A new week, a new month, another holiday

The kids and I are headed to the lake for the week...reading, sewing, fires, walks, eating, sleeping, playing, eating...all with no schedule or time restraints. The last hurrah before we begin our school year.

Last week, we focused on cleaning, sorting, tossing, organizing our rooms upstairs. We made some good progress. My house won't be spotless before our school year begins...I was hoping to get some deep cleaning done...but, oh well...

at least the kids can find their clothes easily and we know the ones that are there fit! And let me tell you...that is half the battle! The other half...which clothes aren't scratchy!?!

What is the best present you can give a Mom?

Dinner out! No meal plans, no dishes, no clean up, and dessert!

My husband...my love...knows exactly how to make my days special!

Teddy knows how to make me feel...old. "You're forty? You are like as old as a grandma! I thought you were only 24!"
"Happy Birthday to you...this is lots of fun!" Thanks, Daddy, for a fun supper at Machine Shed!

Playing...it is what we do best!

When is recess?

MMM...fresh picked raspberries...we took the lazy way out today...we bought another's "over-pickins"...they were 50 cents cheaper!

A neat addition to the play area...a schoolhouse complete with desks and chalkboards.

Teddy is a scary bus driver!

Since it was only the second day that the orchard was open, we got to watch as the animals came to live in the petting zoo for the fall. The baby goats were only a week old...they were cute!

It is always fun to practice your letters when you don't have to do it for a grade!

Maybe Ashlynn could be the teacher this year...she has "the look" down pretty good!

Big boys like big toys...these tractors are Teddy's favorite every time!

Mr. Turkey was awfully rude to us...I think he is not ready for his peace and quiet to be disrupted by hundreds of people making their annual pilgrimage to the orchard for donuts and cider. Ashlynn said that she "didn't remember ever seeing a turkey that looked like that". We laughed...Yes, dear, you usually see them shrink wrapped in the freezer section at the grocery store...this is what they really look like...on the farm...pre-plastic wrapping for our convenience! Teddy let us know that the "ugly one is the mom and this one is the dad".
I am thinking about shrink-wrapping his cute little mouth!

"Is your mama a llama? Don't be mean...it is just a question...don't spit, please!"

Birthday Fun

MMM...a new candle to blow out!

A trip to the orchard west for cider donuts and slushies...MMM!

A cheery friend to share our time...and treats! It is our most favorite time of the year...and God gave us a beautiful fall-like day...cool, billowy- clouds, and strong breezes...my favorite kind of day!

We will go back another day...soon! We'll have to get cider and see how big the baby goats are!

Update at Eight

Just talked to my Daddy...they arrived safely around 5:30p.m., after a couple comfort and fueling stops, and found a crowd of people ready to provide supper and help them unload. By 8:00p.m. they are all moved in and ready to spend the first night in their new home...in their own bed! At 8:00 this morning, we were bringing DD coffee and donuts...how much has changed in just a few short hours!

We are thankful for answered prayer today!

What's in your lunchbox?

This is my little bribe...uh, treat...um, reward box! All teacher's need to have little special surprises...I'm hiding mine in my lunchbox!

We've been focusing on purchasing the last classroom pieces and cleaning/sorting our bedrooms. Final classroom setup and decorating downstairs will come once I feel "organized" upstairs at home!

This was the hard part...

getting to this point...

or maybe it was this point...

or maybe the next few hours will be the hard part...or the next few days. We are praying for Dad and Mom as they drive today, unpack, and begin to settle into their new home and ministry! We are excited for this opportunity...but right now...it is hard saying goodbye...

We will go for a visit...soon...we have to bring Dad's shop-vac to him...we just couldn't find another nook or cranny!

"40-ish" becomes "40" becomes "40-something"

My wonderful sister supplied me with things to help me out in my old age.

The kids took turns with the camera.

The yummy DQ cake...maybe turning 40 isn't so bad afterall!

A long day finished...

time to stop and rest.

time around the table.

time to eat a hot supper.

time to wait for laundry and take a nap.

We love our customers!

