They are Home!

My heart is whole again! My dh and dc's got home around 3 today. We have spent the evening laughing and snuggling. I have heard many camp stories with many more to come. We just finished seeing all the camp pictures. There were 4 cameras at camp and so there were close to 1500 pictures. It was a great slide show. I will try to upload some highlights when I can sort through them. Phillip will be putting a slide show together for worship on Sunday so he will condense it and I will pull pictures from there.
I have been grinning from ear to ear since they came home. I know one day I will not have them all here but for now, it is right for them all to be with me.
They are tired campers. Time to get them all in bed.

Jam Camp Pics

At camp they usually have a movie night. Snacks are handed out and they all relax to a good movie. The theme for camp this year is a "Sports" theme. I know some of the movie choices were, "The Rookie", "Facing the Giants", "Everyone's Hero"...

Here is R flying off the pool slide! He looks like he is having great fun. I so wish I could be there to see all this. But, the advantage of being married to the Tech guy at our church is that I get pictures from camp daily.


Of course, this picture stole my heart. Isn't this what it is all about. C is really concentrating as he searches for something in his bible.
One more day and I get to see my family again. I miss them so much but am so grateful that they have this opportunity to get this small taste of heaven.

Love you all, Can't wait to see you! Love Mom!

A Day in the life of a Toddler

Let's see. Today T did not wake up until 8 am. That was after waking up at 2am. He went back to sleep by 2:15-2:20 but that was plenty of time for me to become fully awake. At 4 am I went back to sleep. After making breakfast for T (which is something I have not had to do for awhile. My kiddos usually do all of breakfast), I was able to get him dressed and packed and ready to go for the day. I, on the other hand, decided to pull my hair back in a pony tail so I could get places on time. We met some other moms for lunch, ran some errands and then came home so T could get a nap. 3 hours later, I woke him up. We fed him, packed him up again and then went out to CiCi's pizza at my dd request. Then we came home and hit the pool. This was at 8:30pm. T did not go for that so well. We are now home. T has had his nighttime milk and is still toddling about.

Today my conversations went something like this.

Good Morning! No, no T. Are you hungry? No, no sweetie, you cannot have that. No T. Be careful T. No, you can't have that. And on and on. Get the picture. I have forgotten how curious they are.

It has really been an easy day. At least, much easier than I remember it being when my kiddos were toddling about. He is a really good kid and I have had such fun with him.

The most fun I am having is teaching dd as we go. She is so eagar and has truly jumped in to learning about taking full care of a toddler. Being the younger dd, she tends to get looked over as older sister is very capable and just jumps in to do things. So, teaching her has been such fun. She really is very good at it, but I think a little insecure because older sis is so capable. I only wish I could have one on one time like this with all my kids. For now, I will count my blessings with J.

Most of my heart left for camp today.

I watched my dh and 3 of my 4 children drive away today to go to camp. I was fine until my dd who is staying home began to sob as she began to miss her brothers and sister and daddy. Then as I waved good-bye to my oldest son his eyes were so sad. I ran around to the other side of the bus to see my baby sobbing and reaching out for me. My oldest dd came and held him and I was so glad she was going.
I know many wives have had to say good-bye to their dh's for months at a time and I have always hurt for them and cried for them. Today, I watched most of my heart drive away. I knew I would be sad, but I did not anticipate the ache in my heart. I am so thankful that my youngest dd is here with me along with T, who is toddling about and keeping me very busy. It is only for a few days that I will be separated from them but it still makes me miss them so much.
So, that will explain the new ticker. Counting down the days until my heart is restored.
I am so grateful to have a loving God who has put it within us to love so deeply that we might get a small taste of how much He loves us. What a hope we have in knowing Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that no separation will ever be permanant.

Jam Camp Kick Off

Well, Friday night we began our Camp Kickoff. We had hotdogs, nachos, peanuts and all kinds of sporting event kinds of food. The kids got to meet their leaders and get their group colors and start to make up their group names and cheers. It is a great way to get the visitor kids to feel like a part of the group before traveling away from home camp.


On the far left with the pink hat pulled down in my oldest dd A. She is a teen counselor this year for the...yep, you guessed it....PINK Team!
C, is on the orange team. He is with the older boys! He asked where the older boys were this year for camp and we told him He WAS the older boys this year! LOLR is on the blue team. His "coach" made special t-shirts for their boys this year. What great leaders our kids have!

Here are 2 pictures of all the fun "jamming" down they did. They were really moving to the songs. This years theme is a Sports Camp theme on how preparing for the big game is like preparing for the real "Big Game" of living for Christ.

They leave in the morning. We are all packed and ready to go. I just need to get lunches made. I will miss them terribly and sister J is really going to miss a house full of siblings. But, we are both looking forward to our mother/daughter time.

Horse Camp

Now this isn't really about horse camp but as I was going to list my daily doings I was going to mention waking up and taking J to her horse lessons. Well, some of you do not know that she is taking lessons. For her 13th birthday we surprised her with a week of horse camp.




