Wednesday, June 29, 2011
pool time = quality time
Confession time- last summer I didn't get in the pool much but instead enjoyed pool time from the sidelines. Thanks to my new found freedom of not having to be in the water within arms reach of a child who wasn't a confident swimmer and the fact that we have a nice mister system to cool me on the sidelines, I spent more time out of the water than in. Despite the constant "Mom, swim with us!" I said "no" a lot more than I said "yes." Are my kids scarred for life because of this? Absolutely not. I don't think they are deprived in the quality time department, I get plenty of time with them on a daily basis but swimming is not one of my top 10 things to do, in fact it's not really on my list of "fun" things to do at all. I guess the fact that I have to get ready all over again after swimming is why. It takes enough time to get ready once a day so why would I want to do it twice? My list could go on but I have made a conscious effort this summer to get in the pool with my kids even if it means I get ready all over again for the second time. I won't be a bum on the sidelines but actually get in on the action. Why this change of heart? I guess it's simply because of the fact that our kids won't always want to play with me in the pool, and as you'll notice my oldest one wasn't even in these pictures because he didn't want to swim (insert sad face here). Time seems to be moving at warp speed lately and I doubt when they are teenagers (or if your name is Jadon and you are 12 going on 16) they will want piggy back rides, to have underwater tea parties, to play made up games, and take turns playing follow the leader around the pool. So why not hang out with them in the water while they are still young enough to enjoy the pool with their mom. And after looking at these pictures that my dear husband took while not complaining once how darn hot it was to be fully clothed on the side of the pool taking orders (I mean directions) from his dear wife to get good pictures, it was all worth it. Please ignore the dark lines under my eyes from my mascara, and my messy wet hair that I had just gotten cut and styled and looking so cute not even two hours before we swam (that's sacrifice people). These pictures were not taken to make a fashion statement, thank goodness!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Oh happy day!
This was a copy of the email that I sent out today, we are so excited! :)
We just wanted to take a minute to extend a huge thank you for the prayers you have offered up on our behalf for Michael to find a job. We got the great news today that he was hired with GoDaddy and will start next week! He will be working on their security team. He is very excited to start this new adventure. This was the job we were hoping would come with an offer and it did!
We just wanted to take a minute to extend a huge thank you for the prayers you have offered up on our behalf for Michael to find a job. We got the great news today that he was hired with GoDaddy and will start next week! He will be working on their security team. He is very excited to start this new adventure. This was the job we were hoping would come with an offer and it did!
The past three months have been an amazing time of growth for our family. We have seen so many blessings arise from a time that could have been extremely defeating. Of course we had discouraging days and weeks but God was in the midst of even that and his love and faithfulness shone brightly.
We stand in awe of the financial provision God has shown our family during this time, every single bill and every single need has been paid for and when we look at our budget on paper next to the amount of income we have received over the past three months it makes absolutely no sense. I love how God works, He has shown Himself in every aspect of this time we were without work! And to Him we are eternaly grateful!
So thank you for the time you spent praying on our behalf, we are so grateful for each one of you.
Blessings to you and your family,
Michael and Korri
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Philippians 4:8 for Anna
Annagrace was struggling with fear at bedtime and when this happens we usually talk about things she can think about that are not scary and that make her happy. The other night as we were thinking of happy things so she could fall asleep Philippians 4:8 popped into my head. I told her that in the morning we would make a poster out of that verse and she could make a list of things she can think about when she gets scared. So the next morning we sat down and had a great time going through this verse word for word. It was such a great teaching moment as she had to think of things that matched each of the things that Philippians 4:8 tells us to think upon; whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praisworthy. I didn't help her at all with coming up with her list, I simply shared with her what each word meant and she took it from there and wrote down her own things. It is now hung by her bed and since we made this poster two weeks ago she has been fearless at night. We have not had one issue. It just goes to show how much scripture can help us in our time of need.
*just to clarify what M & D stands for under noble, it stand for mom and dad. That kind of made me giggle. The defenition I gave her for noble was this: "possessing outstanding qualities, grand, excellent, of high ranking." (I didn't think mom and dad fit into that category but I'll take it!)
*and under Lovely, it says Unicorns...
*The Grand Canyon appears under admirable...
