Preschool already??? WOAH

I didn't realize that it has been a bit since I last posted. Oops!

Nothing too much new going on. Busy week last week trying to get my homework and stuff finished before Tuesday and then had a wonderful speaker at class (who was actually the head pastor of where I take the class). We took our Bible Assessment, which had it been a test like pass/fail, I would have flunked! Pretty sure of it! It required that a lot of scripture actually be memorized, but I don't have any I dont think! Except John 3:16.

Yesterday Kira, Mom, and I went out to a movie, which was really fun! Tonight Ben and I are hoping to get a dinner date in... Not sure who is going to watch the chickens. We really need to schedule a date for ourselves though! We have been busy and it seems that sometimes we pass each other in our way in/out. Like yesterday we were with Em, came home he left to fish, he came home to take over the kids, and I left. Wierd. Anyhow, we are planning on that tonight.

I finally got Skype figured out so now I can video chat w/ Becky in AZ.... which is really nice. The kids enjoyed talking to her and seeing her...

We have still been having trouble w/ the kids sleeping through the night. Last night it was Adi climbing in our bed in the middle of the night, the night before it was Wyatt. They just seem to trade off. Oh man so frustrating. Maybe we are getting to the end of the spurt of this, but it always makes me wonder... should we do something different? Should we nap them less? Blah...

Emily encouraged me yesterday to go in and talk to the preschool about getting Wyatt in to 4K. On the way home I was thinking about it and man I can't believe Wyatt is that age already! Wow I will have one off to school. I really need to cherish my time at home with them. She also gave me some great suggestions on how to be teaching him different colors, shapes, and numbers, I am so excited. I have to stop at the store for some new construction paper so we can do some special projects. Thanks Em so much for your expertise!

Anyhow we are off to church early this morning so I should get moooovin!

Painted Bird Feeder :)

Grammy showed up with some fun stuff... a bird feeder to paint and some puzzles...

Ugh this is so blurry, darn it! They were too cute, they painted on everything! Their faces were all painted...

This was this morning, Wyatt put some crumbled up bread in the pretty painted bird feeder... but didn't give them the crusts because he doesn't like to eat them himself! :)

And voila!!!! Looks so nice~

THANKS GRAMMY!!!!!

Grammy and Sleep issues

I can't find my card reader anywhere, so I was going to post photos today, but maybe tonight I will have a bit more time to look for the reader and then post and edit photos. I have some great ones! My mother in law came over on Saturday and surprised us with some arts and crafts stuff to do with the kids. She always seems to come at the right time. I was having a party and inviting some friends over, so she kept them busy and happy for quite awhile so I could prepare. I was so thankful! They painted a birdhouse (which we are going to later today put up outside w/ some bread crumbs)... and they did puzzles and had such a blast getting paint all over themselves. Sherry came out and had paint all over her glasses and everything, it was hilarious! Their bathwater was an assortment of colors... they were so cute! I will post pics later. What fun!



We are having trouble with bedtime lately. It is very frustrating, and we are hoping to happen upon a resolution, until then... we experiment. Adi and Wyatt have both been pretty cranky lately. They haven't been getting naps because usually it is sufficient to put them to bed early instead. (I realize it doesn't make up for it, but somedays we just can't work in naptime). We think we remember this happening with Wyatt, but Adi acts seriously scared of her crib. She screams and sounds panic'd. It is so hard for us to figure out if she is just cranky or not wanting to go to bed, versus being scared. We don't want to punish her if she is scared of something. I had recently moved their beds in the room, and thought that could be it, so last night, I put it back into possition and then put her in, and again, terrified screams came from their bedroom. Since they share a room, this leads to Wyatt waking up and saying he is scared, because he thinks he'll be able to get up or something... anyhow, we put their mattresses on the floor so they could sleep near each other, and last night was the first night that she slept through the night in the last week or so. We are working on buying a toddler bed, but until then, I think we are just going to let her sleep on her mattress on the floor instead of in the crib. I am thankful to get it out of the way, and she is old enough and prepared to be in her own bed. SO... I hope that we have happened upon the solution!

Anyhow photos are to come....

As soon as I can look for that silly card reader~!

275 posts?

Woah dude that's a lot! I guess I must have a lot to say eh?

Nothing too much going on today... Had a playtime with Tina this morning which was nice. Helped to break up the amazing amount of time we have spent at home lately. I mean seriously we have been way more then I would have ever thought I would have lived through with this horrible winter. I am so ready for spring. I am sure everyone is saying the same. My children woke very early this morning... I rearranged their room in an effort to keep the sun out... and then it dawned on me (hee heee dawned... get it? ;)) that hello! The sun isn't out at 5:11am! Jeepers! So, I got finished with rearranaging their room (which will probably throw them off and lead to less sleep, oh snap!) and couldnt undo what I had just done, so whatever I left it the way it ended up. So we'll see if we have a healthier nights sleep tonight ;)
I have a praise too, that Ben has been able to complete this week of work w/o dealing with unemployment. SO thankful. Thank you, God for answering prayer in amazing ways!
Heading out shopping with the babes and little Grandma tomorrow to just bumm around and get outta here for awhile. I am so thankful! Need to work on my homework for next week and hoping to get close at finishing Wyatt's green blankey this weekend.
wow seriously 275 posts...

Kel and Wyatt.

This is my BFF Kelly, and my boy Wyatt...

I don't really know why I chose this photo, but I wanted to put a picture on the blog today, pics make me happy ;)

I am learning a lot about prayer lately. And relying on prayer. That is probably why I put a picture of Kelly on here... she encourages me to pray. She prays for me.

