Kingdom Carnival

So tonight was the Kingdom Carnival for the kids. We had a blast :) One of my best friends, Marty, (we have been friends since college and she and her husband live here in town and we attend their church right now) did a great teaching tonight about how we are like pumpkins but even more about how God puts a smile on our face and we are to shine it for all to see. Another point was that through our smiling and shining our light for Christ is a form of praising Him and we do NOT want to let the rocks cry out for us!
After the teaching we then went to eat. We had a great chili and dogs night and the BEST cheese cake ever! Cookies for the kids. There were a good 30+ kids in attendance and they gobbled down their dogs and chips faster than I have ever seen. As soon as they were finished they were off and running :) They had a great time. There were velcro walls, big slides, a climbing thing and a bounce house just to name a few oh and face painting. At the end the kids were all gathered around and they played a question game and if the kids got them right they got a prize. They all left with prizes (bubbles and slap bracelets) and bags of candy.
There are many Christians who are adamantly against Halloween in that they do NOT even like the idea of a church having an alternative party for the kids in their church and community. Personally we do not allow our kids to go trick/treating and we do not celebrate the night at all. Although I am against celebrating all the evil that Halloween has become I am not against a church taking the opportunity to reach their community. I do believe that if a church is going to do an alternative to Halloween that they need to share the gospel and stress the importance of worshiping the Lord. Of which was definitely the theme of tonight's events.
I unfortunately did not bring my camera but Whitley did and took lots of fun pictures. Here are a few that contain our kids or us.
Naturally she got us while we were eating~UGH! But that chili sure was good :)
Here the kids were answering questions. They really had a great time and are getting to know the kids at the church. It's hard going from the PK kids where everyone wants to be your best friend to being the new kids in a church and your parents are not the pastors. This whole transition has been hard on all of us. NOT because we think being the PASTORS or being the top leaders is the most important thing but just the change of a new home, new school, new jobs, new church, new friends...new everything. Just been hard. But between last nights dinner get together with the young families of the church and the fun we had there (oh guess I didn't share about that till now). Last night, we as well as 4-5 other families with young children were invited out to one of the couples homes for a BBQ and get together. The town's trick or treating event was held and this gave all the kids an outing. A great way for our family to get to know more people in the church!
Anyway, the transition has been difficult but we are thankful for this time of rest. We do not know for how long this season of rest will last but for now we are enjoying it. It doesn't take the longing for ministry away at all. We are trusting God to open the doors He has prepared for us. Until He does we will rest and wait.

Vacation

Jaron and Izzy settled in for a long journey home to Florida!

Izzy is such an addict to playing fetch and having her ball that she

wanted to play fetch in the van!

Well I am finally able to post. It has been very a very busy few weeks. In fact last week our family was FINALLY able to go on a week long vacation. Through the help of friends and family we were able to head south and bask in the warm Florida sunshine. My kids who all were born in Florida and were very close to their cousins there had not been home to Florida since my sister was married 2 and a half years ago. It may not seem like a long time to you but in that time period my kids have grown and their minds have expanded and forgotten their cousins faces.

We went Sunday and the kids ate lunch with their cousins at my sister's house.

It wasn't planned that they would eat with them but Jen was so kind as to feed

mine as well :)! Cherished memories they will have sitting around that table

laughing and eating mac-n-cheese.

Kamiya, who is now three and Sara had a great time playing together!

The last time we saw Kamiya she was a baby! She was born just weeks

after we moved here to IL 3 years ago.

Unfortunately we have not been as close to Sean's family. Not that we haven't wanted to be, it's just the miles that have separated us are way too many. When you live on a shoe string budget you drive to your destination and not fly. So driving 15 hours south is much faster than driving 24 hours. My parents are blessed to continue to live in the home I grew up in, a large 5 bedroom home. So they always have room for us to come and camp out in one or two of the rooms. Which is such a blessing to us, to not have to pay for a hotel! On our budget camping out on air mattresses is so much cheaper than sleeping in a hotel! That will change soon though, my parents plan to sell the house and move into something smaller, which will be a sad day for our family but a much needed one for my parents. Aiden, Eli and Kristofer best little buddies when they

were younger...they had so much fun playing together this week!!!

