A Blog of Rice

Our Home--The Story, Part Three

2011-11-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

So the anticipated Saturday came when we were going to get to look inside the house that we were hoping would become our new home. We met the realtor at the door and got the tour. To say it was exactly what we were looking for would be a lie. It did have 3 bedrooms and a den (which has a closet, so for our purposes would be a 4th bedroom) and it had 2 toilets. That was pretty much what we'd narrowed our search down to, just focusing on the absolute necessities and not the frills, trying to be good stewards of our money and not get into something we wouldn't be able to afford.

The "bones" of the house seemed solid, but to make the house our home, it was going to take quite a bit of updating. The living room had orange sponge-painted walls, a fireplace with some very 70's orange, brown, and yellow tile on the hearth and an ugly mantle.

But the wood ceilings were beautiful. We walked from the living room into the kitchen with walls covered in wallpaper with "lovely" vegetables all over it, including a matching border, and a hideous light fixture over the eat-in portion....oy vay!!

But, it did have two, that's right, TWO pantries, and I immediately could envision turning one into my "school closet" so all of our books and supplies could be hidden for the first time in our homeschooling life! Off of the kitchen was a large laundry room with a doggie door in the door leading to the back yard, which was plus.

In the laundry room was a three-quarters bath with a shower stall which boasted an interesting shade of yellow tile. Yikes!

Off of the laundry room was a large bedroom, the master, with beautiful wood ceilings and not-so-beautiful textured wallpaper. But the wallpaper was a light tan color, without any print on it, so I counted it a blessing.

We went through the other 3 bedrooms and the other bathroom, all of which, except one bedroom, had wallpaper galore. My oh my, would we have our work cut out for us. We walked outside to the backyard and were very pleased with what we saw....a nice concrete patio area including a porch swing and a nicely landscaped side yard with a big old tree. Now this was good! Our kids love playing outside and we could just see how perfect this yard was for our family.

Aron and I talked a little outside and despite all the things we'd have to work on to make it a home in our style, we realized that this house was really perfect for our family at this time in our lives. We walked back inside, asked the official asking price and told the realtor we'd take it! The house wasn't even officially on the market yet, but because of our friend Connie looking out for us, we were in a really good position to get the house before anyone else had a chance to see it! He met us a bit later back at our rental house and we signed paperwork to get the deal started. He did inform us that there was one other offer on the home that he'd just received that morning (an investor who'd also been at the estate sale), but that the owner who'd been there when we toured the house really liked us and she wanted her childhood home (can you believe we were going to be buying the home from the original owner??? You never hear of that anymore!) to be a home for a nice family, not turned into a rental property right away. However, she was going to think about both offers and we'd have to wait a few more days for her and her brother to decide what they wanted to do about selling the house for their mother. We waited anxiously, yet at peace, for the decision to be made....

Our Home--The Story, Part Two

2011-10-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

So we continued the house hunt, feeling a little more concerned (well, I was at least....Aron never worries about anything!) about running out of time. Our lease was up September 15th and being that most homes were bank owned foreclosures, a quick closing was unlikely, so the pressure was on to find "the one."

In July, Aron had to go out of town for a week for summer camp and so I was on the search alone. During this time, I felt like God made it even clearer to me that it was very important for us to find a home that would fit us but would not break the bank. I felt like He was telling me to stay simple, stay focused on paying off debt, so that if/when He calls us to "the next thing" we would be free to go/do. The problem was that I knew Aron wasn't convinced. His idea of the right house and mine still hadn't quite meshed. But taking my friend Leslie's hints, I didn't say anything and just kept searching.

Meanwhile, a friend from church informed me of a house she'd been inside while at an estate sale that she'd learned was going to be put up for sale soon. I kinda stored it in the back of my mind because while Aron was out of town, I was scheduled to view a few more homes. While Aron was at camp he called me and we had quite a conversation. He told me how since the church had used charter buses to get all the kids to camp he had been in charge of driving one of the church vans so that in case anything went wrong like a student getting hurt, he'd be able to drive down them down the mountain. Anyway, since he was alone in the van he listened to talk radio, his favorite type of in-the-car listening, and the Dave Ramsey show came on. Now typically, Aron only listens to talk radio that is either about politics or sports. Financial advice is not his "cup of tea" but he, for some reason, decided to listen. And wouldn't you know, the whole show was people calling in boasting, "We're debt free! We're debt free!" And it really spoke to Aron. He, without my prompting, realized that we needed to be looking for a house in a lower price bracket so that we could start saving money to pay off his student loans (our only debt besides housing). I was in shock!! This was definitely a God-incidence (no such thing as a co-incidence in my mind!).

Since Aron and I were now on the same page, I got the information from my friend Connie (she had been to the estate sale, walked around the house knowing we needed a home with four bedrooms, and had the thought to ask the owner if it was for sale, which it was going to be, and got her name and phone number for me!) from the slip of paper I'd jotted it down on, and called the owner of the house. She informed me that she was meeting with her realtor that Saturday to get it put on the market and that we were free to come on by to take a look at it. I asked her what she would be pricing it at and when she told me, I got even more excited about this possibility. It was just where we needed to be to stay on our new plan of paying less per month for our housing in order to have money left over every month to get out of debt.

Aron was returning home from camp Friday evening and Saturday morning, we were scheduled to go view the house. In the week he was gone to camp, I drove by the house several times, at different times of day to get an idea of the neighborhood. It was only about a one minute drive away from where we were already living, and we already liked the area. The house looked to be in good shape from the outside and I was beginning to really think this might be just what God had up His sleeve for us.

....to be continued....

Our Home--The Story, Part One

2011-10-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

We've officially owned our new California home for about three weeks now and it's time to tell the long-awaited story of how it came to be ours. It truly is quite a story with God's fingerprints all over it.

Back in October of 2010 when we made the God-appointed move all the way across the country, we knew renting a house was the right choice for us until we got ourselves settled into our new church and our new life here in Bakersfield. We found a home which was perfect for us and although the rent was a good price for the area, living on one income, a ministry income at that, there would definitely not be any leftovers at the end of every month. We loved living in that home on a cul-de-sac, but it was time to find something else. Since we knew that the housing prices were as low as they've been in a long time, and since we really needed to have a four bedroom house to make room for Mei, our international student, we started looking to buy.

Now, those of you who know me well know that I'm a very practical kind of girl while Aron is a dreamer. It makes for a good balance for our marriage, but it proved a little tricky when starting the house hunt. I wanted a house that would be just what we need and nothing more and I wanted the price to allow us to be able to save money every month. Aron wanted a house that wouldn't need much work, had a pool, and he was ok with a monthly payment that was equal to what we'd been paying for rent. I had a really hard time coming to terms with that and it was definitely causing some tension between Aron and I. I talked with my very wise friend, Leslie, and she gave me some advice that was hard to do, but was exactly what God wanted from me. She guided me to the understanding that Aron is the head of our household and that I needed to leave the house decision in his hands, all the while praying that God would be clear to Aron to direct him in making the right decision for our family. She also advised me to not say anything more about the prices of homes in which he was interested. Well, I didn't exactly say nothing, but I said a whole lot less. ;)

We found a home that would need some work, but nothing too major; we both loved the neighborhood and the price was right in the middle of where I thought we should buy and where Aron thought we could afford. It was a HUD home so we had to bid on it and then wait about 9 days before we'd know if we'd won it. Well, we didn't. We were outbid about $1800. We were bummed but knew God had something else in mind.

We continued to look online, several times a day, to find what available homes there were. We went and looked at several and most of them were quite horrible! Either the neighborhood was terrible or the house itself was. One day we had scheduled to go look at three houses and we both loved the last house. It was so nicely done inside and it had a pool, which Aron loved, and it was in a neighborhood we were familiar with and was in a great location. Despite my hesitancy with the price (it was the absolute top of what we could afford, putting us in no better of a situation than we'd already been), I agreed that we should go ahead and make an offer. I figured that our pickings were getting really slim, as the houses we'd seen lately had been really bad. The day after we made our offer, the realtor called to tell us that because the house was owned by Bank of America, they required a pre-approval letter through them. Aron was out of town so I scrambled to get all the paperwork in to the realtor so we could beat any other offers that might be made. Well, it was all for naught as we found out that Bank of America would not approve us. Although we'd already been approved through our mortgage broker, B of A said they wouldn't approve us because of the house we still own in Florida. We were really shocked, even the realtor, and bummed that once again, we were on the hunt. But little did we know what a blessing that disapproval was!

.....to be continued.....

God's Story Book

2011-05-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

As you all know, we are a homeschooling family. I love the fact that I get to be my children's teacher (although there are many days I wish I could just send them to school!) and the closeness our family shares from spending so much time together. As you probably know, homeschooling can turn into a very expensive venture, as there are tons of curriculum choices available, many costing almost as much as it would cost to send a child to private school. Because we are a family in ministry (which isn't exactly a high-earning income!), I've always been very frugal with our curriculum choices, spending lots of time online searching for free or inexpensive worksheets/activities, buying workbooks and manipulatives at yard sales, etc.

We began this 2010-2011 school year still living in North Carolina where I was a part of the local homeschool group. I didn't get too involved, but I was on the email loop and there would sometimes be a family giving away curriculum they no longer needed. That is how I got the Language Arts curriculum we ended up using this school year. I was so grateful to have gotten the reading books and the workbooks for free, yet the blessing of these books and the providence of God in supplying them was yet to be truly realized.

During the summer before school started is when Aron started looking for a new job. His job at TMobile did not hire him back after he returned from Wyoming and we were completely trusting God to show us exactly where He wanted us to be. We diligently prayed that God would open only the door (not doors...complete clarity is what we were seeking!) He wanted us to walk through and when He did, we would go. Over the summer is when the job here in Bakersfield started to look promising. Without complete surety, we began talking to the kids about the possibility of moving very far away. They were a little excited, but mostly concerned with how they would make new friends. We assured them as much as we could and prayed often that God would continue to be with us and bring us peace.

School started for the year and wouldn't you know, the first two stories of the year in our new Reading book were all about making new friends and how it can be scary and exciting at the same time, which allowed us the opportunity to talk about what it was going to be like if and when we moved to a new place. I remember thinking those first few weeks how neat it was that God had allowed me to get this curriculum and how it was just right for that time in our life. Well, that continued throughout the school year.

As we got into September, the committee that was interviewing Aron decided they wanted he and I to fly out for a weekend, which meant I had to coordinate childcare while we were gone. By this point, we were feeling more certain that Bakersfield, CA was going to be our new home so in faith, we loaded up all of our possessions in a trailer attached to our truck and temporarily moved back to Florida, waiting on God to make His will crystal clear. Being back with family made the childcare issue much easier and it worked out great since Aunt Fran, a teacher, was able to keep the kids on track with school while we were gone. I remember when we returned, now knowing for sure that we would be moving to California, Fran, with tears in her eyes, asked me if I had planned what story the kids would be reading that week for school. I let her know that I did not, that we were just doing a story-a-week and we were just following the book's schedule. She said the story she read with them, "My Name is Yoon," was the perfect story at the perfect time. It was all about a young Korean girl who had to move far, far away to America and how it was hard for her at first, but how she soon saw that it was just where she was supposed to be, which was pretty much exactly how we all were feeling! Maybe a little thing to some, but as we were watching God make our path clear, these little markers along the way were priceless!

So we made the long move to Bakersfield and settled into our new home and new church. The kids adjusted quickly and we've all made some great friends here. We've continued to have little "markers" along the way that have shown us over and over that we're exactly where we're supposed to be. Funny thing is, God continued to use our Reading books, remember, given to us in NORTH CAROLINA, to confirm in us that California was certainly our new home. A few months after living here, we read a super cute story in our Reading book called "Mice and Beans." It's one of our favorites now. Well, the next story in the book was an autobiography by the author of "Mice and Beans" and guess where she was born and raised......Bakersfield, CA!! What? We were given these books on the other side of the continent, never having heard of Bakersfield until the job offer came.....God, You are too cool!!!

I know there are many people who would say that these are just random circumstances, that God has absolutely nothing to do with our Reading book, but I don't care! When you purpose to look for God in the everyday details of your life, you will begin to notice so many little things that He does to bring Himself glory, to reassure you that every detail of your life matters to Him. What a blessing to be able to share that truth with my children as we did school this past year!

Oh, and there's one more "marker" that God posted through our Reading book. Back in February, I believe, our Director of Missions informed the congregation one Sunday morning that she was organizing a mission trip to Tanzania. I immediately knew that I was supposed to go, and most of you have already been supporting me in prayer and some even financially. So I'll give you one guess as to what the last story of our Reading book this year was about.....you got it, Tanzania!!! I mean, seriously, that is coincidence? I think not!!!

God is so good!!!

2011-05-06T16:34:00.000-07:00

Last week, I put some "cryptic" posts on Facebook, asking for prayer for some possible huge developments in our family. Now that we know those "developments" will not be taking place, I would like to explain what it was all about.

For those of you who know us pretty well, you've probably heard us at some point talking about adoption. It is something Aron and I have felt called to even back when we were dating. It was never a question of if, it was more of when and how it was going to happen. Through the years, we've learned how costly private adoption is, and so we made the decision that when we adopt, unless God somehow gave us children through some other way, we'd be adopting through the foster care system.

Since living in California, we have felt led to begin pursuing becoming licensed foster parents so that we'd be able to adopt when the time and situation allowed. We've talked with several of our friends here at church about it and revealed our hearts' desire to add to our family in this way.

Then last week, I received a phone call from a friend at church who said something like, "This is probably the strangest phone call I've ever made" and it certainly was the strangest phone call I'd ever received. Long story short, a friend of hers had contacted her, asking if she knew of any Christian families in Bakersfield who wanted to adopt twin two-year old boys and so she called us! My heart raced as I listened to her tell me what she knew about the boys' situation. Could this be the way God would provide for us to adopt? Could these boys be part of our family?

I called Aron and we decided to move forward, believing that God would stop us if the answer was no. I talked with the distant family member who currently has the boys a few days later and we set up a time to meet the boys. All weekend, we prayed and asked many others to join us seeking God's crystal clear direction for our family. We didn't want to get anyone's hopes up, ours, the boys', or the family who was doing their part to find a permanent home for the twins. We prayed very specifically that God would give us a deep peace after meeting the boys that would let us know if we should move forward with it or not. We were cautiously excited, thinking how this was so possibly just like God, to allow us the opportunity to adopt in this way.

The day of our meeting of the twins came and again, while on the drive to their home, we prayed, asking God to give us His peace if we were to pursue this. We pulled up to the home, met the family, and spent almost two hours with the twins. They were absolutely adorable! Our kids played so easily with them. The twins were drawn to Aron immediately and I sat with the grandma and listened to the sad story of what their life had been before she had "rescued" them. We had a really, really nice time; however, the peace we deeply sought from the Lord was not there. Instead, we were so distraught after leaving, almost in a depression of sorts because as much as our hearts would have loved to bring those boys home, our minds knew it wasn't right. The boys had many needs and we knew that in our home of four children, three of which will be homeschooling this coming school year, we would not be able to give them the time and attention and constant supervision they desperately need.

Upon leaving their home, we informed the family we'd be in touch after we prayed and talked about what we would be doing. I spoke with the grandma yesterday and let her know that we would not be able to pursue adopting the twins. She was very sweet and understanding of how limited we would be in our ability to give them the undivided attention they're going to need for the next several years. I made sure to encourage her and let her know we think what she is doing for the boys is amazing. I also let her know that if nothing else, God allowed us a "reality check" of sorts for our desire to adopt, knowing that we will need to only take on one child at a time! And also, that God had allowed us to meet those two beautiful boys so that we can now pray for them to find the family that He already has picked out for them.

