Image by Laura Ketteman
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Senior Session Preview.
I had the privilege of meeting with these two handsome, young men and their mom earlier this week. What a pleasure they were!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Birthdays.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Healthy Children.
A virus has hit our home. It's nothing serious... just long in endurance. Sometimes it goes that way when you have several people living under one roof. When one person brings home illness, it's likely that someone else will go down right afterwards.
So, for over a week now, I've been caring for my little ones (all three have gotten it in varying degrees). Lots of temperatures have been taken, lots of children's ibuprofen has been given, lots and LOTS of snuggle time has been shared.
My youngest is having the hardest time kicking it. We're on Day 8 of his fever, so we went to see the doctor. (All of this has a point, I assure you.)
He checked out fine, but not until the doctor did a thorough examination, which included chest X-rays to rule out pneumonia. End result, everything looks great! We just need to wait it out a little bit longer. He's really perfectly healthy, other than a little cough and congestion, and his temperature rising in the evenings.
My point in this post?
Just look at those perfect, wonderful, little bones... surrounding a perfect, healthy, beating heart. God created that little body. He allowed it to be formed within my own body. How easily we take for granted what a miracle life is.
My little guy got sick like this back in 2007, and they did a chest Xray at that time, also (he was fine at that time, too, for the record). He was much younger... much less likely to be so still. I watched him today, thinking about how much he has grown. He didn't need me to stand behind him and hold his arms up still. He did it all on his own, so independently... like the "big boy" he has become.
I'm so thankful God has blessed my family with good health. I have to remind myself of that fact when I start to get down about a silly, little fever bug we've endured for one, short week.
How quickly I'll complain about such a minor trial. Thank you, my heavenly Father, for the abundant gifts you bestow upon me.... so undeserved.
So, for over a week now, I've been caring for my little ones (all three have gotten it in varying degrees). Lots of temperatures have been taken, lots of children's ibuprofen has been given, lots and LOTS of snuggle time has been shared.
My youngest is having the hardest time kicking it. We're on Day 8 of his fever, so we went to see the doctor. (All of this has a point, I assure you.)
He checked out fine, but not until the doctor did a thorough examination, which included chest X-rays to rule out pneumonia. End result, everything looks great! We just need to wait it out a little bit longer. He's really perfectly healthy, other than a little cough and congestion, and his temperature rising in the evenings.
My point in this post?
Just look at those perfect, wonderful, little bones... surrounding a perfect, healthy, beating heart. God created that little body. He allowed it to be formed within my own body. How easily we take for granted what a miracle life is.
My little guy got sick like this back in 2007, and they did a chest Xray at that time, also (he was fine at that time, too, for the record). He was much younger... much less likely to be so still. I watched him today, thinking about how much he has grown. He didn't need me to stand behind him and hold his arms up still. He did it all on his own, so independently... like the "big boy" he has become.
I'm so thankful God has blessed my family with good health. I have to remind myself of that fact when I start to get down about a silly, little fever bug we've endured for one, short week.
How quickly I'll complain about such a minor trial. Thank you, my heavenly Father, for the abundant gifts you bestow upon me.... so undeserved.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Snack Mix.
I have been a mother for over eleven years. HOW could I have never thought to do this before??? We made our own snack mix this evening. I let the boys all choose the ingredients. They chose things they actually liked, so that they'll EAT all of it as opposed to picking out what they do not care for. It was a success! Yay!
Looks yummy, no? After mixing it all up nicely, I scooped snack sized portions into little Ziplocs, so they are easily grabbed from the pantry when needed. The cheerios are a grain. The yogurt is a dairy. The nuts are a protein, and the raisins are a fruit! Go with it... never mind all the sugar and salt.... there are worse snacks, I assure you! :) They're kids, they might as well enjoy sugar once in awhile, while they can still afford to! :)
Looks yummy, no? After mixing it all up nicely, I scooped snack sized portions into little Ziplocs, so they are easily grabbed from the pantry when needed. The cheerios are a grain. The yogurt is a dairy. The nuts are a protein, and the raisins are a fruit! Go with it... never mind all the sugar and salt.... there are worse snacks, I assure you! :) They're kids, they might as well enjoy sugar once in awhile, while they can still afford to! :)
Love Grows Best in Little Houses.
