Sleepwalker

Jacob is a sleepwalker. Twice in the last 2 weeks, he has gotten up and done relatively the same thing. The first time he came downstairs into our bathroom and stood up by the toilet and cried. The second time he went into the bathroom upstairs, sat down on the toilet and cried. What in the world is this all about? I am thankful that I was up for the second one, but the first time Greg had to wake me out of a deep sleep. I hope this doesn't get any worse than it is.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

When I went into school today I was greeted by one of the secretaries, who told me she needed to talk to me about Jadyn. What I found out was that while Jadyn was in speech, she told her speech teacher that she had lice and that her mom used special shampoo on her. The speech teacher told her teacher, who sent her to the office, where the secretary checked Jadyn thoroughly. She has no lice. Duh. Of course she doesn't. She never did. The dang kid was telling lies. And bad ones at that. Earlier in the week, Jacob missed a day of school because he was sick. Jadyn told her friend that he was home because he had lice. What the heck is the infatuation with lice? It is freaking me out and my head is itching as I type. ICK!!

Where Do I Put My Confidence?

I was reading in Psalm 118 this morning and was challenged to think about where I put my confidence. I know I put it in the coffee pot each morning. I trust it will work every morning. I also put confidence in the hot water heater, that when I turn on the shower I will get hot water. And on and on the list could go, but.....do I put that level of confidence in God. I even asked Greg (as he was turning on the TV and trusting that the remote would work) if he trusted God as much as he trusted the remote. I mean to that level. The level of "knowing" it without "thinking" about it. Know what I mean? It is automatic. I don't say, when turning on the shower, "Oh, I sure hope hot water comes out." I just trust that it does, right? Do I put THAT level of trust in God? I know I say I do, but do I really? If I was honest (which I hope I am), the answer is no. Forgive me LORD. Sometimes when I pray, I pray over and over, in hopes that my incessant prayer will drive the LORD crazy and He will answer me. (OK this is not what I actually think, but it is certainly what my actions make it look like) I don't pray and completely trust, without thinking, often enough. Please forgive me LORD.

So the challenge is out......Do YOU trust in the LORD more than anything else? More than the coffee pot, or the hot water, or the remote? Think about it. It is VERY sobering. I know I have so much more work to do. Help me LORD.

Psalm 118:8
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.

Camping in the Living Room - Not Really

Today we set up our new tent in the family room. We have recently downgraded from a 32' travel trailer to a tent. Oh joy! Really we didn't have a truck to pull the trailer and wanted to be able to up and go whenever we wanted. So tenting it is. Better for the kids too. In order to set the tent up inside we had to move ALL the furniture out of the family room. It was a lot of work but was so worth it to play Bop-It inside with the kids. Bring on the family fun! Can't wait to camp!!

First Practice of 2012 Baseball Season

Just Some Things About My Kids

Jacob ~ Jacob has new tennis shoes. They are white. He wears them at school, but not to and from school and definitely not on recess. Yesterday he wore them for the whole day. We went to church and his class took a walk to the sunken garden. Suffice it to say, his shoes got dirty. This morning when I went to wake him up he told me that he snuck downstairs to clean his shoes. That's his father's boy!

Grace ~ The other day at recess I noticed a girl sitting alone. She is a girl that is bossy and not a lot of kids like her because of that. Shortly after that, I saw Grace run across the playground and talk to that girl. She invited her over to where she was with her friends and the girl went. A few minutes later Grace and the girl came over to me to tell me that Grace's friends were being mean to the girl, telling her to "get away" from them. I ended up having a talk with both sets of girls, but I was very proud of Grace for befriending the "unfriendly" and for sticking up for her when others were mean to her. Good girl, Grace!

Jadyn ~ Yesterday on the way to school, Jadyn asked me if she could invite her teacher to her birthday party. I told her sure she could ask, but don't be surprised if she says no. When I saw Jadyn at lunch, the first thing she told me was that her teacher said yes! Jadyn just had to remind her and she would come. Who wouldn't want to come to a pool party? Especially one for someone as cute as Jadyn.

Grant ~ This morning I went and laid in bed with Grant. He had a sheet covering him. He said "Pull the covers off me." I said that he should try again, meaning there was a better way to ask. He said, " Would you please pull the covers off me?" So I did. Know what I found? He was naked from the waist down and he wanted me to see. He laughed so hard, thought he was hilarious. Seriously, where does this kid get this from. Must be another daddy's boy.

Jessica's 7th Birthday

Today we had a drive-by birthday party for our friend, Jessica. She had tons of partying at school, but after school the big sisters has Girls on the Run, so the rest of us had to hang out at school. Her mom decided that they would come to church with us for dinner, so we real quick stopped by our house, sang Happy Birthday and ate cake. I'll bet you can't even tell there is not an entire cake there, can you?

Naughty Boy

I called Grant to dinner. He came out of my bedroom and said he did something. We looked at him, and THIS is what we found. He said he wrote on himself like the big guy at the school (the dude with the tattoos). Fabulous, simply fabulous. Thankfully, he used dry-erase markers instead of permanent.

Getting a Haircut

Readers

I so love it when they read. I love it even more when they read to each other.

