I Samuel 1:27-28 "For this child I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the Lord."
So I just got an iphone this month, and I think it made me lazy about getting my real camera out.... So forgive me for the fuzzy pictures on this post!
We have enjoyed lots of visits from family this past month. Papa Tim and Gi Gi came with Uncle Chad and his new fiance, Lyndsey. We enjoyed our time with them and meeting her for the first time....
Sadly this is the only picture I took while they were all here! I will do better when they get married in April!
We also enjoyed a visit from Uncle Brad, Auntie Tanya, Brynn, and Owen. We hadn't seen them for over a year, so it was so nice to be together. The cousins loved every minute they had with each other!
Auntie Kristin also got married, and it was a joyous event!
Noel had spent that day throwing up so she was a bit of a mess, as you can tell by her face. Aaron managed to get the bug a few days later and we are still recovering....
Aaron got to enjoy a cowboy themed month at school....
We have been enjoying nice spring weather before the summer heat hits....
Sorry for the silence! Thought we better do some catching up on here....
In January, Noel learned how to pedal her bike.... She was very proud and loves to keep up with her brother!
She is always making us laugh - such a little lady and chatterbox. I caught her one morning with all her accessories on (rings and earrings) playing with a Justin Bieber greeting card Aaron got last summer....
She is 2 going on 13!
Aaron is doing well, also. He is loving school and loving all his new friends in our neighborhood. With the weather being so nice, we are outside close to everyday playing with friends, riding quads, bikes, and scooters.
One quirk we are attempting to work through right now is being picky about our clothes and outfits. Last week, there was pretty much tears everyday about some item of clothing. Lord help me.... I taped it just because I know I will look back on this and laugh....someday....
Raising children has proved to be such a rewarding, but stretching thing for me. We are doing Lysa TerKeurst's book, "Unglued", in our Bible study this semester, and I am grateful to be making some imperfect progress when it comes to handling my own emotions with my family. After one particularly difficult breakdown Aaron had about his clothes, we were able to talk about Jesus' parable about not worrying about what we should eat or wear in Matthew. It seemed to click something with him - thank God for the power of His Word, that it can make Momma's life more manageable!
Lee took Aaron on his field trip to the Firetruck Museum and had a great time....
We are so glad to be in Mrs. Fox's class this year!
This month has also been full of doctor appointments and up and down emotions as the saga of Lee's knee continues. If you care to read some of the medical details, you can read about it on Lee's blog http://www.themilliondollarknee.blogspot.com/ In short, there is still a lot of pain and limitations following his ACI surgery a year ago, and unfortunately, it is certain that there are still some holes in the knee cartilage amongst other potential problems. There will be a surgery sometime this year, though we don't know what kind and to what extent to try to make him functional.... It is a challenge to face this yet again for all of us, though we know we have much to be thankful for. We are praying for wisdom for us, and for the new doctor we are seeing....
It seems as though when Lee is facing a health crisis, something important and amazing is going down with the church at the same time. =) This time is no exception, as we have recently been asked by the owners of our church building that we are renting, if we would like to purchase the property! This is an amazing opportunity that we are very excited about. So we are headed into a major fundraising campaign to buy the property, which is nothing short of miraculous when you consider the fact that Harvest is less than 4 years old, and could own its own property. Praise God! Since occupying the building, we have grown 54% and are scrambling to make more room for the kids and families joining our ranks, as well as hiring a worship pastor to join the team. We are so blessed continually by the people in our church and the role we play - We love it all, even when things are challenging and difficult!
So a terrible stomach bug swept through our family and extended family the week of Christmas.... The kids and Lee and I had our turn Christmas Eve, so we were so thankful that Christmas Day we were all well enough to enjoy the day...
Thanks to Craigslist and Papa Bob's impressive mechanic skills, the kids got these battery operated quads....
Thanks to monetary gifts from our family, this was Lee and my main Christmas gift - front yard landscaping!
In the late morning on Christmas, we enjoyed skyping with Papa Tim and Gi Gi and opening presents from them - It was a nice way to enjoy Christmas with them even though we were far a part!
We got to hang out with the rest of our extended family and cousins later in the afternoon and evening...
