My big girl turns 10

It seems the time has flown by so fast that we are now into the double digits with Michaela. She is growing and changing on a daily basis which is exciting and scarey as a parent. Not wanting her to be too big for mom and dad but yet wanting her to grow in the Lord and become the awesome young woman God is calling her to be. Instead of enjoying getting into the double digits, like most kids her age, she sees this age as one more stepping stone towards the teen years and all the things beyond her immagination at this point in time. We celebrated her special day by going to Chuck E Cheese with the family and bringing Cake to church to share with all our friends.

For her birthday, Michaela got a gift that just keeps on giving. This year we decided to give the kids all rollerblades for their birthday. Abby, the adventruous one, got them first on her birthday last month. We did this on purpose because Michaela is very afraid of anything new. We figured if we gave them to Abby first Michaela would get to watch how much fun Abby was having and would enjoy the thought of joining in the fun. Well, our plan worked and she went to the store to pick them out with Mom. Little did we know this birthday present would be the gift that keeps on giving and would make a great Mastercard commercial!

Roller blades $65

Trip to the Urgent care doctor, follow-up to the Pediatric Orthopedist approx $50 so far.

A beaming smile knowing how COOL it is to have our first fractured bone & purple cast for people to write on! PRICELESS! When her doctor told her she would get a cast her smile WAS SO HUGE! We can even decorate it with glitter so I think that might be a nice weekend craft project!

What happened? The girls were playing on their rollerblades in the driveway to get comfortable with the way the skates work, how they were different from the roller skates they had previously, practicing how to stop and also rolling into the grass as a way of getting use to them. Since our driveway is sloped this makes 'getting used to how they work' more of a challeng then just skating on a flat surface. So, I figured it might be fun to take them to a park on a level surface so they can have a more safe environment to learn. The park we went to has a cement sidewalk around the perimeter and Michaela was doing great! She took a couple laps around the park and then just started skating on the basket ball court. Her feet kind of locked up against one another and she fell backwards, putting all her weight on her left hand/wrist. She wasn't going very fast so she hardly even reacted. She was hurt a little and had a slight grimace of uncomfort but wasn't crying like I would have expected her to if anything was broken? We went home after that & iced it. She seemed to be Ok as long as she didn't twist her wrist suddenly. It was when Abby grabbed her hand (forgetting it was hurt) and Michaela cryed out that we knew for certain she would need to see someone. At the walk in clinic they gave her a temporary cast to immobilize the wrist and prevent further injury and made an appointment for the pediatric orthopedist. Come to find out he is a pretty popular Dr as many of the folks knew of him. For those of you interested in the logistics, she has a buckle fracture on one of her arm bones (sorry not sure which one) and the Growth plate in her wrist is a bit damaged. She will be in her cast till the 1st of July. Not too thrilled about HOW they will be taking it off but due to the fact that her Orthopedist is really sweet I think he may be able to alliviate her worries! She is still able to do Karate which is very neat, but is kind of a bummer when she has to sit out if the technique will not be something she can do. Anywho, this is what is going on that is pretty exciting in our corner of the world! I am working on some other blogs as well so keep your eyes peeled! Love y'all!

A sacred calling; Motherhood!

I read this in a fellow bloggers site adn thought it was well worth passing along; especially if you are in feeling as if what you are doing doesn't matter or isn't producing visable fruit. This may give you that extra encouragement to continue of the worth while journey of mothering!


"Mothers, please don't let the world rob you of the incredible joy of a life invested in your children.
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They are your mark on the world.
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They are your legacy, your testimony, and your contribution to mankind.
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Don't let some other woman steal your influence.
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Remember, 'The hand that rock the cradle is the hand that rules the world.'
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That saying didn't just show up one day.
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That proverb is the result of centuries of observation. A mother's influence is unmatched."-

