The Overflowing Cup

And some people avoid having children because of finances!

2010-07-20T14:13:00.000-05:00

A Little Child is Watching Me

A little child is watching me

Knows every move I make,

Hears every word I utter.

Sees every step I take.

Is conscious of my attitude,

Is wise to all my flaws,

Is witness when I am unkind,

Or angry without cause.

He silently observes me

As I go from day to day,

While in his mind an image forms

Of what he'll be someday.

Yes, although I do so much wrong

Leave so much good undone,

I'm the model my children have.

I am what they will become.

Dear Father, help me realize

All that I must do.

Let me train and teach my child

To always live for You.

But Father, more than training them

By words and counsel true,

Let me by the way I live

Show them to follow You.

~ Author Unknown

Kid-friendly!

2010-07-19T21:44:00.000-05:00

A week ago, we had the wonderful experience of visiting some good friends in their brand new, self-designed house. The kids had a blast together. Here are all but the twins enjoying root beer floats in the backyard.

The little set had a great time playing together and bonded over some hockey, baseball, and general running-around craziness.

This has got to be the cutest picture of two little boys I've ever seen!

Thanks for a fun time, guys!

Isaac and Josiah see Kansas

2010-07-09T21:52:00.000-05:00

Isaac and sand

Josiah and sand - not so much mmmmm

"What the heck is this??"

Jo-Jo and Daddy

Just another foot! You can do it!

Papa George (also called Jo-Jo at a young age) and Jo-Jo

And they even coordinate.

Relating

2010-07-08T14:43:00.000-05:00

One king sized bed - 5 kids (although the babies actually slept in pack `n plays during our one-night hotel stay)

Super Sam

Caleb, Sam, and cousin Evan

Caleb with cousin Olivia

Grandma and Papa

Noah and Olivia being silly

Can you find all 8 children in this picture?

Caleb reading a very funny book to Olivia

Isabelle, figuring out a puzzle

The boys had such a fun time with their three cousins (aged 6, 4, and almost 3). They played with kitties together, did magic tricks together, sang together, read books together, and even played on the slip and slide. It was a fun-filled weekend.

The boys are going to welcome another girl cousin at the end of October, bringing the total up to 6 boys and 3 girls.

Take a swing

2010-07-07T16:40:00.000-05:00

Isaac

Swing-ette

A full swing

A Tire-d swing

Sam and Caleb with cousin Olivia

Double swing (or "octa-swing")

A very tire-d swing! Sydney and Sam push the crew.

Three little kittens

2010-07-06T22:02:00.000-05:00

This kitty got a lot of love the past few days!

Sadie, the dog, tried to protect him from the curious Isaac.

Josiah and Isaac enjoyed petting/trying to pull the ears off of the kitty.

My niece, Olivia. There were actually 3 kittens at the farm, and believe me, it wasn't enough. The kids fought over, cried over, contested over, those poor kittens.

Caleb is happy. He's holding a kitten.

Noah holding "Missy", and Caleb holding "Sandy".

Josiah and "Boots"

Cousins Lauren and Gracie

Lauren with "Boots"

Noah saying goodbye to Sandy, his favorite.

We love summer!

2010-06-28T07:54:00.000-05:00

Come on in! Plenty of room for all.

Cooling off inside for awhile.

Things are always more interesting on the other side of the lawn chair.

A day outside with many boys always turns into a water play day.

Big boys and a mini boy (Isaac in the background)

Cruising with Noah

Picnic with friends!

Ahhh....feel the hot humid air rushing past.

Where are their helmets??

Noah's "light saver".

First sand experience

Nothing is better than up in a tree.

A for Effort

2010-06-25T14:32:00.000-05:00

Strike one...

Strike two...

Strike three...

Strike..four

Strike five.......

Strike six. It's first-grade baseball people.

He did eventually get on base, thanks to an outside prop. Here he is getting ready to run to second.

For the record, Sam usually hits the ball within the first 3 pitches.

Brian's Boys

2010-06-24T22:39:00.000-05:00

He's the guy with 5 boys

He wrestles

He hugs

He tickles

He comforts

He delights

Basically, he's just a walking advertisement for a father. This guy does it all. Seriously. He really does. My boys get to learn from the best and someday, their wives are gonna be in awe. Just like me. And everyone else who sees him in action. It's so great to be able to brag about your husband because it's so much more noble than bragging about yourself. And with Father's Day and his birthday falling on the same day this year, there couldn't be a better time.

So, to my husband who comes home every day to a not-so-quiet house, thank you for all the cleaned up messes (like poop all over our 3-year-old - I told you he does it all), all the stories read, the meals prepared, the blades of grass cut, the maintenance problems fixed, the drives to the store for more milk, and more milk, and more milk, the $$$$ (for the milk), the driving, the working (he does something with computers), the clothing of children, the disciplining of children, the corralling of children, the placating of children, etc.

