Remembering Abilene (including Sidney)

We will miss it here.

Splish Splash and Luxury

Before I start the post I have intended for today I need to let you know I was sitting here typing when I heard a sort of splashing sound on the bathroom floor. I peeked around the corner to see Izzy with her panties down and her buns on the very edge of the toilet seat. But before she could get all of herself over "the water" the dam broke and the river came aflowin' and there was just nothing she could do to stop it so I just stood there and laughed and laughed until she finished and she said, "It's not funny, mom." But it was!


This is a post from my good friend Julia. It was such a profound thought I wanted more people to read it. :) We all know how many faithful readers I have! (Sorry, Julia. :)No hard feelings?)

Comfort

My life is very comfortable. My bed, my couch, my car. Everything is climate controlled. I have enough clothes to be warm. My shoes fit perfectly. My food is always safe and available 24 hours a day. I can choose to cook or have food ordered directly to my door. My clothes are washed AND dried by machines. My kids have their own beds, blankets pillows. They have their own ROOMS. They have enough food that if some falls on the floor it is thrown away. My dogs have their own food bowls and separate beds. They have their own doctor if they get ill.

My children know no suffering. No disease, death or pain. Their tummy's are full every night. Their bathrooms are stocked with every medicine available. They have more shoes than they know what to do with. Their greatest tragedy is that their bath water is too cold or too hot.

Oh, did I mention we have indoor plumbing? INDOOR! I can have fresh clean drinkable water rain down on my body for as long as I want and at the PERFECT temperature. My toilet has a nice seat on it, and will flush away any yuck with a push of a lever... did I mention that the waste is carried away with perfectly safe drinking water? Which I do not drink. I buy special water from the store to drink.

There are no rats or mice in my home. Not even an ant. No fleas or frogs.

I have communication with my love ones. Regardless of what their religion or opinions are. We can all travel to see each other whenever we want. We can pick up the phone and hear their voice. Even while my husband is at war I can see and speak to him over the computer. I know where all my family lives. No one is missing, everyone accounted for.

I have so much time on my hands that at night I lay in my bed watching OTHER people entertain me, and if I am displeased with a particular event, I can rid it from my sight with a push of the button.

Total comfort.

The Most Wonderful Mother in the World!

So...Jen doesn't know I'm doing this. She went to Abilene to scrapbook with some friends and I'm alone in Sidney with the kids. I realize the risk in hijacking someone's blog and the potential backlash I may receive from all of her faithful readers. However, since Mother's Day is just two days away I thought it would be appropriate to say some words about my wife, the greatest mother on the face of the planet.

Here are some things I love about the way my wife loves our children. For starters, she treats them like they are people. Too often, grown-ups treat little kids as if they don't deserve to be given the full rights of human beings. Jen does not do this. When I want to use the fact that I am bigger and stronger than my children to get them to do something Jen reminds me that this sort of behavior is not consistent with the way of Jesus. Unfortunately, for me at least, my oldest daughter Emma has caught on and is more than willing to call me out when I try to bully her or anyone else around. I'm grateful for the example of my wife.

Secondly, she realizes that our task as parents is more than just making sure our kids have food on their plate, a roof over their heads, and clothes on their back. She helps our children learn patience, love, self-control, kindness to the outcast, and countless other characteristics. Words are inadequate to express the amazing way my wife is forming our children. I am grateful for the example of my wife.

I mentioned above that Jen treats our kids like human beings. She also allows them to be kids and have fun. No one is more creative than my wife. No one is more spontaneous than my wife. No one can play dress-up, sing a song, read a book, build a fort, or find as much joy in the little things of parenting as my wife. For these reasons, I am grateful for the example of my wife.

I asked my children why they love their mom and these were their responses:

Emma: Because she's nice and she's trying to get a house in Washington with a hot tub and she helps.

Aiden: Because she is my favorite mom and she lets us go to Mr. Gatti's and Chuckie Cheese and she lets us go to playgrounds, and that's it.

Isabel: Because she's my great mama...(after I asked again)...and because you're my great daddy.

Jen, if you are reading this, please know that you are the love of my life. If given another 100 times to choose, I would choose you every time. I'm sure that if our kids had a choice in who could be their mother, they would choose you as well. Happy (early) Mother's Day and know that you will always be appreciated and loved. With all that I am, I love you!

To everyone else...Do you have any great stories about Jen and how wonderful of mother she is? Would you be willing to share it? Could you help my children and me make this Mother's Day especially wonderful for Jen?

Thanks for letting me steal a moment of your time on Jen's blog,
ben

Good news, bad news

We did this a lot in high school in bible class and Ben did this a lot with his teens. You update everyone on your week by saying a good thing and a bad thing.

So, do you want the good news first, or the bad news?

We'll start with the bad.
Bad news is we are NOT moving in June like we thought...

Good news is we are moving in May.

Bad news is we have less time to say goodbye and less time to pack.

Good news is we eliminated those first few weeks where you can't really pack up everything yet, anyways.

Bad news is we won't have anywhere to unpack these boxes 'cause there's no time to look for a house.

Good news is we can look together when we get there and we can live with one of the elders until we find a place.

Bad news is we won't have our camping stuff readily available.

Good news is we have a church camp out in July!

Bad news is it might get a little chilly at night.

Good news is, "Who cares? We'll be in Washington!"

God is Good!

We're going! This is an aerial view of our soon-to-be home in Bellingham, WA. I can't tell you exactly which house will be ours, though...

We got a call this evening and got the details worked out. We will be heading around the 9th of June and he will start around the beginning of July. We are more than excited and now dread looking for boxes and newspaper...

Celebrate with us and praise God for his faithfulness and his grace in our lives.

A knife, some clouds and a sewing machine

Either you're not quick enough or Dustin's wedding just doesn't float your boat. Never-the-less, we shall move on. :)

Here's a hodge podge of a blog...
My brother will be pleased to hear that I have cut my self for the first time using our great Miracle Blade knives which Tara and Eric gave us for Christmas. Have you tried cutting up a mango before? There heck a hard! Not literally, just difficult to cut. The pit is such an odd shape and the fruit has no desire to peel away from it so you just keep sawing until you've managed to scrape off every bit of "mango shmango", as my son likes to call them. So, I was sawing and the pit moved to the right ever so slightly and my knife went straight into my left thumb. It hurt. Thanks to my strength, it hardly bled. I put so much pressure on it that it had no where to go! It still hurts 48 hours later... And try not using your thumb. Everything feels fine until I accidentally button someone's pants or undo a car seat buckle. Yikes!

Would any of you like to know that we have had thunder storms the last two or three days in a row and will continue to have them for the next ten days? Crazy!

If Shelly Neilson reads this it will give away my secret but, then again, if she does read this it would be a miracle in itself... The Neilsons watched our kids while we were in Washington and I really wanted to get her a cute apron as a thank you. Sorry, Paul. She wanted one for Christmas and her children looked everywhere and ended up getting her one with a Christmas elf. Needless to say, she still would love a cute apron. So, I decided that instead of shopping around everywhere, as well, I am just going to make it. I already bought everything I need and have cut out all the pieces. Don't forget I also washed and ironed the fabric. Soon enough I will have an apron to give her! I hope my sewing machine works.