*And the 3 leaf clover she drew beside praisworthy stands for the trinity. Quite impressive for a 6 year old if you ask me.
I will forever treasure this poster!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Sprinkler time!
I shot these pictures this afternoon when Camden was running through the sprinklers. I love the expressions on his face.
Monday, June 20, 2011
The land in between
It started at the end of March, you can read about the beginning of this journey here.
Then on April 15th, I shared this: "Michael has been interviewing, applying, and searching for jobs. We see God at work even in the no's and we are certainly learning to live in faith with each passing day. We are still holding out for that "yes". Even with a 50% cut in pay, God has been faithful and provided above and beyond our needs for the month of April. Thank you Jesus!"
Towards the end of April this song really spoke to me, it put into words the feelings and thoughts I have had with Michael being out of work. You can read the lyrics here.
That brings us to the beginning of May when I wrote this blog post titled hoping less not hopeless.
And then I was reminded towards the middle of May how awesome God's provision has been for us during this time of Michael being out of work and I recorded them on this post titled "I stand".
Then at the beginning of June, I had this to say:
"We are on the third month of Michael being out of work but the Lord continues to provide in amazing ways. Michael still continues to teach CPR classes and do some work for his brother. It's keeping him quite busy which has been good for him, he's not one to sit around during the day and do nothing. But the exciting news is that Michael interviewed with a company called Go Daddy and he is now in the next phase while they do a background investigation on him. We are praying that this is the job for Michael. He and I both feel this would be a great job and Michael will definitely say yes if offered the job. So we wait. That's the hard part. And we hope and pray it's a yes!"
And that brings us to today, the end of June and we find ourselves in the same position- JUST WAITING! It's getting really old. Michael's interview with GoDaddy was one month ago almost to the day and we are still waiting to see if he will be offered the job. There have been coversations over the past month and although they have all been positive and they are certainly interested in Michael, we still have no offer. Maybe this week will be the week that we hear? We are kind of getting tired of this question as we have been asking ourselves this question for the past several weeks. At this point we just want answers even if it's a no because at least we can close that door and move on to the next. Afterall we are kind of used to closed doors since we entered this journey. There are days where this is all downright frustrating and today that is where we find ourselves. But then I'm reminded of the message we heard in church yesterday. We had a guest speaker and the message was one of those messages that really spoke to us as if it was written for us. It was about "the land in between", the place where you find yourself in the wilderness so to speak. Our land in between is this place we have been for three months as we wait for Michael to find a job. We are so ready to be out of this land in between and move to the other side but it could very well be that we find ourselves in this place for a lot longer than 3 months. The preacher spoke out of Numbers 11 where Moses comes before the Lord with the Isrealites complaints and then the Lord lays out a plan for Moses on what to do and say to the Israelites. He talked about how when we find ourselves in the land in between that we have to be careful to guard our hearts during this time because our complaints can so easily turn from "Why is this happening to me?" to "God, why are YOU doing this to me?" just as the Israelites did. Their anger quickly turned towards God as if He was to blame for them being between Egypt and the land God had promised them. They had lost all trust and could only utter complaint after complaint. It's important to guard our hearts during our times in the wilderness and find that our God is present and that He is good and not lose sight of this. We can even find ourselves blessed in the land in between. And as far as our grumbles and complaints, they can be viewed as an unwanted visitor in our homes and very soon can take up residence and take over. The only thing that can evict this unwanted visitor called complaint is trust. Trust in God that He has a plan for us even in the land in between. So that is where we are at, we are trusting and holding our palms open wide for His provision and blessings during this time because He is good and He is present. And we are trusting Him that we will not always find ourselves in the land in between. But until then we wait with a trusting heart.
Then on April 15th, I shared this: "Michael has been interviewing, applying, and searching for jobs. We see God at work even in the no's and we are certainly learning to live in faith with each passing day. We are still holding out for that "yes". Even with a 50% cut in pay, God has been faithful and provided above and beyond our needs for the month of April. Thank you Jesus!"
Towards the end of April this song really spoke to me, it put into words the feelings and thoughts I have had with Michael being out of work. You can read the lyrics here.
That brings us to the beginning of May when I wrote this blog post titled hoping less not hopeless.
