Just Thought You Should Know

I just found a really good way to release the tension of the day and annoy my dear husband at the same time!! Just hum loudly and very off-key along with the really nice music that’s softly playing. There were (idle) threats of ice cream being poured on my head, but I didn’t even care. It felt as though it would be worth it at the moment. Sometimes ya just gotta let it out!

A Favorite Ritual

I don’t know if I’m strange or if other Moms feel this way too… A few days ago I went through Caleb’s clothes and got them sorted out for the winter. Every spring and fall I do this and I always enjoy it. What fits from last year? What bigger stuff do I have in a box for this year? What are we missing that we need to buy? Of course, with the younger ones it’s always fun to dig out the cool stuff that the older one(s) wore before. And it’s wonderful if I discover we have almost everything we need!

An added bit of fun lately has been to call my sister, Rachel and tell her what we need and then she goes to Good-will and finds all kinds of great stuff. We get to do that again this year, since she’s coming home for a visit next month. Yeah! So, Rachel, I have the list ready – and it’s not very long! I’ll call or e-mail it to ya soon…

Heart Stuff

I’m finding myself overwhelmed pretty often right now with everything on my plate. Home-schooling, music, swimming, baby, sick kids, garden and yard to get in shape for the winter, a house that I like to keep somewhat better than a pig-sty, mothering, cooking, laundry, etc, etc,. You get my point? I know this is probably the most demanding time in my life physically, and I know it will get better as the boys get older and can help me more… But it’s hard not to feel stressed and overwhelmed.

Yesterday morning I was out for my walk and praying. I told God that when I get to Heaven, I want to do things and then come back in “10,000 years” and find them still done!!! He reminded me immediately that my children and anyone else whose life I impact for the Kingdom of God are things that will “stay done” for all of eternity! That helped my perspective and my attitude a lot!

One other thing that God has been working on me is in the area of praying for my husband. I’m ashamed that I’ve not done that very well or consistently for most of our married life. But the Holy Spirit has been urging me in that direction. So, I’ve commited to praying for him every day for a 10 or 15 minutes. Man, the first day I did that, I couldn’t believe the things that happened around here. Keith came home from a meeting that normally could have been stressful and difficult and said it was a good meeting! We had a wonderful day together and God showed me some practical and specific ways to help Keith – and he was open to my help. Since then, I think I’ve seen changes in Keith, but I know for sure there are changes in my attitude. :-) (You mean to tell me, I have a problem here??) :-) Now that I’ve said it in cyber-space to who-knows-who, I’m really accountable to continue this!

So, now you know how to pray for me when you think of me! Life is a journey - let's travel together and help each other along the way!

Bits and Pieces of our Lives

*We’re starting to get into the swing of home-school. We spend about an hour doing Sonlight stuff in the morning. Caleb and I are enjoying it! We also read some stuff to Logan and I’m sure he absorbs some of Caleb’s stuff by just being around us. He’s still mostly interested in stories with pictures! Then Caleb does Math and Language worksheets in the afternoon when Logan is sleeping. So far he hasn’t started complaining about them.

*There’s some excitement on the extra-curricular side of things. Last week we started swimming lessons. The boys both love it and I enjoy watching them learn and excel. Caleb seems to be a natural fish. This week, they are starting music lessons. The program is called “Music for Young Children.” They will be learning keyboard, singing, reading music, rhythm, etc. It’s a really good and fun program for kids. I’ve always wanted my kids to learn piano or another instrument, so I’m excited about them having a good start this way. Hopefully it will be fun enough that they will want to go on and learn more. You can check out the program on the web at myc.com. Caleb was very unsure of the whole thing when we told them we were doing it. But after the first class, he's very excited.

*Logan and Josiah have finally recovered their health and appetites. In fact, Josiah has been wanting an early morning bottle the last couple of mornings and it seems like he’s just “catching up.” Unfortunately, Logan is sick again today. This time it’s a high fever. :-( It seems like he gets sick so much more than Caleb. Poor little guy. And tonight is his first music lesson. Bummer!!

