same week - part 2

This post is the same week but the emotional heavy side. It started off pretty normal except Jason had a work trip to Texas with some other staff members to observe some other Christian Classical schools. I knew we would miss him and the week would be exhausting but we've done it before and I knew we could do it again. I then had my doctors appointment where I was told my baby is on the small side and they want to do an ultrasound to make sure she is growing fine. They say it's really nothing, just being overly cautious. So I tell myself not to worry.

On Tuesday we got word that a new family to our church had one of their children in the hospital due to a fall from a second story window. From then until Thursday we got updates a few times a day on his condition and by Thursday his parents were given the devastating news that their 5 year old son was gone. There is so much I could say about the testimony of this family, my roller coaster emotions this week, this little boys faith, the fear I dealt with for my own children, the exhaustion, the church service this morning, the church body surrounding this family with support and prayer, the humility it brought to so many of us, the anger, the tears, the sadness, overwhelming thoughts, the prayers, wanting a miracle so badly, remembering God is a sovereign God and being reminded His will is for our good. This family's life was changed in an instant and it will never be the same. Yet through their tears this morning the family rejoiced that their little boy still has life in heaven with his heavenly Father and repented openly of their unbelief through these past few days. As Christians we are not promised a life without pain and suffering. The difference is that we have the comfort of the Spirit, the amazing love of the Father and hope in our Savior to unite us in his Glory. Death is not the final word. There is still grieving and sadness and will be for a long time. But knowing and believing what is Truth...what God has promised helps us to heal. My heart still breaks for this family and I still hug my children tighter every chance I get, but it also has made me very aware of how much I want to control my life, how much I desire comfort and how scared I am to trust in His perfect will.

a week - part 1

I have so much to say about this past week that I thought I would make it a part 1 and part 2 kind of deal. So here is some highlights with pics for part 1. We decided to watch the life-cycle of a caterpillar again. It's easy to do here because there are these great trees called Crown Flower Trees that have an abundance of these little critters on them. We started off with two caterpillars and ended up with about 6 when some little eggs hatched that we didn't know were on the leaves. It's so amazing to watch God's creation. We observed these little babies turn into very fat caterpillars to then wandering off to spin an amazing green cocoon. So far we have had one butterfly "hatch" and fly away and we are waiting on 3 more. The boys and Ansley check on them throughout the day...Jude named his favorite and Ansley always says "Ah, cute". Ansley has entered the big girl bed phase. She actually enjoyed the fact that she is in one and I enjoyed the fact that for the first few days she didn't even think of getting out of it. Of course now she has realized her freedom to roam the room and nap times have become a source of training and learning patience for me. But at least the crib is available to this baby girl who will be here soon. Next is potty training...more patience learning.And speaking of this little girl...she is quite an active one. Here I am at 32 weeks. I'm feeling good...or as good as you can when you're 8 months pregnant...and the due date is coming at a fast speed. At my last visit I measured small so I am going in for an ultrasound tomorrow. Normally I am not a worrier but I am glad that the ultrasound is tomorrow so we can check and make sure she is growing fine.

hawaiian hurricane popcorn with mochi and nori

Did you just read that title and say "what?". Yeah when I first saw this popcorn I thought how could you ruin such a good thing like popcorn and butter or cheesy popcorn or caramel corn. But this has really grown on me. I must say seaweed (nori) in my popcorn is actually really good and I kind of prefer it now...plus all the salt and butter they throw on there too. And the rice crackers (mochi) I don't even mind anymore. I think I'm becoming more local the longer I live here. As you can see my kiddo's love it too. The thing I have a problem with is the little pieces of seaweed everywhere.

cow's heart

For our science co-op group we studied the heart. So a friend of mine who was teaching this unit brought in an actual cow heart to look at the chambers, arteries, veins, muscle, etc. It was funny to see what kids were utterly amazed and which ones were a little squeamish. Of course my boys couldn't wait to stick their fingers through the ascending aorta and pull on the valve tendons.

tricycle rider

Ansley has learned to ride her tricycle and I'm not sure how that happened. I'm thinking her brothers had a part in it though. One day she was crying because she couldn't move forward on her tricycle, her feet would get stuck between the peddle and wheel (ouch!), I would push her and she couldn't steer so we ran into everything or she would tip over and get all dirty. Next thing I know she's riding around all by herself...and steering!

happy 5th birthday

Jude turned 5 today! As I say for each of my kids...how can he be 5 already? But Jude loved the fact that he had a birthday and used every opportunity to use that to his benefit. We heard many times today "but I'm the birthday boy" or "since I'm the birthday boy..." He also loves the fact that he is so old now. He even told us that he felt like he was 5...as apposed to yesterday when he was 4.

As you've heard on this blog one of Jude's favorite things lately are Lego's, so of course we had to have a Lego party. He had a few friends over and we had Lego games, Lego party favors, Lego decorations, Lego cakes and just some free play with all of Jude's "neatly" organized Lego's.

We started off with a speed game of building a Lego person.Jude's favorite way of taking Lego's apart is with his teeth. Many of his Lego's look like the dog chewed them all up...except we don't have a dog.

Our last game was called "who can pick up the most Lego's" and amazingly they all joined in with much enthusiasm. Then we weighed their bags to see who had the most Lego's...plus the living room was all cleaned up before everyone left...bonus! Jude provided some of the table decorations...
...which went well with his Lego cake. Then we topped off the party with some present opening...which consisted of more Lego's. A great way to end a party. Boy was this little boy excited...you just can't tell by his face. He's a little reserved in that area.

Pablo Picasso

My two little Picassos...their rendition of Flower Bouquet.

And Picasso's version.

legos

Jude is Lego crazy...as I've mentioned on a previous post. Ever since I told him about the Lego store he has not stopped asking when we can go. So I decided to go on the "build a free Lego figurine" day and didn't tell the boys until we got in the car. I must say the video didn't even capture his excitement...I think he was in shock. But on the way there, after about 15 minutes in the car, he just came out and said "mommy, I love you!" and a couple times he said "this is so es-citing."

dishwasher in training

Ansley is in a phase of wanting to do what I do...right now it's wanting to wash the dishes. I must say I don't mind, even if I have to wash them all over again. She has quite the determination though because she didn't quit until every last dish was in the dish drainer. It was quite impressive.