And then I was reminded towards the middle of May how awesome God's provision has been for us during this time of Michael being out of work and I recorded them on this post titled "I stand".
Then at the beginning of June, I had this to say:
"We are on the third month of Michael being out of work but the Lord continues to provide in amazing ways. Michael still continues to teach CPR classes and do some work for his brother. It's keeping him quite busy which has been good for him, he's not one to sit around during the day and do nothing. But the exciting news is that Michael interviewed with a company called Go Daddy and he is now in the next phase while they do a background investigation on him. We are praying that this is the job for Michael. He and I both feel this would be a great job and Michael will definitely say yes if offered the job. So we wait. That's the hard part. And we hope and pray it's a yes!"
And that brings us to today, the end of June and we find ourselves in the same position- JUST WAITING! It's getting really old. Michael's interview with GoDaddy was one month ago almost to the day and we are still waiting to see if he will be offered the job. There have been coversations over the past month and although they have all been positive and they are certainly interested in Michael, we still have no offer. Maybe this week will be the week that we hear? We are kind of getting tired of this question as we have been asking ourselves this question for the past several weeks. At this point we just want answers even if it's a no because at least we can close that door and move on to the next. Afterall we are kind of used to closed doors since we entered this journey. There are days where this is all downright frustrating and today that is where we find ourselves. But then I'm reminded of the message we heard in church yesterday. We had a guest speaker and the message was one of those messages that really spoke to us as if it was written for us. It was about "the land in between", the place where you find yourself in the wilderness so to speak. Our land in between is this place we have been for three months as we wait for Michael to find a job. We are so ready to be out of this land in between and move to the other side but it could very well be that we find ourselves in this place for a lot longer than 3 months. The preacher spoke out of Numbers 11 where Moses comes before the Lord with the Isrealites complaints and then the Lord lays out a plan for Moses on what to do and say to the Israelites. He talked about how when we find ourselves in the land in between that we have to be careful to guard our hearts during this time because our complaints can so easily turn from "Why is this happening to me?" to "God, why are YOU doing this to me?" just as the Israelites did. Their anger quickly turned towards God as if He was to blame for them being between Egypt and the land God had promised them. They had lost all trust and could only utter complaint after complaint. It's important to guard our hearts during our times in the wilderness and find that our God is present and that He is good and not lose sight of this. We can even find ourselves blessed in the land in between. And as far as our grumbles and complaints, they can be viewed as an unwanted visitor in our homes and very soon can take up residence and take over. The only thing that can evict this unwanted visitor called complaint is trust. Trust in God that He has a plan for us even in the land in between. So that is where we are at, we are trusting and holding our palms open wide for His provision and blessings during this time because He is good and He is present. And we are trusting Him that we will not always find ourselves in the land in between. But until then we wait with a trusting heart.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The boys are back...
And they came home from summer camp looking like this:
And the reason for that is because the "cool" thing to do is have your camp counselors sign their names with PERMANENT ink on the campers bodies so they will forever be remembered. Alrighty then! The reason the boys are in the pool, well this was their pre-santizing bath before taking a shower. If you've ever had a son away at camp you know what I'm talking about. Showers are the least of their priority when they are having fun. They both came back with nice tans too. And I swear Jadon left a whole inch shorter than when he returned, he looked as if he grew up after just being gone for 5 days. It was crazy! I'm so happy both the boys had an amazing camp experience and I'm so thankful that Michael got to be a part of that experience too. He got to be their camp leader and they all had a great time. I'm so thankful for a husband who is so involved in his children's lives. He is certainly leaving a legacy and one to be proud of. Michael said something so profound when he got home, he was telling me how his group of 7 boys got complimented for serving others and lending a helping hand througout the week even when they were not asked to. This didn't surprise me in any way but it was profound to me because I know the reason behind this happening. It is because of Michael's leadership and impact he had upon these boys, Michael has such a huge heart to serve others and that's one of the things I love most about him. And with that said, happy Father's Day to an amazing man! You make me so proud!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
