first day of school 2010

i figured there was no better time than now to start blogging again, so here i go...... this week the kids started school. we have had an AMAZING summer full of fun, friends and family and we have enjoyed it to the fullest. now that school is upon us i am excited for the chaos to begin.

we have taken this same picture since caleb was in kindergarten - how fast time goes by!

luke started 3rd grade this year. he was the most nervous out of the bunch in the morning but came home with nothing but excitement in his voice for the upcoming year. i am so proud of him and how hard he has worked over the summer to be as ready as he could be for the upcoming school year.caleb is in the fifth grade. he likes to remind me that in only four short years he will be a freshman in highschool. he loves being back at school with his friends and can't wait for the challenges that come with being a fifth grader.

sweet lilly jane started 2nd grade. as many of you know this was a hard decision over the last year - not knowing whether we should move her on or keep her back to repeat 1st grade. as dave and i pulled away after dropping them off on their second day we both knew we made the right choice to move her on. she has progressed by leaps and bounds academically over the course of the summer and she was probably the most excited out of all the kids about going back to school and learning new things. i am so proud of her!

easter 2010

recording with gabe

so, i had the very fun opportunity to record with gabe davidson (aka: brian leibrandt). we did a cover of "hallelujah" together and i sang back up on several of his other songs. although i sing often in the shower, church and around the house i don't do a lot of recording - so, i had to share! click here to listen/buy the cd "less is more" - gabe did a great job!!

preparing for tomorrow

i am a big fan of getting as much done today as you can in anticipation of tomorrow. a number of years ago i was introduced to flylady and our families household changed dramatically as a result. some of her main points is to shine your sink before bed, get dressed and tie your shoes in the morning and do whatever you can to prepare for tomorrow, today. some of the other things we have enlisted into our household routine based of the flylady regimen is to clean using a timer (15 mins. max per room), instead of cleaning we call it "house blessing", creating and following a weekly menu. i am thankful for a husband and kids (note pic of kids packing their lunches for tomorrow) that is very helpful in maintaining our household with me and for the help flylady has given me over the years to let go of the perfection of maintaining a household. in it i have found peace and feel as though i am able to actually "live" in our home and enjoy our household to the fullest - or at least most days :)

Oh dear

in my attempt to play my 2nd game of soccer i ran out on the field pre-game to warm up and kick the ball around. and then it happend, "ouch", i felt a snap in my quad and in that split second i was faced with the decision to fall on the ground and cry or stand there and smile until dave noticed that something was wrong. i ended up standing there with a bizarre smile on my face tring to get daves attention. finally he ran over and helped me to the side-lines. oh my goodness, there is a reason i'm not athletic. seriously, you can hurt yourself! i sat the entire game out with an ice pack. fortunately my sweet son prayed for me to feel better and that the rest of the team would be safe as they continued to play. we lost.

67 days

lilly asked me today to count how many days until florida. we looked at the calendar and counted...67 days! this year will be our fifth year heading to our favorite getaway, don pedro island, for two weeks. we have some dear friends who have opened their condo to us over the years and we have enjoyed it to its fullest. these trips and memories remind me how important vacations as a family are. sometimes i can't believe how much the kids remember from our times and how much they love remembering every trip.

therapy

i see a counselor. i actually have an appointment tomorrow morning with jodi boyd at westshore integrative health. therapy/counseling has been an amazing journey for me and i am so thankful to have the opportunity and insurance coverage which allows me to see her and share my heart every other week. my road to ongoing counseling began as a quest to "fix" my insomnia when the traditional route of medical care wasn't working. now, over a year later, i can't help but look at counseling as a necessity for the well being of my mind, heart and soul. i have found it to be a safe and unapologetic place for me to just "be" and learn how to empower and love myself enough to move beyond my own anxieties and live life to the full potential that God created me to. i love to talk about my experiences with counseling and am very open about the fact that i see someone and have encouraged many a friend to at least consider seeing someone. out of curiousity, what are your thoughts on counseling/therapy? why do you think there is, at times, such a negative stigma with the idea of seeing someone about the way you feel?

muscle confusion

my body hurts. literally. hurts. after playing my first game of soccer my body is paying the price. i have done some pretty intense workouts and felt it over the next couple of days but i swear, nothing like this! i have heard it said that day 2 is the worst (which would be today) so, i am hoping tomorrow will be better. i like to walk and move without my muscles screaming at me. dave is enjoying laughing at me and reminding me that our next game is friday night. which reminds me, if you are looking for a good laugh and live in the muskegon area come on out and cheer us on. i guarantee a good laugh - at least a me :)

soccer

i am not a soccer player. or at least not until tonight. over the course of the last 13 years there has been a lot of soccer in my life. however, tonight i became a player. i don't like to admit that i am competitive, but i am. i had a blast out on the field and can't wait for our next game next friday at 10pm (in case anyone wants to babysit). i am not great or even good - but it is a good time.

box vs. bottle

with our mimi and papa in town we got in the car and headed into grand rapids for the afternoon. we began our adventure by going to modern skate where my brother steve works and watched some pros at "work". luke is really into skateboarding and stood in awe (as we all did) at these amazing athletes. afterwards we drove into downtown and spent the next couple of hours walking the streets and enjoying the day. one of our stops was market street deli on monroe. that is where i saw my very first box of water. the story the owner shared with us is that some young local guys thought it would was smarter and more environmentally sound to box water instead of bottle it and have over the course of a relatively short period of time have been able to market such a product nationally. we bought a box ($1.61) and shared the crisp, clean water. thought it was pretty funny and wanted to share the image. i love creativity!!