Voddie Bauchaum, Family Driven Faith

To Buy or not to Buy

It is kinda funny when something bad happens how the Lord blesses you in the midst. After the accident, we made an appointment to get the car fixed. Since it wasn’t our fault, her insurance paid for a rental car while they fixed ours. It was quite a struggle to get another mini-van out of the insurance company. They were only going to just let us have a sub-compact car. However, since what was wrecked was a mini-van, John provided some gentle persuasion so they decided to let us have another mini-van. Low and behold, the only one they had on the lot just so happened to be my ‘soccer mom dream vehicle’……. The Honda odyssey. (Just so you know, my non-soccer mom dream vehicle would be a fully restored 1965 mustang!) John drove up in it and my first impression was "Didn’t they have another Ford or Dodge on the lot? AAAAAg! Why did you bring home a van that will stumble me!" He smiled and asked if I wanted to go van shopping? Now, he was kidding, but it was the kind of kidding to see if I would jump at the opportunity in my weakened state of covetousness! :o) He too loved the Honda, but, does not want to have a car payment. I am quite content with my 2002 Ford, eventhough Ford stands for Found On Road Dead, and the maintenance on it has always been costly. Since it is just $500 shy of being REALLY ours, there is no way that I would trade it in for another car payment! This is where a blessing can become a curse. Driving it is quite fun as long as I keep in mind that it is a temporary blessing and not put in my path to covet what I can’t have! :o) Also, it is a nice thing to work for since after we make our last car payment, the money that would ordinarily go to the bank, will now go into a savings fund to purchase a car when we will need to replace our current one!
Our other current economic ‘big decision’ is whether or not we are going to buy a home here in the Cape. Our rental lease is up at the end of July. Every logical bone in my body says we would be fools not to take advantage of the current housing market, tax return money in savings, low interest rates, pre-approved mortgage just waiting for us to make an offer. Keep in mind, that Lee county, which is where we live, is one of the forclosure capitals of the US. In boom time, nothing special, single family homes less than 1500 sq ft, were selling for outrageous prices upwards of $350,000. Since the boom turned bust and many builders went out of business, these same homes are now going for around $80,000. SO, for about $150,000 we could get a very good deal on a 2000sq ft home, with a pool. We never in our wildest dreams could have figured we would be able to purchase a home here in FL, EVEN close to what we had back home. Ever since our lease hit the 6 month mark we began praying about where to buy. We knew it would be somewhere in the Cape but since even this area is pretty big we wanted to make sure we would be in a place where God wanted us. Silly thing is we didn’t even really question IF we should buy…….. After all, if we are to put down roots, doesn’t that include some sort of investment? Dave Ramsey, my financial guru, said that when the market is low and you have the money, IT IS THE TIME TO BUY! We still haven’t gotten an answer as to where, until we began asking IF. Every once in a while I would get subtle hints…… Subtle like God hitting me over the head with a 2X4! We were reading the kids a devotional that spoke of why different parents have different rules & the importance of not being sucked into doing something just because it is popular. While buying a house isn’t an ‘in thing’, it certainly looks like a smart thing right now. They used Jeremiah 35 as an example; here is the portion that stuck out to me:
6 But they replied, "We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jonadab son of Recab gave us this command: 'Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine. 7 Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads.' 8 We have obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab son of Recab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine 9 or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops. 10 We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab commanded us.
Down further in Jeremiah it states that the reason they obeyed their forefathers was NOT because owning land or permanent homes was a sin. With land and a home comes great responsibility, with less mobility. Without those things that tied them down, they were now free to up and move at the Lord’s leading whenever & wherever He wanted them to go.
Also, here was another verse that was mentioned on the radio or something during this time…..
Matthew 6: 19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
I remember when we built out home in WA. The first year we lived there was consumed by the unfinished projects now set before us....... landscaping, fencing, painting, decorating, ect. I do not regret the experience of building our home, but I do regret how it became a distraction & ‘my treasure on earth’ that consumed so much of my time & energy. I have never liked the idea of renting but have come to some very logical conclusions. The things I greatly appreciate about renting is:
*It is my responsibility to make what we have functional rather than personally mine. Once I don’t have to put my personal touch on something, that also means I spend less money!
*If something breaks due to wear & tear, I do not have to pay for it but the landlord does. If a hurricane comes through, it could take away my earthly posessions and I might have to move ‘tents’, but the loss is not as bad as it could be if I owned the joint.
* When Jesus comes back to get us, which is looking to be very soon, the money I invested in a mortgage versus what I paid in rent, will be neither here nor there as it is only an earthly value with no eternal weight!
So, we continue to wait on the Lord. To see of this is a permanent state of being that He is calling us to (just renting and being available to move again if this is His will) OR if it is just a "lets change your heart so I can bless you" thing. Until then we just put our trust in the fact that God has our back and His timing is perfect and that God is not always interested in logical conclusions or economic situations. He is more interested in how they effect our heart!!!
Ecc 3: 1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.

