A friend I've known forever used to ask me often "What is God doing in your life and who are you sharing that with?" and since then it's always something I feel I should have an answer to, otherwise it's probably a good indicator I'm not doing my part to grow my friendship with Christ; not spending enough time reading the Bible learning more about Christ so I know how to be more like Him, not praying enough asking Him what He wants me to be working on etc.
Ever since our big move to Arizona I have really felt God working in not only my life but the lives of my family. It was really hard for us to move (Jalene and I especially) as there are lots of close family and friends we were leaving behind in Rochester but I really prayed that God would give me the courage to obey and not just tolerate this move but to embrace it and I really feel like God is blessing us and still working in our lives because of it. A move across the country for a family of 5 sounds dreadful if you ask me but God made this move the smoothest transition I think is even possible. He provided a job that Paul enjoys (not just goes to because he has to), He provided an apartment that BY FAR exceeded my expectations! (and I was nervous about it not because Paul picked it himself and I didn't trust him but I worried he wouldn't notice some of the things that I might find "deal breakers"), He has provided someone to buy our house in NY (the Lord willing the close date will come and go before August ends). That's just to name a few of the ways God has been with us here. We've been searching and searching for a church to go to and while going to a different church every week (sometimes 2 new churches on one Sunday) might seem crazy and confusing (which it IS a little bit) I really have felt God using each church each week.
It seems it's just the message we need to hear no matter where we are worshipping and it's been the same message...... that we should be engulfed in Christ (similar to how Michael Phelps' mantra is "Eat, Sleep, Swim", we need to "Embrace (that Christ died for our sins so that we can accept the gift of salvation (being SAVED by Him so we can get to heaven - there's no other way folks!!)), Believe (that He died for OUR sins) and Pass it on" (spread this good news to those who haven't heard it, build relationships, invest in others). I feel like God is teaching Paul and I that He brought us here to show us that meeting new people in a new place is a great way to invest in others. We've only been here a little over a month and I've already seen a bunch of ways God has planned for us to reach out and encourage others (other moms and dads and kids that we meet as a result of Jalene being in Kindergarten, people we meet at our apartment complex, etc.). I even feel like God is using the fact that I am staying at home for awhile with the kids. Not only has it given me more time to pray and talk with God about how we wants to use us but it gives me the opportunity to put it to practice out in our world with each person we encounter in a day (random staff at the apt complex, fellow residents here, the pharmacist, the dmv employees, the cashier at the grocery store, the Kindergarten teacher, you name it). We have been challenged to do this since way back when we did the Walk Across the Room Study at North and I feel like I'm finally starting to put that to practice! My prayer is to be aware of how God wants to use us each day. Not to be obnoxious people to others but to build relationships while genuinely living for Christ so that they might see something different in our lives and that God might give us the opportunity to share the hope we have in Him when it's HIS timing. There is a sense of relief that I don't have to orchestrate sharing my faith and "convincing" others they should follow Christ but rather that God will use us to plant seeds and take care of the details. I want to always make sure I am living a life pleasing to my God and am ready to share the hope I have in Him, that I can say with confidence and Joy that someday I will meet my savior in a place far beyond any amazing thing I can imagine; where there will be no more death, wars, identity theft, homeless people, suffering.
What is God doing in your life and who are you sharing that with? I'd love to hear about it!
Oh yeah I forgot to mention, Paul and I got to worship with presidential candidate John McCain yesterday. I am so thankful God is forgiving because I must admit I was a little bit distracted at the "celebrity sighting". (ha ha). He and his wife sat just a few rows ahead of us in the next section of chairs and I thought it was hilarious that the pastor at church actually used a video clip of an interview by Rick Warren talking to both Obama and McCain. I wonder if Mr. McCain knew he would be part of the sermon that morning!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Olympic events....
Like a lot of others we've been consumed by the Olympic events so I thought it was fitting to get a picture of Evan's build a bear with his USA basketball uniform on. Gramma Skeddle sent these outfits for the kids and they love them (who ever heard of bears wearing clothes AND SHOES?) ha ha.