Have you ever heard that sweet song?
I love that song. It's an older country tune. It always took me back to my childhood and where I cozily grew up, with my parents and four siblings. Now it puts me in mind me of my own, little home and family.
It's April now. April usually means rain. Rain usually means a leaky laundry room. Oh, it has been a frustration of mine for years... leaky basements. UGH. But every time my little laundry room gets damp with the water of a heavy spring storm, I'm reminded how much I love my house.
It was another one of those God stories... how we ended up moving into our home....
Years ago, when our firstborn was only a baby, we moved into a little condo in the area. We were closer to our church and to my husband's job. It was a big step for us. We'd only lived in apartments, but we hadn't bought a place of our own, and although it wasn't a house with four free-standing walls, it was still ours. We were thrilled. We had so much more room... and I could paint my walls anything besides WHITE! We planned to stay there just long enough to get settled into the area and move into a house before our son started KG.
How does that saying go?... We make plans; God laughs. :) We added one more little boy to our family while we lived in that tiny condo. And surprise! ...we then, added a THIRD little boy to our family while living in that condo.
What used to be roomy, now felt stuffy and small. I had no yard where my children could play. Our home faced a busy road, where traffic buzzed back and forth at all hours of the day and night. My children were still only babies, but they were growing quickly, and I had very little space where they could keep their clothes or their toys... let alone have space of their own! The basement leaked incessantly. And we had trouble with spiders, but couldn't get rid of them, because the neighbors in the same building didn't treat at the same time we did... Oh, the list goes on and on. I'm ashamed to admit my ungratefulness. We had a roof over our heads, which is more than others can say... but I was ungrateful.
We'd done some house hunting, but to no avail. It just never seemed right. In the meantime, we made do... (or we made "due"... which is it???)
Then, in God's timing, we began a moving adventure. :) It was strange, the way He orchestrated the details. Friends of ours from church had come over to our home, to share the sad news that they'd been called to serve in another church, and would be moving away very soon. These were good friends of ours. We all served in the same areas of our church home. We were all part of the same social circle. We'd spent many an evening, fellowshipping in their home (and vice versa). In the saddness of the conversation, my husband attempted to lighten the mood by jokingly making the statement... "Hmmm... Well, if you're moving, then maybe we've found our new house!"
That's how it all began. It was a joke! But that night, our friends went home and did the same thing we did... had a conversation with one another about the potential of that statement.. Could that actually work out? Such a business transaction among friends? And we women had different concerns... the emotional attachment seemed unreasonable. How could I move into my friend's home and ever consider it as my own? Would our other friends feel sad when they came to visit, remembering the memories they had of our old friends who were no longer near us? And on the practical side of things... Was this even the house we were truly looking for?
The rest of it was kind of a whirlwind. Our husbands worked out the details... They handled it all very well, in fact. We basically agreed that if this was supposed to happen, God would swing the doors wide open, and we'd know if it was His will. Our condo was up for sale, and within a week, we had a buyer who agreed to our asking price. We were moving.
Funny thing? As I said, the husbands handled the business end of things. They went around the whole house in detail, where every nook and cranny was discussed... in pursuit of FULL disclosure. I, on the other hand, had never even seen the inside of the closets before I was signing my name to the purchase agreement. Weird? Yes. But that's just the way it worked out. While I believed it was God's will, I was still tied up in my emotions. My friends were leaving. My son would have to change schools. And while I was excited for the new start, I held so many reservations. How would I make it MY home? I didn't really care about the cabinet or closet space at the time.
That was four years ago, this spring. Our friends are happily settled in their own home in Kansas City, and here we still are... And, yes, I managed to make this place my own (although, just last week was the first time one of our friends did NOT go to the kitchen pantry to find the trashcan where our old friends used to keep it. :) HA! I guess everyone has finally adjusted to the transition.)