*Did I mention that Josiah is crawling? He’s been working at it for a couple of weeks. And he’s gotten quite good at it. Of course, his favorite place to crawl to is the boy’s room where the Legos are all over the floor! :-( We’re trying to remember to keep the door closed. He sure is a cutie!! He likes to grin at you with his whole face – he squints his eyes and wrinkles up his nose. Awwwwww!!!

Small Things Make Me Happy

Some of you may remember the crumbling cement pad at the bottom of our front porch steps. Well, when Neal (the brother-in-law who does cement work for a living) was here, guess what?? We got a new one. Yeah! It looks really nice. Unfortunately, the railing along the steps didn’t quite survive when they took it off. It’s still laying in the grass, but Keith has an idea for salvaging it, and I hope he can put it back up on Sat. Then the surrounding flowerbeds need a little attention, etc. But the cement looks great!!

Hints from Hilda the Housewife, #1

How to Make Easy and Tasty Soup

1) Clean out/organize your freezers
2) Take out all the leftovers and bits and pieces that look like good candidates for soup. This would include, but not be limited to: pizza casserole, chicken gravy, scalloped potatoes, chicken broth, vegetable broth, pureed squash that the baby wouldn’t eat, etc.
3) Don’t be too concerned about the age of said leftovers. You can even use stuff that someone else gave you when they cleaned out their freezer and you KNOW it’s more than a year old. (I’ll protect your identity. Hehehe.)
4) Put everything in a big soup pot and simmer.
5) Eat and be thankful (that it actually tastes good!)
6) This works great for those “cleaning out the fridge” frenzies too!

I Have A New Nephew!

Congratulations to my brother Derek and his lovely wife, Elise, on the birth of Scott Jacob. He sure is a little cutie and I can’t wait to hold and snuggle him!!

Puke Is Good For Something!

It really is! Some time ago, someone spilled coffee on the carpet and it left a stain. I tried a bit to get it out, and since then I’ve been pondering what to do about it. It’s in a very obvious spot. Well, last Sat. when Logan got sick, some puke got on the carpet. I cleaned it up but later I noticed that some of it had been on that stain and where the puke had been, the stain was gone!! How weird is that?!? I pondered upon it and decided, hey, why not give it a try… I took a pillowcase or something that had puke on it, rubbed it on the stain, then scrubbed it with soapy water. I know it’s gross, but I just had to try. Guess what?? The stain is gone!! Maybe someone should market that!! :-)

One Word - Puke!

Yeah, there’s been a lot of that around here lately! There’s this really nasty flu bug around right now and it’s been making itself at home here. :-( Logan started throwing up on Sat. morning last week. He took a break on Sunday, but started up again early Mon. morning. He was puking from about 2:30 – 4:00 or so and when he was done, Josiah started! It wasn’t a very restful night! Since then, Logan hasn’t thrown up anymore, but he’s just not feeling 100% better. He hardly eats anything and lays around sleeping quite a bit. Josiah was still having trouble keeping stuff down today. He sure isn’t drinking much milk. Last night we had an adoption party at church for some friends who just adopted two children. I was helping organize the party so it was a really busy day! Once the party started, I started to feel dead tired!! At 8:30 or so I had to go home to feed Josiah, because he wasn’t cooperating with Keith. As I drove home I realized I was starting to feel nauseated! Oh brother! I absolutely abhor the stomach flu!!! I fed Josiah and put him to bed and took Caleb back with me to the church since he hadn’t been able to go. By that time I knew I was coming down with it. So I quickly gathered up some of my stuff and headed for home. Yeah, it was the flu all right! I”ll spare you the details! Thankfully, the nausea went away sometime between 4:00 and 6:00 this morning. Then I was just left with that achy, weak feeling all day. Not fun. I slept LOTS and I think I’ll be good tomorrow. I think maybe Logan and Josiah are showing signs of getting better too. Then tonight Keith started feeling yucky! I sure hope he doesn’t get the full meal deal like the rest of us!!

