Saturday, April 23, 2011

Easter School Week

   

This week was a fun week, short but fun!  Here's the breakdown of our week: 
Monday - We read the story of Palm Sunday and The Last Supper out of our Children's Bible.  We also read "Ollie's Easter Eggs".  We practiced writing the letter "E", which I printed off of Confessions of a Homeschooler blog.  BG worked on matching colors and shapes, while Jman practiced his phonics and letters on his learning computer.  I got the idea for the penguins off of the Everything Preschool website (there are 6 of them in total), while I thought of the ladybugs myself.  I don't remember where I got the shape cutouts from, though I know it found it on the internet about 3 years ago!
Tuesday - We read "The Story of Easter" and out of our children's Bible, the story "Jesus Dies" and "I am the Way".  Jman practiced his letter "E" and "B", while BG did some matching and computer games.  Then, Jman worked on matching the Easter eggs shown below taken from Confessions of a Homeschooler blog.  Then we made Easter bunny heads.  I had left over styrofoam balls from our outer space week, so we painted them, added googly eyes and pipe cleaner ears.  
Wednesday - We didn't have school because I had my 34 week midwife checkup. 
Thursday - We read our stories again.  Jman and BG practiced writing the letters "E" and "B".  Then we read and colored our Easter lap books.  I printed them from www.biblestoryprintables.com.  Jman did some more matching, sorting and counting with the Easter Egg cards.  The boys also did some cutting with scissors!  It's a fun break for them.  They made thank you cards for Dad, just for being Dad!  They're extra special because it was Jman's idea.   
That was our week in an "egg shell".  It is a lot of fun and just thought I'd share a little with you.  God's blessings be with you this Easter weekend as we remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us!   

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

A Special Day!

Our theme this week for school is Easter.  Yesterday, we talked about the story of Palm Sunday and tried to do our typical routine.  It was rough.  Jman didn't want to sit and do any writing practice.  BG ran around the entire time, which isn't typical, and made it harder for Jman to focus.  I just went with the flow and made our routine shorter.  Today, we tried it again.  It was much better!  God knows when I need a break and just makes things click.  We read out of our children's bible the stories of the Last Supper and Jesus is the Way to Heaven.  We've talked about what it means to have Jesus living in your heart and how you get to heaven.  It wasn't a new story.  After reading the stories, Jman asked if we could ask Jesus to live in our hearts!  It was a great moment!  I told him that Jesus already lived in my heart but he could ask Jesus to live in his heart if he wanted to.  He said he wanted to, so we prayed and Jman accepted Jesus into his heart!  God is amazing and all of heaven is rejoicing along with us!  It is a great day!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

April 16th Snow!

Today is the sad day that Ashley makes the exodus from our house back to Fargo.  And she was greeted with this:
Doesn't look like much from this picture.  I wanted to make myself feel better and get as much NON-snow covered ground in the photo!  Ash was supposed to leave yesterday, but Fargo was getting hit by the winter storm and we got some phone in reports (from Dad) that the roads were icy and the storm was projected to last all day.  She decided to wait a day to let it pass by.  Hopefully the roads will be cleared on her drive.  I'm ready for summer!!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Kitchen Update...Part 1

Here is the first picture of our kitchen.  We officially started sanding and painting this past Friday.  It's moving right along!  We decided to separate it into 4 different sections...top stove wall, bottom stove wall, top fridge wall, bottom fridge wall.  We ALMOST have the first section done.  It looks like it is done from this picture, but we still need to paint the 2 cabinets closest to the door with one more coat of paint.  And then it's onto the bottom section.  We already primed the shelves inside.  They didn't need to be sanded, so we tackled them while we were priming the cabinets above.  I figured as long as we get the interior and exterior of the cabinets done, the doors don't need to be completed.  I just want to get all of the stuff off the floor in the sunroom and back in the cupboards!  The boys have been having "jam sessions" with our mixing bowls and serving spoons.  The drumming has become a bit unbearable!  We did discover that we will need to repaint our kitchen walls.  The current color is too close to white; we need a more distinctive color.  That will come later!  Back to work!!!

Friday, April 8, 2011

I Can't Believe It!

I am just distraught!  BG was looking out the window in our sun room, watching the dog next door, when he noticed a bug.  I thought it was on the outside, but when he touched it, it disappeared and then went shooting out from under his finger.  I went to take a closer look...it was a MOSQUITO!  Can you believe it??  It's WAY too early for mosquitoes!  Boo.  :)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Kitchen Transformation: The Beginning


Let the mission begin!  Here are a few before pictures of our kitchen.  I spent yesterday afternoon removing the upper cabinet doors on the side of the stove.  I had already started when I realized I needed to take some pictures!  We are planning on painting the cabinets white, rip up the floor and put down new vinyl and possibly repaint the walls.  It is a pale yellow now and we think it might need to be a color not so similar to white.  If you want a mental image of what the kitchen looked like when we moved in: the microwave on the left side is where the fridge used to be, the dishwasher was actually where the U shape cabinets jutted out into the middle of the kitchen.  The countertops used to be white with gold specks and we had a gold light fixture with clear glass.

 
The cabinet under the microwave is cut out of the U shaped cabinets that we removed and transplanted.   


I'm nervous to document our start date.  I'm not going to keep track of the ongoing days for this project!  I'll keep the updates coming.   

Monday, April 4, 2011

New Changes

This week we started our new school theme of "Spring".  The season of new life.  I think every season is one of change, but this spring is bringing a few of it's own.  My sister has been living with us since October.  That's why we had the big push to get our basement done.  The boys have loved having her here.  She is moving back to Fargo in 2 weeks to start a new job there.  It will certainly be different without her here! 

Another change coming (no big surprise) is the arrival of baby.  It hit me yesterday while at a girlfriend's baby shower (who is due 4 days after me) that we aren't really ready for baby yet!  She was saying how she had her nursery all put together and was finally going to be able to organize with all the gifts she was getting.  I started to get a little nervous!  I know it's baby #3, but still...  We have the crib in the office/nursery, but it's not put together.  We don't have an unoccupied mattress yet; BG is using the crib mattress in his toddler bed.  We need to get a BIG big boy mattress for him and Nate needs to build bunk beds for the boys.  (Add it to his list, huh?)  I do have all the clothes I've received washed, organized and put away in rubbermaids.  The dresser will come once Ash moves out...we're inheriting her old one, which was actually my old one!  I do have the going home outfit picked out and lying out in a pile of stuff to take to the hospital, it's just not in a bag yet.  I think the only other big thing we have to get before baby comes is the diapers! 

All these changes mean a new season of life.  This past fall, I planted tulip bulbs in my front yard landscaping.  I wondered if they would survive the winter and sprout this spring.  This weekend, I saw the tips of the bulbs popping up through the ground.  It's exciting to see all the plants growing; not only because I love gardening and landscaping, but because I am reminded that God is faithful and creates new, beautiful life time and time again.  This new season of our life will definitely be different from the one we're in now, but each season brings it's own surprises and journeys.  We will take each turn as it comes, walking with God!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Projects: Of the Home and Of the Heart

