Looking Back At Our Summer Accomplishments

With summer drawing to a close, I have been looking back at some of our accomplishments in the last 3 months.

Our dughter started the summer being too afraid to jump into the pool, even with her swimming vest on. She loved swimming, but she did not like going completely underwater. We tried to force her to do things, but she just screamed through the whole ordeal and was mad at us afterwards. What helped the most was having other kids her age over for a swim party and seeing that other kids would go down the slide, jump in the pool, and go completely underwater and have a great time. Slowly, after the party, she started putting her face in the water. Then she started swimming without her jacket (daddy taught her to swim) and jumping in with her jacket on. After we got home from our big trip, she started jumping in without the jacket and going down the water slide.

Our 3 year old son was also afraid of jumping in the pool. Now he does, while wearing his big floaty swim suit. The biggest accomplishment for him is just in the last week he is finally potty training. He tells us if he has to go. He had 2 accidents this past weekend, but other than that he is doing fabulous. What a long year it has been. I have been trying to train him for a year. He would go if I took him, but wouldn't tell me if he needed to go and would just make a big mess.

My 18 month old son started sleeping through the night just this summer. He is still not a great sleeper, but I am finally getting some sound sleep. Yee-haw! Plus, I finally weaned him from nursing about 6 weeks ago. It took a little bit longer than I had wanted, but it is finally done. ( I may have to blog about my nursing experiences at a later time.) Also, he started the summer hating the pool. Now he likes it. (Don't worry grandma and grandpa, daddy was nearby in this picture. The baby is never out of arm's reach when we are near the pool.) Isn't he a cutie?

I have learned a lesson in all of this - the kids had to be the one to decide that they could do it. I couldn't force them, or when I did force them, it all ended in frustration for everybody. Could all of these things been done a little earlier? Perhaps. Maybe I could have created situations that encouraged them more. Now, with all of these accomplishments behind us, I think, "Those things weren't so bad. Why did I get so frustrated?"

I do know that the kids acted just the way I act sometimes. When I have to learn somthing new, I don't enjoy being forced to do anything. I need to make the decision to change, before change will be even attempted. I think that is how it is at church too. A preacher can preach until he is blue in the face, but until the listener can say, "I need to change my ways", than nothing will get done. I think that can be very disheartening to a pastor of a church. What can pastors do to encourage change?

Our Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday we celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary(My profile has said that we have been married 9 years for the last 6 months, but it wasn't correct until now. I guess it felt like we had been married longer than 8 years. We have known each other for 13 years - wow! If we would have gotten married when Kirk wanted to get married, we would have celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. I am glad we waited.) Anyway, Kirk took me to a fancy restaurant. We know the owners of the restaurant, but we can't afford to eat there very often. The only reason that we went there is because we had 2 gift certificates that we had been holding onto since Christmas.
It was so good and the waiters were so classy. They put the napkins on our laps and moved our silverware around for us. They have a wine list - although I don't drink wine, it sounds very classy, don't you think? The whole experience got me to thinking about when I worked as an intern at CIY(summer of '97). I was at a CIY in San Diego and one of the guys took the CIY staff out to a fancy restaurant. While we were there, the director of the conference, who shall remain nameless, asked me what the fanciest restaurant that I had eaten at. He says that I said that it was my prom, where we ate with plastic forks in our high school gym. (Which is true, we did eat in our gym with disposable plates and silverware.) I don't remember telling him about that. A couple of years ago, I saw this director once again at a California CIY (Cal Poly) and he was telling me (in front of someone I went to college with) how he had related the above events to the current CIY interns. I have to tell you I was quite embarrassed. Not that I am embarrassed about my background, but I am sure that I told him that because I was joking around. By that time in my life I had eaten in some classy establishments, but he took me seriously. I think what bothered me the most was that event was the one thing he remembered about me. I could think of a few better things for him to remember me for. Now as I am writing this, I just laugh. What a thing pride is. What a silly thing to be bothered with. There are plenty of other things in life to be bothered with than someone making fun of me. I do have a ton of respect for this man and I will not to let a silly old memory ruin it for me. That being said, the restaurant that I ate at last night is the most classy place that I have eaten at.
Kirk and I had a great time. We talked about the last nine years and we talked about our next nine years, Lord willing. I must say that they keep getting better and better as time goes by.

