Happy Birthday!!

We celebrated Lydia's 6th birthday and Katherine's 4th birthday this past weekend. We had a great afternoon spending time with family and friends. Lydia wanted a pink monkey party. Katherine wanted unicorns.

We had cake and ice cream at the house...and once the electricity came back on...we went to a party place where the kids could run and play. They had lots of friends there.

The girls in the "birthday" chair.

The girls with Tangerine and Scruffy...they've been inseperable since Saturday!

COSI

We went to Columbus Ohio for a few days this week to visit COSI and the zoo. The weather turned out to be too cold for the zoo, so we spent two days at COSI-the Center Of Science and Industry. Here are some photos of the fun

A street of 1898 A street of 1962 - our kids saw a telephone booth for the first time!

With the use of a very large lever, Steve was able to lift a car

Lots of play with clouds

Water table fun

We all live in a yellow submarine...

Steve and I rode a unicycle on a tight rope! There is no trampoline or mat under us, just the lobby of COSI and folks looking up. There is a 250 pound weight that hangs below the unicycle that keeps you and the unicycle balanced.

This is me on the tight rope ...just before I got stuck! I had no trouble peddling backward away from the station, however, when coming forward it is similar to peddling uphill...a very steep hill for a 98 pound weakling like me! About 5 feet from the station, I leaned forward to push harder on the peddles-which made the weight swing back...the 250 pound weight. They had to use "the hook" to give me a pull back into the station.

Just stand under the giraffe and he will tell you how tall you are!

This is Lydia learning about pulley systems while pulling herself up in a chair.

We had a wonderful mini-vacation!

Missing teeth...Missing Answers

Lydia lost a tooth while in school yesterday. I have no idea how it had hung in there that long! It was barely hanging on a week ago. I asked her how it happened...
Lydia, "I was sitting at my desk doing my work and my tooth was really hurting so I prayed to God and asked Him to help it stop hurting...then it fell out...it was floating in my mouth!"
Me, "were you wiggling it and playing with it?"
"No, I just prayed to God and it fell out"
"Did it stop hurting?"
"Yes"
"Then God answered your prayer didn't He?"
"...Well I guess" she hesitantly responded.

Isn't that just like us? How many times have I prayed to God for something...and even thought I knew the best way to get me there? Do you know what I mean? For as high as the heavens are above the earth so are His ways higher than my ways. I am so thankful that not only do I not get to decide the answers to my prayers, I don't get to decide how they are answered. I usually don't realize that I had it all planned out...how He would answer...until the answer comes and then I am amazed.

Like when Jesus was on the boat with the disciples and a furious storm came. The disciples were terrified, yet Jesus slept. They awoke Him screaming "we are going to die! Save us!" Obviously they were crying out to be physically saved from the storm...but His means were not what they expected. He did not make the boat strong enough to withstand the storm, He did not speak and move them to dry ground, He did not tell them to hunker down and He would cover them. He could have done any of these things, and maybe that is what they were thinking he would do. No. He spoke and His creation listened. The Bible says they were amazed and said, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him."

Or What about Martha and Mary, they sent word to Jesus that his friend Lazarus was ill. They were asking for physical healing from an illness, they knew Christ could heal the sick, they had witnessed that. The Lord did restore Lazarus...He did heal him. But not the way they expected Him to do so. He waited. Three days he waited. Long enough for Lazarus to die and lie there for four days. Then He answered.

The Isrealites waited on their king. A king that would come and save His people and take the throne. The Jewish people were living under the oppressive hands of the Romans. They wanted an earthly king who would come and conquer the Romans and free them from the yoke of slavery. God heard His people and answered the cry of humanity. He gave them a King who would rescue all people and sit on the throne for eternity. Being born of a poor woman, living the life of a servant, having no political power and ultimately being crucified as a criminal was not the way they had expected. Then He answered. Three days later.

God always answers. Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Sometimes not right now. However, even when the answer is yes...and immediate like when Lydia lost her tooth or Jesus calmed the storm, God seldom works in the ways we had planned. Lydia thought the pain would just go away, she really believed He would make it stop hurting. And He did. But she never thought it would fall out.

defriended

I have been defriended. It's not the first time I have been defriended, although this one is much less painful since it was really just the illusion of friendship that social media such as Facebook facilitates. The first time I was defriended I was 22 and it was a literal lifelong friend. I made a tough decision and she did not agree with it so she abruptly ended our friendship. One day we were the best of friends and the next day we were not. Just like that. It was on the phone that I told her of my decision. That was our last conversation. It was a terribly lonely time for me. I am not cynacal or bitter or distrusting of folks. It did however teach me a lot about friendships..how to be a friend and how to choose friends.