Can I Complain Just A Little Bit?

I know many people have worse troubles than I. But… This morning I woke up with a blister or two on the roof of my mouth. And as the day progressed, they spread. I’m pretty sure it’s a cold sore, which I’ve often had on my lip, but never in my mouth. It’s a real pain! There, I’m done complaining now!

God Cares About The Little Things!

On Monday we spent most of the day out on the lake with all the Grabers. We were at a nice little beach that even had a little picnic table. In the afternoon I was settling into my chair for a little snooze when I realized my necklace was missing. Of course the chain and pendant were both gifts from Keith. :-( Heather said she had seen it on me since we were there. I looked for awhile and tried to retrace my steps. But most of the area was quite sandy or the typical moss/pine needles/sticks of the bush. I finally gave up and decided, “Things come, and things go!” Quite awhile later, Keith, Heather and I were talking and I was absent-mindedly “drawing” with my toe in the sandy dirt. All of a sudden Heather exclaimed, “There’s your necklace!” I had uncovered it with my toes. Or else it had been lying there and I had missed it earlier. Anyway, I was very surprised and thankful to the Lord!!

Just Stuff

* Josiah has some new accomplishments. He can now push himself to a sitting position. And he's getting up on his hands and knees and rocking. Yesterday he was making little crawling motions. So, he might be crawling pretty soon. He's eight months old today. Wow, where did the time go?? In the last week and a half or so, he's decided that food is good stuff. He now eats quite a lot of baby food for each meal. It's so much fun to shovel it into his open mouth! :-) The bottle is still not his favorite thing, but he's gradually getting better. I think he's still struggling with the concept of filling up his tummy when he's awake. He still likes to snack. So, I keep urging him gently in the direction of not snacking all the time.

* We're slowly getting into the school routine. I'm struggling with being happy about the time commitment it requires of me. I do like the Sonlight stuff that we're doing. I guess I'm just struggling with contentment with where I'm at in life and the job that God has called me to.

* The Grabers are coming, the Grabers are coming! Neal, Sandra, Heather, Meriah, and Shania are arriving here tomorrow afternoon. Yay! So, I'm expecting the next week and a half to be mostly partying. :-) We might even go camping on Sunday night. I was really looking forward to that, but the weather is a lot cooler already, and Josiah is sometimes fussy, and I'm starting to feel wimpy about it. We'll see...

* I just have to say that I love my kids so much! God has graciously been teaching me patience and love and how to value them more. Don't think I'm perfect though! Caleb has taken to asking me, "Mom, are you getting mad?"!! That makes me stop and examine my heart and my words!!

* And then there's my dear hubby. God is doing a great work in his heart! I'm so thankful that he is seeking God and saying yes to Jesus! And I have such a struggle to TRUST God in the process. I'll just confess here that two of my besetting sins are fear and control (a form of pride). I get so worked up about stuff that I think Keith should do or shouldn't do, etc. Then when I give it to Jesus and confess my fear and control and just pray for him, God does something in his heart. Of course, duh! (To quote a certain young niece of mine.)

* That's all for now. My two big boys are at Grandma Graber's for the day and I have computer and internet work to do. I'm closing in on buying a digital camera! Yay!

* One more thing... Keith and I are going back and forth on whether or not we should go to Winnipeg for Kim's wedding. Sept. and Oct. are so busy already, it would cost quite a bit, to make it "worthwhile" we should really go out on Thurs. and take the boys to the zoo or something on Fri. - which would all cost more money. We could just go Sat. and come back Sun. and leave the boys here. But we said we wouldn't do that again after the trip to Dad's wedding. I really want to see Twila and the others who will be there and OF COURSE, see Matthew and Rhonda, and I'd love to see those three adorable little flowergirls. And of course, it would be great to see Little Kimmy get married to her handsome man and share in their joy. Oh dear, what should we do?? AARRGGG!