Our hearts are still a little bit sad about the whole situation. It's one thing to know there are children out there who need homes; it's a whole other thing to meet them and not be able to give them the family they want and need. This adoption road is going to be long, I know. I have friends who are currently experiencing it and it's heartbreaking to hear all the ups and downs they have to go through. However, God's heart is for the orphan. His Father heart longs to bring the orphaned soul into His forever family. As a believer, I am no longer one of the fatherless. I am a daughter of the King! "So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him 'Abba, Father.'" Romans 8:15

We are confident that in God's timing, in His way, He will bring us the children He wants to be part of our family. In the meantime, we will continue to pray for the twins, we will continue pursuing becoming licensed foster parents, and we will continue to trust God with our family.

Happenings

2011-04-23T07:30:00.001-07:00

Things have been busy around here lately!!! Between homeschooling, tutoring (a part-time job I got), church, mission trips (Aron's to San Francisco with the Jr. Highers and my preparation for Tanzania in June), and just regular, every day life with my four blessings, there's been a lot going on! So here are some pictures of some of the everyday happenings around here:

Just a picture of Libbie's ponytail....pretty messy, but I love that her hair's long enough for me to put it all up! Plus, she's got a pretty cute profile, wouldn't you say?

And big sister Anna's ponytail...quite a bit bigger than Libbie's! I remember when she was Elizabeth's age and I was so worried that she'd always have super-thin hair. Well, I think she'll be just fine! Her hair has definitely thickened up this past year, but it's still really stringy...any advice on that?

My Anna girl.

And the cheese-ball, Libbie June!

Nathan at gymnastics class, which he loves! One of the biggest blessings God granted us in our move to California was the opportunity to be involved with Valley Oaks Charter School, a school set up solely for homeschooling families. One of the super-awesome benefits we are given through the school is being able to use one of their "vendor services" at a greatly reduced fee. They offer things through local vendors such as music lessons, art, swimming, and gymnastics, just to name a few. The school will put $40 per month towards each child enrolled at the school and when we use the vendor AmericanKids, it's absolutely free! So both boys did swimming last semester (in the indoor pool at the gym), and this semester Nathan is doing gymnastics while Caleb hones his swimming skills. I cannot explain how blessed we are by this opportunity! We've always lived on a very tight budget, so things like monthly fees to a gym were not possible. I'm so amazed at God's provision for us through Valley Oaks!

Nathan's hanging off the bars way back there...the boy in all green. He doesn't have much fashion sense!

Caleb being a docent at History Camp! Another great thing about Valley Oaks Charter is the History Camp they hold every year. Both boys got to be involved, Nathan one week with the older kids and Caleb the next week. The school sits right next to the Kern County Museum, which has many old properties that have been donated and moved to the site, and I guess they have established a nice working relationship with them. The kids got to borrow 1800's-style costumes from the school and learn different trades and skills from the time period, all in the setting of the museum with it's old buildings. Then, on the last day of camp, the kids got to pick which skill/trade they wanted to share and they became docents to the public school classes that came for a Living History Day field trip! Isn't that so cool?! I'm sad to say that I have no pictures of Nathan during his week, (I'm still getting used to remembering my camera as I didn't have one for awhile after the boys broke my other one shortly after our move) but I do have just this one of Caleb playing checkers. His station was of the games children used to play.

Caleb putting ants into the ant home. One of our friends at church works at Insect Lore, a local company that is responsible for all of those bug habitats you've seen advertised on infomercials or sold at stores, including the ones where you send off for caterpillars and watch them turn into chrysalises and then into butterflies. He invited us for a tour of the Bugseum and it's inner workings and we came home with many gifts, including a butterfly habitat and the caterpillars, mealworms to watch turn into beetles, a ladybug home with ladybug larva, and an ant hill! Such a blessing!!

Daddy helping to find the ants with Raleigh's assistance. :)

Still looking....Can I just say how awesome my husband is? He gets right down in the dirt, literally, to be involved with our kids. He blesses me so much by the way he fathers our children.

My girls! Don't you just love the "cheese" stage?! Elizabeth's got it down!

Kinda hard to see in the picture, but this was an incredibly clear day and I just had to take a picture of the mountains we can see on our drive home from church. On clear days, the beauty of them can literally take my breath away! If you look carefully, below the clouds, you can see all the snow on them. It's so neat that although we'll probably never get snow here in Bakersfield, just a short drive away, like 45 minutes, we can be in all the snow you could want, let the kids play, and then drive home and not have to shovel our driveway. Pretty great if you ask me!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! I know it's been a long time. Stay tuned for pictures from Easter (that's for you, Mom! ;) )

God in the Everyday Things

2011-03-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

I've been having a rough time lately. Things in my life have felt pointless and overwhelming at times. About two weeks ago, I finally had a time of "letting it all out" to my poor husband, who I am so incredibly blessed to have with me. He let me cry and cry and say some things that I'm sure made him wonder what in the world he'd gotten himself into! Through it all, God's grace has been renewed in my spirit. Although there are still overwhelming moments in my days, especially when I think about some of the upcoming events of our lives, I am starting to see God again in the everyday things:

*We've had only one vehicle most of our time here in Bakersfield, which has caused a lot of juggling and inconvenience. Then, a few Sundays ago, our only vehicle's transmission died on us(it's under warranty, but that's another story). My awesome, faith-filled husband didn't freak out (like me...sigh) but instead turned it over to God. We got rides to church, which was such a blessing, and that day in church, as soon as the service was over, a family of 2 of our Junior High students offered one of their vehicles to us to use for a week! Aron had just been praying about it moments before, hearing God say, "Don't worry. I've got this." And He really did. That family's offer to us was a direct answer to prayer!

*Because we've had only one vehicle, we knew the time had come (thanks to our tax return :)) to look for a second vehicle. Because we have four children (and are in the process of becoming certified foster/adoptive parents), our transportation choices unfortunately limit us to big gas guzzlers. So Aron started searching online for something that could accomodate us now and in the near future and decided a used Suburban would be our best choice. He found one on Craigslist here in Bakersfield that was priced higher than he thought it should be, but for some reason, he kept coming back to it. He called the number on the ad and set up a meeting to see the truck. Long story short, the owner of the truck is a strong Christian who is friends with several of the families at our church. Aron and he discussed the price, both agreed to go home and pray about it, and talk the next day. Despite all the "coincidences" I was still undecided and so the owner allowed us, before purchasing the vehicle, to take it home for a night!!! What?! Who does that? Well, probably needless to say, we are now the owners of that Suburban which we bought for over $1000 less than what the owner was asking for it. God again.

*A couple Wednesday nights ago after church, we were given a gift of $75. Now, if ever someone out of the blue decides to give you money, it's a blessing, right? Of course. But this family has been struggling some financially and the mom had been out of job for awhile. And not only did they bless us, but they blessed another family that night too. $150 is a big deal, especially when it's as a sacrifice. God once again.

*Wednesday mornings are busy for us....Anna goes to preschool at our church (another God provision, by the way), the boys go to enrichment classes at their charter school, and I have Bible study at church. So just yesterday, I decided to run through McDonald's to grab the boys, Libbie, and I lunch before we had to pick Anna up from school. Because we've always lived on a very tight budget, when we do go out to eat, we try to get as much food as we can for as little money as possible. Therefore, Happy Meals are an extremely rare treat. But, I had a coupon for a free Happy Meal! So I got myself and Libbie a meal to share and the boys each a Happy Meal and since Anna eats lunch at school, I figured I'd just have to explain a little to her if she was upset about missing out. But she was very sweet and understanding and didn't fuss one bit. As the boys opened their Happy Meals (very enthusiastically I might add ;)) and immediately forgot that they were "starving!" as they searched for their toys, Caleb noticed that he had two toys! A Batman toy AND a girl toy! Now, I know that's not that big of a deal, but it's just another way I can see God. Anna got to have a toy that was totally unexpected and she was a happy little girl. Thank You Lord, for even the accidental, extra Happy Meal toy!

I hope to return to blogging more regularly. I read many other friends' (and strangers') blogs and just haven't felt up to it lately. But as God is renewing and refreshing me, I feel ready to share again. And I was able to get some free gift cards from different "points" I've earned and will definitely be buying a new camera (my month-old, generously gifted camera was broken by my boys a month after moving here...ugh!) so that I can do a better job keeping y'all updated with pictures of the kiddos!

Keep looking for God in the everyday things....He's there and He loves to be noticed!

Let the Stable Still Astonish

2010-12-03T16:27:00.000-08:00

Let the Stable Still Astonish

Let the stable still astonish;
Straw-dirt floor, dull eyes,
Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen;
Crumbling, crooked walls;
No bed to carry that pain,
And then, the child,
Rag-wrapped, laid to cry
In a trough.
Who would have chosen this?

Who would have said: "Yes.
Let the God of all the heavens
And earth
Be born here, in this place?"
Who but the same God
Who stands in the darker, fouler rooms
of our hearts
and says, "Yes.
Let the God of Heaven and Earth
be born here-
in this place."

~Leslie Leyland Fields

God is in This!

2010-10-16T11:37:00.001-07:00

Bakersfield, California has been our new home town for one week now. And what a week it has been! God has shown us (although we already knew) that He was in this move, that He was the One who had this planned for our lives, and that He always provides. A family member commented on Facebook about how she was looking forward to hearing about "settling-in miracles," so here you go:

So the family we stayed with on our visit here a couple weeks ago (The Kellys) are hosting us again until we move into our rental house (that's another God story, keep reading!), and they "just so happen" to be good friends with neighbors of their's who have two young children that they homeschool. Lori, our "hostess" introduced us last weekend and the neighbor was telling me all about a charter school in the area that is specifically designed to partner with homeschooling families. I was very intrigued with all the possibilities the school offers and she told me she'd find out more when she took her son to History Camp there the next day.

Monday morning she knocks on the door around 9 am to tell me she'd been kind of in a rush to leave the school but something told her to ask how I could get the boys signed up. It "just so happened" that the last day to go to the orientation was THAT DAY and if I didn't go that afternoon, there was no chance the boys could be enrolled this school year. I called immediately, got my name on the list, gathered the appropriate documentation, and that afternoon went to the meeting. I was thoroughly impressed, but the chances of us getting in were very slim; there were only 12 available spots and there were 30 parents at the meeting.

I went home gushing about the possibility of this opportunity and we prayed that night that the boys would get in somehow. At the meeting I had asked when we'd hear back and they said most likely next week. Well, God did His work on our behalf and I got the call the very next day saying the boys had been accepted!!! I cannot tell you how excited I am for this. Being enrolled at Valley Oaks Charter School means I don't have to worry about any of the "legal" issues since the boys will technically be registered in the public school system. I will regularly consult with a resource teacher assigned to us who will help me with lesson plans if I need it, she'll gather all the curriculum and extra supplies, manipulatives, etc. we'll need, she'll collect work samples from the boys to track their learning, and help with any teaching ideas I might need.

Now, being that I am a certified teacher, I don't struggle with much of those things as I have much experience doing them. However, as a homeschooling mom with two other children not yet in school, having someone else do some of the planning sounds fabulous! Also, being that we've always been on a tight budget, my curriculum has always been a mix of what I could buy super cheap at a yard sale, what I already had from my teaching days, or what I'd been given. This will give me access to many more materials than we could afford on our own AND they'll all be free! The boys will still be home every day, me being their primary teacher, but on Wednesdays they'll go to school for enrichment classes. They'll also be able to take other classes like swim lessons, gymnastics, karate, etc. at much reduced prices or for free. I am seriously amazed by this blessing!!!

Now on to the next God story...our house! So after returning from Bakersfield for the final interview, we felt we could more intelligently look into finding a home to rent, since we'd been given a very good tour of the area. The difficult thing, however, was finding a house in the $900's range that was also in an area we felt comfortable living. Most houses we were interested in were around $1100, which was going to be quite a stretch for us. We saw one pop up on Craigslist one morning that was listed at $999 a month, Aron called on it and spoke with the property manager and she was excited about it for our family. Well, long story short, by the time we sent back the application the next morning, someone else had already claimed it. She sent a very apologetic email, saying he'd paid the full amount of rent and deposit and she couldn't turn that down. We were disappointed but trusted that if God had wanted us to live in that home, it would've worked out.

We daily searched online, but were not finding anything suitable in our price range. We figured God would have something in store for us once we got to Bakersfield. So we began the move on Tuesday with nowhere to call "home" when we got there. We pulled into town on Saturday evening, tired but glad to have a house, not a hotel, to stay in with The Kellys who'd hosted us two weeks before. The next day, we got an email from the same property manager Aron had spoken to asking if we wanted the house as it "just so happened" to be back on the market! We were able to see the house and meet the property manager who was completely in shock that the guy who'd already paid to live in the house and who'd signed the contract had changed his mind. She said nothing like this had ever happened before. We knew though, that when God is in it, He will make it happen!! We will be moving in on Wednesday!!

Another cool God story about the house is how we are now only going to be paying $950 a month instead of the original $999. Because the house came with no refrigerator (we've learned this is a West Coast thing) and no washer and dryer, the property manager had some on order that she was still planning on putting in the house (she'd ordered them for the guy who was "supposed" to be moving in). On a whim, I asked if she'd discount the rent if we chose to get our own appliances, and she said she'd drop it down to $975. Great! And just that afternoon, we were offered a free refrigerator from a member at the church! Then the issue of the carpet came up. She said she was deciding whether to have it cleaned or just go ahead and replace it. Now there's only carpet in the bedrooms (laminate everywhere else) so again, we asked if she had them cleaned instead of replaced, would she drop the rent? Sure, down to $950!!! Seriously?!?! God, You are so good!!!!

Many of the staff members at church are giving items of furniture to fill our new home, which is such a blessing. All we still need are two dressers and a washer and dryer. Are we worried about it? Absolutely not! God WILL provide!!!

It's Official!!

2010-09-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

After much prayer, much questioning, and much wondering, it's official! We are moving to Bakersfield, California!! This has been such a God-led adventure and one that we're looking forward to following to completion.

Aron and I returned just today from our trip out there to make sure this was right, both for First Presbyterian Church of Bakersfield and for us...and obviously it was. The friendly welcoming people there blew us away with their hospitality. The people we met were seriously some of the nicest people we've ever been with and their concern for us and our family was genuine. Their love for Jesus, their commitment to prayer, and their belief in His provision was so great to witness. We're so blessed to be given this opportunity to be a part of this body of believers.

Along with the blessing will of course come some hardships. Transitions are coming and while that may be scary at times, we're "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Also, we are holding on to this promise: "Now to Him who is able to do immeasureably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us." We have no house to move to in two weeks and finding one in our comfortable price range in a safe location has proved difficult. Yet we will hold out hope that God is in this, and He's in the business of doing amazing things.

More Clarity

2010-09-03T07:46:00.001-07:00

Wednesday night provided some much needed clarity about the job in California. Aron had another phone interview which I was able to be a part of via speaker phone. Hearing the search committee clarify and ask questions and me being able to do the same has really helped me feel more comfortable about this cross-country move. Praise God! God had already dealt with my heart about moving, helping me to submit to whatever His plans would be, but He also gave me the added "security" I needed by allowing me to be a part of the interview process.

At the end of the interview, they asked if we'd be able to fly out to meet everyone and to see the ministry that we'd be doing and also informed us that the Senior Pastor would be calling the next day to speak with Aron. That interview went really well and the pastor seemed really excited about Aron's desire to help dad's lead their sons and do rites of passage.

Now, while the job has not been "officially" offered to Aron as in a "You're hired" statement, the fact that they told us to go ahead and buy the plane tickets (which they'll be reimbursing us for and which will be costing their church almost $1000) and the way Aron said the pastor spoke with him yesterday in "Here's what you'll be doing when you're here" style, we feel confident that the job is Aron's. So much so that we've decided to make our last day here in NC September 12th, which should give us enough time to buy a covered trailer which we'll use to take all of our stuff across country...and in faith that the job really is Aron's we'll be taking all of our possessions down to Florida for one last extended family visit. We realized that since we have direction now and since we'll need someone to watch our children while we're in CA and since we have to be in FL on October 1st for a wedding, we might as well go now.

