Christian Momma

Noah turns 11 years old today!

He’s getting to be such a wonderful young man!  Happy Birthday Noah!!

Michael turned 14 years old today!

It’s amazing how much he’s growing!  Happy Birthday Michael!

So last week we had quite a bit of excitement around here!

On Monday, the tornado sirens were going off.  The storm moved through, but no tornado, just a lot of high winds.

Then on Wednesday night, we had tornado sirens going off again around 6 pm.  We have group at our house at 7 pm, so we were a bit worried, but watching the news stations, we saw that the storm moved to the North of us.  After group was over, I watched the news and saw that another line of storms were heading this way, so I went ahead and stayed up to watch the news.

As I was laying there, around 12:30 am, the newscaster stated that “the chance of a tornado is minimal”.  So I started to get comfortable in bed.  Just then, we heard this HORRIFIC noise and Kevin shot straight up out of bed…we went running up stairs to get the boys into the basement.  Once we finally got down there, we waited for Kevin to finally get the dog to go down.  He had peeked out the window before heading downstairs and told me that our table outside (that has 4 big tiles in it) was flipped over.

After the storm had died down, we sent the kids back up to their bedroom, Kevin and I headed outside to take a look at the damage.  Our grill had been flipped, our table flipped, chairs scattered all over, out front, we saw the news crew driving through, ambulances coming into the development, and some siding in our front yard.

The next morning, Kevin called to let me know our chair was across the street and we should go get it.  Here are some photos of what I saw once the sun was up!

Our Grill

Our Table

Our Neighbor’s play set with a gutter wrapped around it

Can’t see it well, but there’s a lot of debris over by the fence

The street near us.many trees down, lots of damage

A neighbor’s damaged roof

Another neighbor who had damage and people out fixing it

A flipped over car

Same debris that I tried to show you from my yard…it’s from the next photo’s house!

House lost most of the 2nd story!

The national weather service decided that a F1 tornado had hit our neighborhood.  Now why they didn’t sound the sirens during this storm, we have no idea.  Had this storm hit at a different spot, we could have lost so much.  All 4 of our boys were upstairs sleeping when this hit.  I just Thank God for our protection during this storm that came out of nowhere!

I cannot believe in 15 days, Daniel and Andrew will be joining their class on the stage to graduate from Preschool.  They are so excited to be graduating too…they keep singing their songs all day.

They’ve learned their ABC’s, their numbers, and so much more!  This summer we are going to work on reading…hopefully when they get into Kindergarten they will at least have their sight words down.

In March, I signed Michael up for High School…I just can’t believe that!  (oh and the twins were signed up for Kindergarten 2 weeks later…who does that?).  My boy will be in high school!  After looking over all of his schedule, we decided to have him take a class online this summer to free up one of his periods for Spanish.

As for Noah, he’s been working so hard on his reading this year.  I have seen a lot of improvement!  He’s going to be going into the 5th grade next year.

When did my boys get so big?  When did they grow up?

Michael is in the Liberty Junior’s production of The Beauty and the Beast.  They have been practicing for a couple months.  This week is play week…he has dress rehearsal on Monday and Wednesday for sure and possibly on Tuesday too.  Opening night is Thursday night.  There is also a play on Friday and Saturday night as well.

Since I’ve volunteered to help out with the hair and make-up, my schedule is jammed packed with dress rehearsals and running a child here and there.  We got a letter yesterday stating that Michael would need a tux shirt from Hobby Lobby…we forgot to go on Saturday, they are closed on Sundays, so that leaves me tomorrow after I drop Daniel and Andrew off at school.

Monday night is our first meeting for our Women’s Retreat planning.  And since I’m the one who will be leading that meeting, I guess I’ll have to attend that as well!

Wednesday is Daniel and Andrew’s Preschool Parade at the school.  I don’t think they understand what will be taking place, but once they figure it out, they will be excited.  And of course, the mom that I am, I will be there helping!

It’s funny, you schedule things in advance and it never fails that everyone falls in the same week!  I think I’m ready for this week to be over…we haven’t even hit Monday yet!!

My life is a combination of many different interruptions!

When I was 16, I knew EVERYTHING! I was grounded for something (and for the life of me, I cannot remember why…we won’t say it’s because I’ll be 37 next week), but I wanted to go out anyway. So I took off and went out with a friend of mine. It was a Sunday night, so my curfew was 9 pm on a school night. I knew that even though I was out and my parents knew where I was, they weren’t happy since I was grounded. I was on my way home from dropping off my friend (who, consequently is now my sister-in-law), I knew I would be home before my curfew, so my parents wouldn’t be any madder at me. As I approached our town limits (that sounds funny, but village limits sounds even funnier even if it is what I lived in), I saw a car heading out of town. But what was so significant about this car is that it was in my lane…I pulled over as far as I could without hitting the parked cars on the side of the road and BAM!! The car hit me…head on (more on the passenger side than the driver’s though). And at that moment my life would NEVER be the same.

