Yesterday afterschool the kids were playing out side. Nothing new there but as I looked out the window to check on them I saw Jaron and Sara with a bike. Not just a bike but one without training wheels and Sara was on it! Honestly I was shocked but knew this day was coming! My little girl is growing up fast. She loves her big brother and enjoys tormenting him just as much. Jaron was teaching her how to ride the bike and he was a great teacher and she was a great student.
Much to my surprise she mastered it. Two or three tries and she was off. Riding like a pro! Now don't write me and tell me I am a bad mom because I happen to allow my kids to ride bikes without shoes or helmets. Ya know I understand how important helmets can be. We just haven't purchased new ones that fit. Needless to say she has mastered the bike. Soon I am sure Eli and Kris will master it as well.
Sep 9, 2009
Sep 8, 2009
Sep 5, 2009
Week 3 done~
Ok so here I am thinking all the kids being in school that I will have all this free time on my hands right? WRONG! I think I have become more busy...nope pretty sure I have. I have been busy with little project around the house such as going through stored clothes and preparing for winter...gosh never had to do that in Florida...those were the days! LOL!!! Been doing some counseling and helping some other women work through some things. Sometimes it just takes another person's perspective to help us see things different. But the biggest changes have been this week. We launched or will have launched 3 new ministries this week. I am no in charge of not only Children's Church and the Children's ministries but on Tuesday we started a NEW Women's Bible Study...YAY! This past Tuesday we had 9 women including myself and I expect that it will grow. It was so much fun, we laughed and joked and teased one another. So much fun!
Then Wednesday we launched our new Kids Club we are calling, All Star Explorer's. We had 7 kids come out. Which may seem like a small number but for a church of our size that is huge! We believe that it is going to grow! Again I am in charge of this as well. The third ministry that is being launched Sunday afternoon is the Youth Group. Which will have a name as soon as we all figure one out. I am so excited! I know of at least 4/5 teens who are planning to do be there. YAY! Again this is huge for our church, we haven't had a youth group in our church in over 8 years so this is a big step. Yes I am in charge of this too. So as you can see I am and have been super busy preparing and getting things worked out.
Besides this I have been busy with daily family stuff and working on a variety of other projects. I haven't spent much time writing on this blog or my other blog. I do plan on getting back to doing more writing. Specially now that I am preparing the women's Bible study. We are studying the women of the Bible so I know I will post some of the highlights on Broken Potterie.
The kids are doing great! Jaron has started band this year. He has chosen to play the sax! YAY! I love the sax. I played it in school and loved it. He has been practicing daily and seems to really enjoy it. He starts lessons next week with his band teacher and will also be practicing with the 4/5th grade band and once a week will also play with the 4-8th grade band. SO COOL! So proud of him! He is doing great and so far he is enjoying 4th grade.
I have to say that this year has been a huge success so far. Yes it's only been 3 weeks but I have to say compared to last year, this year is the mountain top so far! Kris has adjusted so well that last year seems like a mear dream. He is working hard and that is so cool! I got a great report last week from his OT....
Hi Melissa,
Kris seems to be doing great. I talked to his teacher and she seemed real positive. She has not had any issues yet. She feels that he is doing good. I also talked with new principal Mr. Shelby. He worked at Lincoln in Marion and was great with kids of all kinds. He enjoys the kids. I told some of Kris' querks and how we deal with him. I told him about sensory processing and what Kris needs. He was very open to the ideas just seemed unfamiliar with sensory. He got the year book out and looked at Kris so he would know what he looked like. Kris was quiet with me but it was the first thing in the morning. He was just trying to get his stuff put away. Thanks,
Jennifer
YAY! I am so thankful that he is doing well. I tend to worry more about our Kristofer than I do the others. Don't mean to but I think it's normal when you have a special needs child. Then today I got this note.
Hi Melissa,
I just wanted to let you know that Kristofer's Special Ed teacher emailed me and said that on the days that Kris gets OT she can see a huge difference in his work in resource (special ed room). She wants to be retaught the techniques and she wants to carry them out on days I am not there!!!!!! I think last year it was hit and miss with staff carrying out sensory stuff – not because they are bad staff – just not understanding, tuning in or seeing the results it creates. You have to believe in something for it to work and when you don’t truly understand it you can’t believe in it.