Now the realities of all that this move will entail are starting to kick in....leaving our wonderful friends here in NC and our church that we love so much, leaving all of our family on the East Coast and not knowing when God will provide for us to see them again, going to an unknown place and trying to find the right house at the right price for us to rent, finding a homeschool group to get involved in, and making new friends. Yikes!!! But with all that said, I'm starting to get excited. When I see how this has all been orchestrated, none of it by us (I mean, they found Aron, not the other way around), when I look back at the amazing ways God has provided for us in the past, I feel confident in Him. I'm ready for the plans God has in store for us. I'm ready to step out and make this giant leap into the unknown. Please continue to pray for us, for God to continue put this all together as only He can.

Wondering

2010-08-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

Things haven't changed much over here. We're still waiting on God to make His plan for our lives clear, mostly by waiting on the possible job in California. After Aron had the phone interview with the church there, he called the camp in Ayden to see what the status was on the job which would allow us to stay here. Well, let's just say the door seems to be closed on that. The funding that they were waiting on to be able to hire another staff member has been pushed back to December which would mean the job wouldn't even start until 2011. While waiting on the possibility of them wanting to hire Aron at the beginning of the new year sounds somewhat appealing, the fact that the job isn't promised to him does not. Waiting around for the chance to get that job doesn't make much sense.

What also doesn't make sense is God moving us completely across the country. The job in California is still not a guarantee, but it seems to be very likely at this point. Until last Sunday, I was very sad and upset about the thought of moving so far away. I'd pretty much made it up in my mind that it was about the worst thing that could happen to our family. My mind just would not come to terms with it. I wondered why in the world God would have moved us to Greenville, NC to make great friends and get involved in a great church to leave a year and a half later? And then going to church made it all the more real. We would possibly be leaving and would quite likely never see most of our church family ever again. So after church I sought out a friend and cried. I mean I boo hooed! I let out all my sadness, frustration, and confusion over the possibility of moving so far away and it has made all the difference. Getting all that "yuck" out has greatly improved my outlook on things. I've come to terms with the great possibility that in just a little while, we might be living on the West Coast of the country.

Now here's where I really wonder: is that what God was waiting for? Will Aron get an email tonight (by the way, their search committee is having their weekly meeting tonight and are supposed to send him an email afterwards) that says, "Thank you for your interest, but we've found someone else?" Will God have been waiting on me to submit to His plans and instead have another door open that we're unaware of? Or will the email say, "We've checked all your references and want to fly you and your wife out to meet us all and find a house" and God was just waiting on me to be ok with that? At this point, as much as the thought of being so incredibly far away from everyone that we know and love still scares me, I'm ready to move to California if that's what God wants us to do. If that's how God wants to use Aron and KingMaker Ministries to make the most impact on the Kingdom, then I'm all for it. So we'll see.

Butterflies

2010-08-17T05:38:00.000-07:00

For those of you who follow this blog (even though I rarely update it!), you might remember a post entitled "Excited!" from a couple months ago. I wrote it while Aron was still in Wyoming and the details of what our life would look like when he returned were unknown and I was, as the post said, excited about what new adventures God might have in store for our family.

Now we're back in North Carolina, moved out of the house we were renting, in faith that God was moving us somewhere else (whether that would be down the street or across the country we didn't know), most of our stuff is in storage and we're living in the upstairs part of a family from church's home (which is such an amazing and generous gift to us!!!), and I have to admit that the excitement is all but gone. What has replaced it is butterflies-in-my-tummy nervousness.

Why? Well, Aron hasn't had a job since leaving TMobile at the end of May. He's applied for many different positions all across the country and has put his resume out on a ministry website. A camp job opportunity was mentioned to him and got us excited because we wouldn't have to leave the area in which we're living and because of the opportunity for Aron to learn much about camping ministry...BUT, we've not heard any more about if/when it'll be his job. Then, despite the numerous Youth Pastor positions he applied for, a church in CALIFORNIA found his resume and contacted HIM about the job. He had the phone interview last night and while it was supposed to last only 15 minutes, it lasted over 30! The butterflies are dancing!

My heart sinks at the thought of the camp job not coming through and the thought of moving across the whole country. I mean, there are so many reasons (in MY mind) why God HAS to let the camp job work out. There are so many connections that have been made with this camp throughout the time we've lived in NC....they're even the ones who gave us our minivan! Now, the church in CA hasn't officially offered the job, but the interview went really well and so my mind has gone round and round with the possibility of it and the butterflies are doing the rhumba! And yet, the Lord says:

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are My ways your ways,"

declares the Lord.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are My ways higher than your ways

and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55: 8-9

As God reminds me of this fact, the butterflies slow to a waltz. They're still there but they are calmer when I remember that God is in control of my life, of my family's life, and that His ways are always for the ultimate good.

Waiting...

2010-07-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

We've been back home in NC for a week now. It's been so busy that it feels like we've been back much longer than that! Only 2 days after being home, Aron and I knew that, despite the fact that we have no idea where God's going to send us next, we needed to move out of our house. So somehow, between the numerous parties and other events going on in the week that we've been home, I've managed to pack a whole bunch of stuff. I'm trying not to go crazy in this house, but looking at all the disarray is no fun!

Several of our friends and family have asked us where we're going and the only answer I can give is, "I don't know." And it's the honest truth! Aron's job at TMobile didn't hire him back when we returned, he's applied for several jobs in various ministry positions around the country, so now we just are waiting. Waiting on God to come through somehow, someway. And He always does! I know we won't be homeless after the 31st of July because a family at church offered for us to live with them or we might go visit some family for a couple weeks....again, I don't know what we'll do.

What I DO know is that we will continue to trust that God has plans for us, plans that will be for our good. I do wish I had a small clue about what those might be, but that's not usually how God works with us it seems. The other morning I was reading the Bible, not really looking for anything in particular when I came across these verses that seemed to be just for me:

"But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,

the woman who sticks with God.

They're like trees replanted in Eden,

putting down roots near the rivers-

Never a worry through the hottest of summers,

never dropping a leaf,

Serene and calm through droughts,

bearing fresh fruit every season."

Jeremiah 17: 7-8 The Message

So we'll keep waiting and praying, continuing to serve God in whatever capacity He gives each day, working towards making KingMaker Ministries as ready as possible for God to do His thing. Will you please pray with us?

Getting Excited!!

2010-06-26T15:25:00.001-07:00

We're down to only about 3 days left until I get to see the love of my life!!! It's so close that I just can't stand it! Every time I think about him, I get a little flutter in my stomach, because I just love him so much and miss him so much! I've already been jokingly accused of being too lovey-dovey in my Facebook posts about missing Aron, but it doesn't bother me one bit....I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!!!

I'm so incredibly blessed to be married to such a wonderful man. Sure, he's got flaws but who doesn't? I know I surely do!! Yeah, he's not the most romantic guy you've ever met, but he's getting better (in fact, when I got to talk to him a couple days ago, he told me he's written to me in a notebook every night that he's been gone....now THAT'S romantic!!!), and the "romance" of knowing that my husband loves me immensely and deeply respects me is priceless!

Once Aron gets back (by the way, please be in prayer on Wednesday, June 30th for safe traveling for him), life gets really interesting. He had to quit his job at TMobile in order to go for this Outdoor Educator training and so we're essentially jobless. We know that we'll be returning to our home in NC at least for the month of July, and we're trusting that God will take us exactly where we need to go next through whatever job he provides for Aron. I'm getting excited about what possibilities there could be! I know that God gave Aron a passion for fathers and their sons, for ministry in general, and now more than ever (especially after this wilderness adventure) for the outdoors and the beauty that is the creation. My prayer is that whatever God has next, it will allow my husband to use the giftings and passions he's been given to draw others into a deeper walk with their Creator and more meaningful life relationships. Lord, may it be so!

I Miss Him!!

2010-06-22T05:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been in Florida for almost a month now....Aron's been gone since June 6th....and I MISS HIM!!! I have to say that the old adage, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" is absolutely true. We've been away from each other for 20-something days before when he went back to Oregon to finish his chaplain job for the Boy Scout camp he'd been working for (we'd returned home for his grandmother's funeral and the kids and I stayed back), but the difference then was that we were able to talk every day, whether it was on the phone or by chatting online. This time, I have absolutely no communication with the man I love. The last time I heard his voice was June 7th and man oh man, do I miss hearing it!!!

I realize in this time of separation that I'm so amazingly blessed to have such an awesome husband. This is not new news for me, but I think God is showing me afresh. I've been reading "Love and Respect" by Emerson Eggerichs and it is making me understand so much more about the man I've married. I can't wait for him to return so I can tell him how much I respect him. And it won't just be "talk;" it's truth.

I deeply respect my husband. I respect the man of God that he is. His faith is so strong! He loves the Lord so much and greatly desires to follow after Him and to lead us as a family. He has such passion for his dream of leading fathers back into the role that God designed for them and to help those fathers lead their sons into godly manhood.

I'm so proud to be Aron's wife! Our life has been one of many uncertainties but through them all, God has provided, sometimes in miraculous ways. Somedays I think that I'd trade all of those miracles for a life of stability. But then I come to my senses! Stability is found only in Christ, not in a job, a savings account, or plans for the future. My children (and I) have seen God come to our rescue, God answer our prayers, God send provision in countless ways and I wouldn't trade any of that! What a legacy of faith is being left for them! And it's all because I married a dreamer!! :)

I pray that God would continue to build my faith so that I can be the most supportive wife I can be for my husband. And in the 8 days left until I see him, I will continue to pray for him, for God to speak loudly to him, for his continued protection, and for us to be reunited and our marriage to have been forever strengthened through this time.

Can't wait to see this handsome face!!! Ohhhh, I love him!!!

A Year of Blessing-October, November, December

2010-05-20T09:31:00.001-07:00

In October, our biggest blessing that I can remember is being able to celebrate Halloween. I know that may sound weird, but I'm glad that we can, even as Christians, allow our children to have fun on what some may consider an "evil" holiday. I know all of the history behind it and even understand why many believers choose to not take part. The thing I love about my husband and about us as a family is that we always explain these things to our children. We let them know the "why" of things and then explain what we believe and what God asks of us. We love to let them have fun like the "world" yet they understand that our family is different. We also like to find representations of Christ in the things we do. For example, we explain how a jack o' lantern is like what Jesus does when a person asks Him to be his or her Savior: Jesus "scoops out" all the yucky stuff and then makes us "shine" from the inside out! Does that make sense? (Now before you give us any credit for that deep, theological explanation, know that we stole it from a cute children's book.) Here is a picture of the boys being grossed out by the insides of the pumpkin we carved:

In early November, we decided to head to Florida to visit with our family since we knew we'd be unable to go for the holidays since Aron's job is in retail and that's their busiest time of year. Well, that trip would prove to produce our biggest blessing of our lives, let alone 2009! In a freak accident while driving on I-75, our tire blew and we ended up flipping our SUV and landing in the median. God saw fit to spare our lives and we will never forget that! He was not done with our family because everything could have so easily turned out differently. Someone, if not all of us, should have died or at least gotten severely injured, yet the worst injury was the my mother-in-law's shin got cut. Unbelievable!!! Besides the amazing blessing of not getting hurt or worse, friends and family stepped in to help us....a carseat for Libbie, another one for Caleb, money for a carseat (and enough for another one when Libbie gets bigger!) for Anna, $1000 given to put towards a new vehicle!!!!, and countless prayers on our behalf. Again, unbelievable! Here's a picture of our SUV at the impound lot...picture this upside down, because that's how we landed:

Whew, I'm still reeling over November! Well, we found an awesome deal on another SUV (even bigger!) and made it safely back home to NC. Little did we know that our accident would cause even more blessings later on into 2010(Stay tuned for that story...). December rolled around and we were doing well with our one vehicle (our Camry had "died" before we'd went to FL) and while it was a challenge, we were just grateful. Nathan had his 7th birthday on December 20th and what a blessing that was! I still can't believe he's that old! Here's a picture of him with his favorite gift:
Christmas Day came and it was our first one away from family. At first we were ok with it, but as the day rolled on, we felt the loss. Our small group had assembled some gift bags full of little goodies to bless those in the community who had to work on Christmas, so instead of wallowing in our sadness of being "alone," we headed out to be a blessing to those who really were. We dressed everyone in their Christmas red and headed to the local nursing home. We walked around and passed out our gift bags to the residents who were least likely to have a visitor on that Christmas Day. I was so proud of how sweet and non-judgmental my children were of the elderly men and women we met that day. We left there feeling much less "alone" and so thankful for all that we have. We also left knowing that we'd just made a new tradition that we plan to continue for many Christmases to come. Here's a picture of me and the kiddos walking up to the nursing home:

Well, that pretty much wraps up 2009....wow, what a year of blessings it was! To continue with the story of how our accident continued to be used in 2010, here's how that went: so if you've read my earlier posts about 2009, you might remember me mentioning a local camp where Aron has made some contacts. Well, through the director of The Refuge (the camp), we were blessed with another vehicle not long after our accident! They had a 1997 Plymouth Voyager that was given to them that they no longer needed and they decided to GIVE it to us! How long it will last us is yet to be seen (it has 187,000 miles on it!!!), but the sheer fact that it was GIVEN to us, for FREE, is huge!!! Seriously, a FREE VAN?! Only God could orchestrate that stuff!!

And there's more! A group of musicians from our church, who'd made a Christmas CD as a challenge to raise money to give back to God somehow, prayed about how they'd use the money that God had allowed them to make through the selling of their CD. They'd made so much more money than they'd ever thought they would and were able to bless some needy families through our church's Christmas Outreach. However, they had quite a bit left over and so what did they do with it? They GAVE IT TO US!!!! Now, I'm not talking about $100. Not even $1000. They gave us over $3000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And this amount was only $38 less than what Aron needed to pay for the Outdoor Leadership Course he will be going to in June! Are you kidding me???? Again, only by the grace of God!!!

While in church at the beginning of 2010, Aron felt that God said this was the year to fight for KingMaker Ministry, and that is what we've been doing. Aron has pursued further trainings to be the most qualified he can be and God has provided everything we've needed for him to attend. We have no idea what the rest of 2010 holds, but we're confident that "He who began a good work" WILL "be faithful to complete it!"

A Year of Blessing-July, August, September

2010-05-18T16:50:00.000-07:00

July came and one of my favorite blessings of last year came with it...my family came to visit! My mom and Luis along with my sister Elena and her children, Gavin and Lexi, drove up from Florida. My brother Chris and his wife Kara and their son Noah drove down from Ohio. It was so awesome to be able to host this mini-reunion at our home. The kids all had fun running around together and the grown-ups enjoyed just hanging out in the kitchen, drinking coffee all day and talking. Here's a picture of all the cousins together with their 4th of July shirts we made:

So excited that we're repeating this event this year! This could seriously be a great new tradition that is long overdue! This year, there will be one new face in the cousin picture....my brother and his wife had always wanted more children but God had seen fit to give them Noah and no other children, until now! Emma Madison was born this past March and I can't wait to meet her! Funny thing is, Kara was just barely pregnant when they were visiting last year and she didn't even know yet!

Well, August rolled around and it was time for school to begin. What a blessing (and sometimes trial!) it is that we're able to homeschool our children! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be my children's teacher and to be able to pursue the close family I so desire by having them with me and with each other every day! Here's a picture of our first day of school:

September came along which meant my birthday would be coming too. I decided that I wanted to go to Ohio to visit my brother and his family, so that's what we did! It was such a blessing to be able to go back "home." It's weird to me that the area of Ohio where my brother lives is where I still consider "home" even though I only lived there for about 4 years. Anyway, it was such a nice, yet short, trip. It's such a beautiful area of the country. Here's a picture of just one of the many Amish farms around there:

A Year of Blessing-April, May, and June

2010-05-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have to be honest with you all....I have a bad memory. So now that I've procrastinated this long to review all of last year, I'm having a hard time remembering month-by-month. So because I want to finish what I started by giving God all the praise for the blessings we experienced in 2009, here goes my attempt at remembering (and to make it easier on myself, I'm lumping several months together so I can finish the task!)...

