Not Enough!

Bows, and ribbons. Flowers. Headbands, hats. We've got it all. What we don't have is...

enough hair!

Well, we tried. Five months is not a sufficient life span to grow enough hair for pig tails!

Piece to the Puzzle

Jackson got a floor puzzle for Christmas. He loves it! It is 2x3 feet. He is getting pretty good at putting it together. He needs some occasional help, and generally whines a lot during the process. But he's getting better!

Jackson turned 4 on December 28! 4! I can't believe it. He is growing so fast and getting so independent.

• He's starting to like drawing and cutting.
• He can write an "A."
• He can unload the dryer.
• He can put on all his own clothes, the right way. :)
• He can put toothpaste on his own tooth brush.
• He can quote some Bible verses.

He's our big boy and we're thankful for him!

Sweet Leggings

My Eva girl in sweet leggings. I love her. I just love to dress her up. I love her bows and frills. I love her 23 hours a day! There is that one hour in the middle of the night when "like" is a better word than "love." But seriously, I know she is growing so fast, and will soon outgrow her night feedings. Pretty soon, she'll start pulling off her headbands. Pretty soon, she'll be under my feet when I'm busy.

I'm glad she's still little.

A Different Saying

"A place for everything and everything in its place."

umm...

"A place for everything is a place it can survive."



"If my pottery can survive in the china cabinet...

...so *should* my sunglasses!"

Dumplins!

From my kitchen to yours:

Chicken and Dumplings... *drum roll*

Start with Mother-in-law's ready-made turkey soup, fresh out of the can.

Get a couple mixers to make the dumplings. Stir, stir. (Any impurities coming from little stirers' hands will be disinfected in the boiling liquid!)

Boil those dumplins!

Lunch and memories ready-made!

A Glimpse of Heaven

It is with a heavy heart that I blog today. I rarely blog about extremely personal events because I don't just want anyone to read them. But today, a college friend is remembering the year anniversary of her baby girl being born beautiful and healthy, taking her home, and holding her while she took her last breath at a precious two days old.

It was a horrible experience, to say the least. I will not even try to write of the depths of sorrow their family endured. I cannot understand. I do not want to be able to understand, for only a first-hand experience could make it hurt like she hurt.

What I do know is that to lose a baby is very heart-breaking. Over the past few years, we have miscarried two precious babies. Those were black, rayless times in my life. But God carried us through them, and proved His grace to us!

My first miscarriage was in May 2006, before I had any children. It was the hardest. I felt like we'd waited to long. I felt like there was a beautiful reward for us...just out of reach.

The second miscarriage was in October 2010. We already had our two boys, so it seemed much easier. We knew we wouldn't be childless. But it was still very heart-rending, and I spent much time in tears. But very soon after that, we found out we were expecting Eva, and God used that to heal me.

Recently, the Duggar family miscarried a baby. They shared a picture of that baby's hand on her hand. There was a lot of controversy about the photograph, and whether or not they should have posted it. But I'm so glad they did!

You see, I have nothing tangible from my babies. My miscarriages were early, within one week of finding out they were on the way. That made it SO much easier. But in a way, I would love to have known if they were boys or girls, or one of each. I would love to give them a name, and seal a place in my heart. I would love to have a picture, and a favorite outfit they wore, something to hold onto. But I know that with that sweetness would also come a much bigger hole in our lives.

I'm so thankful for Heaven where loved ones are quickly moving. Our babies are there. They are with Jesus, and I know we will be all together again.

Is my story sad? Yes, it is sad, but not compared to so many others. But I'm thankful that the story WILL have a happy ending, for Heaven is real.

Oh, to Be Perfect!

As 2012 begins, I am contemplating all the things I want to excel at. They are many!

Today as we came home from church, we could hardly get in the door! It is still a mess from Christmas and traveling.

I told Jamin, "Do you ever feel like every area in your life is a mess?"

He understood where I was coming from. I need to practice piano more, spend more positive time with the kids, get more organized in my menu-planning and housekeeping, read the Bible more, work harder at my teaching, exercise more, get up earlier, be kinder, and on and on the list goes...

