On Your Marks, Get Set...Go!

This past week we have been dog sitting Boo, Josh's parent's dog. Why do I put my self through such drama? Because I am a devout animal lover? Oh, no! Because I am an AWESOME wife and mother (If I do say so myself:) I actually really like Boo. She is the sweetest dog ever, and ya'll know I am not one to gush about dogs, but it was worth the spilled food, dirty carpet, and tension between her and Mia to make sure she was taken care of while Josh's mom was in Montana.

We are just wrapping-up our second week of school and I feel we are starting to get into a routine. The girls are able to participate in many lessons together and they are doing better than I had expected with independent learning and lessons. This is a huge praise! We have been getting out in the afternoons and that is a great incentive for them to have good attitudes during school time. We also alternate each lesson with a play time and have come-up with some new ideas that they have been enjoying. For instance, this week we brought their babies outside in their strollers and set up Noella's orange cones that she picked-out at the Dollar store (I thought, what are we going to do with these?!!!) and made up obstacle courses for the strollers to manuver. So fun! We actually used the cones for our first PE lesson too. I could not believe it when I read that the lesson called for orange cones. Having 2 girls we have not had much prior experience with cones.... Recently, we have made Madeline's closet into a reading nook and it has been lots of fun! This week, I taped-up letters and words on the walls. We turn off the light and use a flashlight to find and read all the secret messages. Wow, huh?! The same old toys have also been a lot more fun to play with in the new space. Speaking of moving things around, I know y'all are needing to know this, but... we moved the sand box too, and it has been played with everyday this week! Even Noella who usually prefers to play inside ventures out there without an invitation and plays! Madeline has even concocted a "wonder glue" out of the sand; she reports that it has many uses--as a glue all and an anti-itch ointment. So, for now, I will spare you the trials of our days. We have them! When I reflect on all the fun, the learning, the growing we are doing together, it so helps me to realize that the frustrations we will face, are a necessary part of this growing process. I am so glad that as I "get it," the Lord will allow me to gain wisdom and understanding. He will allow me to Go forward in whatever He has for me and my family.

On Your Marks Get Set ...

When You're Stuck

I do not know why I am still up. It is a new day and here I sit messing with my Blog. I should not have to tell any of you how incompetent I am when it comes to computers. This Blog is great, but I want to do so much more with it and I find myself stuck. I don't like to be stuck. It seems that I have been "stuck" a lot lately. Stuck at home because we only have car, stuck in a whirlwind of anxiety and depression and just not myself--If I could define what myself is anyway ...You get the picture. I am still trying to figure out why my text turned to hieroglyphics on the cookie post-it is driving me crazy. Someone please let me know how to get my text back! I was able to add a video bar with an awesome song. It's at the bottom of the page; please check it out! Look at the first block- I am not sure how to add more songs, but the lyrics are sooo true and so moving--this song just speaks to my soul.

More August Fun

Here are some more photos from this week. I was hoping to post a few from our girls night in Idaho City, but they are on my other computer.... Madeline lost her 3rd tooth yesterday. She has decided to keep it and forgo the money. She is a very sentimental child and wants to save all of her teeth to remember her childhood. We tried to convince her that she doesn't need to save all of them, but it did not go so well. She opted for money with her second tooth and is now asking where it went to; she wants it back!

August Fun

We are in transition between summer fun and a new school year. My hope is that the school year will allow for more field trips and thus more fun! We have loved staying up late and watching the Olympics, but we are all a little off. Most of you know this to be true regardless:). This week we enjoyed fishing at Tripod Reservoir near Cascade. We drove up last Sunday after church. Madeline caught 2 Rainbow Trout! Her daddy caught one too. Noella enjoyed rock jumping in the water. After fishing, we hurried back to Boise for a bon Voyage BBQ for our friends Justin and Teresa who will be living in australia for the year. Earlier this month, we had a special girls night in Idaho City to send Teresa off. We stayed in the Cabin of one of Matt and Cassie's friends. It was more like a large log home; just beautiful. We had soooo much fun talking girl talk, painting nails, doing mud masks and hiking!

This week my friend Nicole took us to the water park. Here's the story of our truck: I got up Monday morning, piled the kids into the truck with plans to go visit with my friend Nicole and her kids, and it would not start. Not a a sound, not even a click. This was after most of the summer of having one car. We had put in new brakes in the front and rear and a new battery, I was sure we were good to go! Not so much. I was fuming inside-trying to stay calm and matter-a -fact for the girls, showing self-control and the right attitude that

I have been trying to help us all along with in our day to day lives. This was surely a challenge! Luckily for me, my friend Nicole came over with a container of Blackberries (which we were going to pick at her house) and encouragement that we must come with her to the waterpark and get out of our house! I am so thankful to God that he sends my friends at thses times. She sure helped me to keep my cool:) Thank you Nicole:) We had so much fun spending the day with her and her kids! We got to see some of our other friends too who were also at the water park.