By April, Aron was well established in his job at TMobile, things were chugging along nicely with homeschooling, and I was getting bigger and bigger with Baby Elizabeth (though we didn't yet know that she would be a she). Caleb had his birthday and turned 5 in North Carolina and decided in lieu of a party, he wanted to go camping with Daddy and Nathan. So that's what they did and they had a blast! What a blessing to be able to within only a few hours be in the mountains for adventures!

May was the month we'd all been waiting for because our fourth and final baby was going to be born. We were so blessed by our small group one night in May because we showed up for our regular get-together and they had planned a Baby Shower for us! We'd only been a part of this group for a couple months and they blessed us like crazy!!! What a way to make us feel welcomed and at home!! The day before Aron and I went to the hospital to meet our new one, Aron's mom and her dad (that's Grandma and Great Pappaw to us!) drove up so that they could stay with the other 3 children. HUGE blessing!!! And on May 26th at 10:37 a.m., we met our little girl Elizabeth June!!! She was our tiniest blessing of them all, weighing in at only 6 pounds 14 ounces. Because I'd had a c-section before and knew how difficult the recovery had been, I was SOOO incredibly blessed by God that I recovered so swiftly! Seriously, people besides myself were amazed that I was getting around as easily as I was as quickly as I was. Thank You Jesus!

June came around and what could have been a potentionally huge disaster turned out to be another blessing. Our house in FL was now vacant because the family who'd been renting it were being stationed somewhere else through the military and we needed to get someone in there quickly. Thanks to much prayer and Craigslist and Aron's family and our friends the Abstons, we were able to find new renters and have them moved in to a clean house (yeah, the previous renters didn't hold up their end of that part of the contract, thus the thanks to family and friends who got the house in shape since we were so far away) by the end of June. Although being landlords has been one of my least favorite things about moving, we know how blessed we are to not have a foreclosure to deal with.

A Year of Blessing-March

2010-03-09T10:25:00.001-08:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this, so here goes:

By March, homeschooling was well underway, new friends were being made, but there was still no job for Aron. He'd applied to several places and so we were waiting, impatiently at times, to hear something about something. One of the companies Aron has worked for in the past in between ministry jobs has been T-Mobile. He's always done well, and if it wasn't for the calling God has on his life for ministry, sales could be his career. He's just really good at it. I think it's mostly because he has an easy time of relating to people and I think they feel that they can trust that he's working on their behalf.

Anyway, our biggest blessing of March was that after a month of waiting, Aron was hired to work for T-Mobile. In the economy that we've had for awhile now, the fact that he got a job at all was a big blessing. But the fact that it was with a reputable company that he was very familiar with was even better. And while the pay isn't that great (especially compared to all the money he makes them!) it is enough to pay our bills. And they have really good benefits, which is always a plus!

One of those great benefits that we were able to start reaping (after the first 90 days) was a childcare reimbursement. Now we don't have any children in daycare so Aron didn't apply to receive this. However, his boss let him know that it includes ANY time you pay someone to watch your children. So Aron, kinda jokingly asked, "So you mean if I take my wife out on a date and pay a babysitter, I'll get my money back?" And the answer was YES! Amazing!!! Especially for us, who were so amazingly spoiled by Aron's mom who used to take the kids every Friday night, OVERNIGHT, so that we could have some alone time or a date night! We knew that once we moved to North Carolina, we'd have to start being normal parents who have to find a babysitter, and being that money is always very tight around here, we knew that unless we could find someone to watch our children for free, date nights were going to be a rarity. Then along came the provision of a job with this amazing benefit!

God also provided us with a fabulous babysitter (we love you Miss Bethany!) who's been watching the kids for us now pretty much every Wednesday night since shortly after Elizabeth was born. The kids adore her, she's firm with them yet lots of fun, and she even does my dishes when she's here! Blessed so abundantly!!!!

A Year of Blessing-February

2010-01-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

February-We made the big move to NC the first Friday of February and were so blessed to have Aron's parents drive up with us and stay for a day to help. As we got closer to our new home, we called our new landlords to let them know so they could meet us at the house to give us the key and so we could pay them for our first month of rent. The first official North Carolina blessing of February....they stayed to help us move in! Can you believe that? And they didn't just move a couple boxes, they moved the piano, beds, and tons of other stuff. Wow!

The next day, Aron and I headed out mattress shopping while Aron's parents stayed with the kids and also unpacked a bunch of stuff for us. See, the last time we'd bought a mattress was right when we got married, which had been almost 8 years before, and since we were a young poor couple, we bought what we could afford which was a king-size $200 mattress. If you know anything about mattresses you'll understand the quality that was very lacking in that thing! And to make matters worse, when we first got it (about 2 weeks after we were married...yeah, we slept on the floor for a week after our honeymoon, but we didn't care!), we had to get it up to the second floor of our condo and the stairwell was too short, causing us to have to bend it to get upstairs, which then caused it to have a permanent lump in the middle. Well, we decided that it had definitely seen it's better days, so it is now living in the dump in Florida and so we had to go get a new one. Long story short, after a couple hours of searching, we were greatly blessed to find a good, quality name-brand, pillowtop mattress, boxspring and frame included, for right at $300! Now we downsized to a queen, but after several hours of looking, we realized we'd been given quite a deal and were really excited to spend the night sleeping on that thing!

Aron's parents left on Sunday and drove the trailer back....oh yeah, another blessing; almost forgot about that one! Real quick, a member of the church we'd been going to in FL had allowed us to use his huge, covered trailer to bring the rest of our stuff to NC so we didn't need to rent a truck! Ok, so the weekend was over and we were mostly settled in....we've now moved 9 times in our 8 years of marriage, so we're pretty good at it!...and then starting that first Monday, we were brought meals from members of Discovery Church for a week! Huge blessing!!! These were people who we didn't even know who were providing for us so that we didn't have to worry about cooking and could focus on unpacking. Another wow!

Well, since we were both unemployed, Aron started the job hunt while I focused on homeschooling. He applied to several places and was in the waiting game. Meanwhile, I was finishing Nathan's kindergarten year and Caleb's preschool year and taking time learning the area. On one particularly nice day I took the kids to a local park to have a picnic lunch and to play. While there, I met this very nice lady who was there with 2 little children she was watching for the day so the mom, who was very sick, could rest. Well, I'm not usually the most outgoing person and have a hard time keeping a conversation going especially with people I don't know. But that didn't happen and she seemed to seek me out, even sort of following me and my kids around but not in a creepy way.

Anyway, we finally got around to talking about why we'd moved and I told her about Aron's ministry and how he has a calling to reach out to dads and their sons. She was so impressed and totally agreed with everything I explained to her and she told me about her husband who was very involved in a local ministry that reaches out to boys who have no father influence. She told me her husband was a judge and that he sees boys every day whom he believed if the father had done what he was supposed to do, the life of that boy would be drastically different. She was so encouraged by what Aron ministry was about that she asked for his number and told me she was going to tell her husband about him. I gave her his number and when we got home I told Aron about this "chance" meeting and how neat it was; however, we both agreed that it was hightly unlikely that he'd ever call. Boy were we shocked when at about 9:45 that night the Judge called! Aron talked with him for about 15 minutes and he ended the conversation agreeing to meet him the next day for coffee! Through the judge Aron was able to connect with a local ministry reaching out to the fatherless boys of the innercity. It is in the plans for KingMaker Ministry this year to sponsor several of these boys and their mentors and take them to the mountains for their "Rite of Passage" experience. How awesome is that?!

As Aron continued waiting for a job to come through, he started volunteering his "man power" to help a newly developed local camp get some of their facilities fixed up. Aron told the director what his ministry was about and he was offered the use of the facilities whenever Aron needed them. So cool! Since then, Aron now leads a men's Bible Study there on Thursday mornings and another HUGE blessing was given to us from them....but that story's yet to come!

A Year of Blessing-January

2010-01-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

Being that it's now a new year, I've been reviewing the past year and trying to remember all the ways God came through for us last year. Lest I forget, recall with me (over the next several posts) as I look back at 2009:

January-We drove to NC to bring half of our things since we knew we'd be moving here in February, but had nowhere yet to live. We got a storage unit for our stuff and while "on vacation" here for a week, looked for a place to rent. Now remember, I had been working in FL, but neither Aron nor I had gotten a job yet in NC, so finding someone who'd rent to us with no income, other than the $600 a month we'd raised in support, was sure to be difficult.

Jason, our pastor here, asked the congregation to keep their ears open for jobs/houses for us, and a couple came up to us after church that Sunday. They let us know they had a house to sell and would love for us to come look at it, but I assured them we were in no place to buy anything. They still wanted us to come look so we agreed to meet them there that evening. We really liked the house (it was built in 1900 so it has lots of character) but it was really big, over 2300 sq.ft. and the places we had been looking at in the $700 price range which was all we'd be able to afford (we were believing Aron would get a job very soon) were small duplexes or townhouses, so we were sure this house was not going to be our new home. When we told the owners that we couldn't afford more than $700 a month, they countered us with, get this, "How about $650?"

What?! They went DOWN in the price?! Who does that? Why? But we believe that God had it already planned out. We knew that He was leading us to Greenville, NC and that although it didn't look possible, He was going to provide what we needed. And He definitely didn't disappoint! "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

Well, we went back to FL to finish out the month. I was teaching at Summerfield Elementary and was concerned about my replacement being found before we moved the first week of February. I was so excited about moving but was sad to think my class of 3rd graders would be left without a suitable teacher. I really didn't want a sub in there, but I also knew that there wasn't much of a chance that a teacher would be found in the middle of the school year. Then came God, weaving the story of our lives. It just so happened (yeah right!) that there was a teacher who had moved away the year before for her husband's job change had moved back to the area and had called Summerfield to see if there were any available jobs. The crazier thing was that all the "stuff" that was in my classroom when I got the job at the beginning of that school year was all from her last classroom! She was hired and was even able to come in for a couple days before I left so that she could meet the kids and they could get to know her a little while I was still there. I was so thankful that a good, qualified teacher would be finishing out the year with my students. Again, an unbelieveable answer!

I am so humbled by recalling just the first month of 2009. Wow, it's still hard to believe how God came through for us! What an awesome God we serve! Stay tuned for more....

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T06:04:00.000-08:00

This was our first Christmas away from family, which at first didn't sound too bad. Not that we didn't want to be with them, but we thought that so many other people spend their Christmases that way, so we figured we could handle it too. And first thing in the morning, we were fine. But as the day wore on, we definitely realized it was kinda sad to not be able to spend the day with all of our loved ones. It really sunk in when we called Aron's mom and heard all the people in the background talking and laughing together....sigh. But, we made the day our own and I'm grateful to have been able to spend the day with my awesome husband and kids.

Here are our traditional "Christmas Eve" pajamas....that's been our tradition, to each open one gift on Christmas Eve which are a somewhat matching set of pajamas. This year I decided to make all of us girls matching pajama pants and the boys matching ones, Dora for us girls and Transformers for the boys. It was a nice idea, but because I was trying to keep them a secret, there were no "fittings" and so they don't fit quite the way they should. Yeah, I'll be buying them next year!

Waiting to open presents Christmas morning.

Libbie with her new toy...she really liked it.

Anna with her new Dora and Boots loofahs from Grandma.

Caleb with his Bakugan toys from Grandma.

Nathan cheesin' it up with his new Star Wars Legos toy. He's not typically the most determined of kids, but I was so proud of him when he decided to put the set together....he kept at it, even through some frustration, until it was built.

The aftermath!

Christmas morning breakfast....homemade cinnamon rolls! I've never made them before, but recipes like this, that require many minutes of kneading, are SO much easier and more appealing now that I get to use my Christmas present, a Kitchenaid mixer from my wonderful husband, to make them! And oh man, they were goooood!

Here we are walking in to the nursing home in our town. Our small group decided to do an extra little outreach besides the one our church was doing....we made bags with goodies like a mug, hot chocolate, cookies, an ornament, bookmark, etc. and delivered them to people who had to work on Christmas Eve or Day. Well, we wanted to take them to either the fire or police station, but neither were open to visitors, so we changed the plan a little and took them to the local nursing home. Instead of giving them out to the ones having to work on Christmas Day, we asked which residents wouldn't be getting any visitors and gave the presents to them instead. It was such a blessing to us and I'm very proud of my children. Very elderly people who are very weak and confined to their beds is definitely not something my children are used to seeing, but they didn't say anything about it and though they were quiet (except for Nathan of course), they easily and cheerfully wished everyone a "Merry Christmas." Aron prayed for each of the people we visited and we've already decided that we will definitely do this again next year, but with more presents next time.

And finally, Christmas dinner. Definitely not traditional....oxtail stew over rice with a salad. Aron has greatly missed all the yummy spanish food available in Florida, especially the Cuban food. Apparently he talks about it on a very regular basis at work, so much so that at his work Christmas party, his boss, who'd picked his name for the gift exchange, gave him a Cuban cookbook! Hence, our Cuban Christmas dinner. I never thought I'd eat the tail of something, but it was actually very good. I still would prefer dinner with all of our family and I missed all the traditional Christmas food, but this was really good too. All in all, it was a really good day, just us. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Nathan's Football Party

2009-12-21T17:37:00.000-08:00

For Nathan's 7th birthday, he decided he wanted to have a sleepover and then a party with a theme of , go figure, football. Since he was born on December 20th, we chose to have his party on the 19th since it was a Saturday, and because it just-so-happened to be the date of our town's Christmas Parade which would be the grand finale to our party. Nathan chose to have his good buddy, Colin, spend the night on Friday night. It was Nathan's, Caleb's, and Colin's first sleepover and they had so much fun.

Here are the three boys hanging out in the boys' room.

All three boys in Nathan's bed...too cute!

Caleb playing in the Paper Football Championship. Aron had all kinds of outdoor football games to play with the kids, but it unfortunately rained the whole time, which also cancelled the parade. Thank goodness Aron is good at improvising, hence the paper football games instead!

Here's Nathan being a ham while Aron keeps track of the tournament.

Time to open gifts!

Excited about his new book sent all the way from Florida from Grandma!

His favorite present of all....a Panther's jersey!

Nathan's birthday cake....it's not the best one I've made, but Nathan was happy with it.

Happy Birthday Nate!

The Face of Libbie

2009-12-21T17:17:00.000-08:00

Isn't she cute?! The unfortunate thing about taking pictures of my beautiful girl is that my camera puts off this really annoying red light and so even if she was smiling seconds before I push the button, as soon as she sees the light, her blue eyes get big and wide and the smile goes away. :( But here you go, anyway....enjoy!

She's mostly sitting up without support, but we use the boppy pillow just in case.

Here she is with big brother Caleb, both in their adorable footie jammies.

Those silly boys put their soldier hat on their baby sister!

Eating some of Mama's sweet potato...and loving it!

Cutie pie!

Seven!!!

2009-12-21T13:31:00.001-08:00

On December 19th, 2002, while at work finishing up report cards with my team, my water broke. I carefully drove home, called Aron and then my midwife, took a shower and when Aron got home from work, headed to the hospital. I was planning on having an all-natural birth, but after about 10 hours of labor, decided an epidural sounded really nice and it allowed me to rest on and off for the next 5 hours. Then it was time and about an hour later, our lives were forever changed with the words, "It's a boy!" Nathaniel Aron Rice was born on December 20th, 2002 and has blessed our lives every day since.

He's such a great son and he's constantly reminding us that he is definitely his father's son. He is so much like Aron, it's crazy! In fact, he even told me the other day, "Daddy's really crazy, but I'm catching up!" He loves to goof-off, gets easily unfocused, but also well understands what needs to be done and is proud of himself when he does it. He LOVES football and is quite obsessed actually. He's very athletic, naturally it seems, and loves playing outside, even if he has to do it alone.

