Seth's Piano Recital

Gavin's Piano Recital

Free hockey night.

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God!

Here are some things that have captured my heart and imagination lately....

1. http://www.bethlehemstar.net/. The science behind the star of Bethlehem. I love this stuff! Before time began, God set the heavens in motion and at precise times in history the heavens themselves tell the story so clearly that men leave their homeland(s) to investigate and worship. Amazing!

2. God in Ancient China. The links for this weren't working when I emailed them earlier, so look it up on youtube. Seth watched Part 1 with me, the whole hour of it. And I had to watch Part 2 today, also. The blackboard with the Chinese writing telling the stories (I had read a book about this a long time ago and was looking for it again, when I came across the videos which had even more information)... The timeline (we are learning the timeline of history for school this year!)... And then the comet, eclipse, and prophecies that were being fulfilled in the West... It is an honor and privilege that God is allowing this ancient culture to become part of our family story. I am so thankful that we are part of HIS story.

I feel so encouraged and amazed at God and what he has done! I love this time of year and am really looking forward to starting Advent on Sunday! Please let me know if you have time to check these out, because I am sooooo very excited about learning new things and talking about them. :o)

Missing

Important Announcement....

First came Spanky. Then came Zippy. (We named our unborn kiddos so we could talk about them before we knew who they were.)

We are pleased to announce that : We are anticipating with great excitement the arrival of our little PUMPKIN! We have officially started the process of International Adoption and our newest child will be Chinese. On my side this will be the third grandchild to be born in China! We are hoping Aunt Rachel will be able to travel with us and introduce us to the country she loves. Please pray for us as we go through this process. We have chosen to do a special needs adoption. After Gavin was born and had so many health issues, it breaks my heart that any child would have to be hospitalized or sick and not have a Mommy to love them and hold them through it. It will be a privilege and honor to do the same for another little one whose Mama couldn't. The boys are excited to have a new playmate, and have had a longstanding debate about if we should adopt a boy or a girl. Andrew and I are just nervous and excited. I feel like I did looking at that first pregnancy test knowing I have no idea what I am doing. I am so thankful for Andrew's calm steady partnership in this adventure. He is so great to do parenting with. And we sure mss him at the moment. :o)

Thanks for celebrating with us and for all the encouragement and support that we have already recieved!

Delimmas

Andrew is leaving again.
I know this because...
...we have a mouse in the house. Marley saw it run in and chased it into the bathroom. Andrew couldn't find it... (We did catch one in the garage. Maybe it was the same one?)
...the car started making strange noises and not turning over cleanly. It has been made safe again, but we didn't fix everything as that was more money than the car is worth.
...I updated the operating system on my iPad only to have it go haywire and become unusable for days. After 4 or 5 phone calls, reinstalling the entire software package multiple times, and a 2 hour trip to the apple store, we finally updated the modem and got it to work.
...the boys are selling popcorn. (Let me know if you want to support their Scout troop and buy some!)

The good news is I have not panicked, Andrew got to be home a couple extra days, and we solved a number of problems this weekend.

Here is my bigger delimma.
I don't like to cook. Except for when I want to play and experiment, and the more I have to do regular meals the less I want to play and experiment. And then there are the restrictions. Gavin cannot have any dairy. Seth has a problem with eggs. Cooked in something, ok. Egg dishes like omlettes or egg salad sandwiches are a no go. The boys hate mayo. No chicken salad or egg salad. I want to eat simple healthy real foods, not processed. But trying to figure out how too cook easy dairy, egg, and sugar free meals stresses me out. So I eat some chocolate to make myself feel better. My kitchen and food preparation is too high maintenence and I don't know how to fix the problem. Sigh. I feel like this shouldn't be so hard. But it is. I feel like going on a cooking strike again...