I love fresh starts. They feel so good! Valentine's Day is happy, anniversaries are romantic, Christmas is magical. But New Year's... it's fresh! I'm excited to get closer to God this year, and let Him improve me! I'm so glad God doesn't remember all the failures of this past year.

Excited for 2012!

The (Eva) Joy of Our Lives

Our precious little Eva is almost five months old! That is so extremely hard to believe, considering the last two weeks of my pregnancy lasted three months! But nevertheless, she is such a sweet part of our lives. We love to cuddle her, and love on her. She gives us the biggest grins! It's amazing how such a little person, in such a short time takes such a big place!

Little screamer, cute though she may be:



Dressed in her church bonnet:

Love her sleeping cheeks!

Contagious smile:

Watching movies with the biggest brother:

Yes, she's our girl!

Thankful in December

Today is church-cleaning day. Sometimes it is rough... on my attitude. It's not that I mind vacuuming. I don't mind washing dishes, and straightening hymnals. It doesn't bother me to change a trash bag. What does bother me is that we do it with all three kiddos... sometimes all screaming. So the tension adds up, just like the messes we are cleaning. And I find myself steaming, annoyed, and basically not right with God.

Today, during one of those such moments, the Lord shared a thought with me: I should be so thankful! First of all, that I do have three little kiddos. They can all scream, therefore they are pretty healthy! ;) We have been called into the ministry, and this was a small opportunity to serve the Lord together... as a family.

Let's all remember to be thankful, even for a small way to serve God!

Flash Figures and Frogs

I have been teaching Sunday School since mid-September. It has been so fun for me! I first started teaching Sunday School when I was 14 years old. I taught primaries, and I usually had 3 in my class. :) Even then I loved it. I loved being in charge. I loved teaching God's Word. I loved how it helped me study and want to know more, even about the most familiar Bible stories. But most of all, I loved to plan the "fun stuff." :)

I stopped teaching when I started college. It just became too much for me with all my studies. A few years after college when Jamin was a youth pastor, I would occasionally fill in for an absent teacher. And other times, we would split the teens and I would teach the girls. I loved it.

Since we have been in Ohio, I haven't really had the opportunity to teach. I have taught ladies' meeting a few times. And I taught the teens once or twice. But not until this September did I realize how much I love to teach kids! I have really missed it and have felt so much more at peace since I started. Maybe that sounds weird, but I think it's just "for me."

So I want to share a couple things. It's not that I'm creative at all, I just want to share a few of my ideas in case it could help you.

I recently decided not to use curriculum any more. Some of the lessons were so "empty," and I think it's so fun to write my own Bible stories so I launched out. I'm starting on the "Miracles of Jesus" tomorrow and I'm very excited about it. But the problem with writing my own lessons is that they don't come with visuals. We have great flannelgraph at the church (Betty Lukens), but it gets boring if used week after week. I can't draw. Sometimes I can find a few things online, but usually only one picture... and that's not enough for an entire story. So... I asked my talented sister-in-law Becky to draw for me. So she did. And she did a great job! Tomorrow I am doing the story of Jesus turning the water into wine and here are the pictures she drew:

I think they are so good! She drew them as pencil sketches and emailed them to me. And since my printer decided to run out of ink today and wouldn't print them clearly, I traced over them, chalked them, and laminated them. I have decided to coin the term flash figures. :) Woo hoo!

Also, instead of trying to find a craft or activity for my difficult ages (4-12 yikes!) I'm going to start implementing Bible games for review. I got them from Ed Dunlop books. If you have never heard of him, I suggest you read one of his books. He is very good! And he has a lot of experience. Tomorrow we are playing Leap Frog! Here is the game ready to go in my classroom:

The students have to answer a review question correctly, then they choose a log from each row to try to get across. Some logs have alligators behind them and eat frogs! And some of the logs say "pass" so they don't have to choose another log. I think the kids will love it. So we shall see!