letters to Annagrace continued
Wednesday and Thursday, Day #4 and Day #5
Dear Annagrace,
It has been such a great week so far! It was nice to have a morning at home and get some things done around the house before leaving for your cardiology appointment. I'm so glad Grandma was able to go with us to your appointment. We got great news when we found out that the hole in your heart is not causing any problems and no surgery is needed right now to close it. In fact, you may never need surgery to close the hole as long as your heart continues to be healthy. This was great news! To celebrate Grandma took us to Cracker Barell for lunch and boy was it yummy. I was not surprised when you ordered mac and cheese, your all time favorite dish. When we got home, we went to check on the chickens and that is when we found that Bella was really sick. I blogged about that yesterday, you can read that here. I was so proud of how you were so attentive to Bella and comforted her. We knew she wouldn't live long and you helped make her feel safe and comfortable. You were so brave and so helpful as we tended to her. I'm so sorry we had to say goodbye to Bella but at least we know she is no longer suffering. It wasn't the way we planned our afternoon to go but we made a good team caring for her. After we got Bella buried in the backyard with the help of our great neighbors, you and I settled in to watch High School Musical 3. It's official, we watched all three movies! I really enjoyed watching them with you! We were both pretty tired after such an emotional day so I surprised you by letting you fall asleep in my bed and sleeping with me all night. I think I only got kicked like a dozen times, so not bad. I enjoyed waking up to your cuddles this morning. So that brings us to today, Thursday, the day that daddy and brothers get home! Since we have been so busy playing all week it was time to buckle down and get the house back in order. I know I have told you this before but I can always count on you to lend me a helping hand. As I dusted, you grabbed the windex and cleaned some windows for me. You also took the recycling out and got the floors ready for me to vacuum. You are amazing! After a morning spent cleaning we treated ourselves to Taco Bell because you say "they make the best burritos in town!" We had our traditional picnic on the living room floor and watched an episode of Pink Panther while enjoying our yummy burritos. We are just a few short hours away from picking up the rest of the family, it will be so nice to be together as a family again. Annagrace, I will always treasure the week I had with you. You are an amazing daughter and I love you more than words can say!
Love,
Mommy
Anna's set up while watching High School Musical.
If you haven't seen it, you're really missing out!
Dear Annagrace,
It has been such a great week so far! It was nice to have a morning at home and get some things done around the house before leaving for your cardiology appointment. I'm so glad Grandma was able to go with us to your appointment. We got great news when we found out that the hole in your heart is not causing any problems and no surgery is needed right now to close it. In fact, you may never need surgery to close the hole as long as your heart continues to be healthy. This was great news! To celebrate Grandma took us to Cracker Barell for lunch and boy was it yummy. I was not surprised when you ordered mac and cheese, your all time favorite dish. When we got home, we went to check on the chickens and that is when we found that Bella was really sick. I blogged about that yesterday, you can read that here. I was so proud of how you were so attentive to Bella and comforted her. We knew she wouldn't live long and you helped make her feel safe and comfortable. You were so brave and so helpful as we tended to her. I'm so sorry we had to say goodbye to Bella but at least we know she is no longer suffering. It wasn't the way we planned our afternoon to go but we made a good team caring for her. After we got Bella buried in the backyard with the help of our great neighbors, you and I settled in to watch High School Musical 3. It's official, we watched all three movies! I really enjoyed watching them with you! We were both pretty tired after such an emotional day so I surprised you by letting you fall asleep in my bed and sleeping with me all night. I think I only got kicked like a dozen times, so not bad. I enjoyed waking up to your cuddles this morning. So that brings us to today, Thursday, the day that daddy and brothers get home! Since we have been so busy playing all week it was time to buckle down and get the house back in order. I know I have told you this before but I can always count on you to lend me a helping hand. As I dusted, you grabbed the windex and cleaned some windows for me. You also took the recycling out and got the floors ready for me to vacuum. You are amazing! After a morning spent cleaning we treated ourselves to Taco Bell because you say "they make the best burritos in town!" We had our traditional picnic on the living room floor and watched an episode of Pink Panther while enjoying our yummy burritos. We are just a few short hours away from picking up the rest of the family, it will be so nice to be together as a family again. Annagrace, I will always treasure the week I had with you. You are an amazing daughter and I love you more than words can say!
