Ahhhh...Summer!

If you're hot this summer, Cora would like to show you what to do.

1. Find a fountain.

2. Look to make sure the water seems inviting.

3. Touch the water to make sure it's just the right temperature.

4. Once you are satisfied with all of your tests, just stick your whole face in and let yourself go!

5. Be pleased with yourself for finding such wonderful refreshment on a hot summer day!

O-R-E-O

Do you enjoy...

...your Oreo cookie...

...this much?

Well, you should! :)

There's just no pleasing us!

We complain when it's winter and we're cold...

...so God gives us spring and summer and we complain because it's HOT...

...so He sends us the rain to cool us off and we complain because it's raining.

I guess we just can't be pleased. How aggravated God must get with us sometimes. Every year I try not to complain about the winter. If we didn't have winter we wouldn't have a beautiful spring. I try not to complain during spring when it rains a lot. If it didn't rain we wouldn't get to see all the green grass and plants coming to life. I try not to complain during the heat of summer (somehow forgetting I hated being cold during the winter). And I try not to complain during the fall with complaints of "winter is coming too fast this year!" We are a fickle people, aren't we? I guess as fall comes this year I need to remember not to complain but remember there is a reason for all these seasons and I should "simply" marvel at the beauty God creates in each of them.

Fun with Grandad and Mammaw!

One of the things we have enjoyed the most about our move from Michigan is being closer to family. We live with my MIL and her new husband, my sister and her family is an hour away, my parents are 2 hours away and my FIL and his wife are 3 hours away. This is a VAST improvement for everyone involved! Last week my husband's dad and step mom came up to see us for a couple days. It was HOT, HOT, HOT, but we still managed to have a good time! It was so much fun for us to see Cora get reacquainted with her Grandad and Mammaw and it was fun for them to see how much Cora has grown and changed since they last saw her 4 months ago. Below are a few of my favorite photos from the visit!

Reading her new book with Mammaw

"Grandad, this is your WATCH!"

Walking in the park

Putting on a show for Grandad and Mammaw

Cora decided to entertain herself in the hotel room by getting in and out of the cupboard! :)

Two Lovebirds

Today is my sister and BIL's 7th wedding anniversary!!!!! WOW! Seems like just yesterday I was returning from Cameroon, Africa 20 days before their wedding and hoping I hadn't missed out on all the fun! They have not always had it easy--dashed hopes in ministry, loss of several unborn children, heartache, questioning "what's next," and not always understanding the path God has sent them on. However, I know with certainty, that my sister and BIL love the Lord and in turn, love each other with great passion.

When they got married I was still single. I had many people ask me if I was upset that my younger sister was getting married first? WHAT? Seriously??? NO! I was ecstatic that my sister was able to marry the man of her dreams and was able to build a life with him! I wasn't at all upset, though it made me upset when people would ask me that. Their wedding was beautiful--full of love, life and laughter. Other than my own wedding it was the most fun I have ever had at a wedding. The food was good, the cake was DELICIOUS and the company was great. I remember being so happy and proud of my sister for marrying such a wonderful man.

My BIL is a gem and has become a brother to me, not just an in-law. I love how he loves my sister and treats her with such respect and love. He challenges her to be a better person and praises her and encourages her in her strengths.

These 2 have built a beautiful family. I have 2 nieces and 1 nephew who I have had the privilege to love and spend time with and watch grow. I know my sister and BIL do not take these children for granted as they have suffered the loss of 4 who we won't meet this side of heaven. I know that has been more than hard for them, but I also know it has taught them, among other things, to not take for granted the children the Lord has blessed them with.

Their love for the Lord and each other has been an encouragement to me. I love them so much and am proud to call them, not only family, but my friends.

Happy Anniversary Jamie and Ruthie!

HA! HA! You thought wrong!

So, you thought it was only the grandkids we had issues getting to cooperate in photos? THINK AGAIN! :)

We love you, Dad! :)

A Birthday Party for Grampy!

Last week was my dad's 58th Birthday. We all got together in the town my sister and BIL and their kids live to celebrate on Saturday. We had a great time, as usual! :) My sister and BIL have had a Chinese grad student living with them for 3 years. My mom asked Shirmy if she would be willing to make a Chinese dinner for my dad's birthday. Of course, Shirmy said yes, and we all partook of some wonderful, authentic Chinese food! Shirmy put on quite the spread for us, and we all ate until we were way too full! :) Shirmy has become a part of our family these 3 years so it was nice to have her join us!

