In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save

'Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
'Til He returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I stand

We're in trouble...

Tonight at dinner, c told me, "when my new brothers and sisters come home, I'm going to teach them how to do lots of tricks!" ha!

What about Jesus?!?

I had a few moments tonight to google some ideas for activities to do with the boys to celebrate Easter. It is the most important day of our faith, for without Jesus rising from the dead, He would be just another good, moral teacher. This is what sets Him apart as Lord and God!

So, I googled, "preschool easter activities" hoping to find some ideas. The first page I opened had a huge list of ideas. Cotton ball bunnies, jelly bean sorting... even songs like "He'll be hopping down the path when he comes... He'll be bringing lots of candy when he comes." Not ONE idea out of many (40?50?) even mentioned our Savior. 

I don't know why this surprised me, but it did. Isn't Jesus the whole reason we celebrate this day as a holiday? Should we at least mention his name? 

I fear that we are a nation that cries "Lord, Lord," and we claim to be"Christians" (Christ-followers). We have it in our Constitution and even engrave our money with "In God we trust", yet I fear that we do not know the God that we claim to follow... that we have somehow lost sight of Him in the midst of the American dream. 

I don't mean to sound preachy. I am challenging myself here, too. Do I really know the Jesus that I claim to follow? Or do I mold Him to fit what into my own comfort zone? 

Oh, God! May we know you. May we truly see you. Make yourself visible in the midst of the Christian-ese things that can cloud our vision. Make yourself known to us, even if it knocks us to our knees in worship and awe! Amen.

Indian Summer

When we moved into our new house nearly 5 months ago(!), it was in great shape. There are very few projects that need to be done to make it feel like our home. On the inside.

SO, that has left us to a whole lot of yard work. Luckily for us, we've had a beautiful Indian Summer in the middle of March and two little "helpers" to make the work go...faster? Or maybe it's just more fun with a little help. We borrowed two little wheelbarrows and A had gotten some gardening tools for his birthday, so they really look the part of gardeners.

Here's what we have done so far:

-Tilled an area for the garden.
-Decided it wasn't big enough, so tilled more.
-Then realized that it wasn't going to get enough sunlight, so tilled a different patch of land.
-Dug out about 50 wheelbarrows full of dirt from one area of the yard to flatten it and carted it to another to raise it up.
-Dug rocks out of the "flower" gardens. By rocks, I mean everything from river rock to 200 pound granite boulders. The previous owners apparently tried to grow a rock garden and were extremely successful. We now have a huge rock pile in the back yard that will be repurposed for something else that has yet to be determined.
-Cut down several bushes and tree branches.Enough to have two huge wood piles that surround the rock pile. (Is this sounding like boy-heaven or what!)
-Moved slates from a patio to a pile on the driveway. These will be repurposed for another patio in a different location. Apparently the previous patio was built prior to the existence of a HUGE walnut tree in the neighbor's yard. Enjoying dinner while getting pelted with falling walnuts doesn't sound fun at all. We've picked a new location and just need to till and then flatten the land to get started on the patio.

So that pretty much recaps the last two weekends! So much work, but it's starting to look really good. We still have a pretty long to-do list but are hopeful that this weather will hold up and we'll have lots of time to get our stuff done.

Birthday Pics

Here are a few pics from A's bday parties. Yep... two. I had planned on only having family over to celebrate, but A came home from school one day bubbling with excitement as he explained how his friends at school couldn't wait for his birthday party. He had invited them all over, and they were wondering when it would be. He was so excited that I didn't have the heart to say no.

 A's sweet friend, C, invited us to a hockey game to celebrate A's bday. It was a High School Cyclones game, which was perfect. High quality game so it was fun to watch, but not professional so it was FREE! It was a fun way to spend the morning. 

With one of the hockey players. You can't tell from their faces, but they were SO excited to meet a real hockey player!

Birthday party #1 - celebrating with family.  

 Birthday Party #2- Celebrating with friends. Super hero party! The kids all decorated capes and masks and we played lots of super-hero-themed games. Very fun!

Opening presents was a group event :) Everyone helped! 

Super heroes getting ready to save the world! (or play a game...whichever comes first)

Five years ago...

It was a Tuesday. I had spent the entire day teaching and felt so special as the sweet ladies I worked with threw a shower to celebrate the coming additions of 4 new babies to our staff. We hung out, enjoyed conversation and snacked on cake and other treats.

In my mind, I still had 5 weeks to prepare. The nursery was under construction and we still had to organize all of the gear that a new baby  necessitates, but I wasn't stressed out by anything yet since I still had so much time. I was totally oblivious to just how soon I would be welcoming our new baby.

That night, I was woken at 1 am when my water broke, and to the shock of EVERYONE, our sweet baby boy was born 15 hours later.

Sweet A, I can NOT believe you are five years old. That is no longer a toddler or even a little kid. That is full kid status. When I look at you, I can barely remember the chubby big baby that stole my heart five years ago. Now, you move at the speed of light on your scooter or climb fences with ease.

I love your curiosity. You ask so many questions, and though it can be exhausting, I love that you have already gained so much knowledge in your little life. You want to know the truth, and you love to share what you know with anyone that will listen.

I love the sweet heart that you have. You know how things are supposed to be and you want to fix them when they are not the right way. Because of that, you pray often for God to help people that don't have food or kids that don't have mommies and daddies. You know it's not how it should be and you want so desperately to make it right.

And above all, I LOVE that you are the perfect mix of big kid and little boy. You soar around the house in your superhero cape, but you'll still cuddle up on my lap to read for hours. You'll play tackle football and wrestle your friends to the ground, but you still won't go to bed with out a hug from your mommy.

Happy Birthday!

Wit and wisdom of a 3-year-old

I know I just posted a few examples, but seriously, the things these  kids say are so funny. C especially is at this age where he is learning bigger words and concepts but not understanding them completely.

-Today, we were at a local church that keeps their lobby open to the public all day, every day. They have a kid's area to play and we go there frequently in the winter to burn energy. Today, we were walking around and A said, "Let's play 'Simon Says'. I'll be Simon." C, not wanting to be left out, quickly added, "Okay. I'll be Says."

-For a special treat, we trekked out tonight to Graeter's. They have a little birthday room near the back, and as we were leaving, A chose to walk through that room instead of through the hall. He came out a back door, and C exclaimed as though he were completely astonished that A was able to get back out to the hallway, "Well, isn't that a-maz-ing!"

-Getting ready for bed, they wanted to read an article from a magazine instead of a book, but they couldn't agree on which article. C was trying to convince A that they should choose the "Find It" page where you search for hidden pictures, but A wanted a story. His argument was that there weren't any words on the "Find It" page. C countered with this, "A... there ARE words. Do you trust me?" It was funny to hear those words come out of his mouth that I have uttered to him SO many times. Hearing your own voice in your kids' words is always shocking for some reason.

-Last one... This one was A. For some reason my kids were into celebrating Christmas. We were singing a lot of Christmas carols today (yes, I know it's February), including Rudolph. After the song was over, A thought he should impart some wisdom to his brother. So the lesson began: "C, do you know who George Washington is? He was the first president of the United States." As if on cue, C chimed in with, "Go Buckeyes." It took me a second to catch the connection. I was laughing to hard to explain to him that the difference between the United States and Ohio State.