30 Years!

On August 2, Greg and I celebrated our 30th year of marriage.  It seems so hard to believe!  God has taken us on quite a journey and continues to do so.  Sometimes He has taken us places I wasn't too excited about.  But since He is in total control of every situation, we have learned some very valuable lessons.  We learned some of those lessons easily, some lessons we failed and had to re-take them. Some we are still working on.

The blessings He has given us are truly amazing.  With each act of obedience, He has given us peace. Because of our very young age when we got married, we had an enormous task of maturing to do.  Our expectations of marriage were unrealistic, depending on each other for needs that only the Father could fulfill. As He grew us, we learned to lean on Him and not that of ourselves and our "own understanding". I learned being a submissive wife was more than an action, but that it came from the heart. Greg learned how to speak my "love language" and I learned to speak his.  I learned how important it is to give my husband respect and he learned the importance of not only keeping promises, but the importance of giving a promise.

We decided to celebrate our anniversary by going on a cruise to Alaska....our kids kind of pushed us into it.  Thanks, kids!  It was so fun to spend a week away from everything and just enjoy each other.  I'm so blessed that I can truly say that my husband is my best friend! It was an experience neither one of us will forget. 

Of course we just kept telling each other the whole time that we wished we could do it again with the kids! :)

 I am looking forward to where God will lead us next, for the journey is not over.  I pray we will weather the storms that come our way, trusting Him and allowing Him to discipline us and grow us. May we keep our eyes on Him!

Conversations with Ryan

T

Today when I was giving Ryan a haircut, he was talking about what "style" he wanted his hair.  :) I responded that it's either long or short.  That started the topic of discussion on his "little" ear. (Ryan has a birth defect called microtia..."little ear") He likes his hair a little long, so that his ear is not the first thing people notice.  He told me that only 3 people noticed (at least that said anything) at R.A. camp.  One that he told me about was hilarious. --He had been in the pool and was standing in line again for the slide, wet hair plastered to his head.  A "kid" he didn't know said, "Dude, when you jumped in the pool, your ear folded up." Later the same "kid" asked if it did that often.  Ryan responded, "Pretty much."  We were talking about how embarrassed the boy would have been if he'd known it was a birth defect. I thought he showed great maturity by just playing along.  He says it doesn't bother him when kids ask about his ear.  He just says, "I was born with a little ear."  When we talk about the surgery he could have to make it "big" he says it's convenient to have one little ear sometimes.  He had no problem going to sleep at camp even when all the boys were talking.  He just laid his head with his big ear on the pillow.  Problem solved. ;)

First Day of School 2010

Today marks my 12th year of homeschooling! Jamie was in in 7th, Robin-5th, Kimberly-1st and Jonathan-PreK and Kaitlin was 2. 

First day of school 1997

Now Jamie is 25, starting her 4th year of teaching. Robin has graduated from college and working as a graphic designer. Kimberly is beginning her Sophomore year in college, getting her degree in Math Education. Jonathan is a Senior and Kaitlin is a Sophomore in high school. Ryan, last but not least, is the last one at home homeschooling. He was excited about the first day of school and day one was a success. We pray the year will continue in the same manner of great attitudes and a desire to learn! :) We will be partnering up with another homeschool family. Two days a week, Ryan will school with them and two days a week, Gunter will school with us. We have done this for 3 years and the boys love it. This gives the moms an opportunity to work part-time, keeps us on a schedule, and the boys will enjoy doing History, Science and Language together (and of course, "recess").

Ryan-nine years old!

Mom is ready with laptop, lesson plans and my CUP OF COFFEE!

Our visitor in the classroom (Chloe is Robin's dog).

Jackson=Two Years Old

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Baseball Season is Over

Both boys played baseball this spring.  Ryan played his first time in the Little League Minors (more like REAL baseball than Tball or machine pitch) and Jonathan (aka Skeeter in sports) played on the  high school Varsity team...Go Tigers.  I was a bad mom and never got a picture, except for the ones he had taken at school.  Dad was assistant coach for Ryan's team, but still missed a few games when it came down to choosing an away game of Jonathan's.  Home games he just rushed over to the school as soon as Ryan's was over.

Jonathan played center field and made some really great catches.  Ryan played second base most of the time, pitched a few times and played center field the last game.  He made a great catch while there and one of Jonathan's teammates who was umping in outfield called Ryan, "little Skeeter". 

