Only Lucas...

Today looks like a typical kind of day. Actually I got up a little early, because I knew I had a lot to do. I helped kids get breakfast, did Timothy's spelling test, got Alyssa going on a chore and the rest of the kids settled in school work.

Then I head for the shower. Ahhh, hot steamy water and silence. Within moments, the door opens. Kayla wants help with sentence structure. The door shuts...and opens again. Lucas needs math help. Kayla reenters, more sentence problems. The door shuts again. Finally. I'm alone.

Or not...I hear the scratch of a pencil.

"Is somebody still in here?"
"I am," says Lucas.
"Do you need more help?"
"Nope"
"Then you can leave now."
"Why can't I stay?"
"I'm almost done with my shower and I'm going to get out."
Silence
Apparently, I needed to be blunt.
"And I'm not wearing anything."
"That's ok mom, I've seen people bare before. I won't laugh."

Every day is beautiful

Last Wednesday night, as wind chills dipped below zero degrees, Andrew prayed at the couch with our 3 youngest (Timothy was at a Christmas party) and we heard each of them begin their prayer with "God, Thank you for the beautiful day...". Actually, they usually begin their prayers this way, but that night when they were finished, I overheard this conversation.

"Guys, I heard every one of you thank God for the beautiful day, but, have you looked outside today? It's really cold and yucky out there." He looked at them for some understanding of what he was saying. Blank stares. "Well, ok, what does a day look like that is NOT beautiful?"

Lucas quickly piped up, "It's when you lose your job and we don't have any more money and we can't stay in our house any more and we don't have food to eat." The girls are nodding as Lucas speaks, Andrew looks at them and smiles, "So, then every day IS beautiful." Lots of emphatic nodding. Andrew and I give hugs and kisses and tuck them into bed and then sit down on the couch together - Wow! Lord, give me that kind of thankful perspective.

Desperate to be healthy

Ever since we came home from our annual Florida vacation in mid-October, one or more of our kids has been sick. No H1N1 that we know of, just nasty, hacking coughs. The kind of cough that makes people turn in horror that you brought that sick kid out into the world. Add to that the nasty rain we've had the whole time and it's easy to understand how we are going stir crazy around here! A couple days ago , Andrew heard a radio health program that said most Americans are vitamin D deficient, especially during the winter, because we do not get enough sun. Without enough vitamin D, we can't properly absorb vitamin C. Too little Vitamin C - and you get colds! The guy went on to explain that 10 minutes a day is all you really need. Armed with this sanity-saving information, my dear husband came home announcing the above and that as soon as we could see sun, we were all going to sit outside in it for 10 minutes.
Ahhh, I can feel the health emanating from our bodies already :)

Let's talk about....Truth.

After I became a Christian my sophomore year of college, I spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out my spiritual gifts. I thought I finally had it, and with excitement I told a dear Christian friend who had known me most of my life, "I think I'm a mercy giver!" She couldn't help herself. She seriously broke down laughing. When she had finally gotten control of herself, she said, "Sandy, you are definitely not a mercy-giver. You are a prophet - a truth teller."

My emotions were a jumble. Part of me felt hurt and defensive because I had actually spent time thinking about this and really thought I had my spiritual gifts figured out, but on the other hand, I also knew my friend, and deep down, her words resonated within me. She was right.

I am passionate about truth. More precisely, I am passionate about teaching Truth.

The video of Rep. Joe Wilson that has been circulating the web and various news outlets has gotten me thinking. Why don't more people care about the truth? Not just the truth of the proposed health care plan or other political matters, but the Real Truth. More and more, I see how too many people are willing to dismiss Truth and wave it off just as Pilate did nearly 2000 years ago with the non-question, "What is truth?" As if to say that Truth does not exist. And yet it does. Pilate was standing there looking at Truth incarnate and was unwilling to recognize Him.

In this day - when truth is so quickly blurred with lies, my greatest desire is that my children, and all children I have the opportunity to teach (at CBS or Sunday School) are solidly rooted in Truth, and my prayer is that they become passionate about truth and more importantly, the person in whom all Truth resides - Jesus Christ.

The end of Grandpa's journey

Andrew's Grandpa has been battling cancer for more than 10 years. It looks like his battle is nearing its end. Why does death have to be so hard??

Today, like a number of other days, we spent some time visiting Grandpa. But this time, I knew I had to prepare my kids a little bit for what they might see. That Grandpa might not look a lot like himself, or act like himself, but he's still Grandpa and needs to know we love him. The visit has been on our minds and hearts all day. Especially tonight, when we prayed. Tears came to my eyes as I listened to my children pray for Grandpa and Grandma, especially when Lucas slowly and thoughtfully prayed -

"Jesus, Thanks for making a special place in Heaven for Grandpa, and we hope he is happy there. And Jesus please help the doctors to help Grandpa get all better so he can be with Grandma again. And Jesus, it’s Your choice."

Journey's end

From Manitou Springs we set out on a day trip to the Royal Gorge. Ok, so it's a little tourist-trappy, but we enjoyed our day of walking across the world's highest suspension bridge, riding the steepest incline railway, and enjoying the requisite petting zoo, merry-go-round and little old-west ghost town. All right, maybe it's more than a little touristy. The real draw behind our trip here was the fact that Andrew and I whitewater-rafted the Royal Gorge 10 years ago and thought it would be cool to show the kids where we rafted and see the river from a different perspective. Seeing the rafters fly by - I had to stand there and say to our kids - see guys, isn't that so cool!!?!! Some day when you're all a bit bigger, we're going to come back here, but next time, we'll be in the raft!

