Joyfully Busy

Clicking

2012-02-14T11:35:00.001-06:00

Fun link's worth clicking--

Go visit Lisa at Bushel and a Peck and her post on "No Longer Just Surviving." It is a message so many adoptive families need to hear.

Go visit Ree Pioneer Woman for a look at "The Last 30 Minutes" and a good laugh as always.

Go visit Stephanie Ni Hao Y'all as she shares about Tallula Mae...be still my heart she is cute!

Go visit Linny and DW over at A Place Called Simplicity where they have stepped way out in faith and God is doing some amazing things.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope it is full of sticky hugs and chocolate covered fingers.

Homeschool to Harvard

2012-02-07T10:06:00.001-06:00

A beautifully written article of encouragment for all those who choose to make

the daily sacrifice of homeschooling.

Homeschool Room Ideas

2012-02-06T14:48:00.002-06:00

One of the things I am most grateful for

in our new house is our homeschool room.

It has given us a place to do our work that

is set up purely for that purpose.

It's also great to be able to close the door

and not have to clean everything up for lunch.

It has been a great place for crafts,

reading,

and doing school work.

The kids love that they can lay on the couch, on the floor or sit at the table to do their work.

Much of the room set up using items from IKEA.

We love, love, love, having an IKEA nearby.

It has made organizing a house so much easier!

We had the fun experience of being an IKEA test family.

They came to see how we use their products in our home.

Even they thought the set up of our homeschool room was cool.

Some of my favorite things are the BYGEL Containers and rail

which are perfect for storing pencils, markers,

colored pencils, scissors, erasers and

all the other things we use every day.

We store our work books in the shoe cabinet above.

It works out great because the cabinet is so narrow it doesn't take up much room.

Even the IKEA folks loved this idea and

said it was one their designers hadn't thought of!

I also love wall magazine rack where I store books on

whatever unit we are working on and

also books at each child's reading level.

We all love cloud lamps which are such fun!

Matt hung an extra clothing rod in the closet so the kid's

dress up clothing can be hung up so they can find it.

Roots

2012-02-01T10:12:00.000-06:00

While there were many, many, hard parts of moving across the country, one of the very hardest was leaving our home and all the trees and plants we had planted.

We love to work outdoors, plant and tend to our new plantings.

Last weekend we started the process of making our yard our own.

We planted 5 citrus trees.

3 Manderin Oranges and 2 Red Grapefruit trees.

We've always dreamed of having citrus trees and now we do.

We also planted new rose bushes.

It seemed fitting to put down roots on the six month anniversary of our move.

It hasn't been without struggle or sleepless nights.

God provided for us in extravagent ways.

We have been richly blessed.

Our faith has grown.

We've met many new friends.

We're getting settled.

Missing family and friends

but also grateful for all God's provided for us.

Sickos

2012-01-30T09:57:00.000-06:00

If Matt's going out of town for business I can almost always count on some crisis.

That's just the way it goes.

Today it's the flu.

Here's a picture of my littlest sick one passed out on our bed.

I had visions today of a time when Matt was out of town and

the kids must have been 4, 3, 2 and Lauren was under a year.

I was so sick throwing up constantly and

two of the older kids were sick too.

I remember standing at the kitchen sink throwing up with

two kids throwing up in buckets next to me and the other two playing on the floor.

So this is nothing compared to that.

The Big Easy

2012-01-25T17:13:00.000-06:00

Blogger is giving me a hard time so these pictures are not in order...

We had a wonderful time last weekend visiting

with some of our Wisconsin friends in New Orleans.
New Orleans is about 6 hours from our house.
We are having so much fun exploring all the new cities that are near us.

It was wonderful for us to see them and for our kids to see some of the buddies they miss.

Balconies decorated for Mardi Gras

Luke bought a real alligator head.

Divine bannas Foster french toast with icecream on top.
The kids pancakes came with icecream on top also...
they thought it was the best thing ever.

Binets at Cafe Du Monde with the street musicians
performing near by.
Heaven.

Nora and Lize in the sculpture garden
at City Park.

Lauren "reading" the signs to Lize.

Jackson Square
We had our picture taken in this same spot
19 years ago when we were dating.
He's still the one. :)

The whole gang!

All the girls

Luke and Will looking for fish.
They were thrilled when they found a dead opossum in the water.
Gross!

Loved this bridge. Reminds me of China.

The park had spectacular Cypress trees.

Perfect tree for a picture.

I still cannot get enough of the Palm trees.

Enjoying a margarita in
Margaritaville and enjoying
our change in latitude.

7, 6, 6, 4, 3

2012-01-16T09:47:00.000-06:00

Birthday season has begun at our house.

The kids ages are officially 7, 6, 6, 4, 3.

We have a birthday every month until June.

Saturday it was Lily's birthday!

We celebrated over several days because you only turn 6 once.

We celebrate birthdays big in our house because with the number of kids we

have it is one of the only things that is truly just theirs.

