1050-1060: Last post of 2014!

Last post of 2014!
We are ready to embrace 2015!


1050- thankful for the Lord Jesus' birth & death & resurrection

1051- thankful for special chats ..football games & yummy dessert.(That candle is my new face scent- cinnamon fireball- )

1052- thankful for my hubby. My BFF. The one who totally gets me & loves shopping on his lunch break for little surprises (xo!!)...& helps me grow in every area.

1053- thankful for our Christmas Eve tradition - new jammies & facetime christmas with my amazing inlaws. Very special time. #blessed #spoiled

1054- thankful for the continued love we get daily in the mail~ look

 At all these beautiful family's!! Loved your cards!! Thank you!!

1055- thankful for our family ... Our 9some... Our Christmas day was a mixture of tradition and embracing the new. We kept our breakfast the same as always- oj coffee & orange cinnamon rolls....wishing we were in FL like years past - but embraced the peace & bliss of not traveling....We all wore jammies practically the whole day & we embraced new faces celebrating with us. My dad was very much missed as holidays always make his absence so much more apparent - but God gave comfort. Getting my dad an xmas gift was always a science. It was fun to ponder the perfect gift ... A giftcard was not adequate...classy clothes - nope- he bought his own stuff - ties?? -not a chance... Ha- sounds like I took after him in his style independence ;) . He liked the thought of a wrapped  gift... The meaning behind it was always very valued & appreciated. And he loved fun cards. Papyrus!! Man, I miss buying a Dad card!

1056- thankful for a fun play date with friends - zoo nerf wars & gingerbread houses!!

1057- thankful to watch my brother honor God. I'm very proud of him.

1058- thankful for totally unexpected texts that are a direct answer to prayer!! #prayercircles #family #holycomplicationsareblessings(mark batterson)

1059- thankful to know one squirrel is in squirrel heaven & unable to chew through our attic - Hebert trappers strike rich :)

1060- thankful to have a place for everything in our toy zone #purge!! In with the new out with old! #stayuncluttered

Excited for 2015.
Love seeing God work & mold me to be more like him! #epicfailure & SO much for God to work on & whittle out ....but I keep moving forward.

What's your 2015 key verse? Mine will be posted on 1-1-15, along with a couple 2015 goals

XO

Merry Multitudes * Christmas Week *

Thankful this week for....

*an awesome 4th grade son. Harrison rocks our world. Our hearts are full. He makes us learn new things every day. I love love love this 1st born son of ours!! {He did a fantastic job at the Choir concert this week too!}

* a gentle nudge from God, that reminded us that Satan is trying to attack our youth & that we, as parents, need to pray for our children, more than ever.

*an adorable and slightly chaotic Preschool Holiday performance.

* the energy and love of the Preschool director and her staff.

* that all our kiddos are off school now, and can lounge in their jammies all day- NOT! We are not that kinda fam ;)-  but it IS nice to not have school drop offs and pick ups ruling our day!

*the ability to use the fun Christmas stuff I used in my classroom to have fun with my own kiddies! Plan for this week: Gingerbread Monday, Reindeer Tuesday & Polar Express PJ Christmas Eve.

*9 stockings hung on the mantle. Ray. Mom. Our 5. Dusty. Milla. The fullness of the mantle, truly is a miracle. I know I write that often, but please know that it IS a miracle. It is not something that we take lightly. The fact that Ray is part of our lives- and can put up with us, that fact that Dustin is home with us, the fact that he has a legit girlfriend, who I LIKE (LOL!!), and the fact that we all ( minus Ray and Milla) cohabitate... still baffles me!! This is NOT where I would have thought we would be. There is no other place where I would want to be, now that God has brought and kept us here. The road has had many bumps- like serious pot holes- like "topees" in Spanish- that rock your whole car- we have had those, as a family- but by God's grace, we overcame and continue to press on. We are praying that next Christmas, there will be 4 more stockings, as we miss Matt's family a lot, especially during this time of year!

*for dad son date time (church & Packers game!)

*mom son dates

CONCERT NIGHT

CONCERT NIGHT

Park date

Dad is always with us & this needs to be posted again... sorry for repeats... but it means alot to me...

