I Know These are late but...

Here are the Halloween pictures taken over a week ago.

WE had a great night. It went something like this:

Started out at the Church building so Kevin could practice leading worship. I got the kids ready while we were there. We went to our good friend's, the Smiths, house for chili--yum. Then we went to Granny and Papa Chisms house for trick or treating. It was great. Aaron the Knight, of course, ran to every house in great expectation! I think there might have been some fighting at a couple doors on who rang the door bell first. But no battle wounds, thank goodness. Lexi looked beautiful in her fairy costume that her talented Granny made for her! She just flitted around just like a fairy, sweet and soft footed. Unfortunately for us and the sweet trick or treat givers, she must have nibbled too much on a bad flower. She left her pixie-dust scent at each door. Needless to say, mom let dad go to the doors with the kids! Eli caught on rather quickly in his little throne. He was quite tired from all the football carrying (that and we couldn't keep his pants on) so he nested in the stroller and yelled, politely of course, "HAVE SOME!!" over and over at every door! We replaced his candy with 100% all organic lolli-pops later that evening, of course! Yes, he will live a long and healthy life for sure.

Anyway, that is the night in a nut shell! Enjoy the pics.

Oh, and this is "Granny Pumpkin." Alexis wanted me to make a face like Grannys on her pumpkin. She painted it herself. What do you think? Any resemblance?

Yeah, I know. Granny is much prettier and not quite as crosseyed!

Confession

I don't know about you, but I make the mistake of reading other people's blogs and believing that they must have it all together. They say just the right thing, or their kids look so absolutely perfect, or their wisdom is so profound that they must spend most of their time walking on water. But what I am discovering is that I certainly don't ever feel like blogging if I am having a bad day, week or, yes, month. I write when we have a great day or when we do some fun, wonderful thing. I write when I feel a moment of enlightment, which is quite seldom, actually. Or I write about progress or trial, which is all in the journey. But, I don't write the ugly stuff, the moments of insanity, the moments we don't want anyone to know about. I want you to think I have it all together, but I don't. The truth is life isn't always pleasant. We don't sit around our house and look cute all the time. We don't have this perfect, all our "ducks in a row" life. By the end of the week, I am tired and on empty. I start to question everything. I get angry at the kids and say things I want to take back---yuck. It is in these moments, I am beginning to see how much I need more of the Lord. And guess what? He ALWAYS has more to give. Because the more of Him, the less of me. I want that. I want that for my kids, for my husband, for my family, for my friends.

So, just so you all know, this week was not so great. I wounded with my words, acted hastily in fear, ignored God's call to "come and be still," pouted, you name it. It wasn't fun. I could keep that all to myself, and let you believe we have a perfect life and I am the best mom ever (although most of you know that I am not), but I think I will confess it instead and not give the devil a foothold. After all, "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Eph 6:12 He wins when I run and hide. Victory begins when we confess with our mouth what is hidden. "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." James 5:16 It is what is hidden that hurts us and those we love.

A Promise

Tree hugger!

FALL is here. I love to think of Fall as Summer's last breath. Just when the life of summer goes out from the heat of August, Fall rushes in and knocks us over with a punch of vivid, warm color. Like an Autumn-hued rainbow, reminding us that their will be life and color once again after this next season. It is just enough to sustain me through the grey of winter. I love this time of year. I love the leaves under my feet, the crisp in the air, the sound of marching bands, the smell of hot chili, the sweatshirts and hiking boots, the sound of people outside, but most of all the momentary burst of life, just before winter.
The kids and I went to the Nature Center to enjoy it yesterday. We saw Wild Turkeys, a ton of squirrels and enjoyed watching a red-eyed turtle swim around and come up for a few peeks at the color bearing down on him. Some of these pics were taken there, some were just taken around our neighborhood. I just can't get enough of it. Anyone want to help with the leaf clean-up? Okay, so that is one drawback!

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal;a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh;a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose;a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7a time to tear, and a time to sew;a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate;a time for war, and a time for peace."
Ecc. 3:1-7

Water for the Seed

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today."- Stacia Tauscher

Last night, sometime in the wee hours of the morning, I had some moments of clarity. Every now and then when I wake up in the middle of the night and I have trouble going back to sleep, the Lord shows me something or gives me clarity on something that I am struggling with or just something he wants me to know. This moment was cleary an "A-HA" moment over something that I have been questioning for a long time.


Since my children were little (I know they are still little, but I mean "little-er") I have longed to really know them and engage them in such a way that they don't remember me from the waist down. I am a real good "baby" momma, but right around 2 years old, something changes and I just am rather clueless. I struggled for years on whether or not I should go into "their world" or that I should make them come into my world and be little adults. Confessionally, I prefered the second concept. Better yet, they can stay in kid world and I will be in adult world and maybe a couple of times a day we could meet in the middle. But, at the end of the day (as much as I hate that expression, it truly was at the end of my days), I still had this longing and desire deep in my heart to "see and know" my children--their natural gifts and talents, thier interests--and nurture those things. I wanted to be with them and know what to do with them while I was with them. Even with educating them at home, it has been a struggle for me to engage them on thier interest levels. I get caught up in what I think they need to know instead of expanding upon what they are gifted in and working in those things. So, I frustrate them and force things on them and stress if they don't get it. It is alot of of trial and error. But as I relax and just give in to being with them and exploring with them through their eyes, I am convinced now that God is answering the desires of my heart--to enjoy and engage my children from my shoulders up. To connect deeply, to see thier gifts and interests, to laugh with them and let them be children as long as they can. To walk through this life enjoying doing things together. And as a side blessing, I get a fresh new look on the world. I get to see the world again through the eyes of a child, and that is refreshing. It has also helped me in applying just that concept to my walk with the Lord. To look at the Lord and His Kingdom with fresh eyes. Because that is what the Lord wants afterall, this is the Message version of the verse Matthew 18:2-4 "For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me. " I love that.