family game night

i love that our family loves to "play" together. i was thinking tonight as we all sat around the family room talking that it won't be to long before the last place my kids will want to be on a friday night is home playing a board game with their parents. so, i am soaking in these precious times of family fun while i've got them. the kids were surprised tonight with an impromptu visit from our mimi and papa from naperville. we all got to play one of our favorite games, pictureka! daddy won, this time!!

happy birthday susie

we had a fun evening with family celebrating susie's birthday. susan, is my beloved step-mom who turned 53 yesterday. i am blessed to have her in my life and love that she is a part of our family. susan, you are a beautiful woman, wife and mother. thank you for loving me, my family and my dad.

boring

i am literally posting today just because i am committed to posting every day this month. nothing spectacular happened today, it was just a regular ordinary day. as i reflect on today i am reminded that ordinary days are as much a blessing as a spectacular day. i am blessed to be living such an ordinary life full of taking kids to school, making lunches, doing homework, grocery shopping, and all the other things in between. i am blessed to have gone a date with my husband tonight while the kids were at church and can't wait to eat chocolate ice cream in bed while watching last nights episode of lost. what a life?

journals

do you journal? in a way blogging is a sort of journal i guess. i loved to journal and doodle throughout high school and college. i have several pages of written prayers, dramas and nonsense documented on paper. it's fun to go back and read them and remember when life was so less complicated and yet far more dramatic. i can't say i actually stopped journaling however i did change how/why i journal. shortly after lilly was born i decided to start writing to my kids. i have three journals, one for each of them, and in them i write to them and pray for them. i tell them what they are doing or what funny things they are saying sometimes i write concerns or even my own frustrations with them. i used to try to write in one each evening before i went to bed, now i'm lucky if i write in one each week. but, i'm so happy i have them and feel so blessed to see how God continues to move and work within each one of them. one day i hope to give each of them their journals, my hope is that they will receive it as a gift. they are each such a gift to me (at least most days).

reminded

dave reminded me today that because the kids were off school today, it was still valentines weekend and not too late to distribute the kids cards and decorate the cookies. so, i thought it totally appropriate to share this image! we had a blast this weekend celebrating our families love to the fullest.

good intentions

some times i feel like my life revolves around good intentions. take these valentines day cookies for example. my intention was to bake valentines day cookies and decorate them with my kids and have a festive time last night. when time got away from us, we told the kids we would do it today actually on valentines day. and then today came and after church i needed a nap and before i knew it, it was time for the kids to go to bed and the cookies still sat undecorated on their cooling rack. also note that i had made the frosting and pulled out everything to decorate the cookies, all we needed to do was sit down and actually "do" it. similarly the kids valentines cards, that were purchased with the intent of giving one to each of them, sit inside their meijer bag awaiting the 30 seconds it would have taken to make a good intention a reality. i am good at coming up with good ideas, i am even good at implementing them, but i suck and following through. i hate this about myself. fortunately, i know i am loved in spite of my good intentions by both my husband and my kids. hopefully the cookies will still be good tomorrow!!

my valentine

a few weeks ago dave went to denver for mid-winter (yearly conference for covenant pastors). while there he put his christmas money to good use getting a new tattoo. i knew he was thinking of having my named inked on his arm - but it still surprised me when he texted me this image with my name inset a sacred heart. i thought it was appropriate to share this photo as dave is my valentine and has my heart. cheesy i know, but oh so true!

opening ceremonies

we are watching the opening ceremonies right now. although it is WAY past the kids bed times i am so happy to be sharing this with them. caleb is really excited to watch the games and you can almost hear his own dreams finding life as his excitement continues to escalate for the upcoming games. i can't remember the first time i watched the olympics but i do remember sitting in awe of the athletes and i loved hearing their stories. some things never change. do you have a favorite olympic story?

favorites?

i am a week behind on private practice (this will be a spoiler, if you haven't seen it yet...) and got to watch last weeks show this afternoon. so, the topic of favorite child came up when a family was faced with a decision to save one of their twin daughters with their newborn sons cord blood. the father at one points says (my version, of course) that "parents don't want to admit that they have a favorite, by they do...i love nikki but save kelly". well, it got me thinking. not so much about what kid i loved more, because i love all my kids. but it made me start thinking about how i relate to each of them differently, one maybe more easily than another. however, my love for each of them is so deep i don't know that i have words to describe it.

thank goodness for snow plows & little boys...

i would like to say a great big thank you to my boys who shoveled our front walk after school and to our wonderful snow plow! of course we pay for the snow plow and the boys didn't complete the job without tears, yelling and a "talking to" from dad. however, at the end of the day i am thankful to know it has been taken care of. speaking of being taken care of, i took care of lilly today. she stayed home sick from school. i thought we had already gotten everything there could be gotten for this winter season, however it seems more infection is lurking. boo! i woke up with her around 2am with a horrible croupy cough and then sat with her the majority of the day. one of the hardest things to observe is your child just lying there willingly. it makes you take back all those times you cursed under your breath at them for being SO full of energy. she is keeping all fingers and toes crossed that she will not have a fever in the morning because she really wants to go to school. tomorrow is there 100th day of school and their valentines day party - she has her clothes already picked out for the occasion. we'll see.

so, more people than i realized actually read this blog **blush**, with that said, i have had several people ask me how our conversation went with lilly about repeating first grade. dave and i told her on saturday morning. based on the advice her teacher (the amazing tracey fritz) we told her that she was asked to be a "first grade expert" next year and that she would be able to help the new first graders in her class next year. at first she was very excited and then like a light bulb going on she began to realize that her friends would be moving on to 2nd grade and that she wouldn't be with them. there were a few tears but in the end we were able to end on a very positive note and she continues to be excited about her new title. thank you to all who prayed for this conversation and we continue to covet your prayers as we try to be the best parents we can be to these munchkins.