Remember 2005

The following are memories that I WANT to remember about 2005
DS learned to swim at the YMCA; 100ft both front and back. Before he was even 4.
Bible Studies: Believing God, Getting a Grip on the Basics, Living Beyond Yourself, Genesis- Leviticus
Beyer's Farewell- Seeing everyone from our old church. I was reminded how much people impact each others lives. As I looked around the church that day I could think of how all that were there had touched my life.
DS learning to ride his bike...determination
Camping trips- Bruin Lake- turtle hike, raft to the sand bar, DS and DD with hand radio...copy
Sleepy Hollow-Setting up the screen room by myself, the boys fishing, Cam riding his bike, DS going off the curb, hawthorn in tire, picnic on the bridge.
Family Camp- Singing, the Clampets, bike trip to the store (DS and Lindsey made it on a big, public road) kick the can ice cream, Risk, Bingo, the teens trek to the bridge by canoe and row boat (slow start but they made it)
Taqhemenon Falls- Beautiful sunsets, boat trip to the falls, Oswalds (bear swimming), Antlers, largest ship on the great lakes in the Soo Locks, rain that brought the screen room down, blueberries, Stephen, DS jumping off swing, DS climbing EVERYTHING!
I discovered bike riding. Saturday morning breakfast rides, tag-a-long, WOW 18 miles with Dustin and DS.
The kids on the Mellenberger farm. Daddy bet DS a dollar he couldn't catch a chicken. He did. Collected eggs. Never run with eggs. DD loved the horses.
Dave's 10 year "marathon" reunion. I did not have one...oh well. The realization that it had been 10 years.
God doing a new thing. See Nov post for details.
Dave Ramsey conference...going gazelle.
DS no more thumb sucking. Chuck E Cheese. Update: After a month of no sucking he relapsed for 2 weeks. Then as quickly as he started he stopped. He now likes to chew his shirts and blankets.
Ladies Nights: Anne of Green Gables (puffy shoulders, bosom buddies, and chocolate)
Spa night (steaming faces, Aloe, poop story, what's under your nails)
Potter's Park- trip with Brandon throwing sticks at the sign, mud, DD fascination with thte animals. DS drawing the animals.
DD talking, singing and dancing. Big girl bed. Helping mommy. Feeding cats. Pig tails. JoJo Circus. Playing with 'bell. Get ya...giggling. "'eavenly fadder". Early bird (except the morning Daddy got you to sleep in by telling you to not to get up yet), baby Grace and sweet kisses.
Preschool with DS. Learning letters, numbers, sounds, time...ever learning.
Neighborhood kids- D, A, M, J, U. Obstacle courses, baseball, sleep overs, the Y, bike rides, dress up...NEVER.
Sudoku!
Blogging
I am blessed beyond measure! I have had an incredible year, this is only scratching the surface.
Have a blessed 2006.

Dancin' Doughboy

This is for Mindy but many will enjoy it. Dancin' Doughboy. Make him do the robot, hustle, runningman and more. Heehee...it's great.

Crazy Game

Here's a game to drive you crazy. Click link here.
They say your doing brilliantly if you make it 18 seconds. My guess...none of you will make it a second on your FIRST try. Have fun.

Hey You Guys.....

My favorite movie is Goonies. I love it for it's adventure, great one liners and the truffle shuffle. Mikey, Brandon, Data, Chunk, Mouth, Andy, Steph and Sloth.
Favorite lines:
"If God made us that way we'd all be pissin' in our faces."
"Andy....you Goonie!"
"Hey...you guys."
"Bullet Holes"
"Booby traps...thats what I said Booby traps."
"Save that one for Willie."
"Aren't you the one they call Mouth?"
"Brand, where's you braces?"
Ahhh and so many more.

Before, During and After

Christmas Eve is rich with tradition. Our family attends service at our church. After service with donuts and drinks in hand we go driving around looking at Christmas decorations. Looking for stars, Baby Jesus, Rudolph, candy canes, angels and snowmen...til we have had our fill. Then it is back home we go. Every Christmas Eve the whole family sleeps in the living room under the Christmas tree. We pull out our mattress, blankets and pillows...pop the popcorn and snuggle up.

With baking still to be done I awoke before the others to make cinnamon rolls and pumpkin pie. DD woke up to watch me bake but the boys were snoozing. At 8am I tried to wake them with the glow of the Christmas lights. DS asked me to turn them off; he wanted more sleep. Can you believe it...a kid on Christmas asking to sleep a little longer. With my parents soon on their way I let them sleep for a few minutes longer. Then it was up and at 'em. I love the excitement of kids with presents. How they smile with their eyes and sheepishly giggle. It was a delight watching them open their gifts.

The day continued with a visit from my parents and a trip to DH's parents. The testing out of new treasures. Playing games with family. It was a wonderful day!

