Tim loves to tuck Michael in bed at night. He tells him that he loves him and that Mommy loves him and then asks, "But who loves you the most?" Michael smiles and answers, "Jesus."
Today the Lord reminded me of the same thing. I've messed up today. I yelled at my kids, I was lazy with my word, I didn't respond in love when I should have. But then I sat down to read God's word and he reminded me how much he loves me. How cool is it that God loves us not because of anything we've done, but just because. Such a simple lesson, but such a great reminder!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Chores
Michael is getting so good at doing chores. He can load silverware, plates, and cups in to the dishwasher and can clean up most of the entire living room and his room. Now I do need to say that he is no where near fast at it or perfect. When he cleans up toys, he is easily distracted and plays with each toy before putting it away. And after he puts away silverware, I have to go through and resort the soup spoons from the regular ones. But he is getting in the habit of doing chores and that is the important thing. In addition, of course, we have the usual "I don't want to" and "I'm too tired" that any parent probably gets. I usually just repeat the instruction and Michael knows that I'll follow through and make him complete the task no matter what.
Today I just realized that Jonathan is getting old enough to start teaching him to help with the chores too! You may be saying, wait, I'm keeping track and he's only 10 months old?! Yes, I know. But that is the perfect age for me to start teaching him about putting toys back in the buckets. He is so good at emptying them, so why not teach him to fill them too. I start by just taking his hand in mine and helping him to pick up a couple toys - that's it at first. Later we can move to cheering for him to pick them up on his own. :)
Today I just realized that Jonathan is getting old enough to start teaching him to help with the chores too! You may be saying, wait, I'm keeping track and he's only 10 months old?! Yes, I know. But that is the perfect age for me to start teaching him about putting toys back in the buckets. He is so good at emptying them, so why not teach him to fill them too. I start by just taking his hand in mine and helping him to pick up a couple toys - that's it at first. Later we can move to cheering for him to pick them up on his own. :)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Memorial Day picnic
On Monday we had our church Memorial Day picnic. It is always so much fun to get together with these great folks just to hang out, chat, play, and eat!
Michael had a blast playing all sorts of sports out in the grass. He hit baseballs, threw footballs, and ran all around. Jon had a blast on a blanket with a buddy of his who is only a month younger than him. They stole each others toys, grabbed at each others hair, and tried to drink from each others cups.
Our church has been our life here in Pittsburgh - we love our West Ridge family. We sure are going to miss them when we move. It has been a bit bitter-sweet this month. We are so excited about all that God is doing in leading us forward, but that also means starting to wind down on some of our involvement here. If only we could just move our church family with us....
Michael had a blast playing all sorts of sports out in the grass. He hit baseballs, threw footballs, and ran all around. Jon had a blast on a blanket with a buddy of his who is only a month younger than him. They stole each others toys, grabbed at each others hair, and tried to drink from each others cups.
Our church has been our life here in Pittsburgh - we love our West Ridge family. We sure are going to miss them when we move. It has been a bit bitter-sweet this month. We are so excited about all that God is doing in leading us forward, but that also means starting to wind down on some of our involvement here. If only we could just move our church family with us....
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Jon and the Bathtub
Jonathan loves baths. He gets so excited when we carry him into the bathroom and practically jumps out of our arms and into the tub. Tim is usually the bath giver, so he will take the boys up and get them settled. Without fail, about 5 minutes later, he is calling out, "Jonathan is done, can you come get him!" You see Jon enjoys the bath so much that no one else can enjoy the time much.
Tim feels like he is one arm short in bathing Jon. You need two arms to hold him and one arm to clean him with. Jon crawls all over the tub, stands up, tries to crawl out, grabs at anything and everything, and well you get the point - he is a handful (or more like three handfuls).
Poor Michael is resolved to hiding out in the corner of the tub. Jon splashes and splashes him, grabs at his toys, and tries to crawl over him. I think it is the only time Jon seems to have the upper hand in their relationship.
And me, well I try to sit down for some peace and quiet while Tim is in charge of the boys and five minutes later, my quiet time is over.
Jon's favorites:
*Splashing until everything and everyone is soaked.
*Trying to drink out of the plastic cup in the tub.
*Having water dumped over his head!
Tim feels like he is one arm short in bathing Jon. You need two arms to hold him and one arm to clean him with. Jon crawls all over the tub, stands up, tries to crawl out, grabs at anything and everything, and well you get the point - he is a handful (or more like three handfuls).
Poor Michael is resolved to hiding out in the corner of the tub. Jon splashes and splashes him, grabs at his toys, and tries to crawl over him. I think it is the only time Jon seems to have the upper hand in their relationship.
And me, well I try to sit down for some peace and quiet while Tim is in charge of the boys and five minutes later, my quiet time is over.
Jon's favorites:
*Splashing until everything and everyone is soaked.
*Trying to drink out of the plastic cup in the tub.
*Having water dumped over his head!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The Lord's Timing
Last year about this time we were hearing from the Lord that we were moving back to the Grand Rapids area. We sent our resumes, looked at schools, and tried to get ready for the move and no doors opened. We wondered if we were to step out in faith like Abraham. Then we met with Pastor and God opened a door for us to remain in Pittsburgh for another year and for Tim to complete some classes online.
