5 Minute Friday - Join

Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.   Then join up with Lisa Jo and share your writings.  Here we go:

Join

Lying in bed procrastinating the day and snuggling with my son; the night was late and the morning, oh so early.  Checking my e-mail, I see 'Join'.  Uttering the simple word aloud with question on inspiration, my son begins to inquire.  I explained that every Friday we're given a word to write about, something for practice.  He said, "Mom, I have a perfect story for you."  (Paraphrasing his 7 year old tale):  We could go to someone's house and invite them to church.  Then on Sunday, when they arrived, we could teach them and their children all about God and the kids would have lots of fun and afterwards, they would love our church and want to join.

My heart was pierced with such simple yet profound wisdom from my son.  He had no prompting from his Momma, only from the Holy Spirit to spread His love; to evangelize and witness our testimony and to freely share it with others.  My friends, I have a missionary in the making.  But aren't we all called to join in His work and share His graces with others?  "...And a little child will lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)  My heart be still!

Blessed Mother's Day

Mother's Day began on Thursday with a tea at Madelyn's school.  What a very special day with my sweet girl!  She insisted on dressing up that day and looked beautiful!

I was showered with hand-made gifts, serenaded with two very sweet songs and also treated to some wonderful food.  What a special day!

On Saturday, Daniel came over and took the kids shopping.  They surprised me with a beautiful hanging flower for my front porch.  We enjoyed a fun day!

Sunday morning was so special!  At 6:45 I awoke to 3 beautiful children in my bed.  They had some cards and candy for me too.  David's card was made at school.  Inside was handwritten:  Dear Mommy, I hope you have a great mothers day.  Go down Stares.  I love you mommy.  Love David

Intrigued, I was led down stairs and found this:

My boy made it a point to wake up early, wake up the girls - including getting Molly out of her crib, set up their presents on my bed and make me breakfast.  He even cleaned up his mess.  And he did this all on his own!  I tell you what, he is going to make a little girl very happy someday.  But for now, he's mine and I cherish him!

After church, we picked up some lunch and went to the park to play.

Let me tell you, I couldn't have asked for a better day.  And I couldn't be more proud of my children.  They are precious to me and I couldn't imagine my life without them.  Be still my heart!

Date Knight

Our local Chick-fil-A restaurant recently hosted a Mother/Son Date Knight.  David and I took full advantage!  We started our evening with a lovely chicken dinner and some ice cream and cheese cake for dessert.  The whole restaurant was decorated to look like a castle, complete with maidens, knights and of course, King Cow!

After dinner, we headed to Monster Mini Golf.  We had a blast!  My boy was cracking me up dancing to the music as we played golf.  The arcade was fun too.  And of course, as in the past, no date is ever complete without a trip to the local Wal-Mart!  It was good to just get out, relax and have some fun with my David.  My son is growing up and I must say, he is quite the gentleman!

Birthday times 2!

So, Birthday time....  We celebrated David's 7th Birthday with a small family party through the week.  Then on Friday, Dylan came to spend the night.  David was so excited to go with Daniel, Dylan and Dylan's Dad Brian to go see Star Wars in 3D.  He had a blast!  My boy is growing up!

Star Wars 3D Coolness!

3 days later this year, due to a leap year, Molly turned the Big 2!  My parents came over and joined us as we celebrated with a Minnie Mouse theme.

I had more fun with these cupcakes!

Molly of course caught on to the Birthday thing real quick.  She blew out her candle before we were even done singing, and you could hardly keep her away from the "cake cake" or the presents before it was time.  She was super cute!

Molly Mouse

Well, that takes us through the first of March.  Stay tuned for more blogging fun!

Catching up!

So the blogging is few and far between to say the least.  No real good excuse, so let's save all that and just see if I can get you caught up.  We'll start off with Valentine's Day.

I have found a new love...Pinterest.  It's kind of hard to explain.  I guess it's kind of a cross between Google and Facebook.  Like a social search engine of sorts... Some think it's mainly a woman thing, but lately I've seen quite a few men jump on board this Pinterest band wagon.  Madelyn and I have been trying to find some new ways to do the do!  Ponytails and bows can get to be mundane.  So we tried something new in honor of St. Valentine.

