this boy is becoming a man

13 years ago we had a pretty great New Year's Eve Party! We spent the day in the hospital delivering our first child, Dakota (Cody). Our 8 pound gift from heaven arrived at 8:34 that night and life was never the same!

Cody was such a fun & giggling toddler-preschooler. He spent a lot of time riding on his horse, whom he lovingly named "bob".

Cody had a strong love affair with all heavy equipment. It was the main thing he talked about - forklifts, excavators, backhoes, dump trucks. He had shirts, books, movies, birthday parties all about construction equipment. Every time we were in the car he would point out any piece of equipment we would come across and he knew them all by name.

From the day she was born Cody has been a great big brother. He was so excited for us to have a baby and he even picked out the name Emma when I was pregnant. I love this picture because it shows how gentle and patient he has always been with his little sister. Lots of little kids love Cody and I look forward to seeing him with his own kids some day.

From the time Cody was a little boy he has been on a lot of job sites. He got his own work gloves and tool bag with real tools when he was 3. He knows more about building a building than most adults. He can tell you about trusses, perlins, girts, foundations, roofing, etc. and he has gotten to do a lot of work himself. I love that he knows how to paint, lay tile, install hardwood, use lots of different kinds of power tools, etc. Cody is a very hard worker and was even voted "hardest worker" when he went on a recent youth group mission trip. I love that he doesn't mind getting dirty and figuring stuff out.
Speaking of building....Cody has spent more hours building Lego's than you can imagine. He builds them the way they are supposed to go but he also loves to make his own creations. If you could earn money building Lego's, Cody would be a millionaire. Maybe he will be an architect when he grows up.
One of the coolest things about my son is that while he may seem reserved in public, he can be such a crazy man at home. He loves to have fun and he has one of the greatest laughs I have ever heard.

Cody is an incredible student and loves to learn. A couple of years ago he got to dissect a squid - he dove right in and loved all the learning that went right with it!

Cody spends hours reading - he can read a novel in about 5 days. It is a weird thing to have to tell your child to stop reading because he reads too much but we do have to do that sometimes.

He did his 6Th grade science project on bridges. He built 6 types of bridges out of Popsicle sticks. It is a perfect example of how hard he works at school. He goes to an accelerated program and even gets straight A's. We are so proud of him and how hard he works!
He is a very loyal friend. The friends that God has given him are all great boys - the kind you want your daughter to marry. Cody chooses friends very carefully and he commits to them. When I was looking back at all of his birthday party pictures, it is so many of the same boys year after year.
I look forward to the teenage years with this wise, brave, strong, determined man. The things he thinks about and ponders are deep (sometimes deeper than my mind goes). God has a hold of him and I know He will not let him go. I am so proud to be his mom and to have the opportunity to be a part of his life. Happy birthday Cody - may this be a year of new experiences, continued faith building, blessings in relationships and fun along the way! Thanks for being the best son I could dream of! I love you!

hmmmm.....

I have been thinking & contemplating so much lately that honestly, I feel overwhelmed a lot. Even though I feel a very strong underlying sense of peace there is so much chaos in this brain of mine. And to be completely honest, some of the things I am thinking about may be too much for this blog.

We have been home a lot since Monday. My kids had 4 snow days this week, Christmas parties were cancelled, dance performances & classes were all cancelled, martial arts graduations were cancelled - all sad but forced down time is good. We have been productive - I finished unpacking a lot of boxes, we hung a lot of things on walls, I painted Cody's closet that comes down from the ceiling & I repainted Emma's bed & dresser to match her new colors in her room.

Cody, his two friends and I did venture out last night to the middle school overnight party - yes, I stayed all night. I did take 2 1-hour naps and then slept 4 hours this morning. They seemed to have a good time but they were all pretty tired this morning.

Curtis & I are praying for direction right now. Several big decisions and not sure what is right in some of the decisions. We want to hear from God. We want to know that we know that we are doing what HE would have us do - not just what we think is best. Waiting on You, Lord!

