Sam's Spiritual Bday

Sunday night was the time of celebration for Sam's spiritual bday.

He chose spaghetti and garlic bread as his special meal.

He also got a dry erase board

I love that immediately when he got it, he opened it up and started using it.

Sam and his ice cream sundae

Sam is such a tender-hearted and funny little guy. He still hugs and kisses me a lot, and I love it!! As his reading skills are improving, he is able to read his Bible more on his own. When he sees a need, his sensitive heart compels him to try to meet that need. He has become an amazing big brother over the last year. He has embraced his new position in our family. One of the most precious things that was said to Sam while we were sharing with him at the table, was said by Isaiah. He said, "Sam is my best friend brother." That was so precious. These two are developing a strong relationship with each other and are longing for the day when they can share a bedroom and make it into a "hippo" room.

I am proud of you, Sam. As you know, God has a special plan for you. He has shown that in His protection over you life in your 6 short years. I can't wait to see you grow in your spiritual walk over the next year!!

Abby's Spiritual Bday Celebration

2 years ago, on the way home from a Baptism service at church, Sam and Abby started their relationships with God. They were asking Rick lots of questions after watching so many people follow God in baptism and hearing each of their testimonies. At one point in the drive, Abby said, "I think I want to ask Jesus in to my heart." Rick responded by saying, "Do you want to do that right now?" So, they pulled the Jeep over and before they were finished, both Abby and Sam had taken this Huge step of faith. Now they are 2 year old toddler Christians. Since they share the same spiritual bday, we are celebrating tonight for Abby and tomorrow night for Sam.

Gathering around to eat her special meal and

talk about her relationship with God

She picked a funny menu.

Starting at the left: Green beans, raspberries,

sausage balls, breaded mozzarella sticks, and marinara

Abby enjoying her meal

Her gift: A marker board with a calendar on one side and blank on the other

She is very organized so she will use this in so many ways!

No spiritual bday is complete without ice cream sundaes.

Abby put nerds on her vanilla ice cream

Abby absolutely has the gift of service. She serves at home, in school, and at church. She is a natural when it comes to "mothering." She gets a lot of practice with Isaiah and Laila. She is going to be a rockin' babysitter some day. She loves to sing, dance, and express herself through art. I see her using those gifts to worship God.

I love her. She is unique. She is beautiful. She is mine!!

October Challenge Update

WOW!! That is all I can say. This challenge is kickin' my butt!! I guess that is why it is called a challenge.

Today has been a major day of processing my life for me with the help of some friends and my hubby.

Simplicity is taking on a whole new level in my brain, and honestly, I am scared to death.

You see, I don't really do well with change and if you know what is happening in my life right now, you realize there is a lot of change happening. If you don't know what I am talking about, go here and here to read more about it.

I am the type of person that keeps my furniture the same from the day I move into my house on. I don't change it. I freak out when there is a software upgrade on my computer and something, even the slightest thing changes, even if it makes it better. I got an iphone over a week ago and I still don't really have the thing figured out. It took me hours and hours to get my address book and calendar fixed. I am still using my palm pilot because I don't have the energy to get everything else set up in it yet. I am pretty sure I have sent multiple texts and left multiple voicemails on the wrong people's phones because I can't quite figure out how to use what is supposed to be one of the most user friendly phones that exists. Don't even get me started about apps. Those, just send me over the edge!

Enough about me. Oh, wait a minute, this whole post is about me. So, back to the challenge.

God has expanded this challenge for me today. He has made it very clear. I either choose to obey or disobey. I desire to obey, and I will, but this one is going to really stretch me. He is calling me to a level of simplicity that will strip me of my identity. That started with Rick's job changing and me no longer being a pastor's wife. I am still processing that one. Now, it goes even deeper. I can't even fully articulate it right here, but I will as I continue to process.

My life is becoming complicated in my brain as I simplify the stuff of it. God is using this to bring me to my knees. I am grateful. I am challenged. I am becoming more of who He has called me to be. Growth involves pain. So, I embrace that pain and say, "Bring it on!" I am not the same person I was 6 months ago, and I suspect I will be saying the same thing 6 months from now.

The journey continues....

Bowling

We set Wed. aside as a family day. It began with a family breakfast of bacon, eggs, biscuits, and coffee! Then we went bowling as a family. This was Isaiah's and Laila's first time to bowl. We got two lanes at the alley. One lane had bumpers. Abby, Sam, Isaiah, and Laila used the bumper lane, and Cody, Lauren, Rick, and me used the regular lane.

We really could have our own bowling team

Cody helping Laila

A little known fact is that I was in a bowling league as a kid. Oh, yes I was, and I have quite a few trophies to prove it.