Love,
Mommy
Anna's set up while watching High School Musical.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Bella the chicken
Something sad happened today, one of our chickens died. Bella was her name. She was fine this morning and when we checked on the hens this afternoon Bella was laying on the floor of the coop and unable to move much. She didn't look good and I knew it wouldn't be long. With the boys and Michael out of town, that left Anna and I to deal with it. We didn't really know what to do but bring her comfort so we took turns petting her. Anna and I spoke a lot about death, she had a lot of questions, I did my best to answer them, and then we decided to take a break and come inside for a while. About 30 minutes later, we went back to the coop and she had died. We wrapped her in a towel and our sweet neighbors came right over when they saw us out front and helped us dig a hole. Anna wrote on the tombstone and said her goodbyes. I don't know how it's possible to be attached to a chicken and be sad for it's death, but we loved her just like we love our other pets. Here are some pictures from today. If you don't want to see what a sick chicken looks like, then don't view them. Nothing graphic, it just might make you sad. And there is one picture of Anna holding Bella after she was wrapped in the towel on her way to be buried. I was so surprised how brave Anna was, I never thought she would want to carry a dead chicken but she wanted to.
This is what Bella looked like a few weeks ago, happy and healthy!
And this was today after we noticed she was sick.
Her sisters look on, they kept coming to check on her.
Anna called Grandma and Papa to tell them that Bella was sick.
on the way to the burial.
What would we do without our great neighbors?
This is what Bella looked like a few weeks ago, happy and healthy!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Letters to my daughter
With Michael and the boys gone at summer camp that leaves Annagrace and I to have a girls week here at home (insert happy dance here). I have a lot of special things planned for the week so I thought it might be fun to write Anna a letter each day talking about what we did together while the guys were gone, that way we can forever remember our week. Here are the first 3 letters to my lovely Annagrace.
Letter #1, Sunday
Dear Anngrace,
Today we dropped your daddy and brothers off at church so they could go to summer camp, you gave your daddy one of the biggest hugs I have ever seen you give, I'm sure you will miss him a lot. But with the boys gone that means you and I get some special girl time this week. I'm so excited to spend time with you! We sure had a great day today didn't we. After we dropped the boys off you and I went to one of our favorite places, the mall. We sure love to walk around the mall. Your favorite part was riding the carousel. Of course you chose the tea cup so you could spin real fast, you are such a thrill seeker. I love that about you because we both know that your mother is not so much a thrill seeker so I admire that about you. My favorite part of our mall trip was getting cookies from Paradise Bakery and eating them in the food court. The cookies were great but my time with you was even better, I had fun just talking with you and laughing with you. You sure make me smile. We then went to Bath and Body Works to pick up some hand sanitizer for our purses and you were excited to see that they were having a sale, buy 8 for $5. You took your time picking out the 8 you wanted and insisted on holding all 8 by yourself while we stood in line. You sure enjoyed carrying the bag around the mall after we made our purchase. After our shopping trip, it was nice to relax at Papa and Grandma's house for a few hours before heading back home. Aren't we lucky to live near Grandma and Papa and spend time with them. When we got home we had a few minutes to "be bored" as you put it before going next door for dinner. The Huishes invited us over to their house for Sunday night family dinner. We sure had a great time eating with them and you sure surprised me by eating almost all your barbecued chicken and you made me very proud by having such nice manners. After dinner we got to play two games with them and my favorite part was hearing you giggle as we played the games. You have quite the sense of humor and I love that you are gaining confidence to show it in front of other people and not just your family. We then borrowed the movie High School Musical and came home, put our jammies on, cuddled up on the couch with our popcorn and watched the movie. I loved watching your face during the movie, especially during the singing parts. You really liked the movie and so did I, it was nice to watch a chick flick and not have the boys making fun of it. You are such a special little girl Annagrace and I have so enjoyed this day with you. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow when we have some more special things planned.