We are looking forward to a very simple Christmas this year. We only bought a couple of gifts and we are doing things different. "If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got" - so we are approaching it differently. We made a few gifts and are doing a white elephant with Curtis' family. The snow has been a beautiful gift from God to remind me of how simple Christmas truly can be. I read my kids the complete Little House on the Prairie series several years ago and the snow makes me feel like I am living back then. No where I have to be - just being still & enjoying God's creation. Resting & enjoying my family.

Maybe when I can sort through more of my thoughts I will share them with you. Praying that you all enjoy the snow and are safe. Praying for health for sickness. Praying for God's provision for many. Praying for rest as you celebrate Christ's birth.

things we have been doing

We had a quiet Thanksgiving this year. My brother moved away to Laos this year and wasn't going to be here visiting for the first time in many years. We also started moving out of our apartment on Wednesday and were moving the entire weekend so we took a break and spent a few hours at my parent's house on Thanksgiving day. This is a picture of me and my amazing son who has said several times lately that we do not have enough pictures of just the two of us together - so we thought we had better capture the moment.
These are my incredible parents who bless us constantly. They are such great examples of serving others - they both volunteer at too many places to count and are always ministering to those around them - especially us.

For dessert, my family is not really into pie. I know this is a sin - no pumpkin, no pecan, no pie period! So my mother decided to do something that they would all like instead. She created an ice cream sundae contest. Whoever had the most creative invention would receive a major prize - and it wasn't going to be a lamp in the shape of a leg!

Emma created an ice cream mountain with a chocolate slide on one side - she called it an avalanche - a very innovative idea!

Not sure what my normally very creative husband made - I think he was in a bit of hurry to eat all of that ice cream before it melted.

Cody made a blob head thing out of his - another formidable entry!

However, my creation won - I received a wonderful Starbucks gift card. It was a candy land forest with gummy bears on a chocolate/caramel trail. I thought it was pretty imaginative!
I guess there was evidence that the food was good - the table was beautiful but I forgot to take a picture of it before we ate everything. So here is the evidence of a great Thanksgiving dinner! Thank you Mr. or Mrs. Turkey for giving your life for our feast!

My adorable daughter, Emma (the one on the right) danced with her performing group friends the day after Thanksgiving at the festival of the trees. They were fantastic and amazing as always. I love watching her dance - she comes alive & is so in her element. I love that and honestly, am a little jealous of it at times. God has given her a special talent and she uses it with all of her heart. I am so proud of her!
On Sunday we went bowling with my hubby's family instead of going to church - shhhh...don't tell anyone! We then went to his sister's house for a great dinner.

Last night we took our kids out to dinner with a gift certificate we got for a gift - it was so fun to talk over dinner about heaven and our thoughts about God. We also went to see the tree in downtown Portland but for some mysterious reason it wasn't lit up last night - what the heck?!?! We had a beautiful time anyway, wandering through the relatively quiet city, hanging out with two of our favorite people.

Today my family and I visited with Mrs. Tappan for a half hour or so. Her husband who was 77 died in a tractor accident on May 11th. They had been married for 53 years and they had 5 or 6 kids. They own about 50 acres or so across the field from us and all of their children have homes on the land. The Tappan family believes in God and they will see each other again in heaven. What a great but bittersweet story she shared with us. He would consider himself lucky having died on his tractor - that was how he would have wanted it. What a beautiful testimony of what is really important in life. Thank you Mrs. Tappan for sharing your story with us and thank you God for the simple reminder today of what this life is really about.

Fight for Me?

My dear friend shared a scripture with me the other day and I have been mulling it over in my mind. Right before she shared it I had been telling God that I knew how much He loved me, but I wasn't as sure about His continued desire to take care of me. The scripture passage was Exodus 14, specifically verses 13 & 14.

"And Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace'."

There are days that is still so hard for me to get my mind around. I don't "stand still" very well. It is something I have to work at doing. To have my mind rest is a struggle. When times get hard, I get busy. I feel I should be doing something, trying for fix things, getting control over things when everything is out of control.

But God is asking me to stand still and let Him fight for me. Will He fight for me? Will He defend me - go to battle for me as Moses sings about in chapter 15? Am I able to step on that dry land and trust that He will hold those walls of water up to rescue me?