Isaiah won both games on his lane. Rick won both games on our lane. I finally got my groove about midway through the second game and Rick beat me by 4 pins!! We are quite competitive as a family, so much so that certain children didn't enjoy themselves quite as much as they might have. One in particular was very frustrated most of the time.

Isaiah and Laila had a blast. They wanted to have a turn over and over. They were so cute and got the hang of it right away.
This little guy is so passionate that he laments and wails any time a good thing comes to an end. The only way to calm him is to assure him over and over that he will get to do it again "sometime."


I think this just might become one of our favorite things to do together. I see many "competitions" in our future.

Rockin' Fall Break

I have really wanted to take advantage of the kids' week off from school. We went bowling yesterday. We forgot the camera. Rick took some pics with his phone and has informed me that they didn't turn out too good. So, when he sends them, I will share any that are decent. It was a really fun time, but more about that later.

Today, I decided to be a rockstar mom and just have fun all day. Now, I am exhausted. We started the day with cinnamon rolls. Then, I took the kids swimming at the YMCA.

Why is it that when I see someone else with 6 kids, it looks like so many, but when I look at my crew, it looks just right?

Big Kids

This boy loves him some swimmin'

After we got showers, I took the kids to Chick-fil-a. It was fun to go out to eat. That is a rare treat for us!!

Cody had football practice and Lauren had soccer practice. I was supposed to pick Cody up. Instead of waiting until his practice was over, I took Abby, Sam, Isaiah and Laila to the park by his practice field to play for a while. Now that is not like me. I am not a big fan of the outdoors. Parks really aren't one of my favorite places to go. Not to mention, the chilly evenings we are having now. (Let's just say, I was depressed the whole day when Rick took the a/c out of the windows. I am already missing summer already!!)

Trying to embrace the scenery with this picture

Sam on a fake mountain with real mountains in the background

She is actually smiling so hard that it looks like she is crying!!

She LOVES to swing!

Brothers in da House!

My beautiful Abby

Laila is making "ice cream"

I don't usually pack so many events into one day, but we did it, and we all survived. Tomorrow will be a day to sleep in and rest. I am thankful for the time we have had together this week!!

October Challenge

Simplifying is not always a simple thing to do.

I am struggling with this month's challenge.

This is not a challenge I can do alone. It has to be a family affair.

I had a discussion today with my kids about stewardship.

I feel like we have lost sight of that concept in our house.

There is a lot of wastefulness and carelessness with things.

Silly bands and food erasers are fun for a day. Then, they lose their glimmer, and I find them scattered all over my house.

My 4 big kids have no idea what it means to go hungry. Sure, there are some days where they aren't real thrilled about the choices I offer, but even on those days, they have a choice and way more food than many children in the world.

I go ballistic when I see food wasted, especially when it is from carelessness like shredded cheese all over the counter from meal prep or chips that are spilled and left behind. Half full glasses of milk really make my skin crawl.

I don't only blame them. I find myself shopping the bargains because they are bargains. It doesn't matter that I am trying to clean out my fridges and pantry. It is on sale. So, I must buy it. As a result, we end up with bulging shelves, an empty grocery budget, and food that continues to stay in storage in the back of the pantry or freezer because we want to eat the new stuff.

Then there is the leaving of lights on in empty rooms, using half a roll of toilet paper when a few sheets would have done the job, or 4 paper towels used to clean up a spill that a towel could have cleaned up.

We talked through it today. We talked about how I can't do this alone. We talked about being responsible with ALL that God has given us. We will see how much of it sinks in and results in change. I realize it has to start with me. We talked about how much more we can give to others when we don't waste it on things that don't matter. I want to invest our money in the lives of people, not toilet paper and cheese.

We have TOO MUCH STUFF!!! I think it is going to take more than a month to solve this problem. I guess I have to start somewhere.

Awesome Fort

Lauren and Abby have created a fort in the basement. They are quite creative in their design.

There are signs all over our house(and I mean ALL OVER the house)

In case you aren't sure how to get there, they have put arrows for you to follow

While you are there, feel free to donate some money to Africa

They dividd part of our basement into several distinct areas.

This is the snack shop(their snack shops always include lots of candy)

Here is the entry to the actual fort

This is the dance area

They also created a play area, a trampoline and rest areas. They had music playing.

There was a dance competition

Laila has herself some moves

When Isaiah dances, he always has this serious face

This is the pose at the end of their dance

Sam won the competition(that is a candy bar from Africa)

Laila and Daddy in the fort

Inside the fort, you can watch movies while you have your snack.

I love it when the kids play like this. Their creativity amazes me. It is also one of the few times that they seem to work together and actually have fun doing it.