It is interesting that I never used to pray unless there was a pressing need or emergancy that I felt out of control in. Now, I realize that it is important to pray always. In thanks, for help, to glorify God (even when it is something small like when my children use their manners... God did that you know... NOT ME!), and just for basic things. Last week about this time, we were told that we could be facing a possible lay off w/ Ben's work. We (or at least I) was totally freaked out at the thought of this. I couldn't believe my ears. All weekend I plotted "What can I do about this? What should I do to make the decision change?" Hello! There is nothing I could do! I just always think that if I talk to someone or plead w/ someone that circumstances will change. I prayed that God show us his will. I prayed that God help the circumstances to change. Once I changed my hearts attitude, I all of a sudden felt a lot better. I thought about the possibilites of us needing to file unemployement and stuff, got nervous again, and prayed that God help me feel peace about it. He did. Ben and I have been stressed out w/ each other about certain things, and Kelly told me, that maybe it is my turn to take a step back and spend time just praying for my husband. I have been trying to really be faithful in that. Sometimes my prayers are short, and sometimes they are like "Lord you know my heart, please do something with it!" and even that, seems to make such a difference in the long run. I am thankful for this little time of trial. Not trial because we actually lost the job... Ben has worked his normal shift the last two days (Praise God!!!) so I am SO thankful that He pulled strings. I am thankful to have a God to rely on and lean on in ALL times.

Also working hard on spending time just enjoying the children. We went to "that great coffee place" in Hartland yesterday for some Joe and a scone. They have a little kitchen set up that the kids and bake me "pastries" and they played and were such a delight. They came w/ me to the grocery store, and made the cashiers smile, which of course makes me smile! My Mom came and watched them, even though she was exhausted, and I was so incredibly blessed by that! We heard a wonderful lecture by a missionary from Africa in the evening. Really wonderful! And, I couldn't stop my mind from thinking about stuff, so I went to bed about midnight, and my children were up about 5.30am! So, more Joe it is! ;)
Gotta run Max out now...
Peace to you today!

Gentleness can do what force fails to do

We have been faced with some challenging things lately...

I was reading a blog, that my friend K just introduced me to (thanks, buddy!) and have come to the realization that there is nothing that I can do about some things... I just need to let God work. And follow His guidance, not mine. Some people don't understand that, and I can completely understand. Sometimes I don't like what God is putting on my heart at all! I guess I realized these things a long time ago... but it has really been on my heart lately.

Gentleness can do what force fails to do. This was taken from that blog... I love this saying. I need to work on putting it into work. I want to help mold my children... I just don't want to become overwhelmed with life to the point that I lose sight w/ what God chose me to do when he gave me these children... I want to focus on their growth and learning... and discipline kindly, but help them to understand that I discipline because I love them. I want to be grateful for EVERY moment. Instead of find the faults. I pray that God helps me to slow down my fast thoughts and anxieties and helps me to appreciate the here and the now... because I don't know how long my situation in this place will last. Who does know their circumstance? Well I guess only God right?
I think about stuff like this alot, especially now. I just need to love... to be grateful and patient...

Kelly Dinner Day :)

Today we had a playdate at Tina's. It was a lot of fun to catch up with her, and reminded me of a couple things. She said that since the beginning of the year, she has been trying to not let her kids watch too much TV. I was like wait, I inspired that in you? That is wonderful... now why do I feel like my kids are watching too much TV? So, this afternoon I made up my mind to do my best to not have the children in front of the tube in the afternoon. I think that I am going to do my best from now on to not let them have TV except for right before bed, and right when they get up. (Times that I need to drink coffee, or relax after a long day ;)) I think that is fair. I may need to resort to it every so often a bit more then that, but vow to make it some type of educationaly viewing, or of course Veggie Tales, which is always stories from the Bible! I just know that Wyatt LOVES his cartoons, and I am sure it isn't harming them, but I seriously feel guilty at the end of the day if they have watched it more then just a little bit! Today we came home and haven't watched TV all night, and the time feels so much more valuable that we can spend time together talking and listening to music. LOVE IT! So... thanks Tina for reminding me of what I have been talking about for a long time, but haven't done anything about. I appreciate you!
We didn't have anything that I really felt like preparing for supper, so I had a Kelly dinner day... Meaning... we ate pancakes. I miss Kel. So, I thought to add a bit of a good thing, I would add blueberries (except the kids won't eat them, so I added blueberries to mine). Yum they were so good.
Grams was admitted to Oconomowoc Memorial yesterday with the flu. She was severely dehydrated, and is going to be in for a few more days. They have her in isolation right now. She is amazing to me. Such a good sport, and an amazing person in my life. I called her and told her that we are praying for her, and that we have her on the prayer chain at church and she said, "That is the only thing that matters to me right now"....wow. She just wants prayer. Nothing else... Prayer.
Went to Perspectives last night. Nothing too much fancy to discuss about it. We had a YWAM speaker come and talk about the Glory of God... Everything about that class is interesting. The reading was interesting. I am happy that I am caught up to the rest of the class (I was one unit behind everyone because I started the class late) and can now spend more time learning. The speaker last night taught a bit on Moses. I thought it was interesting because he showed a little video clip and then talked about Moses' character. He made the comment that Moses had probably never heard of God. Then God commands him to take off his sandals (protection) because he was on Holy ground. Then he is commanded to throw down his staff (protection) which turns into a snake, and then God commands him to pick up the snake that is swirling around his feet that was the staff, at its tail, which is where you would NOT want to pick up a snake... So, the Lord makes Moses vulnurable.... Crazy to me for some reason, that was the highlight of our course and lecture for me last night...
Well, it is alomost time to get my chickens to the tub... Goodnight