Noah-Preschool

Noah goes to preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesday was apparently a bad listening day for Noah and the other kiddos. His teacher reminded them all to have "listening ears" for Thursday. So, we went home and talked about it with Noah. Then on Thursday morning, we reminded him again (Dave and he even turned on their listening ears before leaving for preschool). So, when I went to pick Noah up Thursday, I asked his teacher how they did.

She responded, "Well, it went better. At one point though, Noah was getting a little rambunctious. I reminded him about his listening ears. He responded, 'I took them off!'"

Yep, that's my kid.

Noahism

In the car:

Noah: Callie, you're hilarious. That's hilarious. Mommy, what does hilarious mean??

He makes me smile.

Finding God in the details

The last two days have certainly been memorable. Yesterday we traveled to see my grandma (the only living grandparent I have left). I love her to pieces. She originated here from Poland, having traveled through Ellis island many years ago. It's a cool legacy. Anyway, she hasn't been doing too well. She has had high blood pressure, and recently fell tearing some cartilage in her knee. She really wanted to see us, but didn't want to us to make the trip just for her since she wouldn't be able to do lunch (If you know anything about the Polish heritage...they just want to feed you all the time. :-) No joke. One time we were there before kids. It was Dave, my sister, and myself. She served a huge lasagna, a beef entree, and a HEAPING bowl of chicken fingers. For 4 people. She kept telling us, "Eat! Eat!". I love her.) Anyway, it was a good visit. She was really happy to see us and the kids, but I could tell it was really hard for her not to serve us food. The kids were really well behaved and it was a WONDERFUL visit. I realize that my grandma will not be around forever, and so these moments are really precious to me.

For lunch, we ventured into the city for Giordano's pizza. Dave loves Chicago style pizza, so when in Rome...

After that, we stopped by IKEA for my new bookcase. I heart it. I have way too many books. Perhaps its an addiction. I love reading.

So, backing up a bit. I've been in a spiritual wilderness for about a month now (hence no really deep posts lately). It's been difficult and I've just felt disconnected from God. As frustrating as that is, I KNOW that at the other end of this, God is so faithful. I know that I will see things more clearly, have more joy, and a deeper faith and compassion. I'm excited for that part...the interim is what's difficult. Anyway, I decided to spend my morning REALLY praying hard about the issue. It was really incredible. I continued reading through Acts and finished it. It's an incredible book and I found myself completely captivated while I was reading it. The passion that these men had for Jesus is so compelling. Paul's faith was so strong. He went to Jerusalem even though his deepest friends had warned him not to, for fear he would die from persecution. He went anyway, because he wanted Jerusalem to know about Jesus. Interestingly enough, although he was persecuted there and imprisoned...he didn't die there. He went on to Rome through a series of events...telling his testimony everywhere he went. How amazing. Literally, these men could have been killed for believing in Jesus. To believe in Jesus, and live the way they did, is so compelling. It's awe inspiring to me.

I had Dave pray over me this afternoon, and I feel that I am experiencing some freedom...hallelujah. I hope that I am coming out of this pit.

Here's my cool story:

Tonight I randomly decided to take the kids to the mall. Nothing unusual there, a warm place to let them play. As I was walking, Noah was dragging a piece of paper on the ground. A woman, who was mall walking, commented something about him being a boy. I laughed and agreed. I then asked, "Does it get easier?" (We've had a lot of behavioral issues lately) I'm not kidding. Our conversation lasted an hour. She ended up coming into the play area with me and sitting with me as we talked about life, parenting, and everything in between. It was one of those moments, where I felt the Holy spirit just hovering. I knew that God had orchestrated this moment. She has two sons who are both in their 30's and she talked about her struggles as a parent. Her brokenness over her son who is in prison. At one point, Callie, who had decided to like her (She has a knack for finding the "grandma" types and capitalizing on it) came over and brought her some books to read. Then, as this woman was reading her the book, Callie laid her head on her arm and wanted to cuddle. Watching my daughter, in her innocence, love on this woman was incredible. The woman was so touched. After Callie went back to play, she said, "I'm so glad that I stopped. You have no idea how badly I just needed a hug tonight." She ended up walking back to the other side of the mall with us. It was one of those moments where it felt almost surreal. You don't just have random hour long conversations in the mall with strangers. God was definitely at work. For me, talking to her, made me have more perspective as a parent. These times, although they feel hard, are going to go by SO fast. I will be looking back at them and wondering where the time has gone. Noah is going to be FOUR in May already. Time is moving. I felt like my love and joy for them grew even deeper tonight, if possible. Watching them play and laugh, as I am talking to this woman who had already raised hers, made me value my time with them so much more.

God IS in the details.

Callie Dora

Dave and Busters in pictures

We had dinner and entertainment. This guy was doing magic tricks. He included the birthday boy in one of his tricks. Fun!




Sarah with her 1000 tickets!

Outdoors

I have been miserable this last week. I have had spring fever for awhile now and this snow is just adding insult to injury in my opinion. I happened upon a friends blog, and she had posted this video. It totally cheered me up. It's Jason Mraz singing a parody of his song, "I'm yours"...except it's called, "Outdoors". Enjoy.