There was the usual cake and ice cream and gift-opening. As well as the obligatory photos trying to get all the kids and adults to look at the camera, with a smile, at the same time! Not too easy, let me tell you! :) In any case, I think Dad felt loved and well-celebrated and we all had a marvelous time!

Shirmy making dinner

All the yummy food!

Aren't they so cute? :)

The 3 oldest grandkids finger painted pictures for Grampy and I put them in a frame. I think he liked it! :)

This is the best one I got!

A Question for You

What is cuter...

...than a ...

...sleeping...

...baby?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

THIS! :)

Sit down and EAT!

I'm not talking about food today. I'm talking about spiritual food. Have you ever been spiritually hungry? Spiritually thirsty? Feeling like you're wandering around a desert wondering when you'll get your next "meal," or "drink?" This is how I've been feeling for the last few years. David and I were doing most of the teaching at the church we were ministering and unless we went to a conference put on by our denomination we were not being fed in a church setting. I have to admit that during that time I was terrible at having my own personal quiet time with the Lord. I know this didn't help the situation but it was my reality. David and I would pray together pretty regularly, but I don't know how else to explain that time other than feeling as though I was in a wasteland.

When we moved to a new city in May David and I were praying that the Lord would guide us to a good church--a church where we might be fed and nourished and get some healing. We have found that church! I don't know how long we'll be at this church but as long we we're here I am drinking it all in. I told David that I feel like the Lord is saying, "Sit down and EAT!" I don't feel pressured to sign up for every need the church needs filled, I don't feel pressure to have lessons prepared and I DON'T miss the stress of feeling like everyone is picking me apart, or my husband, or us in general. Now, this is not to say that I don't want to serve in a church, or I don't ever want to lead a Bible study, or anything like that. What I'm saying is I am not able to do those things right now because I'm hungry. I'm in need of spiritual nourishment and in need of wounds healing and in need of some time out of the wasteland.

And you know what's so wonderful? The Lord knew all of this. He knew I needed this and so he led us to this church. He led us to a great small group of people in similar walks of life, and he led us to a great Sunday school class. I am so enjoying coming to church and worshipping with other believers and not having to worry about what people are thinking.

I'm drinking deeply the love of God, I'm filling up on the goodness he is pouring out for me and I'm relishing being out of the wasteland. Does this mean I no longer want to be a pastor's wife? Of course not! I am called to be David's wife and if he feels called to being a pastor then I am perfectly fine with that. In fact, I'm getting to the point where I can't wait to be in that role again. The healing is happening and the healing is working. I will sit and eat as long as the Lord has us here, and I will fill up on his goodness and allow myself to be healed.

The Lord is good to us all the time and knows exactly what we need when we need it. I'm praising the Lord that he heard the cry of my heart and has provided just the right "food" I need right now at this time in my life.

Fun at COSI

On Saturday, Cora and I joined 5 other moms (and 1 dad) and 14 other kids from our church's small group to a trip to COSI. We had a blast! Currently, COSI is doing Farm Days and John Deere had provided a ton of farming equipment from combines and harvesters to small riding lawn mowers. The kids were allowed to climb around on the machinery to their hearts' content, as well as participate in a lot of other farm-related booths set up. There was a life-sized cow who had rubber udders and when the kids "milked" it water came out--an obvious favorite! :) Though Cora didn't climb around on the machinery as much as the older kids, she had so much fun getting in the few things she could, "milking" the cow, playing in a fountain and just being with a bunch of people! I have found she is a social butterfly and loves to be out and about! When the moms got hot (which didn't take too long as all the farm stuff was outside and it was HOT and HUMID out!) we wrangled our 15 kids and took them inside to a kids play area where we had lunch and then just let the kids run wild. And wild it was!!!!! COSI was crawling with kids and frazzled parents and well, I found it quite overwhelming! But! Cora had a ball and that's all I cared about. I was reminded, again, that my baby isn't so much a baby anymore and is growing up. Sigh...The other moms assured me that it's not always so nuts there and we'd have to go back when it wasn't so busy.

I had so much fun going out with other moms. I told David I really felt like a stay-at-home mom! :) I was doing mom-stuff for the first time since having Cora (I mean, aside from caring for her! :) ) and we both had so much fun. I look forward to more mom/kid outings in the future!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from Saturday. Enjoy! :)

Please don't do that again!