On our last vacation day (I don't count driving home as vacation time), we drove up Pikes Peak. There is a reason Katherine Bates was inspired to write "America the Beautiful" from the top of this mountain. It is gorgeous. But I have to admit, although I'm not afraid of heights, the drive up was wild. At one point, it literally looked like we were driving up into the clouds.After we walked around the top for a little while (with our kids constantly insisting - "Mom, Dad, can we please go now?? It's SOOOOOO cold up here!!!") and took a bunch of pictures, we drove back down to the half-way picnic area. On the way in, we saw a cute little red fox standing in the middle of the road as if to welcome us in to the picnic grounds. Little did we know he was doing exactly that. We drove over to a picnic table, got out our food and up trotted this little fox who didn't look quite so little now that we were face to face with him. My kids (who by this time had heard plenty of ranger talks on the dangers of feeding wild animals) were very vocal with their, "Mom!! Somebody must have fed that fox! Now he knows to come get food here! How can people do that? Don't they know it's wrong?" ,etc. All of this disgust in people came to a quieting halt when the fox began inching it's way closer and the kids ran back to the safety of the van trembling with how close they had just come to nature. We are SUCH city-folk! Andrew recommended we pack up and head further into the picnic area, because, surely the fox wouldn't figure out where we are then, right? Not so much.

We had no more gotten our stuff out again, when up he trotted. At that point, Andrew commanded our scattering, chicken-hearted children to "Sit at the table and eat fast!! If we just ignore him he'll go away. EAT!" The fox wasn't buying our not-making-eye-contact bit. He inched closer (like less than 10' away), our children quietly made scared-to-death gutteral sounds and Andrew rose up to his full 6'2" hieght, grabbed a stick and prepared to fight off the beast should he decide he was done begging and just wanted that pb&j sandwich! At that moment, Lucas (I'm convinced his brain just hasn't finished making all the neural connections necessary), decided he really needed a better look at that fox. On tip-toe, he stealthily made his way nearly a foot past Andrew when he was caught! Andrew yelled out in a very commanding, I-am-so-serious kind of voice, "Get behind me!! When the fox sees me, he thinks big scary man! He sees you and thinks SNACK!!" It was all I could do to not pass my fox-coveted pb&j through my nose.

We love Colorado Springs! (Journey part 5)

We stayed in a cabin in Manitou Springs for 5 days and would have loved to stay more, but I suppose Andrew did have to go back to work at some point :). Our cabin was next to a little stream and tree with a rope swing that our kids loved. It was really a great place to relax and have fun with our kids after a full day of activities. We were also close to some of our day-time destinations; like Manitou Cliff Dwellings. The kids loved climbing in and around the cliff dwellings used by people over a thousand years ago. Andrew and I tried the in and around stuff too, but all I can say is, people must have been a whole lot smaller back then because the doors were an awfully tight squeeze! At least the kids had a good laugh at us.
We also spent part of a day hiking around Garden of the Gods. What a beautiful park, and best of all, it's free :) ! I learned a valuable lesson there - You see, those rock formations were so tempting, I just had to climb one...
...without climbing gear of course and as I was smiling for the picture, I was inwardly thinking, I'm going to break something. Lesson - going up is much easier than coming down. Let's just say I was not tempted to try it again, besides it's illegal - seriously. And no, I did not know that until afterward. Moving on.....

We loved the day we spent at Focus on the Family. When we were planning out our vacation, Andrew thought I was nuts to set aside an entire day for Focus. We got there at 9:30 and left ~5:30 and we could have stayed longer. There are great activities for Adventures in Odyssey lovers - if you have school-age kids and you aren't listening to Odyssey with them - Get Started! It's an awesome , Christ-focused radio series that you will come to enjoy as much as your kids. Enough for the plug. As soon as we got to Focus, we headed to the Welcome Center and downstairs to the kid area where we went roaming through the different rooms, trying on costumes from different characters and just having fun. Then we headed over to the Administration building. There we got an official tour of the building and heard about Focus' mission to help families. It was neat to see how Focus has changed in the 10 years since Andrew and I were there last. They still work diligently to support families, but now they have a very strong ministry to adopting families and Crisis Pregnancy Centers as well.

Before our tour began, we tried to get a hold of Andrew's cousin Rudy Haerr because we knew he worked at Focus and thought it would be fun to see him. After the official tour, not only did we get to say "hi" to Rudy, but he gave us a fantastic "back stage" kind of tour. For you Focus on the Family Broadcast listeners out there, look at the center picture in the collage and you'll see that I'm actually sitting in Dr. Dobson's chair! Too much fun!! Rudy also showed us the room where they make the sound effects for Adventures in Odyssey and gave us a lot of fun insider info about production of the Odyssey and Focus broadcasts and the voices behind our beloved characters. Then we headed back to the Welcome Center to eat at Whit's End - we even tried a WodFamChocSod - yum :). Our kids went down the huge ABend-a-Go slide at least a dozen times. We found the Wardrobe which led us into a small "Narnia" themed room that our kids thought was really cool and then we headed to the Kyds Radio booth where Timothy, Kayla, Lucas and I got to record our very own Adventure in Odyssey! After we finished the recording we were given a CD of our adventure to listen to in the van, which of course we did as we drove back to our cabin. Right before we left, I had to visit the Bookstore and as I wandered the aisles, I suddenly found myself standing face to face with Dave Stotts! Ok, so it was just a life-size cardboard cut-out of Dave, but pretty cool nonetheless. For those of you who don't love Drive Through History as much as we do, Dave Stotts is the nutty host of the series who, between his historical figures and fast facts, throws in just enough clean junior high humor to keep my boys' complete attention. My boys had to have a picture - and if you look closely at the boys' pic on the right (check out the bunny ears), you'll see evidence that Dave Stotts isn't the only boy stuck in a man's body. :P

Amazing Journey Part 4

From the Grand canyon, we drove through Painted Desert, Monument Valley (where we saw 1,000 ft high funky rock formations jutting out of the desert sand), 4 corners, and up into the mountains of Colorado. It was really an amazing drive. We stayed overnight in Pagosa Springs and got up nice and early to hit our first hiking destination - Treasure Falls.

