Children are a gift from God

and so is my husband behind the pillow:)

This is our Christmas family photo. It's amazing that both boys and Ryan and I are smiling all at the same time! It sure helped having a friend dancing with a fish puppet behind the camera!
Merry Christmas!

A Post for Tonight

I feel like I'm in such a weird place in life right now. Figuring out what it's like to be living in my old body again, minus a few reminders of pregnancies past. I don't need to eat as much any more so I'm figuring out what is normal food intake now. Plus, I have had so many physical changes in the past 4 years, with getting married, children and big moves, I feel like I'm still trying to figure out life. I don't know if this makes any sense...I feel so weird at times, can't really explain myself to anyone, other than God's teaching me things, I'm slowly learning, slowly whatever else is happening...I have had lots of emotional lows, and some ups, but mostly lows, that I often don't talk to anyone about it, just honest when asked that I have struggles and need prayer. ANyways, so if nothing else, you could pray for me. Just that God would continue to draw me nearer to himself, I want to be closer to Jesus so that no matter what I go through I won't sink because of Him. I just put motions to Natalie Grant's song "held" and after listening to it over and over and over again I really got the message and it was so good. No matter what happens, the promise he's given us is that we'd be held.

I'm back

It's hard to keep up with blogging, and other blogs. I seem to go in spurts. I need to just focus on a few blogs and that's it. I've gotten into myspace a little bit, mostly because my brother lives on the other side of the world for certain reasons serving our country and I wanted to have better connectionwith him. It's only helped a little. And I feel that my time is so limited when I get on the computer I just gave up on blogging altogether. But what do I do when I'm on?? Well since we live in the middle of no where we've done a lot of online shopping from the comforts of home sending gifts to family on the mainland. Strangest holiday season so far. Not really purchasing too many gifts from stores, but it's good to not deal with the crowds and feel overwhelmed by all the commercialism. And no matter what you still end up spending too much time just looking before you actually decide on something...anyways, it's late and I should be in bed since I've been up since 4:45 am but I'm running on adrenaline right now. I helped put together a bridal shower and we had the party tonight and there was so much involved in getting it together with the food prep and all of that other stuff. I'm tired, but it was good and I think the bride was very blessed by it all.
Elijah is now finally weaned at 16 months of age. It happened naturally, it was a good time, and maybe I'll write more about it, we'll see. It's so strange for me to not be pregnant or nursing and to just be me and have my boys. I feel so blessed to have this time, and Lord willing it will still be at least a while longer before we have another one. I really would love to have at least one child potty trained before we have a third. And I can't wait to enjoy a glass of wine:) Tomorrow night will be the special time:) Kendal Jackson Riesling. Good stuff:) Moses just learned how to say his name a few weeks back. Now he refers to himself in the 3rd person a lot of time. "Mo-es help, Mo-es sit" it's sooooooo cute!!

Vision Forum Giveaway

Kim at Life in a Shoe is sponsoring another Vision Forum giveaway. Three winners will receive up to $250 each in Vision Forum products. Check it out at http://inashoe.com/?p=1853 and post a link to your own wishlist on your blog to be entered in the drawing.

Here’s my wishlist:

Thoughts for Young Men $8.00 p. 21

The Wise Woman’s Guide to Blessing Her Husband’s Vision $16.00 p. 25

Why Satan Wants Your Firstborn and What to Do About It $10.00 p. 27

Be Fruitful and Multiply $15.00 p. 31

Rebuilding a Culture of Virtuous Boyhood $10.00 p. 90

Beloved Bride; the Letters of Stonewall Jackson to his Wife $15.00 p. 33

Verses of Virture $20.00 p.33

Poems for Patriarchs $20.00 p. 33

Bible Lessons for Manhood from the Battlefield of My Father's Youth $25.00 p.19

A Church in the House $12.00 p. 21

How to be a Lady $14. p.77
Continental Soldier's Field Drum $22.00 p.87

Fun Projects for you and the kids $15 p. 98

Four Horse Set $16 p.78

Teach Them to Your Children $17.00 p. 80

Communion Bread (unintentionally)

Ever forget to add yeast to your homemade bread? This is a picture of some bread I made the other day in our bread maker, but I forgot to add the yeast! Ugh, so it was just like flat bread that you get for communion at some churches. ANyways, I tried using it for things such as PBand J, but it was hard to swallow. We got through about half the loaf and had to toss it. It just wasn't worth it.