Valentine's Day in Kindergarten

Ahhhh.....Football

This weekend we signed Jacob up for football. Football is intense. The practices, the games, the parents. I am not sure I am ready, but Jacob is totally gung-ho. So, Saturday morning Greg and Jacob were up and ready to be at sign-ups first thing. When they came home, Jacob was wearing a new "football" t-shirt and smiling ear to ear. (OH - I forgot part of the story. Prior to all this, some parents from Jacob's basketball team had been REALLY trying to get us to sign up. In fact, they even talked about taking up a collection to pay for Grace to sign up to cheerlead, thus ensuring that Jacob would be on their team. Oh boy.) So back to Saturday.....shortly after noon Greg received a phone call. He didn't get it, but when he checked the voicemail, he found that a mom from the basketball team was calling to "gently" remind us that football sign-ups were that day. There was still time. I giggled, then called her back to let her know we has already signed up. She was VERY happy. Fast-forward to yesterday. We showed up at Jacob's basketball game and as soon as we walked in the coach's wife came up to me and said "So?" I told her yes we signed up. She promptly went over and told her son, who then told another boy on the team. Between these two boys, an argument ensued over whose team Jacob was going to be on. One said "I get him!" The other said, No, he's on our team!" Boy, I hope he can live up to all this pressure. Then came the basketball game. I think the switch in Jacob's brain flipped from basketball to football too soon (never mind that we have to get through baseball first). He was body checking guys, dropping his shoulder on blocks, doing running picks and swiping at the basketball. I think he forgot he was playing basketball. He was the MOST intense I have seen him. I loved it! I think Jacob is VERY excited for football. I am certain he is not the only one. Ha ha!

I am a Morning Girl

This morning I got back into "the" schedule. Up at 5am, worked out, time with God, devotions with Greg, read my Bible, shower and dress, start laundry and now, here I sit - feeling very accomplished. This is something I could not do without God's help in my life. In fact, there is nothing I could do without His help. Thank you LORD!!! My prayer now is that I stick with this. Sure, I could stay snuggled in bed. But after my morning this morning, I would much rather be snuggled in the arms of God!!!

Still Searching for THE House

We are still in the house hunt process. I am getting very weary of it all. My heart's desire is a house of our own (in this sub, 4 bedrooms, finished basement, 3 car garage, large kitchen). Yeah....I know. But we were talking about my heart's desire, right? So, we have put in 3 offers for a house here and it has ended up nowhere. I keep praying about it, asking God to change my heart if this is not what He wants for us. The inventory of houses around here is close to none and this makes this process that much harder. But I keep coming back to.....nothing is impossible with God. NOTHING. Even finding THE house. I do not want to be impatient. I do not want to be greedy. I just want to care for our family in the best way we know how. I want to be responsible with what God has entrusted to us, and that includes how we spend money on housing. That said, if I am not in God's will, I do want that. So, again, my prayer is that God will provide (which He does) and/or that He will change my heart to be more aligned with His will.

Our devotion today was from Judges, talking about Gideon (I love him) getting ready to fight the Midianites. Gideon had an army of 32,000 men. But God knew that if they fought with that many and won, they would claim the victory for themselves. In this situation and in all our life situations, God wants the glory for Him - and that is where it belongs. So, God reduced Gideon's army down to 300 men. And they defeated the Midianites!! And God was glorified! That makes me think of this house situation. When we look at the entire thing through the lens of being human, it will scare us. It does look close to impossible. But that is the thing.....NOTHING is impossible for God! NOTHING. Sometimes things happen out of nowhere so that God is glorified. That is what is giving me peace in this situation. God is in control. Which means....I do not have to worry. (Besides worry is a sin)

Boys and Bedtime

Putting the boys to bed is sometimes difficult. They are in bunk beds. Not bunk beds like you are thinking though. They have two sets of bunk beds and Jacob sleeps on the top of one set and Grant sleeps on the bottom of the other set. So when I sing to and pray with them I am usually stretched between the two. And more nights than not, they each want me in bed with them. So the other night I was putting them to bed and was kneeling by Grant's bed. Jacob piped up and said, "Come lay with me. I am still your little boy!" Little boy? Are you kidding me? You, my precious son, are not little anymore. But that will never stop me from climbing up to the top bunk and snuggling with you. There's not much that can top that. I am a very blessed momma!!!

Jacob's Day Off

Jacob has strep, but he is none the worse for the wear. He was pretty down and out this weekend, but this morning he was fine. We decided to take him to the doctor because he was complaining of joint aches and neck pain. All that ended him up with was a major case of strep throat. He stayed home from school today. He even stayed home alone while I went to work. He was VERY excited about this. He really wanted me to let Grant stay with him, but that is NOT something I am ready for. Jacob even told me "it is free labor, Mom. You won't have to pay anyone to watch Grant." That was pretty funny, but not funny enough to convince me. He did a great job. Even called me to tell me he was studying for his science test.

Jacob just now came out and told me that if we buy a new house and it needs new windows, siding or roof, we need to go through Brian Elias. (I think that is the Hansen's window guy). Jacob continued to tell me that if we buy windows, siding or roofing from him, he will give us a FREE IPod Touch. Well, then I guess we should buy a house that needs new windows!!! Actually, I think the sick kid has watched enough TV for the next year or so.

Kindergarten Early

I have been working at the kid's school a lot lately. We are entering into book fair time and there is a LOT of decorating to be done. This week I had Grant with me quite a bit and on Wednesday, he got to go to kindergarten. Grant was playing out in the pod where I was decorating and Jadyn's teacher came out and told me he could go in if he wanted. And, boy oh boy, he wanted! He couldn't get in there fast enough. He got to work at the table with kids, read to the teacher, play on recess, have a snack and even watch a movie about a kid who lost a tooth. He loved it!!!! I asked the principal if Grant could go to kindergarten next year. Obviously, I was kidding, but he would sure love it. He, of course, being Grant!

Grant as the Basketball Star

Last night Jacob was getting ready to go to basketball practice. As usual, Grant was also attempting to get ready to go to basketball practice. He was dressed in his shorts and shirt, and came down to get help zipping up his warm-up jacket. While I helped him, he told me we had to hurry because he "had to be at practice in 5 minutes." I told him he did not have practice and he replied, "The basketball guy called and he said I get to play tonight. I have to be there in 5 minutes." Seriously? This kid cracks me up.