10 years ago, Andrew and I stumbled upon this well-maintained 3/4 mile hike up to Treasure Falls. When you start the hike, you can't even see the Falls. As you get closer to the top, you start to hear them and then finally, you round a corner and see this -

Isn't it just gorgeous! We got to see it just as the sun was coming up over the mountain. We all just stood there and silently "wowed" for a while. After we had our fill of looking at the falls, we decided to walk a bit further onto a smaller trail where we found our first mounds of snow. Andrew was leading the crew and I was at the back making sure we didn't lose anyone when I got the novel little idea to send one of our sweet children up to their Daddy with a hand full of snow to put down his shirt. His surprised little yelp kinda shattered the peacefulness of the morning, but I think it was worth it :).

Did you know that the tallest Sand Dunes in North America are in Colorado?? Nestled in between 2 mountain ranges are the Great Sand Dunes. Our kids really enjoyed playing in Medano Creek - you have to cross this creek to get to the dunes and the water is FREEZING. After a while, you get used to it and it's a lot of fun. Because the snow melt water is rushing so quickly from the nearby mountain range, there is a very strong current. After crossing the creek, all you see is this -
Those dunes might not look big, but they are 750 feet tall! They only look small because they're standing in front of a 13 thousand foot tall mountain. Looking at them was incredible and climbing them was exhausting! We definitely didn't make it up the highest peak, but the kids had a ball climbing up and running/rolling down. I'm pretty sure we brought a couple feet of those dunes into the van with us.

For the next 5 days, our family stayed in Manitou Springs - a rugged little town just outside Colorado Springs that probably saw its heyday in the 50/60's - I kid you not, on our way in, Andrew and I saw a hotel sign that read "Air Conditioning & Color TV." Nonetheless, we really enjoyed our stay there. We had a nice 2 bedroom cabin where we could stretch out a little more and a full kitchen so I could cook again. I know it may sound crazy that I was excited about cooking again, but after 1 1/2 wks of eating out, I was really ready to cook some nutritious meals for my family. Plus, Manitou Springs is a fantastic location for so many of the things we wanted to do and see.

Overheard...

Last night I went to bed feeling pretty awful. This morning I woke up feeling worse. This means that Andrew got to take the kids to church on his own (I still got to get up and do hair, however). He also got to be in charge of the 3yr old to Kindergarten games for the Sunday School picnic :) and make our food to take. He chose brownies. As he was cutting up the brownies and putting them on plates, I heard our children come upstairs and start talking and it went something like this:

"Dad, did you make those brownies?"

Yes.

"REALLY??"

Yes.

"ALL BY YOURSELF???"

Amazing Journey part 3

From Tucson, we planned to drive to Sedona, spend the night, hike around and then head to the Grand Canyon. A couple hours into our drive, the van lost power...by God's grace we were able to restart the van twice and made it to a service station where we were told the fuel pump was bad and would take all the next morning to fix. I have admit I stressed for a bit knowing we wouldn't get to do anything in Sedona and knowing that it is hard to find a hotel to accommodate our family. God completely took care of the details and I was able to settle in realizing God must have a purpose for this detour. We spent the next day swimming and relaxing before getting back in the van to drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Ah, the Grand Canyon. I've been to a number of places in the States and abroad and yet I really think my favorite place is the Grand Canyon. For those of you who haven't been there - find a way to go! It is so humbling to stand at the edge of this HUGE canyon and be filled with the awe of how infitinely GINORMOUS God is. I just love it. Add the hiking and the views and you have what I think is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Before we left for our vacation we spent 2 weeks studying some of the animals we would find here and flood geology. Flood geology is essentially a literal understanding of Noah's flood and the way it would have changed the face of the earth. The Grand Canyon is an amazing testament to God's power and how sin changed not only our relationship with God, but the very face of the earth forever.Time for a kid quote. Andrew and I spent some real time talking to our kids about the dangers of the Grand Canyon. People really die here every year because they take risks and do things that aren't too smart. At one of the overlooks, we saw a guy climb up onto a stone "wall" along the edge in order to get a better picture. In shock, Alyssa pointed her finger and yelled, "Look Mommy! That guy's bein really stupid!!"

We hiked part way down Bright Angel Trail and our kids did fantastic!! They were having a great time hiking down, but different people we passed saw the size of our kids and kept telling us to head back up. We had wanted to hike to the 1 1/2 mile point, but eventually we decided that maybe we should start listening to the people and turn around. At one point during the hike back up, Alyssa looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I can't take one more step." I gave her a bunch of praise and encouragement and moments later she started singing Sunday School songs (loudly) and that kept her happy the whole rest of the hike up. We were so proud of our kids we rewarded them with the most expensive ice cream cones we have ever purchased. The black arrow is my best guess as to how far down we got.

Mother's Day we drove and hiked along the East Rim. We stopped at one of the views and read the Biblical account of the flood. Lucas commented how perfect it was that we read about the flood at the Grand Canyon. He's very quick :). You might notice two verse plaques that I took pictures of in the collages. We made it a bit of a treasure hunt to find these plaques. There are actually 3 of them at different locations, we were able to find 2. We ended our Grand Canyon time at Desert View eating a packed lunch looking at the huge expanse of the Canyon to the west and the flat surface of the Painted Desert to the east. Beautiful. I'd go back in a heart beat.