Random thoughts

Today was a long day. My husband had to get up at 4:30 am because our church did a Krispy Kreme fundraiser today and since there are no Krispy Kreme stores on the our Island, they had to fly them over from a neighbor island. So they picked them up at the air port and then delivered them to the designated sites for the sale. He has been gone all day and it's 9pm now. They didn't sell them all today so they took the left over boxes (about 400) to a festival down town and were going to try and sell the rest at half price. Aye me...I hope that they are able to sell most of them if not all of them. So I just hung out at home with the boys all day today. It rained alot today but it was clear for a little while so I got to get the boys out for a walk during the morning. We have pretty good hill down to the ocean by our house which makes the walk back treacherous, only because I am pushing a double stroller that has two boys in it that together weigh around 50 pounds, and the stroller is pretty sturdy to begin with. I come home sticky sweaty every time. It's a good workout pushing them around. Moses loves tractors and anything big and yellow, they are called "datch," that is his word for tractor. So there is often construction work around our neighborhood so we often have datches around so we go and visit them. He always waves hi and bye and likes to touch them. He is so cute. He just turned two yesterday. We had a fun little celebration for him. One family came over from church. They have two kids, a boy 10 and a girl 8 who really like Moses and they enjoyed playing in the big cardboard fort that my husband made. So, my son Moses is growing tall...they really do sprout up before your very eyes. He is really starting to talk alot more; he is getting quite chatty. So how do you teach your child to not talk with food in their mouth when you have been encouraging them to talk for so long?? That is my present question.
Have I mentioned here on my blog that our family is living with another family? We share one house and we've been here for 6 months and have 6 months left on our lease. It's really a different experience sharing a home with another couple. They've been married almost 2 years(they also have a one year old girl) and we just had our 3rd anniversary, so it is good that neither of us couples are newlyweds. Ha ha...anyways, I've never met anyone else that has lived with another family, but overall, it's been good. It's also been a blessing since moving to a new place and culture is so hard, it's been helpful to learn things from them and to have the daily fellowship, where being in a new place and not knowing anyone you can feel isolated really easily.
.....now I've hit a wall...I'm tired and I should go to bed soon. I woke up at 4:30am too, didn't really fall back asleep until 5 or sometime after, then Elijah awoke at 5:45am to nurse then he went back to sleep and then Moses woke up at 6:15am.

Where Two or More are Gathered

God has really been working in my heart lately and I've been reminded again this week about the spiritual batter that we're in. The battle is real and I've been re-awakened to the need to be in prayer way more than I have been, and not just praying on my own but with other Christians. There is power in the name of Jesus, and when two or more come together to wage war, though we cannot see what is happening in the spiritual world, God hears and answers. There is so much power in prayer, I just want to encourage whoever reads this to have faith in God and believe in him to fight for you! Call upon his name and he will answer you. Sometimes we aren't strong enough to fight, or to pray for ourselves and we need to seek another out to pray for us or with us. I have been so encouraged when I am prayed for and when I pray with another believer. I just started meeting with 2 other friends for prayer and it's so encouraging and uplifting. God wants us to come together to seek him, we cannot do anything apart from him. It is wonderful and a must to have quiet time along with God, but it's so sweet to pray together with other believers. If you don't have someone to pray with, I would encourage you to pray and ask God for someone to pray with and he'll provide.

The Month of August was Busy

Well it's been busy here this past month. The hurricane came and right before it was supposed to hit it changed directions and moved away from us. God was merciful to us. So we survived and over prepared for nothing, I was so happy!
We had a friend from Washington come out and visit for 10 days and then we had a four day gap between my husband's parent's coming out for 10 days! We did a lot of activities during that time and it felt like a lot of go go go. It's wonderful having guests and family from the mainland visiting but it was pretty tiring. After they left last week I came down with a cold. So this past week has been getting back into our routine and resting up. One thing about having visitors is that we do more touristy things when they are here then we would do just on our own.

Elijah turned one this past month too. I can't believe it. I am happy though that God brought me through this year without getting pregnant. Because both my kids were c-sections it was important that I at least had a year to heal. So now I have 2 one year olds! Moses won't be two until Sept. 28. So I am enjoying them immensely right now as Elijah now walks every where chasing after Moses. They have so much fun playing together.

I got to go body boarding again with Ryan a couple weeks back and surprisingly I got an incredible wave, first time ever. Ryan said that he pushed my board a bit to make sure I caught it and sure enough it was awesome. Later he told me I rode about 50 yards and let me tell you when I caught it I was amazed at what I was doing. So there I was gripping my board with all my might sure that I would fall off if I lost my grip and than be engulfed in the wave. Not wanting to find out what that would be like, I managed to lean back and grip tightly and ride like a pro, but then as I was facing the rocky shore with fallen logs (yes, it is a rocky shore here, no white sand beaches like in the post cards), it began to get closer and closer and the waves weren't slowing down as I imagined they would. I thought that it would just slow down and I could gracefully float off or something like that. My imagination had it figured out...anyways so I'm rapidly approaching the rocks and I'm not slowing, I don't know how to stop, I wanted to pray but all that I could manage was an "O God"(so grateful that he knows our needs even though we don't always know how to pray, or have time to pray!) before I crashed! I slid back on my board sure that when I hit my upper body would be saved by it's protection. Well I arrived on the rocky bank not sure exactly how I made it, except that as soon as I was out of the water I scrambled upon a fallen log and held onto it as the waves continued to roll in and slap against me. I couldn't move right away, I was kind of in shock by the whole experience and had to get my bearings about me as I processed what I had just accomplished and survived. This surely was an exciting feat as I am I simple mom at home with my boys most days, never thought that I would body board in the pacific ocean by the rocky shores in Hawaii. And to actually catch a wave was pretty exciting for me. So anyways, I managed to pry myself from my log and make my way back to where Ryan's parent's were watching our boys. I looked down as I was taking my flipper off so see my knee was a little bloody but it didn't hurt at all (not until later that is). I scraped off the little rocky pebbles embedded in my knee and all seemed fine. In all I came away with just had a few small scrapes and an bruise the size of a half dollar coin that turned every shade imaginable. Actually I was kind of proud of my "wound," almost like a souvenir that I wore to show that I had caught a wave and survived:) Hee hee. My husband told me later that he watched me catch it but then the wave rose up and took me away and he couldn't see me anymore until the wave died out at the shore. He said that he was a little worried at first because he didn't imagine that I would ride it all the way to the shore! Needless to say I have learned now how you're supposed to get off a wave and hopefully next time I'll manage that better.

Hurricane Flossie

Check out this link

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/12/hurricane.flossie.ap/index.html

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/prod.php?file=/data/HFO/TCPCP2

I just want to ask for prayer for the islands of Hawaii. There is a hurricane headed our way and we don't know what is going to happen whether it will weaken or come as strong as it is now. Please pray us here...Pray for God's mercy upon Hawaii.

Heal Pain and Sore Legs

Well, it's happening...I heard that when you reach 24 years old your body starts going down hill. I don't know this to be a fact but it's happening to me! Okay so it's not that bad but I've recently begun experiencing pain in me heal and lately my feet and legs are achy tired at the end of the day most consistently, and I'm not pregnant! So I got online and looked up heal pain and came up with "plantar fasciitis" which means "It's an overuse injury affecting the sole or flexor surface (plantar) of the foot. A diagnosis of plantar fasciitis means you have inflamed the tough, fibrous band of tissue (fascia) connecting your heel bone to the base of your toes." (http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=144)
"You're more likely to get the condition if you're a woman, if you're overweight, or if you have a job that requires a lot of walking or standing on hard surfaces. You're also at risk if you walk or run for exercise, especially if you have tight calf muscles that limit how far you can flex your ankles. People with very flat feet or very high arches are also more prone to plantar fasciitis."

Anyways, so after my reading at a view different sites I believe that the following have contributed to my sore feet and heal pain: wearing flat flip flops with no arch support every where I go since moving here. Going on long walks 3-5 times a week and pushing a double stroller( up hills too. --I do wear good sneakers when I do this however) . Walking around barefoot whenever I'm not wearing flip flops. Being on my feet for almost 12 hours a day! I do sit throughout the day, but with 2 little guys under the age of 2 I really don't sit a whole lot, so that and also carrying them too. Anyways, I did some more reading for what is the best sandal to wear and what nurses prefer most (since they work 12 hour shifts) and up came Birkenstocks. Well, as it turns out I own a pair of Birkis Aruba sandals and only wear them occasionally just because I prefered my flips because they're so easy to get on and off and go with anything you wear. So I put them on this morning and have been wearing them for like 6 hour now and my feet don't hurt at all(yes, it's gotten to the point where my feet are now hurting a bit in the morning too). I'm really amazed...and thankful that these sandals are helping and the pain has subsided so quickly.

Cow's Milk Vs. Goat's Milk

This post was inspired as a response to Emily's comment.

Thanks for your comment Emily:) Yes he eats other foods with calcium, so I'm not worried about his calcium intake. I think that's going good. I appreciate your encouragement too. I switched my other son Moses to goat's milk when he was 13 months old because when he turned one we started him on cow's milk and he then had 2 ear infections in one month. One was really bad and he also had a persistent cold that month too. ANyways, after the 2nd really bad ear infection I was talking to my mom and she told me that cow's milk can cause ear infections, especially if a child is prone to them (which we found out Moses was prone to them because they're hereditary as daddy Ryan had alot when he was a child). So I did some research of my own and learned alot of interesting things about cow's milk. Just type in "milk ear infections" in google and see what you come up with. I was surprised to read that cow's milk has proteins in it that are not easily digested. In addition to that it also produces more mucos, so when nasal congestion occurs, passages become blocked and irritated, then ear infections are the frequent result. So, anyways, we took Moses off cow's milk and switched to goat's milk because it's less allergenic than cow's milk. Also, goat's milk does not have the proteins that are the main stimulants of allergic reactions to cow's milk.
Plus, certain cow's milk proteins suppresses the immune system and goat's milk doesn't. ANyways, if you do a little research you'll find a lot of negative things about cow's milk for young toddlers and children. Overall, goat's milk is just better for you.
www.crohns.net/Miva/education/aboutgoatsmilk.shtml
But don't just take my word for it, I encourage you to find out for yourself.
So, with Elijah we're just going to do goat's milk. Moses still drinks goat's milk occasionally, but because it is so expensive out here and WIC doesn't offer it here (it does in Oregon), we don't buy it as often, however I just found a website that has a good deal for powdered goat's milk which is just a great as the liquid , so I'm going to order some from them. Anyways, Moses and Elijah both eat cheese and yogurt too, plus there are a lot of other foods besides dairy that have calcium which I was surprised to learn http://home.bluegrass.net/~jclark/calcium_foods.htm. (another great website that I like is www.whfoods.com). Moses sometimes has cow's milk but it's not a regular part of his diet.

Does anyone else have any thoughts or comments? I still have much to learn about diet and nutrition, so I am not claiming to know it all, this is just what I have learned and was sold on it because we have never had another ear infection since switching to goat's milk.

Weaning Baby

Does anyone have any advice for weaning? I am starting to introduce goat's milk to my 11 1/2 month old and he will take a sip or two but he doesn't seem to like it very much. I'm concerned about him because he doesn't nurse for very long when he does, which is about 4 times a day and once at night. He likes water, but I'm just not sure how much breast milk he is getting and concerned about his fluid intake (he is not dehydrated, but sometimes his diapers are more yellow than clear, and he sometimes will go 4 hours without needing a diaper change because he is not that wet. I want to wean him about his 1st birthday but concerned for his lack of wanting to drink milk. I don't have a pediatrician yet, so...I'm just not sure who to talk to for advice. He is happy and healthy overall and seems content after nursing and eating...I just don't feel completely at peace with how things are with his liquid intake.

