Home Movies

This first video is a little taste of a typical dinner-time at our house. For some reason its the witching hour and Joe and Christine both end up melting down together... whats that they say about the importance of family dinners? 

 

The next vid is of Christine pulling up on the recliner. I know its hard to believe but this is a big deal. She is very busy lately and pulling up all over the place. Its a big step for our little girl!

And this last video is of Nate reading two of his nonfiction stories in his writing class a couple of months ago. He has more creative writing pieces but forgot to bring them to class that day.  ;-)

No More Perfect Holidays

Well, its the time of year that we look forward to all year long.  Or is it?  There is something special about the holiday season.  All the gatherings with friends and family.  The delicious foods that you only get around this time of year (anyone else crave pumpkin spice in the spring?).  And of course the gifts (and the shopping for said gifts).  There is a lot to love about this season.  But with it comes pressure to make every detail perfect.  And if we are honest with ourselves can we ever live up to our own expectations of how we want our holidays to go?  Not me.

photo source

“Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.”  ― Salvador Dalí

There is so much out of our control that its impossible to create the perfect Christmas table-scape, and a magically delicious seven course meal, and have our house decorated like a Better Homes and Gardens spread, and have our kids in perfectly coordinated outfits and have them behave like little angels throughout the whole affair.  Whew!  I'm tired and stressed just thinking about all that. 

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” ― Marilyn Monroe 


Its good to have goals and plans but we should learn to expect hiccups along the way.  No matter what phase of life you're in (but especially if you're a mom with little ones) imperfection is something you should be used to - I'd encourage you to embrace it.  There is no avoiding it.  And frankly, why should we?  There is much joy to be found in letting ourselves be released from the pressure of attempting the impossible.  Relax and enjoy your friends and family.  Savor the food and fellowship.  But don't stress over if things are perfect.
 
“We are all wonderful, beautiful wrecks. That's what connects us--that we're all broken, all beautifully imperfect.”
― Emilio Estevez



I'm linking up to Jill Savage's No More Prefect Holidays Blog Hop.

 

Fall Break Fun

We had a fun fall break trip with just Nate, the hubs and I. We drove all night to Georgia where we visited my sister and her hubby and 1yr old. 

Nate was totally stoked to go to the Lego Adventure Center in Atlanta.  He said it was the best ever.

The next day we went to a local fall festival with my cousin's family. 

Then we went to Myrtle Beach for rest of the weekend.  Can you tell Nate was excited to see the ocean for the first time?  ;-)

Thankful we were able to have lunch with Isaac's cousin's family!

What is a trip to the pier without a pix with a fake dead fish?

On the drive home we pulled over to look at a cotton field!  Totally counts as a field trip.  ;-)

Thank goodness for audio books and game boys to help occupy this guy on the 20+ hours we had in the car that weekend!  What a blessing to have some quality time with our oldest son! 

Lakehouse Fun!

We have enjoyed a few weekends at my inlaws' lakehouse.  My sweet girl and I sportin' our shades.

It was a little chilly so we were pansies for awhile and eased our way in... should have just jumped in and gotten it over with!  ;-)

Me with a couple of my favorite girls!

Nate had a blast on his first tube ride!  He was hesitant at first but he loved it!

We took our friends to Rocket Science Ice Cream in Nappanee, Indiana for an tasty treat!

 We have loved being able to share the lakehouse with our friends.  Sadly my mother-in-law's health has declined and her compromised immune system is too susceptible to sickness and infections.  For the sake of her health our visits will be family only in the future. 

Our Family Creed

I have been inspired by different products and projects that feature "family creeds" and I decided to make our own unique family creed.  I think I am going to frame this... what do you think? 
 


OUR FAMILY CREED - We desire our home to be a place where our family, friends, and guests will find faith, hope, love, peace, joy, happiness and acceptance. We will seek to create a comfortable environment that is welcoming to guests of all ages and abilities. We will exercise wisdom in what we choose to eat, read, see, and do in our home. We want to teach others to love, learn, laugh, and to work to develop their unique talents. We will be thankful for what God has blessed us with and what we can share with those that we surround ourselves with.   
"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

Spring Break - Stay-cation

Our spring break was less than exciting.  The hubs doesn't have much vacation time and since he and I are going away for our 10yr anniversary at the end of April he had none to spare for spring break.  The kids and I tried to have a little fun and get out and about a bit though.

Nate and I did a little baking...

We hung out with Darth Vader... er, I mean my nephew.  ;-)

and my adorable niece!

We went to the Children's Museum with some friends...

Hubs and I went on a date...

And there was all of Joe's birthday festivities... those are my two crazy nephews at Joe's party.  ;-)

And we had Easter celebrations with our church and family.  

Not exciting so much.  But we managed to have a good time in there.  ;-)  Now I'm counting down to our anniversary trip.  Its our first cruise!  Can't wait!

Cooking Day!