We haven't quite started on the kitchen yet; we're still trying to get the lighting up in the storage area in the basement.  I did, however, get the storage room (a 12 ft x 20 ft room) empty, swept, and organized this past week.  It was amazing to see the mountain of stuff turn into "not as much stuff as I thought it was"!  I'm at a stand still, since I'm not the wiring/electrical guru of the family.  Nate is so busy with Bethel work (registration was this past week which means long hours), church work (writing questions for small group discussions and updating the website), homework for his graduate class (I think he still has one more class after this one before graduation, but the end is near!), applying for jobs and working on our ongoing house projects.  Not to mention, being a dad and a husband!  I don't know how he does it sometimes.  I get overwhelmed being a stay at home mom, with 2 boys and pregnant, trying to keep the house clean, prepare meals, homeschooling, keep laundry at bay, I could go on, but you get the point.  It seems never-ending. 
Then, when I feel like we're on a roll with house projects and homeschooling, the enemy starts to interfere.  We get busy...  Homeschooling was put on the back burner.  I've only done a few of our daily routine items and no real planning has been involved.  I've just found myself "too busy and tired" or finding excuses to postpone it.  And when our kitchen looks to get started, I get side tracked with organizing the office/future nursery, Nate gets bombarded with extra work, and we both just feel exhausted, physically and mentally.  The cycle of being busy never ends.  Nate and I talked last night and decided that we need to just let go of our burdens and let God take over.  I don't know why we keep them on our backs in the first place.  It never works out.  Yet, God is faithful and Nate and I both keep going.  God gives us the strength and energy to persevere.  God is our provider and we both strive to have His will mold our hearts and keep us strong.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Baby Bump at 31 1/2 weeks

Here is my baby bump!  You can enjoy my popped belly button in this photo!  :)

Baby D #3 - Countdown??

We have finally arrived at month 8!  That should mean 8 weeks left...but I'm thinking more along the lines of 9 or 10.  My "oven" tends to overcook babies!  My last appointment with the midwives was last week and I was measuring 29.5 cm at 30 1/2 weeks.  That means that I'm measuring at the size of a 29 1/2 weeks baby rather than 30 1/2 weeks.  I'll take it if it means that I'll have a smaller baby than my previous two.  Jman was born 9 days late and weighed in at 9 lbs 2 oz.  BG was 12 days late and weighed 8 lbs 9 oz.  Maybe this little girl will decide to come on time or only a few days late!  Though, somedays I think with all the mayhem that goes on around here, she may decide to stay in for as long as she can!

The Making of a Warrior

I resumed going to Women's Bible Study at our church last week, after a winter break. The study is on becoming a warrior for God. It was a new idea for me, so I was intrigued! I had never really thought about what it meant to actually be a warrior. Here are a few points that were made that I had to share. They are too important for me not to!

  1. God's sovereignty and providence in all things: When things seem hard to understand or even just plain odd, assume God is up to something. Similar circumstances can result in very different outcomes.

  2. What does it take to be a spiritual warrior: Be willing to be changed. Let God shape you and pour Himself into you. Give up control "Let go and let God". Trust both God's ability and willingness to lead, guide, and help you. Learn to use your spiritual eyes over your physical eyes; spiritual eyes "see" more than our physical eyes, for example angels. Rethink your perspectives and pursuits (1 Timothy 4:8). Acknowledge the battle going on around you and understand what it is (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Invest yourself in learning how to "Fight the Good Fight".

  3. A Warriors Oath: "I am committed to the process of becoming totally involved and available to do whatever God wants me to do: I will put Him above everything and everyone. I will fully give my life to the purpose of fighting the good fight and to overcoming the powers of darkness that threaten all of humanity."

  4. Jesus was harassed and hounded on earth for 33 years. He suffered even unto death. He never gave up because He never stopped thinking of us. He sweat blood because He knew what He was facing. Yet, He didn't back down and run from His mission when it got really tough.

  5. So when He calls you to pick up your cross and follow Him, will you? It's not easy. When he asks you to defend what He gained (the dominion and power from dieing on the cross) are you ready? We will need to be prepared. Will you go to battle for your children's hearts and souls, for your marriages, for your neighbors?
This list was taken directly from the handout I got at bible study. It's a lot to think about! I was filled with a renewed passion to stand up and stay strong. It will take a lot of work, but it is worth it. I want to keep Satan down and God up. I know I need to prepare for battle and stay focused on God's word and will for my life. I can succeed; we can succeed. With God's power, we can do anything! Here are a few passages that were also given to read. They helped put into perspective what I need to focus on for preparing to be a warrior.

  • Jeremiah 18:4

  • 2 Corinthians 4:7-8

  • Acts 5:38-39

  • Mark 10:27

  • Proverbs 16:9
I hope this gets you motivated to keep your heart focused on the Lord and started on your own transformation into a warrior!