My Cup Runneth Over

I love my family

Nope - not perfect. But, I love each one of them so much it hurts sometimes! How did I come to be so blessed by these 5 people? God's grace and prayer...lots and lots and lots of prayer. My folks began praying for my spouse years before I met Trevor. He wasn't quite what they pictured when I first brought him home with earrings and an attitude! But, they love him and are so grateful for him now. I couldn't ask for a better husband and daddy to our kids. Iron sharpens iron and Trevor and I give each other plenty to pray about and allow God to continue working on us and our marriage - but we love each other deeply and are best friends.

My kids...well - I go on and on about them here on the blog, on facebook and to anyone who will listen! They are, each one, a gift. I have always been a fairly  happy person - enjoying childhood years, teenage years. I was thrilled to get married and become Trevor's help meet. But, my joy was multiplied exponentially when Chase was born...I expected to enjoy being a mom - but wasn't prepared for the deep, incredible joy (and in turn all the other emotions that run just as deep in parenting). As each child has been birthed or adopted into our family I truly feel that my cup runneth over. Yes - we are busy, we are loud, we are at times stressed, grumpy, frustrated and impatient with one another. But, most often our joy runs over. Can't wait to have 6 people to love!

Tae Kwon Do

Trevor, Hunter and Eloise have all been taking Tae Kwon Do at a local Christian school here in town - Miller's Academy. The instructor is fabulous with the kids! Recently Trevor re-injured his knee and Hunter decided to stop when Trevor did. For him it was more of a partial PE credit, but he had some fun beating up his dad in class. :) It was fun to watch Hunter do some martial arts again, still has those amazing and incredible HIGH kicks!

Loe is still going weekly and absolutely loving it. Her class is very small and so she gets a ton of attention. She just continues to amaze me at how eager she is to learn and how her confidence has grown. She is so outgoing now, it's almost hard to remember her when she was shy and scared of everything. She hates missing even a week of class. She quickly learns all the moves each cycle. She yells "yes sir" when it's appropriate and boldly recites her bible verses.  I can tell a difference in her balance, coordination, and hopefully she is gaining some self-defense techniques. She works hard at punching and kicking through boards. And her instructor points out in almost every class that she smiles non-stop the whole 30 minutes! Here are a few pics from a test a few months back.  

   
 
 

  
 
 

 
 
  
 

 

 

 

 

  

We have another fish!

                                        

Loe has loved the water ever since we gave her baths in China! She plays until she's pruned and her lips are blue (the girl has NO body fat to keep her warm!!) She can't get enough of the pool! Ren seemed to like it a bit last year - but she was still too young to play in it. This summer - she's been a bit hesitant to really get in and experience the big pool. She loves to splash around in the baby pool. But, last week while the guys were gone she decided to get in with me and LOVED it! She jumped off of the side and went down the little slide over and over and over again! It was SO much fun watching her enjoy it! Today she showed off her mad skills with Daddy - so I was able to snap a few pics.  

                                          

                                            

                                          

                                          

                                         

  

 

                                         

Tae Kwon Do

                        

Eloise, Hunter and Trevor are all taking Tae Kwon Do together at a small, Christian school here in town. The boys both achieved the rank of Junior Black Belt when they went through the Kenpo Karate program a few years ago. Chase was in for over 4 years and Hunter for over 6. It was so good for them - to work towards the goal they set for themselves. They both liked having a few years off. The school they were in was pretty intense with 2-3 classes per week. Chase is hoping to find an affordable Jujitsu program - as that was his favorite part of their last karate school. Hunter still has those amazingly high kicks and because of his years spent at another school - the instructor is allowing him to test for a few belts at a time. So, he is already a green belt! Way to go Hunter!! Trevor is enjoying the exercise and fellowship with the others in his class as well as the time with Hunter. (I have pics of all three at their test, but I was only able to go to Loe's belt award ceremony. Chase took pics at Trevor and Hunter's class - but they aren't on my computer yet.) Loe, continues to amaze us all with her enthusiasm for new adventures like this. She loves Tae Kwon Do! They have to memorize scripture and she is enjoying that. She knows her moves and has quite the loud shout to go with each punch and kick! The teacher and several parents have commented on the way her smile lights up the room and how it rarely leaves her face!