THIS IS HUGE! Kris receives a lot of support at the school but it always helps when the one person other than Mrs Vanhorn (2nd grade teacher) who spends quite a bit of time with him finally "gets it" and wants to make a difference! YAY! What an answer to prayer! I am so encouraged about this!
Sara and Eli are doing great as well. The kindergarten teacher, Ms Robertson, is a great teacher. They have a very small class this year a total of 13 children. Each year she does Star Student days and show cases one child. Monday it was Eli, he gets a picture taken, a special crown and star pendant, plus a few other things, gets to share his story about himself, is the line leader and a few other great things. He was so proud and excited!! : ) Sara was very sad all week and I kept reassuring her that she would be chosen soon. Well today she came in screaming..."Mommy I was the Star Student today!" All giddy and happy! YAY! They are loving school and I am so glad I put them in preK last year. This year half the class are friends from preK and I think that has helped a LOT! It makes me smile to think of Sara having girl friends. She tells me she has two best friends and is so excited to tell me how much she loves school! YAY!
It's late and I am beat. If you think about it keep me in prayer, I have had to go off my medication for arthritis and this affects my knees. I re injured the knee that needs a TKR and had an MRI last week. Was suppose to see the ortho. doc next week but my appointment has had to be changed till Sept 39th...ugh! Anyway the meds can cause ulcers and I have had terrible stomach pain and heartburn so I am off of it for a while and I can already tell a difference. Wow didn't realize just how much my body hurts from arthritis. Thanks for the prayers!
Then Wednesday we launched our new Kids Club we are calling, All Star Explorer's. We had 7 kids come out. Which may seem like a small number but for a church of our size that is huge! We believe that it is going to grow! Again I am in charge of this as well. The third ministry that is being launched Sunday afternoon is the Youth Group. Which will have a name as soon as we all figure one out. I am so excited! I know of at least 4/5 teens who are planning to do be there. YAY! Again this is huge for our church, we haven't had a youth group in our church in over 8 years so this is a big step. Yes I am in charge of this too. So as you can see I am and have been super busy preparing and getting things worked out.
Besides this I have been busy with daily family stuff and working on a variety of other projects. I haven't spent much time writing on this blog or my other blog. I do plan on getting back to doing more writing. Specially now that I am preparing the women's Bible study. We are studying the women of the Bible so I know I will post some of the highlights on Broken Potterie.
The kids are doing great! Jaron has started band this year. He has chosen to play the sax! YAY! I love the sax. I played it in school and loved it. He has been practicing daily and seems to really enjoy it. He starts lessons next week with his band teacher and will also be practicing with the 4/5th grade band and once a week will also play with the 4-8th grade band. SO COOL! So proud of him! He is doing great and so far he is enjoying 4th grade.
I have to say that this year has been a huge success so far. Yes it's only been 3 weeks but I have to say compared to last year, this year is the mountain top so far! Kris has adjusted so well that last year seems like a mear dream. He is working hard and that is so cool! I got a great report last week from his OT....
Hi Melissa,
Kris seems to be doing great. I talked to his teacher and she seemed real positive. She has not had any issues yet. She feels that he is doing good. I also talked with new principal Mr. Shelby. He worked at Lincoln in Marion and was great with kids of all kinds. He enjoys the kids. I told some of Kris' querks and how we deal with him. I told him about sensory processing and what Kris needs. He was very open to the ideas just seemed unfamiliar with sensory. He got the year book out and looked at Kris so he would know what he looked like. Kris was quiet with me but it was the first thing in the morning. He was just trying to get his stuff put away. Thanks,
Jennifer
YAY! I am so thankful that he is doing well. I tend to worry more about our Kristofer than I do the others. Don't mean to but I think it's normal when you have a special needs child. Then today I got this note.
