clara made for her. Of course, since she's holding it upside down, it does look like a hat.

Here's a picture of me at Mom and Dad's house. I'm wearing my new CMA shirt that I bought at the rally last weekend.

Here's my beautiful little sister, Tricia. She is always dying her hair different colors. I think it's pretty this shade of blue. That's my favorite color. :)

2008-09-05T23:16:00.002-04:00

I love to make presents look pretty on the outside too. :)

I gave my Mom some stationary and Sharpie markers. We love Sharpies!

Mom's opening her gift from Tricia.

I love this beautiful coffee scoop that Trish gave Mom...(hint to Trish, my b-day's coming up soon!)

Here's Mom with the surprise Birthday Cake I got for her. It was a strawberry cheesecake icecream cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

2008-09-05T17:04:00.003-04:00

Today is my Mom's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you so much! I'm so thankful that God gave me to you and Dad to raise. You have taught me so much and you have helped me become who I am.

You have always showed me love, even when I didn't always show it back. As a child, when I was disobediant you taught me right from wrong. You taught me by example to put others first. You showed me how to be a good friend. Your life showed me how to draw closer to God in hard times. You have displayed Awesome faith when others would have lost all hope.

You have always been a "fun" mom too. I have so many fun and silly memories of you both from long ago and from just days ago. I'm glad that we can have so much fun together.

You are always there for me. I love our coffee visits and just being able to talk to you and share my life with you. You lift me up when I'm down and you always point me to God whom my true joy comes from! You give me the best advice you can and you pray for me.

I love you so much and I hope you have a very happy birthday!

Love, Shea

Here are some pictures of my beautiful Mama!

Decorating Christmas cookies

My Mom loves to "clown" around. Here she is at Halloween.