We all appreciate and love you very much!

Best friends

2010-06-23T21:07:00.000-05:00

"Yeah, you know I look good with this chocolate on my face."

We did ice cream sundaes for the boys a few weeks ago in honor of the last day of school. THE LAST DAY of school!!!

Notice Sam's pure ice cream, unadulterated by toppings. He could have anything he wanted, but he just wanted it plain. Caleb's more of a "I'll take it all" kind of guy. Love `em both.

What happens in the studio stays in the studio. Until now.

2010-06-22T23:00:00.000-05:00

My own self

2010-05-15T20:13:00.000-05:00

You can see their personalities here. Isaac, more studious/serious, trying to figure out how to get his sandals on - he knows they somehow go on his feet! - and Josiah playing peek-a-boo and acting silly.

Overflowing

2010-05-11T22:19:00.000-05:00

Josiah

Caleb

Sam

Isaac

Noah

A stepful, an armful, a lapful, an earful, a heart full

First grade Romeo

2010-05-10T14:09:00.000-05:00

Sam likes a girl at school. He says they're "best friends". But he also writes her love notes and poems, sits by her, exchanges little gifts with her, and wants to have play dates with her (hasn't happened). What makes a first-grader want to include the romance when best friends is perfectly fine?

This little piggy ate corn

2010-05-08T15:49:00.000-05:00

We've been trying to eat healthier lately - really revolutionizing the way we approach food in general. It's going to be so much easier to teach the boys about nutrition and health when I can use the example of our own food rather than the food we should be eating. So this has been kind of my mini-crusade this past week, and I've been so excited I've been sharing information I find out about with the boys at lunchtime. Caleb tries hard to be as excited about it as I am - what a sweetie :)

So, imagine how timely it was when I go to check Caleb's backpack the other day and find 2 pamphlets: "I Love Corn!" and "Learning About Pork".

Just a few tidbits for you from this enlightening and eye-opening propeganda. I mean, educational material:

In "I Love Corn":

"Corn is a terrific food for many kinds of animals including cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, sheep and all kinds of your favorite pets!"
- Never considered having a pet turkey before! Interesting!
- Have you ever tried to feed Kitty corn before? Yum yum!

"Nothing (yes, the emphasis is mine) starts the day better than a bowl of your favorite cereal made from CORN! Delicious and good for you! Yuuummmm!"
- Better stock up on CORN POPS!

*Pamphlet is put out by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association

Now, my favorite, "Learning About Pork":
This one was a learning/activity book combo, so it had such fun activities as "Connect the little pigs that are dong the same things. Healthy pigs are happy."
- Apparently there's employment to be had in pig psychology.
"Farmers keep their pigs warm, clean and healthy."
- I just keep thinking, "Green goo."
"Farmers take good care of their animals and animals give us food in return."
- Thank you!
"Pork, please. It's an important part of a well-balanced diet."
- Translation: "Eat pork or you might get cancer."
"Pork contains vitamins and minerals for a healthy body."
- Just watch the video.
"Today's pork is good for all ages and all sizes."
- What a bummer twenty years ago when you had to weigh at least 60 pounds!

*Pamphlet put out by "The Other White Meat"

Yes, I do love my other 3 children

2010-05-04T21:52:00.000-05:00

Say cheese!

Coloring with Caleb

How many balloons?

Hair we are!

2010-05-04T21:39:00.000-05:00

"Mom, it sure is windy out here!"

Josiah - taking a walk

Big Plans!

2010-04-30T14:20:00.000-05:00

Altogether Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.

So, do you think Adam planned ahead by hundreds of years?

You know, like, "Lets plant wheat this century, honey, then in the next two hundred years, we'll plant corn." Or, "Hey, we really need a new house. We've lived in this one for four hundred years now. Let's plan on building a new one and moving in another hundred and twenty years or so." And then did Eve start considering the packing?

Let's say you have the lifespan of Adam. If you know you have about 120 years at your current job/house, but then for the next 400 years or so, you're going to be at a new one, wouldn't you start planning for those 400 years now? That's a big chunk of time!

He got a kick out of it.

2010-04-26T16:09:00.000-05:00

"Hi Sam! How was school today? Wait...what do you have stuck to your back?"

The little yellow sticky note read, "Kick me!"

I really wish I had a picture to do this justice.

Sam laughed and laughed.

Teacher workshop

2010-04-23T14:41:00.000-05:00

We attended a homeschooling conference this past weekend in Rochester, MN. It was wonderful! Yes, a lot of that wonderful-ness came from having NO children with us. But also because the conference was so affirming that this is what the Lord wants us to do.

Top favorite gleanings from the workshops:

- No, we're not afraid our children won't fit in! We're scared that they WILL. Train your children to STAND OUT!

- Putting your child in a room full of other kids his age is not good social training.