Loe is one of two girls in the 'Tiny Tigers' class. They have quickly become good friends. It's so cute watching them together when they aren't in class - giggling and brushing each other's hair. Ren enjoys watching the classes and really had fun during the test - playing with all of the boards they each broke. Everybody got to punch through and kick through a board. Because Hunter was testing for 3 belts - he had to break 6 boards! And you also get a glimpse of Trevor's lovely black eye! No...I didn't do it! It wasn't Ren kicking him in bed (which she does do to us on a regular basis!) and it wasn't a karate incident - it happened at his softball game! He's such a hunk - black eye or not! I love that smile! :) 

                      

                        

                         

                        

                        

                      

Valentine's Weekend

Valentine's Day weekend was full of love and a lot of chocolate! The kids each got a box of chocolates. John gave Ren a bag of Hugs (see her hugging her hugs below?!) which she is getting a LOT of help in devouring! John gave me a giant Hershey's Kiss each Valentine's Day when I was growing up. So, it was so sweet to wake up that morning to a giant kiss for me and for Loe sitting on the counter. Loe was beside herself with excitement! And Trev knew I had been debating purchasing the Creative Memories digital scrapbook and photo organizing software for about a year now - he bought it for me. We're just waiting for my friend, the CM consultant to get it in! Woooohooooo! Can't wait to try it out! We're hoping to sell some of our older computers and try to purchase a new laptop for me. How awesome it will be to load that program onto it and MAYBE get some scrapping done this year...just maybe. Thanks Honey!

                         

                     

Friday evening we got together with our small group. Some ;) of the hubbies fixed dinner for the ladies. Trev made chicken scallopini and everybody raved and raved about it!  We had a grand time fellowshipping together. The kids had a pizza party downstairs and hung out together there at the house while the adults went to see a movie together after dinner. What a fun evening! The rest of our weekend was filled with another date (mmmm...Indian food, which I have been craving for months and months!) and another movie. The sickness put a damper on things a bit. Everybody wasn't feeling their best. But, it seemed to come and go at times - so we still enjoyed the weekend. Everybody is on antibiotics now - except Trev and John. So far they haven't caught Strep like the rest of us have.

                      

I should have tried to take more pics. But, between not feeling good and dealing with Ren before dinner it was challenging. I did capture Jim and Trevor being ornery - what a surprise!

                      

 

 

 

My Valentine!

Oh, how much I love him!

 

...hearts of the fathers...

...He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers...  Malachi 4:6

Trevor became a believer before we got married. And over the years God has used different avenues to draw him closer; from His Spirit to the bible to speakers to books. The state homeschool convention has been huge. The first year I encouraged us to attend and Trevor went willingly. We had picked out (and used) curriculum already - but I couldn't wait to browse that big curriculum hall! We were very convinced that homeschooling was the way to go for our family. But, figured some outside encouragement couldn't hurt. But, I think that first year Trevorenvisioned a bunch of homeschool moms, "chick books" and speakers that wouldn't hold much interest for him. Ever since that first year - he is usually more excited then I am! He loves it.(So do I!) He really connects with many of the speakers. They have encouraged us, grown us and challenged us as homeschoolers, as parents, as spouses and as believers.

