Memories of Old and New

I love traditions. I do wonder sometimes if my love of tradition comes from my not liking change though. Christmas is filled with many traditions for many families. Over the years we have had to make some changes with our traditions to better fit our family size and what was happening in our lives at that time. One tradition we have let pass is a live Christmas tree, though we have many great memories of hunting for the perfect tree over time it has worked better to pull the one we have out of the attic. Actually now we put up two trees so we can enjoy all the ornaments we have accumulated through the years. As our children move out of our home our tree will be pretty bare as many of the ornaments belong to them. That is a tradition we have kept; each year each of the kids receive an ornament that has (hopefully) something to do with the past year and shared memories.

For fun we got into our old pictures and though some of my children will groan at these pictures it has been a lot of fun to look back over where the Lord has brought us. So I hope you all enjoy these pictures, if for no other reason than the changing hairstyles.

Our first Christmas as parents in our first house.

We remained the three of us for the next Christmas in our second house.



Joel was just a couple of weeks old here as Allison celebrated being a big sister.

Our third home and still my favorite, though it came with a lot of hard work.

Jeremiah joined us for 11 months and we watched him grow and develop.

(I've misplaced some pictures) Our family added Natalie.

.
Ken and I are getting older and not always as willing to be in the picture.

Daniel joined our family the next year.

This isn't exactly a Christmas picture but we did have a great time at

Brookfield Zoo in the winter.

(Not sure if they still have them but in the winter there were free days.)

I threw this one in because I just love the look on Natalie's face!

Daniel was a snowman in his school program.

One of the wonderful blessings received when we moved into our current home was wonderful neighbors - several of them. One family in particular has joined us on Christmas Eve for several years. Our children took it upon themselves to act out the story of Christ's birth. Some years were more serious than others but they were always a delight and wonderful memories.

Molly and Brandon became a part of our family the next year,

things were really hopping now!

Here is a picture at Grandma's house with my sister Jennifer sneaking into the picture.

Another year of the Christmas story. More 'characters' contributed this time.

Another year patiently waiting at the top of the stairs. Though we don't
"do Santa" we do make the kids wait until everyone is ready to go downstairs.

Nathan was still at Eagle's Nest the next year so we felt that part of us was missing this particular Christmas. He would be home the coming June.
Family minus one.

Celebrating last year with Ken's mom.

We enjoyed a quick photoshoot in the park this past Sunday as it was snowing.

There were cold people but lots of smiles. Another memory made.

Merry Christmas 2009!


For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

Outside the Box

I struggle with wanting to save the neat things that the kids have worked so hard on and not having enough storage space to save each and every little thing they make. I have a good-sized plastic tub for each of the kids. In those tubs we save things that represent milestones in their lives. For instance swimming lesson report cards, ticket stubs to a special concert or event, programs from the latest piano recital, or a special card they received.

It is fun to look back at things they have made and done. I hope that when they have their own kids they will enjoy sharing these momentos with them. In the mean time there are certain things that you can't store in a box. So here are a few I thought I would share..

Molly's turkey could probably fit in her box but he'd be smashed after a while.

Of course Brandon's spelling words written on the white board wouldn't fit in his box.

Joel's Great Wall of China definitely didn't fit in his box and would have been a shame to not be remembered as it took Joel quite a while to get it just right.

An Eygptian pyramid didn't fit in Natalie's box.

Could have put this picture in a box but it looks better on Joel's wall.

Joel won Third Place in a local photography contest with this picture from his trip to

South Africa.

It wouldn't be a good idea to put the meal Daniel made for his Food Consumer Science class in a box. But we did enjoy eating it.

So while it is good to have the boxes to store those special things in not everything fits in the box. That's where the camera comes in handy, because while these projects don't fit in the box, the pictures could!

(On a totally different level: I have some thoughts swimming in my head lately to blog about but I need to find the time to sit down and put them all down.)

Look Mom - I'm 8!

This post is extremely overdue but I didn't want to miss a chance to blog for Molly. She turned 8 in September. Molly's glass is half full most of the time. She is growing up before our eyes and is quite a delight! I thought it would be fun to show some of the many faces of Molly through the years. She has a beautiful heart to match her smile.

Happy #8

Molly loves her Daddy!

Several pictures as she has grown.


Not so happy being a frog.

Molly Happy Belated-Blog Birthday!

We desire for you to grow in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and man.

I am a Mom by God's Grace

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about being a mom. What does it mean to be a mom? How do we parent 7 children when each of them has particular needs and unique quirks? How do we be everything we need to be for each one of our children? Some days I feel that I am failing miserably, other days I find myself thinking, "that went pretty good". I feel totally inadequate on so many levels! Help!