Back in the saddle again

After a delayed flight (we were supposed to head home on Friday, but O'Hare was having terrible storms, so our flight was delayed until Saturday, going through Atlanta, with a 3 hr layover...ugh), Andrew and I arrived in Chicago Saturday night, retrieved our 2 happy oldest (ok, so only Kayla was thrilled to see us, Timothy would have been happy to stay in Chicago), thanked Matthew and Bridget (Andrew's brother & sister-in-law) for helping to watch our kids for the week and drove as quickly as we legally could so I could see my 2 youngest before their bedtime. They were very excited to see us - and very wet - we arrived during bath time. We thanked Andrew's mom and dad for watching our kids the past week and then got back to our soaked, elated children. Lucas was a bit emotional as he told me, "Mom, you wu gone fo like 2,000 days." When I replied that it was really more like a week, he responded, "Well, it felt like fo-evu." He then put his wet hands on my cheeks and very seriously said, "Don't evu do that to me again."

The beginning of the week was a complete blur w/ lots of laundry (thank you Bridget and Mom Rassi for the laundry you did, it was such a blessing!!), T-ball, kickball and swimming lessons. By Wednesday I was starting to feel like life was starting to settle and then, as I was discussing supper plans with Andrew - a screaming Lucas came running to the back door. I looked out, saw lots of blood running down his leg, hung up on Andrew, grabbed Lucas, told Timothy to call Andrew back and tell him to come home ASAP (Alyssa was still sleeping) and drove pel-mel to the Dr. office. And let me say, Lucas was incredibly brave. Not a tear from the time I put him in the van. Two layers of many, MANY stitches later (I think even the doctor lost count - the gash was a couple inches long and down to the bone), we arrived back home with instructions to keep him as quiet as we can (hah!) for the next couple days so he doesn't open it back up again.

Yep, I'm home.

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin' to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again

Pinch me...

I'm actually sitting in the Ft Myers library right now. Now I know that begs the question, why in the world would I be in the library when I could be on the beach or by the pool?!? But, first let me tell you how I got here!

My VERY sweet husband planned this surprise trip for us back in like February and would have kept it a complete secret if he hadn't accidentally showed me an e-mail between he and his boss outlining what weeks he would be gone right before we left for our big family vacation. oops. He still, however, managed to keep me completely in the dark about our destination and whether the trip was for the whole family or just the two of us.

He can be incredibly secretive. I tried on occasion to pry it out of him, but he wouldn't budge. Not that I was surprised he kept quiet. This is, after all, the man who kept the sex of our third child a secret from me for 4 months of my pregnancy.

Anywho...I thought we were coming here to my parents' condo just because he knows how much I enjoy it and because it is truly relaxing. We've been here many times before and know the area well, so I wouldn't feel like we had to be running around all over trying to see as much as we could in our limited time (not that I would do that :) ). Well, I was right on destination, but with a catch...this time we're here without kids!!! That's a first. We have had an awesome time relaxing, enjoying great food and he's let me walk the beach to my heart's content :).

Now, back to the original question. Why, on earth, am I in the library?? Unfortunately, there are 2 reasons for that. 1- Andrew had a little on-line work to do, so we really had to come in one day. and 2- we are FRIED. Let's just say that Andrew and I actually did our walking this morning between 6:30 & 8 so as not to be pelted by the sun's rays. We were a pretty sad sight last night, slathering on aloe vera like nobody's business.

We better heal up quick, though. Tomorrow we hit a big water park. We're, ummmm, checking it out to make sure it's ok to bring our kids to next fall. :)

Amazing journey part 2

Ok, so these posts are taking me longer than the trip did. Oh well, c'est la vie!

Our next stop, after getting back into the States...after sitting in a line of cars for over an hour...with a 3 yr old that had to go to the bathroom so bad she cried for nearly half of it - not that she hadn't gone right before we left Magdalena, but anywho...our next stop was Tucson, Az.

Before we left on this trip I had pretty well planned out what each day would entail, the places we'd visit, etc. A few days before we left, Andrew mentioned to Fred Funk that we were going to be in Tucson for 2 days and told him our plans. Fred energetically told him to scrap our plans and went on to describe what we should do instead (dinner details and all). The change threw this type A a little off kilter, but I revived and we followed through on Fred's suggestions - he did live in Tucson for over 20 years after all. We had a fantastic time.

Tuesday night, after settling into our hotel, swimming and doing some much needed laundry, we headed off to Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse. It was definitely our most expensive meal of the trip, but good food and a lot of fun, too. PP is in a little "old West town" in the heart of Tucson. So, we got to take in a Western Stunt Show after supper too. The kids loved it.
Notice the ties on my boys? When you walk in the door to PP, you see a sign that says "No ties allowed." If you wear a tie, sometime during your meal, your waitress walks out, ringing a big ole cow bell and loudly announces, "We've got some law breakers here. What should we do with them?" The crowd yells out, "Hang 'em!" or some other pleasantry, and then after some coaxing, "Cut off their ties!" So, she then ceremoniously cuts off the ties of the offenders. The rafters of this place have literally thousands of ties hanging off them. Of course, Fred had told Andrew this, so they wore ties Andrew should have gotten rid of years ago. Our boys, on the other hand, were a little surprised! The looks on their faces were too cute once they realized we were ok with the ties getting cut.

Wednesday morning we headed to Desert Museum, which is much more a zoo/botanical gardens than a museum. Huge Saguaro Cacti. As we were walking along my kids more than once mused - Cactuses? Cactee? Cacti? to the confusion of the elderly people we passed who apparently don't appreciate Veggie Tales as much as our kids do. Fantastic place!
We were there until late in the afternoon. Then we met up with Daniel and Diane Wuthrich for supper at Oreganos. Our deep dish pizza was great, but the conversation was even better. We had a lot of fun catching up with the two of them and even got in a game of Adventures in Odyssey's "Answer That" which got D&D on my kids' good side permanently. It's always fun to be with people who love Adventures in Odyssey as much as we do.