Granted, we have a few that we don't appreciate, but without our customers...we would have no business! For the most part, our customers appreciate us. Our guys work very hard to do a good job and do it with integrity. If there is a mistake, great lengths are taken to make it right. Being a reasonable customer makes business delightful...being unreasonable...well, you need to go elsewhere!
There are several customers who appreciate the guys and their hard work, and they demonstrate that by bringing in treats...donuts, cookies, pizza, and a myriad of other delectables. Our goal is to gain customers for life!
This customer gift was worth a picture! To me, I see a part of supper or sweet bread. To Ted, he only saw a green vegetable. We are putting it to good use and will enjoy it...fresh from the garden goodness...now that's customer appreciation!

Van Ramblings and Roamings

We passed our old school today.
T-"Why are there so many cars there?"
They have started school. Today is their second day.
T-"Already?"
Alisa-"I am glad we are waiting till after Labor Day."
T-"Why do we even have to go to school anyway?"
Alisa-"We have to go to learn things...important things."
Ashlynn-"Well, just think, would you like to grow up to be Mom's age and not know anything?"
I smiled...because somedays...that is a big question mark! Case and point...

About ten minutes into our trip to Walmart, Ted calls me, "Where are you?" Um...we're at Walmart. "Are you ok?" Yes, why? (too much of a long pause, I guess, as I tried to get Ashlynn to move the cart holding our little buddy out of the way of aisle traffic while trying to find a refill for Germ-x and tripping over Alisa who was trying to hug me...and looking to see where Teddy went...I guess the answer should have been NO!) "Do you have your driver's license?" Yes, why, I used it at the bank. "Do you want to check?" Why? ohhh, it is not here...it is still there!? Man, now I have to go back... "I love you." (Sometimes...I hate cell phones...like when they are ringing at the bottom of your purse in a busy store with children prancing all around you trying to make a little buddy giggle...and sometimes...they come in handy and save alot of time!)

So....our 30-45 minute trip to the bank and Walmart turned into a two hour trip...when you count back-track minutes. I should have gone with my "gut feeling" and not even added the driver's license to the little drawer...all I was doing was making a deposit! I remember thinking about whether or not to include it...help me! When I went back...the teller apologized profusely...she hadn't even put it back in the drawer for me in the first place. So it was her fault AND my fault for not even remembering that I did give it to her!
I know one thing...I am not very efficient lugging four children around to do errands. I am easily distracted by those four children.
Next time...I am saying NO THANK YOU to the kind teller when she asks me if the kids would like suckers. A kind gesture turned into a debate about WHAT COLOR EACH OF THEM WANTED...yellow, blue, or green. CONFUSION COMES IN MANY SHAPES AND COLORS! If it was an argument...no one would have gotten them!
It is amazing that I can even remember where I am going and when to go...OH WAIT...I have three backseat drivers to tell me!
This Mom knows a few things...but I didn't learn it at school...there are some things that you just learn the hard way.

We had to do a little special something for our buddy...

so we got him a donut for his post-breakfast treat. The kids couldn't understand why I didn't get him one of their favorites...chocolate sprinkles...oh my! He doesn't know the difference yet...and the clean up from a plain one was easier! I am not always as dumb as I look...I learned a few things along the "eight-plus-year" way.

Our little buddy turns one on Saturday and we found some fun "big boy" toys for him! He is close to walking...right now...he cheats...two or three steps...and then down to a crawl...it's faster!

Tomorrow, he starts his new adventure with another babysitter, as we gear up for our new adventure in schooling. We're glad we still get to see him and spend time with his family.

This was a good thing for me to find this week!

When you are the neediest, He is the most sufficient.
When you are completely helpless, He is the most helpful.
When you feel totally dependent, He is absolutely dependable.
When you are the weakest, He is the most able.
When you are the most alone, He is intimately present.
When you feel you are the least, He is the greatest.
When you feel the most useless, He is preparing you.
When it is the darkest, He is the only Light you need.
When you feel the least secure, He is your Rock and Fortress.
When you are the most humble, He is most gracious.
When you can't, He can!

Eph. 3:20-21 "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory..."

What a wonderful list for me to focus on this week! God is good all the time...in little, every day occurrences and in the big, seldom happen events too! This list is not original with me, but oh, so good! I have several more things that God can do for me (and has done for me) that I want to add to this list...to make it personal.

So...I guess that shows how weak I can get in the flesh...if you read my previous post about "bracing". If I was thinking like I should have been...my post would have been about "leaning"...which is more of a relaxed stance...oh...I still have so much more to learn!