Later this week, Cassie and her 3 children met us at our community pool. We haven't gone too much since we've lived here. It was just too hard with 2 little girls, but it has gotten easier and I have really enjoyed going this summer. It was so nice to have time talking with Cassie while our children played! Her 4-month-old, Elise really seemed to enjoy the water. After swimming, thekids played at the park and found a plum tree. They had fun picking plums to bring home. Just a side note-- Madeline tells us that she is going to marry her friend Tanner. I am so not ready to hear this!! Noella loves Tanner too-he is her "Daddy." Is was funny to hear from Cassie that Madeline is not the only girl that thinks she will be marrying Tanner. Later this week Madeline pulled-out the picture of her and Tanner holding hands when they were 2 at the hot-air balloon launch downtown. Note to all of you moms--be careful of what you take cute pictures of when they are little ones:) She asked if her daddy and I were friends before we got married. I told her , "yes." she said, "Oh, good, because I am going to marry my friend Tanner."

The girls and I went blackberry picking at Cabalo's Farm in Kuna and yesterday we made the jam! Friday night we went to the Idaho state Fair. We visited the animals, rode the rides, and played the games. So much fun!!!

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to us! We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on the 20th. Our friends Nayibe and Andrew watched the girls and we... ran errands and put together a bed for Noella. We had great ideas of going mini-golfing, playing tennis or folf-even going to the Shakespeare Fest. We have been sooo busy this summer; we just wanted to get a few things done around the house. We are going to try again in a week or so to have another special date night. I will post again on this.

It has been so fun to have family time with my sweet husband! We have enjoyed camping, fishing, picnics, baseball, the Olympics, taking care of his parent's house, the Fair, and today after teaching children's church, we will be going on a train ride on the Thunder Mountain Line in Horseshoe bend. We are all soooo excited! The girls ask to go on a train ride every time we pass by a train.

For the next three weeks we will be teaching children's church at LHBC. I will have the 3-6 and Josh the 7-11 year-olds. Please keep the children's service in your prayers that these children may experience the Living God and come to know his goodness, care, truth and purpose for their lives. We have also began home school with the girls. Please pray for patience, perseverance, character to be developed, and most of all that we all would grow closer as a family and to the Lord through this time of learning.

As I finished my Bible study this morning (John 12:37-49), I was reminded of Just how BIG our God is, how true the words of Jesus are for ME, and for each one of us, each day and in all circumstances, and that the words of the Bible are living and active (Heb. 12:4). Jesus tells us in this passage that God has told him exactly what to say and how to say it. That God gave him the miracles to perform. Nothing He says or does is of His own accord- but that of God the Father. He explains that God hardened the hearts and closed the eyes of the Pharisees IN RESPONSE to their heart condition and thus their decision to reject Him. God looks at our hearts. Are we receptive to what He tells us in his word and to the words of Christ? I felt that I have not been letting God take care of the details in my life. I have stepped out in faith in this or that area in my life and now what? I must trust that at this point God will guide me and my family. Maybe through his Holy Spirit, maybe through his word; I do not need to know how, only that He is more than capable and only looks at my heart, my willingness to go where he is leading me. I am so glad that I am able to study the words of Christ. So many people are not allowed to read what He said and have that truth available to guide them. In this passage, Jesus says that there were Jewish leaders who believed what he said, but that they were too concerned that they would be kicked-out of the synagogue for their belief to publically declare their faith. Jesus knew their hearts, and their choice. He said that He has come to save and not to judge. I am thankful this morning for his promises to me, that He cares for me, He delights in me, He is Mighty to save!