So last week we spent the whole time being with my family and spending time with our friends. There were many highlights to the week. One of the best for me was getting to spend the day with my sister Jeanette, my mom and Sara. We took a day to do girl things. i am not sure who had more fun; Sara or my Mom! We went and had pedicures...Sara loved it!! : ) Training her right as my sister would say! Then we went shopping for earrings. Yep my baby girl got her ears pierced, YAY! Her Aunt Nennie (Jeanette) did it for her the day before. Then we went to lunch at Panera! I love Panera!!!

Another highlight of the trip was a planned trip to Tampa to visit my dear friend Michele from An Adoptive Family's Life. Michele and I have been friends since high school but in the past 3 years we have grown closer and have seen each other through some tough times. Sure we may not be in the same state but we talk all the time on Facebook and we pray and fast for each other all the time. But not only did we get to spend time with Michele but also a dear friend of mine who I met through Michele. I have talked about and sent you, my readers, many times to her site...Pastor Deanna Shrodes. I can't tell you how much Sean and I enjoyed spending time with Michele & Marcus (her son), Deanna, and her husband Larry and their daughter Savannah. Our kids chose to spend more time with their Grandparents and who could blame them! We both were so blessed to just sit and talk with them. Larry poured into us in a great way and we are so blessed to have been able to worship at their church later that night! The time spent with them was so short but so cherished!Earlier that week we went and spent time with some other cherished friends, Troy and Ellen French. They were on staff with us at Venice Assembly of God and had been the youth pastors. Our boys, Kristofer and Garrett are the same ages. We love spending time with them! Ellen made sugar cookies and the kids had a ball decorating the cookies.In fact Sara had such a grand time decorating that we had to take a picture of this creation. We call it "Find the Cookies" : )

One of my favorite places in Venice Florida is the South Jetty. The kids really enjoyed being ale to climb on the rocks and Eli spotted a dolphin swimming near the rocks as well. It was beautiful. Was coming out of the water from nose to tail. The kids really loved that. Earlier that week my parents took them to the beach where they were able to find all kinds of shells and sea urchins and even some coral. I have the job of bleaching them now...they stink (coral and sea urchins) but the memories they now have are priceless!

So It's Been a while...

OK so it's been a while since I actually shared what is going on here with our family and with Kristofer and the adventures having an autistic child gives to our family. With good reason I haven't posted everything...actually I haven't posted anything but I will promise...later today or tomorrow. But today I want to share something...my whole life I have dreamed of working in an orphanage or even foster care. It's still is a dream of mine and one day I know God will open those doors for us. One day soon I pray God will give us the means to adopt or foster a child. Until he does though I will continue to pray for the orphans throughout the world and pray God will open that door if it be His will as well.

SO today instead of sharing what is going on here in our home I want to introduce you to my a guest speaker/writer, Rennae de Freitas. She and her husband and 4 boys are missionaries to the Dominican Republic. Please read this and let God touch your heart and if you can at all help please do! Everything and anything you can do will help!
What the Note didn't say...
She ran to me with a little note covered in butterfly stickers and placed it in my hands. "Take this to Julie*. I don’t want her to forget me. "I opened the note knowing that I would have to translate it for Julie. Julie didn’t speak Spanish. Yet even without the benefit of the language she had made a special connection with this little girl. A child who once lived as a slave in a miserable shack before she came to Bethesda Home.

The note read:
To: Julie
From: Alejandra
Julie I love you so much. Thank you for coming to share with us at Bethesda Home. Thank you for the shoes. Julie, I will always remember you. Thank you for coming to share with us. I love you Julie.
Julie & Alejandra Friends Forever

What the note didn't say, but what I know is in her thoughts everyday was this question,
“Will Julie remember me?”