Drought & Isolation

I was working on this journal before the accident happened and finished it afterward, so here goes. I was looking up verses on drought………. After my parents left, it was hard to let go! There was so much joy that came with their arrival, the fun times, the familiarity...... It was such an awesome blessing that filled a slight void that existed here for us. The whole family....... John, I & the kids had felt much like a drought, had entered in, as our only lifelines to what we knew were gone. The fellowship that we had was awesome, encouraging, exhortative, and uplifting. It brought back many memories of what we had left behind back in our home town, all the while creating great anticipation for our visit back there in August. There were many tears shed as we said our goodbyes, mostly by the adults! I was so glad that I did a word search on drought though as it made me remember where my nourishment comes from. Not from human contact, fellowship with family or people that we love, but from our creator who loves us more that we could ever fathom.
One of the chapters I was looking in was Jeremiah and here are some of the scriptures that stuck out.
Jeremiah 2 1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: " 'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,' " declares the LORD. 4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, all you clans of the house of Israel. 5 This is what the LORD says: "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. 6 They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?' 7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. 8 The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD ?' Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.

Oh how easily our eyes stray to the "grass is greener on the other side". How easily we turn our eyes to mumbling and complaining much like the Isrealites when this, in and of itself, is a form of idolatry. No one likes to think of it as such, but it was the main reason why God allowed the Isrealites to wander in the desert for SO LONG! Anything that has the ability to rob us of our JOY by focusing our eyes on ourselves, rather than on the Lord takes on the form of an idol. How easily we forget what he has saved us from, the valley’s God has brought us through and how HE remains faithful, even when we are faithless.

Jeremiah 17: 5 This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."

Plainly spoken, ‘suffering’ from a spiritual drought due to a physical circumstance, is a choice……… Fixing our eyes on what we have lost, rather than being greatful for the awesome time we had together, is a choice.……. It can also be an idol that will most certainly stumble our walks with the Lord. It makes me wonder if we miss out on many of the Lord’s blessings due to an attitude/eye focusing problem. God is a God of mercy & grace, however, when we are busy throwing a fit, for whatever reason, we have the ability to miss out on our own promise land that God has set in His sites for our future. It is no surprise to the Lord, when we fall into this trap of self loathing and self pity. Unfortunately, for a God who so wants to bless our socks off, He can’t bless our disobedience, mumering & complaining. As we look back at the Isrealites and how they wandered for so long in the wilderness, what a bummer it is to ponder......... If we, by our actions, tie up his blessings of grace and mercy because of our sinful thoughs, how much we miss out on! He HAS the Promise land in store for each and every one of us if we are able to keep our eyes fixed on Him and His precepts!
The funny thing about me looking up scriptures on drought....... It has rained everyday consistently since I began this journal. Not all day every day but there has been a spell of POURING rain daily! God has a sense of humor doesn't He?

Pictures from our visit with Mom & Dad

All of these pictures were taken at the Naples Zoo on the Monkey Cruise attraction. They have pontoon boats that take you around some Islands on a man made lake. The monkeys do not like to swim so they stay on their own island without the need for bars, cages, ect.

John & Michaela

A lovely picture of Mom & I.

Grandpa & The kiddos at the beach. We packed a picnic lunch for this fun day. I thought we had quite a few more pictures of the kids standing on Grandpa's shoulders and diving in but they may have inadvertantly been erased. We all had fun that day at the beach and the last out of the water was Grandpa.

