Thanksgiving Play

Today Caden's 1st grade class had a Thanksgiving Play. It was very, very cute! All the kids had their lines memorized, and they dressed as Pilgrims and Indians. Grandma Karla (Josh's mom) drove three hours in order to attend the play and to spend some time with us. It was really fun having her visit us for the morning.
Happy Thanksgiving To You! Count Your Blessings!

This is a ship the kids made. It is sailing to America! Caden is in the middle with the white on the sleeve.

Cute, Cute, and More Cute...

She's stealing Julia's wheels!

Macy - Miss Creativity - constructed a new friend that can play upstairs with her. Its name is Percy and it is made out of a wrapping paper roll, a papertowel roll, and two toliet paper rolls. She is very proud of her person!

Yep--she still looks just like him!!!

Eekhoff Boyz

Today we drove to Eldora to visit my friend Lindsay and her two boys. We ate yummy pizza and covered alot of topics in conversation. I think Griffin missed Caden's company.....several times we heard Macy holler out, "No Griffin...I don't want to wrestle!" Lindsay's hubby Lincoln and Josh are good friends and both love to hunt deer. Lindsay is my friend of encouragement during deer season. She reminds me that my husband still loves me despite his desire to sit in a tree stand for hours on end. Lindsay even sent me home with an early Christmas present. She is a very thoughtful friend...Thanks, Lindsay! It is sitting on my kitchen counter and it looks awesome!

Tough Guy

One morning while dressed from head to toe in camo and waiting for the school bus at 7:15 AM, Caden claimed to be a tough guy.

He isn't so tough after school when his sister wants to greet him with kisses!

French Fries and Friends!

Today the girls and I took a little road trip to Independence,IA. We met my friend Jamie and her two kids at a McDonalds playplace. Noelle got her first taste of really salty french fries! She'll probably never eat Cheerios again! Isaiah missed Caden, but overall it was a great time of hanging out.

Fireproof - The Movie

If you are married, we highly recommend that you go see this movie!

Pushing A Chair

Noelle's new favorite activity is to push a chair all over the house in order to get from one place to another. She pushed this chair through the doorway in the background in order to find me. She got caught in the doorway for a little while, but eventually worked the chair free without a whine. My baby is going to be a big girl really soon!!

When she got up this morning she said, "Hi Dada" to Julia.

Hearts at Home

I traveled with some friends this weekend to a Hearts at Home conference in Rochester, MN. Hearts at Home is an organization that encourages, educates, and equips women in the profession of motherhood. Conferences are held twice a year, one in Peoria and one in Rochester. This is the third one I have been to since becoming a mom. I always come home refreshed and equiped to be a better mom and wife. This year several good friends from the area attended, along with my friends Jamie Steele from Dubuque and Julie Werling from Indianola. Jamie and Julie used to live in the area, but have both moved away in the last few years. It was so much fun to hangout with them and catch up on life. The hotel and shopping time on Friday were just as theraputic (if not more) than the mommy sessions I attended on Saturday. I attended 4 encouraging sessions titled Worn Out Mom, Love for a Lifetime (marriage), Surviving Motherhood without losing your cool!, and A Mother's Touch. I came home with lots of practical advice and new ideas to incorporate into our life. My kids have been telling me that I am so much nicer today. They said, "We're glad you went to a mommy conference, because now you are nicer." (We'll see how long that lasts!!)

This is the crew.

We got to eat several meals WITHOUT sharing our plates!

Christian comedian-Ken Davis-was a guest. This is a picture of him pointing to his mom in the crowd.

I even caught Julie, Jamie, and Mindy laughing!!!

The is me, Julie, and Jamie. Julie is a mom of 4 kids ages 7,6,5,4. She is a great encouragement to me. Jamie is a mom of 2 ages 4,2. She is also currently hosting two high school foreign exchange students in her home. She has an awesome heart for serving the Lord and others.

Here are a few encouraging tips that I am holding close to me...

1)If you were a perfect parent, it would eliminate the childs need for God.
2)Ask yourself,"Will this matter in 15 years?" If so, then fight for it. If no, then let it Go.
3) Ask God everyday,"Restore Me, Lord."
4) Practice joy and choose it daily. Be intentional and delightful.
5) Throw out the tape recorder of default negative messages that plays over and over in your head. Satan wants you to believe that you are a bad mom.
6) Listen as much as you speak.
7) A good marriage is not so much about marrying the right person as it is about becoming the right person.
8)Keep life simple and Biblical.
9) Incorporate a devotional/dessert night once a week for your family.
10) Kiss your hubby for 20 sec. a day and hug your kids 12 times a day (that's 48 hugs for me to give out in a day to my kids)!!!

If you'd like to check out more info. on this ministry see the website.
www.hearts-at-home.org

Not Much...

This has been a very low key week at our house. We had a park play date and bike rides outside at the beginning of the week. The sunshine has been so nice! We are ending the week by baking bread and jumping on the couch cushions inside because of the chillier weather. Josh and I had parent teacher conferences for Caden and Macy this week. No big surprises! Caden is doing well in reading, and Macy is doing well with writing. Julia has been working on potty-training. She has pretty much potty-trained herself in one week. What a blessing! Our diaper usage has been cut in half this week! Josh has picked up his guitar this week for the first time since last Christmas. The tunes have come back to him pretty quickly. Right now he is playing "Glory, Glory Hallelujah...". I bet you didn't know that he was so talented...maybe he'll be in the Orchard Hill worship band before you know it!! We are glad to have the Presidential Election over with. Eventhough the candidate we voted for did not get elected, we are confident that God is ultimately in control of our country.

Have a good weekend!