My Family

My Family
Summer 2015

Friday, December 30, 2011

The LEGS HAVE ARRIVED!!!

Yep,
TODAY IS THE DAY!
Dec. 30, 2011----the much awaited package arrived via UPS!
...and here are the pics



yes he insisted on opening it himself...and yes that is a knife...and yes he was supervised...=)

 Jack and Hannah are here for a few days visiting and got to be part of the excitement of the big moment
 


He didn't know what was in the package as he was opening it...and never figured it out till it was open.













 and off he goes---the walker useage lasted a grand total of about 5 minutes....then he gave up on it and wanted to walk on his own.  That included going out to the garage and up and down about 5 steps.  He had them on a total of 30 minutes today just because they came late in the day and we want to pay closer attention to the wearing and any issues that may pop up.  So will start on a more regular schedule tomorrow.


 His favorite part was being able to stomp on Isaac's feet with his new feet and listening to Isaac yelp.  Then when Isaac tried stepping on Lucas's feet he just looked at Isaac and laughed cuz he couldn't feel any of it.  bwahahaha....


 forget the walker....he took his first steps toward his big brother Isaac...

 And Isaac was SOOOOO proud of him...


He wanted to show Isaac how much taller he was now...


and a big kiss between sibs.


Then he insisted on getting on his bike outside.  I think he quickly realized that was going to take a little more coordination than "first day" stuff, so we will have to work on that one.


and once again...just to top off the day...all the firemen are lined up and ready for action (he took these)




A BIG day for the boy.  Now we begin a regular wearing schedule with 30 minute breaks throughout the day.  We need to watch for any areas of redness or irritation so that we can take care of any problems so he doesn't get sore or blisters, etc.  A great day here at our house and many adventures to come.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Focus on What God Can Do Through You

I read a devotional today from Purpose Driven Life and it spoke to me...it is here in it's entirty (it's not long if you want to read it):

http://purposedriven.com/blogs/dailyhope/index.html?contentid=9755

I am really good at beating myself up about not doing things well enough or at all (ie house cleaning, enough Quiet Time with the Lord, proper discipline with my kids, letting homeschooling matters slide, etc. etc) The list goes on.  I have a long list of "shoulds" in my head and I struggle with them.

They can burden me and take me down to places I don't like to be.  I get ornry and then sometimes so angry at myself that I could spit.

But, listen to that cycle...
I don't do something
I think about the fact I haven't done it
I lay a good "should" on top of it
Then I get mad
And then sometimes depressed that I can't get it all done

Does that help?

Here's the message I heard today in this devotion...


as we’re beating discipline into our thoughts and behavior, we too often slip into beating ourselves up over the inability to do the things we ought to do (Romans 7:16–25).
Here’s the thing: Becoming like Jesus is difficult enough without this “Try harder!” mentality we force upon ourselves. It sucks us into a cycle of “I must do better,” “I ought to pray more,” and “I should be spiritually more mature by now.” We’re left feeling defeated, and that pushes us further into our cycle of trying harder to measure up to God’s standards.
But can you see that this keeps us focused on ourselves and on the things we can’t do?
God wants us focused on the things he can do through us. He wants us to know that, having begun a good work in us, he “will carry it on to completion” until we see Jesus face-to-face (Philippians 1:6 NIV).

There is such relief when I actually "listen" to His word.
It is not about ME!!!  Shocker...
GOD wants me to focus on Him and What HE Can Do!!!
ooooooooooohhhhhh
I get it!
It's all about HIM!  He wants to show His Power and Carry HIS purposes on to Completion...

Even in the mundane--ie laundry, scrubbing floors, homeschool curriculum planning, meal planning, or whatever the task we have to do in our daily "work".  He wants to show His Power and Glory and what HE can do in it.

What a relief!
Yes, I've heard this message before in many forms, but I really needed it today and God plopped it right in my lap so I just had to share what an Awesome God He is!

Time to "get busy" and stop feeling defeated so that HE can show what He can Do!
whew! what a relief!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

"Pinnie the Who"

Peter read some Winnie the Pooh to Lucas the other night.
And he got the Horton Hears a Who movie for Christmas.

Tonight we were watching the movie and Lucas kept asking where
"Pinnie the Who" was.

this just makes me chuckle.
had to share cuz I couldn't get him to say "Horton" at all, he just kept referring to the elephant as
"Pinnie the Who"--a hybrid of Winnie the Pooh and Horton Hears a Who I guess.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

"For the first time in Years it feels like Christmas Again"...(isaac)

Isaac put this on facebook today--Christmas Day 2011--

"For the first time in Years it feels like Christmas Again"

I Love that!
I was having my own weepy moments this year because we are apart from family and friends.  We are completely alone--just the 4 of us miles from family.  And with Lucas in our family this year, I'm just really missing being with family.  Of course Linda and Paul sent Lucas a sweet book with them reading "The Night Before Christmas" to him.  It is so sweet and he loves it.

But, we had a wonderful night last night.  And today has been very relaxed and family centered.  I'm glad my big boy has had such a wonderful Christmas.  That makes MY Christmas special.

Here's a bit of the saga as we celebrated our Saviors birth together as a family....

Annabelle and Lucas before Christmas exchanging gifts.  Lucas likes to "share" Annabelle with Isaac...=)




 She gave him a new Bow Tie...he loves it!



Hmmm there is a theme here...Isaac got a belt from Annabelle's dad AND Peter....do ya think both of them recognized a need?




