A Time For Every Season....

I arrived home around 10:15 pm - visiting with a fellow mama over coffee, sharing life and lack of sleep moments. It  felt so good to get out of the house for just a  few hours and talk to an adult and drink Chai Tea without having to share or take anyone to the bathroom! I look around the living room, lights are all on, shoes shrewd about, then I trip over a toy and notice the nicely cleaned kitchen - my husband is so sweet. I glance to the right and see light under the bathroom door - then I remember I've had to go for 3 hours! I open the door, sit down on the toilet and smile. At my feet I spy two swords - dropped in haste during a war scene earlier that  day that abruptly ended when one of my little's was caught jumping up and down frantically. I see a hardened bread crumb left from Abby's "bread" incident from that afternoon. My sweet girl went into the pantry and opened an entire loaf of bread on the tile floor. She then carried it all into the dog bed and...

I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. —Psalm 78:2-4 The year of 2011 will go down as the year of rest and peace. We spent the year basking in the uneventful. Here are the blessings we celebrated before the Lord this year, as we gather to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving, I will rest and bring praises to the Lord for all that He has done and provided for us over the past year. Health & Wellness::  The past few years we spent a lot of time at the doctors office, on medication, recovering from colds, RSV, allergies, and ear infections. We worked through intestinal issues, constant vomiting, neck pain and many other issues. The year of 2011 will go down as the year we as a family started a holistic journey to becomin...

Dear Gabe, Today you are 4 years old, what a quick and fun 4 years it has been! I still look back on your birth with such sentimental longing. You were my "almost" Thanksgiving baby. I delivered two days before my favorite holiday and begged the doctor to let me go home. We were home  on Thanksgiving eve - a mere 24 hours after  you were born. I was able to rest and be pampered by all the family who was in town - like Grandma Patti and Nana. I look back with a huge grin when I think about taking you shopping in my little sling at a mere 3  days old. We went to Costco and Bed Bath and Beyond and Kohl's. Then when we got home I found you all bundled up in Nana's van fast asleep  - alone! Both grandparents had gone into the house and left you in the car. You were only out there about 20 minutes but it was a moment of laughter that I'll remember forever. The Grandma's were so  guilty!  Gabe I just love your smile and bright personality. You are always ...

When my kids grew old enough to have a conversation, I began teaching  them some basic catechism's of our Christian faith. We're not Catholic, but I found that asking my children the same questions and having them give me a memorized answer, produced hidden truths into my children's hearts. These hidden truths would come out later on in random conversations we would have. I would see their memorized answers ramble out of their mouth in response.  A few times I've seen a little "light bulb" come on as they discovered revealed truth in their lives. Now, at ages (almost) 4 & 7, they are able to articulate and logically put together their own responses to my questions - which is a a great way of teaching. So,  a few months back I began teaching them through the book of John over breakfast. Abby sits and listens and tries to chime in with the few words she knows - like pray and Jesus! Why did I pick John? I chose the book of John because it is written in stor...