He has an amazing memory and already has his life planned out, although some of the details change on a regular basis, such as where he's going to live. However, some of the details, such as who his wife is going to be and how many kids he's going to have, have stayed the same, no matter how many times we ask him about it (by the way, he's going to marry McCayla and have 5 kids, 2 of whom will for sure be named Jack and Jake :)).

He is a great big brother and is fine with the added responsibilities we've given him as the oldest, such as making sure Anna's buckled when we get into the car. He has a very tender heart and often tears up when thinking about sad things or when watching shows with me, like "Extreme Home Makeover."

We are so very proud to be his parents and our family is blessed to have Nathan a part of it. It is no question that our family is great, but not because of us parents but because our firstborn 'gets it' and sets the stage for the rest of his siblings. We love you NATHANIEL ARON RICE!

Anna Turns 3!!!

2009-11-26T16:36:00.000-08:00

Three years ago, on November 24th, I was induced since Anna decided she didn't want to be born on the 19th and share Daddy's birthday, and we were all so surprised when she came out our biggest baby by almost 2 pounds, weighing in at 9 lbs. 6 oz.! We've been steadily falling more in love with her every day since then.

Anna's first birthday.

Anna's second birthday.

Anna's third birthday.

Anna is so sweet and yet at times, very mischievous and strong-willed. She can melt our hearts with one look and can annoy us with her stubbornness. She is definitely a girly-girl who loves to have her toenails painted and wear pretty dresses, but who can also pick up a toy gun or sword and hold her own with the boys. She is the perfect mix for our family and we are so blessed to be able to be her parents! We love you Anna!

Catching Up

2009-11-23T13:50:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it's been awhile since I posted, and even longer since I've posted any pictures; but I finally know how to get the pictures off my phone without Aron's help, so here are bunch of pictures in no particular order:

We went on a spur-of-the-moment camping trip about 2 months ago because Aron had 2 days off in a row and because, well, he has all the equipment. It was fun when we first got there, but the whole sleeping-in-a-tent thing in under 50 degree weather is not exactly my cup of tea. It might have been a little more fun if Elizabeth had her own place to sleep, but she was crowded in with Aron and I (on a blow-up mattress though, so a little less "roughin' it") and it was a very tight fit, especially since the dew built up on the tent and if you touched the sides, you got wet! We planned to stay in the morning and do some adventuring in the woods, but when we woke up at the crack of dawn, it was so freezing and we hadn't kept any wood dry, so there was no way to make a fire. The kids and I sat in the truck with the heat on while Aron packed everything up. Good thing it was only about 20 minutes from home, otherwise we would've all been really bummed. That's what you get for thinking you can pull off primitive camping without really planning first!

Isn't she just adorable?! I love this picture! Our friends had brought their Bumbo chair to band practice and Elizabeth really liked being able to sit up all by herself.

Elizabeth's first bites of rice cereal.

An extremely rare picture....Elizabeth smiling! Not that she rarely smiles, it's just that my camera puts off this red light every time I go to take a picture so she usually is all wide-eyed at it (Notice, this is a side shot of her smiling)! What you can't see is Nathan dancing like a maniac in front of her making her laugh! One of his favorite pasttimes!

Another benefit to homeschooling....reading to younger siblings! Nathan was doing his reading assignment and Elizabeth was sitting enjoying the story.

I absolutely adore this stage, when they find their feet!

Nathan being his crazy self!

Gross guts!

And this....how can I describe it? The vehicle upheld by angels? I don't know, but I do know that my Jesus has plans for us! Otherwise, we should all be very seriously hurt or worse! If you look at the front "beam" that is between the side window and windshield, you'll see how it bent to support the weight of the truck being on it's roof...well, from stuff I've read online about this same vehicle, apparently, it hasn't supported it well in the past and people have died from the car collapsing on top of them! Also notice the back window is broken out....from what I've read, the seatbelts have often malfunctioned in this vehicle and people have been ejected from rear windows in this type of accident! And there are even more crazy things that should've happened that didn't, confirming in us that God absolutely heard and answered our prayer when we asked Him to keep us safe as we traveled and to put angels all around us as we drove, and further confirming that we know God has a purpose for us, for our family! Praise be to the God and Father of us all, who is mighty to save, who is our Rock and our Fortress!!!!

Still in Shock

2009-11-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't already know, we were in an accident today while heading to visit Aron's grandparents in Tampa. We're all ok, which is so unbelieveably amazing, considering we had a tire blow-out and rolled once, landing on the roof of the car. Aron was driving, which I'm so thankful for because I'm pretty positive I wouldn't have known what to do, and tried his hardest to regain control of the SUV, but once it hit the dirt of the side of the interstate, it just flipped over.

It was very scary, and I'm still in shock over what happened and that none of us are in the hospital tonight or even worse, which was totally possible considering what happened. I'm still in shock realizing how no one else was hit as Aron desperately tried to keep the truck on the road. We were fishtailing pretty badly and it's a miracle that no other vehicle was involved. I'm still in shock that within seconds of us stopping, there were almost 10 strangers stopped to see what help they could offer. I'm still in shock that even hanging upside down in her carseat, Elizabeth never even cried (neither did any of the other kids, although the boys did awhile later after I think it all sunk in). I'm still in shock that somehow, Aron within seconds of landing, was in the back seat (the third row!) getting Nathan and Anna released from their seatbelts and out the back side window which had shattered. I'm still in shock, that despite the intensity of the "bump" we felt, no one was hurt, besides some scrapes that Aron and his mom got. I'm still in shock that the rescue workers were amazed at our conditions, and that one of the firefighters was a guy Aron went to highschool with who had known, via Facebook, that we were in town, never expecting to "meet up" with him this way.

It's interesting, that one thing we prayed as we left NC on early Wednesday morning, was that angels would surround our car as we traveled. Well, after this experience today, I most assuredly believe that God answered our prayer. This could have turned out so many other terrible ways, but I'm firmly believing we were protected by the Lord and His angels. Nathan commented while we were waiting for friends and family to come pick us up, "I think God put a forcefield around our car in inside it too!" Buddy, I don't doubt it for a second!

I'm such a practical, thrifty girl, and immediately, my mind wants to go to the fact that as of a month ago, we were already down one car and were needing to find a second vehicle...now we need two, and I don't know how we're going to do it. I also think about the fact that we almost had this car paid off (we'd bought it with our home equity line of credit and had almost fully paid that part of the loan off) and now we have to start over. I also think about how because we didn't carry a loan on the truck, we had the bare-bones insurance, so we'll get only what we can get from the junkyard for it. But then I remember that we are all safe, we are all alive, and money means nothing. I'd rather be in debt up to my eyeballs and have my family safe and with me!

Please be in prayer for this situation. We KNOW it works! We are LIVING proof today!

I'm Thankful, I Think

2009-10-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking on my Thankful Thursday posts....sorry. As I sit here, on a Friday, I'm thinking of the things that I am thankful for, although if I was being perfectly honest, I kinda wish they were different. So as my title says, here are the things that I'm thankful for, I think:

*that my little Elizabeth is so attached to me. I'm trying to remember when she wakes up several times at night, when she takes forever to get to sleep, when she won't let me put her down for more than 10 minutes, that in couple more years I'll be missing it all. I'm trying to remember that she's our last baby and to soak it all in now, that despite it being difficult at times, she is an absolute blessing and I wouldn't want it any other way.

*that we can't afford to buy new stuff. I'm trying to remember the blessing it is that almost all the furniture we own was given to us by amazing friends and family and that even though I wish I could have something different at times, I'm blessed by their gifts. In fact, it causes me to be even more resourceful with what we do have. Just yesterday, Aron helped me move the living room around, I brought down a table from the upstairs hallway, added a couple different pictures and things from around the house, and it sorta feels like a different room. Thank you God.

*that we're down to only one vehicle. Ok, this one I honestly have to say is giving me the hardest time. I'm really, really trying to be thankful, but I really, really wish we weren't in this predicament! Aron's car, which he bought right before we got married, took it's last breath 2 weeks ago. From the mechanics we've talked to, it's gonna cost a pretty penny to have it working again. We don't know if it's the wisest thing to put all that money into a nine year old vehicle, but at the same time, we certainly don't have the money to buy anything else. It has definitely caused us to be more purposeful about when and where we go, and that's a good thing. I've had to stay home more, and that's not a bad thing either, when looked at the right way. I don't know what we should do, but honestly, we're really praying God would give us another vehicle. He did it in the past, just when we needed one, and we were able to give friends of ours a vehicle too....it was a win, win!

As I finish writing, I have to say that if this is all that is "wrong" with my life, I am still so amazingly, undeservedly blessed. I feel like I've been whining, so forgive me Lord and forgive me, those of you who've read this! Jesus, You are enough. No matter how "little" I think I have, it is so much more than so many others have, and I truly am grateful. Thank You for the change in perspective by "venting" through my blog. Once again, You've provided, this time through a much needed attitude adjustment! Help me to be thankful for all things. In Your Name, Amen!!!

Ohio Trip

2009-10-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

For my birthday this year, we decided to make a trip to visit my brother and his family in Ohio, which is where I grew up. Although I only lived in the "Amish Country" area of Ohio for 4 years (lived near Cleveland, though, from birth through most of 6th grade), this is where I feel like I grew up. It was so awesome to visit my family and to see the picturesque views of the countryside. It really is such a quaint, beautiful area of the country.

Here's a picture of an Amish farm near my brother's house.

Another farm....see the rolling hills? So pretty!

What a gorgeous sunset!

My brother Chris talking with Elizabeth. He's gonna need a lot of practice with babies....he and his wife Kara will be having their second child in March. Such a miracle, considering that their first child, Noah, just turned 11! It took awhile for them to even be able to get pregnant with him, so this was a HUGE but very wonderful surprise!

And here is Noah....he's such a great kid! He and Anna have only met twice, but they have such a special relationship. Noah loved playing with her and Anna was in heaven!

A very common sight on the roads.

Chris and Kara took us to Hershberger's, a bulk food store/bakery/petting zoo. We watched an Amish girl making homemade ice cream. It was run by a generator, but it was the real old-fashioned type of ice cream maker. We didn't have any because it was only about 10 in the morning...however, we did eat HUGE longjohn donuts, fry pies (which are like those Hostess cherry-filled iced pie thingies but homemade and with amazing fillings like elderberry, strawberry rhubarb, blackberry, etc.), and peanut butter cookie sandwiches (yes, 2 peanut butter cookies filled with peanut butter frosting...mmmmmm!).

Here's my brother with Nathan standing next to the largest workhorse in all of Holmes County. My brother is over 6 feet tall, so that might just help you realize how humongous this thing is!

Caleb, Anna, and I taking a look at the girl feeding the ponies. It was an overcast day, but it still was so great to see the beautiful scenery.

Caleb checkin' out the ponies.

Nathan talking to the pony.

We had such a nice time and hope to go back when there's snow on the ground. My Floridian husband and children still have no idea what it's like to really see snow and to do all the fun stuff, like sledding down the hills, I used to do while living there There's something about this area of Ohio that just makes my heart so happy; I doubt we'll ever live there, but it sure is awesome knowing we can visit.

Thankful Thursday

2009-10-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

What am I thankful for today? So many things....here's just a few:

*4 healthy children who love me and their daddy and who are best friends with one another

*a loving, understanding husband who works hard to always keep communication open between us

*a God who loved His people enough to not just send a substitute to earth to pay for our sins, but who came down Himself to pay the debt that we owed

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

2009-09-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight, as I think about the things I am thankful for, the thing that keeps coming to my mind is my church. Part of the comfort of moving from Florida to North Carolina was already having a church home established. Being a part of Discovery Church is great. What's so awesome is being able to serve under our pastor, Jason Ebeling, who Aron and I used to serve under when he was a youth pastor in Florida. We know him, trust him, and believe in him.

Just recently, Jason and the leadership at Discovery had an extremely hard decision to make. I am so proud of them for being willing to make such a difficult decision for our church body. Too many times, pastors and church leadership refuse to make choices that God asks us to make because they don't want to "step on anyone's toes" or they don't want to "cause" people to leave the church. I am so glad to be a part of a church who chooses to follow God, even when it hurts. Thanks Pastor Jason and Discovery Church for choosing the narrow road. I'm thankful to fall under your leadership.

Finally!!!

2009-09-15T19:22:00.001-07:00

For those of you who follow my blog, you may have noticed that it has been lacking pictures for the last few months. Well, I have finally alleviated that problem! Actually, my husband, who is much more technologically-inclined, did. See, our camera broke right after my family visited for the 4th of July....big bummer, especially with a new baby in the house! But my hardworking hubby had already won a new phone at work which has a camera built into it and it came soon after in the mail. Problem was, though, that I couldn't figure out how to get the pictures from the camera to the computer. Well, I finally remembered to ask about it tonight, so here are just a random compilation of the last couple months around here:

Here's Anna "feeding" her baby, just like Mama feeds "Wiz-a-biff"

Elizabeth at almost 2 months old, just hanging out.

Here she is, sticking her tongue out.

Elizabeth literally "hanging out" with big brother Caleb (whom she looks very much like, especially in his baby pictures)....she is a great jumper already!

This is how I found Caleb one morning, right after he woke up. He has really gotten into coloring lately and does a really great job at it too!

There's my sweet baby girl.... almost 3 months old now! Can you see how much she's grown already?!

My big girl Anna being a big helper! She loves to help Mama put the dishes away.

My Libbie is growing up so fast! Here she is 3 months old. She was showing us how she can now focus on an object and work hard to reach out and touch it.

Here we are on our first day of school this year, May 23, 2009. We are all enjoying homeschooling so much! I'm so grateful for the privilege of getting to be my children's teacher. Sure, it's a lot of work and yep, it can be frustrating at times, but I love it all the same. I love to see how differently my children learn and am so glad that I am able to spend individual time with each one. As a former public school teacher, I know the challenges of trying to meet the needs of 20+ students, as each one learns differently from the next. Having taught in the school system makes me appreciate this opportunity I have and also the opportunity my children are having to get to learn what they need and want without all the distractions of a typical classroom. We are definitely not saying that we will homeschool for all of our children's entire schooling; we will constantly assess what each one needs and take it year-by-year. But as for now, it is working and going very well!

Here are Nathan and Caleb with their good buddy Colin. We were at the Watermelon Festival watching the parade and they just had to have their picture taken! Notice Nathan's mohawk! Yes, it was his choice and yes, I'm o.k with it! After all, it's just hair, right?!

Well, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed catching up with me. I promise to do better with posting pictures!

Thankful Thursday

2009-09-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, the kids and I needed to go to the library and so we all loaded in to the SUV and made the trip. We were happily riding along, the kids singing along to "The Donut Man" tapes (yeah, I think they're almost as old as me, but they love them and they still work!) and we pulled into the parking lot. We headed into the library, spent some time looking for books, checked them all out and walked back out to the truck. As I got to the driver's side to open the door for Anna to get into the backseat, I looked down and noticed that the back tire was flat. Now, when I say flat, I mean FLAT. The rim was sitting on the ground. There was no slowly driving to the gas station to fill it up with air just to make it home....it had to be changed right then.

I called Aron, but he was at work and wouldn't be able to leave for at least 15 minutes; plus he'd have to change it in his work clothes and get sweaty and dirty. We have AAA, but past experiences with them made me figure they'd take at least an hour to get to me. As I was waiting for Aron to come, a man walked out of the library and noticed my predicament. He asked me if I needed help, but I told him my husband would be there in about 15 minutes. He said he'd be willing to get it started and see how far he could get before Aron showed up. Now normally, I would have said "Nah, it's ok" but God has been trying to get me to understand that it's ok to ask and accept help from others. So I agreed and he ended up getting the whole tire changed and Aron didn't even need to leave work.

