Downtown adventure

We decided it would be a fun treat to take the kids downtown and stay in a hotel before Christmas.  Last year we went to Hawaii over Christmas and stayed in a nice hotel the weekend before Christmas.  This was such a memorable experience last year we wanted so bad to try to recreate the memories.  We choose the Hyatt and boy was it fun!

We started our adventure by walking around and seeing all the Christmas displays downtown after about an hour the kids were all ready to go back and have some lunch and swim.

L wanted only to be in the hot tub I think she liked that she could reach.

                                  K is my little mermaid she is under water more than above.

This sad face was the story of J every time I attempted a picture.  I am pretty sure by this point he

     had lost several privileges.  Oh the joys of parenting.

 

L my little gymnast, this was in our 1st room on the 5th floor.  We had two rooms booked that adjoined but we were waiting for the other one to be ready.  We ended up being moved to the 14th floor due to

                   a hotel issue and they gave us our second room free with 4 free breakfasts, which rocked!

We took the kids to our favorite restaurant downtown, Palominos.  It was fun for them to see where we like to go out on dates.

 

We ran outside right when dinner was over to see Santa repel from the Macy's building.

Enjoying the doughnuts that we got from Palomino's to go.  They dipped them chocolate, yummy!  We then went back to the hotel to watch a movie.  The kids didn't fall asleep till 11, way past their bedtime.  They at first didn't like all the sirens but later felt comforted by them because they thought the wind blowing sounded like a wolf and the police could keep them safe.

Good morning girls!  The girls loved looking at the city so much to see.

Our free and very cold carriage ride.

Our last adventure of the trip was to take the trolley around town.  What good trip, thanks kids for all the memories.

Baby Love crashed in

Each Christmas I am starting to grasp more of the incredible reason we are excited about Christ's birth.  There were a few things that were impactful this year.  Christmas eve morning we went to the Crossroads Christmas performance with both sides of the family, wow it was good!  They spoke very Clearly about why Christ had to come to the earth.  During the show they used so many beautiful types of art to display the Christmas story.  It was all very powerful and moving.  I encourage you to go to their site and download for free any of their music written by them, my favorite is "Love Crashed In", http://www.crossroads.net/my/media/music.php .  This will be something I do every year!  I left incredibly encouraged.  We then went and got Indian with all our family, that was just plain fun to be with most everyone and truly enjoy everybody's company.  We then continued on to Williamstown and Dry Ridge to deliver gifts for Angel Tree to 2 families.  One of the families I was given an opportunity to pray with the grandmother who was caring for her grandchildren, it was moving because I didn't expect God to use me at this house I thought for sure I would be better used at the next house.  It was powerful to speak God's truth to her.  We then had a nice dinner at home (by candlelight) together, played a game and watched The Nativity, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G78OdmY32IM.  It was so sweet to see Christ's birth come alive, I really enjoyed watching this movie! 

So this was our Christmas eve,  I can only share what Christ has done in my own life and how he has moved my heart toward him.  I come away with a thankful heart for Christ choosing to come to this earth only to die for our sins.  Jesus coming as a baby to this earth reaffirms that God's ways are different often then the way we would of planned them.  Thank you Lord that your ways are greater than ours!

Gingerbread house

Last Saturday we stayed home with the kids and made a gingerbread house together.  I think they enjoyed dumping all the bags of candy into bowls more than decorating the actual house.

J refuses to smile for pictures.

This is a small taste of my family!

Babies in Bed

I love after the morning feeding and the happy mood that a baby can be in it's so sweet.  S was in bed with us this morning crawling all over us, blowing raspberries, chewing on Ben's ear.  I want to not forget the moments that make me smile.  I am mostly OK with my babies getting older but I will miss these kind of moments.  S's sweet spirit makes me smile even more.  In the last five minutes I rescued S from behind our Christmas tree, he likes to terrorize it.  A few minutes later he was scooting around with a Nerf dart hanging out of his mouth and did not want to let it go.  Now he is making laps around the middle part of our house.  We'll back to being a mom!