If it doesn't embed...here is the link:Outdoors

Happy 30th Birthday Dave

Today marks 30 year's of Dave. I would like to thank his parents for raising such an amazing man, who is now an amazing father. I am so privileged to have him in my life.

Happy Birthday babe!

More Noah funny

Just for you Tiffany:

Today is a smorgasbord of kid funnies. Callie is dressed up in her Dora "dress up". She's running around. Noah comes up to me and says, "I wish I had that when I was a girl!". Uh, Noah..hate to break it to you. You were never a girl. Sorry dude.

Callieness and the "Mommy"

I just changed Callie's diaper and she had the beginnings of a diaper rash. I put A & D ointment on her bottom. As I'm putting her diaper on, she gives me this sweet smile and says, "Tank you". You're more than welcome baby.

On another note: I'm changing my name. "Mommy" is used multiple hundreds of times a day in this house. In the time it took me to write this sentence, I heard it 11 times. "Mommy, Slinky is growing up. Mommy, look fish are in slinky's belly. Mommy see? Mommy. Mommy, can I have a chip please? Mommy, please may I have a chip? MOMMY, may I please have a chip? (give chip) Mommy, more chips. Mommy, another chip please. Another chip please. Mommy, here's the crumb. Mommy, here. You can eat them. Mommy. Mommy. Slinky has a car in his belly too. Mommy. Mommy. Slinky has a car in his belly. Slinky has a car in his belly. That's slinky's car. He eated it. That's slinky's car."

I stopped typing my own stuff and just typed the last 4 minutes of Noah. He is the funniest kid. I love him to pieces, but he sure can talk a mile a minute.

Callie: "Mommy. mommy. Mommy. mommy."

They're pretty stinkin cute and I love them like crazy (even when they drive me crazy).

Noahism

Noah and I went shopping just by ourselves today. He had saved enough of his pennies to buy a slinky dog. We pulled out some of his money for a tithe and then we put the money needed for his dog into a baggie. We felt it was a good way for him to learn about money.

Anyway, he bought and paid for it and was very proud of his purchase.

As we were running other errands and walking hand in the hand into the store, our conversation went like this:

Mommy: I like spending time with you Noah.
Noah: I like spending time with Daddy! (he then ammended that he liked spending time with both of us)

Thanks kid.

Indy

I'm writing from Indy. We stayed the night here last night for funsies. Actually, Dave had a conference yesterday and today and since he had to work overnight Thursday night, he opted to get a hotel room instead of driving back and forth. The kids and I braved the storm and decided to come down and join him. Otherwise we wouldn't see him for 2.5 days. A stormy night in Indy with two small kids is pretty tame. During the day, the kids and I went to the museum. We made it into town before the weather got bad. I got them to take a small nap in the afternoon before Dave came "home". We at at the Golden Corral, where my kids provided the entertainment for the ladies sitting next to us. They were all quite taken with them (one who was scheduled to be induced on Sunday). It was actually quite fun to visit with them. The kids were amused too, so that helped Dave and I a bunch. Afterwards, we had to run to Meijer because Callie apparently shed her sippy cup somewhere in the Children's Museum. We tried to take the kids swimming when we got back, but the pool was FREEZING! Dave was the only brave one that jumped in and as he says it, he screamed like a girl. :-) The kids dipped their feet in the hot tub and that was the extent of it.

Of course, putting both kids in the same bed was a trip. They both kept poking each other for a long time before they both fell asleep.

Now, Dave is off to his conference and the kids and I have a LONG time to kill this morning before we pick up my newest craigslist item.

Noah's cousin has a leap frog tag and we were thinking about getting one for Noah for his birthday. I happened to look on craigslist the other day to see if I could get one a little cheaper...and I hit JACKPOT. The system alone costs $50, the books cost around $14, and the carrying case is around $15. We figured we would just amass those as time went by. However, I found a BRAND NEW tag in the box, with the carrying case, new Cars book, new dinosaur book, and new Kung Fu panda book all in their original packaging for $50. Happy Birthday Noah! They live outside of Indy, so we are just picking them up on our way back today.

On another note: A shout out to Kristin Parry...HAPPY BIRTHDAY friend. Hope you had a great time last night. Sorry I couldn't be there to help you celebrate.

Also: Sara P. Have a great Sara Bowl Saturday..and Sara Bowl Sunday to celebrate your birthday!

Love you both!

Now to put Dora on this computer so I can get ready real quick.

Lifegroup

I know I say this about every lifegroup that we've led...but I love my lifegroup. We have started a group for adults ages 40 and over. Yes, I know, I know. Dave and I certainly do not fit this category. The problem in our church has been we've had adults in this age range come to our church for awhile, but because they never really get plugged in anywhere, they end up leaving. So, we started a lifegroup to fit that need. It's been an interesting ride. We are, and always will be, the youngest in the group, but I feel that we still have respect as leaders, which was something we were initially concerned about. The people in our group our great and I love getting to know them. It's been a lot of fun getting to know people who have already raised their kids. I have enjoyed making new friends and getting to know people. We had group tonight, hence my excitement about the subject. It was a good discussion, a good time of prayer and I feel like we are really getting to the point where we are "jelling". Community is happening, and it's exciting.

A quick shout out to all our babysitters who come in and watch our kiddos for free as a service to us so that we can lead this group. We wouldn't be able to do it without you...so THANKS and we love you!