Christmas Day

In reverse order because that is how blogger loaded them and I am not fixing it!



Ready for bed after a long day.
















Looking at the gingerbread house!
















He didn't like the bubbles in the bubble bath.

Me and my man

Credit for photography on these go to Will and Joseph! Not too bad, huh?

Family pictures

I forgot to say that I am so thankful for our friend, Kelsey Thompson, who gave her morning yesterday trying to capture the fun that is our family. Kelsey is a ballerina with Ballet Magnificat and commutes from Kosciusko to Jackson to dance with the company there. Thanks, Kelsey!

Quick update

We are all well and enjoying the busyness of the advent season. My shopping is done and we are wrapping up school for a few weeks. I have been cleaning like crazy the past week or so, and the house is neat for once.

Last week, Joe accepted a call to plant a church in Culpeper, Va. We hope to be on the field in Culpeper June of 2009. In the meantime, Joe will continue his job here in Kosciusko and will be raising the support necessary for a church start. We will basically be missionaries to Culpeper and will be asking churches and supporters to "send" us. It is an exciting and unsettling time, and we are looking forward to seeing God's hand guide us.

We are currently planning on putting our house on the market early in January. Selling a house in such a small town is always a hit or miss proposition, and recent economic troubles will only complicate it. But again, we are trusting in God's provision. He will provide a buyer or if not, He has an even better plan for us that might just include growing our patience during hard times!

Subtle sage (although it looks blue to me!)

Remember the ugly wallpaper in my dining room? Well, after much angst over choosing a color, we finally painted it on Saturday and I put the finishing touches on today.

Again, it is one of those things that I now look at and say, "Why didn't I do that 2 years ago?"

Now, if anyone has ideas on how to fill those huge empty walls, I'm all ears.

I survived a week at the PCA MNA Assessment Center

We are home and settling back into the routine. The Assessment Center was intense, but so good. It was amazingly intimidating to be judged all week, even if I knew that the assessors where wanting to discern how we could best be used in God's kingdom. We have our hearts set on church planting, and so it was such a weird position to have our plans hanging in the balance until we were approved. But, in the end, we were recommended for church planting and were greatly encouraged by the whole process.

It was so fun to find friends among people who were excited about seeing the church planted in new areas--people who were passionate about Jesus and His call to ministry in their lives. I am praying for James and Sindy, who have moved to Ca. in hopes of planting a church there, and that their house would sell soon in St. Louis. I am thankful for good conversation with Kate--a kindred spirit from Miami who is the mama of two little boys. I am praying for Kristy and McCay, who know so many of the same people from MS that we do. Kristy is a non-denim-jumper-wearing homeschooling mama too and she is doing the same curriculum we are. I wish I could've had time to ask her 500 questions! Then there are Bradley and Meda, an RUF couple who don't know where God is leading, but who are ready to go. Jon and Mary Love, Joe and Josie, Jon and Jennifer, Steve and Huyn Soo, Bob and Marilee--all couples who we connected with as we shared the common experience.

It was humbling and convicting to sit under the teaching and direction of the gifted assessors who gave their time to try to help discern where God is calling us. I was blessed by their thoughtful critiques and wisdom. I am praying for their churches too.

The week reminded me again that Jesus is building His church. That the kingdom is advancing. And I am excited to see how our family can be a part of that growth!

30 years is a long time for ugly wallpaper to be on a wall

What I did today :

It already looks better and I haven't even painted yet.

What David learned today (note the small cut glued together on his forehead--thankfully we avoided stitches):

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Field trip to the pumpkin patch

Joseph--"This is the most fun place that I have ever been."






Horses, goats, sheep, llamas, ducks, bouncy inflatables, pumpkins, a picnic, a 6 foot iguana, and getting to chase and catch a pig....what is not to like?!

My husband

My husband, Joe, just had a review published by Reformation21, which is the online magazine of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. You can see it here.

Isn't that cool?

Afternoon in the yard

David

Was just under the 25th percentile for weight and just over the 25th percentile for height! The dr. was so pleased with his progress that he said we don't need to bring him back! Praise the Lord for such a clear answer to prayer!

Update pictures

I don't know why I haven't been blogging much recently. There has been a lot going on though.

The boys and I have ventured into homeschooling and are surviving so far. We are using the Phonics Museum by Veritas Press, Saxon 1, and supplementing with extra books. The boys are learning a lot and are proud of themselves. They are also realizing that school is not always fun--that it is just hard work some days. But that is a good lesson too. :)These are some of our sweet friends from church who come over for lunch on Fridays.

Joseph and Will are on a soccer team this fall and we are all really enjoying it. They lost their first game Tuesday and will play again tomorrow.

Charlie is growing by leaps and bounds and is already starting to loose some of that cute "newly walking" baby toddle that I love.
David goes back to the pediatric endocrinologist in October. I have been stuffing him full of food, but he is still SO skinny.

Joe and I are going to two church planter assessments in November to help us discern God's calling in our lives. It is very exciting, but also stressful and unsettling.Joe is getting over shingles. He told me today for the first time that the pain was starting to lessen a bit.

We got a super new-to-us camera that is so cool and fancy. It takes fabulous pics, but they are hard to upload!

Fun messes

Joe was out tonight and so the boys and I had fun trying a concoction from my friend Mary. Mary was one of my first and dearest friends in Jackson, and she has had a huge influence on my mothering. Our firstborns are a few months apart and I got to watch her face things with Samuel as I faced them with Joseph.

Anyway, she posted a recipe for "Goopy Goo" on her blog and raved that it held her kids attention for some good fun times. I can second her approval of the stuff. If you have ever seen Gak, it is very much like that. And since it is made with a little Borax, I like to think that the little pieces that were flung under my kitchen table and all over the kitchen floor (that I will be picking up for the next week) are cleaning as they sit there. :)

Butter

Last week, we were learning about the letter and sound B and one of the activities was to make butter. I actually remember making butter when I was in first grade. They had all 6 classes of first graders sit in a huge circle and we passed around the jar of cream with each child giving a shake or two.

Making it with the boys went much faster than I remembered--only about 10 minutes from start to finish. It was fun to watch the cream go from liquid to smoothie consistency and finally to butter and butter milk. Just as we were finishing up, Joseph dropped the mason jar on our brick kitchen floor and it shattered, of course. I scooped up what I could and we ate it anyway (very carefully).


Here are a few pictures of the boys before the drop.