what I'm thinking about right now

"Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; 

His going out is sure as the dawn; 

He will come to us as the showers, 

as the spring rains that water the earth."

 Hosea 6:3

I've pondering this passage for a couple of days now.  Pondering the concept of pressing on to know the Lord.  Some days it feels like that, doesn't it?  Yet, when we do... He comes to us like a spring rain.  Refreshing and life giving.

We have a busy week ahead of us.  Ken is working on his last presentation before graduation.  Can I get a woo-hoo?  Tomorrow we have our pre-move-out housing inspection.  We're making all the final plans to roll out of here in about 6 weeks.  

Nathan was scheduled for a hearing test this week to see if all these ear infections he's had will warrant tubes.  Yes, they're starting to use the T-word.  That would be a first for our kids, but I'm all for it if it will stop the infections and let him hear.

I take Jacob on Thursday to his first meeting with the speech pathologist.  The first test indicated that there is a need for further evaluation.  We already knew that, but it's nice to have it confirmed by a professional so we can start seeking the help he needs.  I am trying not to worry too much about his developmental delays.  I am starting to see some progress, I think.  Either way, this is the sweet boy that God gave us and I can trust that He knows the plans He has for him.

We're loving the sunshine we've had for the past week.  We filled the sandbox with sand and the water table with water.  Everyone is loving being outside, and Nathan is especially loving being mobile this spring.  We've been collecting snails from the beach and going on lots of walks.  I'm even trying to start running again.  Don't laugh.  It ain't purty.

It's bedtime now for the girls.  The boys are already sleeping.  So, I'm off to do tuck-ins.  Then I have to start cleaning for that inspection.... lest they see how we really live.  

news from the home front

We have a house!

After a long few weeks of house hunting, God gave us a house. And not just any house, but a really great house. So much better than any other house that we thought we wanted. Not in a fancy way, but in a bunch of little ways that meet our needs. So much more that we even dared to ask for.

Yesterday, we consciously stopped praying for the Lord to help us find a house and started praying for the Lord to just give us a house, the one He had for us.  He did.  All within about 2 hours.... a new house popped onto the rental market, we saw it, we filled out an application and we had a home. It was a gift and we are thankful.

Because it is so much more than we thought we even needed, we both feel very strongly that God has plans for us here that we don't even know yet. I don't think that this house is just for our comfort or to have room for more material possessions. I do think that it is a gift that is to be used to glorify God is whatever way He has planned. And we are praying for the faith to trust in that.

So I wanted to encourage all of you who have been praying that God would give us a home. He did. And we are thankful!

photo fun

Although I would hardly call myself a photographer, I do so enjoy taking pictures.   Most of the pictures I take are, of course, of all my little people.  But I do also enjoy having fun with photos of all kinds.

This year, for our anniversary, I made Ken this photo collage.  I had seen similar photos in Christian bookstores and the like, but I decided to make it my own my doing it in color (because I heart color) and taking pictures in places that are familiar to us.

Hopefully, you can see that it spells our last name.  That's kinda the point.   Anyway, it was fun to make and anyone can do it.  And I think it makes a cool piece of art for our home.

And the flowers?  Those are some of my favorites, reminiscent of our California days,  and a gift from my very thoughtful man.  

I heart him, too.  

Nathan's first egg hunt

He's off!  Basket in hand.  Ready to hunt!

He finds his very first Easter egg. Now, to put it in the basket...

But, wait!  I think there may be CANDY inside!  Oh my!

There IS candy inside!  Now, how do I get it open?

I know Mom's gotta be around here somewhere. She'll open it for me...

Hey Mom, look what I found!

Candy!  In an egg!

Open it for me, will you please?

Please?

Of course, he didn't say all these things, but I'm sure it was what he was thinking. His egg hunt ended after one egg.  And he didn't wait for me to open the candy.  He "opened" it himself and enjoyed the chocolate, paper and all.   How I love that sweet boy.  :)

irony

Ken and Jen Plus 10

It's not the name of a new reality show.  And we don't have 10 children, at least not yet.  But yesterday we did celebrate our 10 year anniversary.

Knowing that it would be a particularly busy day, we celebrated the night before with a family picnic down by the water.  Ken picked up some special picnic treats and we took them down to a pretty grassy spot at the edge of our neighborhood.  We flew the kite and the kids ran around and played.  Hannah even snapped an anniversary photo for us.

The kids, of course, had a blast with the kite.  And even though it is still a bit chilly at night here, the weather is starting to get oh so pretty.  I'm beginning to remember why people actually like living up here.

All the kids took a turn with the kite... Oreo smiles and all.

And in case you're wondering what kind of anniversary celebrations includes a whole gaggle of little kids in tow.... ours do.

In light of the fact that we had no babysitting available this year, I don't think the kids minded joining us at all.

And we certainly didn't mind sharing the occasion with them.

While we were out there, Ken and I said our vows to each other while the kids giggled.  And then they asked if we were going to kiss.  So we did. 

I always want them to know that I love their daddy more than anything in the whole world.  

It's been a crazy and wonderful 10 years and I wouldn't trade a minute of it.

Easter in pictures...

Here's our Easter weekend in pictures. And a few words.

On Saturday we colored eggs.  Ken taught the kids how to blow out eggs.  I grew up just hard boiling them.  Who knew?  Of course, they thought that was awesome.

The kids loved making lots of colors and mixing colors and coloring lots of eggs.  

Then the big kids went to an Easter egg hunt here on base while Nathan napped.  The bunny was there.  Jake loved, loved, loved the bunny. As a matter of fact, he followed him around the whole time.