We had planned on going to church with Daniel and Diane, but before we met, Daniel told us that Tucson church was having their yearly business meeting that night and since I don't even attend Morton's business meeting - it's never sounded appealing with 4 kids in tow - we decided to opt out and head back to our hotel to swim a bit more instead.

The next day we got up bright and early again. Did I mention that it took our bodies a good week to get used to the 2 hr time difference? We were regularly getting up at 6 (yes, this night owl just wrote up at 6......am) and going to bed around 8:30. One of the many joys of staying in hotels is that everybody gets to go to bed and get up at the same time - by our third night or so Andrew was kicking me out of the room to go walk the hallways while he settled kids down. I think he decided it was easier to settle down 4 energetic kids in 1 little room than settle down 4 energetic kids and their stressed out mother because of the 1 little room.

On to Sabino Canyon. Gorgeous hiking. Beautiful natural pools formed by snow melt cascading down the mountains and hills. Per Fred's recommendation, our kids wore swim suits and had a blast.

Amazing journey part 1

I don't have the brain power to do justice to our trip right now (more than 4400 miles), but it was truly amazing and I saw God's hand in so many areas that I'm just really pumped. So, I'm going to try to give you a picture of our first destination....Magdalena, Mexico.

First, I want to say thank you to all of you who prayed that the swine flu would stay at bay, the borders would stay open and our trip would be a blessing to us and those we visited. Each and every one of those prayers was answered. THANK YOU!!!

The whole reason for this trip was the orphanage in Magdalena, Mexico (Casa Vida Y Esperanza - CVE). We drove ~26 hrs over the course of 2 1/2 days to get there. During the 3 days we were there we met and played with the kids, talked and fellowshipped with the servant-hearted staff, ate some great Mexican food, shared the Lucas story, did a few very basic jobs to help out, and basically experienced life in "the House of Life and Hope." They have an amazing mission to reach not only the children who live there, but the entire community around them.

Sunday was really an eye-opening day. We got on a school bus at 8:30 and drove into Magdalena. We stopped at home after home and picked up people who wanted to come to church. We drove through some very poor neighborhoods and watched children, teens and adults coming out of small block houses, or smaller metal shacks. We picked up Christian Sisters, children who were excited to come to Sunday School, and many who are searching. Andrew and I were blown away as we drove down little winding streets and saw homes that Bill Schick had helped bring running water to, or built an addition onto. And with "Buenos Dias" , kisses and smiles, the bus filled up. We arrived at church just a little before 10. (FYI - the picture at the left was not taken from the bus, I didn't feel pictures were appropriate, but I took it later as we traveled back home).

After singing together (in Spanish of course - I tried, but I'm pretty sure I saw some girls giggling in front of me), the kids went to Sunday School (also in Spanish), Andrew stayed in the sanctuary for the men's devotional and I went to the lunchroom to give the devotion to the women. About that - Saturday afternoon Nicole Knobloch asked if I would be willing to give my testimony, I said ok and then later that night I asked, "About how long do I need to plan to speak?" "About half an hour," was her reply. Let me tell you, a half hour is a really long time to speak (even with translation time cutting into it). Thankfully, God provided and afterward I was able to spend some time talking to a few of the women, listening to their stories, sometimes in English, sometimes with someone to translate. One woman's son was nearly killed in an accident. She came to CVE for help with medical bills and not only did she find help, but she found Jesus and I am humbled to call her my sister in Christ. I heard several stories like hers. Many of the women have not yet come to Christ, but you can see God working on their hearts. It was such a tremendous blessing to speak with these women.

The rest of our time there we got to take part in birthday celebrations, do a couple little jobs around the orphanage and play with the kids. Lucas was able to follow through on his desire and give his money to Seth Gerber (accountant for CVE) who handled the gift with real appreciation and grace. I hope this experience leaves a real imprint on Lucas' young heart to keep dreaming big dreams for God. Our trip was definitely not a typical "work team" experience. Work teams are a fantastic opportunity to focus energy on a specific task to benefit others and I'm thankful to have been on one in the past. However, what we experienced was more, I think, what real mission work is all about...the every day. Every day the staff at CVE get up and decide to serve God in the laundry, discipline, cooking, hugging, cleaning, fixing and loving. They serve in the every day - and I had to think - can the same be said of me? That's my goal.

Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Have you ever heard of swine flu?

Most of the world hadn't until the past week when Mexico announced that they have a serious outbreak of the virus. Notice which country is having the problems? Mexico. If you don't know why that is important to me, check out Magdalena here we come. I know this is a selfish prayer request, considering all kinds of people are getting sick, but please pray that God keeps this thing at bay so we can still go to Magdalena. I'm so excited about going and about WHY we are going - it is so awesome to see God working in the hearts of my kids. I know it won't be the end of the world if we can't go, but it will hurt. Thanks for your prayers and stay healthy!

The crazy side of a bunch of spring babies

I really loved having spring babies....but there are some down sides to having 4 children born between March 10 & April 19. Yep, our house has been birthday central for the past month. We still have some cake left over from the last birthday and I'm glad the kids are enjoying it because I'm done.

Here are some pics :
Alyssa was beyond excited to "help" frost the cake - and thrilled to be such a big number! 4 after all, is nearly grown up :) .

Lucas is 6
Kayla has decided that 8 pretty much feels like 7.


Timothy's birthday was a special one this year because he got to have a party with his Sunday School class and some homeschool and basketball friends. We let our kids have "friend parties" every 5 years (when they turn 5, 10 and 15 or 16). Timothy really wanted to have a football party at a nearby park.