As you read this you may notice what I noticed about my way of thinking - it's all about me. Oops. You see I didn't get to be a mom all on my own, the Lord brought me to this place. Though part of my life is a dream come true, the only reason it is what it is is because the Lord has brought me to this time and place. I had been taking God out of the equation, trying to be a mom on my own steam. I can't be everything to my children, only the Lord can. I have been in the Word and greatly enjoying a study of David recently, but in the mom department I had not been recognizing the Lord's presence. ( I thought it was men who were the ones to compartmentalize.)

So..... what to do now. Well, first I need to take in some principles from my study of David. I need to recognize that I am right, on my own I'm not the best mom. It is when I moment by moment rely on the Lord that I handle situations appropriately. Remember when I am weak, He is strong. Secondly, I need to follow Christ's example. Respond to my children as Christ would respond. He shows me infinite grace, I need to show more grace to my children. Talking with other moms I don't think that I am the only one who feels the Lord tapping on my shoulder when I'm talking to my children. And lastly, I need to ask God to remind me of the reason I am a mom. I am right where the Lord put me, being the cracked pot I am He desires to fill in those cracks and to use me in the lives of my children.

I need to seek refuge in the Lord on the days when I feel worn down, I need to rely on him fully each day. Recently our Bible Study teacher shared that she set her timer for 30 minutes during the day to remind her to recognize the Lord's presence in her day. Excuse me while I go set my timer.

Twelve and Two

Don't know where the time has gone but about a week ago we celebrated Natalie and Nathan's birthday. We had had a larger family party earlier so the actual day was sort of quiet. Nathan enjoyed opening his presents and his siblings enjoyed helping him learn how to use them. Natalie had a few friends over for pizza, games, and a movie. If you can judge by the screams and giggles they had a good time!

Here are a few pictures. Somehow I didn't take many pictures especially of Natalie. I will post some of our young lady soon.

Nathan playing in the backyard- he's 2!

Natalie and Nathan getting ready to blow out their candles. Twelve on one side of the cake, two on the other. They were having some fun.

Nathan is all boy and seems to have a great sense of humor. I've been concerned about his speech but he is saying more words and the pediatrician is not concerned. It will be interesting to see if with all the other kids in school if he has more opportunity to speak. :)

We were excited to see that he is growing. He is now at the 12th percentile for height (he was at the 5th percentile) and the 22nd percentile for weight (that is up a little also). While he looks small it is fun to see him understand new things and join in with the big kids.

Last night we ate on the patio and as soon as Nathan got down he joined three of his older siblings in a game of soccer. As he was running across the backyard he yelled, "Mom!" and when I looked he smiled a big smile and took off running after the ball.



Natalie is enjoying her soccer season. She prefers defense and does a pretty good job at it. She loves baking and decorating cupcakes though Saturday I had to tell her she needed to not make them so often. Even when I freeze some they get eaten up very quickly!

Natalie tolerates piano for her parent's sake. She plays very well but would prefer to just play songs she likes - while I understand the reasoning behind the drills, scales, and learning certain songs it does make me wonder if kids could play what they really liked if some would stick with it longer. I love that it puts music in our house though. With Allison away at school and Joel very busy we don't hear the music like we used to, though Molly is taking lessons now and Brandon is in a little Joynotes class.

What a delight these two children are (as well as the others). They bring a lot of laughter to our home. Just this morning I was listening to the radio while running some errands and I was reminded how children are a blessing from the Lord. Yes, they truly are.

Happy Birthday Natalie and Nathan!

Conversation at the Soccer Field

We had our usual morning of soccer games mixed in with their team picture day. The weather is beautiful and it is a lot of fun to watch. It is also a great place to meet people in our town that I don't already know.

Just as our last game was finishing up a mom with her three children spread out a blanket and started to eat lunch. The youngest little boy I had seen playing earlier and he looked to be foreign. So I decided to be brave and strike up a conversation with her, I'm not particularly good at that. As we talked I asked her about her little boy and she said he had come home about 6 weeks ago from Ethiopia. Our conversation for a short time was interrupted with celebrating and picking up lawnchairs and quilts, but then it continued. She had seen Nathan and asked me when he had come home.

This is the fun part (I think) - I asked her if she had some support around her and she told me that in our town in the few blocks around her home there are 5 families in some part of the process of adopting from Ethiopia and they were getting together for their first Ethiopian fellowship very soon! Now you may wonder why I found this exciting since we have not nor are we planning to adopt from Ethiopia. Well, my reasons are three-fold.

First, any adoption excites me as it is a chance for a child to have a permanent family and because of a mutual friend I am lead to think that this is a christian home. Second, this is a great thing for these children coming to a little town in America to have other children from their home country nearby. Maybe they won't be best friends forever, but they will have some things in common: their country of birth, the color of their skin, and the experience of adoption. Thirdly, as I spoke with her she asked me if I had support during our adoption and I mentioned our church's adoption ministry and she immediately asked me if I went to Bethany. That's how I heard of the mutual friend. It is good to know that people are aware of the ministry at church. It is a great conversation starter and also a great way to offer support to families any where in the process of adoption. I shared with her about a family coming home with their little girl just last night and how we have another family waiting for their referral any time. We were strangers but could celebrate in a small way together for these families.

