Sunday, August 30, 2009

What a Memory!

I finally got a little video to upload I took with my new camera! I'm so excited! I guess the other one was to big and that is why it wasn't working...

Anyway, in Sunday school the kids were working on memorizing the books of the Old Testament. Connor loved this challenge and went way beyond the 10 a week and on our trip to California finished all of them!

Then when he realized that they were working on the New Testament, he did that in 1 day! He knew a few of them, but is amazing when he puts his mind to something.

We have done quite a bit of memory work for school too. Last year we did the a whole lot of verses, a poem called "Trees" and along with that both boys memorized the entire chapter of Psalm 1.

Now, I usually do this along with them, but he left me in the dust on this one! Here is Connor reciting in order the books of the Old Testament and I will see if I can get the other clip to upload!



Friday, August 28, 2009

Call me if you need anything....

This is one phrase I have decided to try to remove from my vocabulary, for the most part anyway. I realize that the amount of times that actually happens is few. It is a rare occasion when people will really share what they need, and asking for help is hard to do. For some receiving help is hard or even admitting they might need some is difficult too. So, I want to learn to become more proactive, or "gently obtrusive." Pastor Don shared a story of a letter he received after Aldeana's passing that labeled her with that phrase if I remember right and I love it. The woman had a doctor's appointment and Aldeana offered to go with her but she said no. I guess Aldeana ended up showing up anyway saying that she shouldn't go alone and the woman ended up being grateful. It sounds like something Aldeana would of done.


So, when I hear of people struggling I want to find ways to step in and just "do". Instead of recently asking someone if I could bring them a meal, I simply phrased it differently. "What day can I bring dinner by for you?" They had never tasted my cooking so they took me up on it:)


So today the boys and I were again "gently obtrusive" with our new neighbors. He fell out of a tree on his property right before we moved in and has had surgeries and a ton of injuries to his hip, pelvis and back. He loves to work his property and has some of the most beautiful landscaping. After thinking of a way to help, I offered us as yard workers and leaf rakers. They have been gracious and blessed us with accepting our offer. Today was especially fun because we worked on stacking firewood to prepare for winter. Her nephew was over helping for the day and the three boys worked their little tails off. They would fill a wheelbarrow and haul it over and Colleen and I would unload on the other end. They made a game of it; racing us and kept at it for hours. I am so proud of them and how hard they worked today just to be kind to someone else. They haven't asked for anything special for all they have done and haven't complained one bit. It has been a great opportunity for us to be of service together and we have been able to get to know our neighbors in the process.


Please know I write this for two reasons only, not to "brag" or "boast". I record this because I hope it will encourage someone else to proactively find a way to be of service, and as a reminder that to deny others that chance to be of service can rob them of a huge blessing in their own lives. They are blessing me with a chance to teach my boys something much bigger and better than the 3 R's and my, my, my,



.............what a beautiful classroom.




Here is the stack of wood while we were working on it, we finished the whole thing and it felt so good!


Dear Children, let us not love with words or tongue but with action and in truth.

Fly Away

The boys and I just released our butterflies into the wide wide world. It was a great experiment and a good way to get me to improve in the area of science. Hopefully I scored some points here. Connor explained to his Grandma when we were in California that he thinks he "would like science more if I kept on a better schedule and did it more often!"

I have to say although it was fun, I thought the ladybug transform was more fun to watch and observe. Actually the ant farm was by far the best one so far, they were so interesting! I want to watch the frogs one day too! So much fun stuff to do!

Here are the last nature journals from the boys on their butterflies....Brody has been out of school too long, not wanting to write his own words! I'm a little bit of a summer pushover I guess:)








Here are a few pictures of their journey here. I forgot to take pictures when they came in as caterpillars..oops! One of the best parts was finally getting to see one eat before they flew away!












Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Going So Fast!







Why do things seem to be happening so much faster with my second child than my first??? Brody announced to me the other day that he has become way to big for that little bike he has! I guess he is right, but why did Connor last so much longer; same thing with the high back booster car seat. I guess he has his big brother to keep up with so that would explain some of it!