Stuck in the middle

Lately stuck is how I have felt.  It makes me a little sad because I know that I have not chose to have joy always.  I struggle with how to be a mom to four children and fulfilling that role with love and grace.  We are also engaged in a college ministry through Young Life, which I really love but feel torn constantly.  In the past I have always been able to make YL and motherhood work together but lately it's been more than difficult.  When I am with my college girls I love and enjoy my time, what a fun age group!  But as I drive home or end a night somewhere I feel sad that I have to put my children aside.  Mind you these are all feeling that I am working through and I believe that it's good for your children to see you be outward focused.  I just wonder if my kids are starting to be at a age where I need to invest in their spiritual lives more deeply.  I read Romans 1-3 today and it was refreshing to be in God's word, I read it out loud to myself, that's what I needed.  I aiming to take one day at a time and be diligent where I am in each moment of the day.  I can only do this in your strength Lord and choosing to renew my mind daily!

Good frustrations

Today and the last few days I have felt this underlying frustration in ministry.  Ben and I work hard to share our life with many people and sometimes that can feel messy.  If I really stop and look it makes sense we are sinful people mixing with sinful people.  I sometimes don't get lack of unity in the body of believers, aren't we all called to love the other believers around us regardless of our feelings?  I know that as I have grown in my relationship with Christ this is a area that God has challenged me in, I still have a lot of growing to do!  I understand having a conflict with someone that is natural but why not use the power of Christ's love and work those differences out?  These are just broad questions that have been weighing on me.  I was reading Ephesians 4: 2-4 today and haven't been able to stop thinking of these verses.  "Always be humble and gentle.  Be Patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love.  Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.  For there is one body and one spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future."  Today I am committing to make every effort with my brothers and sisters in Christ to stay untied!  I look forward to Heaven knowing that this tension will not be present.  Aim to love today!

Tears

Our 1st real snow Saturday December 4th!

Last night was so sweet we decided to watch some old videos we found.  The first one was Easter 2006 K was barely one and J almost 3.  I had forgotten how sweet K was at that age and how much I loved her.  Lately she has been a challenge, she can be dramatic and I feel like we don't always connect.  It just reminded me to not be caught up in these sometimes difficult moments and just to show love.  I was really struck with the way I interacted with her I was so loving and patient, I often think because she is older she no longer needs me to treat her that way.  In the video J and K did a egg hunt, K waddled all over our yard searching, she had a giant pink dress on, it was adorable.  J got Narnia in his Easter basket and boy was he excited!  Hearing his little voice was so sweet.  We also watched Christmas morning 2006.  J opened all the gifts without stopping and K took her sweet time and played with each gift as she opened it.  K got a kitchen that year, it was the one my dad made me as a child.  This year L is going to get kitchen stuff it's funny how that really is a timeless gift. 

We got our Christmas tree last night, I really like having a big Christmas, tree growing up we had huge ones.  I sent Ben to get one and really tried hard to be content with what he brought back, sometimes that's hard for me to not be critical.  He brought back one that seemed fine but slowly I could feel myself be frustrated and discontent feeling like he didn't listen to me.  Of course it turned to tears and I wasn't very sweet, I know he is thinking it's just a tree.  It was good in the end Ben and I talked and could see each others side of the situation.  He is so sweet he went and got Indian and a bottle of wine, we had a great family dinner and decorated the tree.

On a fun note S is sitting up really good!  If he is on the carpet I can leave him sitting and he does fine.  He is growing fast!

Abuleos

If you have kids great place to dine!

On Monday and Tuesdays kids pay what they weigh for a kids meal $.01 for every pound.  If you go between 3-6pm Tacos are $1.00, Tamales $1.50, they were delicious!

Milestones

Well this week I feel like we have hit some milestones in our family.  We have had a wonderful little stomach bug run through our whole family minus S.  It started with L on last Saturday night and ended with Ben last night.  We are looking forward to hopefully a sick free week coming up! 

S this past week had his 6 month well visit, he is in the 45th percentile for height and head and 20th for weight.  He is healthy and well he got 4 shots and the last dose of the Roda virus drops which he hates.  S has been scooting and half crawling this week, he likes to get on his hands and knees and rock forward.  He has managed to get where he wants to go in our living room.  He is quite cute because he looks far to small to be doing it.  We also tried food for the first time this week.  We started with Rice cereal, then banana and then banana with rice cereal which none of them went well.  He makes the worse little faces as you try to feed him this foreign stuff.  Of course this is to be expected with S he won't drink formula either, what a little food snob :) .  This morning I gave him a bath and anyone who knows me well knows that S doesn't get a bath as often as he probably should.  In the bath this morning I thought to myself is it bad that his last bath had been so long ago that  he has reached several new developmental milestones since.  Usually I would bathe him laying down supported by my hand, this time he sat up with support and got the concept of splashing which he loved.  S and his sweet spirit really helps me enjoy motherhood when it feels tough.

