Something to Ponder...

Roman asked me a question this morning that still has me thinking. He is so profound. It's a question I'm not sure I am theologically qualified to answer. Although I have some different ideas running through my head, I'm probably going to need some help here. Father D? Jeff? Anyone else? Let me know what you would say. Remember he's 3. :)

"Did the Holy Spirit die on the cross?"

It's a tough one, huh?

As I understand it, the Trinity has always existed. Three in one. Free of what we know as "time". Before creation, and outside of what our finite minds can grasp. All three persons have always been. (Gen 1:26)

And yet, Jesus had to die in order that he could descend to hell, be raised to life, and ascend to heaven...all so that he could give us the Holy Spirit. (John 16:7)

There is always something to ponder. What do you think?

1000 Gifts (14)

261. understanding friends (who don't judge you for a complete outburst of emotion in public)
262. new books to challenge me
263. free new books thanks to sweet, generous friends :)
264. silence
265. Psalm 73:26
266. when food tastes good to me
267. teenagers who are hungry for truth
268. cool breeze
269. underdogs
270. red head coming down the slide
271. that this season will pass
272. witnessing two becoming one
273. family
274. dusk
275. footie pajamas
276. early ultrasound...so nice to see little hands and hear strong heartbeat
277. smell of hospital soap reminding me of the pain and the joy
278. big blue eyes
279. birthday money
280. knowing prayers are heard and answered

Big News

think February 2011...

In Case you Don't Live in Iowa...

Ten feet of water in Hilton Coliseum. The basketball court was floating...

http://www.cyclones.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10700&id=718487&db_oem_id=10700

1000 Gifts (13)

I want to be thankful everyday, for everything. I want to be more consistent about doing a 1000 Gifts post once a week. I want to be thankful in all things, even in the storms of life. Which, right now...living in Iowa... I mean quite literally.

241. clean, running water to drink
242. clean, running water for showers
243. the opportunity to sort, organize, throw away, and clean
244. an excuse to light lots of candles
245. an excuse to stay in the air conditioning
246. a nice house to live in
247. sweet, generous neighbors
248. friends getting married!
249. best husband ever
250. getting out of the house!
251. compliment on not needing a new dress
252. jumping, chasing, laughing little boys
253. Truth
254. marital wisdom shared by friends
255. Judah trying to say the ABCs
256. Roman playing the guitar
257. people who cherish life
258. the beauty of the storm clouds
259. a safe neighborhood
260. that God knows what I don't

When You Desire an Overflow...

Sometimes I don't realize what I'm saying until it comes out of my mouth.

Yesterday, as I was making dinner, Roman yelled from the other room "Mommy, I need more cold milk!"

I responded, "Roman, you need to bring me your sippy cup and then you need to ask me using some nice words".

He came into the kitchen, holding his little yellow Sesame Street sippy cup, and said "Mommy, can I have some cold milk please?" (And, yes, he always asks for COLD milk. It's not like I have ever served him warm milk, so I'm not really sure why...but it is what it is).

"Thank you for using good manners!", I said. I got the milk out and held out my hand waiting for him to to hand me the cup.

Suddenly he clutched it closer to his chest and said "No".

"Roman, if you want me to fill your cup, you have to give it to me".

And in that moment it hits me like a ton of bricks.

Jesus said, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink', you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water"
(John 4:10).

I have asked. I have begged. I truly have the desire to change.

I want Him to fill me.

I know that only He can do it. And I want him to.

And, although, He wants to, he can't if I won't let him.

He can't fill me when I get distracted and turn away, he can't fill me when I refuse to surrender.