Last night I had the biggest scare of my life, seriously! It was 6ish in the evening. David and my MIL had just left to grab something to eat and I stayed home with Cora because she had already eaten and I wasn't hungry. About 5 min. after they left Cora tripped and fell and bonked her head on the hardwood floor. Not an unusual occurrence--she does this frequently. However, when I picked her up she cried for about 3 seconds and her body went limp, her head flopped bad and her eyes rolled back in her head. She turned bright red, wasn't breathing and I knew something was wrong. Usually, when she is hurt she doesn't like me to hug her too tightly, she'll push away, etc. So, the fact that I was able to hug her tight without fighting me was another indicator something wasn't right (FYI: this all happened in a matter of seconds). I jiggled her in hopes of making her breathe, which she did, but then she went limp. I was terrified. I called David and told him to get home NOW (thankfully, they were only 5ish min. away!) and then I called my sister (who is a RN and mom of 3). She told me to call 911 right away. I hung up and called 911. The lady was very calm, kind and calming. She passed me on to someone else with pediatric experience (I guess). He asked me to tickle Cora's feet to see if there was a reaction (there was) and then told me to move her head, or let her move it and to keep holding it. I'm sure the paramedics were here in less then 5 min., but it was the LONGEST amount of time I've ever had. First pulled up David and his mom and shortly after a fire engine. We ended up with 2 fire engines, 1 rescue bus and 1 ambulance with 9 men in our house. They were all very kind, gentle and professional and did a wonderful job in caring for Cora and me too! At the end we had 3 men here (the head guy told the others they could leave). The head guy told us that he made a point of taking extra classes to keep up on pediatric care, which made me feel good. He checked her pupils, heart, breathing, blood pressure and felt her neck and head to see if she would show any pain, which she didn't. She was fine, all vitals perfect. She started saying, "HI!" and talking. She followed her grandma, dad, Pops, me with her head and eyes and then wanted down and started toddling around. The EMT guy said we could go to the hospital but that they wouldn't do anything different. So, we opted not to go and they told us she seemed to be fine and if she started to act out of norm to take her in.

Can I tell you how terrified I was and still feel to some extent? Wow. I had no idea if she would be OK. I had no idea if she was going to die, if she would have brain damage, if we would ever have our Cora back. She's fine. I'm settling down and I'm just praising the Lord for his protection over her. It's amazing how you realize just how much you love a person when that person might not be with you anymore.

I praise the Lord for his hand of protection over her, for the kind and fast-working medical personnel and for those how were praying for Cora. Praise you Jesus!!! Thank you!

You Know You're a Mom If...

...you ask your husband if he has to "go potty."

...you no longer hum you favorite songs but rather the "ABCs," or what ever other jingles are on your child's toys.

...you have purchased 3 pairs of sandals for your child in 2 months because s/he is growing so fast.

...you don't notice that you have smeared banana/mushed bread/soggy Cheerios/whatever on your clothes.

...you get great pleasure out of the "simplest" new feat your child has learned.

...you can't wait for nap time, bed time, any time that involves your child sleeping.

...you find yourself frantically searching for a paci, any paci, just give me a paci!!!!!

What can you add to this list? What is is that you find a difiner of a mom?

Fun with Photo Editing

I am by no means a professional or expert when it comes to photography. I do, however, LOVE to take photos! I got my first camera when I was in junior high. It was one of those skinny, long ones that took the long roll of film--my camera was hot pink! I loved using it. I knew at once that my next camera would be better. When I got a new one I knew the next one would be even better and so on. I am now using a digital Canon Rebel XTi. It was a Christmas gift a couple years back from my husband and other family members. With our Macbook I have tried out the iPhoto photo editing. I don't go too crazy with it because after working in the publications department at Hillsdale College I have learned that a photo can be edited too much. So, here are a few photos I did the other day. I love the antique setting in iPhoto. You can adjust it to look barely antique to something totally weathered and old looking. Anyway, I have told my husband that now that I have a really great camera I would like to now work on getting different lenses. The next lens I want is a macro lens. Hopefully for Christmas! :) Oh, I only have 1 of my nephew as he moves a lot and it's hard to get him to sit still enough to get a good photo! :)

My sweet nephew and Cora's twin

This is not the antique setting, but rather making the colors bolder and other things.

Isn't she just beautiful? I love my niece!

The perfect way to spend summer--in a pool!