Oh, I so love it here. We live in an older subdivision of the area, and it's just beautiful. The trees are grown and mature. The season changes are so lovely and full of color. Every house is a little different from the next, and in a short drive to take my boys to school in the morning, I am able to soak in God's creation. Our home is not huge. Some would even consider it too small for our family of five (plus two dogs). We have plenty of repairs to make. The kitchen needs remodeled, the laundry room is still leaky from time to time, the bedrooms are not ginormous, and we still need to complete the flooring project we began months ago.... and I couldn't be happier. I hope to live here for the rest of our family's days. We'll change and grow, and maybe one day, my boys' cozy bedrooms will become the place they'll come home to visit with their own families.
Who knows what the future holds. The older I get, the more content I've become in being thankful for the sweetness of today. I've even learned to be thankful for that little condo where it began! We made lots of memories there, and it only made me all the more thankful for the blessings God has in store for me later.
How wonderful and gracious He is to bestow so many undeserved blessings.
Love grows best in little houses,
With fewer walls to separate,
Where you eat and sleep so close together,
You can't help but communicate,
Oh, and if we had more room between us, think of all we'd miss.
Love grows best, in houses just like this.
I love that song. It's an older country tune. It always took me back to my childhood and where I cozily grew up, with my parents and four siblings. Now it puts me in mind me of my own, little home and family.
It's April now. April usually means rain. Rain usually means a leaky laundry room. Oh, it has been a frustration of mine for years... leaky basements. UGH. But every time my little laundry room gets damp with the water of a heavy spring storm, I'm reminded how much I love my house.
It was another one of those God stories... how we ended up moving into our home....
Years ago, when our firstborn was only a baby, we moved into a little condo in the area. We were closer to our church and to my husband's job. It was a big step for us. We'd only lived in apartments, but we hadn't bought a place of our own, and although it wasn't a house with four free-standing walls, it was still ours. We were thrilled. We had so much more room... and I could paint my walls anything besides WHITE! We planned to stay there just long enough to get settled into the area and move into a house before our son started KG.
How does that saying go?... We make plans; God laughs. :) We added one more little boy to our family while we lived in that tiny condo. And surprise! ...we then, added a THIRD little boy to our family while living in that condo.
What used to be roomy, now felt stuffy and small. I had no yard where my children could play. Our home faced a busy road, where traffic buzzed back and forth at all hours of the day and night. My children were still only babies, but they were growing quickly, and I had very little space where they could keep their clothes or their toys... let alone have space of their own! The basement leaked incessantly. And we had trouble with spiders, but couldn't get rid of them, because the neighbors in the same building didn't treat at the same time we did... Oh, the list goes on and on. I'm ashamed to admit my ungratefulness. We had a roof over our heads, which is more than others can say... but I was ungrateful.
We'd done some house hunting, but to no avail. It just never seemed right. In the meantime, we made do... (or we made "due"... which is it???)
Then, in God's timing, we began a moving adventure. :) It was strange, the way He orchestrated the details. Friends of ours from church had come over to our home, to share the sad news that they'd been called to serve in another church, and would be moving away very soon. These were good friends of ours. We all served in the same areas of our church home. We were all part of the same social circle. We'd spent many an evening, fellowshipping in their home (and vice versa). In the saddness of the conversation, my husband attempted to lighten the mood by jokingly making the statement... "Hmmm... Well, if you're moving, then maybe we've found our new house!"
That's how it all began. It was a joke! But that night, our friends went home and did the same thing we did... had a conversation with one another about the potential of that statement.. Could that actually work out? Such a business transaction among friends? And we women had different concerns... the emotional attachment seemed unreasonable. How could I move into my friend's home and ever consider it as my own? Would our other friends feel sad when they came to visit, remembering the memories they had of our old friends who were no longer near us? And on the practical side of things... Was this even the house we were truly looking for?
The rest of it was kind of a whirlwind. Our husbands worked out the details... They handled it all very well, in fact. We basically agreed that if this was supposed to happen, God would swing the doors wide open, and we'd know if it was His will. Our condo was up for sale, and within a week, we had a buyer who agreed to our asking price. We were moving.