I was really blown away by his kindness. He didn't know me from anybody, yet he willingly got dirty and very sweaty (it was really hot that day!) for me! He'd told me people had changed his wife's tire and his daughter's tire in the past, so he was just repaying the favor. And man, was I grateful to be the recipient! I wonder what our world would be like if we'd be willing to get "dirty and sweaty" for one another?

When I got back in the car and got ready to drive home on my newly changed tire, I made sure to point out to my children what an amazingly kind thing we had just been given, that what this man named Taylor did for us was completely undeserved and something he didn't have to do. We prayed for him before we even left the parking lot, for God to bless him and his family. I hope that my children will remember this and that we, as a family, will make a better effort to look for ways that we can be kind to others.

Thankful Thursday

2009-09-03T18:18:00.000-07:00

So, I just got home from Nathan's first ever football practice. He's so excited to be playing and even more excited that his team's name is the Panthers (just like the Carolina Panthers who are his favorite football team). I, on the other hand, am already feeling overwhelmed by the practice schedule. I guess I should have asked before signing him up (although I still would have wanted him to play because he really wants to), but I didn't, so finding out tonight that he'll have practice Mondays, Tuesdays, game on Wednesdays, and practice again on Thursday was quite a lot to take in!

So then I went over to a friend's blog (I used to get together with her along with other mommies, once a week, to let our kids play) where I got the idea to do these "Thankful Thursday" posts, and the theme for today is supposed to be SLOW DOWN. Oh man, how am I going to do that, especially now that practically every evening is now booked with football? I really don't know the answer to that. Because of Aron's work schedule, most practices I'll be having to go to alone with the other 3 kiddos and keep them entertained the whole time. This also means our Thursday night small group we'll be late to until the season's over (and I really look forward to that "grownup time"). And the karate class that I was going to sign Caleb up for clashes with the times we'll need to be on the field with Nathan! So on top of the day-to-day wife, mommy, and teacher titles that I carry, I'm now athletic coordinator, too.

Well, I'm tired of hearing myself complain and so here's where the thankful part comes in. I am so thankful that I'm not a single mom. I know too many mommies out there who do EVERY part of life with their children alone, not just a practice here and there. God, thank You for the husband You gave me and the marriage that You continue to bless despite my many, many flaws. Thank You that my children have a dad who is not only involved, but interested in their everyday lives. I know that at any moment, life could change and I could be doing this Mommy thing alone, so for tonight, I will choose to SLOW DOWN, count my blessings, and leave the scheduling for some other night! And I will say a prayer for the countless parents out there doing all of this by themselves. What an incredibly hard job you have and I commend those of you who are doing it and doing it well! You have my respect!

Thankful Thursday

2009-08-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today was a rougher-than-usual day. I've had a headache for 2 days now, and I think it's finally on it's way out, but needless to say, I've been less involved in my "motherly" duties than usual. For example, tonight was "whatever you want" for dinner night because I just wasn't up to cooking, and so my Nathan, Caleb, and Anna all had Trix cereal for dinner!

So what does this have to do with being thankful? Well, after feeding Elizabeth at 6:45 am, I just did not have it in me to get up. My head was still hurting from yesterday and Anna was already up and was asking to eat breakfast and I just couldn't do it! So I asked Aron if he could please get up with Anna, even though I knew he was up late last night, and he did. Some of you may be thinking, "Ok, big deal", but I'm not done yet. When I finally got up at 9:22 am, he'd already made sure the kids ate, were dressed, and he'd already started school with them! Bible was done and he was getting ready to read them the story of the day. He finished the story with them, I went and took a shower, and while I was upstairs, he began giving the boys a much needed haircut (and he even asked me before giving Nathan his requested mohawk....and in case you were wondering, I said "Yes.").

Wow, what a dad! What a husband! God, I am so incredibly thankful for You putting Aron in my life. He is such a blessing to me and to our family. May You make all his dreams come true!

Thankful Thursday

2009-08-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time for my Thankful Thursday post, and not that I'm not thankful, but at this moment (10:55 pm), I'm really tired and just want to go to bed. So here is just a random list of the things in my life that I'm feeling blessed by:

*My husband who, when praying with our children tonight, thanked God for me. I'm so grateful that although he's not the most romantic man in the world, I never question his love for me. I love that his heart is so open and that when he prays with our children, he doesn't "sugar-coat" or "dumb down" his thoughts; he lays it all out there and our children are being blessed to hear his heart.

*Not having a lot of money....yes, that may sound strange, but I'm actually grateful that we're not rich. I'm glad that our children have experienced the amazing faithfulness of God to provide throughout all the crazy circumstances our life has had. Aron and I were just discussing this morning how we want to instill in our children the spirit of giving and we want to help them to see how blessed we actually are. They are already pretty good about sharing with others and giving things away (like when Mommy is overwhelmed and wants to declutter!), but we'd like to plan some regular events where we actually see and help people who are in need (like mission trips).

*Pistachios....they are just really yummy!

*Small towns....I love that we have a "Piggly Wiggly" down the street, a library within walking distance that still has the little cards in the back that you sign your name on and a real card catalog (not a computerized one), and a yummy BBQ restaurant down the street that only takes cash or checks and where, when Aron and I went there to eat a couple weeks ago, we were offered birthday cake from a family who was there with their Grandma. So cute!

Well, I'm gonna go feed the baby and head to bed. Grandma and Great Pappaw will be here tomorrow and that's something we're all thankful for!

Pretty Watermelon

2009-08-19T06:17:00.000-07:00

As most of you who read this know, Aron and I decided that we would attempt to grow a garden this year. The carrots and green onions were unsuccessfu; the corn stalks were super skinny and produced only a couple ears of corn, all of which had mutantly fat kernels so we didn't eat any; the peas grew a couple of pods, but not enough for even one serving; and the green beans grew some, but tasted really gross.

The only success we've had is with the canteloupes and watermelons. They've taken over! The vines that they grow on have grown so long that they are now outside of the garden space and into the yard. We've given up weeding the area after seeing a watermelon farmer on the local news, and his field of watermelons was full of grass which made us think, "If that's what a real farmer's field looks like, then we're doing great!" We've actually eaten 2 of our canteloupes and they tasted unbelieveably like the real thing!

A couple days ago, I went to inspect the watermelons and found a really large one sitting in the grass. I was so excited! I pulled it off the vine and brought it inside. I showed the kids and they thought it was so cool. We love watermelon around here and I started thinking that if the canteloupes tasted as good as they did, then our watermelon was going to be GOOD! I put the watermelon on the cutting board, got out my big knife and proceeded to cut it open. Much to my disappointment, it was almost completely white on the inside! It had just a small area in the center that was pink, but it was obviously not ready to be eaten.

I was so bummed! I mean, it looked perfect on the outside, at least to me. It had all the pretty light and dark green squiggly lines on the outside, just like you see at the store, it was pretty big, and yet on the inside, it was a totally different story. I got to thinking that this is how those of us who follow Christ can be. We can look "pretty" on the outside. We can have all the "markings" of a believer and those who look at the life we portray are convinced we've got it all together. Yet, if others were to "cut us open" and get a good look at our insides, our hearts, they'd realize the truth. We've been putting on a show, making our outward appearances look appealing, yet neglecting what's really important.

I Samuel 16: 7 tells us, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." I don't know about you, but when God looks at my heart, I want Him to see the fruit of the Spirit....love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I want my outsides to match my insides!

Lord, grow me into what You want me to be. Help me to nurture my Spirit daily so that my insides, my heart, are pleasing in Your sight. God, may my attitude, my words, my actions-those outwardly parts of me-reflect Your fruit so that others may see You in me.

More Treasure!

2009-08-14T04:45:00.001-07:00

From "Jesus, the One and Only" (Beth Moore)

From Luke 10:17-21

"Here's a place where the original is so much fun. In English we equate joy of the disciples in verse 17 with Christ's joy in verse 21. After all, joy is joy, right? Not in Greek! Luke used two different words. In verse 17, the word for joy is chara, meaning essentially what you'd assume: 'rejoicing' and 'gladness.' To our delight, the word switches in verse 21 to a far more intense original word. The word is agalliao, meaning 'to exult, leap for joy, to show one's joy by leaping and skipping, denoting excessive or ecstatic joy and delight.' In the Septuagint of the psalms, it was 'often spoken of rejoicing with song and dance.'

"Someone may ask, 'Do you expect me to believe Christ jumped up and down with ecstatic joy?' I don't have one bit of trouble believing it!

"Could the word simply mean He rejoiced in His heart? Possibly, but the essence of the word agalliao is when chara gets physical! You may apply it either way, but I prefer to jump up and down with Jesus. Perhaps no one could celebrate the greatness of God with more demonstration than David, and he was called, 'a man after God's own heart.' With all my heart, I believe Christ Jesus was and is demonstrative.

"How did God demonstrate His love according to Romans 5:8? Seems to me Christ and His Father can be pretty dramatic in their demonstration of affection.

"Oh, beloved, give Him a chance to leap and dance over you! Dare to do what He's calling you to do! And don't always be so reasonable. I have a feeling there's one thing Christ likes better than leaping and skipping and dancing over you. How about with you? When you hear that victory music playing, get up out of that chair and shake a leg!"

Thankful Thursday

2009-08-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Thursday, and I've actually remembered to post my Thankful blog on the right day! Yay for me!

While doing my quiet time this morning, I began thinking about what I am thankful for. It may sound silly, but what God brought to my mind today are garage sales! Yes, I am thankful for the opportunity to make "another man's junk" my "treasures!" I've bought clothes and shoes for every member of my family, bought homeschool curriculum at a HUGE discount, found countless toys and books for the kiddos, and countless other fun stuff, all at amazingly cheap prices! I am thankful that the money-saver in me can "splurge" without going broke!

This morning's "treasure" was my Beth Moore's "Jesus, the One and Only" workbook that I bought several months ago at a garage sale for only 50 cents. Now, if you've never done one of Beth Moore's Bible studies, first of all, you've really missed out...she's an annointed teacher of the Word! Anyway, normally, you would join a group of some sort, watch a weekly video with your group, and then do the "homework" that goes along with the video that you'd seen, and then you'd get back together and discuss what you'd learned.

Well, being that I bought the workbook only (that was all that was available), I've been doing the study on my own. It's taken me much longer than the normal 8-10 weeks that her studies normally take, but I've been learning so much! Things like:
"Look back at the adjectives Christ used to describe the generation. The first word is unbelieving. Little faith in Mathhew 17:20 is apistian-unbelief. After three-and-a-half decades of knowing Christ, I am only beginning to realize the magnitude of the sin of unbelief. The word unbelieving means, "not worthy of confidence, untrustworthy."
"The definition implies that when we are faithless, we are concluding by our attitude and actions that Christ is not worthy of our confidence and that He is...I can hardly bring myself to write the word...untrustworthy. The disciples' unbelief was their willingness to let the temperature of their faith rise and fall according to the surrounding dynamics rather than His steadfast Word."
AND...
"I cannot stress strongly enough that getting over the self-stuff is a daily challenge. As long as we inhabit this tent of flesh, it will rise up in us. We must choose to "deny [ourselves] and take up [our] cross daily" (Luke 9:23). The challenge demands total honesty before God. Remember, conviction is never for the sake of condemnation but for liberation! Oh, God, so deal with the self in each of us that when You read our thoughts as You did the disciples in Luke 9:47, You will find stronger and stronger evidences of Your own. Let this mind be in us that was also in Christ Jesus (see Phil. 2:5, KJV)!"

Wow! She can explain some pretty deep concepts in a way that just really hits home for me. I have and continue to struggle with the sin of unbelief. It is the "self-stuff" that rises up in me on a regular basis. God has always proven Himself to be faithful, so I have no real reason to not trust that He will always work things out for the ultimate good; however, I find myself worrying over many things.

Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief! You are good, and You are so deserving of my trust. I thank You for teachers of the Word, whose passion for You is evident in their work. And thank You for allowing me to grow closer to You because of a garage sale!

Thankful Thursday (Friday Edition...oops!)

2009-08-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

I meant to post yesterday but I forgot! Oopsie! But I was thinking about it all day, purposing to look for the things that I am thankful for. What I kept coming back to was the fact that I live in a free country.

Despite the fact that I don't agree with many of the political things going on, despite the fact that I think this country has gone downhill and is continuing down a slippery slope, I still am FREE!

Free to write this blog, free to worship God in a church and own as many Bibles as I want, free to teach my children at home, free to HAVE children (as many as I want), free to come and go as I please, and so many other things that I know I take for granted. One only needs to watch the news for a couple days to realize how "unfree" much of the rest of the world is.

Many of us gripe and complain about the things we don't like or disagree with in this country, myself included at times, and yet we forget how blessed we actually are. The mere fact that we CAN gripe and complain without fear shows once again how amazing our freedom actually is.

I don't know about you, but I'm grateful, very thankful, that I can call myself an American. I am thankful for the many lives that have been sacrificed over hundreds of years on behalf of our freedom. I know that there are plenty of men and women whose lives were taken because they were willing to fight for MY freedom, even though they would never meet me or even know I existed! How thankful I am for the current soldiers who, despite what differences of opinion they might have about their assignment, are dedicated to the cause of freedom. We are alive and well and FREE because of their sacrifice.

Counting My Blessings

2009-08-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted, mostly since our camera broke and I haven't quite figured out how to download the pictures off of my phone. But I figured today was a good day to get back on here since I've just been feeling so blessed. God reminded me today of several things I had forgotten about, things He has worked out in ways that only He could have. Just like the children of Israel, I need to often remind myself of how God has blessed me and has worked in my past so that I will continue to trust Him with my future....not only for building my faith, but also to share with others in the hope that their faith might also grow. So I shall now count my blessings, name them one by one (I know I'll forget a million of them, but I want to at least try):

*I am a daughter of the King of Glory! How amazing is that!

*I have the most amazing husband! He loves me so much and I don't even know why! He loves God more than me, hears from Him, and follows Him. I'm so blessed to have him leading our family.

*I have been given the unbelievable blessing of being the mother to 4 beautiful, healthy children. I have friends who've never been able to have children and my heart aches for them. I don't know why God has chosen to allow me to experience motherhood, but I cannot thank Him enough for this privilege.

*We have had God provide for us as a family in the most amazing ways: money, furniture, a helping hand, and countless other things from friends and family; jobs that came through at just the right time; renters (even though I hate being a "landlord") so that we didn't have to lose our home; homeless men on the highway who "happened" to have exactly the tool we needed to fix a flat tire (if you haven't heard that story, please ask....it's cool!); getting to live in this beautiful home in NC for much less rent than it should cost; and the list goes on!

I know there's so much more to be thankful for. A friend of mine posts on her blog every Thursday the specific things she's thankful for. I think I will start doing the same. Purposely looking for blessings in my everyday life is something I need to do more of. How about you? What are you thankful for? How have you seen the Lord work in your life?

July 4th Weekend

2009-07-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

We were so blessed to spend this Fourth of July with my family who made the drive from Ohio and Florida to visit us here in North Carolina. It was a short time together, but so much fun. Here are some pictures that captured our holiday weekend together:

My brother Chris holding Elizabeth.

My sister Elena holding Elizabeth.

My brother and his wife Kara. They've been married 16 years now! Highschool sweethearts....aaawwww!

Anna, Lexi, Nathan, and Gavin waiting to walk down the street to Bum's BBQ for lunch. We've been wanting to go there since we moved here but just never did. Unfortunately Aron had to work, so he missed out on the yumminess, but we'll definitely be going back. It was really really good! Absolutely no atmosphere but who cares when the BBQ is so good!

Gavin and Noah up late playing the computer.

Luis giving Caleb an art lesson. Caleb has recently really gotten into drawing and coloring and Luis is somewhat of an artist himself.

I'm not much of a crafty girl, but I saw an idea for 4th of July t-shirts in Family Fun magazine and thought it would be fun for all the cousins to make. We used different types of pastas to create fireworks stamps and then used different colors of fabric paint and glitter to make these super cute shirts. They all had fun and they turned out great. They all looked so nice watching the fireworks later that night all sporting their new shirts.