Friends

We just had an enjoyable visit from one of my Best Friends, Kim Marshall and her husband, Lance. Kim is one of those people in my life who has made me a better person. Plus we have great times together. It was great that they came over and the time went by fast. They introduced a new game to me called, Blokus. It is for ages 5 and up - only four players. If I was describing it, I would say it is a competive puzzle game. You are trying to get all your pieces to fit on a game board, but the other players can block you. If you like to play games, I recommend it.

Sunday, we went to Chuckie Cheese. That was a real treat. I was unsure how the afternoon was going to go, but the kids had a good time playing the games. It was good that we went with friends, because it would have been a lot of work keeping track of 3 kids.

Thanks Kim and Lance for the great weekend.

The Sin of Presumption

So I had another communion devotion to do. My idea came from a sermon that I heard this summer. I discussed the idea with my dad and he came up with part of it. The paragraph in italics is written by him.

As children, we make plans of what we want to do when we are older. As highschoolers, we plan on where we want to go to college or what career path we want to choose. As adults, we continue making plans about career changes, trips, family, where we will use our money. Some of us plan out our days to the last detail. Maybe we need to take a look at our plans again. Is something missing? For many of us, we have planned a day, sometimes a life without any thought of God being involved. And isn’t it easy to accept compliments on a life lived well and isn’t it easy to blame God for the things that don’t go as planned?

Just a few weeks ago, I was sitting in the Burlington Christian Church in Burlington, KS. I was there with my family, aunts, uncles, and cousins, celebrating my grandparents 60^th wedding anniversary. That Sunday, the preacher preached on what he called the sin of presumption, taken from James 4:13-17. “Now listen, you say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”

How many of us actually live out our daily lives in reference to what God’s will is? How many of us make plans and include any thought of what God would want us to plan? These verses say that not considering God in our plans is a sin. It is a sin of presumption.

The sin of presumption is that we order our lives without reference to Jesus. Jesus died for us so that we might live for Him. This Lord’s supper that we take reminds us of our responsibility to live for Jesus and to include Him in all of our plans and all of our lives. To do otherwise is the sin of presumption. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

Lets’s pray,

Dearest Heavenly Father,

It is so easy to boast and brag about our lives, as if we were wholly responsible for the blessings we were given from the work that we did. Father, remind us, that we are a mist, we have no idea how long we are here on earth for. Help us use our times here, wisely, always in reference to Your Will. Today as we take this communion, remind us that we should no longer live for ourselves, but for Your Son Jesus, who died for all and was raised again.

In Jesus Name, Amen

First Day of School

My family has entered into a new chapter in our lives, the "School Years." My oldest started school yesterday. She was fine for awhile, but then after we got to school, she started to cry. I wanted to cry as well. After I left, a friend called and told me she was doing okay. I am so proud of her. She has been with me for as long as she can remember, what did I expect? When we moved to CA, I kept her at home - no daycare, no preschool, and not very many babysitters. She had a moment, but had a great time after that. Now with her gone during the day, I need to focus on my two boys. If you know my two boys, you know that this is important. Keep me in your prayers as I "train up" these 2 boys "in the way they should go."

Homecoming

The sweetness of coming home. We have been home since Thursday morning. We were gone 2 weeks. Isn't it nice to have the comforts of home? We are still going to bed Pacific Time and waking up Central Time, but besides that, we have adjusted nicely. The sweetest part is that we finally got to see daddy on Saturday. We haven't seen him for 17 days. Now that was the sweetest homecoming. The kids were so excited, Daughter and Son #1 couldn't stop giving him hugs and Son #2 just couldn't stop jumping up and down. It was a picture perfect moment that I didn't get a picture of.

And isn't God's love for us so much more than that? When a person that has been lost, comes back to HIM, what a celebration that would be?

P.S. One of the sweetest parts of my homecoming is when I got home, Kirk had scattered all over the house, chocolate kisses with notes declaring his love for me.

The Last Few Days

After the anniversary party in Kansas, my family traveled to Omaha for a few days together before the kids and I flew out. We had the pleasure of meeting my brother Paul's girlfriend, Alyssa.