When you are thirsty...
When you long to have an overflow...
Just give Him your cup.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Psalm 23:5

Funny Boys

Sorry it has been SO long since I posted last! We have been busy around here! I wanted to be sure I got a few of these funny stories down before I forget them...so here goes:

Roman

• One day I was laying with Roman before his nap time, and he said "Mommy, what does a porcupine say?" This is a common dilema...he will ask us what the most random animals say...we usually just make something up. But this day I said "What do you think a porcupine says?" He poked my arm with his index finger and said "boop". Now you know.
• Life with Roman is like constantly being in a spelling bee. I don't mean to brag, but I did win the eighth grade spelling bee, so I'm usually pretty confident. :) But, seriously, all day he's asking "Mommy, how do you spell hat? Mommy, how do you spell Carter?" etc.
• Here's a good one. I think I've already mentioned that Roman is now potty trained! YAY! Anyway, the other day, as I was making lunch, Roman left the toy room, went to the bathroom, did his business, and returned to the toy room. A few minutes later I hear him saying "Mommy, what's it do? What's this do, Mom?" So, I went to check on him...only to find that he had stolen a tampon from the bathroom and had dissected it into 3 pieces. Neat.
• Roman is really starting to understand church. It's so exciting to watch him growing and learning. What an awesome feeling as a parent to know that your child is beginning to love the thing that you most want for him in life. A few weeks ago, one of our favorite priests of all time, Father Dennis Miller, moved from St Thomas in Ames to a new group of parishes in northern Iowa. We miss him already! But, we made a card for him before he left, and I asked Roman "What does Father do at church?" and he said "Father says 'Jesus' and Jesus comes down and walks with the people". He is also really starting to understand communion. When we go up, he says "Now you go and drink the wine that Jesus bleed". I just keep praying that he will continue to desire to know and love and serve the Lord!
• I overheard this during play time the other day "I love you, Judah. You're crazy!"
• Also, Roman is always trying to get Judah to make his "silly face". Which =

honestly, it's one of my favorite games because they laugh so hard at each other.

• The other day Roman was in the bathroom and I heard him say "This is a penis. It's not a toy." Not that I have to say that 80 times a day or anything. :)
• Baby Eliza (Ryan and Kathleen's sweet 2 month old daughter) was at our house the other day...when she was crying she sort of snorted. Roman said "She's like a pig".
• More on the topic of potty training...(like it ever ends!) We were eating at a restaurant with some friends way back in the beginning of June. It was just before Roman's birthday. We were out with all the lovely ladies in my women's Bible study and all their kiddos. We were seated next to a very sweet couple who were so patient and kind to our children. They told us about their grandchildren and it was obvious that they loved kids. As we were finishing, Roman wondered over near them and the lady asked him to come talk to her. She said "How old are you?" He said "I'm gonna be 3 on June 15th!" As if she knew...she asked our "trigger" question "What do three year olds do?" And Roman diligently responded with what we had been drilling into his head "Three year olds go potty on the toilet!" The man could not stop laughing. Only he didn't know it was about to get better. A few minutes later the lady commented on how adorable Eliza is and asked how hold she was. Kathleen told her...only to be interrupted by Roman's in depth explanation of childbirth "When I was born, mommy went to the hospital and pushed me out". We left quickly so as not to impart more graphic information that the poor couple never wanted to hear over dinner! :)

Judah

• is always making us laugh! Unfortunately, there are not a whole lot of stories to really type up because it's more just his nature and his reactions to things.
  
• He is still not talking a whole lot, although he does have a few new words to add to his vocabulary: down, no, mine, jump, elmo, boo, pizza, potty, ("der go" for "there you go"), he sings "Row, Row, Row" at the beginning of Row, Row, Row your Boat, yay!
• He is so so sweet. I love how he is smiling all the time and says "hi" in an excited high pitched voice to anyone in sight.
• He LOVES my grandma. He always wants to sit with her and touch her hair. She was running her fingers on his legs the other day and he was, literally, in a trance. He almost fell asleep sitting up.
• loves music and dancing
• still loving books. He is really into any books that have pictures of Veggie Tales characters. Especially "The Veggicational Book" from Aunt Angie. Bonus points if you sing him the Veggie Tales theme song at the end of the book. He tries to sing along...so cute.
• He also tries to sing the ABC's...which mostly comes out as "B B B B B B B" - but it's in tune!
• Has puppy radar. We have actually been looking for a dog since that was what Joe promised Roman as a potty training reward. Whenever we see them he can't stop saying "dog! dog!" in a very deep voice, or "pu-ppy" in a sweet little voice. So cute.
  