Dog Days of Summer

For us, today was truly a "dog" day. The morning was all about Mia dog! The girls decided to walk her around the house on her leash for practice and then take her for a walk to the park. For most dog owners, no big deal. For us, quite a large feat--Mia is a most excellent dog in all respects other than leash walking and playing fetch--both of which we set out to do with her this morning. We took her to one of the hills near our house to run, but by the time we got there, she was so thirsty, she did not want to play. We were somewhat prepared....The girls carried all of the necessary dog supplies in their backpacks and we were ready to meet all of her needs-except mom forgot to bring the water bottle. It was no problem-- we had brought the Tupperware container and filled it with sprinkler water. Have I mentioned that Noella has decided that she is terrified of our neighborhood sprinklers? Yes, she throws a fit whenever we need to go near them. We got to the green "bug" park in the subdivision next door and had lots of fun playing while Mia rested:). We then decided to go back to the hill and try to play with her again. When we got back into our subdivision the sprinklers were on all over. It was a real challenge trying to get Noella to go near them. We tried to dodge most of them, but some of them still caught us Noella was not a happy dog walker. I just had to pick her up and carry her through. Both girls did a really good job walking Mia. she is not an easy dog to walk. It was sort of a new experience for us because we usually ride bikes or scooters etc,to the park. We made it, though, albeit a little wet from the sprinklers and trampled by doggie claws.

Camping

We have had so much fun camping this summer! We went family camping with some of our great friends from Lake Hazel Bible church the weekend of July 11th at Phillips Lake , Oregon and then I took the girls to Shiloh Bible Camp the 24th-27th of July to help the Brown family and the summer missionaries with cleaning.

Phillips Lake

Thank you to the Carroll family for organizing this fun trip for our church! We met several other families that are friends of the Carrolls. The Lake and camp site were so beautiful. We pitched our tent facing the Lake and had a sweet view! The girls enjoyed singing camp songs (so did their mommy:) and roasting marsh mellows. They even had pink ones! The girls loved pulling each other around on this wagon-like contraption throughout the campsite. The first morning we went swimming and fishing after breakfast. The girls just love swimming in the lake! I think we went fishing too late in the morning--we didn't even get a bite. Madeline brought her telescope and the kids had the MOST fun...looking at each other through the lenses!!! We couldn't quite focus on the moon. The telescope is not too powerful. The next afternoon the girls and I went out on one of the boats. I think the couple was Tyler and Melonie?. Madeline and Hannah went tubing. Madeline had sooooo much fun! She wanted to go again but could not convince any of the other kids to go with her, so she went by herself and did not enjoy the ride nearly as much. Noella did great and enjoyed it all! There were so many kids to play with (around 30) and so much to do. The first night was colder than we had expected. Our air mattress deflated over night and I found myself at the bottom of the bed when I woke-up. We were grateful to the Le Brets for letting us borrow one of their air mattresses the next night. Josh was our camp cook and made a wonderful bacon and egg breakfast. He also got to spend some quiet time hiking up the hill while we went out in the boat. It was a relaxing and fun trip!


Shiloh

We drove up to Shiloh with Jason Brown Thursday the 24th. When we got there, we found out that Wendy had taken Josiah to the hospital because he had eaten one of the flowering plants growing near the house and had gotten sick. She came home with him around 10:30 and he was fast asleep. He was going to be okay. Wendy and Jason were ever so calm in this situation. I would have been a WRECK!!!! We came into the sanctuary just as Matt Reed was finishing his last talk. We actually were standing outside the door and heard a knock. Jason opened the door and Matt was at the point in his talk where Jesus was to open the door....Perfect timing. So, the next morning I met Nathan and Megan Bath. They are the program directors at the camp. Megan and I cleaned the main building together. It was really great getting to talk with her while we were cleaning. It is always more fun when you have a friend to work alongside of you. The girls had a blast roaming around and playing with the Brown and Bath kids while the adults cleaned and cooked. We met lots of really nice people at the camp and enjoyed good food and fellowship. The girls loved hearing Matthew recite Dr. Seuss stories from memory, playing Mau with Michael and Christine, dressing up in funny rugby pads, watching Aristocats, swinging, swimming canoeing, doing puzzles, putting-up schedules in the cabins, and helping clean in the dining room and Brown's house. The adults went horseback riding with the horse wranglers, Amy and Laura, on Saturday through the trails--it's been a really long time since I've gone, so I was quite timid the first little while , but enjoyed myself after I got used to the idea that I was not going to fall off:). Sunday we went to McCall Baptist with the Browns and then later went swimming and canoeing. The girls and I had soooo much fun! I am so glad that the Lord allowed us to go. It was such a blessing to be able to help out for the weekend!