...and they aren't on the Olympic Swim level yet but they are really enjoying their swim lessons this month. Their teacher (below) Miss Laura has done a great job somehow corralling up to 7 kids ages 3-5 at one time. We took some pictures at Monday's lesson and at today's lesson found out Miss Laura isn't at the Y anymore - BIG BUMMER. Oh well - only 2 more classes left already.
For more pictures from August go to the link below and look at Family Pics-August (I've tried to be good about adding pictures to this folder as I take them)
...and they aren't on the Olympic Swim level yet but they are really enjoying their swim lessons this month. Their teacher (below) Miss Laura has done a great job somehow corralling up to 7 kids ages 3-5 at one time. We took some pictures at Monday's lesson and at today's lesson found out Miss Laura isn't at the Y anymore - BIG BUMMER. Oh well - only 2 more classes left already.
For more pictures from August go to the link below and look at Family Pics-August (I've tried to be good about adding pictures to this folder as I take them)Off to watch the men's 200m race (too bad we already heard the outcome on the news!)
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The beautiful Kinderprincess...
ha ha - hey she's a Kinderprincess to US okay? So anyway I just wanted to post this picture so Jalene could show off (I mean thank Gramma Mackmer for) her new jewelry. She absolutely loves it. And Evan received a crayola paint smock (that coincidentally we used while cutting his hair this morning). Thanks Gramma Mackmer! We miss you - love Jalene, Evan and Janelle.
Cut it out!
Evan has been due for a haircut for quite some time now and I finally decided to give it a whirl again. Something about how thin his hair is and how he doesn't like to sit still combine for a potential disaster but I think this time it was a vast improvement (not perfect but definately an improvement). Here are 2 'before shots' and 2 'after shots'. Just so you know, like typical before and after pictures where the model is unhappy in the before and happy in the after, was just a coincidence! I promise I did not ask him to do that. Either way this boy is handsome don't you think?
This was just one of our fun to do's today while big sister was in school and Janelle was napping. We somehow squeezed in painting 2 pictures, enjoying a snack together and doing some "preschool" work. I have been wanting to work on the alphabet more with him (the next step after the ABC song I guess). It worked out perfect today because what could have been an annoying occurence turned into a learning opportunity. We went to get paint and paper from mom's craft cupboard and "someone" had dumped over a box of stamps which happened to be the 26 letters of the alphabet and numbers 1-9. I was annoyed that I had to pick them up (and that I have OCD and couldn't just throw them in the box. No instead I HAD to have them in order!) but then had the idea to ask Evan to help me. It took FOREVER because I put in ABC and then sang the ABC song with him TWENTY THREE more times and at each letter we were to put in next I pretended I forgot the rest of the song. He did great not only telling me which one was next but finding it on the floor. Thanks Lord for my more relaxed schedule so I could take the time to do something so time consuming with Evan!! Did I mention how thankful I am that God is giving me this new opportunity to stay at home for awhile?? I have SO much to be thankful for and I pray I don't ever forget the blessings God gives me that might be easily taken for granted!!!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
My "new" job...
Make sure you vote over to the right - I'm doing a poll to see how reasonable our grocery budget is.....