Hi Melissa,
I just wanted to let you know that Kristofer's Special Ed teacher emailed me and said that on the days that Kris gets OT she can see a huge difference in his work in resource (special ed room). She wants to be retaught the techniques and she wants to carry them out on days I am not there!!!!!! I think last year it was hit and miss with staff carrying out sensory stuff – not because they are bad staff – just not understanding, tuning in or seeing the results it creates. You have to believe in something for it to work and when you don’t truly understand it you can’t believe in it.
THIS IS HUGE! Kris receives a lot of support at the school but it always helps when the one person other than Mrs Vanhorn (2nd grade teacher) who spends quite a bit of time with him finally "gets it" and wants to make a difference! YAY! What an answer to prayer! I am so encouraged about this!
Sara and Eli are doing great as well. The kindergarten teacher, Ms Robertson, is a great teacher. They have a very small class this year a total of 13 children. Each year she does Star Student days and show cases one child. Monday it was Eli, he gets a picture taken, a special crown and star pendant, plus a few other things, gets to share his story about himself, is the line leader and a few other great things. He was so proud and excited!! : ) Sara was very sad all week and I kept reassuring her that she would be chosen soon. Well today she came in screaming..."Mommy I was the Star Student today!" All giddy and happy! YAY! They are loving school and I am so glad I put them in preK last year. This year half the class are friends from preK and I think that has helped a LOT! It makes me smile to think of Sara having girl friends. She tells me she has two best friends and is so excited to tell me how much she loves school! YAY!
It's late and I am beat. If you think about it keep me in prayer, I have had to go off my medication for arthritis and this affects my knees. I re injured the knee that needs a TKR and had an MRI last week. Was suppose to see the ortho. doc next week but my appointment has had to be changed till Sept 39th...ugh! Anyway the meds can cause ulcers and I have had terrible stomach pain and heartburn so I am off of it for a while and I can already tell a difference. Wow didn't realize just how much my body hurts from arthritis. Thanks for the prayers!
Aug 27, 2009
Aug 20, 2009
Blessings unexpected.
This week has been a week of unexpected happenings. Blessings and blessings have been poured out on our family this week. All I know to say is GOD IS GREAT! this week we were blessed with a wonderful day of boating and a great picnic. This same family then blessed us with a day swimming in the lake at the lake front home. Such a wonderful day of fun, sun and laughter. We were blessed with a financial gift this week as well. Which is a perfectly time gift. Our van once again died. A couple of weeks ago we had planned a special getaway...sort of a family vacation. 
Well that week our van died. Which pretty much threw a wrench into our plans. Something I am learning is about perspective. You see earlier this year I decided my word for the year would be perspective. Let me tell ya when you start seeing situations in a different way, a different perspective your attitude changes.
So our plans were completely crushed but let me tell you how God's plans changed everything. A dear friend, Micah called me up(actually chatted me up on facebook) and asked if we would like to borrow their tents. We were so blessed by that gesture that we took her up and went camping. We have never gone camping as a family and it was Sean's first time ever as well.
We had such a great time. Despite our plans being changed I have to say these plans were much better. The frogs seranaded us every evening, we ate s'mores by the fire and played Uno so many times that it has become a family favorite. We laughed and joked and so much fun. The first morning we realized that we had but one choice and that was cook over an open fire. Ever had bacon, eggs, french toast and pancakes made over an open fire? 
It's FANTASTIC! Well except when you forget what you are doing while putting in more wood and you burn your hand on the bacon grease and hot iron plate. Yes I did that and no it wasn't fun. But that breakfast was a hit! The boys loved it...Sara did too after a while...she slept in.
That weekend adventure led us to last week when we were blessed with a family boating on the lake adventure. So much fun! We have
some great new friends, Ken and Darlene. They
have blessed our family in small ways and huge ways. they have let us borrow their car and taken us boating, open their home to our family which we do not take lightly...we do have 4 diaperheads! This week we were financially blessed. Like I said earlier a very timely gift with the van having more mechanical issues, of which we still do not know what the outcome will be.
Somehow this weekend I injured my left knee again. That wonderful knee that the doctor says needs a complete replacement.
