A sweet poem

My very dear friend, who is blessed with 4 beautiful children, put this on her site the other day. It really rang true to me. There is nothing that we have in this world that we take with us to the other side. All the riches we gather during this lifetime are really meaningless. Oh, there isn't anything wrong with gathering riches, it's what you do with the riches God has blessed you with. But ultimately, the only true purpose is to further His kingdom, and to provide us with the necessities of life. Unfortunately, all too often, I find things I believe are necessities that truly are not. Recently, I have been quite convicted of the things I buy simply because they are a good deal or because I "believe" my kids need it. They don't, but far too often I find myself conforming to the world and trying to give my kids everything I can and trying to "keep up" with the things their peers have. Truly, the only thing they need in life is a real relationship with Jesus Christ. And if they trust Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, then in a sense, I will be taking them to heaven with me. :)


"I Would Gather Children"

Some would gather money
Along the path of life,
Some would gather roses
And rest from worldy strife.

But I would gather children
From among the thorns of sin,
I would seek a golden curl,
And a freckled toothless grin.

For money can not enter,
In that land of endless day,
And roses that are gathered,
Soon will wilt along the way.

But oh, the laughing children,
As I cross the sunset sea,
And the gates swing wide to heaven,
I can take them in with me.



Going right along with me theme... we planted seeds this morning. I reminded the kids that God plants the seeds. He uses some to plant, some to water and some to harvest. ... Here we are planting some tomato seeds:






Today, we spent the morning working on the Letter E. Off and on I have been trying to work on letter recognition; but my attempts have been quite fleeting and not regular enough for them to grasp the concept. We decided to make a book for each letter. Here they are coloring the cover to our Letter E book.

Do you remember the Letter People. My 4 older kids all had the letter people in Kindergarten. I am in the process of making a book for the little ones with the ABC's. I found a wonderful kindergarten teacher online who has the letter people for her kids to see. SHe was a great help to me in getting a picture of each of the letter people.


Here is Ms. E - Exercise Energy





This morning, we decided to make a fun snack. THese funny faces are the result:


Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, so we decided to take the kids scooters to the bike trail. THey loved it. The only problem was that their one leg got tired very quickly.

Giggles

Everytime I watch this, when it gets to Ri... I can't help but laugh right along. THis is SOOO cute! His giggle is ADORABLE!

Elizabeth and Ri are the best of friends; but, Ri tends to be very, very ornery and LOVES to tease. Elizabeth is so excited that she can sing the entire ABC song, so I decided to video her. She just finally mastered it (kind of). Ri isn't too far behind. He loves singing it with his little sister. But..... he just can't seem to help himself...

A few days ago, I shared with you the artistic talent of Erin Michal. I get so excited to see her draw. I truly love what she can do. One year, for mothers day, she drew me a vase with flowers. I still have it framed and on my wall. I treasure it.

Today, Jacob was given a writing assignment witha simple prompt. He came home somewhat discouraged because everyone was getting cool assignments like: "Your trapped overnight in the mall", "Your science experiment has gone totally wrong".. and so on. His assignment? I giggle about it.... "You are a housefly on the wall and you witness 2 siblings fighting". Well, his reaction? "Houseflies are the boringest things ever... and siblings fighting? ..come on!"

Me? I giggled. Lately, Jacob has been having some issues with siblings and we have had several discussions about them. I think the subject is a good one... but he does not! So, he sat and shared with me that even though houseflies were boring, he was going to make this story exciting.......

And here is just the beginning. I couldn't help but burst out laughing. He is so gifted with his writing. One day, we are all convinced, that he will be an author of his own book... no... series! The only problem is, as he has already informed us, someone 60 years ago stole his idea! He had already had his book written in his head; plot and all. Lo and behold, he discovered that there was a book with the exact same plot; right down to the very beginning shot.

But... on with my little man's story.....