Julie came with a team of women from her church and they spent just one week with the Bethesda Home children. That week was a special time for the children as they tremendously enjoy all the attention and mother love. Now, they ask about the ladies all the time and they cherish the photos that we put on the wall to remember our time together. And every time I visit, they ask me if the ladies remember them.
Bethesda Home is a home for abandoned and at-risk children. Some have mothers who are prostitutes and drug addicts; some have been rescued from domestic abuse and slavery. Sister Ketty began this beautiful rescue in 2004 and along with the partnership of her local church and other ministries; she has been able to rent a house for these children. The house that they currently live in is up for sale.
Last Thursday I sat down with Sister Ketty after she called to tell me to pray about a meeting that she was to have with the lawyers representing the house. The owners are now giving us two months to purchase the house or they will be forced to take it back.
So today we find ourselves in anticipation of a REALLY BIG MIRACLE. The owners are asking $250,000. This is a very large home and the PERFECT location for the home. We really do not want to lose this house.
Please pray for Bethesda home and Sister Ketty as we walk this journey toward our miracle. Ask the Holy Spirit how you can be a part and then ACT in FAITH & OBEDIENCE. You will never regret it. I feel a lot like Alejandra. We were blessed to meet some amazing women on the teams that came to visit but there is that nagging question in the back of my mind.

It's what the note didn't say. After the ladies left,
“Will they remember Bethesda Home?”

PLEASE consider helping us.
You can make a secure online contribution
by clicking this link
http://tiny.cc/BethesdaHome
Please note Project #14261 Class #62 in the comment field.
Or you can send your contribution to:
Assemblies of God World Missions
1445 Boonville Ave
Springfield, MO 65802
Mark your check or money order for project #14261 Bethesda Home Dom. Rep.
*some names have been changed to protect the identity of those involved
************************************
Me again...I know the economy is tough...trust me I know! But if you can help even just a few $$ I know God will multiply it. God is a big God and He owns the cattle on a thousands hills and all He has to do is sell one of those cows. But He is a God who likes to work in and through His people. Pray about what you can do! Rennae and Nelson are doing some great work where God has placed them. My sister-n-law just went on a missions trip where she was able to be with these kids at this orphanage...her life was changed. Please help them save this house!

Better

Well just a quick post, as soon as Sean returns with dinner I am heading over to the church. My plan was to spend all week working on the children's church room of which I must say is really coming together. But since I fell and saw the doc I have basically not done much of anything. I can say my head is no longer pounding and my neck and shoulders are a lot better, still hurt but better. The biggest problem right now is my lower back. I have a nice big bruise on my bum which just proves to me how hard I actually hit. My doctor thought I was going to say that my dog tripped me or something. Nope not this time.
Oh my dog...our dog...Izzy. We believe she is pregnant. Not all that happy about it! Honestly we were planning to get her fixed. Set the appointment and everything it would have been this coming week. But well in Jan she came in heat and we never even knew it until she broke her chain and returned with two male dogs. One big yellow lab and the other a red chow/lab mix. UGH! The next day we had a lot of visitors...a daschund, jack russel, a red nose pit, yellow lab and a golden retriever. Thankfully we realized the uh oh weeks were upon us and kept her inside most of the time. But there were a few times she escaped when the kids were coming in...
SO unless she is really good at having a false pregnancy we will have puppies in March sometime. What we know is Izzy is a border collie/australian shepherd/lab mix so no matter what the puppies will be big and beautiful. She is a beautiful pup herself. She will be a year old on Kristofer's birthday. Yes we know for sure her birthdate she was our neighbors puppy.
She is such a great dog. Hyper but as gentle as she can be. She thinks she is a little lap dog. She likes to aly on my lap with her head nuzzled in my shoulder like she did when she was a baby. She loves to play fetch with mr squeekers and she knows what I am talking about when I say, "wheres squeekers" she will run as fast as possible to find it.
Just an update on Kristofer. He has been attending a group therapy session learning living tasks and social skills twice a week. He loved it so much he cut his hair the other day. Told me he wanted to look like his new pals at therapy. So we buzzed it down. Then today Eli wanted his to be like Kristofer's so out came the buzzers again.
We are looking forward to spring break in two weeks. We were hoping to head home to Florida but those plans got nixed. Now we (the kids and I) are going to go visit our friends in KY. Heading over to see Elaine, Marty and Angie. I wish there was time to see all of our friends in KY but we are unable to. Sean does not get to take any vacation time until May.
Right now I am reading a great book, "Parenting Your Asperger Child" So far its great! I won it from Angela over at Memoirs of a Chaotic Mommy . Thank you Angela!!!
It has a lot of helpful typs on how to teach your child practical skills. It's great! This book and the therapy Kris is going through has been such a blessing to us!