Let's just say I was glued to weather.com all week looking to see if we needed to jump to plan B for the party and rent something. But hey, all week long it looked like Saturday would be a rain-free day (a marvelous thing in Illinois during the month of April). Then suddenly, Saturday morning weather.com was telling me that we were going to have rain from noon until the next day and my house was going to be full of 10 yr old boys (+ my 3 other kids + my 5 nieces and nephews who spent the night with us). I STRESSED OUT. I seriously started praying for good weather so Timothy could have the kind of birthday party he wanted and I didn't have to figure out what to do with all those kids for 2 1/2 hrs!! Well, did anyone notice that around 11:30 am, there was a green blob all around us, but it wasn't raining here? Not only that, but the rain slowed WAY down and didn't get to us until 6 or so. I'm convinced that 'the fervent prayers of a righteous woman availeth much!' :) . In all seriousness, I am so thankful God provided a gorgeous day - and I didn't have to resort to 'rock-paper-scissors' to keep ~20 kids occupied :).

Please PRAY

I'm at a bit of a loss for words, so please bear with me...

This morning I got the phone call that Andrew's brother Nathan and his wife Michelle lost their preborn baby, Cassandra Mae, she was 20 weeks along (due in August). This was their first baby and they were so excited. Please pray for their hearts to be filled with Jesus' peace - a peace that passes all understanding.

Magdalena...here we come!

Remember how I posted about praying for orphans? Well, here's the conversation that happened after we had learned a bit more and spent time praying for orphans one day:

Lucas, with $21 dollars in hand (all his spending money that he had been saving up for something big - almost 1 year's worth), "Mom, I want to give this to the ophans." (Yes, he's six and still has issues with his "r's" - it drives this speech path mom nuts, but I digress....)

"Oh sweetheart, that is so wonderful! Grandma Mott has a cousin (Gary Ringger) who works to help orphans and I know he would be happy to give your money to help orphans!"

"No, mom. I want to give the money to the ophans."

"Well, honey, there aren't really orphanages around here, but I know Grandma's cousin could get the money to orphans."

"Mom, can't we just go to anothew state? I want to go to a ophanage and give the money to the ophans myself."

Ever the realist I replied - "Sweetheart, the closest orphanage is probably in Mexico or somewhere and it would cost more than $21 in gas money for us to get there, but I would be happy to take you to Grandma's cousin."

At this point my little man walked away. Looking back on it, I'm so frustrated with myself, but fortunately the conversation did not end there :) .

About 20 minutes later, Lucas reappeared with the $21 still in his hands.

"Mom, I have it all figuwed out. You and me and Daddy awe going to dwive. I'm going to pack my backpack with food so we don't have to stop at westauwants, cause westauwants awe expensive. And then we'll just dwive. When we get tiwed we can stop at a pawking lot o something and sleep, cause hotels awe expensive. Then we'll keep dwiving until we get to Mexico. And mom, you have $21 dollaws, wight?"

"Yes."

"Then you can pay fo gas."

I smiled a HUGE smile, got down next to his little 6 yr old self full of God-sized dreams and said,"I guess you're right. How 'bout if I talk to Daddy when he gets home and we'll figure something out."

He walked away very happy and I started praying, Lord how in the world are we going to swing this? Then God whispered in my ear, "Magdalena."

That afternoon, after the kids went to their rooms for quiet time, I got online and started reading about the orphanage our church supports in Magdalena, Mexico. As soon as Andrew got home, I told him the story and asked, "What would you think about going there?" He immediately jumped on it and said, "Let's e-mail Bill & Joan Schick and ask them what they think!"

It's been a couple weeks now and we've had a few e-mails back and forth. And we're going! Not only did they not think we would just be in the way with our 4 young children, but they truly seem pleased to have us visit. We are going to be there for 3 days next month and I am so excited!

So is Lucas. He's saving up his quarters.

Kid quote

Last night after supper we read the very last Old Testament story from the Bible Story Book we use. So, we asked the kids what kinds of stories we'd be reading about next. Of course, the oldest 3 quickly began shouting out stories they remembered being at the beginning of the New Testament. After the conversation had quieted down a bit and we were all getting up, Alyssa excitedly piped up, "I like John the Bathtub!!"

Gotta Love it :)

It's all Sacred

Today, my cousin Alex sent me a song that is just fantastic. I'm sure many of you have heard it before, but hey, I don't get out much! It brought tears to my eyes and was so encouraging! It's called "Sacred" by Caedmon's Call. Instead of trying to describe it, I'll just let you listen to the song and read the lyrics for yourself:

http://www.last.fm/music/Caedmon%27s+Call/_/Sacred

this house is a good mess
it’s the proof of life
no way would I trade jobs
but it don’t pay overtime

I’ll get to the laundry
I don’t know when
I’m saying a prayer tonight
cause tomorrow it starts again

could it be that everything is sacred?
and all this time
everything I’ve dreamed of
has been right before my eyes

the children are sleeping
but they’re running through my mind
the sun makes them happy
and the music makes them unwind

my cup runneth over
and I worry about the stain
teach me to run to You
like they run to me for every little thing

when I forget to drink from you
I can feel the banks harden
Lord, make me like a stream
to feed the garden

wake up, little sleeper
the Lord, God Almighty
made your Mama keeper
so rise and shine
rise and shine cause

everything is sacred
and all this time
everything I’ve dreamed of
has been right before my eyes

Words and Music by Randall Goodgame and Andrew Osenga
(c) 2007 House of Mirrors Music (ASCAP) admin. by Simpleville Music, Inc. / 2007 Mighty Molecule Music. (ASCAP) admin by Music Services

Oh, how I need to remember this every day; day in and day out!

I've been thinking...

All you wonderful people around me that have been adopting have gotten me thinking. Now, honestly, I don't believe God is calling us to adopt. Not that I'm closed to it, but as I've prayed, I just haven't felt God leading me in that direction. But I need to do something. 143,000,000 orphans in this world is a bigger number than I can fathom. Yet, I can't just sit on the sidelines because I'm overwhelmed. Andrew and I give to different ministries, and it just doesn't feel like enough.