Quotes and questions

One of my favorite moments this week was when Gavin came running to the top of the stairs. "Mommy!!! Guess what Daddy gets to do....VOTE FOR OUR PRESIDENT!!!!!". What a great reminder! What a gift to have a government that we get to participate in! I hope I keep remembering this. :o)

A blog I read and that has inspired the craziness that making myself a sweater has turned out to be has a fill in the blank about creative stuff. I have a lot of creative ventures underway at the moment. Probably too many. Hopefully they will keep me busy and productive during A's deployment.

I am longing to make "clothes that acutally fit and flatter me" right now.

I want to try "dyeing and printing my own fabrics" with "a variety of techniques and methods".

I wish I could sew with Lotta Jansdotter's fabric.

I dream of making a home that is energy efficient, simple, beautiful, and could go with us every time we have to move. Nothing big. ;o)

I keep track of ideas by starting them and leaving them in piles to be completed later... Sigh! Trying to fix this problem for sure!

I am inspired by goodness, beauty, clever and useful ideas, pictures...

My favorite fiber is "cotton" (because it is so versitile!)

I like to sew with "my sewing machine because my hand work is atrocious!"

My favorite color is "all of them!"

I would like to learn how to make "everything in my wardrobe".

I like to listen to "Seth and Gavin playing together" while I "am busy in the next room"

My crafting space is "a gift!". (I am blessed to have carved out a space for my own use on our home!)

I sew with a "Bernina".

I like to "make things. Creating things just makes me happy."

I can never get enough "chocolate, ice cream, or yummy dessert."

I adore "people who are intentional about seeing and appreciating the good things around them."

I also enjoy "visits with good friends" and "making memories with my family."

I like to fill my shelves with "books. Good books. Fiction. Mysteries. Biographies. History Books. Art Books. Knitting and sewing books. Creativity books. Books that stretch me. Books that are old friends. And Ai like to share my books, too!"

I create the best when "I can immerse myself in the project till I complete it.

When I don't have to worry about sleeping, feeding my children, or lots of appointments I can accomplish some pretty amazing stuff."

I am currently excited for "my Mom to come and being able to share my projects with her."

Right now I am working on...
"learning to sew with knit fabric...Craftsy class with a great blogger (Sew Liberated)"
"learning how to adjust sweater patterns so I can tear out and fix my owls sweater (pattern by Kate Davies)...another craftsy class"
"quilting. I tried free motion quilting for the first time last week, and I have 4 other quilts ready to be sandwiched and quilted. Stacks of fabric for about 5 or 6 other quilts waiting in the wings, including a block of the month I am doing with my mom."
"homeschooling my boys"
"coordinating youth stuff at church"
(I think that is the big stuff.)

I love to watch "netflix, well mostly listen to something on there, usually a historical documentary" while creating. A. Is going to turn off our cable for me while he is gone this time, so I should be a lot more productive. :o)

My guilty pleasure when it comes to creating is "that I decided I will make what I like instead of pressuring myself to do shoulds. I find I am getting a lot more done. Yay!"

My current favorite music crush to listen to while creating is "Josh Garrell's Love & War & the Sea in Between. It really resonates with me right now with A's deployments.

Star Wars

This week the boys had their Wolf Badge (Seth) and Bobcat Badge (Gavin) awarded this week. They had some Star Wars characters there to present the awards. Daddy was innundated with questions afterwards. They boys decided they wanted to watch, even though it might be a little bit scary...so guess what we have been doing this weekend?!?! it is fun getting to do this as a family, and they don't seem to be too scared. We did decide they would only be watching the middle episodes, though. We will wait till they are bigger to see the newer ones.

Christmas.

We have always celebra

Projects

I have too many in the works. I am working on learning how to knit and sew clothes that actually fit my body. Quilting projects. I attempted free motion quilting on an actual quilt flr the first time this week. Schooling the boys. Conquering chore time. And we are getting ready for another family separation. I think we are ready. So here is a little snippet of what I have been hard at work on...



BUT, I have to pause and take a class about fitting knits. I need to learn how to make bust darts and do short rows before I can finish. Sigh. i have been working on this for a quilt-a-long and I don't think it will be fnoshed by the deadline. I have sure learned a lot, though! I got some cheap yarn and am taking a crafsty.com class on fitting my knits. Yay!