Well, I LOVE Craigslist....I know people will say that bad things are happening through it, but I have had only good experiences. Evil people will use any avenue to take advantage of others and I like to think that people are good first! Anyway, we listed Brody's bike and sold it yesterday then came home to start shopping! He found one right away that he liked and was close. We negotiated with the kid selling it who came down a little, but Brody still had to put in one weeks allowance of $3 on top of what he got for the bike. Not a bad deal though and a great lesson!


He is SO proud of himself to have "a big 16" race bike!"












Monday, August 24, 2009

The Big Question

When does school start? Everyone is asking and I don't have a great answer! The boys worked on calendars this morning in their new planners and they have their opinion, and I am reading blog after blog of all my dear sweet California friends already putting pen to paper...but I just don't know! First of all, here in Oregon school doesn't start until September 8th. Second, I am still getting organized and waiting on an order with some things I need. Third, the sun is still shining and the weather has been amazing. It almost doesn't seem right to do school on these kind of days when I know what is coming...the inevitable rain.

So, I am shooting for September 1st, but I'm flexible. What the hec is Oregon doing to me???

Deep breath....AAAHHHH.....

It will happen, we will get done what we need to get done and all will be right with our academic world in due time:)

Thursday, August 20, 2009

What is a "life verse"?

This is a term that I hear often enough, but haven't given much thought to. There are a lot of verses I like, ones that I have framed in knick knacks, many stored on my heart and in my memory, and even more highlighted or underlined in my bible. I don't even know if I have a "life verse" and I imagine it could change as you grow over time.

Right now, though if I had to come up with one it would be 1 John 3:18. This isn't just a signature I have attached to my e-mails; it is truly a way I want to live my life, a legacy I want to leave. (plus it is short and easy to remember)

Dear Children, let us not love with words and tongue but with action and in truth.

I was imagining earlier this morning that it could be where the phrase "actions speak louder than words" might have come from. It is a call for me to action anyway. The paragraph starts out defining love for us (aren't we lucky) by reminding us that Jesus laid down his life for us and that is what we ought to do for our brothers. That is a pretty tall order, huh? At first glance I could focus just on the picture of Jesus giving up his physical body and dying on the cross. However I know we are not to think of just "taking a bullet for someone", (after all how many times does that really come up) we need to look at the life and death of Jesus to understand better. It is giving in life, and in the daily grind of our time here. I need to focus on his ministry and what he did and how he acted in the time he walked on the earth. In the next sentence we are asked this question....

"If anyone has material possesions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?"

It is a call to give of our things, and our money to those in need. I try to do that.

It is also a call to action in many other ways to me...

To put others first
To be a servant
To be forgiving of those needing God's grace, including me:)
To be a wife and mom that honors God
To be kind even when I don't feel like it
To be polite to the person on the other end of the line
To be a helpful family member, friend and neighbor
To just do something and not say, "call me if you need anything" (this is one of my new goals in life)
To give people my time
To obey the commands even when no one is looking

Thankfully when I fall short, God picks me right back up, forgives me and encourages to me try again....like daily!

I realize that sometimes before I react to something, say yes or no to something, or think of a way to serve, this verse runs through my heart...maybe that is what a life verse is?

One that directs your every day decisions.

One more thing, this morning I read the verse after....

This then is how we know we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us.

Wow...a heart at rest in his presence...sign me up!

Friday, August 14, 2009

A Giving Heart


My little "bean" as he is affectionately called can really surprise me sometimes. Once a week I am blessed with a kiss on the cheek from this child, but only on Sundays; hugs are a little easier to come by for which I am grateful. Ask him for a bite of ice cream or any food item he is enjoying and his first instinct is definitely not to share. He is not one to share long phone conversations or long letters. Luckily there are so many ways a child can have a giving heart. One of the ways Brody shows this is to give of him self. He loves to work and to have a job to do. He will drop what he is doing to take care of Jake, he even takes him outside now all by himself and is so proud! He is usually a very helpful child with chores, inside or out and likes to have an important job to do.