* Okay, that really is all for this time. (This was gonna be a quick little post!)

Yes, I'm Still Here!

I’m not feeling very inspired, but I’ll try to update a bit here on our week… Church camp-out was, um, stressful. I decided that camping with a large group of people when you have little kids (including a baby), plus you’re in charge of the weekend, is, well, stressful! I didn’t feel like I relaxed much at all and I was really glad to get home. Usually I want to stay another night. :-) But there were some bright spots…
-the gorgeous sunset on Friday night
-playing games on Sat. morning with nearly everyone getting involved. Mary Leschied and Esther Mast even ran the three-legged race!
-Ryan, Melissa, and Emma stopped in on their way back to MN. It was nice to chat with Melissa!
-We ate frogmore stew with the Hartmans Sat. afternoon. Delicious!
-Tammy and Menno and family were there for the weekend! It was so nice to see them again!
-Shelley McKenzie and her daughter Courtney were baptized Sunday after the worship service.
-There were virtually NO mosquitoes!! But lots of bees. :-(

On Monday, Keith picked up our Sonlight order which had come over the weekend. Yay!! It was a lot of fun to look through everything. I told Caleb we might be ready to start next week. I have just a little more reading to do so that I’m familiar with what we’re doing. I ordered Math and Language Arts from Abeka and that’s not here yet, but I’m in no hurry for it…

This past week was more laid back than the last month or so. No blueberries to pick. Not as many beans to pick. No big deadlines looming. Mary-Jane was staying here until tonight. She’s going to stay at Kendra’s for the rest of her time here. We watched a Nicole Johnson DVD on Monday morning. Good stuff!

This morning we all went garage-saleing. We found some great stuff. I now have a punch-bowl and Little Scotty has a life-jacket. My family is having a “garage-sale”, Christmas gift exchange in October when Matthews and Rachel are here. And the Grabers are having a “garage-sale” birthday party for everyone when everyone is home next week or the week after. We got almost everything we need. Yippee! So, tonight after supper we had fun wrapping stuff in newspaper. I hope you all like what we got you! :-)

Tonight we had a first for our family – a shabbat meal! I’m sure it was pretty far from an actual Jewish Shabbat, but we tried to do some of it. The purpose of it wasn’t to "be Jewish", but to hopefully benefit from some of the aspects like just having a special meal together, speaking blessings to one another, reflecting on the past and what God has done, etc. Hopefully it will become a family tradition. Time will tell.

Okay, it’s time to sample my dessert for tomorrow (chocolate chip blondies) and then head for bed soon!!!

An Ethical Question

Let’s just say, hypothetically speaking, that you had a little son about, say, four years old. And let’s just say that he walked into the bathroom one day, announcing that he had to pee, but at the same time, he had a doll stuck under his shirt and was “nursing” it (hypothetically speaking). So, of course, you said, “Put the baby down while you pee!”, and he said, “No, I can do it.” And, hypothetically, he did it – peed standing up while “nursing” a doll. If this happened, hypothetically, how would you feel, and, more importantly, would it be ethical to write a blog about it?

It's Working!

Well, we're just about ready to head out for church camp-out, but I thought I'd better write a little note here in case anyone is worried about me or my baby. :-) Yesterday I found a bottle nipple he likes and things have been going much better since then! He now takes the bottle with very little fussing. Just need to burp him frequently sometimes, but at least he's not fighting it and only taking an ounce or two at a time... I'm so thankful to Jesus for helping us! And thanks for your prayers! And now we're off to Pakwash to go camping...