Sometimes those enemies are huge! Sometimes the circumstances are too great to handle! Sometimes I want to just run away and give up!

But what He wants for me is to just let go, to rest, to stand still and trust HIM. He is good and His heart towards me is good. Thank you God for your word - that it is so true for today. Thank you that you love us and you fight on our behalf. Thank you for your provision and your care.

Never Too Old I Guess

The other day my kids brought back some old memories of when they were little and loved playing together all the time. It is true that kids can be entertained for hours with a box and never even see the toy inside of it!

They decided to walk around the house in it together - the step was quite a challenge! Not to mention all the cords - don't they know this is still a construction site???They finally ended up in the living room where they made it into a cool fort - it is still there 5 days later! It was so fun for us parents to watch them laughing so hard and acting like little kids again - I sometimes miss those days!
Especially on days like today when I had to take them shopping for pants at the mall - oh, the days when I got to just pick out their clothes myself. Didn't have to discuss why those ones won't work because they are too expensive or not appropriate or not the right size.

As I was having a pity party for myself while waiting outside the dressing room - I saw a young mom with her stroller just picking out clothes for her little son. She looked so peaceful, just strolling along, picking out whatever she liked or could afford. But then he had a messy diaper and she had to stop what she was doing and head to the restroom.

It is a trade off - every season has its joys and struggles! The blessing comes in learning how to be content in every season - being able to say "thank you, God" for this season!

Counting down the days & praying

We spent the whole weekend making a lot of dust...sanding away the old look of the wood floor. Here I am on Saturday saying goodbye the basketball floor for good.
Here it is yesterday after many layers of sanding and putting a natural sealer on it. Our house has smelled of oranges for 4 days now.
The kids have been learning a lot of different trades since we started this project. Grouting is a fun one - spreading all that "mud".

I continue to paint away at the cabinets a little at a time. Finally doing the doors in red.

Tonight we taught the kids to lay tile floor. They are doing the floor of their bathroom. I hope they will appreciate it so much more each morning they stand on it to brush their teeth.

We played christmas music tonight as we worked to get ourselves movitvated to be in this house by Christmas!

I will show you the bathroom when we get it done.

Praying also tonight for my dear friend Ashley, who lost her mother to cancer last night. We love you Shaddys!

Also, praying for our good friends the Delamarters who are celebrating the birth of their sweet baby Kate - can't wait to see her tomorrow!

Okay, Okay...I have been tagged!

Two of my sweet friends, Mere & Mara, tagged me. So I am gonna take a minute to respond. Here are 7 random facts about myself:

1. I can spread my toes apart like fingers. It is quite a talent - too bad I could not win a scholarship for such a gift!

2. When I was 18 years old my mother let me & my friend Amy leave with backpacks to travel around Europe for 4 weeks. Just made it up as we went along. It was such a cool experience. I love to travel although I haven't gotten to much in my adult life. Getting a map and exploring an unknown place is something I love to do!!!

3. I like preschool. I love the age and kids. A couple of years ago I was a substitute preschool teacher for the year. It was amazingly fun.

4. When I get upset I like to clean/organize. Purging is a passion!! My kids will definitely need some counseling over how much stuff I have made them get rid of. At least when I die they will not be able to say I was a pack rat (their father however, may make up for it!)

5. I am a rule follower by nature. God has had to really work on me in this area - teaching to let go and loosen up.

6. Even though I was bit through my lip by a dog as a young girl & I have never really liked dogs, I love my dog! He loves me unconditionally and is excited to see me all the time - even if I just ran to the garage for a second. He has brought us a lot of joy this year during many trials.

7. I really do not enjoy to cook. I love to eat! Especially when someone else makes the food. But cooking is just not something I am passionate about. It is fun to make stuff that my family likes to eat. But it seems like a lot of work to then have it gone in moments.


There I finally did it! Sorry it took me awhile girls. I know you will probably not like this...but, I am not planning to tag 7 more people. I am going to be super naughty and break the rules. Aren't you proud of me?!?!? God must be really doing a good job on healing me of that obsession.

I am now giving in to the pressure and tagging my children. So Cody & Emma, you are tagged!