Can you see the heart?  I pulled the rest of her hair up into two loose buns on each side of her head.  I have to say it turned out pretty cute for our first try!  And Madelyn couldn't wait to go to school and show it off to her friends!

David had a project where he had to make a box to hold his Valentine's.  Pinterest to the rescue once again!  It's amazing what you can do with an old kleenex box, some brown paint, and just the hint of an idea.

 

Well, shoot!  Mater looks ready to eat up some Valentine's don't you think?

Cool...for now

Last week I surprised David and Madelyn at school, stopping in to have lunch with them.  I figure I better do this while it's still cool.  I've heard around 3rd grade or so, it is no longer acceptable for your Mom to come to school to eat lunch with you. 

David was able to invite a friend so Jaden joined us as well.

 They ushered us into our own private room off the side of the cafeteria.  David and Madelyn both had packed a lunch that day, so I brought mine as well.  It was fun for them to teach me about their lunch routine.  I also got to meet several of their friends too.

Sweet nothings

"Mom!  Hey Mom," he whispered rather loudly through the baby monitor.  "Can you hear me?  I love you!" Standing over stove in the craze of evening, worn from the day and suddenly my heart swelled and my load lightened.  Power in the spoken word.  He bound down the stairs, excitement swirling, wondering if I'd heard his sweet message.

Proverbs 16:24
Gracious words are a honeycomb,
   sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Healing to the bones.  God's healing power in the spoken word.  I have to admit in the trenches of parenthood, my words do not always drip honey, sweet and healing.  Busyness, impatience, lack of rest....any of these can plug the flow of graciousness and spark a fire.   But sometimes, a word withheld can be as damaging as one spoken carelessly.  So why are we not more free to give praise to another?  To encourage, uplift, to be gracious or even offer forgiveness?

• You did a great job!
• Thank you so much for _________.
• You mean so much to me.
• I'm proud of you.
• You're such a great friend.
• Look how much you have improved!
• Your smile warms my heart!
• I really enjoyed my time with you today.
• I will always love you.
• I'm so proud to be your Mom.
• I love your hugs.
• Good morning beautiful!
• You are beautiful inside and out!
• I love the way you _______.
• I made a mistake.  Will you forgive me?
• I trust you.
• I have faith in you.
• You can do it!
• Tell me more.
• Hello cutie, sweetheart etc.
• What a gift you are to me.  

When David was almost three years old I joined him and his preschool group for a field trip.  When I arrived, I stood back and observed him and his friends for a few minutes.  He looked adorable and so grown up.  I approached him and said, "Hey cutie!"  His face lit up and he just beamed!  He called me cutie for about 3 weeks. 

Proverbs 10:11 says that the mouth is a fountain of life.
Be free with your praise.  Don't hold back on encouragement.  And use your mouth to speak life into another.  You won't regret it.


Psalm 19:14 -
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
   be pleasing in your sight,
   LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

A sure sign of Fall

Autumn is upon us, which means a trip to Anderson's Orchard for some apples.  There are orchards that are closer to use, but the u-pick is the draw.  It's all about the experience.  David is like a monkey in the trees.  The boy has no fear! 

Madelyn was a little more cautious than her brother and had a few times where she got stuck and had to be helped down, but she picked quite a few apples too.

Molly did a lot of her apple picking from the ground, but also wondered why she couldn't climb too.

She also did a lot of taste testing.

 

One more start of fall down in the books.  I see a lot of apple desserts in our future!

1st Day of School

Until yesterday, I don't think I'd let everything about this school year sink in.  But on the way to meet their teacher's and drop off supplies, I began to realize that for the 1st time, someone else will be spending more waking hours with my children than I will.  I became a deer in headlights.  I even forgot to get pictures of them with their teachers!  But after lots of prayer and thought, I know they are ready.  Today I was calm, composed and so proud.

Madelyn's 1st day of Kindergarten!

She was so excited!  I think she's ready for this all day schedule and I think she will do well! 

David I could tell was a little nervous this morning.  There is a big change from Kindergarten to 1st Grade.  But he will settle in in a few days.