Love,
Mommy
Day #2, Monday
Dear Annagrace,
Today has been another fun day together. You woke up a little sad this morning after you realized that brothers and daddy were not home but after some cuddles from mommy in daddy's recliner, your tears left and you were pretty excited about our day. I had you get a piece of paper to make a list of the errands we needed to run today. You love lists just like your mom. These are the things you wrote on our list:
Bank
Library
Mesa Feed (for chicken food)
Petco (for crickets)
Home
Dentist (for mom's appointment)
Taco Bell
Home
Movie at 1:50- Judy Moody
Home
Dinner at the Kruse's house
As you can see we had a very busy day but it sure was fun. What was your favorite part of today? My favorite part was watching you check our list to make sure we were on schedule and mark off the places we had been. I used to do the same thing with my mom when I was your age. You are so much like your me when it comes to keeping a schedule and that makes me smile. I'm so proud of you for reading the book Judy Moody, it sure made the movie more fun since you already knew a little about Judy Moody. I also enjoyed seeing you be such a good friend today. You invited your friend Josh to go with us to the movies, you two sure have a lot of fun together don't you! After getting back from the movie, we did a quick change of clothes and headed over to the Kruse's house for dinner and some swimming. You and Abigail sure had fun playing together and mommy enjoyed spending time with Kelly. By the time we got home you and I were pretty tired and it didn't take long for you to fall asleep but you did shed a few more tears because you missed daddy and brothers. I like that you are able to express how you feel when you are sad. It was another great day spent with you Annagrace!
Love,
Mommy
Day #3, Tuesday
Dear Anna Banana Fee Fi Fo Fanna Anna (of course this has to be read singing),
Today has been another fine day. After the busy pace of our last two days it was nice to sleep in and stay at home most of the day. We enjoyed a playdate with Desi and Josh and their mom Laura this morning, I sure enjoyed listening to you and Desi giggle as you ate your lunch. We sure are blessed with some great friends! After they left, it didn't take long for us to put in High School Musical 2. You and I agreed that it wasn't as good at the first one but we still enjoyed it. I wonder what we will think of High School Musical 3, I guess we'll find out tomorrow. After a lazy afternoon, it was time for your piano lessons and then Grandma and Papa's for dinner. Like always, you played the piano beautifully. Have I ever told you that it makes my heart so happy to hear you play the piano. It puts a smile on my face every time, I just love it. It is so evident that God has given you a very special gift, I can't wait to see how you choose to use it. We were treated to a wonderful meal at Papa and Grandma's house, then we taught them how to play the game Whoonu. We all agreed that it's a great game. After a short walk around their neighborhood, it was time to call it an early night and head home. After all, we have had a few late nights and we needed to get you to bed on time tonight. Tomorrow is kind of a big day, we are heading to Scottsdale to meet with Dr. Graziano who may be the surgeon that will fix your heart. So until then, sweet dreams little one. Thanks for another great day Buttercup, I love you so deeply!
Love,
Mommy
Letter #1, Sunday
Dear Anngrace,
Today we dropped your daddy and brothers off at church so they could go to summer camp, you gave your daddy one of the biggest hugs I have ever seen you give, I'm sure you will miss him a lot. But with the boys gone that means you and I get some special girl time this week. I'm so excited to spend time with you! We sure had a great day today didn't we. After we dropped the boys off you and I went to one of our favorite places, the mall. We sure love to walk around the mall. Your favorite part was riding the carousel. Of course you chose the tea cup so you could spin real fast, you are such a thrill seeker. I love that about you because we both know that your mother is not so much a thrill seeker so I admire that about you. My favorite part of our mall trip was getting cookies from Paradise Bakery and eating them in the food court. The cookies were great but my time with you was even better, I had fun just talking with you and laughing with you. You sure make me smile. We then went to Bath and Body Works to pick up some hand sanitizer for our purses and you were excited to see that they were having a sale, buy 8 for $5. You took your time picking out the 8 you wanted and insisted on holding all 8 by yourself while we stood in line. You sure enjoyed carrying the bag around the mall after we made our purchase. After our shopping trip, it was nice to relax at Papa and Grandma's house for a few hours before heading back home. Aren't we lucky to live near Grandma and Papa and spend time with them. When we got home we had a few minutes to "be bored" as you put it before going next door for dinner. The Huishes invited us over to their house for Sunday night family dinner. We sure had a great time eating with them and you sure surprised me by eating almost all your barbecued chicken and you made me very proud by having such nice manners. After dinner we got to play two games with them and my favorite part was hearing you giggle as we played the games. You have quite the sense of humor and I love that you are gaining confidence to show it in front of other people and not just your family. We then borrowed the movie High School Musical and came home, put our jammies on, cuddled up on the couch with our popcorn and watched the movie. I loved watching your face during the movie, especially during the singing parts. You really liked the movie and so did I, it was nice to watch a chick flick and not have the boys making fun of it. You are such a special little girl Annagrace and I have so enjoyed this day with you. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow when we have some more special things planned.