A little time as a family

A picnic at the park/zoo/lake surrounded by gaggles of geese, flocks of seagulls, and thousands of ducks and other fowl. We ate in a defensive stance. It was beautiful and breezy by the little lake of a thousand water fowl...and it was peaceful and quiet in its own rite...until Teddy started shooing and chasing. He found out that geese hiss out warnings!

This just made Ted and I laugh...sorry the sign isn't more visible...it is hard to take pictures of people without being so obvious! The bright green sign said...ANIMALS OFF EXHIBIT...yet several people were standing there in the zoo stance...ya know, lean on the fence and wait to see the animals move. I am not kidding...there were 10 to 12 people standing there. I wonder if the zookeepers do that on purpose and are hiding in camoflauge gear snapping pictures of the unique species of humans that do stupid things. It may be their weird sense of humor...or just a coping mechanism...for dealing with the average red-blooded American from smalltown USA day in and day out.

We saw many animals...most of them just laying around...since it was after feeding time, it was naptime...even on a cool afternoon. Or maybe the animals were just tired of performing all the time and decided to watch the strange creatures on the other side of the glass! I saw more body parts-too much skin, strange piercings, tatoos, and other amazing antics...and those were of the two-legged variety. I watched others...I watched my children watch others...I listened as Ted sucked air a few times in shock and awe of the sights...and I asked the Lord to protect us...not from the wild animals...but the wild choices offered to us by the father of lies!
We can make a difference as we live in the world...we don't have to be of the world...and the difference is seen by what is all over the outside of our bodies! It makes sense...that is how we could tell the difference between the animals...how they looked on the outside...well, that and what the sign told us to expect! Hmmm...

Bracing...

myself...for this week and the next.

It's the best description I have for what I am feeling! Just when life gets into a routine...change blows in all around. I look back through my life and see all the changes that I have survived. I look at my children and I see what changes have taken place even this summer! Change is good. It is exciting. It can be scary. It can be challenging. It can bring growth!

So what am I actually bracing for? Oh, I don't know...exactly...

1. turning 40

2. parents moving away

3. summer ending and autumn beginning

4. a new school year starting

5. unknown tests and concerns

6. a variety of new hats to wear

I know most people understand the waves of emotion that go with all these changes...some have experienced them already, some are facing them, and some will face them. I know there are also others that dismiss the emotional part of change...but not me, I am a female which means I am emotional. Happy, sad, mad, glad, fearful, trusting, and everything in between...it is all there!

It doesn't matter what the change is...it affects you whether you admit it or not...it is called life. Some times are harder than others, some are easier...it just so happens growing up and older...you begin to understand how these changes shape you...and those around you.

I want my children to see me handling these changes with grace, excitement, prayer, and trust in the Lord. Maybe that is what I am bracing for? Am I going to handle the changes with God's help? Or am I going to fall apart?

There have been days/hours/minutes where pieces begin to break off and I feel myself start to tumble...

and then I remember the story of Peter...walking on the water...he was a man...but he must have had those same (emotions) doubts and fears...because he took his eyes off Jesus and looked down at the water...

I did it again...

mixed drinks...Pepsi at supper followed with a cup of Tim Horton's...as we sat around the table and talked with Mom and Dad. Aunt Sara graced us with her presence. Our friends provided a yummy supper...and my Dad and Aunt Sara entertained us with their texting skills.
Many times tonight, there were references to the age of people. Here I am, late at night again...my eyes are heavy and my brain foggy, yet sleep eludes me. "40ish" people should probably not do this (mix their caffine laced drinks past the hour of 6 or 7 p.m.) since it has been consistently proven the effects are adverse! With age comes wisdom...I guess. I am still not old enough...at least till next week...to figure some things out! One of which may be the thrill of texting!

And there she goes...

daughter number two mastered the art of riding a bike with no training wheels! She did the same exact thing that Ash did...she just had to wait to be able to grab the bike and practice when Ash would lay the bike down. Now everyone has their own grown-up bike!

I'm still waiting for that inevitable first crash...and hoping that she will be wearing long pants, long sleeves, and enclosed shoes! Flip-flops and a crash...isn't going to be pretty! Crocs may be a little safer?