Dragon Fruit

Has anyone ever eaten dragon fruit? I just had some for the first time today and it's very interesting. I did some research and found out that it is native of Central and South America, where it's known as pitaya, and is gaining popularity in Hawai'i. It's the fruit of a climbing cactus that prefers warm, moist climates rich in organic soils. I really couldn't compare the flavor to anything, but if I did have to compare texture it's close to a kiwi. Very yummy and absolutely beautiful!

Boys

Does anyone have any advice for me about young boys? My little guy is almost 2 and is turning into a boy!! I need help! What do I do with him? I am always feeling like I don't do enough and I'm running out of ideas for things to do during the day. Most of the time he plays with his cars and balls, and I try to get him outside once or twice a day where he can run around in the yard. He loves books, so we read stories everyday too. I guess I'm just unsure of myself as a mom...I just feel like there is more I should do, or be providing him with more activities. I'm just starting to see more differences in him recently and seeing he is full of energy and loves to run and wrestle where I would love him to sit and color I realize that is not going to happen! At least not now. It's a good thing he has a wonderful papa who plays with him when he comes home from work. I'm seeing first hand how just how important a dad is in a little boy's life.
I am also wondering if anyone has any good recommendations for books about boys, besides Dobson's book. I've read it and some of it was good, but I'm looking for more of what boys at his age are going through, developmentally. Any advice would be welcome too! Thanks

Randomness

For the first time in a long while, I am starting to feel more of my need to read my bible and pray in the morning before I do anything else! I'm so glad that God is working in my heart and is ever so patient with me. But today when I really just wanted to be alone and not be bothered so I could read my bible and pray, my little almost 2 year old really wanted mama to play with him....so, at the particular moment I felt like God was saying that loving my son and playing with him outside was more important that my alone time. So, I got him ready and we went outside to play. He had a blast, he loves to be outside. So I walked around with him and while he roamed I read some Psalms out loud so he could hear too. I'm learning new ways to get the Word in me with my children around because I'm not alone very much....but I really should get up earlier to read and pray before they get up...

I sold a pair of shoes on ebay a couple days ago that my husband bought at a garage sale for $3, and we made a $13 profit, not bad. I'm hoping that we will find more bargains in the future that we can resale and make a little extra cash.

I started running today! Yea! Well, my goal was to begin working on cardio-vascular exercise again for at least 30 minutes today. I went for a run and was able to maintain a good pace for about 10 minutes, but after I went up a good hill, I had to slow down and walk for a little bit, then I started again. So, I jogged most of the time, but combined with walking I got a good sweaty workout! I have not run like that for almost 2 1/2 years! Just with 2 pregnancies in a row, I was just a walker overall with baby and big belly:) Today it felt great to run, but I'm really out of shape and need to work up to being able to run for 30 minutes straight. I am going to try and be realistic with what my goals should be so I'm going to just try and do what I did today 3 days a week for a week or two, and then maybe add another day to it after 3 weeks or so. ANyways, I am glad to have made the step and actually went out and did it. I really want to get into better shape.

Diastasis Recti

For those of you who've just had a baby recently, whether a month ago or two years ago, I would encourage you to check out these websites and learn if you have a Diastasis Recti.

http://womenshealth.suite101.com/article.cfm/separation_of_abdominal_muscles

http://www.fitpregnancy.co.za/content.php?sec=getfit&year=2006&month=12&doc=Belly_there.html

http://baby.families.com/blog/5-things-to-know-about-mummy-tummy-or-diastasis-recti

I was still feeling like I had some mama chub on my front belly after almost 1 year from my 2nd baby's birth, even though I am back to my old size and I fit into my old clothes. So I started doing some research online for some exercise about the best way to burn tummy fat when I came across a forum of these moms talking about their bellies and "diastasis recti." What is that I wondered. So I did some research and discovered it means separated abs which occur with pregnancy. Most of the time they come back together on their own, but for a handful of women they don't. (and I'm one of them) I read about how to check to see if my abs are still separated, and they are, so I'm very glad to have found this out, which explains why my tummy is the way it is. So you have to do special exercises to work the transverse muscle to bring them back together. I just want to share what I found just because I knew nothing about it and maybe it would be helpful info to others. It's really important to strengthen these muscles for future pregnancies. Now I just need to actually do the exercises consistently. Lord willing it will be another couple of years before we have another baby, but I really want to get my body in better shape by doing these exercises and running again.

How I Am Today

Usually I'm pretty positive, at least I try to be and see the bright side of things. But it's really been hard for me to do that lately. I think that is why I have not written in so long. I feel like I don't have anything positive or encouraging to say ...oh great, I just totally sounded like K-Love! For those of you who know that station know what I mean, anyways...so yeah, I usually want to be uplifting overall, but I've been so self-focused lately and so down (just in the past couple of months) that I haven't had much to give or to pour out into any body's life (online or in person for that matter). But I really want to keep writing...though I don't know how often my page even gets looked at, but whatever, it's a good outlet for me. So, I've come to the place where I realize that I just need to be real about who I am and write about what is going on in life. Being real is definitely something I am not that good at. I really want to be better at it, and I don't want to be fake and pretend that life is great...so I am going to try.