Well, that's the latest rundown. Sorry that it was so long since I'm trying to catch up! More to come soon!!

This Might Be Controversial...

...but that hasn't really stopped me before, now has it? :)

In all seriousness, though, I am about to write a post on something that is very important to me. My goal is not to offend anyone, but to provide encouragement. Feel free to tell me if I am crossing the line in some way, as that is not my intention.

Most of you probably know that I'm a stay-at-home mom. It has always been a dream of mine to be able to stay home with our children and I am incredibly thankful that I get to do it. I am forever indebted to my dear husband, who makes it possible for me to spend all day every day with our children. It is only because he makes it his priority everyday to provide for us that we are able to do this.

Now, moms come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and personalities. We all have different dreams, goals, priorities, and talents. We each have our own fortes, weaknesses, pet peeves, and passions.

No matter our differences, I think we can all agree that we share one commonality: loving our children more than life.

Each family functions differently on a day to day basis. We all have different family situations, living situations, work situations, etc.

We are married, single, divorced, widowed. We are happy or depressed, we are pleasantly surprised or we regret that things turned out the way they did. We work full time, part time, stay at home, work from home, use a child care center, in home daycare, nanny or family/friend babysitter.

None of these is the "right" or "wrong" way to parent a child or children. None of these things mean that some parents love their children more or less than others. As parents, our lives will always be a combination of joy and struggles, no matter what our situation.

I want to be clear on the fact that I know and have a great deal of respect for a wide variety of moms. Moms that live and mother differently than I do.

My mom had to work so that we could pay our bills. Later she was a single parent so, even more so, she had to take on the role of breadwinner. I will probably never know how difficult that was but I am thankful that she did what she had to do for our family.

I have a lot of friends who are working moms...full time or part time. They are all incredible women whom I love and admire.

I also have stay-at-home mom friends who love what they do and I love them for their example to me.

So, the real reason for the post stems from a couple of different things: I had a conversation with Lindsay the other night (expecting her first babe! YAY!!). She was saying how she never thought that she would want to be a stay-at-home mom, but that she and her husband have decided that it is really important to them. They are going to make it work regardless of what sacrifices they will have to make.

Also, I have kept up with a lot of high school friends on facebook. People I really don't know that well anymore, who are saying how sad they will be to leave their baby when they go back to work. How they wish they could stay home because they can't stand the thought of someone else being with their baby more than they are (regardless of how wonderful the caregiver is!)

And it just made me think.
1. I know that staying home isn't for everyone. Whether it's because you love your job or because you can't afford to live without the income (or both!), I applaud you for the hard work you are doing for your family and for the people you come in contact with at work. It can't be easy to juggle work outside the home and work inside the home, but there are many women who do it remarkably well.
2. I know that there are a lot of women who really want to stay home with their children but think they can't afford to. This is who this post is really for.

Again, I know there are cases where it absolutely isn't financially possible, and I'm not trying to put those people down. Everyone has to make the best choice for their family based on their individual circumstances. I just want to encourage those moms, who truly desire to stay at home to really look at all of your options. Look at the ways you can cut back and live more simply. Look at some other options for earning extra money. It might be something radical, but if it is really a priority to you, you'll be willing to do some things that other people aren't willing to do.

In our marriage, and our journey as parents, we have gone through times of abundance and times of scraping for every last dollar to pay every last bill. But, I will tell you that we have always felt very blessed to be able to make it work. We have always found a way even when it was really uncomfortable.