L had her 1st first session with her OT this week, she is working with her on sensory issues.  L really seemed to like the time they play games together, she does a good job of having fun with L.  L has also had a speech therapist come to the house for the last 6 months and that has really showed great improvement in her speech.  This week she has been so wonderful when we ask her to do almost anything she says OK mom and does it.  It's so exciting to hear her speak and have her communicate what she is thinking.  I am so proud of L, she really works very hard! 

We are so excited about the coming week we are having a stay cation.  From Wed to Sun we have nothing planned but Thanksgiving.  Our family desperately needed a slow down in our schedule it will be great to have some family time!

Early Morning

Today was a 6 am day.  Not often but sometimes I have the task of packing up all the kids and getting them to school on time.  I try really hard to not be stressed or irrational with them but I can always feel it creep out.  J had to finish some homework this morning and it was a battle he insisted that I do not need to correct his homework his teacher will do that.  He wrote a sentence that read "I see my little green house at 12:59 o'clock."  I felt like the sentence didn't make sense and he should change it, immediately he argues, I have such a difficult time deciphering when he just needs to obey and when I should just let go.  I chose to have him change it regardless of the battle and try to remember it's a bigger issue of pride and this is how it's manifesting this morning.  I really don't care about the paper it's his character and his heart that I am concerned over, it's really hard to not be distracted by the symptoms of sin.  When I am distracted I focus on how he is being difficult I usually end up screaming and being super frustrated.  When I see J I feel like I deal with the same sin so often but yet I still find it hard to extend the same grace that God gives us in dealing with whatever the situation might be.  So as I write this I want to remind myself that God extends grace often to me and I need to do the same with my children.  Focus on their heart issues as oppose to their frustrating behaviors.

Life lately

Well this last week seemed like I had less time to give to my kids than any week I have had in awhile, which is weird because I don't recall having that much on my calendar.  I do know one thing about myself, I work very well under limited time and a full schedule.  My goal this week is to keep tackling my lazy moments and call them what they are and go strong in all the areas of my life.  This weekend was tough and good all at the same time.  I felt extremely tired not sure what was up if I was a little sick or what but I let myself stay in a bit of a slump not wanting to do much and feeling sorry for myself.  Ben was great he stayed patient and kept encouraging me to keep moving forward.  He took me on a date Saturday night, which was so refreshing.  We talked about the kids and life it was needed.  I really walked away appreciating my family and what we have been given.  I aimed to love them better today.  Last night L woke up sick and continued to get sick all through the night, she was so sweet.  We stayed home from church and just loved on her.  K and I went to look at wedding dresses today for Sam M, it was fun to see her try on so many beautiful dresses.  K also tried on dresses,she had a ball and asked many times to buy a dress.  I let her know that the starting price was $100 and that we can not afford one, her reply was well maybe dad can just make more money.  She always makes me smile. We had dinner as a family and then watched Karate Kid, great movie.  Looking forward to the week!

One on one

I wanted to share a idea I found in Family Fun this month.  A reader suggested that to have individual time with her kids they have them take turns staying up a night of the week.  We decided to try this idea and love it.  It is so cute the excitement that this builds all week.  J has Mondays, L Tuesday and K Thursday.  J is already talking about next Monday and how he can't wait.  While one parent puts the kids in bed the other spends time with the child staying up, we only do 15 minutes but to them it's like eternity.  K on her first night chose to do a craft and tonight chose to play games and add some cartoons to Netflix while eating a snack, J chose to play a computer game with Ben and L chose to read books.  They are all already thinking about what they will do on their next turn with mom and dad.

Great day

Today has been a great day, full of good moments.  First I had a parent techer conference for J, I love his teacher.  She really gets J and has so many sweet things to say about him.  I can tell he is really loved and cared for at school.  A couple of things that stood out to me that she said was that he really enjoyed learning about the Bible, that he is tenderhearted, he loves others well and that he accepts correction.  Those are all things I want him to really grasp in life.  I then ran around to thrift stores with my mom and just hung out without feeling like we had to get something done, that might be the first time it's been like that in awhile.  She also bought us groceries which was awesome!  We talked about life and how each of us recently have had a really hard time adjusting to some new things in our life.  I love talking about real life issues with her.  Connie then came and met me at Chuckie Cheese to take L for the afternoon and night, L was so excited.