We just moved to Hawaii 3 months ago, and much to my surprise it's been really hard, a lot harder than I thought it would be. Yes, there have been lots of good things and many blessings but it's been hard for me nonetheless. I've just gone through the stuff of being homesick and feeling down and depressed at times. ( I am encouraged though because I have heard that this is normal for females with such a major move and life change). And I have not gone so far down in the dumps that I've given up and succumb to staying in bed all day, there have just been days of feeling really low and crying, but I'm not always sure why. I still want to be present and a good mommy to my boys and a good wife to my husband. But it's been a struggle because I've been so down. It's just hard feeling so many hard things, like constantly pouring out to my family all day, and not feeling well emotionally or spiritually. But God is working in my heart and answering my prayers, so I'm definitely in a better place than I was a month ago. (rabbit trail: My grandma died at the end of May and I was able to fly out to California for 4 days with Elijah. To be with my entire family!(I had not seen my younger brother in 2 years, and my older sister in 9 months). It was amazing seeing God's timing of it all and working out all the details. So that sure helped with homesickness for family and the mainland, and it made coming back to the island much easier.) So where I'm at now is I am seeing more of my desperate need for God's strength and filling me every day. Realizing how much more I need to pray and look to him for all things. Really seeing my weakness and how much I need him to work in my heart.
God is good. Good in that he lets us go through hard things but he is there to see us through and to bring hope and comfort. ( I can't help it, I have to end on a positive note:)

Grassroots Church

My husband is preaching today at church for the first time. Our church plant is small in numbers, but it is still a great responsibility to preach, so if any body reads this today please pray for him as he delivers the Word. It will be about 1:30pm west coast time as we're out in Hawaii. Thank you!

14 Steps

My worst nightmare since moving into our 2 story house came true yesterday. We have a flight of stairs to the lower level of our house and we usually always have a baby gate up. But yesterday we had taken off so we could bring groceries upstairs and we forgot to put it back up. Well, I left Elijah in the living room with some toys, thinking that I was not going to be gone for long...just a few seconds, but it turned into a few minutes, and alot can happen in a few minutes. Well, after a few minutes, I thought I need to go back to Elijah and just as I was leaving our room to head back I hear a thump thump thump and Elijah is tumbling down the stairs!!!! (Oh my gosh I was so scared, I was shaking was told later I looked awfully white). I raced down the stairs faster than I ever have and I carefully picked him up and we did a quick check to make sure there were no obvious injuries as he had just flown down 14 stairs and hit face down on a hardwood floor!!! I felt so horrible because I knew that it was my fault, if I had been more careful it wouldn't have happened. ....anyways, God protected him and he only had a bump on his head and a faint bruise on his knee,. He is totally fine...I'm so amazed....Praise God for his goodness in protecting him...he is such a sweet little boy we've been so blessed with Moses and Elijah.

We've moved, we're settling, and slowly adjusting PART 1

This is the view of the ocean near our new house. You can't see the ocean from our house but this is the street by our house, we live 5 blocks from the ocean! It's incredible...

It's been a long time (once again) since I've written. So much has happened and I've procrastinated in writing, just because it has seemed like such a daunting task and I've not had too much time to sit and write. My oldest boy only takes one afternoon nap now so I 'm trying to be more organized with my time so that when he does nap I will have finished all my chores and tended to other responsibilities so then I can sit down and write knowing I have taken care of priorities first.

First of all, God has brought us to Hawaii and in such a way that it has been so obviously his hand. There were many things that had to happen that we had no control over, we simply prayed and then waited to see how he would answer. So to briefly recap and summarize our life these past few months here is a short tale:

Back in February we put up 2 for sale signs for our house. One was right in front of our house and the other was in front of our mobile home park. We also made flyers advertising our house but we only put these up inside our park as well on the community bulletin board by the mail boxes. So that was the extent of our advertising. Well, sometime in early March my husband noticed one day that our for sale sign was no longer in front of our park, somebody must of stolen it because it was no where around the surrounding area. So, it was one of those things where we thought, well, we ought to buy another sign and put it up. And we considered other advertising ideas but we just didn't do anything else. So how were we supposed to sell our home one might wonder? God in his wonderful ways likes to bring glory to himself, so to make a long story short...after much prayer, poor advertising and struggling in our faith and trust in God, a young couple calls on the evening of March 22 to inquire about our home. They were driving around our town that day going to all the mobile home parks looking for a place for sale and our park was the last one that they went to that day. They saw our little flyer inside our park and called us up. They drove by that evening and came inside, my husband gave them a tour and we all talked for quite awhile and they really wanted to buy it. They just so happened to need a place that they could move into ASAP, which worked out great for us as we were hoping to be in Hawaii for Easter, which is when the church had it's first service. So in a matter of about a week, we moved out and the details were squared away and they bought our place and started to move in. So, it was a matter of two weeks from the time the couple came to look at our place to the day we arrived in Hawaii. It was incredible to see God at work. Needless to say we packed up our house so quickly and had to get rid of so much stuff! It was like nothing I'd ever have to do in my entire life. We sold almost all of our possessions and moved out here with basically our clothes and a few necessities. We packed away 4-6 totes that Ryan's parent's are storing for us, but we really just cleaned ourselves out and are starting our lives from scratch out here. It's been hard, but good too. There have been so many changes and adjustments, I am still processing it all.