Love,
Mommy
Day #2, Monday
Dear Annagrace,
Today has been another fun day together. You woke up a little sad this morning after you realized that brothers and daddy were not home but after some cuddles from mommy in daddy's recliner, your tears left and you were pretty excited about our day. I had you get a piece of paper to make a list of the errands we needed to run today. You love lists just like your mom. These are the things you wrote on our list:
Bank
Library
Mesa Feed (for chicken food)
Petco (for crickets)
Home
Dentist (for mom's appointment)
Taco Bell
Home
Movie at 1:50- Judy Moody
Home
Dinner at the Kruse's house
As you can see we had a very busy day but it sure was fun. What was your favorite part of today? My favorite part was watching you check our list to make sure we were on schedule and mark off the places we had been. I used to do the same thing with my mom when I was your age. You are so much like your me when it comes to keeping a schedule and that makes me smile. I'm so proud of you for reading the book Judy Moody, it sure made the movie more fun since you already knew a little about Judy Moody. I also enjoyed seeing you be such a good friend today. You invited your friend Josh to go with us to the movies, you two sure have a lot of fun together don't you! After getting back from the movie, we did a quick change of clothes and headed over to the Kruse's house for dinner and some swimming. You and Abigail sure had fun playing together and mommy enjoyed spending time with Kelly. By the time we got home you and I were pretty tired and it didn't take long for you to fall asleep but you did shed a few more tears because you missed daddy and brothers. I like that you are able to express how you feel when you are sad. It was another great day spent with you Annagrace!
Love,
Mommy
Day #3, Tuesday
Dear Anna Banana Fee Fi Fo Fanna Anna (of course this has to be read singing),
Today has been another fine day. After the busy pace of our last two days it was nice to sleep in and stay at home most of the day. We enjoyed a playdate with Desi and Josh and their mom Laura this morning, I sure enjoyed listening to you and Desi giggle as you ate your lunch. We sure are blessed with some great friends! After they left, it didn't take long for us to put in High School Musical 2. You and I agreed that it wasn't as good at the first one but we still enjoyed it. I wonder what we will think of High School Musical 3, I guess we'll find out tomorrow. After a lazy afternoon, it was time for your piano lessons and then Grandma and Papa's for dinner. Like always, you played the piano beautifully. Have I ever told you that it makes my heart so happy to hear you play the piano. It puts a smile on my face every time, I just love it. It is so evident that God has given you a very special gift, I can't wait to see how you choose to use it. We were treated to a wonderful meal at Papa and Grandma's house, then we taught them how to play the game Whoonu. We all agreed that it's a great game. After a short walk around their neighborhood, it was time to call it an early night and head home. After all, we have had a few late nights and we needed to get you to bed on time tonight. Tomorrow is kind of a big day, we are heading to Scottsdale to meet with Dr. Graziano who may be the surgeon that will fix your heart. So until then, sweet dreams little one. Thanks for another great day Buttercup, I love you so deeply!
Love,
Mommy
Saturday, June 11, 2011
adjectives and telling the truth
We are in the home stretch of finishing up our homeschool year, just a few more weeks and we will be on our summer break! This past week I gave Anna the assignment of writing about what she learned in Kindergarten this year. I didn't give her any other directions other than that. I simply wanted to see what she would come up with, and I love what she wrote about. And this is what I got.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
2 updates
I have two updates, I'll save the best one for last so please read all of this post. Only if you want to of course. :)
First, I wanted to update from a post I wrote a while back, you can read it here. We finally came up with a system the kids use to manage the time used on electronics (this includes computer time and x-box time). It looks like this:
Each Sunday night the envelopes are filled with six 30 minute cards for each child. That equals out to 3 hours of playing time per kid. No more than 1 hour can be spent per day and once the cards are gone, that's it for the week. And in order to play, homeschool work has to be completed (by all three kids) and chores have to be done. I still reserve the right to say "no" or "not now" depending on how the day has gone. This system has worked GREAT for us and the kids are doing well spreading out their time during the week. We have been using this system for a month now and we really like it.