I suppose I should admit I have defriended someone on Facebook as well. It was a complete accident. For a time, Facebook had the option under someone's post to comment or like or delete or block. I meant to hit like and I hit block. After countless hours and a couple of weeks I was able to make her my friend again. I honestly thought I was going to have to call Mark Zuckerberg to get permission to be her friend again! We tried everything. I had to go into my privacy settings and change some things. Once I changed the settings, Facebook made me wait 48 hours before I could ask her to be my friend! I suppose that was time to think things over.( I think Facebook has changed all this now.) That is a good amount of trouble to go through but she is a good friend.

Back to my being defriending. I was not really defriended after all. To be defriended implies there was once a friendship. I was simply taken off a list. None of us really have 672 friends. I suppose our innate need to feel significant drives us to social media such as Facebook. The Lord put that longing there. It has a purpose. He deliberately created each of us with a need to connect...to know someone cares...to feel loved..to have relationships with each other. Most importantly to have a relationship with Him. Social media is just the newest way we have created to try and fill that void.

Dont' get me wrong, I enjoy facebook. I recently connected with a good friend from my childhood...so many good memories. And I have been able to keep up with another friends hospital recovery. I have the most fun on FB during NFL games as I chat with my fellow Cheeseheads. However, it can't be a substitute for those real friendships. The ones our parents and grandparents had...friendship that can't be ended with the click of a button.

The Things They Say...

We spent a weekend in Gatlinburg and as we pulled in one night the sky was clear and the stars were abundant. I said, "Joshua, look at the sky there are so many stars! You can even see the big dipper." Katherine, scrambling to get out of the car says, "I want to see the apple dippers!" I'm thinking maybe too many trips to McDonalds?



At the grocery the other day Lydia asks, "When I get big can I change my name?"
Me, "No, why do you have a different name picked out?"
Lydia, "Yes, Swirley! because I like to swirl and twirl like this!" ...as she swirls and twirls down the ailse.



Katherine, "I know what happens when you eat too much junk food."
Me, "Oh, what is that?"
Katherine, "You get flat."
Me, thinking she is getting flat and fat confused, "Really? do you mean fat?"
Katherine, "No, flat...like this" and she lies on the floor, flat on her back.



At a restaurant the other day Katherine exclaims, "Look! I not real!" and suddenly makes herself stiff like a statue, arms down by her side, neither blinking nor moving her eyes...staring at nothing.



On the way to school the other day Katherine says, "I hope we crash our car today."
Me, thinking she had a word confused, "What? crash our car?"
Katherine, "I hope we crash our car so we can buy a new one."
My husband obviously put her up to that one.


Preparing dinner the other night, I said, "This is may favorite dinner...it smells soooo good."
Lydia, "I know my favorite dinner!"
Me, "Really, what is that?"
Lydia, "That brown stuff with the red stuff on top."
Me, "I don't know what that is."
Lydia, "You know, that stuff that doesn't look good-but is really is?"
Meatloaf. Seriously, what 5 year old loves meatloaf?

Me, "You guys are going to Ms. Crystal's house after school tomorrow because I have a conference with Lydia's teacher."
Joshua, "What is a conference?"
Me, "A time for me to meet with Lydia's teacher to see how she is doing in school."
Lydia, "Oh, she's doing good."
Me, "What? Who is doing good?"
Lydia, "Mrs. Angie, she is doing okay at school."

Family Bible Time:
We were talking about the Israelites eating manna and quail for 40 years in the desert...breakfast, lunch, dinner...and yes, even snacktime. We asked the kids what they thought of that and Joshua said, "I would get tired of eating the samething all the time." Lydia says, "Well, only if it were Pop-tarts, I'd like to eat Pop-tarts all the time!"

A few nights later during family Bible time...Moses receiving the 10 Commandments. We asked the kids if they could name them, Joshua and Lydia were doing well so we asked Katherine if she could remember any of them. Steve gave her the prompt, "it starts with "do not..."" to which Katherine exclaims, "Do not bug!" (Joshua is constantly in trouble for bugging his sisters.)

On the way to school last week Katherine asks, "Mommy do we have eyebones?"
Me, "eyebones?"
Katherine, "yes, eyebones."
Me, "No honey, we don't have eyebones."
Katherine, "well they just talked about eyebones on the radio."
The radio was on but I had no idea what was playing. Joshua overhearing the conversations clarifies, "No Katherine, not eyebones...iphone...it's a commercial for the iphone!"