- Giving each child one of those mesh lingerie bags to hold dirty socks (then to the washer, and the dryer) saves time on sock-sorting.

- Make time each morning for blessing your home (cleaning). Thought this was cute.

- Keynote speaker was just phenominal. He brought in real horses to demonstrate how training a horse paralleled training children and also our relationship with God.

- Apparently, our family is small! (Comparatively speaking)

- Train your children. Don't just tell them not to do something and then punish them when they disobey. Train them to obey. I personally like the locomotive train method the best. But we're talking amusement park train. You know, the slow one that tours the park.

As you can see, only a few of these are homeschool-specific. Because homeschooling families have kids in their home all the time, the discipline and organization become very important. I learned so much!

Anyone else who went want to share their favorite moments?

Oh, and if you happen to want to be talked into homeschooling, let's talk!

And the two will become one!

2010-04-13T21:59:00.000-05:00

Opening their first birthday present (Josiah/Isaac)

Little books from Grandma Sarah and Papa George (Josiah/Isaac)

And summer outfits too! (Josiah/Isaac)

We did a Noah's Ark theme for the party

Josiah liked his first taste of chocolate

They each got an individual monkey cake (banana of course) to eat

Red things with spots (Isaac)

The birthday boys! (Isaac/Josiah)

Mmmm....I like the chocolate frosting the best! (Josiah)

Can we have this every day? (Isaac)

Don't touch my cake! I'm not done! (Isaac)

It not only tastes good, but it has a great texture! (Josiah)

More milk please! (Isaac)

Playing with the party favors

New friends! (Isaac)

It's time to say Goodnight!

I want to put them in my mouth.

Big boy Josiah!

Grace is not like dessert

2010-04-11T21:54:00.001-05:00

Has God ever spoken to you through your own mouth?

This happened to me today. In our ABF (sunday school) class at church, we were briefly talking about forgiveness, and I actually can't remember exactly what I said. Something about how when we forgive others, we are the most like Jesus. Yet many underestimate the importance of forgiving and don't do it, or they only do it with their mouths and not their hearts, continuing to carry bad feelings or a bad attitude toward the person who offended.

And God spoke to me. Instantly.

Do I forgive my children their little sins and "offenses" (as I suppose, against me) during each day?

Do I realize how crucial and absolutely important it is for them that I do so?

No.

He broke my heart over it.

I remembered specific words I have spoken to Sam about lying and about earning trust.

Wow. Do I want him to grow up feeling like he has to earn God's "trust" or love after he fails (even if it is the hundredth time)?

God's grace is limitless. Is mine? Not in relation to my children. But it should be. After all, I am striving to be more and more like Jesus. And I'm telling my children each and every day to show Jesus and His love to everyone they meet.

My children will understand the fullness of God's grace first through me. I want to provide them with as TRUE a picture as I can. Not judgmental, angry, annoyed, reluctant. But grace poured over them like I poured water over their heads as babies during their baths. Like a baptism of grace. Not like a cookie I give them after lunch as a well-earned treat. Can we overdo this? I don't believe so. If our children are corrected and brought to repentance (for we are the ones that tell them to apologize at this point in their life), this grace should be given freely and abundantly. Like Jesus. Always like Jesus.

God reveals Himself to our children through us as their parents. Yes, it is scary. Yes, it is TRUE. My daily prayer is for Spirit-filled parenting.

And God also reveals Himself to us through our children. As I had demonstrated to me this morning.

Lord, give us the grace that it takes as parents to respond lavishly even to the grudging, "I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?" from our children. May they understand and accept Your grace more readily because of the grace they received from me. And please love them through me and let them see that love, not the frustration of the mom ready to send them to their room for the rest of their lives.

Kind of like getting to eat dessert after you threw your plate of uneaten food against the wall in anger. Not that this has ever happened at our house. Yet. I'm just saying, that's extravagant grace. Actually, TRUE grace is always extravagant, isn't it? That's it's nature. His nature.

Where did I stick my other sandal?

2010-04-09T13:19:00.000-05:00

We are currently reading through the book of Exodus for family devotions.

Last night:

"And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites -- a land flowing with milk and honey." Exodus 4:6

Sam: "Sounds sticky!"

Does God write amendments?

2010-04-07T20:23:00.000-05:00

Here are some passages that perplex me:

1. "The midwives answered Pharaoh, `Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.'
So God was kind to the midwives...And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own." Exodus 1:19-21

2. "In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?" James 2:25

In both cases, women are justified, and considered righteous by God because of a lie.

How can this be explained?

In some cases, apparently, lying is justified (by God, in fact, not just by your fellow man) if you use it to do the right thing. Like hiding Jews. Or not killing babies.

If anyone has any further insight, I'd really appreciate you sharing it.

Celebrate

2010-04-06T13:55:00.001-05:00

Isaac and Josiah are 1 today!!