Looking back over the day there are a few observations I made. Kids are not necessarily greedy. Mine were thankful. It doesn't matter if you spend hundreds they are content with simple pleasures. This year we followed the rhyme "something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read." You never know how it will be received until it happens but they were very pleased with their gifts. And we didn't go into debt providing it. We stuck to our budget and paid cash. It's a good feeling. Maybe my kids are easy to please....DD's favorite present was a bag of animal crackers from Grandma, DS a small remote control car. Whatever it may be I am thankful.

Quote of the Day

"I am reading a book and mommy is watching football." DH
Who would have thunk it?

Discovery

Driving around town the other day DS was playing around with words. Sounding them out slowly. SSSSAAAAMMMM. This is the conversation that followed:
"how do you spell sam?"
"spqup"
"sound it out again"
"sssssaaaammm"
"what letter is sssss?"
"s"
"what letter is aaaa?"
"a"
"what letter is mmmm?"
"m"
"how do you spell sam?
"s..a..m"
"You did it...you spelled sam! And it wasn't spqup...each letter has a sound."
"I spelled sam!"
When we got home he wanted to write it down so he got a piece of paper and wrote sam, mom, dad, sisters name and his name. He was so proud of himself that he could spell them all by HIMSELF. Such an awesome discovery. I think we are on the road to reading...and looking forward to the adventure.

I ponder....

Today I had a very odd thought that I pondered. What if Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and other founding fathers came back today? I imagined them in the Supreme Court defending the constitution. Clarifing what they meant by certain amendments especially the seperation of church and state. It boggles my mind how their ideas have been so twisted and manipulated. I seriously wish they could come back and SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT. There are many personal writings and dairy journals of our founding fathers that prove there intentions but I wish America could hear it straight from them. I also wonder how they would feel about commercialism, airplanes, computers and such. Would they be agast at how America has turned out? I am sure they would appreciate that we are progressing and growing as a great nation. But what would they have to say?

Merry Christmas

May you remember the birth of the Savior this Christmas. May your homes be filled with warmth and laughter, family and fun. Much love to you all. Merry Christmas!

Play Along 6

Answer me this....What is your favorite movie and why?

Congrats Hubby!

Congrats to my hubby and his dart buddies. They won first place on both their Monday and Wednesday Night Dart Leagues in playoffs. Way to go guys. Here's to a sucessful season.

Molding a Child

Proverbs 20:11 Even a child is known by his actions, by wether his conduct is pure and right.

This verse struck a cord this morning. I so want my kids to be known for being respectful and kind. I want their hearts to be pure and right. Sometimes it is a challenge molding my kids. This week I had to change the game plan for DD. I had become ineffective in disciple and guiding her. She is a persistent child. She asks for something and then repeats over and over raising her voice gradually to unwanted decibals. The old response. "DD stop!" "DD I can hear you.." Until I was frustrated and raising my voice as well. This method was not working. The new way. "I want crackers." Mom stops and gets down close to DD and answers. "DD would you like crackers?" To which she answers. "A huh" Then I respond yes or no depending on the circumstance. It is amazing how effective this has been. She feels understood. I feel peace.
While it is not easy training up children I know it is my responsibility. They have been entrusted to my care. I will not give up, I will perserve. I will teach, guide and discpline. I will seek the Holy Spirit to show me what to do. I know the effort is worth it.

Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Weekend flurry

Thursday the temp finally was perfect for packing snow. DS went out and made this snowman...all by himself. Complete with sucker eyes, twizlers mouth and a tootsie roll belly button.

Saturday evening we had a family gathering with all my dad's siblings and the cousins. Some of this side of the family I only see once or twice a year so I enjoyed getting caught up with everyone. There was 44 of us.

DH got home late Saturday night from another business trip to Florida. We love it when he comes home. YIPPEE!
Sunday after church we went to my father-in-laws for lunch and exchanging gifts. The kids love going to Grandpa Eagles house...

He gives them lots of sweets.

Then we went to Carraba's for dinner with DH's co-workers.
Nice to have dinner out with no kids. Thanks Sherry.
It was a great weekend!
Have a great week.