Here are a few things that we do to make staying at home possible for me:
1. We have one car. This one is my least favorite, but for now it's the best way to save money. There are a lot of days when I'm very frustrated that I can't go somewhere, but it's worth it to me to stay home. I have to ask myself...what's really important in your life? It's a good reminder.
2. Joe's brother lives in our basement. We lovingly refer to him as "the creepy man in the basement". :) In all reality, Tony is a huge blessing to our family. He was going to move out and then plans fell through for him. As we were talking about whether or not he would find a place without roomates in the fall, we decided that little bit of extra income is very beneficial to us right now.
3. I have done temporary in home child care. It was actually a really good way to learn that that is not my forte. I loved teaching and working in childcare centers, but in home daycare wasn't my thing. But, the offer came at a time when we needed a little extra cash, and so we took it. Probably won't do it again anytime soon, but it met a need and now we're done.
4. We don't usually pay our babysitters. That sounds really bad! What I mean is, we usually wait to take a date night when a family member is available to watch the boys. We have also traded with other couples...or taken a rain check on trading with expecting couples! :) Every couple needs some alone time...after all, good marriages make good families, but you can still find inexpensive dates. On our last date, we used a restaurant gift card and went to a dollar movie while our "creepy man in the basement" :) watched the boys. I think we spent $10. For the record, we do pay babysitters when we need to! I mean, we try to be frugal but not stingy!
5. We make our own wipes. Joe refuses to do cloth diapers, but I know a lot parents save money that way. Everybody has to pick what they want to sacrifice on, and that just isn't it for Joe! I can't say that I'm all that upset about it either. :)
6. We don't eat out as much as we used to. Trying new restaurants is one of my favorite things so it's hard not to, and we still do more than we should, but we have cut back quite a bit.
7. We stick to necessities. Well, as much as we can. I'm sure I'm a big hypocrite on some of these things! I never do any of these things perfectly, in case you didn't catch on to that! My point is, before we make a purchase, before we spend money on most anything, we put some thought into it's importance. What do we really want to provide for our children? What do we want our family to look like? Unconditional love, a foundation of faith, good friends, time with family. We want to meet their material needs. We want to provide healthcare. We want to give them social and cultural opportunities. We want them to have fun and be filled with joy and peace. So, we have made the priority me being at home rather than buying a DVR or a new summer wardrobe. Although, I'm thinking I need to buy a new dress before the weddings I am going to this summer...the one I have had since freshman year of college is looking a little worn!

I can't think of any more right now. But, as Lindsay and I were talking the other night, it made me want to share more with other women so that they might feel a little more empowered in making a decision to stay home or work. Everyone wants to be able to provide great things for their kids. Some of that includes material things, but what better way to provide for them than to be present with them as much as you can?

So, whether working mom, or stay-at-home mom:
What are your tips on living simply?
What are your tips on being truly present and purposeful with your kids when you are able to be home?

Sleeping Babies

Apparently my boys can sleep anywhere... Why Roman chose the tiny corner of his closet, I will never understand! :)

Belated Birthdays!

I have been a huge procrastinator lately...and so here, FINALLY, are the pictures of the boys' birthdays! I have lots more from the big party we had with our friends, and more pictures of the boys enjoying the summer...you can view those here.

Roman's new kitchen from Grandma Susan
Roman's guitar cake...I have been trying to get into this tradition of making a special cake for each of the boys on their birthdays...Roman requested a guitar. I was happy with the shape, but I definitely should be gone with licorice for the strings....it kind of looked like a 5 year old did that part. :)
construction hat and trucks from Grandpa Tony and Grandma Suellen
Roman in his cool new hat from Grandma and Grandpa. Judah climbing into the box to get the truck....or just for the sake of climbing. :)
Judah likes cake!

we got a pool for Judah for his birthday...and Roman picked out the big blue ball. So sweet!
Judah's puppy cake
My cute three year old!
And my adorable one year old!