Sophia is looking at a spider web in the grass. Can you see it?

L-A-Z-Y

How do you define laziness? Not working? Sitting comfortably on the beach with a good book? Only doing "just enough" to get the job done? I've been thinking about this word a lot lately. I've been feeling lazy because I'm not getting up in the morning and leaving the house for work. Rather, my work is here, at the house, and my only coworker right now is my daughter! It has been an adjustment, as I've mentioned before! I'm having to figure out what it is to be a stay at home mom and fill my days differently then I did before.

The main thing that has been crossing my mind about laziness is my weight. If you're a human being you can not escape the constant pressure to be the "perfect size" (whatever that is!), or have the perfect look, or wear the perfect styles. We are bombarded with magazines, billboards, TV commercials, movies, TV shows, it's an endless barrage of what the perfect body is to look like. It gets tiresome and if you're like me you start to feel very inadequate and worthless. However, I can blame media all I want, the truth of the matter is I'm overweight. I need to lose a lot of weight (Mom, stop disagreeing!), and I need to take better care of myself.

I have always prided myself as one who eats healthy food. 'Course, you wouldn't know it to look at me. I don't eat fried foods, I rarely have pop, I don't much care for candy. However, I do have my downfalls--I can easily down a bunch of bread (but it's wheat!!!), and my biggest temptation is chocolate! I can kid myself as much as I want, wheat bread is still bread and still full of calories. I don't need to eat 6 pcs of it in a day!

I have always struggled with my weight. I hit puberty early as a girl and so was always taller then my friends (thus, weighing more, even though looking at my photos I was not fat). I've always been the girl with curves, never the Twiggy-type. With different things happening to me in my childhood I have to wonder if eating became my therapy? I don't know. What I do know is I need to gain control, stop being lazy and lose this weight!

My husband is very good at telling me like it is (which is a good thing, because I don't hesitate to do the same to him). After 4 years of bemoaning my weight issues to him, always finding good examples (um, excuses!) as to why I can't lose it, he finally said to me, I have to stop finding excuses and just do it!

And so, we embark on a journey to lose weight. I say "we" because my husband is joining me. My goal is to be back to 140 lbs. I have a long way to go to get there. I am disgusted with myself for letting myself get as heavy as I have. How are we doing this? We're counting calories (it's amazing how many calories are in things you thought were harmless), drinking our 64 oz of water a day, and I'm getting up 4-5 times a week to do "The 30 Day Shred" (and lest you wonder, no, that's not an advertisement for "The Shred," I'm just telling you what I'm doing). So far this week I've been doing well. I opted to sleep in this morning and not exercise, but shall tomorrow!

I have become so lazy with life. I keep telling myself, "oh, you can just start tomorrow." Why not start today????? I have been praying that God will show me how to live a life that isn't lazy--in everything I do. I want to take care of this body he's given me and use it for his glory. I want to be a good example to my daughter of how to be a healthy woman emotionally and physically. I know this is not going to be easy. Let's face it, it's MUCH easier to stay in bed. However, the feeling of regret when I don't eat what I should and don't exercise is getting old so I think I'll try something else!

What have you become lazy about in your life lately?

Does Anybody Love ME?

So, yesterday we were all fussing over Cora and then my MIL (who just had foot surgery) and I looked over and saw Molly on the couch with her chicken and her eyes seemed to say, "does anybody love ME?" It was so sad, pathetic and hilarious all at the same time that I had to take photos! Apparently, only the chicken loves Molly... :)

Growing Pains

It's been a rough past several days for Cora. She's been "teething" her first set of molars for several months now. Last week she finally had a top one and bottom one poke through. At the same time, I noticed she had also poked through her top two eye teeth! A few days later as I was putting Orajel on her gums I felt another tooth! Poor thing cut 5 teeth in a week. No wonder she's been such a mess! It pains me to see my baby in pain. I know this is necessary pain so she will be able to eat the piles of steak her daddy will make for her, but still, can't there be an easier way? I suppose not. Obviously, we're not done. She still has 2 eye teeth and 1 molar before this round is done. Hopefully, though, when these come through she'll get a break before the rest come in. Above Cora is snuggling with my mom. Cora is not much of a snuggler, especially with anyone other than myself. I was packing up our stuff so we could return to Columbus on Monday and found these two like this in the living room. So precious. I'm thankful Cora has 3 loving grammies who are always willing to snuggle her when she needs it!