Heart's Desires

My brother-in-law shared a teaching he had received a few years ago in regards to the desires of your heart. Every year (anytime) he sits down and spends some time in prayer and reflection. During that time he writes down the desires of his heart. Some things are spiritual, some are material, whatever it is he writes it down. I think he said he has been doing this for 3 years and in that time he has seen God's amazing faithfulness.
So sometime in the next couple days I want to sit down and write out the desires of my heart. I trust it will serve as a memorial of God's goodness. I look forward to seeing his provision.
The desires of my heart:
To be led by the Spirit
To daily spend time in the Word
Develop more consistant prayer time
Orderly house
Obedient children
Guidance in raising the kids
Healthy communication
Healthy happy marriage
For DH to travel less on business
1000 square foot garage
Debt Free
6 months living expenses in savings
To be relevant
Producing good fruit
DS to learn to read
Children to grow in knowledge
Excellent health for my family
DD to understand Christ and know him more
DD to potty train
Hot air balloon ride
Travel more as family
....
....
This is the start of my list, it is sure to grow.
I encourage you to make your own list of the desires of your heart. Whether it be 20 things or 150; write them down.
Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

Posting a Comment

For those of you who have experienced difficulty posting comments; here is how you do it.
1. Click Comments under original post.
2. Type your message in the Leave your comment box.
3. If you are not a blogger member you can do one of two things.
a. Click Other putting your name or code name in the box, if you chose you can link a web address to this, but your name is sufficient.
b. Click Anonymous. You can leave yourself anonymous or sign your name to the end of the comment.
4. Word verification. Type letters as seen. This stops spam as it has to be a real live human reading the letters rather than mass mailings to whomever. MUST COMPLETE word verification or comment will NOT go through.
5. Publish your comment.

I thank you for your comments. They really do make my life richer. I enjoy friendly competition on the games and insight on whatever you may be thinking about a particular post. And of course don't forget to play along.
Happy posting.

Snow Day-reply

Although we didn't have a blizzard with my husband stuck at home, we did have a snow day. See pictures below. Our day included playing outside, walking to the sledding hill. DS got adventuroues and went down standing up on his sled. Thankfully he made it down safe. When we came home we ate quesadillas and drank hot chocolate. We took long naps. Skipped school. It was a great day!

People Not Like Me

Through reading other's blogs and living life in general, I am keenly aware of others that are not like me. In saying so I mean not everyone shares my beliefs or practices. DUH and Thank God! God created diversity and it is to be celebrated. Sometimes I am so caught up in MY way of thinking and doing things that I can overlook much from others. In reading other people's blogs it has helped me to understand other's more deeply. I have been some interesting places over the last couple week's. In the mind's of other's that is. I have read of a bisexual/queer man's inner struggle, he attended many ex-gay's meeting's with evangelical males. He shared his thoughts quite candidly and I respected his honesty. I have journeyed with a lady who is wrestling with God as she sorts through the peices of her broken life, scarred by abuse, longing to be whole in Christ. I have met a Pharisee. So caught up in law of the Bible she attacks other believers with differing views. I could not help thinking all day yesterday what benefit there would be if she spent time with those she bashed. For instances she is highly against Willow Creek and Saddleback Churches for there seeker sensitivity. Over and over I thought of Christ and how he came to seek and save the lost. He did unconventional things. He spoke to prositutes and ate with tax collector's. The Pharisee's scoffed. I wondered if this lady sat down with Rick Warren or Bill Hybles if she would she their heart. Or if her agenda would blind her from seeing two men who whole heartedly love their Lord and do what they feel the Spirit is leading them to do...as unconventional as it may be. There are many other lives I have peeked into over the last couple week's too many to name but with each life I am refined. I enjoy learning from other's and I prefer the non confrontational approach. While reading their blogs I am able to learn without judging or being judged...it has been good for me. And many times it has led me to prayer. So in closing I will continue to read, continue to pray and continue to grow. Someboby say Hallelulia.

Holiday Golf

The game of the week is a friendly game of putt putt golf. To play holiday golf click link here. Please post scores. Have fun!

Handy Hubby

The cost of a used dryer- $100
Replacing a fried part- $8
Having a handy hubby- priceless

Josiah

Josiah Kenneth born December 2nd to proud parents Heather and Dan

Congrats!

Our Snow Day

Bundled up...

DD falling in the snow

DS making a snow angel...

On the way to the sledding hill

DD and mommy going down the hill

...and coming back up

DS sledding.

What fun!

Snow Cream

Today in Michigan is a perfect day for Snow Cream. My dear friend Melissa shared this family favorite with me. Take a big bowl of FRESH snow and add sweetened condensed milk and a bit of vanilla extract. Mix to your families liking. Yummy!
Note: Do not use yellow snow or dirty snow as it could be hazardous to your health.
Enjoy!