They had a fancy face painter there.  Gracie, of course, chose to be a pink bunny.

Claire was a blue bunny.

As was Hannah. 

They all got to see the bunny, except for Nathan, but I don't think he minded.  He got in on lots of the Easter fun later. 

Sunday morning we had Easter baskets and made Resurrection Rolls for breakfast.  It's a fun Easter treat that tells the story of Christ's resurrection.  Forgive me for no pictures of those fun treats.  But I had 5 kids with hands in marshmallows and melted butter... no time for pictures.

After church, this was the best we could muster for our Easter picture of the kids.  Church was fun and everyone came home excited about the day.  Not that you could tell it from the looks on Claire's and Jake's faces.  "I know!  It's Easter.  Let's look mad!"

We had some friends and neighbors over for lunch, complete with the traditional ham and deviled eggs.  After lunch, we got our hunt on.  The adults hid the eggs, and we set all the kids loose in the courtyard.

They get serious about eggs.

Especially when they're full of candy.

After the hunt, they spent the day enjoying their loot and playing with their friends.

And lest you think that little man didn't get in on the fun, boy did he.  His first Easter was so cute in fact that he's getting his very own blog post very soon.  

I hope your Easter was sweet, too!  Happy Easter!

We celebrated...

We had a wonderful day today. I was a fun family day and a day that was full of hope.

That's what I love about Easter.

All day long, in everything we did, I was reminded that He has made all things new. From the eggs to the flowers to the children, there were symbols of new life everywhere.

Today we celebrated a God who loves us so much that He died for us. He took our sin upon Himself, so that we would not have to die. So that we may live with Him for all eternity.

Today we celebrated that His death was not the end of the story. We celebrated a God who is very much alive. Who conquered death, rose from the grave and who came to offer us the same hope through His son.

Today we celebrated that gift. The gift of eternal life. The gift of abundant life. Not a life without pain, but a life with hope. Not a life without death, but the knowledge that death is not the end. We celebrated the One who has defeated; who loves us unconditionally and offers to walk this road with us.

This gift is offered to everyone. Today we celebrated that. All we have to do is believe Him. Trust Him and allow Him to take the reins on our life. Seek His forgiveness and His face. Today we celebrated His victory over evil and death. That we worship a living God. The only God.

Today was fun and full of life. And only because of the one who truly gives life. Thank you, Jesus, for that life. For your life. For dying, so I wouldn't have to. For rising again, so I can too. For living, so I don't have to walk through this life alone.

The story is true. Jesus really lives. So, today we celebrated.

need not apply

Over the past few weeks we have been daily scanning the Internet in search of a home.  Our move is coming up shortly and, all things being equal, we'd like to have a place to live.   We're high maintenance that way.

We've tossed around the pros and cons of renting versus buying too many times to count.  I think at this point we would be open to either, depending on what comes available.  However, considering we will probably only be at our next duty station for a relatively short time, renting does sound like a pretty appealing option.

But this is where it gets tricky.  There are quite a few rentals in the area, but understandably, having a larger family with young children rules out alot of them.  

However, I had no idea just how many of them it would rule out. 

 I've noticed as I've been calling around, the question of children comes up fairly often.  Several times I've been asked by property managers or landlords about the number and/or ages of my children.  Last week as I was talking with someone about a property for rent, I was having a really hard time getting straight answers from him.  Several times he brought the conversation back around to my kids. (Just for fun, I was intentionally not volunteering that information.)  After he brought it up a few times, I said that I did have several young children and asked him if that was a problem.

He quickly back-peddled and assured me that it was not a problem at all and that he wasn't even allowed to ask that question.  Funny.  He did ask that question, didn't he?  Anyway, I didn't really get anywhere with the rental info, so I just marked it off the list.

I've considered that maybe I'm being just a bit over sensitive to this.  Maybe they are just asking out of curiosity or from a desire to truly be helpful.  Maybe.   Until today.

Ken called a listing we found online for a large, 4 bedroom house that looked as though it would fit our needs nicely.  He left a message and the owner eagerly called us back 10 minutes later.

He told us what a great house it was, what a great area, etc.  Then Ken asked, just to be sure, that it was a 4 bedroom.  He said that it was, and then asked (of course) how many children we had.  I heard Ken tell him that we had 5 young children.

Before the man had a chance to respond to that, Ken asked him if  he would consider a 3 year lease, which is usually very popular with military family rentals.

His response?  And I quote, "Not with 5 children, I won't."  Though I couldn't hear the other side of the conversation, the look of Ken's face let me know that he was not pleased with how this was going.  The man, realizing I think that he may have sounded a bit discriminatory, began explaining that he was sure that this house just wasn't a good fit for us.  Too small, he said.  Which it wasn't.  And suddenly, he remembered that it was technically only a 3 bedroom, not 4.  Really?

I know that such ignorance really shouldn't bother me or surprise me.  But sometimes it does.  I can respect that people want to keep their homes in good condition and sometimes children can be messy.  But seriously, they're not animals, they're kids.  And by the way, all of these homes do allow pets, just not many small children.

I think what bothers me most is the undertone that children are a burden rather than a blessing.   That they are something to be merely tolerated rather than embraced.  

Yes, they make life messier.  And I suppose if our goal is to have the perfect home and the perfect car and the perfectly tidy life, that may be a problem.  

Fortunately, that's not our goal.  God has used our children to save us from that idea of perfection and show us a picture instead of His goal for our lives.   Our children add more richness into my life in one hour than the most beautiful home in the world would in a lifetime.

So, if you think that my kids don't fit into your world of perfection and the American dream?  You can keep your white picket fences.  I'll take my kids.  Any day.