 This is a SICK giftcard display!! This is just one side of them! Starbucks- you are amazingly creative 

1030-1040

it's Monday & this post comes from the special Ed room during my break :)
And I never posted this... so sorry!
It is now Thursday, and this comes to you from a super updated 4th grade Computer Lab!

Thankful this week....
 1030- for creative outreach ideas from family across the miles
1031- for a serious answer to prayer
1032- for unexpected blessings arriving in the mail
1033- for warm (in the 50's!!) days!
1034- for a wonderful night out singing hymns & christmas carols with The Gaithers
1035- for special friends to share the concert with & they arrived early & got us front row seats!!!
1036- for a front door parking spot during my sunday shopping spree & first by the door spot at the POST OFFICE!! I know I was shocked too.
1036- for patience ... I am not patient...yet... but it's pretty amazing to watch God work on that specific area in my life. What are you wanting God to help you with? Pray and ask him! The power in prayer has really rocked me lately & really encouraged me. I hope it encourages you too!
1037- for the laughs & loud shrieks as our 3 H's wrestle & tackle Dad
1038- for teaching sunday school again
1039- for Ann voskamp's advent book
1040- for learning how to joyfully accept plan B

XO

Merry Merry Multitude Monday

Merry Merry Monday ya'll! {#1020-1030}

*Thankful this week for cookie dough. Dustin bought an insane amount from our Christian home school friends, and since freezer space in *gasp* 3 freezers, is a hot commodity, we better cook the dough & of course EAT IT!. Yum. #Skinnyjeansarenotinmyfuture.

*Thankful for antibacterial squirters from Bath and Body.  Harrison & Hannah have nasty colds and runny noses. Nice to be able to smell like buttercream and apple, after each germ encounter.

*Thankful for Christmas cards and letters arriving each day in the mail.

*Thankful for a time to write & reflect.... Dusty and I wrote my mom's letter... she is away, so when comes home, we will see what tweaking will be done. Such a great family activity. Such a wonderful way to recount our blessings as a whole family unit.

*Thankful for kamilla, thankful she brought over a serious a Polish spread so we could stuff our faces as tom Brady led the pats to victory!!!

*Thankful for the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and for Mary's awesome example of a wonderful mom...humble... loving... slow to speak.... Matt & I were reflecting today, that Mary didn't go & brag about the awesome things her son, the Lord did. So not like me! If my son healed someone, I would be the first to beam about it and broadcast! I'm thankful for Mary's good example and  I hope in 2015 to do a study on different Moms in the bible. I am needing some mom encouragement. The days are long but the years are short. Heard that somewhere... pintrest maybe? True. So True. Need to repeat each moment... especially during emotional sibling meltdowns.

*Thankful this week that Walmart sells BeeBee guns

*Thankful that my hubby is brave enough to stalk Mr Fatso Squirrel who created a nest above our bedroom..( it's super romantic and soothing to hear scurrying feet all hours of the night ...yuck!!)...when that was destroyed & he was blocked out of his entrance hole that we discovered by a corner of our window... in the brand new roof (sigh)... (he chewed THRU that wood that blocked him!) and he is back... but not for long!!

*Thankful for funny family moments trying to attract Fatso Squirrel. So far we have thrown peanut butter on a cookie up on the roof- and it stuck.. we are excited for rain tomorrow to wash it off - oops!-... and have filled the back yard with peanuts, caramel corn & pecans. Today all of that was gone. More is out, and of course no Fatso to be seen. Fatso will be a legacy. But I love that harrisons fave part of our weekend, was time with dad- hunting fatso. Beautiful.

* Thankful to have subbed for an in school suspension class- I love eye openers. I love my comfort zone, but 2014 is my year to bust outta that... and I did... Diane called for me to sub in Jr High (Eww!! I love the cutie kids, like kinder-3rd grade...but 6th-8th!? Scary!! But sure, I'm so there!)
 2 kids. just me and 2 kids. 2 kids who made it feel like 30. After finding out about each one, their hearts shone. Broke my heart to hear their life stories. To hear about the broken homes. To hear about the lack of love. How  they dislike their parents and  their siblings...with a passion. Where is the love? How can these kids use such words to describe the people that are supposed to love them and be their greatest advocates? Where is God? He is here! Always ready to reach out to the lost world- if only they would let Him in! That brokenness isn't going to instantly dissappear - but they would have Hope. Such a wonder....to have Hope. Forget passing 6th grade. {So far that one boy had all F's, except in PE and Choir}. Forget passing school in general. Move past that.... to a greater need...the Hope for what happens after life... how can we preach to these kids?! Pray that there will be some way to reach out to schools and hit the hundreds of teens who need Hope... Highlight moment was instead of listening to christmas songs ( my idea of bribery if they worked) thd boy chsnged it to...3rd day....he's like I know u like this song... I sooo totally did -! #outreachdriven #spreadHislove #theyneedhope