Okay, well I need to stop writing for now and attent to my boys! Moses just came in from the outside and is pretty dirty from helping Papa with the yard work:) I will write more soon!

We've got luggage! Yesterday Ryan's parents gave us a combined birthday present of a good quality luggage set. We are still waiting and praying for our house to sell, but it was a blessing for God to provide in yet another way for us.

Well, Moses and I have gotten the nasty head cold bug that Ryan and Elijah had. Elijah still has a cold so all three of us have been feeling crummy this past week. The weather has been beautfiul here so that is helpful. At least we're not feeling yucky with yucky weather to go along with it.

Healthy Dessert

I just made this really yummy but very healthy pear crisp that I got from world's healthiest foods site. It doesn't have any sugar or flour, I was impressed with how it turned out.
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 d'anjou pears
• 3 cups water
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup apple juice, divided in half
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 cup almonds
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup rolled oats
• 1½ TBS chopped fresh ginger
• 1 TBS honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
   
2. Place water and lemon juice in bowl.
   
3. Cut pears into quarters, cut out core and slice ¼ inch thick. As you do this place the pear slices in water with lemon juice to keep from turning brown.
   
4. Drain and toss pears with cinnamon and ¼ cup of the apple juice.
   
5. Place almonds, oats, raisins and ginger in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until well ground and mixed. Place in a bowl and add honey and rest of apple juice. Mix well.
   
6. Place pears in an 8x8 baking dish and cover with topping. Bake for about 35 minutes until pears are bubbling.
   

Serves 4

Spring Forward

Turning our clocks one hour ahead is a hard adjustment because we still have to get up at 6am. Lately, I guess all of one day, I'm not tired until 10pm, which would normally be nine. But one nice thing is my boys are sleeping in until 8:30am-9am instead of 7:30-8am! We'll see how long that lasts before they adjust! So, Hawaii doesn't have daylight savings so when we move there will be a 3 hour time change to get used to! I hope that doesn't mean the boys will start waking at 5am!

Brief Update

We've been encoraged by to see God provide for us in many ways and show his faithfulness to us again and again. We are still preparing to move to Hawaii, thought the exact date is not set yet because we are waiting for our home to sell. We have sold two major items which is yet another confirmation that God is providing and leading us to Hawaii. We sold our expensive dining room table last week and we sold our car yesterday. These were two significant sales and now the third is our home. Please pray that God would provide a buyer for it. Once we sell our house we will, buy our tickets, have a moving sale for the rest of our stuff and give away what we don't sell and we'll be off. Our desire was to be out there by the end of March...so we'll continue to wait, pray and see how the Lord leads.

Please pray for Elijah too. He has a bad cold and I took him into urgent care yesterday just to get checked out and make sure it was nothing serious, which it's not, but he he has bronchiolitis, which is the same thing he had at a week old. But he has a runny nose, bad cough, and sounds wheezy. I have an inhaler I'm giving him every 4 hours, but if anyone has any home remedies or any advice please pass it along. He is happy and in good spirits overall so that is a blessing, but it's so hard when your baby is sick:(

I've learned my lesson!

I am convinced that it does not save time or money to take shortcuts, at least I have not learned how to make shortcuts work for me. I have had several frustrating situations in the last couple of weeks happen to me and I have resolved to not take shortcuts again (at least not any time soon).
Okay, so my husband was sick a week and a half ago and we went to the store to get some cold medicine. Well, I was comparing brands it seemed that buying the store brand would be just as good as the name brand, considering it had all the same ingredients. Well, this particular medicine had no affect at all on him, whether or not it just didn't work because it was not a name brand or I just bought the wrong stuff I'm not sure, but I have concluded that when it comes to medicine I'm not going to buy the store brand again. So, here I was trying to save us money by buying the cheaper stuff, but instead I ended up spending twice as much time and money when I had to go out the next evening and purchace another cold remedy for my husband (this time it worked).
Here is my other frustrating situation: A few nights ago I had to go to the store for a few groceries and diapers. I went to one store for the groceries and they also carry diapers but they were $1.50 more than I would normally pay and you got 8 less than I usually get. So, I decided was going to save $1.50 and get 8 more diapers by going to Walmart which was 2 minutes away. So, I drove over there and thought, hmm, I'll just park in the back of the store by the Walmart car shop (where they sell tires and work on the engine), and go in that entrance. This will save time driving around the store and trying to find a spot. It seemed like it would be much quicker going this way (which by the way is something I never do). So, I also had my 17 month old with me so I carried him in the store and didn't even get a cart, I'm going to be quick I thought. Well, I got the diapers then I remembered that I needed toilet paper too. So here I am carrying toilet paper (12 double rolls pack), a package of diapers and Moses. I let him walk some, but again, I was trying to be quick and things were getting heavy! So I made my way to the back of the store where I came in and when I got there the only register that is in the back was closed! I couldn't believe it! So, there I was with two big packages of diapers and toilet paper and Moses and no cart! I was overcome with grief and anger, I just dropped to my knees beside Moses and let my packages fall... Then when I realized that there were no employees around to see my dilemma, I "girded up my loins" so to speak and began the journey to the front of the store to check out. I was so angry at myself for the choices I made that brought me into Walmart to begin with. So, I carried my load down the aisle and around the corner and I can't even remember if I prayed or not, I was just so mad at how things were turning out, and the Lord in his goodness provided an empty cart just down the next aisle. I whispered a thank you Lord and piled in my goods, made my way to the U-scan and "quickly" paid for my items. I finally was able to head back to the rear of the store exit and back to the car. This whole ordeal took about 25 minutes or so. I was exhausted by now and I had also worn my most uncomfortable pair of shoes, certainly not made for walking! Oh, and then get this, when I got to Walmart, the diapers I usually buy were way up high on a shelf that I couldn't reach and there was no one around to ask for help. So after I waited for a few minutes, I decided to buy the next cheapest brand. So, I really only ended up saving like $.30 which by no means was worth the time and hassle that I ended up going through! Next time I'll take a hit at the other store, pay $1.50 more and get 8 less diapers all for the sake of preserving my sanity!