So now back to this year. The Lord is still telling us to head back to GR and so we started searching again for doors and can I just tell you - they are opening with no effort on our part, one right after the other in front of us as if the Lord is pushing those handicap buttons for us. We put out one call for realtors and found a pair that are working out perfect for us. We had an offer on the house that was going to have some snags and it fell through only to have another one come that we've accepted. It is for the perfect amount of money and with the perfect closing date! (June 26 by the way.) The Lord has someone great to take over Tim's job at the church. We have several leads on jobs ourselves. And I got an e-mail from my adviser at Calvin saying that this was the last year I could get back into my master's program and asking if I wanted my name added to the scholarship applications. Not only did I add my name but I ended up getting two scholarships that will pay for almost 2/3 of my tuition for this year. Oh, and would you believe I just got $5 out of a cereal box this morning?
The Lord is so good at providing!
So where does that leave us? Well, we just continue to walk through the doors and wait for God to push the button to open the next.
So now back to this year. The Lord is still telling us to head back to GR and so we started searching again for doors and can I just tell you - they are opening with no effort on our part, one right after the other in front of us as if the Lord is pushing those handicap buttons for us. We put out one call for realtors and found a pair that are working out perfect for us. We had an offer on the house that was going to have some snags and it fell through only to have another one come that we've accepted. It is for the perfect amount of money and with the perfect closing date! (June 26 by the way.) The Lord has someone great to take over Tim's job at the church. We have several leads on jobs ourselves. And I got an e-mail from my adviser at Calvin saying that this was the last year I could get back into my master's program and asking if I wanted my name added to the scholarship applications. Not only did I add my name but I ended up getting two scholarships that will pay for almost 2/3 of my tuition for this year. Oh, and would you believe I just got $5 out of a cereal box this morning?
The Lord is so good at providing!
So where does that leave us? Well, we just continue to walk through the doors and wait for God to push the button to open the next.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
What part of spring are you?
As part of a blog challenge at Sweet Shoppe Designs I took a "What part of spring are you?" quiz. My hubby will be proud to know that I'm:
Funny thing is we're actually planning our first Bball outing of the season for next Sunday. We're taking a group of kids from church with us so it should be a blast! Hopefully the Pirates can pull together and win for us!
Want to take the quiz yourself?
You Are Baseball Games |
 You like old fashioned things. You're one of those people who values tradition. You enjoy a slow pace of life. You believe that life is all about enjoying every moment. You love the changing of the seasons, and you look forward to what each season brings. You are smart and a bit obsessive. You become very immersed in your interests. |
Funny thing is we're actually planning our first Bball outing of the season for next Sunday. We're taking a group of kids from church with us so it should be a blast! Hopefully the Pirates can pull together and win for us!
Want to take the quiz yourself?
Saturday, May 9, 2009
The house
Our house is on the market. For those who don't know, we are packing up and moving to Michigan this summer to be closer to family. So we have our house of for sale. So here is the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The bad: It has been very hard getting people to come and see the place. It's been on the market for almost a month now and we've had three showings. Our second showing led to an offer, but it was soon after withdrawn.
The good: We just got a call from our realtor saying that the person who came through today (our third showing) is very interested. He is going to be finalizing some financial things on Monday and then might be ready to make an offer. So you all can be praying about that!
And what is the ugly you may ask: I'm suppose to keep the house VERY clean so that it is ready to show whenever. Now I've never been a great housekeeper, but this has got to be hard for just about anybody. Especially since Jon is just loving the fact that he has learned how to crawl and is trying to find all the cool places he can go and all the fun things he can pull out of their place. And just today he learned how to open the the kitchen cupboard where the trash is kept, so we might be in for even more of a treat! Michael, while he can make a mess just as good as any other 3 year old, is at least old enough to help with the cleaning too now. He picks up toys, helps sort laundry, does some of the dishes, and also keeps Jon distracted so I can clean the bathroom without Jon crawling on me and grabbing the cleaning products. So Michael has been a huge help, but I think he will be done with cleaning for a long time after all this - and maybe I will too!
The bad: It has been very hard getting people to come and see the place. It's been on the market for almost a month now and we've had three showings. Our second showing led to an offer, but it was soon after withdrawn.
The good: We just got a call from our realtor saying that the person who came through today (our third showing) is very interested. He is going to be finalizing some financial things on Monday and then might be ready to make an offer. So you all can be praying about that!
And what is the ugly you may ask: I'm suppose to keep the house VERY clean so that it is ready to show whenever. Now I've never been a great housekeeper, but this has got to be hard for just about anybody. Especially since Jon is just loving the fact that he has learned how to crawl and is trying to find all the cool places he can go and all the fun things he can pull out of their place. And just today he learned how to open the the kitchen cupboard where the trash is kept, so we might be in for even more of a treat! Michael, while he can make a mess just as good as any other 3 year old, is at least old enough to help with the cleaning too now. He picks up toys, helps sort laundry, does some of the dishes, and also keeps Jon distracted so I can clean the bathroom without Jon crawling on me and grabbing the cleaning products. So Michael has been a huge help, but I think he will be done with cleaning for a long time after all this - and maybe I will too!
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