On Tuesday we went to the zoo. The highlight for Daughter were the flamingos, penguins, polar bears, the "zebra cow", and the Dinosaur movie in the IMAX theatre. Son #1's highlight was the train. The train letting off steam left quite an impression on him. The picture on the left is at one of the waterfalls in The Jungle. The last time we were there, 5 years ago, Kirk, our daughter and I took a picture right there too. Later on Tuesday, Suzi, Tom, and me went out to eat with some college friends, Tim and Betsy Green, while everyone else stayed at the hotel and had McDonald's. Betsy and I had our second to last kids on the same day, and then we had our last children a couple weeks apart. Tim is one of Kirk's good friends and was a groomsmen in our wedding.

On Wednesday, we traveled to Nebraska Christian College, located in Papillion, NE. My whole family attended Nebraska Christian College, but that was when it was located in Norfolk, NE. The college felt like they would have more opportunities for the students if they were closer to Omaha.So in the last year they made the big move. The campus looks good. I wish them the best. I haven't always supported them moving, but now that they have I hope that they just keep moving forward. If I were to ever win millions of dollars, that would be one organization that I would give some of my money to.

Well, after lunching at Red Robin, we shopped at Borders, the book store until it was time to leave for the airport. After checking in, my mom was allowed to come up with us as we waited. Which was a good thing. We had to wait for awhile because the plane was late. It is always bittersweet saying goodbye to my parents, I never know for sure when I will see them again. After we started down the ramp, my struggles began. I couldn't get my big ' rickety stroller to close. Then the whole trip, Son #2 struggled with me to stay on my lap. We spilled the drink the stewardess was trying to hand us. Right towards the end of the very long flight to the Phoenix Airport, Daughter had to go potty. I told Son #1 to stay in his seat, that we would be right back, but we had to come right back because the bathroom was occupied. After it was free, we tried again. The stewardess wouldn't let me stand outside of the door, I had to go in. Just as we were closing the door, Son #1 came running up, so I pulled him inside as well. We were squished in there. The whole time I was saying, "Son #1, no" "Son #2, no." As we were leaving the restroom area, the stewardess says, "You should get the Mother of the Year award." I had no time to respond, because my children were headed down the aisle and I didn't want them to miss our seats. Just when were landing, Son #2 finally fell asleep. It just happened to be the wrong time, because as we got into the Phoenix airport, Son #1 started throwing a fit and I couldn't figure out what gate my plane was suppose to fly out of. The monitor was wrong, so I had to rudely interrupt someone to ask because I was starting to panic. I actually had plenty of time and the gate was close. After a potty break, we got back into line, just in time for Son #1 to throw another fit. I did talk him out of it and we got on the plane with no problems and I had Daughter and Son #1 asleep before we left the runway. Son #2 took a little more time, but was also asleep. What a glorious last hour and a half flight it was. I would like to say all was well when we landed in Sacramento, but it wasn't. Son #1 threw another fit as we got into the airport. Thankfully, I had friends waiting for me to take us home. We walked into our house at 1:30 a.m. It was good to be home.

Thank You Mom and Dad for everything that you did for us on this trip. We had so much fun, thanks for the adventure!

Kansas

The main reason that the kids and I came back to the Mid-west this summer was the fact that my Grandma and Grandpa Huff were celebrating their 60th Wedding Anniversary. I haven't seen them or made it down there in 5 years - My daughter was just 6 weeks old.

It was a little apprehensive for me because I hadn't been back for awhile, but it was great to see everyone and visit. Almost everyone showed up for at least part of the weekend (we were missing one cousin that is stationed over seas). On Saturday we took family pictures. Of course my kids were having issues and I couldn't get them to smile. The Daughter said that she was embarassed because there were so many people there. Son #1 was just grumpy. I even tried bribing them with an ice cream cone and then threatening them. Nothing worked until the last few pictures, I think that Daughter finally smiled. Afterwards she asked me if she could have that ice cream cone. I never clarified that she had to smile for every picture, but I didn't give into her. I told her that she needed to smile in every picture and that she missed out.

Some of the highlights for the kids were going to the city pool that was reserved for our family and great-grandma's fish pond. I think that only 2 or 3 kids ended up falling in the whole weekend, but boy they got messy.