Over the last while my mom and I have gotten in to the habit of occasionally sending a meal to one another.  We'll just make double of whatever we are making for our own family and share, no fanfare, just our way of showing our love and appreciation.  After seeing this pattern developing we started to discuss the idea of doing a cooking day and making a bunch of meals together in one afternoon.  We kept putting it off because we were busy but couple of weeks ago my mom and sisters and I finally had our cooking day! 

 

Because my friend and my sister are both living at my parents' house right now we have the unique advantage of having five cooks in three households.  So each cook chose a meal and brought the ingredients to my mom's house.  We had two meals going at a time and we all pitched in to help with chopping and mixing and doing dishes along the way.

 After our afternoon's work we all went home with six meals: BLT Pasta, White Chili with corn meal dumplings, Chicken Pot Pie, Baked Penne, Meat Loaf, and Chicken Lo Mein w/ fried rice. We are all enjoying our tasty meals one at a time!  Looking forward to doing another one sometime soon!

 

Here are a couple of links that were helpful when planning our cooking day:

Twin Cities Supper Swappers

 Six Sisters' Stuff - 20 Tried and True Freezer Meals

Meal Planning Magic - How to Start a Freezer Meal Exchange Group

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations” - Oscar Wilde

 

New Veggie Tales DVD Giveaway

 I'm excitied to be able to offer another dvd giveaway. This time we have Veggie Tales: The Little House That Stood.  We got our preview copy in the mail just a couple days ago and Nate was so excited!  You know how kids are, they hardly ever get "real" mail so it is pretty special when they get a package.  So we sat down and watched the dvd immediately!

 

The Wise Pig Built His House Upon the Rock! When the Three Little Pigs roll into Cabbageville looking to build some new houses, they meet one builder with a plan and two without a clue! Larry builds with hay, Mr. Lunt with bricks, but only Bob builds his houses on a firm foundation - following the wise plans from the Master Builder's Handbook!" Will the Little Piggies make the right choices when it comes to building their houses - and their lives - on solid ground? Find out in this parable that shows kids when they follow God's blueprints, they can stand strong when the storms come! PLUS! Ever wonder what happened before Humpty cracked? Find out in this very Veggie retelling of the classic Humpty Dumpty story "The Good Egg of Gooseville" where we learn that a good neighbor always "lends a little hand" to those in need.

 As usual Nate was captivated by the characters, story and songs of the movie, as he has been with the other Veggie Tales movies we've seen (and own a lot of them).  I loved hearing the message of Luke 6:46-49 about building on a strong foundation presented in a very kid friendly way.  It is getting more difficult to find quality kid and family shows/movies. It is rare to find a movie or show that is does not have questionable words or content anymore.  Much less one that actually shares our values.  I look forward to enjoying this and other Veggie Tales movies as a family for years to come.

Here is what Nate had to say about The Little House That Stood: "I thought it was awesome." Then after some prompting he followed up with: "I think it will help kids to be nice to others and have a big firm thing under what they make."  I asked him what he would tell people who had never heard of the movie and he said: "I would tell them to get their parents to buy the movie for them and to not listen to the advertisements for toys."  Can you tell we've had conversations about commercials?  We often remind him that the sole purpose of commercials is to convince us to buy things (often things we do not need).  Glad to hear that at least some of what we tell him is sinking in.  ;-)

I am excited to be able to give a copy of Veggie Tales The Little House That Stood to one lucky reader!  The giveaway will be open until St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) and Rafflecopter will choose a winner at random.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.  Luke 6:48

Best Big Brother

  A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.  Proverbs 17:17

Normally I like to end my posts with a bible verse.  But today I am beginning with one.  Recently I have been reminded how awesome Nate is.  Sometimes he can be high energy and asks a lot of crazy questions that make me want to scream... but in his heart of hearts he is a kind and wonderful boy who amazes me daily. 

There are times when Joe and Christine are both being challenging and I just want to withdraw and disengage and hide myself away for awhile... and believe me, Nate feels that way sometimes too. 

 

But sometimes while I am on the verge of freaking out I see Nate go over to his two complicated siblings and embrace them.  Not always literally, but he reaches out to them in a way that I don't always have the patience to do.

 

He talks to them sweetly and tells them its alright and begins to coax them out of their tantrum or funk that they are in.  Nate has a way with Joe and Christine like no one else does.  He doesn't think there is anything "wrong" with them.  He completely accepts them just as they are.  He often says that Joe or Christine is the "best brother/sister ever".
 

I am noticing over time I am learning so much from Nate.  The way he thinks is so different from me and yet there are times when I see myself in him.  I'm not sure if its "nature" or "nurture" but we are clearly very much alike and very much different at the same time.

  

I suppose every parent hopes that their child will gain all of their good traits and none of their bad ones... but we know that never happens.  Nate exhibits both good and bad qualities from both of us.

  

He is so faithful in his prayers.  When we have him pray he never fails to end his prayers with "and thank you for my (X-number of) Lego sets".  He is constantly telling me he loves me and that I am the best mom ever, in the whole universe...

 

 There are so many things that I have to be thankful for and Nate is definitely one of them.  And I truly believe that he is the best big brother ever.  ;-)

 

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3John 1:4