I kept stats this season and now I really want to get the "Baseball Scrap Book" w/score sheets project done!  My friend and sister-in-law started designing one and we just haven't had the start up funds to get it all going.  Now that I've kept score all season for both boys I want to tweak the score sheet a little.  Maybe we'll have something for next season.  Could be a new business opportunity...who knows? :) 

Jonathan's Pride and Joy

After weeks of searching the internet and used car dealerships, Jonathan and Dad finally found a sweet deal...a 2004 Audi.  It has been in an accident, but after looking at pictures and carefully checking out the engine, they decided it was a great deal.  After they took it on a test drive, they told the owner of the small dealership that they would call him on Monday.  When Dad took Mom to see it Saturday afternoon the owner was in the lot even though they were closed.  He let us look at the car again and put a down payment to hold it until Monday.   Unbeknown to Jonathan, we picked it up Monday and had it waiting in the driveway for him when he got home Monday evening.  He was totally surprised and told Dad that he had thrown him a "curve ball".  He couldn't quit smiling.  Even though it is Dad's car now, Jonathan plans to get a job so it will be truly his car someday.  His big sisters are waiting and watching closely to see how all that turns out. :)

Wow! What a difference!

 




before...
(towel dried and messy before the cut-
scroll to previous blog to see the real before)

after....

Should make it a lot cooler

under his football helmet!

An Attempt

After watching a video my sister-in-law sent me Food, Inc. ,I'm thinking we need to plant some more and get a cow! I made a compost bin today with chicken wire and planted a few more onions in the center of the mini-garden where I hadn't planted anything yet.  Will need to till up more dirt and make a place for some cucumber seeds (organic ones!)  Maybe I'll save some seeds and plant them next year or will I get sued? (*see film for explanation...haha)

  

Tomatoes and Green Pepper

   

Chives

Onions

Squash

Green Beans

Mini-Garden

   

Easter Sunday

Each year like many families, we take pictures on Easter. This year it seemed a bit odd to only have 3 kids in pictures!  Everyone is growing up!  Time really does have a way of seeming to fly.  Reminds me to try to treasure each day and not wish "this week would end", but live each day, making memories along the way. 

  

We even had an Easter egg hunt with the cousins! We had to come up with something to get the big kids involved so that the 5 year old cousin wouldn't have to hunt alone. ;)

Conversations with Ryan

We have been studying bones in Health. Ryan is starting to add these new words to his vocabulary. The week before Easter when we were shopping for shoes, Ryan tried on a pair of shoes. He told me, "The tongue of this shoe is bothering my metatarsals." A few days later his first molar was getting loose, he commented that his tooth was making his "masseter sore".

Grammy's Treasure

The other day my daughter was telling me a story about her two year old. As her husband was going to the car to go to work, carrying Jackson, his laptop, diaper bag, and cookies for Jackson's birthday party at school, he noticed a car had parked too close to him to get in on the carseat side. Like many of us, the word that came out of his mouth, ("crap" in this case) was not one you'd want your two year old repeating. He glanced at Jackson, hoping he hadn't noticed. As he got everything in the car and finally clicked the seatbelt onto Jackson, Jackson said, "crap". So much for not noticing! He didn't react and just hoped he'd forget that word. That evening he was telling my daughter what had happened as Jackson stood at the refrigerator playing with his magnetic letters. She slapped his arm, playfully as they laughed about it. Jackson looked over at them and said, "No hitting, Mommy." Ooops again! Then he casually walked over to her and hit her on the leg and then hit his dad and walked off.

We all had a good laugh at this story, but I was reminded again how important it is to set good examples for our kids. Sure, it's so obvious when they are two and repeat everything we say and do. How often do we see other maybe more hidden traits or characteristics that have been because of the examples we have set? Do they complain? Do they procrastinate? Do they show love and respect to older people? Sure we try to teach them with all the right words, but what examples are we SHOWING them? If we are not forgiving, if we hold a grudge, how can we expect our children to forgive each other or their friends when evil is done towards them? The list goes on and on. Praying that today I will be a godly example to my children, so they can see Him and not my failures!

Just for Kicks

My son. He decided since he didn't actually get to go anywhere for spring break that he'd have a little fun on facebook anyway (with the help of some software).










New Zealand













African Savanna















Some tropical place
to scuba dive.










Swiss Alps

















Phillies game