Pool Days

Today we walked to the pool and met our friends Nayibe, Javi and Josiah and a new friend Bridget and her children Emmie and Levi. It was a beautiful day, not too hot. After swimming we had a picnic lunch and the kids played at the park behind the pool. It was so nice to get out of the house for the morning and spend the day with our friends. After nap we made zucchini bread and played baby doctor and Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Yesterday Nayibe and the boys came over to visit while we were canning apricots. My house was such a disaster--you can imagine the kitchen, I was ironing Josh's shirts and had them hanging on the molding over the den near the front door, UPS had just dropped-off our home school computer which was sitting by the front door. There was laundry being folded, toys here and there, etc. So, As I am canning apricots, Josh brings his new business partner into the house. What a surprise!! I used to apologize and inside I knew my house usually looked like that anyway. Nowadays over the last couple of years, we have been in the routine of keeping the house cleaned, so most other days my house is not such the mess. It was okay, he has 2 young children and we were having so much fun making the mess; that is what summer is for:) I have to share a Noellaism before I go.... Yesterday morning I was chopping apricots. Noella was going potty and she yells out, " Mommy, we trust in the Lord!" I affirmed her, "Yes, Honey, we DO trust in Him in everything!" A few minutes later she comes up and rubs lotion on my legs while I am still chopping apricots. She continues her thought--She must have thought there was more to it and explained, "and the Lord trustis in us.!"

Madeline and Noella's Sweet and Dandy Sugar Candy Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Delights

As many of you know we have been spending LOTS of time at home. We have had one car for about half of the summer. We made Christmas ornaments and other art projects, used our cool 3d chalk, walked to the pool, played an assortment of board games and made many tasty treats. Madeline had the idea to crush up the 3 candy canes we found in the cupboard and make peppeminty cookies-so we did and they were really yummy! We used milk chocolate chips and just followed the recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens red and white checked cook book. The girls have also found it so fun to cut our grass with their scissors. Today we planned to make apricot jam (thank you Ritchies for the yummy apricots!) but found we didi not have the pots to make it so we put the projct on hold until tomorrow. We found other fun things to do like cracking walnuts with the nut cracker--the girls loved that they could use the nutcracker by themselves! We also went outside and I showed the girls how to play hopscotch-a modified version. Noella was so happy that she could do the whole hopscotch:) she was grinning from ear to ear. They got some great exercise this morning before it got hot. The girls also drew pictures for their friends Liam and Cole in NC. While we outside, Madeline drew a picture of our house. It was a really neat learning experience for her to draw what she was looking at and put in all the details. We all took a nap this afternoon and are now waiting for daddy to come home so we can go over to Nonny and Papa's and feed Storm cloud, water the plants and then go to the Boise Hawks Baseball game. The girls won tickets from the summer reading program.
posted by mari at 4:54 PM on Aug 11, 2008

The Last 4 Months?

I wanted to expound on all of the joy and fun we have had over the last few months. We have had a beautiful Easter Celebration, a special visit with my father, a difficult but ever so beautiful Mother's Day, a fun Father's Day, Josh's birthday, a trip to California, Berry picking, VBS, Family Camp at Phillip's Lake, Or, a weekend at Shiloh Bible Camp in Donnelly, Id ,play dates with friends, GNO dinners and sleepovers, and sooo much more. The Lord has been so faithful to our family and in my life, allowing me to experience so much joy and so many fun times with dear friends and family. I have added pictures to chronicle these events because at the time, the words weren't there to write about them. Many of you know that I didn't feel I could take pictures of our time in North Carolina or Chicago this past April--it just wasn't right(besides I wasn't lookin' too good...haha) We are so grateful for all of the kindness and love that was shown to us during these past 4 months. We miss all of you that are not in Boise with us and were so blessed to have you near during our time in NC/Chicago. We were not able to see some of you, and want you to know you are close to our hearts across the miles and through the years. Our phone has not been working too well with our new service so my phone conversations have been very limited. We are hoping to remedy the situation soon. Today has been a happy day--if I forget about the HUGE MESS with my computer this morning and that it would not send my SS report and I had to drag the girls to the library to re-write the report a 4th time. I will stop here. I was not being a person that I would want to be around--that's for sure (maybe I will expound some more!!) There was a little girl and her grandfather on the catalog computer next to me at the library and one of my girls had to go potty while I was in the middle of the online report that was past due (ever happen to any of you?). So, I had them head off to the bathroom together while I finished my thought and then left my work to help them out. Well I walked back and the girl next to me was using my computer and shutting down my application. I was not too happy. I was nice, but uttered, "OH NO! I was in the middle of a report!" inside I was fuming with negativity "uh-uh, you better not have messed up my stuff!!!!" So grandpa apologized. I felt horrible for letting something so insignificant ruffle my feathers and cause me to have a short fuse. During my time with the girls this afternoon we were between emptying laundry hampers and playing and Noella picks up her BIBLE and says, "I'm going to teach a lesson on perseverance" implying that her laundry hamper was just too much today! I also found that my family really liked the fried rice I made for dinner and that is always encouraging when they like what I make.