As the kids get older, the chores they are responsible for change. Katherine has watched the chore of unloading the dishwasher each day be passed from Joshua to Lydia and now to her. While unloading it the other morning she asks Steve, "When are we going to have another kid in the house?" She was quite disappointed in Steve's answer. I think she figures she is stuck with that one forever.

And just this morning while brushing Lydia's teeth, we were talking about Joshua bugging the girls and the appropriate response to such "bugging" when she asks-with all the seriousness a five year old can ask, "who is ever going to marry Joshua?!"

I have not deliberately been remiss in blogging. Simply stated, I lost the month of January. We may have a doctor in the house but we seem to get sick as much as anyone else! Between strep throat, the flu and the stomach bug, I have been somewhat busy.

I think one of the hardest things about being a mom of multiple youngsters is when I get sick. I had the flu for a week and before I could fully recover-came down with a stomach bug. Katherine at one point asked me if I was going to die. Although on day 7 or 8 I was thinking the same thing, I assured her that I would once again get off the couch and play with her. She said, "but when you don't eat you die. And you don't eat." My husband visited every fast food restaurant in town during those two long weeks. And I don't even want to talk about how many hours of PBS Kids and Nick Jr. my children watched! Joshua stayed home from school one of the days, we thought he had the stomach bug. Little did he know that I was sicker than him. He not only took care of me that day, he also took care of Katherine, and did a little laundry.

Anyway, we now have clean clothes, food in the house, I have spent lots of lost time with my kiddos, I'm caught up on my Bible studies, phone calls have been made, the budget is done, parts of the house are clean (it is never all clean), and so now I blog.

February 6, 2011 will go down in history as a day of excitement, elation, and disappointment for our family. For the first time in 45 years of Superbowl history the Greenbay Packers and the Pittsburg Steelers played for the Lombardi Trophy. Those of you who know us well know that Steve is a Steelers fan and I am a Cheesehead. Without going into the details of the game...the Lombardi Trophy came home! The height of my excitement was met equally with the depths of Steve's disappointment.

Disappointment. No one likes it. Everyone deals with it. So what do we do? Some disappointments are trivial such as losing a board game (yes we are still working on that one) or missing a ball game. Others are big such as not getting the job or finding out a friend has been lying to you. Then there are the life changing disappointments...maybe we call them tragedies - the unfaithfulness of a spouse or the diagnosis of a terminal cancer. We pray for a miracle, we beg and plead and maybe even bargain with the Lord God. Only to receive the answer we so feared.

Ultimately, regardless of the intensity of the disappoinment, we have to resolve the issue of Who God Is. This is for both the believer and the non-believer alike. What do I believe about God? Do I trust Him? A roller coaster faith is one that trusts God for what He does. A solid faith is one that trust God for Who He is. Do you see the difference?

One says I trust God as long as things are going good for me and those around me, but when bad times come (and they always do) I begin to doubt either God's sovereignty, His power, or His love for me.

The other says I trust God. Period. No matter what life hands me I know God is Sovereign. God is Good. And God loves Me. I just spoke with a friend the other day who spoke those words to me...she has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Partly because of life's circumstances but also because I am reading an incredible book entitled Lies Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets Them Free (which I think every women should read!). I am also in a Bible study that is addressing these same foundational issues. Interesting to me that it just all lined up so that I am concurrently reading that particular book (of all the books on my "list"), taking this particular Bible study (chosen by our group 2-3 months ago), and dealing with some hard life issues. Some call it coincidence. I call it Sovereignty.

To get back to February 6, 2011. Being the supportive and empathetic wife that I am, I could only boast for so long. Although my team truimphed over my husbands, I went out of my way to brighten Steve's day on the following Monday. I took a surprise goody tray to his work that included treats such as cheese puffs, queso dip and chips, and cheese chunks. It's a great time to be a Cheesehead!

Pinewood Derby 2011

I once heard someone say that a blog is a place for mom's to brag on their kids. While I strive to bring my readers more depth than frivolous accounts of our day and self-indulgent photographs...this is going to be an exception!

Joshua competed in the Boy Scout Pack 777 Pinewood Derby last night and brought home the coveted Coolest Car Trophy.

While his police cruiser may not be able to catch the other hot rods in a high speed chase, it was voted the coolest car by his fellow boy scouts.

Look at the size of that trophy!

Way to go Joshua!