So, in questioning over and over our decision to take our children out of school for a life of learning at home, "Lord, are you sure you want us to do this?" I understood more clearly last night, and was overwhelmed at just how much He has allready shown us all. He knew the longing in my heart and He told us a way to get there.

Aaron loves to create and build with anything he finds. This says "I love Mom", I didn't get the "MOM" in.

this is a Christmas tree made with rocks and leaves. There are soft purple petals all over it if you look closely. I think it's beautiful.

Eli Update

Just some specifics on Eli. Abnormal blood results in several areas including Thyroid, IgE, cbc, protein, vitamin D and a couple more. Not sure what that all means. He's had virus after virus over the last couple of weeks, so not seeing much progress in the skin getting better. The skin takes a back seat to what ever is more pressing, like a virus. Supplementing and contemplating other things. Lots of things to consider. The general assessment from all the DR.'s "Let's hurry so we can wait and see." But really, the rashes are an outward problem of something going on inward. Above all, we know who is in control and we put our hope in Him. We believe for bigger.

Eli knows who to call when he's having a bad day, don't you buddy.

Week One

Our first week is past, and though I have no pictures (I know, boring, right?) I just thought I would update that we have started our schooling and we had a good week, for the most part, and I am excited for the year!
We started Monday morning with lots of expectations! The first day was great. The kids were wonderful and loved the routine and activities. We realized quickly that timers don't work well for us. Things quickly became a race, and Aaron, as competitive as he is, could not handle the pressure. So, we put the timers in the cabinet. Lexi uses hers for her piano practice, but that is it for the timers. Who knows, maybe I will actually use them for Eli's timeouts, seeing as though he is in them alot right now. I think the adjustment has been hardest on him. I keep him with us all morning and give him puzzles, playdoh, books, colors, etc., but it seems as though he would rather steal pencils and the kids spelling books, creating chaos as best he can. But, he IS adjusting and my time with him, inbetween, is great.
We keep busy from 8:30 am till lunchtime, and then we eat and play, practice piano, do some fun projects read and rest a little. Thursday was tough. I think I might have become that mean teacher who threatened to never let us go home (yes, my 1st grade teacher threatened that a time or two, okay everyday, and made me cry). Not really, but I didn't feel like I was holding it all together very well. But we made it through and after a great day at the library (great except for Eli's horrendous 2 fits) we are all excited for the weekend.
Perserverance was the word for the week. I realized this week how easy it is to just give up when things don't go as planned. I think I probably give up on things rather easy in life. When things get hard, it is easiest to either change course, or just give up. We think, in this culture we live in, that if it doesn't work right off the bat, we just should quit and do something else. I learned this week, with the encouragement of great friends, that we are going to be tempted to do just that, especially when God is wanting it for us, and we believe it is, at this point in our life, what He wants. So, I kept to our schedule and to my lesson plans, no matter the resistance and I prayed alot, and cried a little, just a little. Eventually, they will understand that this is what life looks like, and it won't be so hard. The Lord brought about complete joy today. I know that this is not going to be easy, but I am thankful for this time of engaging my kids and I am enjoying it (even when they are not ;-)). But they did. I know because I heard them tell their Daddy all about it.
The kids made candles, canvases of rainbows, took spelling quizzes, learned Philippians 2:9-11 (earning a jewel in their crowns) and learned all about light and authority this week. And so did I. Like, for instance, I found out that our sun is getting bigger and bigger as time goes on, and in another 5 billion years it will swallow everything surrounding it. (So, why are we so surprised the earth is getting warmer?) I know you all probably knew all about that, but I did not. Exciting, I think. I have this strange feeling I won't be around to see that happen.

Sealed

“God is not a belief to which you give your assent. God becomes a reality whom you know intimately, meet everyday, one whose strength becomes your strength, whose love, your love. Live this life of the presence of God long enough and when someone asks you, “Do you believe there is a God?” you may find yourself answering, “No, I do not believe there is a God.

I know there is a God.”
~Ernest Boyer, Jr.

I read this quote today and wanted to post it here. It is appropriate for me at this time, because of a recent communication I have had. One in which I was challenged to prove what I believe to be true about God and His Holy Son. It was indeed a challenge, mainly because what I believe is not based on the historical facts of His existence, but about the very thing this comment states. I know because of the Fruit He gives. I can't prove it with facts, or eloquent words. I can only prove Him by my life. I believe because when you have felt His presence and tasted in the fruit, it is impossible not to believe.

"because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." I Thess. 1:5