We were blessed to have Jenni,

our special babysitter,

from Wisconsin here to visit which made it extra special.

Our for dinner at our favorite
Tex Mex resturant with Jenni.

Wearing the birthday sombrero and getting your own dessert.
Life is good.

At Build a Bear with her siblings and best buddy.

Fluffing up the Chipmunk she made.

With her best buddy Mia.

With their new animals.
Lauren was feeling contrary so she was there,
but not in this picture.

With their bear boxes.

Lily skipping down the mall
with her best buddy holding hands.
Brought me to tears.

A few new guinea pig toys for her birthday.

Six one dollar bills taped together from Grandma.

A hula skirt and video from
Aunt Angela and Uncle Nick.

A number 6 pancake.

Then we went to Galveston for the day
and had lunch at Rainforest Cafe.
The frog stopped by to say hi!

A special volcano cake birthday treat.

Then it was off to the beach!
It is good to be 6!

Tex Lily

2012-01-05T09:54:00.002-06:00

New Year's Day--At the Beach and Moody Gardens--In Pictures

2012-01-02T14:48:00.000-06:00

New Years Eve--In Pictures

2012-01-02T14:41:00.000-06:00

The Zoo--In Pictures

2012-01-02T14:38:00.002-06:00

Christmas Day--In Pictures

2012-01-02T14:35:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-24T21:41:00.000-06:00

We had a lovely Christmas eve.

The girls all looked so pretty (and grown up) in their dresses.

It is a rainy Christmas eve here, but that didn't dampen our spirits.

Our church brought in snow, so the kids went sledding and had a snowball fight after church.

Yes, I let them all go sledding in their fancy clothes.

Such a fun time and it will be a wonderful memory.

Nora on her sled.

Lauren sledding.

Packing a snowball.

After we came home and got our pj's on we did "face time" with

Grandma and Grandpa

in Green Bay.

We opened our gifts and had a great visit.

Then we read "The Night Before Christmas" on the iPad and

then the Christmas story from the bible.

The table is set for breakfast.

Excited for what will be a fun Christmas tomorrow.

Night night!

Breakfast with the Big Guy

2011-12-24T09:35:00.001-06:00

Last weekend we had a great time at Breakfast with Santa. We've been very spoiled, because Matt's previous employer always had a small and very fancy Breakfast with Santa every year. It was the highlight of our Christmas and I was very sad about not having that opportunity this year.

The breakfast we went to this year turned out to be very cool. It was in a park near our home in an open air lodge. The weather was a bit cool and they had a huge fire in the fire place. We had breakfast, made some crafts and talked to Santa.

Lauren was not quite sure about the big guy!

Luke will be bigger than Santa next year!

This is what Luke looked like at our first breakfast with Santa!

Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!

Changing Focus

2011-12-23T14:35:00.000-06:00

We had the opportunity this week to change our focus. It was great for all of us to give to those around us and be blessed in return.

We went Christmas caroling at a nursing home with one of our homeschool groups. Nora made some Santa pillows and we bought and wrapped some other small gifts to hand out. The kids had a great time and their very presence brought joy!

A cute display at the nursing home.
(Note the stuffed animal dog in front of the fire place.)

Then last night we went caroling and delivering Christmas turkeys to families in need with our church. So good for all of us to have the opportunity to serve those that are struggling right in our neighborhood. It was a very eye opening experience for the kids, which was great. One of the families had a big lights display and the kids had alot of fun looking at the lights.

Today I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off...trying to make everything perfect...which of course it will not be...but it's not in my nature not to try! The final package I ordered from the kids was delivered yesterday!

Tonight we are having dinner with some dear friends and we're looking forward to it! New friends are one of our greatest blessings this year.

Hope you have many blessings to count this year as well.

Perfect

2011-12-20T21:12:00.000-06:00

Today was baking and ornament day.
We finished our ornaments which turned out beautifully. I love the way the beaded ones turned out! Our others were made with tissue paper I found with pine branches and cardinals on it and Modge Podge. We've been sticky for weeks but we had alot of fun.

We made carmels, Paula Deen's Chocolate Cherry Chunkies (I use dark chocolate instead of white), and peanut butter balls.

Tonight we made a candy and sugar coated gingerbread house and train.

We finished the night by having a pj party and watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

A totally perfect day.

Christmas Stories

2011-12-20T17:15:00.001-06:00

I love every age and developmental stage of our kids.

Some stages are more my favorite than others

but we always try hard to remember that we will not pass this way again,

with this child,

and treasure each child at each stage.

Here are some cute Christmas stories from the last few weeks.

In our family we celebrate St. Nicholas Day. The night of December 5th he comes and leaves treats in your stocking. It is a German tradition. This year our older kids really got into it.

Nora left this picture and note.