You are going to have to wait to see pictures of my sewing projects...
:o)

Blog issues

I have discovered that I can look at stats on my blog. Since I habe been using an app on my iPad to post, I didn't really know that. I have discovered that some pictures of my boys and nephew taking a bath (nothing exposed) was swiped and posted on Google images. I have deleted the pictures and blog post, but the residual image seemed to still be out there and I don't know how to fix it. Also, I found out that some x rated website was somehow referring to my site. At one point I had set my blog to be unsearchable by engines, but at some point (I am guessing at a blogger update) that was changed and I was unaware. I am shocked and horrified about these things. Stuff like this makes me want to not use computers at all...sigh.

So...in order to protect my family and our privacy and not be connected to anything nasty anymore I am about to password protect my blog. If you are a real reader of my blog please leave me a comment on this post, message me on facebook, call me, or email me.

I hope I can figure this out, or I will not be blogging anymore. This tech stuff is so hard and frustrating for me. At least Andrew solved my phone problem and I can call people again! :o)

Haircuts.

Andrew thanked me and told me how much we saved from me cutting all their hair. I told him I spent it already. :o). I have been sewing up a storm (pics to come soon), and am taking a class on how to sew with knits so I can make my own clothes. I am going to learn to dye and print the fabrics, too. I am VERY excited about this project!!!!! So the freshly shorn boys....



Yup, Seth got his wish.



Crazy kid! Love him.

Love all of them. So much.

We were working hard on our new chores/school routine, but no vacuuming in the morning this week with Daddy working nights, so we will be back at it next week. We had our first day of our new co-op, Classical Conversations, and I sat in on Gavin's class. His teacher is brilliant at making learning fun for these kiddos. I was learning stuff! It is going to be a good year.

And my love, Andrew. He is the best. Lots of goodness happening. I think this is the best transition home after a deployment that we have ever had. He has worked so hard at stepping up with the boys to give me a break and going out of his way to spend time with me and make me feel loved. He is a good good man. It is a privilege belonging to him! My heart and home overflow because of him.

Something's getting quilted very soon!

Sweetness.

My Love is home. We had a lovely evening swimming, eating french toast, and watching the Olympics. Pretty sure we will all sleep better tonight!

Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement over the last months. WE MADE IT!!!

Generosity

Last night we got to go to a summer picnic for the families of the deployed. It could not have come at a better time as I am pretty sure that I might have throttled one of the boys. We got to paddleboat and do pony rides before a big storm hit (YAY for RAIN!!!!). We ate a yummy BBQ meal, played little carnival games, and visited all the booths. They had all kinds of loot and prizes for the boys. Check it out:



There were so many people that volunteered to make this event special and so many generous people that support our families. I cannot even say how much fun this was and how needed this week. I was even need of chocolate...do you see those Thin Mints????!!!! We are so blessed and thankful!

Planes

We are greatly looking forward to a particular plane. This was made very evident when I saw the markings on the plane Seth got last night.







OF Offutt.
RC135 Daddy's plane.
My heart melts.

Everything Day

Some days are just hard. Today was one. It was God's grace we had to be out of the house, or one of us might not have survived. Lets just say I found chewed gum in my knitting bag, marinating trash on the floor in the garage, and things were not being done in a timely fashion. So Mommy took a deep breath, prayed for a fresh start, laughed it off, and we started over by going to a back to school picnic and pool party. We met some of the families who will be in our co-op this coming year and had a great time at a new to us water park.

After dinner my lovely friend Stephanie stopped by, and we had a much needed visit for both of us. However we lost track of time. Here is what I found in the basement after she left...






Those Olympic Games are amazing! They both got carried up to bed!