Another way he is willing to give from the heart is with his money. Our church is having a big outreach carnival on labor day weekend to supply low income families with school supplies and school clothes to start the year. I explained this to the boys and planted a seed a week ago about giving up some of their allowance for this great opportunity to give. We also went through their closets and pulled out clothes and shoes that they were willing to donate so other boys could have nice clothes to wear to school. So, today...I hit them up. I asked them separately so I could see what "their" idea was and make sure they weren't copying. Brody's first answer was $14! We grabbed his wallet and counted his money. He realized he didn't have as much as thought he did, and he ended up giving an amount that allowed him to still have some left which is OK. According to God's word we get to keep 90%! He doesn't understand percentages which is a good thing because he gave much more than the "tithe"! I am just so proud of his desire to "give" in this way! I love the enthusiasm that he showed when he shouted out that $14 with a huge smile on his face! I will hold that beautiful picture in my memory and treasure it always!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

A New Old Routine

It is funny in life how one idea or thought can come at you in so many different ways. Just this weekend three things inspired me to go back to my old routine of getting up early. I don't know how I got out of it, I used to be such a morning person! Well, the kids started sleeping in and I started staying up later and later. The only problem with that is I am not very productive in the evening because I am tired and everyone is asleep.

I read an awesome post on a blog I found called simple mom, here is the link if anyone is interested... http://simplemom.net/the-great-myth/. She wrote about "doing it all" actually by listing what she doesn't do. What I took from it was that once again in life we all have choices and we are not usually a "victim" of the clock or a calendar. I realized that I am given so much time in a day and I literally make choices all day long on how to spend it. Those things that I say I don't have time for are really things that I choose not to make time for and there is a difference!

Then through another site I found a group of women that commit to get up early to spend their daily time in prayer and study of God's word. I used to be so good at that....what happened? Maybe I was lured by the long, dark, cold mornings in Oregon and that heated mattress pad I put on my bed locks me in until 7:00?? I'm not sure, I will have to ponder that one some more.

Then I found this quote (not sure where) from Mark Twain;
"Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." This was an ecouragement to get up and do what you put off the most very first thing in the morning. For me, my frog is definitely exercise!

So, what does all this rambling mean really? Well, I have decided to attempt to return to some of my early morning ways. So far, only 2 days down and I can barely keep my eyes open, but so good. I woke up at 5:15 on Monday...Ok! Ok!! I hit the snooze three times and actually rolled out of bed at 5:30 and exercised! I ate my live frog and actually it felt good. I also showered, got both bathrooms cleaned, my bedroom dusted and a load of laundry almost complete before Connor and Brody even woke up. Day 2 was a little more complicated because I ended up with 2 children in my bed (and the room where the gazelle is) and since it was my birthday too, decided not to exercise! Instead I got up and listened to an awesome sermon that I downloaded from Pastor Don at YCC and enjoyed a morning bible study time!

So, for now the jury is out on if this actually improves the quality of my life or makes me to tired to notice!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Down to the last box!

Today I worked on getting in the last of the boxes from the garage! I have one box left that will hopefully only be taunting me for a day or so! It is full of things that I don't know what to do with but things I am not ready to let go of! I can't believe I put together a whole other donation box! Why is it so darn hard for me to decide what I should keep?
Almost everything has a "home" and I have really one major project to tackle and that is my closet. Other than that, I am on the hunt for a dining room table and some furniture to put into the new room! Also, the walls need to be decorated and the windows in the new part of the house! The contractor is almost done, he will be working on a patio cover to complete his work here this week!
Here are some before and after pictures of just the kitchen to capture some of what we did! I will get pictures soon of the living room which didn't even exist before and the master bathroom that is almost complete!
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So far I have a few favorite parts! The bookshelves there are awesome! They are holding almost all of our school books and supplies and even a whole section for cookbooks and other items! So, the boys will now do most of their schoolwork in the dining room and everything will be right there! Since I am in the kitchen so much, it will really come in handy! Also, we put in a real hand scraped maple floor and it is SO awesome! I love it way more than I thought I would! What do you think?











Sunday, August 2, 2009

July - A Blast and a Blur!