It was a lot of fun watching our kids play soccer on a beautiful day. And it was a sweet time of hearing how God is using ordinary families to do wonderful things.

Off They Go!

This was the scene on our sidewalk this morning as five of our children headed back to school. It's such a bittersweet time of year - the summer is over, another year is starting, the days are no longer all ours to do what we want with. But it is nice to get back to the structure and schedule.

Ken went into work a little late to walk with the younger three to school.

Joel is a Junior! Now I have no idea how that happened - it has been a whirlwind. The picture doesn't show it but he was a little reluctant to get this picture taken. Pretty soon we start college visits - yikes!

Here is our 8th grader, Daniel. His last year of junior high

and he is looking forward to be the topdog at school.

6th grade, the last year at the grade school. Natalie enjoys school and her friends.

Second grade is a little intimidating to Molly but she was very excited about her new teacher - "She is sooo pretty and nice!"

Brandon was so quiet this morning I knew he was nervous. When I asked him what he was feeling he said, "A little nervous and a little excited." He came home delighted with his morning and happy to announce that he had made a new friend.

Of course Nathan has to be in the middle of everything. Here on our front porch I think he was trying to figure out how to get into this backpack of Natalie's. He is going to miss his siblings during the day.

So another year starts. Remember to pray for your children's teacher. I would encourage you to find a Moms In Touch group for your school and if there isn't one currently meeting to start a group! What a blessing to pray with other moms for our children and school.

Here is a link for the Moms In Touch Group Locator so you can find one for your school:

http://roster.momsintouch.org/GroupLocator/

And if there isn't a group yet for your school here is a link on how to get one started:

http://www.momsintouch.org/leaderscorner/GettingStarted/tabid/69/Default.aspx

A Camping We Will Go

We had planned to camp for an extended weekend all summer. The temperatures this summer have been cooler than most so it really sounded like a great idea. Well the summer days got away from us, compounded by two teenagers with differing work schedules so it wasn't until last weekend that we actually got to camp. We had jokingly said that now the temperatures would go to the 100's - really we were joking. It didn't make it to 100 but it was mid-90's throughout the weekend. But what's a camping trip without a little sweat.

What you don't see in this picture is our 4 oldest kids dancing to music on the radio in the car beside us. The entire mini-van was bouncing up and down.

Brandon going for a swim courtesy of Daddy.


The first day Nathan didn't care who he was with as long as he was in the water. He didn't wear the life jacket much, we were trying to see if he would float in it. He and Joel hung out on the inner tube for a little while.

Our temporary home. We hadn't done any real camping for about 10 years and 3 kids ago. When we got our camping gear out of the attic Ken and I got a good chuckle when we saw an old list. After ten years we still needed the sippy cup and blankies that were on the original list.

Daniel got to do some fishing. Didn't catch any thing but lost some bait to nibbles.

Ken went along to encourage Daniel and to help untangle the line.

So this is why there are weird pictures of thing I don't remember on the camera. Busted!

Doin' dishes. Camping is work!

After our last dinner at camp - spaghetti - Nathan said he was, "aw du".

Even after packing up before the storm came we had a lot of fun and made some good family memories.

It's Almost Over

I remember when I was younger my dad would say that summer was almost over when the Fourth of July came. While now I think there is quite of bit of summer left at that point it still seems like the summer months are too short.

We have a couple of fun things left to do in a very short period of time but our summer is really almost complete.

This has been a fairly uneventful season for us and honestly that is nice. Nothing big has happened, but that also means we have not gotten our house stained as planned. (Now the plan is to do it early fall.) The garage sale I had thought about all summer almost happened this week but then I decided to just donate what we had and forget it. Did I mention that while I like to go to someone else's garage sale I dislike having one of my own very much.

We register the younger kids for school this week and next week they find out who their teacher and classmates are. Joel begins cross country practice next week. Though he has been running this summer with much of the team this is a new venture for him. Allison heads back to school in two weeks though she is displaced from her actual apartment until the pro-football team heads off campus.

There are things I look forward to as the new school year begins and things I am never quite ready for. Getting back in an actual routine is nice. But I cry the first day of school each year, it is such a sign of the kids growing up. It is fun to see the Lord's hand in putting certain kids in their path and in choosing their teachers. This year honestly I am looking forward to the one-on-one time with Nathan that comes when school starts. His siblings love him so much that often I have to 'fight' to get some time with him.

Many thoughts whir through my head at this time of year. I am so very thankful for our family, for where the Lord has placed us, and seeing God's hand in our lives.