Thankful Thursday....

Today, WE are thankful....

That Stan's body shows no evidence of cancer and that he is now walking in remission!

Our senior pastor, Stan, has been battling glioblastoma since May (I wrote about it HERE). But last Friday, he had scans and shared THIS GOOD REPORT. Stan has been teaching our church body so much since his return in August.... and I loved his words in this post, "I pledge to give whatever remains of my life to bring God glory ... in whatever c​i​r​c​u​m​s​t​a​n​c​e​s I find myself!"

Scott and I are beyond grateful for Stan's return to ministry.... he was missed greatly by all of us! It's a great, great season at Sonrise, and we couldn't be more thrilled for Stan and his family.

Thankful Thursday....

Today, I am thankful....

1) For perfect timing. I received an email from one of my very best friends today that was completely encouraging when I was feeling a little down. The timing of when it hit my inbox was perfect. I love that.
2) For a great table of women at MOPS. We were missing a couple of the ladies at our meeting today, but I am still so excited to get to know this amazing group a little better!
3) That our sweet Audrey gained 8 ounces in a week.... and that her head grew a full centimeter. At her well-baby visit a week ago, she only weighed in at 11 lb. 4 oz. and the doc was VERY concerned as she had fallen off of her growth curve completely. I started nursing around the clock.... and started feeding her avocados and cereal (avocados are FULL of great nutrients and fats for baby's brain development). Result = success! What a relief!

4) For some amazing, much-needed breaks this week thanks to some amazing friends and family members. Scott and I were able to go on a breakfast date on Monday thanks to some great friends who watched the girls while the boys were at school.... I was able to enjoy MOPS this morning thanks to my mom for filling in for me in MOPPETS.... and we get to go on ANOTHER date tomorrow night thanks to my dear little sis! Yep, I'm feeling spoiled this week. I love my kids, but I love a break, too!
5) For the countless number of times that my parents have walked into the door of my house carrying a package of diapers. Seriously, their generosity astounds me.

Much love to you today! :)

Sisters!

First, I have a confession. I vividly remember lying on the table in the c-section room right after my doctor had delivered Audrey and announced that we have a beautiful baby girl. I immediately praised God and thanked Him through tears for a healthy baby (and no, that wasn't the confession). The confession... and then, I said, "Now, I can actually say that I really, really wanted another girl!"

And why? Because I grew up with two sisters who are now two of my very best friends, and I longed for Ellie to have that opportunity in her life, too.

A few weeks ago, my baby sister (yes, she is 32, but I still call her that occasionally!) was looking at some great black and white pics that we had taken by a friend when Isaac was 1 month old and Aaron was 3 1/2. She mentioned how cool it would be to have pics like that of Ellie and Audrey. While I'm not going to schedule a professional photo shoot of the girls right now, I grabbed my camera the other day and captured a few of my own. No, they aren't perfect.... but I think that they are so, so precious.

Sisters. Precious.

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

You really are the most amazing nine year old I've ever met.... I'm so, so grateful and privileged to be your momma. I love you....

oh.my.goodness.
I feel like he looks so much older in this pic.... I can't stop thinking about the fact that today, we are halfway to 18! Yikes!

Some MORE words from my house....

Oh Isaac.... he keeps us on our toes.... and just says sweet things sometimes, too.

*Ellie nailed him in the mouth with her sippy cup today (sigh.... I can't stand that part of this stage....) After I had disciplined her, I was consoling Isaac. Through many tears and sobbing, he said, "Can we please just give her away to another person now?!" (and yes, I explained to him that life doesn't work like that).

*As he was eating lunch the other day, Isaac said, "We need to send the Operation Christmas Child kid some food. We could send it on one of our plates."

*Scott shared that the other day, he and Isaac were in the car and had to pull over for an ambulance. Isaac said, "I wonder if that's somebody who got bit by a shark" (we live in the midwest.... I'm just guessing but.... probably not).

Some words from my house....

If you are a parent of a little boy, you know that almost anything can be turned into a toy gun of some sort.... it's just what they do (and no, my boys don't watch violent movies or play violent video games).

Currently at our house, there is a small twig that has made its way inside from the brush outside, and yes, it is Isaac's "gun."

This morning, I heard words in my home that I never had imagined hearing....

Scott: "Isaac, put down your gun so that we can pray."

Nice. Very nice.

A little reminder for me

This morning, Audrey and I went to Walmart while the rest of the crew was at school (YAHOO!) Thankfully, she was sleepy during the trip so that was a huge blessing to me. However, one part of the shopping trip was not very peaceful.

When I was in the middle of the baking aisle, trying to find barley (note: barley is NOT in the baking aisle OR the breakfast aisle; rather, it can be found near the rice!), I heard an "interesting" dialogue between a mom and son one aisle over. It went something like this....

Son: SCREAMING
Mom: PUT ON YOUR COAT.
Son: SCREAMING
Mom: I SAID, PUT ON YOUR COAT.
Son: SCREAMING
Mom: IF YOU DON'T PUT ON YOUR COAT RIGHT NOW, I WILL SPANK YOU RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF WALMART!!!!

I kid you not, the mom screamed at the child to put on his coat no less than 10 times. I don't know how the story ended as our paths went in different directions (because I FINALLY found the barley! Thank you, dear Walmart employee!)

I am NOT posting this as a judgment on the other mom. I don't know her story. Maybe her son suffers from terminal hypothermia and must wear his coat everywhere he goes. But this dialogue was an awesome, awesome reminder for me:

I NEED TO PICK MY BATTLES WISELY!

Seriously, there are huge battles as parents that are always worth the fight. But some things (maybe even wearing a coat through aisle 7 at Walmart??) just aren't worth it. I make the mistake of choosing the WRONG battles all the time.... just ask my 8-year old about the fight we had about his recorder book yesterday morning.... on second thought, DON'T ask him about it PLEASE! :)

BUT.... I am continually working on this one. I am learning.... I am growing.... and I am thankful for the reminder that I received in the baking aisle this morning. I am also thankful that I finally found the barley....

Classic!

Tonight, our sweet neighbor girl was organizing a little readers theater with all of the kiddos of the cul de sac. Well, the story goes that the big kids told our adorable five year old, Isaac, that he couldn't participate because, "You can't read."

To which Isaac adamantly declared, "I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST! Philippians 4:13!"

Goodness. I love that kid. And is it just me, or do 5 year olds say the sweetest (and funniest) things on the planet?!

Also, well done to the staff and volunteers of KidZone and to Isaac's preschool teachers. He learned his memory verse from September! Last week, as I was dropping him off at preschool, I said, "Bud, God can help you do all things!"

And he said, "THROUGH CHRIST!" Love that....