After they turn in a card, it gets placed in this container and stays in here until we reload their cards after they go to bed Sunday night.
After I wrote the last post that was linked above, we did a "cleaning house" so to speak with the games we were letting the boys play. We will be the first to admit we are not perfect parents and we make mistakes and you can read about one of those mistakes on the previous post. But I'm happy to say that the only x-box games we have left in our house are those that are properly rated for our children's ages. No longer do we have any rated M games and it feels so good! It's been a great learning experience for our whole family.
Second, this update is pretty exciting. We are on the third month of Michael being out of work but the Lord continues to provide in amazing ways. Michael still continues to teach CPR classes and do some work for his brother. It's keeping him quite busy which has been good for him, he's not one to sit around during the day and do nothing. But the exciting news is that Michael interviewed with a company called Go Daddy and he is now in the next phase while they do a background investigation on him. We are praying that this is the job for Michael. He and I both feel this would be a great job and Michael will definitely say yes if offered the job. So we wait. That's the hard part. And we hope and pray it's a yes from them!
First, I wanted to update from a post I wrote a while back, you can read it here. We finally came up with a system the kids use to manage the time used on electronics (this includes computer time and x-box time). It looks like this:
Each Sunday night the envelopes are filled with six 30 minute cards for each child. That equals out to 3 hours of playing time per kid. No more than 1 hour can be spent per day and once the cards are gone, that's it for the week. And in order to play, homeschool work has to be completed (by all three kids) and chores have to be done. I still reserve the right to say "no" or "not now" depending on how the day has gone. This system has worked GREAT for us and the kids are doing well spreading out their time during the week. We have been using this system for a month now and we really like it.
Second, this update is pretty exciting. We are on the third month of Michael being out of work but the Lord continues to provide in amazing ways. Michael still continues to teach CPR classes and do some work for his brother. It's keeping him quite busy which has been good for him, he's not one to sit around during the day and do nothing. But the exciting news is that Michael interviewed with a company called Go Daddy and he is now in the next phase while they do a background investigation on him. We are praying that this is the job for Michael. He and I both feel this would be a great job and Michael will definitely say yes if offered the job. So we wait. That's the hard part. And we hope and pray it's a yes from them!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Water balloons!
I captured this picture tonight as Annagrace was trying to throw a water balloon at her daddy. It just melts my heart.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
A chef I am not, final day, day #7
After posting the meals we have eaten for the past 7 days, I have given myself a boost of confidence and I'm beginning to think I am most certainly, a chef. Not a chef like other's may define the word, but I am a chef for my family and I find much joy in preparing meals for them. For tonight's meal I enjoyed making this yummy soup.
I used just a dash of the red pepper, too much of it and it's just too spicy and I love spicy but I overdid it the last time I made this recipe so this time I made sure not to add too much.
Fresh spinach works much better than frozen.
This is what it looks like before it warms up on the stove. This was the first time I did not cook the soup in the crock pot, I didn't get it started early enough in the day so I cooked it for 2 1/2 hours on the stovetop and it turned out just as good.
Don't get any other cheese other than smoked gouda, it adds the most yummy flavor!
I like to serve this soup with toppings like bacon, leftover gouda, a spoonfull of sour cream, and oyster crackers or saltines, whatever you prefer. I also served some garlic bread with it for a side. It's the perfect fall meal, I had to remind myself it was June 2nd.
Peeling this many potatoes is quite the work out for the upper arms.
I love red onions!
This concludes my series on A Chef I am Not. I hope you enjoyed it! Now back to my normal blogging. :)
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
A chef I am not, day #6
This is the second to last day of my series titled "A chef I am not." On this weeks menu I planned for us to get pizza for one of our dinners. I figure after cooking 6 dinners, I'm entitled every now and then to not having to make dinner. We hardly eat out anymore so it's a real treat when we get to. We had a coupon to Hungry Howies Pizza so that is what we had for dinner tonight. It was delicous!
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