Silly cousins! You can't see it in the picture, but Elizabeth has a onesie on that says "Little Firecracker" on the front....so cute with all the cousins and their firecracker shirts! Oh, and if you can't tell, Nathan's now lost both front teeth and another one on the bottom!

It was so nice being together with my family. In two weeks, we'll be traveling to Florida for "business" (rental house stuff) but will get to hang out with Aron's family and mine too while there. Then Aron's mom and grandpa will be heading up here for a couple days in August. And in late September/early October, we're planning a trip to Ohio to see my brother and his family again! We haven't traveled much in the past to see family, but we're realizing it's so very worth it. Hope you all had a blessed 4th of July...I know I did!

Happy Baby

2009-06-28T17:21:00.001-07:00

Poor Elizabeth. She's a great baby, but she has tummy bubbles pretty much after every feeding and is very uncomfortable for awhile afterwards unless there's some pressure on her belly. Trying to hold a baby in any position while taking care of three other kids is very difficult and so I figured the only way I could work it all out is to get something to hold Elizabeth in so I could have my hands free. I bought one at Target (the Baby Bjorn-type ) but ended up returning it after some research online. I realized I could make one of my own for much cheaper, and so I did. Here's the happy baby in the homemade baby wrap! These same types of wraps cost anywhere from $40-80 and mine cost $8! And I have enough material left for another one!

Tooth Troll

2009-06-28T17:04:00.000-07:00

Last Thanksgiving, while visiting family, Nathan lost his first tooth (one on the bottom). A couple weeks later, he lost the one right next to it. Then this past Tuesday, he lost the first of the top. We did the Tooth Fairy thing with him for the previous two lost teeth, so of course, as Aron was putting them to bed, Nate asked about it with this one. My goofy husband replied, "Tooth Fairy?! That's for girls. The Tooth Troll will come and get your tooth!" And the Troll did not disappoint as you can see. One dollar under his pillow made for a happy toothless boy.

Goofy just like his daddy!

Oh, and just like before, the tooth right next to the now missing tooth is loose too! He's gonna look so cute with two missing front teeth! And I know you're all singing the song in your head, aren't you?

Fun at the Pool

2009-06-28T15:38:00.001-07:00

Last week, some friends of ours were going to be out of town and offered us the use of their pool. So of course, we had to take them up on the offer. I attempted to go swimming but the water was only 76 degrees, and to this former long-time Florida girl, that's just not warm enough for me. It's funny, because growing up in Ohio, our next-door neighbors got a pool and I remember swimming in it when it was only 60-something degrees because we just couldn't wait! How age changes things!

Here's the rest of the family having their fun:

Elizabeth's not quite ready to brave the waters of the pool yet, so she took a little nap on the porch. No bed for the baby? That's ok....a towel on top of the table works just great!

Can I Hold Her?

2009-06-17T20:42:00.001-07:00

Crazy Kids!

2009-06-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

Nathan, Caleb, and Anna decided to go play together upstairs and when Aron went to check on them (they'd been quiet for too long) this is what he found:

The boys' closet has 3 shelves in it and they had cleared off the shelves in order to "sleep" there! Too funny! The way they think cracks me up! I told them I guess we don't have to buy them bunk beds now since they found some of their own.

Little Mommy

2009-06-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, while finishing up getting ready to go to church, I walked past the playroom and saw Anna sitting in her little chair reading and had to capture it.

But not until I moved to get a picture of her face did I see that she was actually "reading" to her baby doll! How precious! I guess she's just practicing her Mommy skills.

3 Weeks Old!

2009-06-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe Elizabeth is already 3 weeks old! It seems like she's always been with us, yet it's all so new too. We recently bought a new computer and I haven't quite figured out how to import pictures to my blog, so forgive me for an update that's just words.

Elizabeth is such a joy. Except for her tummy troubles (the same ones Caleb and Anna had), she's been a great baby. We haven't quite gotten in sync for feedings (I make way too much milk for her little tummy) and so I've had mastitis and thrush already, but it seems like the medication is working and my body seems to be better adjusting to her feeding habits. She eats about every 3 hours, with an occasional 4 hour stretch in the day or night.

She's already changing which is so fun to watch and even more fun to watch the kids notice the changes. She's starting to focus on us when we talk to her and has even been caught "watching TV" when I've left her laying on the floor after changing her diaper.

Speaking of diaper changes, we nicknamed her "Pooper-ella" in her first 2 weeks at home because of her extreme amounts of the stuff. Some of you may have seen the picture Aron put on Facebook of her explosive pooping incident, but thankfully, her body has seemed to settle down!

The kids have been great with her. They're very attentive to her, sometimes too attentive, but that's ok. Anna loves to touch "A-wiz-a-biff" and give her kisses on her head. She's a great diaper thrower-awayer and spit-up rag fetcher. The boys ask questions about her all the time and when we go out, they always want to make sure we bring Elizabeth and I have to assure them that I'd never leave her home alone.

Life with four kids has seemed to settle into a routine for now. The older ones seem a little more bored lately so my biggest challenge is trying to not get upset with them for being extra rambunctious and purpose to give them activities to do. Otherwise, they seem to find trouble a lot more easily.

Well, that's all for now. I'll have to get Aron to give me a lesson on putting pictures on here and then I'll post some more.

Reconnected

2009-06-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to say that being without a working computer for over a week has been interesting. Ours died sometime last week and life just hasn't been the same. I felt so "disconnected" from life....kinda sad, but it seems to be the times we live in these days.

We looked into getting the computer fixed, but the money we would have had to spend wouldn't have been worth it on a five year old computer (apparently, five years is ancient in computer years). So, we had to go ahead a buy a new laptop yesterday. We had some money leftover from our tax return and were holding onto it since "saving" has been virtually impossible since our move to NC, but I guess a new computer was what we were needing it for!

Now to update you all on the Rice life:

Elizabeth is doing really well: jaundice went away on it's own, she's sleeping 3 to 4 hours at a time at night, and at her 2 week checkup, she weighed 7 pounds 6.9 ounces....that's 11 ounces gained in one week! Go Momma's Milk!!

The kids love their little sister. They're so excited when she's actually awake. Every peep she makes is a huge announcement and they've been very helpful when I ask for help.

My recovery has been great! I've had a couple "setbacks" along the way, but for only being 2 weeks post-partum from a c-section delivery, I really am amazed at how God has allowed my body to heal. Thanks for all who prayed for me....it is working!!

Our house in Florida is rented again! Praise God! The renters we had in there were supposed to stay until next April, which was almost a 2-year lease and abruptly let us know that June 15th they were moving. We were very concerned that we were going to have to find new renters in a very short amount of time from all the way up here and right around the same time as having a new baby! We stressed for a couple days then gave it over to God the way we should have from the beginning and He came through for us once again. We had lots of interest but only 2 showings and the second showing was a success (a huge THANKS to our friends, the Abstons, for being so willing to show the house for us since we're not local anymore). We've always prayed that our house would be a blessing to whomever God would have live there, and I feel like our new renters needed our house. They'll be moving in July 1st and we're excited and so are they.

Well, that's about it. I'll take some pictures soon.

Elizabeth June Rice

2009-05-30T19:28:00.001-07:00

May 26, 2009 at 10:37 am, our world was forever changed. Elizabeth June Rice was born weighing a teeny 6 pounds 14 ounces and measuring 18 inches long. She is by far our smallest baby yet, but she's perfect! We are so blessed to have her here with us!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of my little girl so far:

And for those of you wondering about her name, we chose Elizabeth June for two reasons: one, because all of our children have a biblical first name and a family name for a middle name and two, because Aron's grandma passed away last year and her name was Elizabeth, a name that Aron has always loved anyway, so we wanted to honor her this way. June is Aron's other grandma's name, so that's where the middle name came from.

Vollmer Farm Trip

2009-05-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

Some friends from church decided to spend the day at Vollmer Farm in Bunn, NC (about 1.5 hours from us) and invited us to come along. We knew it would be a really fun time, but also that this would be the last big trip we would take as a family of five, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity. And we're glad we didn't, because we all had a really great day.

Here are our boys with their buddies from church/small group.

Part of the field trip was picking strawberries from their organic strawberry field. It was fun, but the best part was eating the berries.....they seriously were the best strawberries we have ever eaten! I don't know if it's because they were organic or the variety of berry that they were, but man, they were truly amazing!

The kids had fun playing on the playground and in the sandbox.

Another cool thing they had was this underground slide. You had to walk up the hill to the top of the slide and then go through the hill as you slid down. I even went...it was fun, but hurts the booty!
The thing the kids talked most about after we found out we were going on this trip was the "Pumpkin Jump" that we saw advertised on the website. It's like the bottom of a "bounce house", but huge! The kids all took turns jumping, although Anna had a hard time and just ended up crying. Then it was time for the "big kids"....I would've jumped too, but I didn't think that was such a great idea for being days away from delivery! :) Oh well, maybe next time, because it looked like tons of fun, as you can see from Aron. What a goof I married!

All in all, it was a really great day. Next time we go, we'll be a family of six....is that amazing or what?!

Avian Adventure

2009-05-11T16:24:00.000-07:00

Last week we had quite a few storms in the area. Aron was taking out the trash last Tuesday evening and found a baby bird lying on the ground, obviously having fallen from its nest. He came inside, got a rag and picked it up, and brought inside the house.

We were all pretty fascinated but concerned since we had no idea what to do with it. Aron sent the boys outside to dig for worms and bugs because we figured that's what we would need to feed it. After researching a little online (what did we used to do before the internet???), we realized we were in well over our heads trying to care for this little birdie. Aron found the phone number for a local wildlife group and called, even though it was already almost 8 pm by this time, hoping someone would answer. Well, sure enough, he got through to a local "rehabber" (apparently, there's a world of volunteers who help rescue and rehabilitate orphaned and hurt wildlife) who let us know that we needed to bring the bird to her that night or it would probably die before the morning.

Now, we're not exactly animal rights activists or anything, but we just couldn't let this little guy die on our watch. So we quickly loaded up the kids, put the bird in a box on top of a heating pad, and headed out to Stokes, a town about 45 minutes away, out in the country. When we got there, the "bird lady" immediately recognized that the bird was a dove and invited us in to see all the other animals she had under her care at the time. She had other baby birds, some baby possums, and plenty of mealworms and crickets to feed all the critters. It was quite a field trip!

Nathan's First Game

2009-05-11T16:01:00.001-07:00

Nathan is a naturally athletic boy and so when baseball season began here, we talked to him about playing and he was all for it. We did ask Caleb too, but he decided he didn't want to play. Anyway, Nathan had his first game and we were so excited! As we were waiting for the other game to finish so our team could get on the field, Nathan spontaneously suggested he pose for some pre-game pics.

Here he is being the silly boy that he is. He's just like his Dad!

The game got started and it was his turn up to bat. I've been the one taking him and the kids to his practices and at the first practice, I told the coach that I was pretty sure he batted left-handed (even though he's a righty with everything else). Well, when the coach tried that with him, apparently Nathan grabbed the bat the way a righty does, so he tried him out that way instead. Well, poor Nathan never could hit the ball during practices and he was frustrated because he's normally quite a hitter. At the first game, Aron was able to come, and he made sure he stood at the right spot and held the bat the right way, and sure enough, he whacked that ball on his first pitch! Oops! That's what I get for not being an athlete!

Doesn't he look so cute just squatting there like a pro?

Anna playing her own game.

Things I Love About My Children

2009-05-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

I'm too tired to update my blog including pictures, because that process just annoys me. However, it has been a week with no new stuff, so here's what's on my mind:

*I love that Anna is totally getting this potty-training thing! She sure picked the absolutely perfect time to figure this all out and I'm so proud of her!

*I love that every time Anna goes on the potty, the boys cheer her on like she just won a marathon! I love how much they support each other!

*I love that my kids have never tried running away from me out in public. We were at the park this afternoon and I saw a little girl do that. I don't know why mine never have, but I'm so glad about that!

*I love that Caleb has learned to pump his legs on the swing! No more pushing that little guy anymore!

*I love to hear my children pray.

*I love that my children are really, really obedient kids. At times, of course, they need reminding, but really and truly, they are amazing kids! I am so blessed with how well they behave.

*I love that my children are genuinely excited about adding another child into the family. I find myself worrying about my recovery from a c-section and having to care for 3 other kids at the same time, but then I remember how great those other 3 kids are, and realize it'll be difficult, but I KNOW they'll be helpful to me.

*I love that my kids adore their Daddy! And they have every reason to. He's such an amazing father and we are so blessed to have him leading our family.

*I love that the majority of the time, all three kids really do get along and truly enjoy being together.

I know there's tons more things that I love about my children, but that's enough for now. I am so blessed and just wanted to share my blessings with you all.

Celebrating 5 (at home edition)

2009-05-01T16:55:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics of how we celebrated Caleb's birthday once he got home from camping:

My attempt at his request for a t-rex cake:

He loves Transformers!

We got him a new bike since his other one was too small.
He was very excited to receive a whole box of presents in the mail from Grandma and Titi!

Celebrating 5

2009-05-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, my wonderful husband has, over the last several years, developed a passion for the outdoors, camping, and all things wilderness. So of course, as goes with parenting, he is passing along his loves to our kids. And so when Daddy mentioned a couple months ago that it would be fun to celebrate Caleb's 5th birthday by camping in the woods for a couple days, the birthday boy was all for it. So this was how they celebrated:

They had a really fun time from what they tell me, despite the fact that Nathan ended up with 5 ticks on his body! Yuck! It was the first time I've not spent an actual birth day with one of my children, but I couldn't imagine anyone else that I'd rather have had Caleb spend it with than his Daddy and big brother.

Happy 5th Birthday, Caleb!

2009-04-30T05:53:00.000-07:00

Five years ago today, at around 6 in the morning, while laying on the couch from a night of not being able to sleep, I felt a "pop" in my big belly, and recognizing the same sensation from when your big brother was in my belly and my water broke, knew that you had decided to be born. I woke up Daddy, called Grandma to come watch Nathan and we headed to the hospital.

Things were going along just fine for the first couple hours, but then you decided to start giving us a scare with your heart rate. So to be on the safe side, the doctors made the decision to give me an emergency c-section, which was a little bit scary, since it was a rush-rush type decision, but just after noon, you were born, healthy and strong.

You have been such a blessing in our life, Caleb. Your name means "loyal and devoted" and that certainly describes you! You love your family so very much. You are an awesome best friend to Nathan and a caring and attentive big brother to Anna. I know you are going to be such a great help to me and Daddy with our new little brother or sister because that's just the kind of boy you are. You can be shy at times, but you are getting braver and more outgoing every day. I love everything about you, Caleb. You are my sweet, little man and I can't wait to watch you grow and learn another year!

Happy Birthday!!!!

Our Garden, Part 3

2009-04-28T11:54:00.001-07:00

It's official! Our seeds have sprouted! Some of the seeds we planted a couple weeks ago have begun to push through the surface and we are so excited. Now I've GOT to get out to the store and buy a roll of fencing to keep the animals out. I've seen a couple rabbits hopping around here, and I will not allow them to destroy it!!!!

The neighbor's cat enjoying the garden too.

For You, Mom

2009-04-28T11:50:00.001-07:00

For those of you who don't know, these flowers growing in our yard are irises, and my mom's name is Iris....so this blog is dedicated to you, Mom!

Baby #4

2009-04-21T19:46:00.001-07:00

Just in case you've been wondering, here's what Baby #4 looks like at about 35 weeks of pregnancy. I can't wait to meet you, Elizabeth or Gabriel! See you on the outside soon!

Painted Piggies

2009-04-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

I've never been one who wanted my little girl to be super-girlie, and honestly, she's not. She does love dolls, when she wears a skirt or a dress she calls herself a princess, and when she sees me putting on makeup, she wants to try too (I just let her "put some on" with my blush brush!). But she also walks around the house shooting guns, playing with swords, and one day last week she came pouting to me because "I want tie fighter too!" (For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a space ship thingie from Star Wars...the things I've learned as the mommy of two boys!). Anna has a great balance for being a little girl, and I love her just the way she is.