(Don't worry, the pink bike is not Aaron's - he was just borrowing Laney's)
In the midst of the sickness and chaos, we were so glad to celebrate with our family, as well as reflect with our kids Baby Jesus born in a manger to rescue the world!
We have been in full swing Christmas mode now for a few weeks..... This means lots of fun and lots of happenings - Christmas truly is a fun, but busy time of year for our family and our ministry!
I was very pre-occupied this month with our annual Women's Christmas dinner for church. It was a super fun and amazing evening, and worth all of our hard work - we had 100 women attend, more than double our previous years! I have to be honest that it remains uncomfortable for me to step up for many reasons to lead in women's ministry and particularly these large events, but God continually burdens my heart for the necessity of it. I am continually grateful for the leadership of our executive pastor's wife, Bethany (who also is a dear childhood friend) in this ministry - I could not, and would not, do it without her expertise and wisdom!
We also were blessed with a great team of women to help us pull off all the details, and I can truly say it was an honor to be a part of the event. God gave us a last minute inspiration to write a monologue from the perspective of Mary that I can't believe we pulled off. It was so crazy, but something I will always remember about that night.
Anyway, back to the main focus of this blog.... Those two cute kids of mine....
Here is Aaron with his friend, Eli (Bethany's son), on one of the many mornings we were at church working....
Thank goodness our kids get along so well and entertain each other!!! I wish so badly I had video of Mikayla, Bethany's 6 year old daughter, patiently teaching Noel ballet that same day. It was soooo cute!
Anyway, some video of the live entertainment I am blessed with on a daily basis....
Big news also - Aaron lost his first tooth last week!
It was hilarious, because we had noticed that it was slightly loose, and I figured it would be awhile. We were driving to school and Aaron asked me calmly and nonchalantly if something was wrong with his mouth. I was driving, so I took a quick glance back and noticed some blood on his lip. He told me that there was something bugging him so he pulled it out - turned out it was his tooth! I was proud he was so brave!
I have enjoyed what Aaron is grasping and understanding about the theology of God, especially at Christmas.... We are praying that he continues to grow in the knowledge of Him!
And Noel is as sweet and sassy as ever....
Also, I wanted to put in some video of our house. So here is a quick walk through for those of you that haven't seen it yet.....
Also I have to brag about our bargain hunting and my husband's restoration skills. Craigslists and garage sales have become our best friends these days as we try to make our house truly ours. Here are the before and after pictures of a secretary desk Lee fixed up for me.
Before:
After:
Also, he refinished our dining room table and chairs.... I do not have a before picture, but it was just a plain honey color with lots of dings and blemishes. Now....
I love it! It was like getting a new set for $100 worth of materials to fix it up!
One of my garage sale favorite items - bar stools for a total of $20....
And one of my craigslist favorite items - cubby shelf with storage baskets, DELIVERED, for $30....
Next post I predict will be of our Christmas adventures! =)
We are settling into our new house and glad to be done unpacking boxes. Lots of work still left to be done, but we are trying to live life in the midst of it, and not work all the time!
I will try to post some pics/video of the place sometime soon so those of you faraway can catch a glimpse!
Let's see, besides moving..... Pretty much I will blog around what pictures I managed to remember to capture this month. We celebrated Lee's 34th birthday and Halloween..... Here is our little Cinderella and Captain America.....
All the cousins.... So glad they can be together - I have great memories of trick or treating with my cousins each year!
Ah yes, right after Halloween, Noel turned two! Her biggest request was a Cinderella cake....
I wish I had video of Noel when I showed it to her - She was jumping up and down in uncontrollable excitement! =) This party was extra special, being the first one in which we could actually host our whole extended family in our own house. Before, it was just too small. It was such a blessing to have our family near and under our own roof! And it was also special because our cousin Lincoln turned two also, so we got to celebrate he and Noel together....
Here is video of Noel on one of her presents. Thank you craigslist - this is a nice solution to a dirt backyard....
Somehow, with just dirt back there, my kids find a way to entertain themselves....
We are so blessed to have such a wonderful home. It feels just right for our family! The pictures and videos I happened to get this past month barely capture our joy and thankful hearts!
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