I believe I have torn the cartilege again. It's the same symptoms, pain and locking issues I had the last time. Only this time the pain is even more troublesome. I was heading to see my doc today but that was put on hold. Kristofer was up most of the night with a tooth ache. So off to the dentist we went instead. So that leaves me heading to the doctor next week.
Then the unexpected happened!!! We were giving a car! A 1995 Buick Centry, no strings attached! Just blessed with it. It needs a muffler and a tune up but it runs great! God has once again unexpectedly blessed our family! God is so great! I decided two weeks ago when things were slamming us and things were not going according to my plan that I would praise Him anyway! I would just keep singing:
"God Your so good to me, You've always been so good to me, I'll sing through eternity, God Your so good! Oh I'm gonna sing Your praise All night long and every day, I stand and worship You my whole life through!"
I have noticed that when you change your perspective to see things the way God does...you begin to see a whole lot clearer!
Well that week our van died. Which pretty much threw a wrench into our plans. Something I am learning is about perspective. You see earlier this year I decided my word for the year would be perspective. Let me tell ya when you start seeing situations in a different way, a different perspective your attitude changes.So our plans were completely crushed but let me tell you how God's plans changed everything. A dear friend, Micah called me up(actually chatted me up on facebook) and asked if we would like to borrow their tents. We were so blessed by that gesture that we took her up and went camping. We have never gone camping as a family and it was Sean's first time ever as well.
We had such a great time. Despite our plans being changed I have to say these plans were much better. The frogs seranaded us every evening, we ate s'mores by the fire and played Uno so many times that it has become a family favorite. We laughed and joked and so much fun. The first morning we realized that we had but one choice and that was cook over an open fire. Ever had bacon, eggs, french toast and pancakes made over an open fire? 
It's FANTASTIC! Well except when you forget what you are doing while putting in more wood and you burn your hand on the bacon grease and hot iron plate. Yes I did that and no it wasn't fun. But that breakfast was a hit! The boys loved it...Sara did too after a while...she slept in.That weekend adventure led us to last week when we were blessed with a family boating on the lake adventure. So much fun! We have
some great new friends, Ken and Darlene. Theyhave blessed our family in small ways and huge ways. they have let us borrow their car and taken us boating, open their home to our family which we do not take lightly...we do have 4 diaperheads! This week we were financially blessed. Like I said earlier a very timely gift with the van having more mechanical issues, of which we still do not know what the outcome will be.
Somehow this weekend I injured my left knee again. That wonderful knee that the doctor says needs a complete replacement.
I believe I have torn the cartilege again. It's the same symptoms, pain and locking issues I had the last time. Only this time the pain is even more troublesome. I was heading to see my doc today but that was put on hold. Kristofer was up most of the night with a tooth ache. So off to the dentist we went instead. So that leaves me heading to the doctor next week.Then the unexpected happened!!! We were giving a car! A 1995 Buick Centry, no strings attached! Just blessed with it. It needs a muffler and a tune up but it runs great! God has once again unexpectedly blessed our family! God is so great! I decided two weeks ago when things were slamming us and things were not going according to my plan that I would praise Him anyway! I would just keep singing:
"God Your so good to me, You've always been so good to me, I'll sing through eternity, God Your so good! Oh I'm gonna sing Your praise All night long and every day, I stand and worship You my whole life through!"
I have noticed that when you change your perspective to see things the way God does...you begin to see a whole lot clearer!
Aug 18, 2009
IT"S HERE!
Today is the big day! My youngest babies, Eli and Sara, started Kindergarten. They were excited about it. Kris on the other hand was scared most of the night, crying and just upset. He doesn't do well with change and everything is changing so the next few weeks may pose a few bumps on the road to success this year. Hopefully nothing like last year! I would share more about my thoughts and feelings about the twins starting school but yesterday and Sunday I stepped wrong or something and my left knee that is really bad is a mess. I believe I have torn the cartilage again, I hope not but the pain is too great to just be a sprain. Plus I can not bend it barely at all. It's as if something is stopping it. So I head to the doctor on Thursday to find out. UGH! My first thoughts were, "Oh no not again!" 