 Buddy the crazy dog felt a need to help everyone open gifts this year....


 The traditional popcorn balls...




 Lucas gave me a spoon rest for my kitchen so I can keep my kitchen clean.  Peter said he was insistent on buying it for me for that reason...hmmm not sure a spoon rest is enough to help me keep my kitchen clean, but it will help a little I suppose...=)  LOVE that boy.



Lucas gave his gifts to Peter and Isaac before we left for church last night, because he gave them both "handsome"shirts, and "handsome" pants, and Isaac got "handsome" shoes too.  I of course had to wear a "pretty" dress.  He really single-handedly got everyone to get all dressed up. Thank you Lucas.

  Lucas was extatic to wear his own new black dress pants, black shirt and a tie.

 I've never seen a young boy so excited to get dressy clothes...


We headed off to Passion City Church where we had a wonderful yet simple message from Louie, amazing worship through old faithful Christmas songs and a few newer ones too, snow even fell from the ceiling, candle light and Silent Night (which was complete with Lucas belting out the words as loudly as he could-adorable).  And Louie and Shelley gave away a PUPPY to a "lucky" child...lol...that was a sweet funny moment...(it was NOT us!!)  

We came home to gifts under the tree and an EXTREMELY giddy boy (and teenager too).

Lucas just screamed!

As he opened his gifts he got so excited!  Everything you would imagine from a young child.  Bouncing around, laughing, screaming... it was so much fun to watch.  I think Isaac even had fun watching him too.  We all had so much joy watching his excitetment.

(of course this all comes after our "Christmas" in WI with the other side of the family and the toys he has already been playing with for a month)...this boy is well loved.


 I have to say, I got one of my favorite gifts of all time last night.  Isaac took a photo while he and I went on a walk alone in China.  It is of a cool old building.  It really reflects his style in photography and it is a sweet memory of our time together.  It's 11x13 and framed in a beautiful dark wood frame.  I absolutely LOVE it!  and I love my boy!




 Isaac got a bottle of dollar bills from our Cz friends....such a quandary for a teenage boy...to break or not to break that is the question..."How much money is even in there?" ... "If I break it I won't have it anymore and there is the sentimental value"...."I think I will wait for a money emergency, then break it"....

Legos for Lucas

 just love this pic of my man...
 and my big boy

Lucas and Isaac got matching Nerf Guns....and the war began...




 Isaac's favorite beverage...a box of Arizona tea....
 Since Peter drinks smoothies everyday and has broken my blender twice... so now he has his OWN!
 A gift from China for Isaac...it's called a "chop" and it is like a stamp made out of stone.  It comes with ink and he can use it as a type of signature.  It's very traditional and feeds the "artist" in him.

 Lucas just giddy with excitement as he prepares to open that BIG GOLD BOX!!!
 A Playmobil Hospital from his aunts and uncles...
 there was so much bouncing and jumping around I couldn't really take a picture till he calmed down...
 me n my honey....
my handsome boys...



 the aftermath...

 and the hospital construction begins...
 and Isaac pigs out on cheese fondue...
 the cat jumps into an available box by the christmas tree and takes up residence...

Then we had to try to get the boys to sleep because at our house Santa comes with just one or two special gifts on Christmas morning.  Lucas and Isaac slept together--
not sure if that was a good idea or not
but they did eventually go to sleep.

At 8 a.m. we had a pound on our bedroom door, and there stood Isaac with Lucas in his arms saying "You gotta git up you gotta git up, It's Chrstmas morning"
(words from an old Rich Mullens Christmas tune)



 CHRISTMAS MORNING>...

 "see I told ya...it's a huge firetruck"...(all 36" of it...)

Lucas had his heart set on a BIG firetruck from Santa.  
We kept telling him we just didn't know if Santa would bring it for sure...
but then he saw the package under the tree.
 I seriously thought the child was going to have a heart attack....(it's 36" long).




 an Amazon Kindle for Isaac (thanks to Santa and help from a relative...=)


 aww isn't he handsome???


the hospital construction continued into the morning...

 a view from the top....they're almost done...
 and Down goes the teenager...

and just to top off the day...a little firetruck story (of course)


A few days ago, Lucas insisted on stopping by our favorite firestation and he got to see his favorite firetruck...Engine 21 again.  He had some questions for them about their tools, etc.  The fireman that brought Engine 21 to our house a few weeks ago for a visit was there...Fireman Andy.  He told Lucas that he was working on Christmas Day.  So Lucas decided then and there that we would come to visit him on Christmas Day.
SO....that was our plan.  We got ready to go.  I baked some bread to take along.  

and just as we were getting ready to leave....
 A FIRETRUCK SHOWED UP across the street with lights and everything. 
 It was FIREMAN ANDY.....
unfortuanately our neighbor across the street had reason to call them (we don't know details but it appeared to be a medical emergency).  Lucas was SOO excited and he yelled out the window "Fireman Andy!!"...he waved politely, but Andy had to stay on task of course.  They did not have to take anyone away so that is good, but we did pray for everyone involved and it appears they are ok.  
Of course I would never wish ill on anyone, but my goodness could Christmas get any better for Lucas???


A little while later, after we ate dinner...we went to the firestation to visit...(Andy is on the right of Lucas) Lucas brought along his new firetruck and showed it to the firemen...


We also watched Elf and It's a Wonderful Life while a fire burned brightly in the fireplace.  And NOW....Football....Lucas is so excited for Peter to be able to watch football today.  GO PACKERS!!!!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!