Now a side note...I have been finding these little bugs in my house for a while now. I finally figured out that they were weevils. Look them up. They are creepy looking, but don't bite people. Problem was I have not been able to locate where they were coming from and therefore how to get rid of them. Tonight as Stephanie was leaving I asked her if she smelled that earthy smell I had caught a wiff of over the last couple of days near the front door. I pulled open the drawer with my camera equipment to discover a mouldy bag of birdseed! Nasty AND problem solved!

I got to finish the night with gymnastics and a skype visit with my sister. And here is hoping my phone starts working again in the morning.

Happenings

This week the boys went to camp at the nature center and had a great time learning about all kinds of things that fly... Dinosaurs, birds, insects, bats, kites. I worked on some sewing and am continuing restoring order after the neverending mold restoration project. Saturday rolled around and I decided that I needed to make a project that had been on the backburner a priority... Making the boys an apartment building for their little stuffed animals that they love to play with. A few weeks back Andrew had sent me flowers to encourage me when the mess from the house project was bothering me so much, and I had hung onto the box thinking it would be perfect. I got into project mode with the boys and suddenly discovered it was 1 pm and I had not fed my boys lunch. But I have to say it turned out pretty awesome.


It has 2 slides, 2 more portholes, a tower on top with a window, climbing ropes, ladders, and a swing. The boys named it the Dinosaur Pirate Hotel. seth made the sign, and Gavin put his dino from camp on top. I think they are going to decorate it a different day, but their animals love it!



And we went to a movie at the base theater. Someone left me beautiful flowers on the front porch! What a blessing and surprise!



Today we had a parent meeting for the youth at church and we have a couple more of our needs filled for this fall. We are hanging on till Daddy comes home and enjoying all the different sports of the Olympics.

Friends and basement monkeys

Yesterday we visited the nature center with friends to learn about wildflowers amd meadows. Then the boys learned about how to put out a kitchen fire before lunchtime. We ate yummy food fresh from the farm stand. 4 friends:



Today we did a major basement clean up, watched a little olympics past and soccer present and then had some fun roughhousing around. Then they started hanging around...






Seth made it from the couch to the stairs. Gavin was doing drops onto the beanbag. Now for dinner and maybe some swim time.

Knitting

Making progress, but having to pull out and redo a lot as I figure out fit knitting from the bottom up.

Getting out for the day.

They are paving the parking lot today, so we vacated the premises so we didn't get stuck inside. We played tourist in Grand Lake first.



Papa Buzz took us on a pontoon boat tour of Grand Lake. We learned about where the water comes from and where it goes, and also about the history of a lot of the interesting cabins around the lake.














We hiked up to a waterfall and climbed on rocks. I laid down on a huge rock and just soaked it in. I must have been very still because a squirrel ran between my bent up legs and butt! I only saw his tail disappear next to my bum, but two passerbyers saw the whole thing!!!






We had ice cream and then drove into the National Park to visit a historic site. We got to practice our roping skills.


















Nobody caught the fake calf. Oh, well. We did learn about the first families to settle in the area and how they made a living for themselves. We got to tour their home and see all the amazing skills they had and inventive ways they found to survive and thrive. Lots of amazing handiwork throughout their home. Very inspirational. Then we drove back out and stopped to see a moose. I took a picture, but the ipad photo doesn't show up the moose at all, so you will just have to take my word for it. We stopped for an overlook of the lakes and towns.






Then we came home for dinner, craft time, baths, and bedtime in our new jammies.













Well, the boys got new jammies. I got knitting needles and perfume and a pattern book to use up my great fabric stash. Now to kiss those boys goodnight, and get to knitting...

Visiting a new town.

We visited a beautiful waterfall and played in the mountain stream and climbed around on rocks.


Kissed a random pig.


Rode a horse through town.





Saw a unique rainbow on top of the mountain in the clouds...


...that grew and grew into a beautiful huge rainbow that arched across the sky. It was a double and the big part had repeat colors. I have never seen such a unique rainbow before. I tried to take a photo, but had to take it in two parts. All photos are from my ipad and don't do it justice!





And Gavin got a cowboy hat from a 100 year old store.


(I also got some cowboy boots. I love you, Andrew!)