These two situations were very frustrating because I was trying to be a good steward of our money but it ended up backfiring in my face! I am learning that I need to just make sure I either do more research beforehand (like find out what is the best cold medicine to buy) and make a good purchace the first time so I won't end up spending twice as much to make up for poor planning or a bad buy.

It's all so Sweet

Sweet Blessings
Days go by so quickly the older you get(don't you think?), unlike when I was a child and it seemed like my birthday and Christmas took forever to arrive! But now that I'm so old (almost 24), the days go by so fast and each day is so wonderful when I look at my husband and two sweet little boys and realize how incredibly blessed I am. I wish that I could somehow bottle up these precious moments that are going to vanish ever so quickly and keep them forever. By God's grace I hope to savor these days that he's given me with my husband and children. I never ever thought my heart could be so overwhelmed with love for them. I shake my head now at the memory, but I remember thinking once when I was a nanny in college, will I be able to love my kids? How silly...I just thought that God had given me such a love for other people's kids, I felt afraid that I wouldn't be able to love my own. Little did I know...
God is so wonderfully good, upon a wretch like me he has bestowed such bountiful blessings.

Sweet Days of Waiting on the Lord
We are going through another season of trusting the Lord and walking by faith in a more intense way then we have in awhile. We are being stretched and it's good, life is too often lived by sight and our faith is weak, but praise God for his faithfulness to us! Life has been full and busy here at our home. We are preparing to move to Hawaii soon to join our friends in church planting, but there are some big details that we are waiting to be taken care of first. So we're not sure when the move will take place, but we hope it will be mid to late March. The biggest thing is selling our mobile home. We had a potential buyer but it doesn't seem like that is going to work out now. Please pray that God would provide another buyer and work out all the details involved. Pray that our faith and trust in the Lord would increase and that we would daily grow more in love with our Lord.
So, once we sell our place we'll be able to buy the tickets and hopefully all the other little details will fall into place. We are confidant that God is calling us out there, so it's just a matter of faith and trust on our part to look to the Lord to lead and guide us. If anyone would like more specific details on our move to Hawaii or the church plant, please email me and I'd love to pass on more info to you.

Chocolate, Sweets and Other Not so Healthy ThingsI suppose everything is okay in moderation, except when one consistently craves it! I go through phases with food, and sometimes I'm totally fine without eating dessert or chocolate for long periods of time, but then there are times when I want something sweet every day, or twice a day! It's frustrating to me because I end up driving myself crazy in my mind. I can tell I've given in to the desire too much because in order to get my chocolate or sweet "fix" it has to be a fair amount or something stronger than usual (like a rich chocolate). I think and think about eating it, then I do, than I'm like, ugh, why did I do that? I realize I've been trying to fight my craving in my own strength and I need to really pray and look to God to help me.. but there is a part of me that really doesn't want victory just because I really like my sweet treats. So where does that leave me? I realize that I need to have a greater desire, a greater pleasure, so how do I quit? Does this craving have anything to do with that time of the month? Does anyone know? It's hard going cold turkey, so I think that it would be good to have some sweet yet healthy alternatives. I bought some organic chocolate coolies today, they're like Oreos but they're called Newman-Os or something like that, and they taste okay, almost like an Oreo but they're sweetened differently. Now, I don't think that a great pleasure than chocolate is some other healthy sweet, I just think that might help, but I believe that a great pleasure might be how great it will be to eat more healthy or to feel more healthy. I don't know, and I rationalize so much too like, I don't eat potato chips or processed food or any other "junk" period, I just like chocolate stuff! UGh! Okay, well, I need to end this because this is becoming venting rant and I don't know what profit it is to me or anyone! I would gladly welcome anything thoughts, advice and suggestions about whatever if it would be beneficial to me. Thank you so much for listening.

Changing Cultures

I have not posted for quite some time because we have been very busy! Last week was preparation for our traveling and then we flew out to Hawaii to visit our friends who are church planting on the big island. The picture to the left is road near our friend's house. This particular area is very jungle like, very rural and not anything like one might invision Hawaii from travel brochures and postcards. There is a great need out here for strong churches as this area is one of the most unchurched areas in America. Hawaii is really a forgotten mission field because it's apart of the united states and often only thought of a tourist attraction and paradise with golden beaches. Anyways, we feel that God is calling us to join our friends in church planting and to minister to the people there.
I will write more soon, but I just wanted to post a quick update about what is going on with us. Also, if the Lord puts it upon your hearts, please pray for us as we prepare to move and all the details that requires. Also, for the people of Puna, that God's spirit would move among the people and that many would come to know the Lord. This area has a lot of people who have actually moved out from the mainland who are into new age kind of thinking. There are a lot of hippie-type of people, and drugs are pretty bad here. I don't know a whole lot , I'm still learning about what it's like there, but it's good because our friend who is the head church planter was born and raised there and we might be living with him and his wife for awhile so we'll be able to learn a lot from them.
Please feel welcome to post any tips on travel, moving, or other words of encouragment.
Thanks for your prayers!