However, something came over me today, and I decided she should have her toenails painted for the first time. At first, she didn't want to, but then when I asked if she wanted them to be pink, she was all for it. So I sat her on the kitchen table after dinner tonight, and she sat perfectly still while I painted her cute little toes. So here they are: the painted piggies! I hope I haven't started something here!!

Our Garden, Part 2

2009-04-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

So as you know, we started a garden. The ground was ready and the seeds were bought. Now came the fun of planting. The kids all shared in putting the holes in the ground and putting the seeds in the holes. So far, here is the lineup for what we're hoping will grow: green beans, carrots, corn, green onions, watermelon, canteloupe, and peas (well, Aron is definitely not rooting these on!).

Nathan was much more enthusiastic about gardening than Caleb and Anna, so when they had the chance, they had a little fun of their own, talking on the "watering can phone."

Stay tuned for all the latest that "sprouts up!"

Our Garden, Part 1

2009-04-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

When we first looked at living in our house here, we noticed there was a large, bordered area in the back yard that looked like it once was a garden, and we said we'd like to try to have one once we moved in. Well, although we know nothing about gardening, we decided last week we'd go ahead and try it.

The first major task was to get out all the grass that's been growing there for who knows how long. Aron had to do all the hard work with that part, even though Nathan tried to help.

The next big task was to put all that dirt and grass somewhere else. All the kids got their "hands dirty" scooping up clumps of grass and weeds.

Even though we are clueless about gardening, it's already turned into a great family project. We shall see how "fruitful" it becomes.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

Our Easter Weekend started out with an awesome event that our church put on for the community...an Easter Egg Hunt. We got to the church, played a few games, the kids got their face painted, and then it was time to hunt for eggs. The boys had fun running around in the field and both filled their baskets in no time at all.

Anna "hunted" for eggs too.
This was an awesome event that our church put on for the community to enjoy for free. We love being a part of Discovery Church.

After our morning fun, we headed home, rested for the afternoon, and then after baths dyed eggs. The boys loved watching the water turn colors.

Finally, to end the evening, we made "Resurrection Cookies." This is the first time we made these as a family, and I think it was really special. They're basically meringue cookies, but with each ingredient you add, you relate it to what Jesus did for us on the cross and the meaning of Easter. First, each child took a turn crushing pecans, and we read about how Jesus was beaten and crushed for our sins.

Then, we put some vinegar in a bowl and talked about how the soldiers gave Jesus vinegar to drink while He was on the cross. We let them smell the vinegar to see how "yucky" that would be.
Next, they watched as I added egg whites to the vinegar. We talked about how eggs represent life and that Jesus died so that we could have life forever.
Next, we added salt which represented the salty tears of Jesus' followers and the bitterness of our sin and then added sugar to explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. And then came the mixing.
We watched the slimy mess transform into pure white sweetness, which is like what Jesus does with our sins when we accept His sacrifice for our sins. We added the pecans, put mounds of the gooey stuff onto a cookie sheet and placed them in the oven overnight. In the morning, our cookies were ready. The cool thing is that when you bite into one, they're hollow inside....just like the tomb was! Thank You Lord!

The kids really seemed to enjoy their Easter this year. I hope that we were able to make it meaningful for them. If you've never made Resurrection cookies, you should try it with your family next year!

Free Fun

2009-04-04T13:38:00.001-07:00

Those of you who know me know that I love to save money. So when I learned last night that Home Depot has a free kids workshop every 1st Saturday of the month, I knew where we'd be headed today. Since Aron had to work this afternoon, he got ready for work a little early so I wouldn't have to take the kids by myself...isn't he awesome, by the way?! Anyway, today was building a birdhouse, and even though it's supposed to be for ages 5-12, everyone got to make their own. Nathan, Caleb, and Anna (Aron and I too) had a great time hammering nails and screwing in screws. The birdhouses are already up at home (they attach to a window with suction cups so if/when a little birdie decides to build a nest in it, you can see it from inside your house...how cool is that?!) and the boys have been coming up with clever ways to lure a bird inside. So far, to no avail, but it's cute to listen to their ideas.

Gotta love "the tongue of concentration" :)

Notice the cute Home Depot aprons (the words are in Spanish, but who cares...they're free!) The kids were given 2 more projects to take home to build (a race car track and a fire engine to hold crayons or pencils) from previous month's "leftovers." Every time they come back, they get a new pin to put on their apron to show all the different things they build. Next 1st Saturday, you should go check it out! The workshop lady told me that Lowe's does the same thing every 2nd Saturday (but our church does a service project then, so we'll be skipping those) so you could potentially have some pretty fun, free weekend plans ready-made for you!

Oops wrong blog

2009-03-31T07:20:00.000-07:00

Hey this is Aron, I was trying to post on my blog, but Cessie has her blog set to automatically log in under her name...I am glad you are following this Blog...Cessie is turning into a techie geek, so keep commenting that is her favorite.

I love you Cess....hugs and kisses

Why I Love Homeschooling, Part 2

2009-03-27T07:07:00.001-07:00

No words necessary!

New Allergies

2009-03-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like Nathan has developed an allergy that, frankly, I'm ok with. He's allergic to girls! At least that's what he told me after we had set-up at church last night. Our church here, Discovery Church, meets in a Boys and Girls club, and so we have to set it up every week and tear it down after Sunday so the building can be used during the week. Well, the kids love going because they basically run around and play with the other kids whose parents show up to set up. Last night, as we were leaving, Nathan made the announcement that he's allergic to girls. I'm not sure where he came up with the idea, but it had something to do with not wanting the girls who were there to chase him anymore! Then today, as we were eating lunch at home, he said something about how boys aren't cute, they're handsome. And I told him that someday, girls are going to call him cute and then Aron added that they'll want to kiss him, to which he quickly replied, "That's disgusting!" Too funny! I know he'll change his mind one of these days, but as far as I'm concerned, this allergy can last for many years to come!

A New Appreciation for the Sun

2009-03-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Being originally from Ohio, when I first moved to Florida, it was difficult adjusting to all the sun. I've so often thought how funny it was that I never really wanted to go to the beach and did not hang out "outside" all that often when I lived there. But after now living in North Carolina for all of 1 1/2 months, I have a whole new appreciation for the sun! The whole time we've lived here, there have been only a handful of nice days. This past week, it rained for pretty much 5 days straight! So when the weather has been as nice as it's been yesterday and today, I have found myself soaking in the rays. I have spent the last two afternoons out in my yard, pulling weeds (which I never thought could be so fun, even though I could hardly walk afterwards...dang pregnancy pains!), sitting on a chair in the sun reading a book, and just enjoying the warmth. I don't think I've become a sunbather yet, and I'm sure once the real heat hits this summer I'll be laughing about this, but I have to say, it's been great. Totally bummed that it's going to be cold again this weekend. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted!

A Day at the Park

2009-03-19T06:18:00.000-07:00

Enjoy! We did!

Trip to the Beach!

2009-03-13T06:29:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day, so we decided to head to the beach. Now, apparently you can get to the beach in about 1 hour or so from where we live. But just any old beach was not good enough for my adventure-seeking husband. He figured that if we were going to drive, we might as drive as far as possible to get the the furthest point we could in a day. So to the Outer Banks we went. It was a really long drive, but well worth it. We visited the Bodie Lighthouse, pictured above.
Then we drove across the street and drove onto the beach. It was awesome! The weather was warm enough to be without jackets and barefoot in the sand. But the water was freezing! We packed a picnic lunch and the kids had a blast playing in the sand. The beach there had sand dunes, so we all had fun climbing "the mountains" as the kids called them.

After we played for awhile, we headed out to Cape Hatteras to view the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. It's the largest brick lighthouse in the world. It was really cool.And then Aron found out we could actually drive out onto Cape Hatteras. The waves there were crazy! It was like two opposite currents were converging and they were crashing against each other. It was truly awesome to see. Of course, my hubby wanted a picture with his truck that he drove out onto Cape Hatteras. He loves that thing! It was a long, wonderful day with the family.

Priceless!

2009-03-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

We just put the kids to bed, and just like every night, we gather on Nathan's bed (his is the biggest of the bunch) and pray together. Everybody takes a turn, including Anna. Well, she's gotten lazy at praying lately, just saying "Je-jah jane, amen" (translation: In Jesus' Name, Amen) and we mostly let her get away with it, a: because she's only 2 and b: because it's so cute! Well, tonight I prompted her, after she just said the Jesus' Name part, with "Who do you want to pray for?" so she started a list, and it was priceless! I don't remember everyone who was part of the prayer tonight, but it definitely included Dora, Dog, Elmo, "udder brudder and udder brudder", Daddy, and Mommy. Love that little girl!

Why I Love Homeschooling

2009-03-05T09:54:00.001-08:00

Homeschooling is what Aron and I had decided a long time ago we'd like to do for our children's education. But last year, with our financial needs, God made it clear that it was my turn to use my degree to help our family, so I went back to teaching and Nathan went to Kindergarten at my school. But now that we're here in North Carolina, it's back to the original plan. And I'm absolutely loving it! It's so awesome to be able to be the one seeing my children learn new things and to find their individual strengths and work with their weaknesses. It's also awesome to have the flexibility to do school at whatever time of the day we need to, for however long is needed for that day, etc. My children seem to be loving it too. Anna, who's only 2, does school with us every day. She wants to be right at the table for our daily Bible lesson, she's memorizing scripture in her cute little way, and hanging out with her brothers, reading, coloring, and all kinds of stuff. Caleb is focusing on letters and numbers, and Nathan is continuing to improve his reading and is excelling in math. And I get to be the one enjoying all this with them. It's truly a blessing!

SNOW!!!!!

2009-03-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

Well, it finally happened....SNOW!!!! The kids have been praying for it ever since we moved here, since it's been cold the whole time and the weather people have "predicted" it at least twice. Thank you God that You came through for the Rice boys! They had a blast this morning, playing in the scattering of snow that actually stayed on the ground. You'd think it was inches with how excited they were. Even Luke the dog liked it. Here are some pictures to chronicle the momentual event:
Then just a few minutes ago, it started really snowing....big flurries! I wish I could get a better picture, but it's actually covering the ground and it looks so beautiful falling from the sky. Here's the best I could do:

Field Trip to Raliegh

2009-03-02T05:15:00.000-08:00

One thing I'm loving about homeschooling is that you can be so flexible with your day. As a "regular" teacher, you're bound by the schedule of the school and of course, the fact that you have a lot of kids to teach in one day versus two.

We decided, since it was a nice day, and Aron's still home, that we'd take a field trip to Raliegh to see our new capital. The drive was longer than we anticipated, and our "plans", last minute that they were, didn't quite work out, but we had a nice time anyway. We spent most of our time at a place called Oak View. We were pretty much the only people there, so we had the run of the place. We learned about how a cotton farm is run, and got to see what the cotton plants look like, from seed to final product. The kids even had a turn spinning a "cotton gin" to separate the plant from the cotton. We really enjoyed ourselves, taking our time wandering around the place.

We found the downtown area and were able to get a nice view of the capital building.

All in all, it was a fun day. We'll definitely be taking more field trips this school year!

Too funny!

2009-03-02T05:12:00.000-08:00

So the other night, we were all sitting on the couch, Aron and I watching Jeopardy before putting the kids to bed, when the baby started moving all over the place. I told the kids to come feel, but of course, as usual, as soon as anyone else puts their hand on my belly, the baby stops moving. I told them that maybe they could sing the baby a song and then it would start moving again. So the three of them broke out in their best rendition of what else, the ABC's! Too funny! But it gets cuter. Nathan then asks if the baby can hear them talking, and I said yes. Well, I guess he really wanted the baby to hear him, so he asks me, "Mommy, can you open your mouth so I can talk in there so the baby can hear me better?" Aron and I busted out laughing. The things kids think!

I LOVE a good deal!

2009-02-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

So if you noticed in my profile, one of the things I love doing is finding ways to save money. One of the ways that I've been able to do that is by finding how other people are doing the same thing, and I usually figure it out by going to this great website: www.moneysavingmom.com. I also clip coupons, print ones off the internet, and look for good sales.

Well, Aron had an interview "in town" today (it's so funny that I can say that now that I live in a tiny town) so I finished up school with the kids early so we could all go together. We dropped him off at TMobile for his interview and headed across the street to KMart. They're having double coupons this week, doubling any coupon with an up to $2 value, and I was able to get lots of goodies. Here's what I bought: a large can of Lysol ($1), Jergens lotion($1), L'Oreal Kids Shampoo($.49), Spot Shot carpet cleaner($.19), Flinstones Vitamins($4.49), Act Restoring mouthwash($.49), and Celestial Seasonings tea($.99)....grand total after coupons: $10 and change! Pretty good I thought.

Then, Aron's interview was done, so we picked him up and headed to Quizno's to get a free sub for me to eat for lunch (found out about that at the previously mentioned website; go check it out!) and headed to Kroger's as our last stop before home. Here's where I think I did really well: 5 pounds of ground turkey($5), 2 pounds of ground turkey italian sausage($2), 1 pound of pork sausage($1), a can of Manwich sauce($1.07), a bag of pretzels,($1) 2 4-packs of Cottonelle(FREE), 1 pack of diapers($3.99), and a bottle of water($.25)....grand total after coupons: $14.41! Wow! We try to use ground turkey instead of ground beef since it's a lot healthier, so this was awesome! And diapers for only $3.99?! What a great shopping day!

Can you say "COLD?"

2009-02-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I have to say that I'm not a big fan of sweating half the year in Florida; however, this North Carolina cold is something! We're attempting to get used to it and I know I'll miss it when we're boiling this summer. The boys have learned how to handle it first thing in the morning: sitting or laying over the vents! Love it!

Friday Pizza Night

2009-02-21T05:38:00.000-08:00

We've decided to start a new tradition in our new home here in North Carolina....Friday Pizza Night! Back in Florida, where we were spoiled rotten by Aron's mom (she has allowed us a date night every weekend since before Anna was born...she's amazing!), Aron and I had our Friday nights to ourselves. Now that we're here, we have to be like everyone else and actually do something with our kids on Friday nights! Not that that's a bad thing, because we have some really awesome kids! Anyway, we decided we'd do some variation of pizza every Friday night for several reasons: kids love it (and us too!), it's easy to make (and cheap!), and just plain yummy! I even bought the kids soda and allowed them to drink it with their pizza for the first time ever! They've had sips of soda before, but never a whole cup of it (they've never really liked all the "bubbles" anyway, which made me happy). In the picture, they're all saying "SODA!" instead of "CHEESE".

After we made and ate our own pizzas, we had ice cream sundaes, got in our jammies, and played "Yahtzee" together. Nathan and Daddy vs. Caleb and Mommy (Anna just colored on one of the old score sheets). Caleb quickly gave up on me and went off to play something else, but Nathan stuck in there (he was really enjoying himself) and he and Daddy won!

I have to say, it was a really fun evening. After the kids went to bed, Aron and I played Scrabble, and he beat me at that too! Bummer!

First of many posts to come!

2009-02-21T04:48:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official! I've entered the world of blogging. I've loved keeping up with friends and family by reading their blogs, so since we now live in NC, I've decided this is the best way to keep everyone informed with our life here and a way for me to have some "creative" release every once in awhile.

I asked for some ideas on my Facebook page for some names for my blog, since "Cessie's Blog" is just too boring....so far, the winner is "A Blog of Rice" by my friends Shana and Aliena....thanks girls! If a "better" name should come to me in the middle of the night, or some crazy thing, I'll let you know. Now I just have to figure out how to put my new title on here!

I look forward to this new "adventure". I have pics I already want to post, but can't find that darn cord to plug into my camera! It's probably still in Florida!