Funny thing? As I said, the husbands handled the business end of things. They went around the whole house in detail, where every nook and cranny was discussed... in pursuit of FULL disclosure. I, on the other hand, had never even seen the inside of the closets before I was signing my name to the purchase agreement. Weird? Yes. But that's just the way it worked out. While I believed it was God's will, I was still tied up in my emotions. My friends were leaving. My son would have to change schools. And while I was excited for the new start, I held so many reservations. How would I make it MY home? I didn't really care about the cabinet or closet space at the time.
That was four years ago, this spring. Our friends are happily settled in their own home in Kansas City, and here we still are... And, yes, I managed to make this place my own (although, just last week was the first time one of our friends did NOT go to the kitchen pantry to find the trashcan where our old friends used to keep it. :) HA! I guess everyone has finally adjusted to the transition.)
Oh, I so love it here. We live in an older subdivision of the area, and it's just beautiful. The trees are grown and mature. The season changes are so lovely and full of color. Every house is a little different from the next, and in a short drive to take my boys to school in the morning, I am able to soak in God's creation. Our home is not huge. Some would even consider it too small for our family of five (plus two dogs). We have plenty of repairs to make. The kitchen needs remodeled, the laundry room is still leaky from time to time, the bedrooms are not ginormous, and we still need to complete the flooring project we began months ago.... and I couldn't be happier. I hope to live here for the rest of our family's days. We'll change and grow, and maybe one day, my boys' cozy bedrooms will become the place they'll come home to visit with their own families.
Who knows what the future holds. The older I get, the more content I've become in being thankful for the sweetness of today. I've even learned to be thankful for that little condo where it began! We made lots of memories there, and it only made me all the more thankful for the blessings God has in store for me later.
How wonderful and gracious He is to bestow so many undeserved blessings.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
ME.
I'm posting these for my mom. They're from last week, when KS2 was taking pics. :) But I thought she'd like to see them (since you can never keep a mom from being a mom)... AND because she starts to get snippy with me when I haven't posted something in a couple of days. Haha! :) Love ya, Mom.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Praise the King.
Praising Him today... because He is in control. He knows no surprises. He is God and He created me for a purpose. He loves me just as I am, not for WHO I am, but because HE IS WHO HE IS!!!!!!!
Flowers.
April showers bring May flowers... or something like that??? :) Either way, I'm pretty sure spring is in full swing around here... as long as we don't get another frost (which may very well happen this weekend). For now, I'll enjoy the beautiful blooms in my back yard. :)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Photography Skills...
This would be courtesy of KS2. I suppose he enjoys catching the "in between" moments?????
Monday, April 4, 2011
Mandy's Haircut.
Mandy is a shih tzu-bichon frise hybrid... (otherwise known as Zuchon, Shichon, or "Teddy Bear"). Short answer: She needs groomed. :)
I bathe my dogs regularly, but as for a haircut??? Well, I tried to do that myself ONE time for little Mandy... and, well, NEVER AGAIN! Yikes. It was awful. So, we let the professionals take care of that. But because I wash her often, and take care of her coat, we're able to go for quite some time between haircuts... especially over the winter, when she needs all of that fluff to keep herself warm and cozy!
Bored with this story yet?
Well, here's the end of it. Enough was enough, and Mandy's hair was OUT OF CONTROL. Here's her spring "do."
I bathe my dogs regularly, but as for a haircut??? Well, I tried to do that myself ONE time for little Mandy... and, well, NEVER AGAIN! Yikes. It was awful. So, we let the professionals take care of that. But because I wash her often, and take care of her coat, we're able to go for quite some time between haircuts... especially over the winter, when she needs all of that fluff to keep herself warm and cozy!
Bored with this story yet?
Well, here's the end of it. Enough was enough, and Mandy's hair was OUT OF CONTROL. Here's her spring "do."
See? She's so happy, she's smiling for her picture!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Mom's 58th Bday.
A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated my mom's 58th birthday. I wonder what my life will be like when I'm 58. Hmmmm....
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