Walking to the bus stop hand in hand.

Off they go!

And then there was one....

Molly seemed to understand this morning that things were going to be different from now on.  She cried just a little when they left on the bus.  We had breakfast with Daniel at IHOP and spent the morning doing some shopping.  I think by this afternoon, she's decided this won't be so bad after all. 

Wind Farms

A 10 mile stretch of interstate 65.  As far as the eye can see on both sides of the interstate.  Wind turbines.  There has to be thousands of them.  We used to see them up in Wisconsin and I was always so mesmerized.  It's hard to understand the shear size of these energy savers until you get right up close and personal.  And so that is what we did.

A few side roads and down the middle of a bean field and we were there listening to the low swishing sound of these massive wind mills.  So cool!

And just so you get an idea of how large these things really are:

Workers dwarfed by the size of the turbine blades.

Amazing "go green" energy producers.  Truly beautiful against a farm backdrop of green field and blue sky.

A Dairy Good Time!

Nothing beats a good Day-cation.  Today's destination: Fair Oaks Farms. 

I have been wanting to go here for years.  It is right off of interstate 65 between Chicago and Indy.  We had driven past it several times, and it just looked so fun!  Believe me, we were not disappointed!  We experienced a 4-D movie all about life on the farm.  We then walked through a forest, a corn field in the harvesting process, and an old time dairy farm.  So fun! 

How appropriate we rode in a bus painted like a dairy cow!

Next we took a bus tour out to the dairy barns.  We saw the HUGE milking carousel.  This resembled a very large merry go round.  There were 72 cows able to be milked at one time.  The cow walks into a stall and someone below cleans the teets then the electric milker is attached.  They are milked as the whole carousel moves in a circle.  It never stops moving, but when the cow returns to the beginning she backs out of her stall and is ushered back to her place in the barn.  It was one of the neatest things I have ever seen.  Fair Oaks is one of the largest dairy farms in the United States.  40 tanker trucks pick up daily producing 250,000 gallons of milk.  Not bad for a day's work.

 

We stopped into the cafe to refuel.  We had a grilled cheese sandwich with cheese made on site.  We also had fresh ice cream.  I had the butter pecan and it was the BEST ice cream I've eaten in a long time.  So creamy.

Molly enjoyed some ice cream too.

The kids then had some play time outside.  There was so much to do!!  Their favorites were the electric tractor.

After playing outside for awhile, we headed into the birthing barn.  When we 1st arrived, 2 mommas were resting easy with babies by their side.  But before too long, a first time momma cow was escorted into the barn.  We had the privilege of watching her bring not one....but 2 babies into the Fair Oaks Family.  That's right!  Twins!

They were born about 20 minutes apart.  The 2nd twin had a little trouble.  She had to have some assistance in getting her out, and the farmer performed C.P.R (including mouth-to-mouth) to get the little calf to breathe.  The whole place cheered when the new little calf began to move and kick.  The mother then spent lots of time cleaning her little calves and encouraging them to get up and move.  The kids really enjoyed seeing the baby calves come into the world.  They befriended an older couple in their early 70's and the 4 of them really got into the whole process.  It was really a great experience!

We had a great day.  We took our time, did everything we wanted, some things even twice and stayed until almost closing.  We all decided that we want to go back and do it all again some time soon.  Day-cation a success!!

Busy bees....

I recently found out that Ben Weaver, a friend of ours from church, was an official bee keeper.  Intrigued, I asked if we could come over for a field trip of sorts and see what this was all about. In addition to just being plain cool, I thought it would also help the kids to not be so afraid of nature's honey makers. 

Ben was great with the kids.  They truly learned a lot and he made them feel so comfortable.  They never once cowered in fear.  They listened intently to Ben and followed each direction he gave them.  He is going to be a great elementary teacher!

Ben explaining the ins and outs of the hive

Of course, to get a closer look, proper gear is required.

Ben also let them help use the smoker.

David smoking the hive

And finally, a look at the frames.

Looking at the bees filling honey cells.

No fear here!