There HERE! Finally!

YAY!!! The last of the puppet friends have finally arrived. WNot only amd I excited but so are the kids. The next two in the puppet collection are a Probiscuis Monkey and a Marine Iguana. I have to say the monkey compared to the orangatang (Jeffery) does not even compare in quality but it is still a very nice puppet. When Eli and Sara met them the first time Eli was laughing so hard..."Oh my goodness, that monkey has a huge nose!" and just laughed and laughed. Which is exactly what I wanted to happen. I plan to use him to express the uniquiness that GOd has given each of us. There are so many possibilities to use him for. The problem I have no name! SO make a comment and give me a name!!!Then we have the marine iguana. He is very cool as well. Jaron picked him out. It was either him or a snake and personally I did not want a snake. Oh I know there were a lot of things I could do with the snake but I just didn't want to go there. Personally I do not like snakes they don't scare me per say but they do freak me out. Again with this guy who is like 3 ft long from head to tail, he needs to be named. Any ideas?? Please let me know! I could use some new names.

When does life slow down?

ANSWER: NEVER

There never seems to be enough time in the day to do what I want to do. Like to day I spent 3 hours trying to figure out this crazy photo software. It's great and it does a lot! I am really excited about it too but 3 hours is a lot of time spending on one photo ya know! It was all good though. Learning is always a good thing. Specially when you plan to use what you are learning to start a business or use it in ministry or even just enhance your talents. Well here take a peek at the picture that took me three well actually almost four hours to complete and its still not exactly what I wanted.

I would like to introduce you to a few new members of our family. The first two are Jeffery the orangatang and Pete the Macaw. They are puppets I will be using in church. We are waiting ont he arrival of two more. When they come in I will post them.

The other animal members that have come to live with us are Pebbles my 4 mo old cockatiel and Jasper a 12 week old ferret. Both have been a blessing to have. The kids love both. Personally I am so happy to once again have a bird. I grew up with parakeets and cockatiels. In fact my first pet was a parakeet named Petey. We thought he was a boy and then my grandmom "Mom" gave me another parakeet named Petey Boy and well my Petey was no longer considered a boy.

Pebbles was giving Kristofer kisses, she was liking his cheek.

Here Jasper had climbed up on my lap and was typing a message to Michele on facebook.

Sara loves Pebbles! Pebbles was playing hide and seek in Sara's hair. It was really cute, she would hide and Sara would say, "where are you?" Pebbles would chirp and peek out. It was so funny.

Besides te change of new pets in the house, being snowed in or sleeted in 4.5 inches of sleet and 4.5 inches of snow on top of that, we have been busy with the kids having snow days and I am still working on the Children's church room. Almost completed...well maybe not, still have a lot to do and its been hard to do with the kids being out of school plus having sick kiddos. Sara has battled strep and a UTI the last couple of weeks. I am praying that Monday all 4 will be able to go back to school. I need a break and I need to finish the stuff at the church. Which is where I am heading in a few minutes. I am hoping to get more pictures tonight and get things really moving and done. As soon as I have it completed I will post before and after pictures. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

What's happening!

ALOT! SO MUCH! TOO MUCH! Man am I tired! Ok so if you are not a friend on facebook.com, seek me out and you can be! But honestly I have been very busy! About a month ago I stated praying about what to do for the new year with children's church. This not only affects my kids but others and I want it to grow and I want it to be fun and exciting. Well one night in the middle of the night when I was supposed to be sleeping I ended up waking up thinking about of all things, the rain forest. So I thought about it some more and prayed some more and then I was cleaning out our desk and found a Children's Ministry Magazine and what did I turn to...the Rain forest VBS page. I know strange but I took it as a confirmation and have ran with it.