I was 16 years old, in a hospital bed, with a broken femur, being told I was lucky to be alive since my bone was resting on the main artery in my leg while I was in the car…only to be told that I may never be able to have children because of my injuries! What a devastating blow that was! As a young girl, I had always dreamed of being a mommy…always had baby dolls and stuffed animals that I “mommied” growing up. My life in that moment was interrupted!!
When I met my husband a few years later, we had talked about how I may never have any children. Being the person I am, I kept telling myself it was fine, but deep down, it wasn’t. After being ministered to in our church by a minister who only spoke Spanish (I don’t know any Spanish…I can only speak English), he prayed for me and in that moment, I knew God had moved in my life. A few months after that, I became pregnant with my 1st son.

When my son was 1, my husband got a new job…it was a great opportunity, I would be able to be a stay at home mom. The problem…we had to move from Ohio to Colorado. I didn’t know anyone in Colorado (except for a cousin that was estranged from our family). I was a shy person by nature, so this sort of freaked me out…A LOT!!! We moved, things worked out just fine, I met friends, and the best thing about those 2 years in Colorado…my husband and I grew so much closer to the Lord. And we were pregnant with our 2nd child (another boy).

2 weeks after our 2nd child was born, we were moving again…from Colorado to Minnesota. Again, there wasn’t anyone in Minnesota that I knew, and I was 2 weeks postpartum! We enjoyed the 4 years we lived out in Colorado. God taught me how to open up more and not to be so shy. Again, our marriage grew stronger.

In 2004, we were so excited to find out that we would be moving back to Ohio…an hour from family, but what’s an hour when you lived 20 hours away? Our family was complete, 2 boys, back in Ohio, what more could we want? My oldest was in 2nd grade, my youngest was 4, he’d be in Kindergarten the next couple of years, and I was looking forward to the time that I would have while the boys were in school…all the scrapbooking I would get done, how I would be able to volunteer in the schools, etc. In a moment, that all changed…with a positive pregnancy test staring me in the face! How could this be? I was 30 years old, I was done having children, we just moved closer to family, we sold all our baby items before we moved to Ohio…it took a month or so for me to accept that I was actually pregnant. 18 weeks later, I had invited my mom to come to the ultrasound to see our baby (something she’s never seen before). I laid on the table, the ultrasound tech came in and turned on the machine, took 1 swipe across my stomach and said, “Yep, there are 2 in there”. As if just being pregnant wasn’t interruption enough, now I’m having twins!! Instead of having to buy 1 of everything, we would now need 2 of everything…and both were boys! How could that be? Well, I only had 13 weeks to process the idea of having twins before I was being told that my body wasn’t handling the pregnancy well and that I had what is called HELLP syndrome…my liver wasn’t working properly and if it stopped working, the rest of my organs would stop working. 2 days later, I was standing in the NICU staring at my 2 – 2pound babies in their beds! Processing the fact that I was now a mother of 4 boys, I had almost died having them was a lot to comprehend. I went through a lot of emotions. God was there, he brought us through their 4 weeks in the NICU and they just celebrated their 6th birthday yesterday…both are healthy boys!

As I said earlier, my life is one big interruption after another!! But with each interruption, I’ve grown closer to God and have seen the blessings multiply in each time. To go from not being able to have children, to having 4 boys…my life has been altered drastically and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world!

**Note: This is the comment I posted on http://www.goingbeyond.com/blog/altered-plans

Daniel and Andrew turn 6 years old today!

It’s hard for me to see how much they are growing.  They are in preschool and are learning so much!

Happy Birthday Boys!!

The weather in my neck of the woods:

Things that make me happy:

My boys behaving and playing nicely together!

Book(s) I’m reading:

Just finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  It’s a really good book!  Getting ready to read (for our Wednesday night group The Unshakable Truth By Josh and Sean McDowell…first impression…it seems like it’s going to be a good book…but it’s LONG and a lot of information!!  Also, our Tuesday night women’s group is starting Here and Now…There and Then By Beth Moore…so I’ll be doing a lot of reading!

What I’m enjoying on TV:

I usually don’t watch much on TV, I end up using Hulu to watch some shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and The Bachelor, but I do watch Wipeout on TV…it’s just too funny not to!!

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:

None that I can think of right now…but I’m always open to suggestions!!

