Cabin-Vacation part 1

We took a full Yenerich family vacation this year. We had Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle Mike and Aunt Laura, Tyler and Katie. It was a two part vacation. The first leg was heading to Dave's grandparent's cabin in Northern Wisconsin. It's beautiful up there and the cabin has been a part of the family for many, many years. It's really neat to be able to take the next generation up there as well. On the drive up the girls rode in one vehicle, and the boys in the other. We got the girls.



We went on the Pontoon boat a few times. This is probably my favorite thing to do up there. I LOVE riding in the boat. The kids did pretty well too. Callie didn't smile much, but she wasn't upset either.





Noah went fishing. Mommy did not. They went to Spirit Lake where the fish are really dense, so you can catch quite a bit. I hear he caught about ten or so. He was really into it...especially the worms.


Noah and Dave played in the lake for a little while. Tyler eventually joined in. Little Miss Katie thought she wanted to join in, but then decided against it.



Perhaps the sweetest part of the trip was when Dave took me back to the place where he proposed 7 years ago (on August 7, 2002). We sort of re-enacted the date with Taco Johns (the same place we grabbed food from on that day) and then headed out to "our" pier. We've gone once before and just chatted about all the changes that have happened since that day. We talked again about all the changes since then even (adding Callie mainly)and then he prayed for us. For those of you who don't know, prayer is how he lead into the proposal, so it was really sweet and a great way to end the date. This is our self-picture of us on the pier.

The last night we were there, Dave and I watched the kids so that Mike and Laura could have their turn at a date. It was actually a lot of fun. We went to McDonalds (big shocker there) and then off to a park. We taught the kids to say "tada!" and throw their hands in the air. They were pretty stinkin cute at it:



We had a great time up at the cabin and were very thankful for the opportunity to be up there.

I'm baaaacccckkkk!

Bet you thought I disappeared? We have been on vacation for the last week. It's been lot's of fun and crazy busy. Admittedly, I have barely had time to sit down since we've gotten back. I think I am going to blog about vacation in parts since there are quite a few things that happened. If you don't hear from me in a few days, its because I'm leaving again tonight and internet might be sketchy. My dad had his hip replaced last week. I'm headed home tonight to help out a little bit for a few days. I'm actually looking forward to the opportunity to serve him in that way. He was in good spirits when I saw him on Saturday, so that's encouraging.

Callie/Daddy time

Potty Humor

Noah was sitting on the toilet doing his business. I went in to check on him, and he announced: "My butt just whistled!". It was the funniest thing that I had heard all morning. Oh, kids.

Wow...Praise God

This is just in the last 8 hours:

1) Last night in the middle of the night, Noah woke me up. He said he was scared...so I walked him back into his room and offered to turn on his fishie light. As I am leaving, he asks, "Can you pray for me?" Crud, I'm crying as I write this. In all the things that I struggle with as a parent, I'm so thankful that Noah knows the power of prayer at such a young age. I prayed with him and he snuggled right back down.

2) I got a $20 check in the mail today randomly. Sweet.

3) Because of my last post, I got to catch up with an old friend and had an opportunity to pray with her over the phone. God showed up through the phone lines and it was awesome. I'm still reeling from it.

4) The kids and I are having a really nice day. We had to run back to the mall this morning and they were both really well-behaved. They even went down for naps without a fuss and are still sleeping. Praise Jesus.

5) I'm continually being blown away by God's power. 'Nuf said.

So thankful

OK, so me having a chance to get centered this morning and start my day off with the Lord has really paid off. First of all, I was showered, dressed, hair done, with the kitchen swept, the floor vacuumed, and kid's in clothes by 9am. It's a great way to start the day.

However, Noah's been having a few behavioral issues lately. Not many, but when he does, they are ugly. Not to go into the details, but he was in time-out. Then after time out, he fought me tooth and nail because he didn't want to go to bed. He wanted to SIT in time out. Yes, you heard me. I recognized it for the maneuvering tactic that it was, but still it was a battle. He was screaming and flailing and couldn't pull it together. When I felt myself getting heated, I walked out, called Dave real quick to make sure that I was doing the right thing, then walked back in calmly. Here's why this is a good thing. I can get as angry as Noah when I am thwarted. He is also capable of really pushing my buttons. At the conference, I got a lot of prayer about this. Although, I don't think the urge is completely taken away from me, I do feel that God has given me a lot of tools to help me manage my emotions better. I actually felt God's peace over me the whole time that I was dealing with Noah. It would have been very easy for me to have gotten as mad as he was and yell back. However, it was almost as if God had allowed me to step back and see the situation in a different light (He was tired, trying to manipulate the situation, and really did just need to go to bed). I didn't give in, but it gave me some serious insight into how to handle it well. Was I perfect? No, but I definitely feel that God is shaping me. My desire is to be a woman of temperance and self-control. I have a long way to go, but today felt like a small victory in that arena.

It's kind of hard for me to admit this, because it feels like a glaring weakness. I feel like I should have patience all the time with my kids and never get upset. What kind of mom am I? Unfortunately, that's not my reality. I do feel as though I'm actually learning to have patience in the moment. It's not me. Believe me...if left to my own devices...ugh. However, as I continue to let God guide me and have control over different aspects of my life (like my anger), I'm feeling his gentle guidance and peace as I deal with difficult circumstances. It's one of those moments where I realize how much I miss when I don't let God have control. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about...you almost have to experience it to believe it. Giving up control seems like a stupid thing to do, but honestly, as I continue to give more and more to God, I'm learning that I have more peace than before, and I make wiser choices. If you haven't realized, I'm having one of those "AHA!" moments that happen every so often in my faith. It's the point where you realize..."This is great! Why haven't I done this a long time ago?!"

I know that I will have struggles in the future...but one of the main things that I learned (or relearned) at conference is that as a follower of Jesus, we are redeemed. The idea of being redeemed is that when we make mistakes, and repent, we are then forgiven...and are no longer under the yoke of that sin (Some sins may require natural consequences, but the sin itself is forgiven). The reality of that thought impacted me in a very real way while I was at conference. I mean, I always knew it, but I felt the weight of that sacrifice so fully. I felt that I deserved to carry my sins and punish myself. I detested myself. It was actually a struggle for me to fully submit them to God and let him take it. Yes, I still deserved to carry the weight of them...but since Jesus had already paid the price....I could be free. The bottom line- God has saved my life...again and again...and I am SO thankful. Because of that, I can become a better mom for my kids, wife for my husband, and just a better me. I'm still a work in progress (and believe me there is a LOT of work still left to do), but I think I have my arrow now pointed in the right direction, and there is even a little wind in my sail.

Family Fun

First off, while it's still quiet...let me say that it is 7:45am. Both kids are still sleeping and I was able to do my quiet time and eat breakfast in absolute quiet this morning. It was BEAUTIFUL. I actually felt like I could really connect with the Lord and take in the words that I was reading. It was amazing.

So, Dave had all of yesterday off. We got chores done during the day. Dave lawned (I love Noah's term for it too much not to incorporate it into our lingo). He also pulled out of the pond a 25 pound dead grass carp. It was GROSS and smelly. There are about 10 more floating around in the green pond. For those of you who don't know. When we bought this house, the pond was in fact, actually a really pretty pond. Now, it is filled with tiny plants called duckweed and watermeal. They take expensive chemicals to kill them off. Therefore, we have to get all the homeowners around the pond involved to intervene. That takes time. And that is where we are at. Anyway, meanwhile, fish are dying because this stuff is so thick. It's really not pretty at all.
*Interesting note* This was Noah's first time with something dead. We explained that the fish wasn't sleeping, but that it had died. Well, later on when he was playing with Dave, Dave had his eyes closed on the floor. Noah announced, "Daddy's dead!" He usually will just say that Daddy is sleeping. What's more interesting is that at one point he was attacking Dave's legs. Dave asked, "What are you doing?" Noah replied, "I'm swording you!". He's becoming more and more boy. I'm not sure where he even knows about swords. We talked again about what death means (When someone dies, they can't come back and play with you) I didn't want to scare him, but I wanted him to understand what he was saying.


After dinner, we headed to West Lafayette with our bikes (we drove there, not biked). We started at the Farmer's Market. Saw our friend Abby, then took a really cool bike ride through West Lafayette. I'm not overly familiar and I had never ridden that way before, so it was actually a lot of fun. Our trail took us by another friend's house, so we popped in there for a minute to say hi, then went home. At one point I was ahead of Dave for about 15 feet. Some guy whistled and yelled "Hey baby" out of his truck to me. I was so floored. I have not been hit on in YEARS. Dave and I joked about it for the rest of the ride home.

We got the kids in the bed and watched a little bit of "So you think you can dance". I haven't watched much of that show, but I do enjoy watching the dances...mainly because I could NEVER do that. It was a nice night.

OK...it's 8am now...Dare I dream I can get in a shower before the kid's wake up???

A year ago today...

...Callie was admitted to the hospital for the lump on the side of her neck. After 15 days in the hospital (4 at Home Hospital and 11 at Riley), they diagnosed it as a semi-resistant staph infection. It was an intense time, but the things that I remember the most are the support I felt from family and friends, a trust in God that He would make things work out, and a glimpse into Callie's character. Wow, just looking at these pictures shows how much she has changed and grown up.