Enjoy this 8th day of Advent!

XO

Hearts Are Full

Happy Tuesday!
Where did my 1st Monday of December go!? I was a nurse yesterday, that's where it went :) Thankful I can be a stay at home mama and take care of my two big guys! Matt & Harrison were both down for the count...praying that the rest of December is germ free.

1010- Thankful to have read "The Best Yes" on Wednesday. The part I read was discussing making time for relationships. Not being so task oriented, but people oriented. I love reading. I try so so so hard to apply new things to my life and heart but wow, hard! But that night... mission accomplished!
1011-Thankful for our kitchen table. {If tables could talk huh!?} Wednesday night, while others were gathered for a prayer meeting, we had a mighty powerful discussion. Beautiful to open the bible, be able to discuss different views, and then hear God's view. I am not normally a sit and talk for 4 hours type of gal, especially at night.... yaaawwwnn... but it was beautiful and real and boy, do I love real!

1012-Thankful to have had a wonderful Thanksgiving day.
1013-Thankful for 11 smiling, happy hearts sitting around one big table.
That table is proof for the faint of heart- God is Good. Always. No matter what. Even in the pain. Even in the dark. He was there. Of course it's way easier to say it now, than it was 5 years ago in the middle of the darkest times... He brought a real life miracle- to have Dustin at our table for the 2nd Thanksgiving in a row, miracle.  To have friends from afar, living close by, reconnected only by God's goodness. To have a new best friend for my mom...Hearts are full...
1014-Thankful to have our kids share their love with the less fortunate.
1015-Thankful to have the daily necessities that we were reminded of, are blessings, and not everyone's normal take for  granted things
1016-Thankful for smells that might not be so pleasant but are helpful reminders that we are living a blessed life. {For example, you ever stand by someone who reeks of dirt, filth and urine? Yet they are smiling... such a happy outside, and would love clean fresh clothes, but can't afford them.. the smiles make the smells go away... but I appreciate the smells. I am one who smells everything and Love love love love all things scented...so to smell their real life... brings me a pained joy. A joy that they are real enough to be who they are. A pained joy because I am spoiled beyond measure and my heart aches for more! The Lord is chiseling that big flaw out of me, little by little. To be content.}
1017- Thankful that  my mom made it to Florida safely.
1018- Thankful that we are able to surprise her, this weekend when she returns, with a spotless "new" office!! It was my labor of love yesterday, and was a beautiful thing to look at my dad's pretty amazing library! We are excited to dive into some new reads, and was so special to read  the insides of so many of his books, that were gifts from his dad and other special friends and family. {Computer, please don't take all the paper books away! There is something oh so special about a "real" book with someones hand written lovely note }
1019- Thankful to smell that amazing wintery fresh fir tree smell each time we sit in the living room.
1020- Thankful that the boys had a fabulous bucket list football game on Sunday! Lambeau Field! Pats lost,but the memories are kept and so special.


XO

Tuesday before Thanksgiving: Bible Distribution at PGM

Encouragement

Sorry for the blurriness ( It was a blur!!)

PGM

Ice Cream Turkey!!!

Thanksgiving Morning. Kerwin had preaching duty at PGM.. about 350 people were there. 

PGM from the stage

Harrison's at GREEN BAY!!!

This is how I watched the game :) I was mighty cozy, compared to the boys, but I SOOO wanted to be there too!

New hair do for Hudson

Love it! Decorations came - although this is my fave pic of it!

Thanks Pintrest and Lacey! I loved this idea!!

Kamilla we love you

Happy Thanksgiving!

We love  this city!!