Luke on the other hand has been hoping for an electric scooter for 2 years. We have told him Santa will not bring a gift if they are younger than the age range on the package, which for the electric scooter is 8. Luke is 7. He is really hoping this year will be the year. So he decided that St. Nicholas must be Santa's brother...so what could it hurt to give him a message to take to Santa? So he wrote a note (that the dog ate so I don't have a picture of it) asking for a scooter! Don't you love it. And yes, the scooter will be under the tree.

Now for one more Christmas story...

Lily was in the kitchen with me while I was cooking and we were talking about the nativity that we'd set up a few days before. We were talking about the story of Jesus' birth. I asked her what gifts were brought to baby Jesus. She answered without hesitation..."a blanket, a puppy and a Christmas tree." So cute!

Joyfully Busy Christmas Preparations

2011-12-19T17:15:00.000-06:00

The Christmas season continues to fly by.
We are enjoying exploring Christmas events in the area of our new home, while missing family and familiar traditions at the same time. We have our new house all decorated and the kids are very excited as the days draw nearer. It is very strange wearing shorts and having 80 degree weather two weeks before Christmas.

We had our new playset installed and the kids have been outside non-stop. They're having a great time swinging, climbing, catching toads, digging for worms. The dogs are enjoying the freedom of a fully fenced yard. Our neighbor's dog (whom we have named Buster because we haven't met the owner yet) has enjoyed watching the chaos of our family through the fence. He is an outside dog and is much nicer than he looks in the picture. Matt fixed the hole in the fence over the weekend so know he'll have to watch from between the slats.

We have been busy with our homeschool work, field trips to the King Tut exhibit and also the play "The Best Christmas Pagent Ever," unpacking boxes, making Christmas crafts, plus the every day stuff of life...like laundry. As of today all cards have been mailed, packages wrapped, boxes sent and shopping done!

Looking forward to decorating the gingerbread house and making cookies this week. We also are looking forward to going Christmas caroling at a nursing home and delivering Christmas turkeys to families in need this week.

Hope your Christmas preparations are nearly complete too!

We've been making some rockin ornaments
with Modge Podge.

Reflections on Testing

2011-12-18T08:50:00.000-06:00

A very interesting article on testing from the Washington Post.

5 Things We have Never Done in December

2011-12-12T13:14:00.000-06:00

Worn sandals or flip flops every day.
Planted pansies...outside.

3. Played baseball outside while putting up Christmas lights.

4. Picked dandelions.
5. Rode bikes without heavy coats or boots.

Sunday Snapshot--Me and My Guy

2011-12-11T17:43:00.002-06:00

The rare evening out without children!
We had a wonderful time at Matt's work Christmas party.

Light

2011-12-11T12:47:00.002-06:00

We're having fun exploring our new community.

Lots and lots of Christmas things to do.

We had a great time Saturday night going out to see a light display

that was only a few miles from our home.

The weather has been in the 60's and lovely.

We're missing snow a bit, but enjoying the temperatures here also.

We continue to be burried in the work of setting up a home, but we are

trying very hard to enjoy this season and leave the non-essentials

until life is quieter in January...it will be quieter...right?

Give Hope for Christmas!

2011-12-09T09:30:00.000-06:00

Hope Ethiopia from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

Children at the Lifesong Ethiopia school are fed 2 nutritious meals per day, provided with a quality education, and taught the message of Jesus Christ. This gives kids like Beza the hope they need in order to break free from gripping poverty.

We currently have a need to build a 12-room expansion to our existing school, in order to reach more children like Beza. We have been blessed, by the generosity of a donor, to be able to MATCH all donations to the Ziway and Adami Tulu Schools between now and December 31st... up to $130,000!!!

This week, the 5^th through the 9^th, we invite you to join Hope Ethiopia:100. We are looking for 100 people to give a one-time $100 donation!

Joining this team will not only give hope to kids like Beza, but your dollars will be matched AND you'll be entered into a drawing for a FABULOUS gift basket (details below).

*Gift basket includes: $100 itunes or amazon gift card, Lifesong t-shirt, Lifesong cookbook,Journey On CD, handmade necklaces & note cards by orphans in Zambia, handmade ornament from a child in Ukraine, 5 bags of Gobena coffee, Gobena coffee
mug, Gobena t-shirt, andGobena tote bag. This basket is worth over $250!

*To commit via check, please send an email to info@lifesongfororphans.org. Make check payable to Lifesong for Orphans, indicate 'preference Hope Ethiopia: 100' in the memo.

And the Winner Is...

2011-12-08T15:16:00.000-06:00

Livin' Out Loud! Congratulations and enjoy your Dayspring gift certificate!

P.S. So sorry this post is late. Life has been beyond crazy. The good news is that we are alive, in our new house, and while we are buried in boxes we are so happy! More news and pictures soon.

Last Day

2011-12-01T10:15:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone,

Come on y'all last day to join in for the chance to win the Dayspring give away. You can enter either on that post or this one. Drawing will be tonight. Good luck.