So glad that Dave gave Chester a bath yesterday...

Michael Jackson and Jesus

So, thanks to all of you who posted a comment...there are more of you than I thought.

So, Michael Jackson died. I sincerely hope that by this time, this is not a shock to you. Although, it's sad that he died, I'm actually getting sick of the media frenzy that this has become. Seriously, he was just a man. A weird, kinda messed up man. He wrote legendary music, I'll give him that. I'm just sickened by the amount of people trying to get into his "last performance". There are fan-crazed, obsessed people talking about getting "the golden ticket"...then turning around and trying to sell it for $3000 on ebay. I wonder how much of it is truly to say "goodbye" or the glory of being a part of such a famous person's funeral. Is it really that sincere?

When the media hype becomes this much over a man's death, it makes me ponder. I've thought a lot this morning about Jesus' death and how it probably looked vastly different. If someone deserved a lot of fanfare, it would be Jesus. He died on a cross to save us from our sins. Wouldn't you say that's worthy enough to have your funeral be a big deal? Yet, it would almost make the story lose it's beauty to have it any other way than as it is written.

Thanks Lord that you died a sinless death so that we might live. Thanks for not getting the glory this side of heaven so that we can live freely. Although your death may not have been an event that filled a stadium, it has altered the lives of millions...and has lived on for 2000 years.

Is Anybody out there?

I know of a few people who read this blog, but are there more? Leave me a comment and let me know who's out there. :-) I'm actually really curious.

Forehead? Meet Pavement.

So, here's my Friday:

The kid's slept in until 7:40...hurray! Actually, Callie slept in until 8:30. We were at Monkey Joe's last night and they bounced and bounced, so they were tired. I tried hitting a garage sale today. I drove all the way to the West Side and ended up only purchasing a 50 cent book. You win some. You lose some...this was the latter.

We got home and I decided it would be fun to see Flushed Away that is playing for the kid's movie matinees over the summer. I forgot our coupon for cheap popcorn (grrrr). Frankly, I just really wanted their movie theater popcorn. We made it as long as the popcorn lasted, which was about an hour. Then Callie became restless, and well, we left shortly after that.

After everyone took naps or rested (I read a book), I cleaned out the van and the car...and I mean CLEANED. I'm sure I'll be doing the van again before vacation, but still it was nice to not feel like I am living in filth and always wondering, "What's that smell?"

After Dave went to work, the kids and I ran a bunch of errands. Because they were good, we went to Columbian park. The kid's played in the sand the whole time. Callie was a mess. She has a skinned up knee, her shirt was covered in dinner. Her hair was crusty from whatever food she had smeared in it. And yet, she is still a diva. This is her saying, "teez"



And now, the reason for the title. As we were leaving, Noah starts running...and you guessed it. Face first into the sidewalk. I heard it, poor thing. He's definitely going to have a pretty large bruise on his forehead. It's already started. We iced it when we got home. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Anyway, it's been an interesting (but good) day...that's for sure.

Finally...some video

I have been having a hard time finding my video on the computer after I cleaned off some files. It's there somewhere, I just can't access it. But, I downloaded using another thingamajigger (yes, that's a technical term) and I think I may be able to upload some video of the kidoodles.
This top one is of Callie walking. She is now exclusively walking, so this was taken a couple of weeks ago. I personally just like the tri-pod that she makes before standing up.
This one is of Noah singing "Never Let Go". He can actually sing most of the chorus, but in this video, he only remembered one line. For those of you who know me, he's my child.

We are alive!

Long overdue update

Well, I've been postponing this...and I'm not sure why. I just haven't felt like sitting down and writing out feelings.

Anyway, I had an AWESOME time at summer conference last week. I was gone Wednesday-Friday. God rocked my boat a ton, especially in the area of parenting. It wasn't necessarily about that, but that's what God was dealing with me on. I got lots of good prayer. I was able to connect with a lot of people there and it was so refreshing. I was even able to take a nap during the break! It was a really refreshing time. However, I was also really excited to see my family when I got back.

Over the weekend, we just hung out together. We hit some garage sales (and scored big on boys clothes this weekend!). On Sunday, we had our church picnic. It was really nice to just take the time to connect with others again. The weather was gorgeous too!

The kids and I went to the zoo on Monday. We've just been going and going. Yesterday, we just took the day off. I cleaned and the kids relaxed most of the day. We needed a day "off".

See, when I wait this long to blog, it just seems boring. I forget silly stuff that really salt and peppers our day to day life. Really, we're not as boring as I sound...or maybe we are, but I'm OK with that. I have a great family that at the very least, keeps ME entertained.

P.S. I LOVE having another walker. Callie is walking everywhere now and it's super cute to watch her explore her indepence. :-)