So, today I'm committing our homeschooling time immediately after lunch to praying for orphans. That word prayer is so small and yet God has promised that we can move mountains by calling out to Him. Will you, my worldwide (ha, ha :) ) blog friends, help me stay accountable for turning the hearts of my family toward orphans through daily prayer?

The last time God put this kind of burden on my heart, He wound up orchestrating an opportunity for our family to support imprisoned Chinese pastors and even meet an awesome Christian who is part of the underground House Church movement in China!!!

I know God has a plan for this burden as well.

"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." John 14:13

Since I've gotten you thinking about orphans, check out the link I added to my sidebar. It's to Faces of the Forgotten. A website by Loving Shepherd Ministries that begs us to remember "the least of these."

I've got a sprain on my brain...

No, this is not the first line to a new song of mine - it's actually my diagnosis - kind of.

For a little background info: after driving to Florida & watching shows at Sea World, I dove into a swimming pool with my kids and while playing, felt and heard a "pop" in my head. The next day I had the worst headache of my life. Since that day (Nov. 3) I have had a continuous headache. I wake up with it and go to sleep with it. It is absolutely constant. Some time mid December I got to a breaking point where, as I told some, I was willing to do anything that wasn't sinful to get rid of my stupid headache. I finally wound up one day back in the office of my GP where I ended up crying over the stress. To make matters worse, my GP couldn't see me that day, so I was seeing his partner for the first time and after witnessing the afore-mentioned crying session, the dear woman leaned over, patted my shoulder and said, "I know a good psychologist."

I can laugh at that break-down now, but at the time, it was a wake-up call to take a few very large steps back away from all the stress of going to this dr. and that dr., etc (did I mention this was all around Christmas time!!) and regroup.

Fast forward 2 months (and 1 sprained ankle). I went to see a great neurologist last Tuesday and after my exam and looking at my films (CT and MRA) she told me that I had sprained a muscle at the top of my head and the muscles on either side of my head were over-tensed due to the injury. So, I have a significant tension headache. She recommended physical therapy for the next couple months and said I should be headache free within 6 months.

6 months with a headache may sound like a long time, but hey, I've already done 3 and I'm really thrilled to have a diagnosis that I can take care of!

The Tunics are Finished!

Because I know how much everyone wants to see our finished tunics :P - here ya go!
So, what do you think about the tunics? What about the new header? I'm liking the extra color it brings and I'm excited I figured out how to do something a little creative on here! Give me your thoughts :) Now I just need to figure out how to do something creative to brighten up my house!

What a beautiful day!!!!

Today we all woke up itching to get outside. So, after the kids swept out the garage (it was REALLY yuck!) ...
We played!!! I didn't even have to put on the big boot thing to go outside because I could wear flip flops with my little air cast :). And of course, it wouldn't be nice weather if this wasn't the first thing I saw when I stepped outside
See the little spots of color in the tree? I'm certain my kids are part monkey. Tomorrow is supposed to be 40 degrees, so we are making the most of today! Ok, two more pics and I'm done.

Getting "Loved on"

Yesterday I had the immense privilege of having a dear friend come over for the day and "love on" my kids and I.

As crazy as this may sound, I was getting a little down because I had been wanting to make Roman tunics for my kids and couldn't figure out how I was going to do it. Why Roman tunics? 1) we have been studying Rome for the past couple weeks and 2) my youngest 3 are nearly wearing out all their play clothes since they use them so much. Since a sprained ankle doesn't lend itself well to going to the store, picking out fabric, etc, I had started to give up on the idea when Marlene called and said she was coming over Monday morning and I needed to find a way to use her. I have a very hard time accepting help, so this kind of instruction was exactly what I needed!

Monday morning she showed up with fabric and trim in hand. Of course, the kids had to show Marlene all their important "stuff" around the house first, but then we went to work measuring, cutting and sewing. All the kids were excited (even Timothy!!!) and wanted to be involved in every part of the process. Unfortunately, we only had enough time to make Timothy and Kayla's, but I'm hoping to get Lucas and Alyssa's done tomorrow. I'll post pictures when they are finished!

The best thing was just spending time with someone who cares so much for our family that she would drop everything to make tunics with us :) .

THANK YOU!!

For those who have so totally blessed our family in the past few days while I've been laid up -

I'm a "Stoplight" junkie

Have you ever watched Stoplight? It's a great, short, video commentary on political issues put out by Focus on the Family. The videos are often humorous (at least they frequently crack me up) and always informative on current issues. If you have some time, check out this latest one on giving:
http://www.citizenlink.org/Stoplight/A000009167.cfm

I've had a fair amount of sitting time because yes, I'm still kinda laid up. I have an air cast so I can put some weight on my toes and hobble around without pain (although I have to be careful to hobble just right, or I do have pain). The hobbling thing is frustrating, though because I definitely can't get anywhere fast and by late afternoon my head is killing me (I still have my nasty 3 month old headache) because of all the extra bouncing around. At least I can move, though. The next big step is for my swelling to go down enough that I can fit into a shoe and therefore leave my house (hobbling across snow with a sock covered foot is not an option in my opinion).

What's black and blue & swollen all over?

My ankle. Yep. I sprained it. I'm completely laid up and waaaay beyond frustrated.

It happened Sunday night. I had just finished taking Alyssa to Prompt Care for an ear infection. I was walking out of Kmart carrying Alyssa and her meds when I hit an uneven patch of ice/snow and went down - hard. I sat there in the snow crying with Alyssa looking at me with huge eyes asking,"Mommy? You ok Mommy?" I finally managed to crawl over to the van, get her and myself in and call Andrew. Of course, Andrew answered and feared the worst...I'd been in some big accident or something. After he realized that it was just a sprained ankle the thought was, well you'll be ok in a couple hours, right?? Hah, right. When I sprain, I don't mess around. None of this able to walk on it in a few hours stuff. I swell up huge and can't put any weight on even my pinky toe without horrendous pain.

