Marriage

It has been awhile.  Life has had it's ups and downs this last week.  Ben and I had several things that we weren't seeing eye to eye on and Sunday got a chance to talk on the way to church a 40 minute drive, we went to his parents church.  The kids actually played the whole car trip without interrupting us!  God is so good to give us that time we really needed.  It was good to stop and listen to each other and our concerns and desires for our family and relationship.  Sunday was refreshing to worship a perfect God and know that Ben and I were not at odds with one another.  We often tell the couples that we counsel to that the purpose of marriage is not to make you happy but holy.  This can be so painful sometimes often i look to Ben to make me happy and it often turns up empty not because he isn't a great husband but because that is not his job.  After we go through a difficult time in our relationship I am full of Joy knowing that God's purpose for the pain was holiness.

Adopt, adopt

I had to note this so I wouldn't forget.  Ben the kids and I were looking at a adoption site called Reece's Rainbow, we came across this little boy with HIV and I asked the kids what they think about adopting him.  They of course were pretty excited that I was asking this.  Under the child's picture their is a button that says "donate".  J in all his excitement said "push adopt mom, adopt, adopt"!  I just laughed it's so sweet that they are just excited as we are about one day expanding our family through adoption.

Oh what a friday night

Last night we were at YL leadership as usual.  Our kids love going over to Rick and Amy's house!  K earlier in the day asked if Maddie was going to be at leadership I told her I didn't know so she decided that she would ask the Lord to have her be home.  She then preceded to tell me that the Lord in in control of all people and that hopefully he would have Maddie be there.  Later that afternoon Amy text me to let me know that they are going to be gone for the night, I thought to myself well it was sweet that she prayed about it but I guess it won't happen.  I guess God's plan that night was to encourage a little girl's faith, Amy ended up coming home because of the ice on the road and Maddie and Kate were able to play.  They were running around and tackling each other K was pretty overjoyed!

Around 8pm that night K was running up the stairs with Maddie and fell.  She ended up hitting her chin on a wooden corner of the stairs.  She had a nice fat opening on her chin I took one look and knew she was going to need stitches, this is a first for my kids.  She was pretty upset, I prayed for her and immediately she was so much calmer.  We called my dad to stitch her up, we had to wait about an hour to meet him at the hospital.  In the mean time K just played and laugh she acted as if nothing happened I think we were all more wound up than she was.  We later met my dad at the hospital, took her to a room and put some numbing gel on her to take off the edge of the numbing shot that was to follow.  When it came time for the shot oh boy was it tough.  K was screaming and crying Ben and I were holding her down, Ben ended up leaving the room in the middle of it.  When it was done he came back in the room slightly green and washed out looking.  He told me that he wasn't sure he was going to get out of the room quick enough, I think he was ready to pass out.  Once it came time to give her stitches she did great and couldn't feel a thing.  My dad gave her 5 stitches, put a band-aid on it and we were on our way.  We promised her she could get any treat she desired, she chose a chocolate shake, we each got one.  We rounded up our kids who were still with Rick and Amy and headed home. 

K after all was said and done with Maddie's doll.

Your a brave girl K!

These were taken on a phone, quality is awful.

My thoughts driving home were, wow my night went really different than I had planned.  I am so thankful that God is in control and has a plan for us all.  In the end I am glad that we were able to share some sweet moments with K.  I really love that girl I am thankful God uses our children to show us more about who he is and how He works.

A New Year

On January 1st it was a big day for S.  He started off the day by pulling up in his crib and then continued on to crawl on his hands and knees.  S had been scooting around everywhere he wants but now I can actually say he crawls.  Over the last couple of days it's been really fun to see him pull up on everything, except I have to rescue him every five minutes.  Now I just have to wait till he masters the skill of getting down after he pulls up.

L has really been on my heart lately.  She has had difficulty with learning to speak since her second birthday we've had first steps come in and work with her once a week.  At 2 she was saying less than 20 words and not very clearly.  Now L can say almost anything she wants and string together about five words.  In the last week she has started to stutter, which J has a problem with also.  I just feel for her it seems like she has faced such difficulty already just to communicate her basic needs.  My prayer is that I will be able to have extra patience understanding the things she is trying to tell me and that I would stay confident that God is using this in both L and I.

Yesterday was our first day back to school, I was sad to see the kids go back I have never felt this way before.  I really enjoyed the break and having them home!  Yesterday I made a crock pot recipe which was good all like it except for J, I'll post the link on my food blog.  I also made ciabatta bread yesterday, my mom gave me a video to watch about making it and to my surprise it turned out and tasted great!  I always have this thing that it's just not worth it to make bread but this was actually not that tuff.  Here is the link in case anyone else is up for trying,  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v24OBsYsR-A&feature=related .

I have also been making baby food for S, which I never wholeheartedly have done before.  I am really enjoying it.  I found a great site that gives good recipes and how to cook your stuff properly.  I am so excited to find ways to save money in our house without cutting out major things, when I compare costs I will be saving about $100 over the next 5 months!  So far S's favorite is green beans and pear/banana combo.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/greenbeansbabyfoodrecipes.htm

I can't wait to see what God has for us this year!