Here is a picture of the beach we were at. It is a very pretty place called Marcos Island where only Doctors and Lawyers can afford to live, but the beaches are public property and less crowded! We know to only go to the beach on week days, so we don't run into too many natives & foreigners that think clothing is optional! UGH!

It was such a nice time to get to visit with my folks. We all thought it went by way too quickly. We had a lovely mothers day celebration and just a nice time showing them all the sites. It was also very refreshing to get to chat with folks that keep you somewhat grounded to what is familiar, and who are bold enough to be transparent!

They did get to meet Sarah while they were here as well. Being the characters that they are John & Sarah put on quite a hysterical show of their wit and sarcasm! My mom said she hadn't laughed like that in a very long time! Once I find the missing picture I will share more!

Pictures/story of the accident

For all of you's who wanted to know about the

accident, it was pretty amazing just how much the Lord protected us! I was driving the kids home Thursday from Ben's Karate lesson at about 5:20pm. It was raining really hard so this makes the streets really slick. Hydroplaning on streets are a reality to be aware of during the rainy season. I was stopped at a red light with about 15 cars in front of me when I heard/felt a big thud from behind. I didn't see it comeing, which is a small blessing since there would have been nothing I could have done to stop the impact and if I would have inched any closer to the car in fron this would have been bad too! The impact was very sudden as the lady in a small Ford focus hydro-planed into my back end. When I realized what happened I realized my foot wasn't pressed hard on the brake as it was when I had first stopped and I was slowly moving forward toward the car in front of me. THANKS TO MY DADDY, who taught me to never get so close to the car in front of you that you CAN'T see their back tires (gotta love those things that actually stick!)....... anyway, by the grace of God and maybe an invisable angel that worked as a sponge between the car in front and me, I stayed far enough away from the next car up to prevent a huge bumper to bumper mess on one of the busyest streets in town! The lady who hit me, her car was very damaged and didn't appear to be repairable while ours is still drivable. The back bumper will need replaced and the back door, while it still opens and closes just fine, will need to be popped back into the right shape. OTHERWISE, there is no other damage! No broken glass from the back OR side windows that could have shattered on top of the kids and there doesn't seem to be alignment damage! The girls parents walked in the pouring rain to the scene where they profusely apologized. I felt such sympathy for this poor 18 year old girl & her family. Probably because at the age of 18 I had 2 accidents that were my fault and where I totalled vehicles all because I was being too reckless...... Her family had to walk to the accident scene as it seemed that she was driving the only car. Can you please be praying for this girl as she recovers and heals from this traumatic experience. Being 18 and knowing that she put the family in a pretty hard predicament must be a lot of pressure so please pray that their insurance company would speed up its usual red tape battle for them to recieve compensation soon!The kids pretty much escaped without any harm done except for the trauma of being in an accident. Abby's first response as I dialed 911 was to ask "Mommy, can we pray". She is always my tender-hearted one! As I talked with the 911 officer her big sister prayed with her, however, shortly after this and after assessing the damage to the car behind us, Abby broke down. She started sobbing "I WANT MY DADDY" over and over, so I cut my 911 operator short to comfort Abby and let her know everything will be OK. Shortly after that the kids were on to a much happier subject..... "Mommy does this mean we will get to buy a new car?" Yeah, from that statement I KNEW they were fine as they shared their extravagant wishlist of what a new car will have (A TV for every passenger in the back). They were a tad bummed when their bubble was burst and they found out the car was fixable! :o) The fire, police and ambulance showed up which also provided the kids with the needed distraction and people asking if they were OK or felt any pain. Here is another so cool God~thing...... John gets off everyday at 5, but on Thursdays he usually goes straight to the church for Men's prayer to wait for others to arrive at 6. On this day in particular he took an alternate route to kill time and not get there early. It would just so happen that his alternate route was right beside the accident scene. Once he saw our van he was able to stop and come see if everyone was OK. This was so cool that God heard Abby's prayer for her daddy. It was also very neat that he got to witness the scene so that he knew about it before returning home at 7:30 & extremely exhausted from his full day. After finding that we were all OK and Abby was calm he was able to get to the church in time!Last night & today I was feeling the results of whiplash & the light-headedness never left so I went in to the ER to make sure everything was Ok. Somehow during the chaos of the accident I lost my liscense. I remember the police officer handing it back to me but after that where I put it I am not sure. After looking for a while with limited range of motion, I had to take a detour to the DMV before being scene...... Hospitals are kinda funny about not wanting to see people without ID? Anywho, I got in to the room......... after my spine was X-rayed & head CT, the Dr said that I had no new injuries that she could see! With the fact that I have osteoporosis in my spine this was a huge relief to know that there was no further injury! My CT was OK as well, which is another big praise for someone who needs to keep what I have left on my brain!! I am still pretty sore and probably will be for another couple weeks as my muscles heal. Thank you for all your concerns and prayers!I just ask if you would please pray for a couple other things besides the girl and her family..... Could you please pray that the insurance would be expediant at doing their jobs on our side as well and that we find a good shop that will charge within reason of what the insurance estimated it will pay for repairs. Florida has some weird insurance laws so this will be a learning experience but I am sure God has a reason for everything and that maybe we will have opportunities through this to be a witness of Him. I am going to go to bed now but tomorrow I will post this on my blog along with pictures of the damage! I have my blog set up with a widget on the side that allows you to sign up to recieve any new entries, via e-mail. That way you can keep up without having to constantly check. If you already get them sent to your e-mail address you don't need to sign up again! Thank you for all your prayers! Here was the song that was playing in my head soon after the accident was over, and the realization of how much God protected us was understood:

The Lord is gracious and Compassionate, slow to anger and rich in Love (2X)

And the Lord is good to all, He has compassion In all that He has made;

As far as the East is from the West,

Thats how far He has removed our transgressions from us (2X)

Praise the Lord, Oh my Soul, Praise the Lord (2X)

HUGS all!

Here is the lovely rainbow that appeared after the rainstorm!

Some Pictures

I told them to make their mean faces but Abby couldn't do it without giggling terribly! Ben and Michaela are barely holding it together since Abby is cracking up so bad!

Since arriving here in Florida we have wanted the kids to get involved in some kind of activities.

The kids were doing drama with just a couple other children from the homeschool group. This was great fun and they even got to perform at an old folks home around Christmas time. However, when it came time to memorize lines and doing plays they seemed to lose interest pretty quick. This meant it was more work for mom to remind them to memorize lines and such. Once something extra-curricular becomes a chore it is no longer something fun.

Next, we tried the girls in a Christian dance class for an 8 week intro course of ballet/lyrical. They liked it OK but not enough to LOVE it. When it came time to sign them up again they asked not to. When they started their dance class, we told Ben we would find a Karate class but never really inquired about many.

As I began looking around I had rather high standards knowing what the Takata's taught back home so this made my search a bit overwhelming. However, God lead me to just the right place! The atmosphere was not too intense or over-indulgent in the mysticism behind martial arts but it is not all fun and games either. There is a high standard to begin with and a good amount of respect required of them. I am hoping that Ben will be able to keep up with the older kids so that I can keep them all in one class. They are in a 'trial period' for 8 weeks that was very affordable to see if they would take to it. The first lesson was a private one with just the teacher and the 3 of them in order to get the basic positions down. It was fun for them to get that one on one time to meet the person that is teaching them and be able to not feel totally out of sorts on their first class. Today was their first lesson in the class with other students. At the end on the class they made a pretty big deal about getting their first belt. I was actually very surprised that they are smiling ear to ear and enjoying it so far. I am very shocked that Michaela seems to be picking it up pretty well without too much effort. Their teacher has a teenage girl that is a black belt and has been in his classes since she was about 5 years old. I would say that the girls are slightly in awe of the fact that she has acheived such a high rank which makes them a bit more motivated to get there as well!!