So, now I'm stuck in a recliner trying to keep my ankle above my heart so I don't swell even bigger, wondering how I'm going to keep control of kids who know I can't come flying out of the chair at them.

Too blessed...

Little Alyssa has had one nasty cold for a week now, so I haven't gotten out much. Yes, I've been going stir crazy - and if you call my house, be forewarned that I will talk the ear off any adult that seems even slightly interested in listening to me.

That said, I have gotten a ton done around this house. We spent a couple days in the basement cleaning. We dumped every toy containing box, got rid of broken things, threw away the garbage (do you think used kleenexes belong in the dress-up bench? Apparently at least one of my kids does - gross), and then put everything back in order. Yes, there was plenty of griping and complaining the first day, but the second day I think they all resigned themselves to the fact that they were stuck in the basement with me until the job got done, so they worked hard.

Now today, with my to-do-list tucked away, I'm enjoying a "holding Alyssa, playing battleship with Lucas, reading Kayla's new masterpice, & watching my best friend and son conquer the world" kind of Saturday. Ahhhhhhhhhh, I just want to freeze time and let today last forever.

Let me wax political....

I and my kids watched the inauguration today and I kept reminding them that we are so fortunate to live in a land where the transition of power is peaceful, and even graceful. I was so moved as I watched the entire event unfold. As silly as it may sound, as former Pres. & Mrs. Bush embraced the Pres. & Mrs. Obama and climbed into the helicopter, emotion swept over me - no, I did not sit here and cry (I'm not that wrapped up in politics) - but I just felt such a thankfulness that as our former President flew away in the helicopter, no guns were fired, no rioting broke out in the street, just a hug and a wave goodbye. We take it so for granted, and yet we are truly blessed.

While I have my concerns about executive orders Pres. Obama will create and laws he will push for (check out http://www.fightfoca.com/ for more info), I am thankful that as he said in his inaugural address, "A man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath." Our nation has come a long way in recognizing that "all people are created equal." For this, I rejoice and am grateful.

I'm thankful that Pastor Rick Warren prayed in Jesus name. I'm thankful he did not bow to pressure, but prayed to and through the very Name that gives us the freedoms we celebrate today.

Finally, I'm thankful that I heard our US Marine Band play "Amazing Grace" before the inauguration began. As the hymn began, I turned to my kids and said, "Guys Listen!" Lucas then piped up, "Mom! This is the song by Newton! I love this song!"

It reminded me of what I am really most thankful for:

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see!"

I've been blowing bubbles...

Yep, last night I stood outside in sub zero temperatures blowing bubbles. And No, this is not proof that I'm certifiably nuts.

I read on my homeschool e-loop that bubbles do cool things in really freezing temperatures. So, while my children (and dear supportive husband) stood safely inside, I braved the cold to blow bubbles and then watch them explode into a million little icicles. Of course, as all science experiments go, we had issues (besides my numb hands and nose). I had a hard time blowing bubbles the right size & in the right direction so the kids could see the results through the window. There were a few that I managed to get big enough and close enough to the window that the kids could really see them explode. They yelled and cheered and clapped & then I ran inside to regain feeling in my extremities. All those people in warm temperatures just don't know all the fun they're missing :P.

Kid Quotes

A couple days ago, I cut all my boys' hair (that includes Andrew). Lucas got to go first. I sat him on the stool, wrapped the cape around his neck and reached for my razor. He then put his little hand in the air and with large, serious eyes said (you need to read this to yourself in little 5 yr old munchkin speak),"Mom, befoe you stawt, I want you to pwetend you awe going to cut the fuzz off an egg, ok?" And for emphasis he added, with his little finger wagging in the air, "Be that cawefuw."

I promise I have never cut him before!! What a goon! :P

GNI - Girls Night In!

Somehow I managed to convince Andrew that the girls and I needed a night just to ourselves. So, he took the boys out and did "guy stuff" and I stayed home drinking hot chocolate, doing crafts with stampers, playing go fish and taking fun pictures with my 2 sweet girls. We had a ball. This definitely needs to happen more often. :)

ahhh, quotes about parenting....

I belong to a homeschool e-loop which I generally enjoy tremendously because a lot of great homeschooling ideas are shared through it. A few days ago, a homeschooler wrote in asking for people to post their favorite parenting quotes. That day someone posted,

"God never intended discipleship of children to be difficult or complicated or burdensome or a matter for the experts. I think He meant it to be as simple as a loving personal relationship, guided and infused with spiritual intent, fleshed out through a living example."

Ok, if you love the above quote, please do not read the rest of this post, just smile and move on.

When I first read it, I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry. Thinking I may be off base after a very hard day, I asked Andrew what he thought and he replied,"Does that person have kids?" Ok, I feel better. Had God given me only my girls, I think I could have read that quote and smiled a warm smile. However, He did not. In His wisdom, or great sense of humor, he gave me two boys who came kicking and screaming into the world and who are determined to keep things that way. My thought on real discipleship is that anything in this world that is really worth doing (a good marriage, parenting, submitting our will to God's, etc) is going to be hard.

Weekend in Chicago

Since this is my first post - I decided I wanted to start with pure fun. My fantastic hubby encouraged me to arrange a get-away with my mom and sisters. So we finally did, and last week at this time I was in Chicago with my sisters and Mom having a wonderful time!! We walked up and down Michigan avenue enough that I felt perfectly justified in eating what I wanted at the great restaurants we visited (now that I'm home and have wandered onto a scale, I'm kinda regretting that decision). Here are some pics of our fun 2 days - I've been warned that posting certain pics would amount to slander, so you'll only find photos here that have been approved for public consumption :).