Okay this may sound a bit cheesy but I'm finding it fun to competitively stretch our family dollar now that we are living on one income and using one vehicle. I feel like anything I tried to learn as far as saving money for our family back when I was working full time or even part time was falling on deaf ears because no matter how badly I wanted to stick to a grocery budget I would inevitably spend my time in Wegmans (oh how I miss Wegmans!) rationalizing every impulse purchase imaginable. Now that we don't have that luxury I have really been challenged to be a good steward of our money from groceries to clothing to big purchases (you name it). I am so thankful that I get to stay home for awhile because it has really given me the time I need for this challenge. I have recently started menu planning. Okay I say recently but I have tried this several times in the past after finding it works well for some close family members (yeah Jenn and Aunt Val - that's you!) The difference is that this time it is working for me too! I used to plan meals and then buy all the ingredients that I didn't have but in addition I'd buy several things to stash that we didn't really need (snacks, 'maybe' meal ingredients, and worst of all tons more fresh fruit and veggies that a family of 5 could possibly go through in a week). So basically I was buying food and letting it go bad in our fridge (the SHAME of it - I know I'm so sorry for all those of you that just cringed at this thought!). I think part of me tried to believe it was saving me trips to the grocery store by purchasing so much at a time but it didn't because every time I went to use fruit or shredded cheese or lettuce (you name it) it was rotten or moldy so I just had to go get more! I am so excited about this "DUH" epiphany that I had to share it. (sorry for all those of you who are sleeping during this post! ha ha). Tonight (for the first time ever -I'm sure) I actually made a list (organized by grocery aisle - SWEET!) using the sales ads (again SWEET!) to grocery shop for this week only and actually made it through the store only buying things on the list! (you guessed it SWEET!) - it almost brought a tear to my eye - ha ha.
Another goal I had this month besides staying within our budget was to commit to doing whatever I need to so that food does not go bad in our kitchen. So I am happy to say I made zucchini bread (thanks for the recipe Melissa on your blog: http://www.mommabeesrecipes.blogspot.com/ ), bananaramas (again from Melissa's blog), and added the remaining carrots I purchased to our crockpot recipe for tonight's dinner! Woo Hoo!
So far I am excited to say we are within our grocery budget for August (WITHOUT "creative accounting" which is moving money from one line that we are under budget in to the food line or worse moving money from our savings line to the food line!) and I've had a plan for dinner for every night for the past 2 weeks and just went shopping tonight for week 3 meals! Thanks to all of you who have given me recipes via email or your blogs because they have been welcome variety here (okay maybe not for the kids - they'd eat mac and cheese every night if I'd let them). We have a new rule too that has saved me a lot of time and will serve our kids well. I used to build meals around them (thus several kid friendly aka boring meals!) but now I make meals with Paul in mind (since I am supposed to be HIS helper!) and the kids know they are going to eat (or at least try) what mom and dad eat. I just keep a good supply of "sides" for them to make sure they are eating enough (applesauce, fruit, bread etc.) and it seems to be working just fine so far.
Okay apparently I could go on forever on this topic but it's one I'm excited about lately and maybe it sounds silly to say it's a "God thing" but I really have been praying that God will give me the motivation and ability to be able to spread our money further so we can enjoy living on one income instead of stressing and go figure ask God for wisdom and He gives it to us! Isn't that awesome! A side benefit is that it is not only teaching the kids financial wisdom (since at least one child is usually with me at the grocery store) but it also teaches them that we are responsible to be good stewards of what God has given us and that He gives us the wisdom and ability to be able to do that no matter how much or how little we have to spend!
....back to reality I need to run the dishwasher!
Okay this may sound a bit cheesy but I'm finding it fun to competitively stretch our family dollar now that we are living on one income and using one vehicle. I feel like anything I tried to learn as far as saving money for our family back when I was working full time or even part time was falling on deaf ears because no matter how badly I wanted to stick to a grocery budget I would inevitably spend my time in Wegmans (oh how I miss Wegmans!) rationalizing every impulse purchase imaginable. Now that we don't have that luxury I have really been challenged to be a good steward of our money from groceries to clothing to big purchases (you name it). I am so thankful that I get to stay home for awhile because it has really given me the time I need for this challenge. I have recently started menu planning. Okay I say recently but I have tried this several times in the past after finding it works well for some close family members (yeah Jenn and Aunt Val - that's you!) The difference is that this time it is working for me too! I used to plan meals and then buy all the ingredients that I didn't have but in addition I'd buy several things to stash that we didn't really need (snacks, 'maybe' meal ingredients, and worst of all tons more fresh fruit and veggies that a family of 5 could possibly go through in a week). So basically I was buying food and letting it go bad in our fridge (the SHAME of it - I know I'm so sorry for all those of you that just cringed at this thought!). I think part of me tried to believe it was saving me trips to the grocery store by purchasing so much at a time but it didn't because every time I went to use fruit or shredded cheese or lettuce (you name it) it was rotten or moldy so I just had to go get more! I am so excited about this "DUH" epiphany that I had to share it. (sorry for all those of you who are sleeping during this post! ha ha). Tonight (for the first time ever -I'm sure) I actually made a list (organized by grocery aisle - SWEET!) using the sales ads (again SWEET!) to grocery shop for this week only and actually made it through the store only buying things on the list! (you guessed it SWEET!) - it almost brought a tear to my eye - ha ha.