On the Menu for dinner:

Lasagna

On my To Do List:

• Find a Lactose Free Recipe to make for a family on Thursday
• A bunch of meetings this week
• Figure out carpooling
• Figure out a Menu for next week’s dinner (4 adults, 7 children…6 of which are boys)

In the Craft Basket:

Nothing right now…just haven’t had the time to do anything yet…I do have some old sweaters/sweatshirts that I would like to convert to something else…but I’m unsure what I want to do with them.  I have scrapbooks that I should be working on since I haven’t done anything with them in almost 6 years!!

Looking forward to this week:

Quarter Auction…it sounds like a lot of fun…and I hope to win something too!!

Tips and Tricks:

I use drive safe.ly on my blackberry.  It reads texts and emails to you so you aren’t tempted to pull your phone out while you are driving!  The downfall…if my hubby knows, he’s likely to send a text to embarrass me! LOL

No words needed (favorite picture, yours or others you want to share):

My favorite photo from our camping trip in Michigan a couple years ago

Lesson learned the past few days:

You can create folders on an iPad…I had no clue until hubby showed me!  If you slide 1 app on top of the other app, it will create a folder with those 2 apps!

On my Prayer list/things on my mind:

A few friends who need healing, my boys for their attitudes

Devotionals, scripture reading, key verses:

¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalms 46:10

From: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

The weather in my neck of the woods:

COLD!!!  Snowy, windy, and a good day to stay in!

Things that make me happy:

Seeing other people smile!!

Book(s) I’m reading:

“The Case for Christmas” by Lee Strobel

What I’m enjoying on TV:

I’ve been watching a lot of Food Network…getting ideas for holiday cooking!

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:

Melted Snowman Sugar Cookies

On the Menu for dinner:

Pizza

On my To Do List:

Baking cookies!!

In the Craft Basket:

Hmmm…can’t say! 

Looking forward to this week:

Preschool Christmas Program on Wednesday

Tips and Tricks:

I use a calendar that lists out my 4 boys’ chores for each day of the week.  It’s listed on a weekly calendar, so if I want to change their jobs, I just rip off the current week and change their chores!

My favorite blog post this week (Mine or other):

Melted Snowman Sugar Cookies I’m so making these for the Preschool Christmas Program!!

Blog Hopping (A new discovered blog you would like to share with other readers)”:

?

No words needed (favorite picture, yours or others you want to share):

Lesson learned the past few days:

My son will make it as a dad…someday!  He did a pretty good job at taking care of that “baby” from school!

On my Prayer list/things on my mind:

A few friends of friends who are sick/had surgery

Devotionals, scripture reading, key verses:

¹⁰ Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:10

(still trying to memorize this)

From: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

The weather in my neck of the woods:

COLD!!!  Currently 15 degrees…but if you factor in the Wind-chill, it’s 1 degree!!  And there are flurries!  The high is supposed to reach something like 23 degrees!

Things that make me happy:

This weekend spending time with family and watching all 4 of my boys in the Christmas program!  Michael had a reading part (narrator), Daniel and Andrew sang a Duet, and Noah had a solo!  My boys did a great job!

Book(s) I’m reading:

Besides the Bible…not sure.  I just finished my last book (Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis)…not sure what I’ll read next!

What I’m enjoying on TV:

Right now…nothing!  I have a quiet house…all the boys are in class, so I’m keeping it quiet!

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:

Still haven’t tried any Truffles…want to do that soon.  I’m getting the itch to start making desserts/candies for Christmas, so we’ll see!

On the Menu for dinner:

Thinking Chicken Legs (they were on sale at the store this weekend), but I’m not quite sure how I’ll prepare them yet.  I usually grill them with BBQ sauce, but I’m not going to stand outside in this cold weather trying to do that!!

On my To Do List:

Preparation for Friday’s 31:30 meeting (31:30 is our Women’s Ministry name…it’s from Proverbs 31:30)

In the Craft Basket:

I have some things I need to make for Christmas…not going to say for fear those people will be reading this! LOL

Looking forward to this week:

Get together for our Tuesday Night Bible Study…our Wednesday Night Bible Study here at the house…and the 31:30 meeting on Friday!

Tips and Tricks:

Hmmm…not sure I have any this week!

My favorite blog post this week (Mine or other):

Nothing this week

Blog Hopping (A new discovered blog you would like to share with other readers)”:

Haven’t been reading much blogs lately

No words needed (favorite picture, yours or others you want to share):

Lesson learned the past few days:

Never walk through the living room when Kevin and the dog are playing…that dog about took me out!! LOL

On my Prayer list/things on my mind:

Mom and her job…they’ve been laying off a lot of her friends from work.  And my niece Kierstin who has been sick.

Devotionals, scripture reading, key verses:

¹⁰ Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:10

From: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom