Category Archives: holidays

Easter Planting

Posted in grace, holidays, laughter, my boy, my girl, parenting (aint for sissies) by

The following is a series of pictures displaying an Easter project the kids and I did. NOTE: This is not my project idea. I saw it on FB, and I could not find the original poster to give him/her credit. Be sure to read our step-by-step instructions, though. You may learn a thing or two…

Step 1: Gather the Loot.

You’ll need potting soil, shade grass seed, a small pot, large clay plate, some twigs, small stones, a large stone, and water.

We purchased most of loot at our local True Value. Sticks and stones were gathered by Jacob and Leesie on a “nature walk” through the old Cost Cutter parking lot. (We have TWO large stones, because they couldn’t decide. We decided to try out both.)

Step 2: Lay the stones and pot in the plate.

We also have two pots. I wanted a clay one, but it was too big. So we went for the smaller peat pot.

Step 3: Cover with soil and add (choose) large stone to cover the tomb. (Leesie’s stone won.)

Step 4: Sprinkle with grass seed and add hot-glued or twine-tied crosses.

Step 5: Eat dirt. Or at least shove it up your nose. Or make yourself a mud-mask. Or all of the above. (Note, only Jacob is in the following pics, because Leesie’s mud-mask got into her eye and caused some serious drama eye-irritation. NO pictures were to be taken of this pain and agony.)

Step 6: Since you have extra soil and peat pots, plant some herbs. That is, if you can still see.

Step 7: Dump several pots of soil onto the ground. Especially those your sister planted. Because that will make her cry harder.

Step 8: Be sure to get LOTS of dirt in the fabric chairs. It makes a neat dark smeary pattern.

Step 9: Clean up your mess and set up your centerpiece. Water 3xs a day.

Step 10: Enjoy your new centerpiece, and ham it up while your mom attempts to get a good picture of you with your finished project. This is, of course, 7-10 days later, and the mud-mask-in-the-eye-mishap will be all taken care of by now.

And finally…

Step 11: Remember to do this activity on a sunny day next time, so you can make the dirt mess outdoors.

Step 12: Tell all your friends the Good News that He is Risen!

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay! ~Matthew 28:6

Full

Posted in angel babies, Eucharisteo, grace, grief and loss, holidays, joy found by

So full.

Full of love. Full of peace. Full of thanksgiving.

Full of joy.

I don’t know where to begin. I started this blog 2 months ago as a way to stay focused on joy. Life’s troubles or mundane-ness can so easily bring me down. And like I said in this post from early February, in the days/weeks that bring the most trials, I need to work all the harder at thinking about the joyful moments and thanking God for them, because HE is the giver of all good things. Although I don’t write every day, I have daily spent time focusing on the joy that day brought. My outlook has changed. I am finding myself feeling more and more grateful. I have found myself spending more time each day – throughout the day – thanking God. Talking to Him. Praising Him. Slowing down to remain in His presence, because “In your presence there is fullness of joy…” from Psalm 16:11

And then I went to our church’s women’s retreat this weekend. I don’t even know what to say, except UH-MAZ-ING. Incredible from start to finish. I am so grateful to call this church my home and these people my family. And the topic? Joy. The focus verse? Psalm 16:11 “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

I couldn’t possibly sum up the wonderful things the speaker (our church’s very own Sandy C.) shared. But I can say this… God had a big message, and Sandy shared it perfectly. Interwoven within all of the sessions were so many thoughts that were right in line with what God has been working on in my heart. Confirmation. Ok, God. I’m listening. I hear you loud and clear!

Some points that stood out:

– God gives us these gifts because He LOVES us. In all my joy-focusing, I kinda missed that part. I know all good and perfect gifts are from Him. I have already been working on thanking Him for them. And I know God loves me. But I failed to tie the two together. Weird, maybe. But just the same… these gifts of joy – from God, the Creator of the universe – are because HE loves ME. What an amazing and humbling thought.

– I need to look for the joy in the hard. Because joy isn’t about the circumstance, it is about the love and presence of God. I have looked for the joy in the bad, but not in the same way. In my bad days/weeks, I’ve looked for the good moments and tried to focus on those rather than on the bad moments. But I need to look for the joy within the hard. Sandy shared some great examples that I can relate to – both being moms of two kids around the same ages… When a child is tantruming and I am at the end of my rope – and then she throws something at me, thank you God, for this reminder of the grace you show me each time I throw tantrums about my situation. (I am now working on finding joy in some of my toughest moments. Where is the joy in the moment when I’m aching for my two baby girls? The promise of Heaven? Maybe. But the ache is so deep. And Heaven can feel so far off. And they were twins. Someday I will blog about it. Maybe.)

There were other things. Lots of other moments, thoughts, people, that I loved this weekend. I left feeling full.

And then I went to church this morning. Palm Sunday. The sermon: Unveiling the Crucified King. I have heard lots of sermons about Jesus being crucified. L-O-T-S. It’s not that they get old, just that they are usually very similar. Always heart-wrenching and humbling just the same. But I’ve never heard one quite like this. I don’t know what to say, except, if you want to have a (new) glimpse into what Jesus was thinking about on the cross, you should have a listen. (That link will get you to the entire list of podcasts from this amazing sermon series. Listen to them all if you’d like. You won’t be disappointed.) Again, what a blessing to be a part of this church. I am so grateful.

So that’s it. My situation hasn’t changed, but my outlook has – yet again. And I’m now full.

Full of love. Full of peace. Full of thanksgiving.

Full of joy. Eucharisteo.

In Honor of Jacob

Posted in friends, holidays, joy found, laughter, my boy, parenting (aint for sissies) by

I sat down to blog… on Friday. But then life happened. So now it is Sunday, and I am just sitting down to finish. Ah, well. Better late than never.

Today was a day to celebrate. For one, it was FRIDAY. – TGIF is an understatement. –  Two, it is Dr. Seuss’ birthday. It is a rule that as an elementary school teacher, you must celebrate this. Plus, if you have any kind of kid left in you, you should be happy about it too, because, well, Dr. Seuss is pretty awesome. And three, Jacob pooped in the potty. All you mamas out there know the joy that brings to a mommy’s heart. I had no idea bodily functions could be so exciting until I became a parent. Since it’s now Sunday – potty update… because it’s important… dry diaper 2 nights in a row plus nap time one day. 3 more successful potty trips. I’m hoping this isn’t just a fluke!

In honor of his accomplishment, I thought I’d post a couple recent Jacob-moments that have brought us lots of laughter this week, and what I’ve learned from them…

Jacob-Moment #1 – The Grocery Store

While in the grocery store cart, Jacob hollered, “Mommy! I see CHINTA!”

Chinta is the name of Auntie Nee/Uncle Jeff’s dog, and since I knew she wasn’t in the store, I started looking around for a picture of a dog similar to Chinta. But we were in the soup/beans aisle. No dog pics nearby. And so the following conversation took place with each comment from Jacob getting increasingly louder:

“I don’t see Chinta, Buddy. She’s not here.”

“Yes. I see Chinta! He WIGHT DARE!” (I look. No dog.)

“No. I don’t see him.”

“Mommy, I see him. I see him, Mommy! I see CHINTA!!!!”

“Buddy, I’m sorry, I don’t see him.”

“Mommy! Look! Mommy! Chinta wight dare. HE. WIGHT. DARE!!!!”

As I moved down the aisle, Jacob started bouncing in the cart with excitement. “Mommy! Mommy! I see CHIN-TA. CHIN-TA! CHIIIINNN-TAAAA! HIIII CHINTAAAAAA!!!”  Oh great. Now he’s calling the invisible dog.

And just as I begin to shush him a bit, we pass an old man and Jacob hollers out, “HO! HO! HO! MEWWWY CWISMAS, CHINTA!”

Old man turns, with long white beard and large belly...  Oh.

Jacob smiles his big proud dimpled grin at me. “See Mommy? Is Chinta! I see him wight dare!”  I smile a sheepish grin at SANTA-ish man and hurry around the corner to avoid further embarrassment.

Note to self: Teach Jacob how to pronounce the word SANTA. And in the future, don’t argue with 1-year-old in public. Accept all things he says as truth, and move on.

Jacob-Moment #2 -The Other Jacob

Bev is a friend of mine that watches our kids 4 days/week. She also has two kids, one named Jacob, only her Jacob is in middle school. On Friday morning, her Jacob missed the bus. Bev texted me to let me know she was running him to school and would be back in a bit. Annalise saw me texting her back and asked what I was doing. I told her. She asked why. I said, “Because Jacob missed the bus.”

I continued to get ready and didn’t pay much attention to the kids as they played, but then I realized only one of them was playing. Jacob had been sitting so quiet, almost sad, for about 10 minutes. I looked at his little face and saw a bewildered and sad boy with a furrowed brow. Clearly, he was contemplating something, and he was bothered by it.

“What’s wrong, Buddy? Why are you sad?”

He looked up at me, then back down. He furrowed his brow again and shook his head. He spoke in a small sad voice, “Oh, man. I missed da bus!”

Note to self: When speaking of “Jacob,” clarify if it is the other Jacob.

Jacob-Moment #3 – Pronoun Problem

I already posted this on FB, but it is worth repeating.

I was home with just the kids. They were playing in the other room, but then Jacob came to me and said, “Sissy cwying.”

Me: Why?

Jacob: He mean to her.

Me: Who?

Jacob: He.

Me: Who???

Jacob: He… I… I is he. (Long pause while I look at him with eyebrows raised.) Oh man, I mean to her. ‘Scuse me, Momma. I go say sow-we.

Note to self: Teach Jacob proper pronoun usage. And raised eyebrows work well when needing to get the truth out of Jacob.

And one last Jacob-ism:

Me: I love you, my child.

Jacob: I. NOT. MY. CHILD!!!  I Jacobpweestman!!

Okay. I love you, Jacobpweestman!! TOOooo much!  (Another Jacob-ism) What a blessing you are!

Tested

Posted in friends, grief and loss, holidays, joy found, my boy, my girl, my husband, parenting (aint for sissies), teaching, the relatives by

I was so gung-ho about a blog. I was excited, motivated, and had lots of things I wanted to write about. But then this week happened.

I will not go into details, but basically, this has been one of THE most challenging weeks I can remember: spiritually, emotionally, physically, financially, parentally, vehicularly, worldly, and teacherly. And I’m certain I’m missing some other -ly in there. I can really only think of 2 or 3  weeks in my adult life that were harder. I am drained. Completely emptied. I have not felt joyful.

Talk about testing my “Lift my eyes to the hills” challenge. Finding my joy? Ummm…. we won’t go there.

So I’ve decided I need to write. Because I need to focus on the moments that did bring joy – even if there weren’t many and they were short lived. And as I am spending a lot of my week trying to remember where my help comes from – because I’ve needed that help sooo much – I also need to be thankful to Him who is the giver of all good things. So here are this week’s “good things” in no particular order:

1. My husband. Wow. What a rock he has been. I am so grateful.

2. Jacob. Oh man. I could go on and on about the joy this kid brings. But one of my favorites recently is when he gets super protective and tells off someone who touches me. Daddy, the chiropractor, you name it. He scowls. And with his furrowed brow, he says, “No do dat!” or “You no kiss my Mama!” (That second one was to daddy, just to be clear.) I also love when he bursts into song then pauses and says, “I singing, Mama! I singing! Sing too!”

3.  An unexpected visit at some family/church family/friends’ house. We laughed, were entertained by Jacob’s singing, and enjoyed our time immensely. Up until the last 5 minutes when  “Parentally Hard Act I” took place. But such is life.

4. Mom home from Indonesia! Phew! 3 cheers for being able to talk on the phone with my mom when I want to! (Which is daily. Sorry, Matt.)

5.  Our pastor’s wife bringing Jacob up front during church to help her make an announcement about the nursery expanding. I’m pretty sure he knows when he’s doing it, but he completely melted my heart when he waved and said, “Hi, Mommy!” Because in all the whole congregation, I’m the one he’d want to go to.

6.  Celebrating my brother-in-law’s birthday. Because Tom is a cool guy and, well, chocolate cake is always good. But more importantly, it was nice to visit with Matt’s family. We haven’t done that in a while. And we got to see Matt’s mom’s new business. She is the new owner of Curves in Lynden. The remodel is astounding! It actually makes me want to work out. (If you haven’t seen it, you should like it on Facebook and check out the before/after pics!)

7. Valentine’s Day dinner. Not the whole day. Just the dinner. Well, the evening following the dinner was nice too. We just won’t discuss the earlier part of the day. It had something to do with “Parentally Hard Act II: And You Thought It Couldn’t Get Any Worse.” But the dinner… pink heart-shaped pancakes (Leesie’s fav) and sausage (Jacob’s fav – and pretty much the only protein he likes) made for a pleasant meal with the people I love. No arguing about how many more bites needed to be eaten. No asking for something else to eat. No “I no like it. It YUCKY.” from Jacob. Ah. Peace.

8. Dinner was followed by my favorite moment of the week – singing with my girl. We rehearsed in the car all week and surprised daddy with a duet – her idea. If singing with an adorable and joyful girl  – a song about God’s faithfulness and love – doesn’t cheer you up, then what will? Am I right?

9. In one of my toughest moments – this time at work – my partner and friend showed up, on her day off, to help me get through it. She stepped in to the teacher role so I could step out. She brought Valentines to share. And she prayed for the hurt.  How wonderful to be cared for and to have a work partner be so kind-hearted. And what a blessing that she loves Jesus, too.

10. My students’ faces as they excitedly gave me my Valentine’s gifts and cards: Lindor truffles in a heart box, a single red rose, a stuffed dog, a note pad “because teachers like note pads and that kind of stuff,” a few hand-made cards, and a smashed homemade pink-frosted cookie from an adorable boy with a huge smile. There were other things as well. And each face was full of joy in the giving.

11. The Ferndale Levy Passed!!! WAHOO! I will have a job next year. Probably.

12. Twice today I received a text from someone I love. Each person said some encouraging words and ended the text with “Peace be with you.”  How much I needed that peace. I am so grateful for the love of family, friends, and Jesus. It is enough.

Peace be with YOU.

Oh yes. Some of you have asked how to follow the blog. (If you choose to, I promise they will not be as heavy-hearted. Lots of laughter to come from the kids.) But if you want to, click “Follow”  on the right side of this page.