Just a Sheep Needing a Shepherd

Thanks everyone for your support. You can keep praying as you think about it... Yesterday went okay as far as not too much crying. But there wasn't too much eating either. He took a few oz. at a time during the day and then finally at bedtime he drank 7 oz in about a 45 min. period. He still wasn't too happy about it. I'm having a fear now that he will be "content" to be hungry. I realize that with the way he mostly nursed as he was going to sleep, he's not really used to filling up at all when he's awake. :-( So, you can pray that God will push his re-set button. This isn't just learning to take a bottle for him, it's learning a whole new pattern of eating.
The other strange thing is, that even when I know he’s hungry (like yesterday) he has little or no interest in solids. And he’s 7.5 month old. How weird is that?!? Please pray for wisdom for me to know how to tempt his tastebuds. And I am a little concerned because when I weighed him yesterday, he had gained only.5 oz. or less in the last two weeks. That’s not enough! So, here’s a promise for all of us Moms: “He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.” Isaiah 40:11

I Need Your Prayers

Today is the day that I wean my little Joey. :-( And I'm dreading it. He had his last nursing at 6:00 this morning, had a little nap, and now he just started crying - probably because he's hungry. So, here we go... I'm finally ready to give up. The medication I take so I will have enough milk gives me headaches and I'm just done with that! So, please pray that he will be willing to take a bottle without too much struggle and that I will be strong emotionally. I've cried my tears about having to quit. I love nursing my little guy and I wish we could keep on for a long time. But, God hasn't answered my prayer that way, so we'll move on. Sigh!

A Little Exercise

One of the speakers at the Summit said that everyone should make a list of what drains you emotionally and what fills you up, or rests you emotionally. He said that husbands and wives should each make a list and then pray over each other’s lists. Keith wanted me to do this so I thought I’d share it with you. It’s interesting to think about!

What Drains Me

-Fighting and/or disobedient boys
-Carrying the burdens of life alone
-Not being connecting with my hubby
-Fear, bitterness, trying to control
-Unresolved conflict
-“Wild” kids (too much noise and confusion at once)
-Childish foolishness

What Rests Me

-A nap!
-A snuggle/talk on the couch with my hubby
-Watching a movie
-Playing a game with adults
-Talking with friends/family
-Blogging and reading my friends’ blogs
-Scrap-booking with friends – or alone
-Doing just about any craft
-Organizing and getting rid of stuff
-Talking and praying through issues with my dear husband
-Laying on the couch and reading a book – I think. I haven’t tried if for so long that I’m not sure.

So, how about you? What drains your tank and fills it up again??

Miscellaneous...

Keith just got back last night from the Leadership Summit in Winnipeg. Whew! We survived three days without him! We went blueberry picking one day (and Logan stayed with Grandma Graber), had a hot dog roast with Dad and Dru one night, and bought supper at Chips and More one night and took it over to Rita's house to eat with her (that was after our long day of picking berries). Then yesterday morning as I was thinking about my garden produce that needed to be put in the freezer, and the filthy, messy state of my house, I had a blinding revelation: I could hire help!! So I found two young girls (Erin and Elena for those of you who know them) who were having a lazy Saturday and asked them to come over. They were here for almost 3 hours. Elena played witht the boys and helped them clean up their room and the basement. Erin and I got the zuchini in the freezer and cleaned like crazy. Wow, did we ever get a lot done! It feels so good to have a more organized and cleaner house!

Tomorrow is Logan's birthday. I have this little obsessive compulsive thing I do where Logan has the same kind of cake that Caleb had on that birthday. I'm starting to see that it's a bad idea, because Caleb always gets to pick his cake and then Logan just has to take what I give him. Up until now it hasn't been a problem. But when Caleb turned four, he knew his numbers - and even some addition. So, when he saw pictures of his cousins' cakes that were shaped like a 7 and a 9, he thought that was neat. So he had a "4" cake for his birthday. Now Logan comes along and he doesn't know a 4 from a 2 from a z! :-) So, I had to do some convincing and explaining to get him to agree to a "4". He did agree. Then this morning after church I saw him talking to Mary Lescheid. Later she came and told me that Logan invited her to his birthday party. He told her, "It's okay, we'll have enough. We're having four cakes!" He just doesn't get it! Hopefully we'll have a fun birthday party anyway.

