Oh My Love...

Because we are moving today and tomorrow I haven't had much time to blog. But as tomorrow is Valentine's Day, one of my favorite days of the year, I wanted to dedicate this post to my husband, Chad. Valentine's Day has always been special to us, as it is the anniversary of our first date! 16 years ago tomorrow, it all began. No longer me and you, but forevermore, WE, began.

I can honestly say that it has been nothing but sweetness each and every day with this man. He is so good to me and where I am weak, he has strength. Chad is the most loving, compassionate, caring man I know. Watching daily how he tries so hard to BE a blessing to all those around him, blesses me just as much as if he were doing something nice for me.

There's just something about Chad, aside from his handsome looks, that is attractive. Before we even started our courtship, I only wished I could find someone just like him! Everyone in his family was crazy about him and I soon learned why. He's fun and silly, likes to play and sometimes just relax. I love it when he's adventurous, which is often! And when we we go on a vacation he LOVES exploring and traveling. He turns into this different person when he is free of responsibilities. I LOVE it and call his alter ego "Vacation Chad". How I love Vacation Chad! We went to Italy a few years back for our tenth anniversary and he dragged me, on foot, throughout the entire city of Florence, everyday! We couldn't possibly leave until he was satisfied he had scoured every last inch of that magical place and memorized it, until we return one day! He does the same at Disney World. He can tell you ANYTHING you'd ever want to know about that place and every ride.

I love to hear him preach God's Word! The last message he spoke on was about LOVE! And I still have so much to learn! I also love to hear him worship. He rocks it out and when we were first married I never knew that my husband loved to rock! I learn new things about him everyday. He's one of those people that is always acquiring new interests and usually masters them. He dedicates himself until he is really good at it!

I especially love the Dad that he has become to our children. He has SO much patience with them! He is tender and compassionate to their needs and does not shy away from the hard parts of parenting them. I see the Father God in him when he has so much fun blessing them with something they want, for no reason other than he wants to see them enjoy it!

As you can probably tell, I'm a little bit crazy about this man! He is my true love and handsome prince and I pray a very special Valentine's Day for us this year! Earlier in the week, when we found out our actual moving day was on Valentine's, he said, "Will you like the Valentine gift I got you this year?" I said, "The house? Yep! But you're really gonna have to work hard at topping that next year!"

Sleepless in Rochester!

My Sweet Pea has never been known to be a good sleeper. This came as quite a shock to us because big brother slept through the night at 12 weeks and unless ill, never wakes up in the night. Even as an infant, if he woke up to nurse in the night, I would try to keep him in bed with me to snuggle a bit. He would toss and turn until I got up and put him back in his bassinet.

Sweet Pea was a different baby all together. She had colic for the first 3-4 months of her life and from day one slept with me. I'd do anything to keep her from crying all day and night and waking everyone else up. This method has backfired on Mama, as she still prefers to sleep with me. But hey, she's not going to do this when she's grown up, so I enjoy her snuggles while I can. At least I don't think she will?! :)

The last few weeks her sleeping habits have become even more strange as she has been having weird dreams and sleep walking. She has freaked us out on occasion with her wide-eyed look as she saunters into the living room where we are hanging out before bed and we try our best to make heads or tails of the nonsensical gibberish that comes forth from her lips.

The other night I was awakened to hear crying and more gibberish about not wanting to be "chubby"anymore. I tried to wake her and assure her she is not chubby in any way! I tried to fix her bed and make her more comfy. When she rolled over her belly looked huge! Inside her one-piece jammies were a lot of stuffed animals she must have put in there before she fell asleep! Oh my silly girl! No wonder she was dreaming of feeling chubby!

The Leaning Tower of Laundry, UGH!

It has been so busy here with trying to pack all our stuff as we will be moving in a couple of weeks to our new house...exact date still unknown. And I am still trying to keep up with homeschooling the kiddos and keep this house somewhat clean, which is always more difficult in winter. Not sure why, maybe because we are all cooped up, with very little room for all the extras like bigger coats, hats, mittens, wet, snowy boots that we constantly trip over because there is only a two foot square area in which to remove all that junk when you come in and you do very carefully so as to not fall down the basement stairs! All of that just makes this little house seem even smaller.

Many have said, why don't you take a few days off of school to catch up on the packing and stuff, which we might have to do a day or two before the actual move. But I am reserving time off for when we actually move. So I can have time to set up my classroom again and library and get the kids acclimated to their new surroundings and maybe do some needed painting while the kids chill out and play games for a few days.