To begin, my name is Boz and I am a musca domestica, or a common housefly. I don’t particularly like siblings, I never have. You see I have over 5,000 of them and if I thought I couldn’t get more annoyed at the principal of siblings, I was wrong. It just so happens that the story I am about to tell you proves to anyone the vital importance of a healthy relationship between two brothers, and if you have problems with your brother or sister, you might want to think about solving them, because you definitely don’t want to end up like the twisted family I am about to share with you.
Like I had said earlier, when I was born I already had thousands of siblings. With all of these children and only one mother, I began to feel excluded. I eventually decided to move out of my comfortable middle-class house. I left on my 17th birthday (17 days) to begin the journey of a lifetime (about 35-days for houseflies). I smiled. It had been a long hard way to spend a childhood, but I was finally free. I was ready to see the world, or as much of it as possible for a fly, with 18 days left in my life-expectancy.



Is this a cliff hanger? Yep... he has just begun the story. I am anxious to hear the "rest of the story". I just wanted to give you all a "flavor" for Jacob's mind.

Aunt Betty -- this pictures just for you! The kids love their sweat suits. Ri finally fits in his just perfectly :).





Face your fears.... UGH!!! We went to COSI during break. This is an exhibit to help people face their fears. Check out the spider in the cage. The guy at the display was holding a centipede that was about an inch thick and 7-9 inches long. OOOOOOHHHHH YUCK.



Elizabeth spent a great deal of time "doctoring" at the clinic at COSI. Ri, on the other hand, spent the ENTIRE time rounding up racquet balls and placing them in a wheelbarrel in order to push them down a track made for the balls. He was quite the little scooper, often getting mad at other kids who beat him to the balls. I was constantly going from one end of the kids play area to the other to check on each kid. I found myself standing smack in the middle of the 2, not able to see either one, but knowing I could catch one when they came my way.


Well one of our kids is always saying they are being picked on all the time.... I think they are right... Here is Emily, caught in the act!

Jacob... waiting for customers for his first day of concession stand. The running total of the day: $27.00. It is a rough start, but we are confident that business will pick up once people know the kids are there.





I think our biggest customers were the littles ones... and the kids youth pastor. Here Erin is helping Elizabeth with a ring pop.

I love sharing some of the talents that the kids have. This weekend, Erin picked up a charcoal pencil and began drawing again. She does such an excellent job; I just had to put her on display! She has never taken lessons, just the basic art classes in elementary and middle school. She is learning most of it on her own.

A Walk in the Woods and a surprise pirate visit

Happy Birthday Sam

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY PRECIOUS SON! Wow - it is so hard to believe that 14 years ago, we gave birth to our first son. I remember the smile beaming on Mark's face as he walked into the delivery room holding a football for the son he had longed for. When Sam was born and placed in his layette, right beside him lay that football. It was very funny. He was so little, especially laying next to a football. But, there was something very mightly about our little man.

We had 5 names picked out, not knowing what we would name our son. Of all the names, none seemed appropriate. Mark had always loved the name Samuel, but I had not. The last name I wanted for our son was Sam. But, we had just finished studying the book of Samuel. After reading of the life of Samuel, I fell in love with the name. Mark and I both looked at this little guy and saw him as a Samuel. We pray that he will become a great man of God as Samuel was.

Well, our little guy is becoming a fine young man. He is so tender and sweet, yet all boy. He still loves exploring, only now his explorations tend to weaken my knees. I am no longer beside him, holding his hand so he won't fall or slip off an edge. Ugh, growing up is so hard (on mom). God has given Sam a quick humor and a smile that makes my heart melt. He usually knows when to say something and when to keep quiet, but best of all he is the ability to use his charm when I need it most. He has been given a bright mind and the sense to use it for the right things. He doesn't find it too difficult to make the right choices and is very bothered when he doesn't. He isn't girl crazy, but definitely has a strong interest in a few special young ladies... though they would have no clue. He is quiet and extremely respectful of the ones he has been interested in. Someday, he will make a very special young lady very happy. And one day, as you already know by how much he loves being with these 2 little ones at home... Sam is going to be a dream husband and father!

Well, my young son, we are very honored and humbled that God would give us the privlidge of raising you. You are such a delight and joy. I pray that you will draw neared to the Lord than you have ever known and that His fire will consume your inner most being. You are a true gift.






Switching the subject, we have the joy of watching a friend from church today. This little one shares the same heritage as our little ones. They are only 5 months apart. We hope they will grow up being friends. As we took our walk this morning, she reached over and grabbed Elizabeth's hand.