Grouchy Mama

Yesterday was a crummy day, but today was better. I was feeling tired and grouchy for most of the day and was impatient and snappy with my little boy. Are there other mother's who feel this way too sometimes? I know that every mother gets grumpy, but how do you deal with it? I cringe when I see how it negatively affects my boys and I can see it in their faces. Sometimes Moses will look at me like what's wrong with you mommy? I feel bad when I get impatient with my boys and and I find myself getting snappy. I hate being this way. Though there are reasonable excuses, I'm tired because I woke up 3 times the night before, once with Elijah, once with Moses(he couldn't find his blanket), and then Elijah woke up to eat at 5:30am, and I didn't go back to bed either. It's hard not being able to sleep the whole night through without waking up once! But I know that these reasons are not good excuses for a lousy attitude, or the frustration that I feel welling up inside when Moses does something childish. I had several talks with Moses yesterday about mommy's bad attitude and seeking his forgiveness. Children are such a blessing, they're so joyful and quick to forgive! Their love just flows out of them. Moses is always quick to forgive me, it's a powerful testament to me when I am slow to forgive someone. Additionally, the Lord keeps reminding me that I can't love my children on my own, whether I am well rested or not. I need to keep praying throughout the day for love and strength relying on him for what I need, and be quick to repent when I sin against my children.
Praise the Lord for his grace and mercy upon us!

Snow Flakes Falling

These are photos my husband and I took this morning. It is snowing here today and the world outside is blanketed in a gorgeous white. We don't get snow here too often, so when we do it's a sweet treat. My oldest son absolutely loved playing in the snow and he was too cute all bundled up in his snow gear helping mom and dad build a snowman! I called him "rocky" the snowman because we don't have any grass out front only gravel, so when we rolled the snow it was filled with rocks!
My husband is great at seeing illustrations among everyday little things and he often shares them with me. I think it's wonderful to look beyond the surface of things and to try and see how something reflects the Lord or illustrates some biblical truth.
So, I've been pondering snow today and there is just something glorious about it! It's beautiful, white and majestic. As the flakes float down and cover the earth it makes things bright and new. It is a beautiful illustration of what happens when our sins are washed away by the blood of Christ. We become new creatures and we become white as snow. Psalm 51:7 says, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Jesus often spoke in parables in the bible and it's no wonder that he gives us pictures on earth to illusrate things about himself.

Baby Block Cake

This weekend I made the cake below for my friend's baby shower. It turned out pretty well it, but was alot harder to make than I had originally thought it would be! I doubt I will ever do it again, but if I do I at least know how I will do it differently.
Here is how I made it:
I started off with two sheet cakes and then cut a square out of both sheet cakes that were 8x8 in. Then I cut a 4x4 square out of the corner to be the corner block stacked on top. Then I just layered it up. So the bottom of the cake was 2 layers and the top block was another 2 layers. From the bottom to the top of the orange block measured about 8 inches high! I had to take a shelf out of my fridge and rearrange everything for a few days. I made the cake from box mixes but the frosting was homemade buttercream frosting. So yeah, I had alot of fun making this cake, but it took a long time, about a day and half but it was well worth it when the mother-to-be squealed with delight and it was obvious that she really was pleased. For that I was so very glad and it made it well worth it!

I'm finally sitting down to write for a little bit while my babies nap. Things have been busy here and I have just not found the time to write anything. Well, we had a nice little Christmas with our boys and my husband's side of the family here in town. Then for new year's weekend we ventured up to Washington to visit my family and some old friends. It really takes a lot of time and energy traveling with two little ones under the age of 2. But by the Lord's grace I've gotten really good at it since we have been traveling quite a bit in the past month. The boys have done wonderfully with our long car rides and we really don't have any trouble with them at all. But with being away from home it's hard to keep to what's "normal" for Elijah. His nights have been terrible because we were at other people's homes and not wanting to wake up everyone else I would just bring him to bed with me. But then that started the old ways again and he's now waking up every 3-4 hours again at night. It's really hard. I'm pretty tired and I am probably going to work at him crying it out again soon. We are going to Hawaii in a couple of weeks and I really would like him to be sleeping through the night by then.
--Whoa--Hawaii?? I imagine that's what a lot of you are probably saying!!! Where did that come from? Well, that is something that we've been praying about most recently. We have been sensing that the Lord might be calling us to join our friends who are church planting in Hawaii. So we're flying out to spend some time with the them, and among other things we plan on spending a lot of time talking and praying with them about whether this is where the Lord is calling us. I hope that the Lord will really confirm in our hearts his will for us through this trip. Anyways, If you feel led, please pray for us as we seek the Lord's leading and direction about this.

Well, today I am making a cake for my friend's baby shower tomorrow. I hope it turns out! I will post pictures of it hopefully tomorrow.