The kids had a great day.  When we got home, I had them draw and journal what they learned.  They are no longer afraid of bees as they were before.  In fact, the other day, I found them bent over in the yard watching a bee collect pollen from some clover in our yard.  Thanks Bee-Keeper Ben for teaching us about the amazing honey bee!!

A catch!

I can remember fishing with my Daddy vividly.  I think in the beginning, I was more interested in everything around me than watching that bobber for a bite.  But none the less, he continued to take me and we made some good memories.  Well, now Dad was able to carry on that tradition with David.

 

David caught several fish that day.  Dad said they had been there about 5 minutes when David spotted the playground across the way and wanted to go there instead.  Like mother, like son.  David was the official worm-er, which if I remember right was always my job too.  He was a little skeptical of holding one of his catches.  After some coaxing, pleading and finally a napkin protecting him from the slimy fish......

I think he's having a good time.  Don't you?

A Kindergarten Mother's Day

For weeks, David and his class has been preparing for a special Mother's Day event.  He was so excited this morning he just beamed!  Upon my arrival, my boy met me at the door, took my hand, handed me a program and guided me to my seat next to his.  I was showered with gifts and then introduced to the class by my son.  Then the class recited 2 Mom poems and sang a special song.  Afterward, we enjoyed cookies and punch.  Then each child took turns telling one thing they like about their Mom.  David said I make the bestest pizza in the whole wide world!  I've always said a way to man's heart is through his tummy.  :)  Finally, we were given a special marigold in a decorated pot that David had started with seeds.  I couldn't have been more proud or felt more loved today.  David is a true gentleman.  He told me how nice I looked and served me my cookie and punch.  And he was very courteous to everyone around.  Tonight when he went to bed, he told me today was the best day ever!  And I think I have to agree.

Here's David with Mrs. Mitchell and classmate Danielle.  Mrs. Mitchell has the biggest heart!  The way she leads her class is impressive.  And she loves these kids!  A small handful of kids did not have their Mother come.  But Mrs. Mitchell handled it with grace.  She wore each of their special flowers made for their Mom and made each one still feel very special and loved.  So thankful for a wonderful teacher and true servant of God.

A sticky situation

So the kids and I were browsing around Michael's craft store.  They were all being really good and we were having a great time.  Then behind me I hear David say, "This gum is sticky."  I turn to find this:

My son had thought it a good idea to play with his gum while browsing the aisles.  I frantically began digging in my purse, the diaper bag and every pocket I could think of to see if I could locate a kleenex, baby wipe.... anything to clean him up, but to no avail.  So off we went up to the check out to see if we can find directions to a bathroom or a towel.

While waiting patiently for the cashier to finish, I began to calm and then chuckle.  I had to take some pictures of this mess.  I mean, I could explain it to anyone, but I don't think you could paint the best word picture to be able to capture what he'd done.  Do you see the big splotch of stickiness on his shoulder??  How DOES he manage?  The nice cashier directed us to the craft room with a sink in the back.  On the way, a few people began to chuckle as well.  Mind you, these people were shopping and browsing in Michael's with NO children.  If they had them, they were probably teenagers and would not be caught dead in a craft store with their Mom.  Oh, the dream!  But I digress.  So we finally get cleaned up and continue our shopping basically unscathed.   We even walked away with a lesson or 2.  The boy has promised to never, ever, never play with his gum again and to always keep it in his mouth.  And Mom has learned we never, ever, never leave the house again without some sort of cleaning back up AND we should always take time to pause, laugh and snap a few pictures. 

Hollywood!

After dinner one evening last week, Daniel took the kids on a little walk.  The older ones rode their bikes, and Molly cruised in her umbrella stroller.  Since it was sunny, we put Molly's sun glasses on.  She loved them and wore them for quite awhile before she learned she could take them off.

Madelyn had to have hers too!

While they were gone, I took the opportunity to go to the back yard to plant some more flowers.  They weren't gone but around the block and the last turn David made, he fell off his bike and it broke into 3 pieces.  I couldn't believe it!  The whole thing just fell apart.  Luckily Daniel was able to get it back together, but by then, they were all done with the walk.  I only got as far as getting the gardening supplies out of the shed.  Oh, well.  There's always next time.