July FLEW by and I can't believe it is August already! Our friends Kim and Zack flew up to see her mom in Dundee for a week. We got to go to her house in Bay City and spend the night and suffer through 2 long beach visits to please the children. I am not kidding either...it was windy and cold and not what I am used to the beach being in July! But they loved it and I don't have pictures because we used her camera. Big mistake on the camera...but it was fun! I probably won't get those pictures until I see them again:)

Then those dear friends were kind enough to give up a cushy seat on a quick airplane flight and sit in my Honda Odyssey (although I must say pretty cushy too) for over 16 hours to drive with us to California! What a trip! The kids were amazing, the dog even did good, and we made great time.


Once we got there the clock started ticking to get everything done on Connor's list. Actually it was all of our list, but he was the only that wrote them down! These are in no particular order...let's see how we did!



1. Swim Anywhere
We definitely got to enjoy a few great swim days at Papa Jerry's (Kim's dad) and the boys did great. Brody is so much more confident than he was last year and Connor improves each time and even discovered how fun jumping in is, once he got past the scary part!








2. Pick cherries

Nope. Connor was hoping that The Loomis's would have cherries on their trees but they didn't produce this year. We did get some yummy plums though! Oh yeah, and awesome tomatoes from Kim too!


3. Sleepover at Caleb and Luke's

I couldn't get them to come home! They had so much fun and got to spend a whole afternoon and evening with all the Loomis clan. They even went back after church for another round! We sent our Wii over and they camped out in the tent in the living room! Great stuff! I lucked out too and got to have some time with 3 of my special girlfriends while the boys were with their friends!




4. Sleepover at Zack's
With the exception of leaving behind the special stuffed Blackie Gorilla, this was of course a lot of fun too. They love going to Zack's house and I am sure there were a few games of sword fighting and shoot outs too. Kim even stayed up late so they could get a turn on Guitar Hero in slow mode...took awhile! We got to spend a lot of great quality time with The LeVesque's even with Connnor's run in with the stomach flu and Kim's run in with a migraine on steroids!

5. Go raspberry and blackberry picking.
Nope. Didn't do it. Didn't ask once we got there.

6. Have a football party with Caleb and Josiah at the park.
We had a few opportunities to play football at the park with The Barker Family! The best one was probably at I street park when the sprinklers went on! They had so much fun and it was so hot and a great day to get wet! We also got to enjoy a home made pizza night at their house which I especially loved! I haven't had an oven for months and really miss my pizza! It is so special to see the boys bond with all their good friends and for me to be with mine!








7. Play guitar hero with Zack.
See number 3. Done.

8. Go to Grandma & Pa's for breakfast.
It is so nice to have such a great place to stay when we visit. That apartment works out perfect for us and Grandma and Pa even let us bring the dog! We have our own space, which means they do too, but we are not to far away to walk over for breakfast. Grandma made the boys french toast which they devoured...now I know why .....sugar, the secret ingredient! She did that a couple of days and it made them feel so special. We got to spend some great quality time watching movies, playing the Wii, and even playing outside. They got the boys some special toys to have outside; a slip and slide and a game called Jarts. We enjoyed some great mornings hanging out and some wonderful afternoons on the patio!








9. Go to Oak House with Grandma and Pa
We only did this once which surprised me, but it was good. Connor especially talks about The Oak House all the time and they are his favorite pancakes!


10. Go to Dana Point Beach with my friends
We were so blessed to enjoy two special days at our favorite beach, Doheny in Dana Point. We went once with Kim and Zack, and once with Marianne, Caleb, Luke and Lillie! The weather was awesome, the beach was beautiful and even the drive wasn't to bad!




Connor, Caleb and Brody were making a huge pile of sea weed and this score was their biggest challenge! They worked SO hard to get this to "the spot" and it was hysterical! Luke thought they were crazy and wanted no part in the work, but was very encouraging pointing occasionally and saying..."you're almost there". It was so funny!

BONUS!
One day we got a special treat and met some of the moms from our old homeschool group at the Oak Glen Schoolhouse park. We all had so much fun and it was so great to see them and catch up on their lives too! I know we are all missing the fun park days and events that we had with that group so it was a special time for me!

Joanna C, Lisa S., Sonya G., Liz A., Beth B., and me!


So, that is some of the fun stuff, but there is more to come. Aunt Lara met us in California, drove up with us and I will update on her visit and the remodel project! Told you it was a lot!