I try to do homework right when each of the kids gets home from school to get it out of the way.  Lately with K I have been trying to be more attentive to her homework needs and spending real time with her.  Each day we make a picture of a number starting at 10 we'll be working up to 50.  We glued glitter on 10, painted 11 and glued colored marshmellows on 12 she loves it!  I have seen improvement in her attitude towards me since we have spent time together, it's just so hard to stop and remember it's worth it.  When J got home we spent 2 hours on homework that should take 40 minutes, he can wear me out sometimes.  I decided to today that I really needed to spend extra time working through the details of his homework and giving him the time he needs.  The way J responds also to that attention is neat.  I really enjoyed my role as mom today and now I need to working out that good tension of mom and wife.  I thank God that I have a husband that understands and is patient with the housework.  Now off to fold many baskets of laundry.

Parent, teacher conference #1

Today was the parent teacher conference for K.  Mrs. K. was so encouraging and had fun things to about K.  I am so thankful for a teacher who can recognize things in my child that are positive and things that need to be worked on.  K excels when it comes to her coloring and art work it's so cute to see how well she does, clearly God has given her a little talent in those areas.  She works very hard at memorizing her verses and songs for school.  It's amazing a child's memory at this age, it's awesome that her brain is being filled with truth.  Last night she recounted the whole story of Rahab and the spies, she told me about Moses  the burning bush and about the promise land.  I think she knew more detail than I would be able to recall.  My favorite K moment is when she sings her Latin song from school, I have no clue what she is saying but it is cute.  It's most definitely a sacrifice to send them to the school but I think it is well worth it, the truth she is receiving is priceless.  Things that she needs to work on is to let go of those fingers, that will be tough.  Mrs. K. said that she is easily distracted and not attentive always, we will continue to work on self-control in these areas.  So that is K we love her and enjoy learning with her! 

Halloween treats

This past weekend was a fun one,  I spent most of my time constructing Halloween costumes.  J's star wars costume was store bought (thank goodness).  I made a long Rapunzel wig for K the idea was from Family fun it ended up being so cute.  L's giraffe costume was my favorite I use brown clothing and made giraffe print on it with masking tape, that was a task but worth it.  She was so cute, I think her personality really added to her adorable costume.  S's pea pod costume was used by all four of my kids, can you believe I don't think I have a picture of all of them in it I will look though.  Grandma and grandpa D came over all weekend and helped with the basement and the kids, it's so nice to have the help!  Saturday night Joy got to spend the night, my kids love Joy what a special relationship.  Both sets of grandparents were here for trick or treating and to help with all we had going on.

                                                           Our neighborhood bunch!

For the last two years Ben and I have created a trick or treat pit stop at our house for our neighborhood.  It's been an amazing way to meet and talk with people we would otherwise never have contact with.  We passed out 163 hot dogs, 178 juice boxes, 84 hot ciders and 40 waters to hungry and thirsty parents and children.  We set up a movie screen and played a kiddie Halloween movie.  By having a place for the kids to stop and sit for a minute parents are more than willing to engage about their lives.  It was fun to let people know that it is out of love that we do this we want nothing in return.  We were able to meet several people that we have never met and some that came last year and made a point to come back.  I am so thankful for a husband that is so good at loving others I feel like he really makes people feel very welcome.  Ben and I make a great team and we are definitely in our element when it comes to this kind of thing.  It is only God's amazing love that motivates us, it's powerful to remember where I have been the dark places Christ saved me from.  I want nothing more than the people around me to experience that.  So to wrap it up there is nothing great about us or our family we are inspired by a God who is more than great and who has impacted our life! 

  

Saying yes

Today was a great day, but I think it was a lot of small choices I made through out the day.  Let me introduce you to L she is my third born and can be quite the stinker.  I am home with her and S half the day till K comes home.  My mornings usually consist of letting her watch t.v. so that I can get things done around the house and before I know it she has watched hours of t.v. and I have spent zero quality time with her.  So today I decided to say yes when she requested my attention.  I quickly found out that she is thrilled to have me engage in her world.  We spent the morning painting, making chalk drawings on the driveway, taking a walk, reading books and watching Dora together while she ate lunch.  Somehow I still had plenty of time to get done the things that needed to be done around the house.  It makes me wonder what was I spending my time doing before.  Thank you Ben for encouraging me to say yes more often to my children.  I truly enjoyed L today and I could see a difference in her!