In the midst of all the chaos, some things have been put on the back burner some days. AKA: the laundry! It is a sad day when my nine year old comes up from the dungeon, I mean basement laundry room and says, "Wow! Mom! You've got to DO something about that LEANING TOWER of darks down there!" So, it's Saturday and mama is FINALLY getting caught up on stuff, especially LAUNDRY! Happy Saturday Bloggy Friends!

The Shack by Wm. Paul Young

I kept hearing about this new book, The Shack, by Wm. Paul Young, everywhere I went. It is a best-seller so it wasn't so surprising. But I'm usually a bit leery about books that "seem" so popular. I am very careful about what I choose to spend time reading. But I'm also an "eat-the-grain-spit-out-the-sticks" kind of girl, so I thought I'd give it a try.


This is no light-weight read here. To be completely honest I did not read the inserts to see exactly what was contained. I had heard it contains some pretty heavy, heart-wrenching things and wasn't sure if I would read it knowing too much about it.


Without giving too much away, because this book is truly an emotional journey, can I just say check it out. Once you get passed the Great Sadness that this family endures, the rest of this book portrays beautifully the heart of the Lord toward His children. With vivid and captivating details of how the Lord reveals Himself to one man, it will leave you with a sense of His goodness and a longing to sneak away with Him to commune each day.

Basement Super-Fort!!!

We've had quite a few days of weather that is too cold to play in the snow. The kids always love making forts in their bedrooms with blankets, pillows, etc... but after a couple of days of trying to navigate the the gauntlet without getting barked at for wrecking things, I usually make them take everything down and return their rooms back to normal. Pun'kin Head whined until I said, "How about making your fort in the basement play area? Then, as long as you keep it neat, I don't care how long you keep it up!" Hooray for Mama! Construction began immediately and he has created a cozy spot where he has now requested to have his "resting times". It is complete with carpet, blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, books, flashlights, spy gear, weapons, (one never knows when an enemy might attack!) boardgames, tv and video games. He may never come out! As proof in this pic, even his four-legged friends approve! He even occasionally invites his little sis to join him :)

Growing Borax Snowflakes!

In science the past couple of weeks we have been learning about weather; solids, liquids & gases; and crystals. I thought I'd combine them all with a cool experiment on growing our very own crystal snowflakes! These grow overnight, as apposed to other crystal making kits out there.

Check it the directions at http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/boraxsnowflake.htm We had so much fun...isn't that what school is supposed to be? :)

Tip: If you want the snowflakes to be colored, you have to add a lot of food coloring. We added a couple drops to each and the water appeared dark, but the crystals came out only slightly colored. My camera doesn't show the detail very well. These are much prettier in person!

Lego Barack Obama?!

This is a "Lego Inauguration" created by Pun'kin Head this afternoon. Which is really saying something, considering we did not vote for Obama and Pun'kin Head has had his issues with accepting our new president. We have had to correct his negative attitude towards President Obama in the past couple of months and again, today, as we sat before our television and witnessed history in the making.

I am not in the mood to get into the many reasons we chose not to vote for Obama. And I will never be supportive of his stance on issues that are CLEARLY against the Word of God. But I will say that I am VERY proud to have lived in this day and age when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream has been made manifest in such a way that the whole world is a witness to it! And I believe that it is more evident than ever that the God-fearing citizens of our nation need to desperately get off their butts and onto their knees and pray like we should have been all along. We want change? Then PRAY people. When will people come to the realization that hard work and sweat alone will not get the job done. We can toil and work for many years to correct the state of our nation, but if we continue to go along in this life without the inclusion of the One Who IS the Giver of that life, than we are missing the mark!

2 Chronicles 7:14 "and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and PRAY, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and HEAL THEIR LAND." Is that not the CHANGE we are wanting for our great nation? This is the formula we need to use to get it to come to pass. He can do more in ONE day with the unified prayers of His people than we can do in many, many years. When will we understand that when we are at our weakest that's when He can move right in and be STRONG on our behalf, if we LET Him?

Whether we agree with the choice that our fellow Americans have made in this election, true submission is when we don't agree. We are called to respect the "office" of the president and to support him with our prayers. We are to be sober and alert in these days of darkness, that the day should not overtake us, for we are people of Light. And we are to offer up "prayers, petitions and thanksgivings on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." 1Timothy 2:1-3

Let us rejoice that CHANGE, is indeed, on the horizon and that God's words CANNOT return to Him void of accomplishing all that He desires, IF WE PRAY!