The highlight for me was seeing everyone, especially my brother Tom and his family and my brother Paul. My neice and nephew had grown up so much in one year. That is one thing that makes me sad about living far away, missing a relationship with all my nephews and neices. It was fun to see my kids playing with their cousins, and their Uncles and Aunt.
By this time of the trip, I was getting a little exhausted living out of a suitcase and being a single-parent. The kids, especially Son #1 and Son #2, were having a hard time sleeping and that was wearing on me as well. Besides that, we had a great weekend! In this last picture, Grandma Helen showed Son #1 and Daughter how to put these flowers on their fingers to look like witch's fingers. I guess mom use to do that when she was a girl.

Camp Nebowa

On Tuesday night of my stay at mom and dad's we took a trip to Camp Nebowa in Onawa, IA. They are on the camp board and they had to go to a meeting. This is the place I had my first "boyfriend" and my first kiss (Okay, it wasn't a real kiss on the lips, but it was close). I worked there as a gopher for the cook, Jim Blake, and then as the salad lady for my mother when she was the cook. I made a lot of friends there and have had some great times. Some of my favorite times are playing tricks on the cook or taking moonlit canoe rides with Jamie Cooper, Jason Cooper and Ben Hedger.

On this trip, I got to see Nate Powell, Kelly Turney, and Mr. Cravatt (all from my Nebraska Christian College days). But the most important person that I got to see was Jill (Fiscus) Killian. My roommate from college. She is one of the nicest people that I know. When I called her at the last minute to tell her that I was going to be there, she made a special trip to see me. Even though we don't always stay in close contact, I love her, she is great and it was great to see her cutie kids.Son #1, Son #2, Daughter, and Grandma looking at the beautiful sunset over Blue Lake.

The Trip to the Farm

After going to church with Pat and Duane- Wymore Church of Christ - we ate lunch, packed up, and left. The trip should have taken me around 5 hours, but I got there in 4 hours. I was pushing the speed limit, but I wasn't even going as fast as others around me. I guess I was just anxious to get there and during the last hour of the trip I had Son #1 fussing in the back. You see, I moved his DVD screen in front of Son #2 and he wasn't happy about it. Even though he could see his sister's screen, he was complaining. Besides that, the kids did a great job. The DVD player was a blessing on the long trip, it passed the time for the kids.

It has been a year since we have seen Grandma Helen and Grandpa Tom.










One of the highlights of the farm was riding on "Bucky" the horse swing. That is a new feature on the farm. Another highlight of the trip for the kids was walking Obie the dog with Grandpa. They also loved swimming at the Willoway, my old elementary school. The kids love Grandma's books and Grandma is always willing to read them a story.

We went to see Great-Grandma Doris. She is always a pleasure to see. I also got to see Don Gordon. He was the first pastor that Kirk and I worked with after we graduated. We were at Central Church of Christ in Griswold, IA. Then he became the pastor at my parent's church in Sutherland, IA.

Some of the highlights of the trip for me were: going to my old schools ( I wrote about that the other day), seeing Grandma Doris and Don Gordon, and playing the stash of old records that Mom and Dad still have. What a trip down memory lane. I have one more highlight of my trip in Iowa, but I will save it for next time. We did leave for our Kansas trip after 4 days of being on the farm. It was good to be home.

My Trip to Nebraska

As, I have written before, my three kids and I traveled to the Midwest for a 14 day visit. What a whirl-wind. We landed in Omaha and I was met by my sister-in-law and niece - Pam and Sarah (they live in Omaha and we were going to spend the night with them since we arrived at 12:20 a.m.) and we were also met by my parents. They were going to let me use their mini-van on my trip in Nebraska. They were dorm parents at Camp Nebowa, so it wasn't too long of a trip for them.

I had a good visit at Pam's house. We saw her other daughter, Jessica. Cathy, another sister-in-law, stopped by and her daughter Allison. It was so good to see them. Cathy's husband passed away in May. Kirk went back for the funeral, but I stayed home. It was really touching to see them and talk to them. They are really sweet people and I am so sorry for them. I do know that Doug loved the Lord, so it is very comforting to know that.

We drove to 2 hours to visit my mother-in-law and father-in-law. I think the highlights of that trip for the kids were going to the pool and their County Fair. The highlight for me was being able to see Amy's family and James' family (Kirk's younger sister and brother). The only sibling that I didn't get to see was the oldest, Cindy. We had a good visit, but it only lasted four days and then I was off to my parent's farm in Iowa. I will write more on that tomorrow.
We love you Grandpa Duane and Grandma Pat.
Thanks for all the fun we had.