Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Project 365, Week 17
I'm feeling so incredibly blessed during this Easter season. Each year, God's love for me feels more powerful and incomprehendable than the year before. Today I spent a lot of time thinking about what the Saturday after Good Friday was like for the world. Of course, we KNOW how the story ends. So we spend the making final preparations for our Easter celebration because we know what Sunday will hold. But they did not. I can't imagine the hopelessness, the confusion, the wondering, the grief. This Messiah who they'd waited for, believed in, worked for...loved, was dead and gone. Can't even fathom it. So, SO thankful I know how the story goes. SO eternally (literally) grateful that I've made it MY story.
April 17
Since the kids were gone overnight, Shaun and I were able to go out to breakfast, completing an absolutely wonderful 15 or so hours birthday celebration for him. Then we went to the store and made a purchase that in one week has been worth the money. A wireless containment system for the dog. No wires, just a small device in our house transmitting with this red collar. If he attempts to go beyond a pre-determined (by us) area, he gets a warning beep and then if he continues, gets zapped. Its done a wonderful job of keeping him in the yard. :)
April 18
My three siblings and I plus our 15 kids met at my mom's for Easter egg decorating and hunting. What a crew! Instead of filling the eggs with candy we filled them with money and the kids found over $70 that will be going to Kitchen of Love ministry in Guatemala, which feeds children who would otherwise go without.
April 19
No picture. Shaun went in to the office for a bit in the morning and then he and Amanda went to the office lunch party, celebrating THE END of tax season...til next year. Soooo happy to have Daddy back.
April 20
Just me and the two boys while Shaun and the girls did four performances this week. It was fun getting that one-on-one time with Aiden.
The woodstove was off for several days. On this day the house was in the low 50s so Avery took her nap wearing my sweatshirt. When is Spring??
Good Friday. I went to see the final performance. It was amazing and I was so proud of all my family who were involved in it. SO much love and hard work went into it and it was simply incredible. Aiden was so pleased to deliver these flowers to his sisters and they were completely tickled to get them from him. SWEETness!
Since we go to the Saturday night service, we started Easter a little early. AND, we got in a family portrait that I'm trying to do monthly. We're two for two...nice! Love these people more than life.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Could He Be The One?
A saviour on a hill dying for my shame
Could this be true?
Defies the world I see
Yet this is all my heart was longing for
To know you my Lord
To know you more…
The heavens wept for you, the earth cried out:
“Could He be the one?”
For you so loved the world
You gave your only son
To say I love you so
Oh how I love you so…
And all humanity aches to find
This beautiful love you give
We come to you again
To offer up our lives
To worship you alone
To worship you alone…
Savior, Hillsong
God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it's now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.
Romans 3:25,26
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Daddy's Bood
The oil company we use has possibly the dumbest tagline ever printed on all of their invoices..."Always affordable prices". Affordable to who?? This house goes through two tanks a month during the winter which would have been about $1400/ month this year, except we have a wood stove in the kitchen. Thankfully! We live in a big, old Victorian home that is insulation deficient but has ample drafts. :) Having the woodstove is such a blessing, but also a ton of work....for Shaun. Not just daily to keep it going but also year round to gather and chop and stack wood for the following season. Shaun enjoys the exercise it provides and picks at it consistently.
Aiden has seen his daddy do wood "stuff" and has grown to have a bit of an obsession with it. He gets very excited when anything is happening. Shaun takes him out whenever he can. Anytime we go out to play Aiden inevitably ends up "doing wood". He will spend hours moving pieces here to there and then back again. He grunts and groans under the strain and works very diligently.
Its the coolest thing to watch him want to be like his daddy. It seems like there is nothing Shaun can't do, so it will be interesting to see what Aiden ends up doing.
Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
Proverbs 4:1
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Scripture Memory #8
A little late, but here! After hearing some wonderful teaching on Psalm 16, I've decided to memorize the entire chapter, over the course of the next couple months. I thought this was an exceptional teaching, and its short, if you have 20 minutes to listen to some Beth Moore goodness, its totally worth it. HERE.
Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge
Psalm 16:1
Aiden is Twenty-One Months
My little guy just keeps getting bigger...just like he is supposed to do. He is such a snuggle guy and still knows how to get nice and little in my arms, which is still his favorite place to be in the world. :) He is so affectionate. He often goes from Avery to Amanda to me and back again giving us hugs or kisses...always unprompted and always heart-melting. This month he said "i wa oo" (I love you) for the first time. Ah...he owns me! :)He does his best to comfort Amanda when she's crying.
Speaking of Amanda, the two of them really know how to push each other's buttons. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. We already separate them in the car...sheesh.
He got to see baseball on TV for the first time and was immediately interested and he also got to go to Shaun's softball practice, which he was in awe of. Should prove to be an interesting season keeping him off the field! :)
He's also completely obsessed with "Daddy's bood" (wood). I'll do a separate post on it...its out of control. A similar problem with balls. He's actually pretty good at throwing and catching.
He's talking great and has lots of complete sentences, like Mom, I see the moon!
There's a forsythia tree outside his window and he says very deliberately and proud of himself yellow tree! (yellow is a hard word. :)
He says woo-hoo! when he gets excited, usually when I'm taking him out of his carseat. The enthusiasm for simple things is contagious.
We are done with sippy cups, not on purpose...it just kind of happened. He really likes wearing his shoes and sometimes wants to pick them out.
Loves his bed, goes down easily, just sticks his blanket in his mouth and rolls over, usually sleeps on his stomach with his bum in the air. And he still sleeps a lot, though he's usually up by 10 AM now and has a pretty consistent bedtime of 9 and one three-hour nap.
We love him to pieces...just wish all of life would just slow down a tiny bit! :)
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Project 365, Week 16
I have a ton of pictures from this week, which means one thing...I should have blogged more throughout the week! :) But here we are and I'm just going to go ahead and post them, because I know the likelihood of me going back to do it is slim to none.
April 10
My entire family gathered at my dad's church to witness the dedication of my youngest nephew, Wyatt Zane. This is my brother's sweet, young family.
We took advantage of a nice day and did some yard work. Avery is such a hard worker.
April 12
It just doesn't get old to me to see Shaun's grandparents interacting with the kids, their legacy. Avery read him the whole book and he helped her with the words she had trouble with. His delight in them is so pure and genuine.
Dress rehearsal #2. There is going to be a lot of these Passion of the King pictures because...well, that is what we are all about this week and next.
Sarah and Jared came for a visit and we went for a walk. Jared got Trot tired out and did some Extreme Stroller Racing for the girls. How precious is this?
Shaun spent his birthday preparing taxes and then rushed to church for opening night. We brought up a cake and brownies and 100 people sang happy birthday to him. Sadly, he never got a piece of cake, but Aiden was happy to be in his daddy's arms for 30 seconds, anyway.
I have such city girls. They thought they were in "the woods" looking for balls. Avery said, Mom! I just found this baseball near that cliff over there! Cliff? Ah...no. What is sad about this picture is that we all wore our winter coats for our walk...on April 16! That is just wrong. Aiden just wanted to relax in the stroller under the blanket.
I understand I run the risk of seeming like a bad parent by posting the following, but I guess by now you've probably formed your opinions about me anyway. :)
Aiden got locked in our bedroom and after several minutes of attempting to get him out I realized there was no chance I was going to get him out. Shaun was unavailable so I went to get my neighbor. He also tried many different things. It was kind of a humorous situation even though Aiden was beside himself crying behind the door. My neighbor was so patient with the girls as they tried to offer their help and advice. He didn't even discount Amanda's thought that maybe stringing a balloon ribbon through the key hole would do the trick. Eventually he took part of the door jam off and used a credit card, a skill he learned in his "wasted youth". :)
Aiden was a bit traumatized when he got out so I laid down with him the five minutes it took him to fall asleep. So thankful for good neighbors...I know those guys would do just about anything for us.
And we ended the day celebrating Shaun's birthday. Nathan and Laryssa took the kids over night and we went to dinner and did a little shopping. It was wonderful to spend some time together...it felt like it had been a really long time since we've had a conversation consisting of more than coordinating schedules. Happy Birthday and happy (almost) end of tax season!
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