Another goal I had this month besides staying within our budget was to commit to doing whatever I need to so that food does not go bad in our kitchen. So I am happy to say I made zucchini bread (thanks for the recipe Melissa on your blog: http://www.mommabeesrecipes.blogspot.com/ ), bananaramas (again from Melissa's blog), and added the remaining carrots I purchased to our crockpot recipe for tonight's dinner! Woo Hoo!
So far I am excited to say we are within our grocery budget for August (WITHOUT "creative accounting" which is moving money from one line that we are under budget in to the food line or worse moving money from our savings line to the food line!) and I've had a plan for dinner for every night for the past 2 weeks and just went shopping tonight for week 3 meals! Thanks to all of you who have given me recipes via email or your blogs because they have been welcome variety here (okay maybe not for the kids - they'd eat mac and cheese every night if I'd let them). We have a new rule too that has saved me a lot of time and will serve our kids well. I used to build meals around them (thus several kid friendly aka boring meals!) but now I make meals with Paul in mind (since I am supposed to be HIS helper!) and the kids know they are going to eat (or at least try) what mom and dad eat. I just keep a good supply of "sides" for them to make sure they are eating enough (applesauce, fruit, bread etc.) and it seems to be working just fine so far.
Okay apparently I could go on forever on this topic but it's one I'm excited about lately and maybe it sounds silly to say it's a "God thing" but I really have been praying that God will give me the motivation and ability to be able to spread our money further so we can enjoy living on one income instead of stressing and go figure ask God for wisdom and He gives it to us! Isn't that awesome! A side benefit is that it is not only teaching the kids financial wisdom (since at least one child is usually with me at the grocery store) but it also teaches them that we are responsible to be good stewards of what God has given us and that He gives us the wisdom and ability to be able to do that no matter how much or how little we have to spend!
....back to reality I need to run the dishwasher!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
6 months old
Yesterday, August 15th marked Janelle's 1/2 year birthday. I learned that if you say the word birthday to Jalene she wants to have a party. Maybe she'll grow up to be a party planner. She spent the afternoon yesterday making a list of all the things we need for a party (balloons, cake, dress etc.-any word she can spell herself). I had some leftover balloons from when we lived in NY so I humored her and we blew up 6 of those and sang Happy Birthday to Janelle which was fun.
It's hard to believe 6 months has already gone by. Janelle is such a great baby. She loves to laugh and smile at any silly thing her brother and sister do to entertain her. She has recently become interested in trying to reach their toys while she's playing on the floor so I have to make sure I'm careful about what they are playing with near her. It will be interesting to see what happens when she's fully mobile around the apartment but for now she sticks to a very small area near the blanket we lay out for her. She still says "da da" like it's going out of style and almost as if on purpose refuses to say anything else. The kids and I try to get her to say ma ma and she usually just grins or giggles as if to say "nah, I don't think so!" :) She still hasn't gotten any teeth but I feel like she's been teething (fussy, drooling like a champ) since before we left NY so I am assuming they'll be coming soon. She eats every 3-4 hours now which is a dream to me because we actually have half a chance of an entire outing without me having to figure out where I'm going to nurse her while corraling the older kids. She still sometimes wakes at 2a, 3a but usually we can convince her to go back to sleep by letting her cry for awhile and she'll get up again at 4:30 or 5:30 for her first feeding. Considering she goes to bed between 7 and 7:30p that is a pretty good deal. It always seems too early but maybe that's because I'm not a morning person. ...or maybe because I stay up too late playing ladder mode scramble! ha ha.