Aug 14, 2009
Receiving the Love of God (guest blog)
Read this today and it really hit a cord with me. So much so that I decided that my readers needed to hear what was said as well.
Receiving The Love of God by Cassandra Stafford
My husband tells me I'm beautiful all the time.
I rarely believe him.
He admires me at the most peculiar moments.
While I'm still in my jammies...hair unbrushed...no makeup...while I'm sipping my coffee...
He's not admiring all of the undone...
He's not noticing my flaws...
He's noticing the blush of my cheeks.
My smooth skin (thank God for nice skin!!)
He's liking my dark brown eyes.
Me?
All I notice are my flaws.
In my mind, those things are enough to drown out the good. As if they cancel each other out.
He sees my curves and wants to hug me.
He hugs me tight and tells me I "feel good".
I --9 times out of 10--will respond with "yeah, good and huge!"
And he just sighs with disgust.
Why?
Cause I am not receiving his love for me when I always have some comeback to his praises.
So what if my body is not magazine cover quality? He and I both know it's not what it used to be. But does that mean it deserves to be ridiculed?
It goes deeper than outward beauty too.
Too many of us reject who we are.
We hate our personalities. We despise so much about how God crafted us and shaped us.
The clay tells the potter He has designed us all wrong...
But, what would happen if we took a bold leap of faith and started keeping our mouths (and minds) quiet when our husbands tell us we are lovely? What if we tried to believe it for once? What if when our children tell us we are "the best moms they ever had" (my girls favorite compliment) we didn't immediately start mentally recounting our every failing?
We could give a whole lot more love...to our husbands and children...
to our neighbors and friends...
Because we cannot give something we do not have. We cannot give love that we will not receive. We cannot offer peace we do not have.
And true peace, true love starts with receiving the love of God toward ourselves.
Despite our faults, shortcomings and imperfections.
What if--for once--we truly lived and acted like Jesus really did bring peace between God and us? What if, when He whispers to our hearts that He loves us...we swallowed hard and said "Yes Lord, I receive it. And, I love you too."
Receiving The Love of God by Cassandra Stafford
My husband tells me I'm beautiful all the time.
I rarely believe him.
He admires me at the most peculiar moments.
While I'm still in my jammies...hair unbrushed...no makeup...while I'm sipping my coffee...
He's not admiring all of the undone...
He's not noticing my flaws...
He's noticing the blush of my cheeks.
My smooth skin (thank God for nice skin!!)
He's liking my dark brown eyes.
Me?
All I notice are my flaws.
In my mind, those things are enough to drown out the good. As if they cancel each other out.
He sees my curves and wants to hug me.
He hugs me tight and tells me I "feel good".
I --9 times out of 10--will respond with "yeah, good and huge!"
And he just sighs with disgust.
Why?
Cause I am not receiving his love for me when I always have some comeback to his praises.
So what if my body is not magazine cover quality? He and I both know it's not what it used to be. But does that mean it deserves to be ridiculed?
It goes deeper than outward beauty too.
Too many of us reject who we are.
We hate our personalities. We despise so much about how God crafted us and shaped us.
The clay tells the potter He has designed us all wrong...
But, what would happen if we took a bold leap of faith and started keeping our mouths (and minds) quiet when our husbands tell us we are lovely? What if we tried to believe it for once? What if when our children tell us we are "the best moms they ever had" (my girls favorite compliment) we didn't immediately start mentally recounting our every failing?
We could give a whole lot more love...to our husbands and children...
to our neighbors and friends...
Because we cannot give something we do not have. We cannot give love that we will not receive. We cannot offer peace we do not have.
And true peace, true love starts with receiving the love of God toward ourselves.
Despite our faults, shortcomings and imperfections.
What if--for once--we truly lived and acted like Jesus really did bring peace between God and us? What if, when He whispers to our hearts that He loves us...we swallowed hard and said "Yes Lord, I receive it. And, I love you too."
Aug 6, 2009
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