Sunday, October 28, 2012

Our tree

I took a picture of our tree with the leaves partially fallen off. I'm pretty sure they are all off now. It's my favorite tree, and I'm always kind of sad when its barren. I just want to remember it like this.

Housey Stuff

As my friend Sharron would say, we got a Jesus present. Our new table. It's beautiful, and we got an incredible deal on it. I loved the paneled farmhouse table look, and God gave us one. It fits our space perfectly. Also we got our kitchen island at Goodwill. It is so nice to have a huge place to work or have the kids eat a snack or Jack to say his blends while I'm working in the kitchen. And the other pictures are just of the house. It is my playground, and I'm always playing in it and switching things around.

Ordination Service

Today was a special day for us as Matt was ordained by our church. We had a great service followed by the laying on of hands as the men of the church and other ordained men of God prayed for Matt. Then pastor presented him with his certificate of ordination. We had a cake for family and friends afterwards. Here are a few pictures although maybe not of the best quality since most are with my phone trying to zoom in. We appreciate our church, pastor, family, and friends and all of the love and support shown to us. I'm proud of Matt. It's been exciting to see God use him, and I look forward to many more years of being married to him as we serve the Lord together.

Cupcake fever

My first attempt at frosting cupcakes. Don't laugh. I liked it enough that I will try again.

Brushing teeth

Somehow it turned into brushing hair, and everything was wet. What were we doing?

Uniform Night at Awana

Friday, October 26, 2012

Is fall over?

I think fall is over in Minnesota. Here's why:

The leaves are almost all off the trees now.

There were snow flurries yesterday and an icky rain the day before that.

Tuesday was 75 degrees, and yesterday was 40.

I had to dig the winter coats out.

I haven't seen the sun in a long time. I feel in need of some sunshine.

Yep that clinches it- time to go to Florida! I do love Minnesota but I notice it gets harder to endure the winter each year. I'm not quite ready for that yet. I don't know if I ever am!

Maybe we are just at the end of fall, the part right before the holidays and the beginning of winter with the first snow. Ok there's still some goody left in fall so I will hang in there! I do love the holidays in Minnesota close to my family. There's a lot of fun things we do. But it is interesting how much the weather can affect you!

You can tell I have extra time today!

A day off!

It's nice to have a day off today. We slept in and have all day to get ready for our busy weekend. We have Matt's ordination council and lunch tomorrow while Jack has an Awana activity. Then Sunday is the ordination service in the afternoon with cake and the family over afterwards. I'm excited for Matt and looking forward to hearing him talk about the Bible. I know he will be great. It's an exciting time for us!

In other news, Ava is singing a lot and now sings "BIBIB" and yells "Bible". That's the only part she knows of the B-I-B-L-E. I really wish I could just video her all of the time now because I know it's so easy to forget all of these cute things they say and her little voice. She also likes to "pay" before we eat. And she makes sure everyone is doing it! While at my parents the other night, Aunt Bek apparently wasn't "paying", so in the middle of the prayer, Ava said, "Bekah, pay!" And she did! Finally someone is getting Aunt Bek in line!

Jack is doing great in school and Awana. He loves both. He can recognize and write all the letters - whew that happened fast! - and is starting to understand about how they work together to make words. He's working hard on not losing all of his marbles every day. He gets to go to the Dollar Tree if he gets 2 or under taken away. So he got to do that twice this week. He is also anxious to get there early so he can have play time before school. Apparently there's one cowboy hat, and he has to race Joshua to get it every time. It was funny the other day when we arrived at the same time as Joshua, and Jack didn't stop to say hi, just sprinted into school to get the hat. Priorities!

He also loves his Sparks teacher and group and working in his book. He's still very energetic at the end of the day, but that makes him Jack I guess. I wouldn't mind a little tiredness, but that's just because I'm tired by that time and can't keep up. I think I was a little afraid of the change in our lives, but progress is always good! And it's exciting to see God working in all of us. I could use a little more work, but I'm glad He doesn't give up on me!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Busy Busy

Well I've been waiting until something exciting happened to write again. Nothing in particular has happened, but it's been awhile since I've updated the blog so I feel I should check in.

We have been busy with life. I like it overall, but I am glad this week has time for our family to just be at home. Jack even loved a break from school last week. When it gets this busy, I have to remind myself that the family time is the most important. I know when I start to get irritated at the kids that I am too busy. So this week is about slowing down. Our ladies fellowship is studying the book Come Sit Stay this year, and it is fitting for me. Also at our Awana conference this past weekend, one of the workshops was about intimacy with Christ and trying to pass that onto the kids. This must be a point God is trying to drive home in my life. I get anxiety at a long red light or in a long line. It is hard for me to sit quietly. I am thankful He's still working on me! That's encouraging.

Matt is preparing hard for his ordination at the end of the month. We are looking forward to it. It's an exciting time!

Well, that's about as exciting as it gets this time!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

October!

Wow I can't believe it's already October! Fall is in full swing, and we have some beautiful colors around our house. It seems early but maybe time is just flying. It certainly seems that our lives have just taken off since school started a month ago. My new favorite thing is helping at school. I love seeing Jack there and being a part of his new world. It's so weird that he has a world apart from me now but I guess that's ultimately the goal. I'm glad it's done gradually!

We went to the apple orchard last week and had a great time and a beautiful day. I have enjoyed meeting some of the other moms too.

Awana started this past Wednesday and wow! We had many first timers, some from our VBS this summer and some brought new friends and we even had a few just wander in wanting to check out our church. What a blessing and how exciting to see it grow. It's definitely the largest group since we have been involved so that is very encouraging.

I am looking forward to the MOMS group this week and hoping to see more moms!

I am still volunteering at Metro Women's Center in our store Blessingdales, and it HAS been such a blessing! We receive many donations every week from various places with most of them coming from the Kids Rack, a consignment shop in Champlin. I can pick up donations 3 times a week. It has become a part of my routine now, and it's so worth it to be able to help so many people. Being a part of Metro Women's Center and Blessingdale's is truly a blessing to me and to so many others. I love being a part of this place that is doing so much good.

So after a couple of adjustment weeks, I am into my routine and am really enjoying it. I was a little overwhelmed when school started, but now I'm getting in the groove I think. And I like to be busy! My main concern is being able to have Ava with me, and I have especially enjoyed having a little buddy with me doing these things.

Here are a few pictures of the apple orchard.