Here are a few of the pictures from Janelle's 6 month photo session.
Sporting her Diamondbacks onesie (yes folks without babes this is a "onesie" -you can tuck that away for the next baby shower game you participate in!)
Anytime we take Janelle's monthly picture the other kids want their picture taken with her so Evan got to go first yesterday (and was surprisingly cooperative - maybe because it was 'his' idea?)
It's hard to believe 6 months has already gone by. Janelle is such a great baby. She loves to laugh and smile at any silly thing her brother and sister do to entertain her. She has recently become interested in trying to reach their toys while she's playing on the floor so I have to make sure I'm careful about what they are playing with near her. It will be interesting to see what happens when she's fully mobile around the apartment but for now she sticks to a very small area near the blanket we lay out for her. She still says "da da" like it's going out of style and almost as if on purpose refuses to say anything else. The kids and I try to get her to say ma ma and she usually just grins or giggles as if to say "nah, I don't think so!" :) She still hasn't gotten any teeth but I feel like she's been teething (fussy, drooling like a champ) since before we left NY so I am assuming they'll be coming soon. She eats every 3-4 hours now which is a dream to me because we actually have half a chance of an entire outing without me having to figure out where I'm going to nurse her while corraling the older kids. She still sometimes wakes at 2a, 3a but usually we can convince her to go back to sleep by letting her cry for awhile and she'll get up again at 4:30 or 5:30 for her first feeding. Considering she goes to bed between 7 and 7:30p that is a pretty good deal. It always seems too early but maybe that's because I'm not a morning person. ...or maybe because I stay up too late playing ladder mode scramble! ha ha.
Here are a few of the pictures from Janelle's 6 month photo session.
Sporting her Diamondbacks onesie (yes folks without babes this is a "onesie" -you can tuck that away for the next baby shower game you participate in!)
Anytime we take Janelle's monthly picture the other kids want their picture taken with her so Evan got to go first yesterday (and was surprisingly cooperative - maybe because it was 'his' idea?)
Jalene is always cooperative. It amazes me how much she enjoys being in front of the camera and always follows directions. She is usually the only one (including Paul and I) that actually keeps her eyes on the camera even when no one else is ready. She's funny!
It's getting a little bit harder to get a picture of all 3 smiling let alone looking at the camera so "we'll take it" even though Janelle's expression is saying "ooh bright yellow flash, where am I?"
I love these three kiddos. They have been a joy to spend MUCH more time with! I am afraid I'll have a harder adjustment to Jalene being in full day Kindergarten than she will. :) I am excited that God has given me the opportunity to build a deeper relationship with the younger kids though, especially Evan - I know it's hard following an older sibling - Evan and I share a "middle child" bond which I think is pretty cool!
Off to enjoy our Saturday as a healthy (Praise the Lord) family!!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
A welcome break
The kids were thrilled to see we received a package from Gramma Skeddle yesterday. It was just what they needed to distract themselves from the tummy bug. Here are some pictures. Also I threw in a couple from Janelle's bath yesterday (you can see we gave her a 'haircut' aka shaved the back of her head to blend the bald spot in with the rest of her head - it was looking pretty odd). I was very skeptical of the idea but think it looks much better now! She is so cute.
http://mackmers5.shutterfly.com/ (click on family pics - August)
http://mackmers5.shutterfly.com/ (click on family pics - August)
"the" update
For all you out there wondering we are seeing a light at the end of the "sick tunnel" here! Praise God for all of our friends and family who are praying and I am really thanking the Lord for deciding it was enough. Although Jalene is home again today I am pretty sure she'll be well enough to go to swim lessons later today and to school tomorrow so I'm excited about that and I know she is too. I'm also excited that Paul is still honoring Mom nite tonight so I get to escape from here for a bit and regroup which I am very much looking forward to.
Love you all.
Love you all.
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