Lessons from a Dead Dryer

Our dryer is dead; FRIED, no longer working. It stopped working a few weeks back when the lint trap fell out and a sock got sucked into the motor, burning it out. (At least this what I think happened.) It was the night before DH's last Florida trip when I was washing all his clothes to be packed, I went to get the last load and smelled a funky electrical smell. YUCK. Further investigation showed it was the dryer and it was indeed dead. So hear are the lessons learned from our dead dryer.
1. Make sure the lint trap is in place before starting the dryer.
2. Laundry mats cost a lot of money. 25 cents for about 7 minutes of dry time equals approxiatemly $1.25 per load.
3. Friends are more than willing to help by offering their own dryers for our use. THANK YOU!!
4. It's good to be friendly with your neighbors. Ours saved me when I locked us out of the house
going to dry the last load.She let us in and kept us warm til DH got back. THANK YOU!!
5. Sometimes the cost of repair is greater than the cost of replacement. Try and figure this out. The cost of a new motor- $105 plus tax. Used dryer-$100 plus tax. Do the math, we are getting the "new" used dryer. DH gets out of installing parts but has the fun job of manuevering heavy machinery.
6. It doesn't hurt to wear things twice...ok maybe even more than that.
7. We have lots of clothes.
8. Time to send some away to Valueland. If I didn't wear it in the last month it's because I won't wear it.
9. Dave Ramsey was right. You really need to have an emergency fund established...things happen.
10. I am thankful I don't live back in the day were you washed clothes with a washboard. What did these people do during the winter when clothes freeze before drying?

Dead dryers are good for something...lessons learned.

Pampered

On the heels on girl's pampering night, the kids wanted to be pampered too.

Daddy paintingDD's nails.

DS steaming his face.

Play Along 4

Snow Day! A blizzzard has hit. Your whole family is STUCK at home. No work, no school and no one on the roads. What do you do?
Please play along.

Dream Home

In many ways I am living in my dream home. I am very content here. I had my babies here; literally! Not too big nor too too small. We have a big back yard with plenty of room to play. The neighborhood kids are a little older than my own but they flock here anyways. That's what I have always prayed for; that our home would be a safe place for neighborhood kids to come. Some summer nights we have 10 kids in the backyard playing tag, obstacle course or "baseball." But part of me longs for the country. Fresh air. Farm animals, maybe some chickens and a goat. I like ranches maybe a four bedroom, two bath. I would LOVE a large kitchen. Front porch complete with swing. This sounds nice. Really though I am content living right here in this home we have...ALL MY LIFE.

Spanglish

Last night DH and I watched the Adam Sandler movie Spanglish. DH skipped out early and went to bed but I am not one to leave a movie unless offended. DD woke up hysterical in the middle of the movie so I went and got her and we cuddled. She fell back asleep immediately but I kept her with me. One of the last lines in the movie is "I am my mother's daughter." It was cool to be holding her thinking about this. She is my daughter and so much of what I teach her will be a part of who she is. What will she be, accomplish or do? How much will she reflect me? How much will she say that's for you? (I'd rather do it my way) Will she have my lack of style? Will she have vibrant faith? I wonder.
My own mother... I am her daughter. While we are different there is much that's the same. Confidence, independence, value of family, love of camping and nature and an appreciation for Wal-Mart. I have learned much from her life. Her joys and hardships have shaped me. I was reminded last week of a time when I wasn't sure she would be around for my graduation. I feared she wouldn't see me marry or meet my children. Praise God she has seen all of these things accomplished. She is still here and I am thankful.
While I may not have her eyes or her hair, her nose or smile....I am her daughter. Always will be!

Santa Sling

Just as addictive as Penguin Smash...I introduce Santa Sling. Send Santa flying through the air and see how far he goes. Click to send the slingshot moving HOLD and release and watch him soar. Beware of the revene. DISCLAIMER: I will not be held responsible for time wasted or productivity compromised. Have fun! Click link here.

Short White Hair

There were many elderly ladies at an event I went to today. I could not help but notice there was one similarity. SHORT WHITE HAIR! Which made me think... what will I look like with short white hair? I imagined myself old. Pretty funny. Maybe I will need to check out some photo shops and cut and paste to get the "do" of my future.

TV Update

After discussion on Tuesday evening we decided to not banish the TV to the basement. The kids and I are currently watching no TV during the day and it is going fabulously. We play more; Forts, Tag, Paint, Play Doh, Ring Around the Rosie (revised...when we fall down we attack and tickle each other.) We are reading more. They are getting more undivided attention because I have commited to spend little to no time on the computer while they are awake. Ideally at night the TV doesn't go on until after they go to bed. Last night we did watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy but we played a card game first. I feel better about family life. The tube is losing it's power...

One of my girlfriends...blessed me.

One of my girlfriends...blessed me. I had prayed Tuesday about an upcoming Ladies Night...what did I have to offer. I felt like I was suppose to be doing a spa or pampering theme but again what did I have to offer. So I was praying and asking if I should change it to a game night....??? That same night after bible study my friend said she had something for me. I went out to the car where she gave me..get this..a full Spa Therapy Gift Pack! Complete with foot bath, face steamer, facial massager, manicure, pedicure...PRAISE GOD! I know God provided and I know my friend was obedient. So thanks be to God and my obedient friend.