Hey, Rachel, I Did Have Time!

The Alphabet...My Way!

Accent: I don’t have one – everyone else does. Seriously, I don’t know. Probably somewhere in between American and Canadian.Bible Book that I like: Psalms – they’re so “real” and sometimes I feel like something was written just for me.

Chore I don't care for: Lots of them. Can I tell you what I do like? Organizing and putting stuff away, laundry. The rest I do because I have to and I try not to complain. :-)

Dog or Cat: Neither, thanks, but I’d be less opposed to a dog, IF he doesn’t dig up my flowerbeds and if my boys were old enough to take care of it!

Essential Electronics: Computer and – hopefully soon – a digital cameraFavorite Movie: Apollo 13, The Hunt for Red October, Princess Bride, An Affair to RememberGold or Silver: Gold, please, and lots of it. :-) Just kidding

Handbag I Carry Most Often: This cute little brown thing I bought at Kohl’s on a little outing with my sister and her roommate. It was so cute I had to get it, but it really is too small. Almost more exciting was the smashing red wallet I got at the same time. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to make me happy!

Insomnia: Only in the first trimester of every pregnancy – ugh! And after the occasional caffeine overdose. But I’m pretty careful about that (the caffeine, that is) since I hate the effects of it!

Job Title: Hoo-boy! Full time nanny, law-enforcement officer, teacher, nurturer, cook, maid, psychologist, helper/supporter… I could go on…

Kids: Three rambunctious, full-of-energy, precious boys! Ages 6, 4 (tomorrow), and 7.5 months.

Living Arrangements: Yellow house with a big yard. Four bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, basement rec room and shop. And we’re so thankful for it!!

Most Memorable Moment: Hmm, probably that one where he said “Will you marry me?”! Or else that second just before the 50 (?) foot freefall on the “Demon Drop” at Cedar Point or King’s Island. Remember that, Brenda and Karla? :-)

Naughtiest Childhood Behavior: I try to forget…

Overnight Hospital Stays: Just three times with my little baby boys. Two nights with Caleb and one night with Logan and Josiah.

Phobias: Nothing so strong that I’d call it a phobia.

Quote: This wiill have to be a paraphrase and I don’t remember the author. But I know I read it in Reader’s Digest. :-) “With kids, the days are long and the years are short.”

Religion: Follower of Jesus Christ and a daughter of the King!!

Siblings: One awesome, cool, really great, very funny, kindred spirit sister, and five great brothers (who also have a decent share of coolness and funniness – and sometimes just plain weirdness!)

Time I Wake Up: It seems like I consistently wake up between 5:00 and 5:30 – from months of feeding Josiah, I guess. But I go back to sleep and (try to) get up around 6:00.

Unusual Talent: Nothing springs to mind. Maybe someone will have to remind me…

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: I don’t totally refuse, but I mostly avoid tomatoes, raw onions, and probably asparagus. And there are numerous others that I just don’t cook with, like eggplant. I need to be more adventurous, I guess.

Worst Habit: Getting excited about projects and then over-committing myself.

X-rays: My hip once, and my wrist when I smashed it in the big mixer at the bakery. Wasn’t that a lot of fun!!

Yummy Stuff I Cook: I’m tempted to say breakfast, lunch, and supper, but I know it’s not all yummy. Let’s see: homemade whole-wheat bread, various mexican dishes, muffins, desserts, moose roast and the fixin’s, pizza… Hey, I’m hungry! Who wants to come over for peanut-butter popcorn??

Zoo Animal I Like Most: Probably monkeys, elephants, and giraffes.

There, I did it! Now I tag Derek and Elise. Have fun!