It did my heart good

My eldest daughter was having some difficulty in handling life during lunchtime today. I think it started earlier with a little girlfriend spat while they were playing. She had asked me what she should do about it and I gave her a couple of options to consider. She must have been a little more agitated about it than she let on, because lunch choices caused her to fall apart and become ugly. I sent her to her room to just be by herself for awhile, but that too turned ugly, forcing more corrective action.
I was headed upstairs to talk with her, but she came to me just now and without any prompting apologized for how she acted and asked for forgiveness. I hugged her, granted forgiveness, and told her how proud I was of her for making everything right without prompting from Mom! But more importantly, how her Heavenly Father is pleased by her actions.
Her heart is tender to wanting to do right...it just isn't always easy sometimes to do right when you are frustrated! What a blessing she was to her Mom! Oh, that my heart would always be just as tender!

Stupid dog

This is what happens when I am trying to work downstairs during nap time with the kids coming in and out of the house to "ask me something" or "get something". They don't close the basement door...which is where the garbage can sits...which needed to be emptied (why do I think anyone else but me can empty it when Daddy isn't home?)...which is then left to a dog's attention. Garbage strewn through the family room and a pile of wet coffee grounds staining my floor. Stupid dog.

"Who gets married on a Tuesday night? Traditionally, people get married on a..."

We got married on a Tuesday night...Eleven years ago! And whoever knows us...knows that whatever other people do or say does not dictate what we do! What dictated our time schedule...Sean and Becky's wedding on the 15th in Michigan, Mom and Dad were leaving to go back home to Canada, and another school year was starting. I didn't know this till we set the date (and were talking about the curled upper lips we were getting about our weeknight wedding), my Mom and Dad were married on a Tuesday night!

It was a beautiful...hot...day! The guys made sure that the auditorium was cool! The only missing pieces...Sean and Becky...they were on their honeymoon! So many friends from near and far came to be with us. And there were a couple surprises that day...a beautiful ring and my students singing for us...all done behind my back by this wonderful man and his co-conspirators!

I sang my heart's desire to Ted that day...and I am still singing the same tune often with tears in my eyes and a pain in my heart...knowing that I sometimes fail in being the kind of helpmeet I am to be on a daily basis...but I have always been true, faithful, and loyal...a blessing of God's grace and faithfulness in our lives!

"I promise you, I will be true. Faithful in all things, loyal to you. Walking beside you, sharing your heavy load. Lifting you higher and helping you grow. I promise you, I will be true!

I will walk beside you thru each tomorrow, I'll be there to help you thru every sorrow. Cheering every victory, suffering through each agony. I will keep you close to me, forever in my heart."

To My Darling Ted,

Thank you for your unselfish love and desire to do what is right. You are always putting other's needs ahead of your own health and desires. Thank you for leading our home and being sensitive to what God expects of us...as a husband and wife...and then as a father and mother. Today...and for all the tomorrows to come, know that I love you with all my heart...Always...Kari

Special treats...because he loves us!

We took a different route home from church last night. Ted told me his plan for DQ and I happily agreed. "Watch, let's see how long till they notice where we are going." Sitting at the light, I heard whispering which turned to hoots of joy as we made the final approach. It is still a treat to go out...because we don't do it as often as the kids would like. Ashlynn told us, "I like to go out to eat better than going through the drive thru." She is her mother's daughter. Daddy has spoiled us twice this weekend with special treats...and we say "THANK YOU!"
"That was the best meal! Thank you, Daddy!" said Ashlynn. "Yah, thanks, Daddy, Mom should be happy...she got the night off!" added Alisa.

The kids went up to the counter to get their treat, and were ready to order off the board. I had a hunch they might do that, so I walked up to remind them of their choices that came with their meal. "Aww, I was going to get a blizzard." The cashier chuckled as I told them what we had already paid for. Ted's comment, "Our kids have expensive tastes!"

Ted asked me if I was going to get ice cream..."um, no...I don't need to"...thinking on it more..."oh, will you split something with me?" He says to the kids, "Mommy is always taking my money." Ted flipped through his bills as Alisa watched carefully. He held out a bill and I took it as I got up, but not before Alisa looked at him and said, "Daddy, she didn't take your money, you gave it to her!"

You are so right, Alisa...I couldn't take it...if he didn't give it!

What a picture of Christ's love for us! It is not mine...if I don't take what He has offered so freely! And I didn't do anything to deserve that wonderful gift of salvation!

We didn't do anything to deserve special treats this weekend...but out of love, my husband and our Daddy offered those gifts to us...and we accepted!