So I am posting the pictures of the process of transformation. So far I have spent 64 hours combined of research, drawing, painting and making other items that will be hung up around the room. I have a friend that has helped tear up the puppet stage and is taking it on as her project to put it together. This past week she painted it and soon we will be completing it and will fasten bamboo on to it as well as do more painting. I need to make this very clear - I am not a professional, this is the first time ever doing anything like this and will be honest, I did not do the animals, birds or frogs by hand. I made transparencies of art work from Jan Brett's book "Umbrella" but I did do all the painting, creating colors.

What's up here...

SO I haven't actually been doing much writing here or on my other blog mainly because I just haven't had much to say. Just been thinking alot to myself and haven't wanted to share anything yet. Every year at the beginning of the new year people make resolutions. Well one of mine for as long as I can remember has been, to exercise and lose weight. I would love to be able to say I accomplished that last year! But as you all know last year was a tough year physically with my knee surgeries. In fact today as I was walking home from taking the twins to school I was thinking wow, in just under two weeks it will be a year from when I had the first major knee surgery that basically put a halt to everything for about 6 months of the year. That is a long time to be stuck and honestly I feel like last year was a year of stretching, pulling and fighting. Yes fighting, fighting for everything! God has really been teaching me a lot of things and eventually I will sit down and write out everything I have learned through last year.

It pretty much has not be a quiet new year for us. Sean lost his job in Dec. and praise God started his new one yesterday. It brings with it a very changed schedule for our family. I am not sure how we will adjust. But I am sure we will do fine. We started the New Year with 23 youth at the Rockin Lockin at church. That was a lot of fun, but I realize just how old I am when I was ready to hit the sack and I still had kiddos up and wanting to play games. I sat with 4 boys 6-13 yrs old (none of my boys) playing Uno for about an hour. Ya know something, play Uno with a bunch of boys of that age and you learn a lot about what they are going through and and they open up faster than if you just wanted them to sit and talk to you! So as a hint to those parents or youth leaders out there, get yourself a pack of Uno cards play a game. You may be surprised at how the kids open up!

Since then I have been nonstop thinking about children's church and the change that 2009 brings. I am switching the theme and transforming the room into a tropical rain forest! Yep a tropical rain forest. Why? Well when you wake up in the middle of the night and all you have on your mind is rain forest and can envision exactly what the room would look like then you know you have either lost it or God has shown you what He wants you to do. I believe that later of the two cause personally I know I lost it a long time ago! LOL!

Our best friends, Mike and Marty came to visit us. It was so much fun! We had free bowling passes so we blessed their kids and we took all 6 kids (total) bowling. They had so much fun! We have been friends with them since 1994! We were in or part of their wedding and they were in ours. They have two autistic children and we have our Kris. Kris and Jay are buddies. It is so neat to see them get excited about seeing each other, its like they have no worries cause they get each other! Seeing them is like a breath of fresh air! We leave off like we have never been apart. They were the ones that invited us to go on vacation with them to Gaitlinburg TN this past July. That was so much fun! Would love to do that again sometime!

On Jan 4th Sean and I celebrated 12 years of wedded bliss. Well we should have been celebrating but we had church all day plus we had promised to take the kids bowling. Plus there was some miss communication and well it wasn't so happy. But things were better by the nights end, just we were apart . . . he was at work. But I am happy that we have been able to celebrate 12 years and we have been able to say no matter what; rich/poor, sickness/health, we have weather many different storms and we have made it through another tough one. We are so looking forward to this year being better and different!

So that is what has been going on here. I am so glad to have put my Christmas decor away, but have kept the snowmen out. Being that we have an actual winter compared to when we lived in Florida, I get to enjoy my snowmen all the way till March. This year I may take them down at the end of Feb. We are heading south this year for spring break. The kids haven't seen my family in a year or my parents who they are very attached to. We are hoping to take another trip in the summer to visit Sean's family in NY. We wanted to head to NY but we all voted for somewhere warmer...plus since we will be there during Sean's birthday, we are heading to Disney...if you go on your birthday you get in free! So we are going to go on his special day to save some money . . . hey $60 is $60 but then again it could be more than that. This is all happening as long as we get a nice tax refund this year! Last year we did so we are hoping to again this year! We'll see . . . what ever God wants for our family and the plans we have made are really in His hands. We can plan but we have to let Him control the rudder!