I couldn't resist taking a picture of them walking down the road. THere is something too sweet about little ones walking innocently holding hands.


Ri was asked to join in on the fun. .....



Check out the joy on his face!

I thought I would take a moment to share my thoughts about Ri. This weekend, I was able to attend my bible study. We spend an hour watching a video in which theauthor of the study delves into the study deeper. It is an hour well worth watching. This Saturday, the speaker was sharing her experience with her son. They had adopted him when he was 4 1/2 years old. She remembered times when she would pick her child up from whereever he had been and the teacher or adult would share with her the "trouble" this child had caused. She would cry and share with them that they were going through the same things at home and she was trying her hardest to help him change. SHe just didn't know what to do. THey were getting him all the help he needed, yet it was frustating and painful. About 6 months went by and a teacher was frustrated with her son. She remembers her back stiffening up when she heard the teacher share, she took a step forward and got in the teachers face and said "give him a chance" (or something to that effect). She walked out shaking with anger and went home and shared it with her husband who responded like this: "It sounds to me that you have become Michaels mommy". I wanted to cry. I wanted to just sit there and praise God because I knew what this speaker was saying.

You see, Ri has become my son. From the deepest part of me, Ri is now my boy. It hadn't been that way before. When he acted out, I responded like a caregiver. When he hurt someone, I was hurting because I didn't know what to do anymore. I was worn out and giving up. But God opened my eyes to my son, to the gift He had chosen to give to me. And now.... if someone were to talk about my son in ways he is undeserving of... look out.... because Mama Bear is by his side. There is something that has clicked with us. SOmething that is deep, something undescribable. Ri is my son, just as much my son as Sam and Jacob. I have given birth to him in a different way. It took much longer and the pain was much more intense... and it may not have been a physical birth, but it is a birth.

I praise God for my son. And I think Ri knows it. Before, I think Ri only looked to me as someone who told him no and corrected him and held him when he got hurt. I wasn't anything else. But now, my son holds me like I am his mommy. He needs me and I believe he wants me. Today, I was holding a little girl in my lap. I ran into a friend and was sitting holding her little girl. Ri yelled "No". Then he came over and started pushing on me and whining for me to put the girl down. He was making it very clear that he did not want me loving on someone elses child. That was for him. I can not tell you how good that felt.

My brother and his family sent Ri and Elizabeth a gift when my parents returned home from visiting them. The kids were so excited that they ripped open the package and discovered a box with "Frosty the snowman" on it. Little did they understand that the contents of the box contained the necessary "ingredients" to make "Frosty"...lacking the snow needed. It was an adorable kit to make a snowman; including a hat, scarf, buttons, "coal" for eyes, a plastic carrot for his nose and black "coal" for his mouth. Too cute. The only problem is that when you are 3 years old and see the picture on the box, it is quite confusing as to why there is no snowman in it. They immediately wanted a snowman built! At the moment, Elizabeth had been whiney and fussy ALL day long, had had no nap and was very insistent. She had been feeling pretty miserable for the past few days due to a cold and what I think was a stomach ache. Well, I looked outside and told them there was no snow left. Actually, there was some snow on the side of our house. I was really hoping they wouldn't see that. Nope... it didn't matter if there was snow or not - they BOTH wanted a snowman. I insisted there wasn't enough snow. But... I then felt guilty. So, I walked outside and checked to see if I could pack it together. Sure enough, I could. So..... I dragged Sam with me. He stood in flip flops and bare hands and just watched. Humph, some help he was! So I spent the next 10 minutes trying desparately to roll a snowball. It certainly wasn't perfect packing snow. I struggled, but managed to roll an OK size ball for the bottom. I struggled with the middle, so I simply made the middle it's head. TA DA... instant Frosty base so the kids could put Frosty together. I made Sam grab one and I grabbed the other (they were both barefoot and in short sleeves). We quickly placed all the pieces where they wanted them. I think Ri put Frosty's right arm in; cracked me up! Anyways, here is the Elizabeth and Ri's snowman (courtesy of Uncle Brent, Aunt AB, Eli and Faith)