One year we came home and Trevor announced that he would be waking us up in the morning before he goes to work for family devotions. I tell you, it is sometimes the hardest thing to drag myself out of bed (if by chance the girls are still sleeping!). Mostly due to my poor choice of staying up too late. Often we sense the enemy attacking us and doing what he can to distract us from the Lord, from His word and our time together. But, I always look forward to it. I never regret that I didn't get to sleep in that extra 45 minutes. I know how quickly our boys will be grown and gone and we cherish all of the time we have with them right now. Especially time imparting wisdom and seeking the Lord. Worshiping together. This is what homeschooling is all about to us. (That and all of those school books, field trips, sibling time together...heck it's a lifestyle for us!)  Sometimes we just read through the bible. Sometimes Trevor leads us through one of the boys' school bible books. Right now we are working through the Shorter Westminster Catechism. Whew - not light stuff. We aren't agreeing with every single thing in there, but it sparks some good discussion and has brought out some truths of the bible for us to ponder.

I am so very thankful to Trevor for leading us in family devotions. I think the verse in Malachi is true for our family. God has indeed turned Trevor's heart to his children and in turn his children's hearts are turned towards him. We continue to pray for our children's' hearts, for their future, for their foundation in Christ to be strong. We know that anything good in our kids' lives is a direct result of grace and mercy from Jesus to us and through us. We fail miserably in so many areas as parents. Yet, God blesses us and continues to perfect us and our kids.  

Happy Birthday to my Man

                        

We celebrated Trev's birthday during our big family party a couple of weeks ago. But, on his actual day, the 17th, we gave him our presents. I got him 3 different cooking magazines and he gets to choose the one he wants to subscribe to. The boys got him a DVD set with a zillion hours of Looney Tunes that he's been asking for - for quite some time! And Loe drew him a couple of very fun pictures and described them in detail. In honor of his birthday and when it was more convenient to have a date (Saturday afternoon) he wanted to go see the new Bond movie. And on his actual day my folks' had company - so we all had dinner together. They are a very nice couple and she just got back from a 2 week medical trip to China. So, it was really fun to hear her talk all about her experience there, the sites she saw, hearing her describe the various hospitals she visited and the people she met. So, all in all - it was a fun birthday dinner.

                         

    

 

November birthday party

                        

In November we celebrate Trevor, Curtis and Loe's birthday. That happened on Sunday - so it was a party weekend for Eloise. We feasted on steak and baked potatoes (sweet potatoes for the girls) and lots of cake and pie. Loe was so excited about her gifts. We went in with my folks on a new Leapster since hers wasn't working well anymore. She got a few new games for it, a cute new dress and some very fun Hello Kitty things...towel, wash cloth and all kinds of lip gloss and nail polish! Rachel was sweet enough to give Loe and Isabel pedicures. How cute are those little toe-separaters? Hello Kitty flowers! Gotta love girl stuff! Loe has been putting on lip gloss almost non-stop since Sunday! She is one sparkly girl!

                         

                         

                         

                         

                        

                          

                        

                          

My Own Chef

                                     

But, it's very fun to share him with my folks while we are here! We are working on a loose schedule of sorts regarding our dinnertime menu. Mom or John cook a couple nights a week, we'll do leftovers or an old favorite "breakfast for dinner" a few nights a week when my folks are out. And Trev cooks two or threenights a week...and he doesn't usually just throw some burgers on the grill or open up a can of soup. No...he COOKS! This last week he made marinated grilled pork chops and wild rice, black bean soup with corn bread, and chicken scallopini and mozerella & bread  kabobs(not just bread - but french bread cupes that have all kinds of yummy stuff on them). If anyone hasever had chicken scallopini at Corino's - it's similar - only Trev's is BETTER!

I truly am spoiled. I HATE cooking, I did do it for the first several years of our marriage, but I didn't enjoy it and so it became the same old handful of meals every few weeks. At some point Trevor startedspicing up a few of our old stand-bys and eventually he developed a big enjoyment of being in the kitchen - fixing up old meals or creating new ones, trying recipes from cookbooks or magazines or off of a cooking show. Now he is our family cook. I will take stuff out of the freezer, defrost meat - even start things. But, for the most part - the kitchen is his domain in the evenings (and sometimes breakfasts and lunches on the weekends) and I don't mind one bit in fact I LOVE it!

Yes, all of this butter really did go into the sauce! He did make a big batch of this and said he even left two sticks of butter out! We better start working out again!