Here she is on her first day of camp riding Buster. Can you see that smile! She is in heaven!

Since this was the first time she was really on a saddled horse she really had to concentrate.

When camp was over we determined that this was really a calling and gift for her so we have decided to continue riding lessons for her. So, back to this morning. We woke up and took her to camp where she stays for 3 hours and learns everything there is to know about horses.

After dropping her off I went and had lunch with a friend at La Madeline. She is a gift from God and is my "iron that sharpens iron". I could talk with her all day. I so enjoy her company. She also really helps me to keep my focus on God in all things. Had a great time!

After lunch I picked up J and the rest of the kids. J is volunteering at the library and so we dropped her off. The rest of us went and picked up a few odds and ends that they would need for camp. When we were done we went back to the library to pick up J and then I decided I had done about as much as I could for the day. My ribs were really starting to hurt so I headed home. I had to stop and drop off some prescriptions so the kids would have their meds and camp and then headed home.

After lying down for awhile with ice on my ribs and taking some anti-inflammatory drugs, I was up and going to our small group.

We are home now. I am back to the ice on the ribs but all in all I accomplished a lot today. I don't know how long I am going to have to deal with this costochondritis, but if it is just having to come and rest and ice at intervals I can't complain.

Kids are down and I think I am going to do some more reading.

JAM Camp

Three of my 4 kids and my dh will be leaving for camp on Mon. This is our church's camp for 1st-5th grades. My 2 boys are going as campers, my dd as a teen counselor and my dh as camp tech support. We usually go to this camp as a family but this year I will be staying home taking care of one of our members kids so she can go to her son's last year at camp. My younger dd will be staying home with me. Although we will have a toddler running around I look forward to this one on one time with her.
Because of illness I am supervising my oldest dd packing herself and the boys for camp. She is so efficient and such a true blessing.
I am not sure how I am going to survive them all being away for a week. Camp is such a wonderful experience for them all. I am sad I do not get to go this year, but I will be attending our Teen Camp (NEXT Camp) at the end of July. I went to both camps last year and am really kind of glad I am only going to one camp this year. Camp is hard work! LOL

Just for your information: JAM (Jesus and Me)
NEXT (Northeast eXtreme Teens)
NEC (The Northeast Church- this explains the northeast extreme teens) www.goddeal.com

Costochondritis

I woke up this morning with my sternum (breastbone) hurting and pain in my right lower rib area when I breathed. Or, more accurately, tried to breath. It was not severe but hurt so I went about my day. As the day progressed so did my pain so I decided, in light of be sick for the last week, that I had better get it checked out. So, back to the doctor I went. After examination and x-rays it was determined that I have Costochondritis which is an inflammation of the cartilage in the ribs. The good news is I don't have pneumonia and that with pain meds and anti-inflammatory drugs I should get over this. The bad news is I am back to not moving much but at least I feel good. Breathing, coughing and yawning about kill me so I am trying to avoid those activities. Well, except breathing! LOL

The kids summer camp is this coming Monday. I still need to get things ready for camp. I need to get their supplies for camp, get their clothes together and packed, order their asthma meds, get their health cards together etc. etc. So far, this has not been a very easy task this week. But, I have two older dd's who are very helpful and have done what they can. I am so thankful and blessed to have these two precious gifts. They are such willing helpers and I thank God for who they are and who they are becoming.

In the meantime, I am back to not being able to move much. The good news is I feel so much better from the Sinus infection etc. Now, I just hurt. Boredom is setting in. Back to reading.

No complaints here. Just grateful for all the rich blessings God continues to give me.

Thoughts on Marriage

Tonight we had a couple over who are helping my dh and I put together some videos on marriage. We have several couples who have already done this and several more to go. These are couples who at one time were on the brink of divorce or were considering divorce who chose not to divorce and have worked through their problems. We chose them because they have a fabulous marriage now.



As I council young wives in difficult marriages, I have found they all seem to say the same phrases at one time or another. Here are a few......



Why do I have to be the one to do all the work?

God doesn't want me to be unhappy.

It's not fair.

I just can't do this anymore.



As we have videotaped the "healthy" couples we have also noticed some common phrases coming form them.....



God hates divorce.

I realized I had to change me.

I can't change him/her.

I had to start focusing on Jesus.

This really was about me and God.



It has been enlightening to say the least. As I council the women in the struggling marriages I come home weary. Not because they are a burden but because I ache for how much they are hurting. But, when we do these video testimonials we have such enjoyable evenings. It is hard to hear the struggles and hardships they had to go through. But, the joy we see in their marriages as God has healed them and how we can laugh at the past troubles that are no longer so consuming brings laughter and victory. To see God's mighty hand at work and how He can heal brings a joy beyond measure. All of these couples have said they would not want to go through the trials they went through again. But, they all also say that it was worth it. They are head over heals in love and thankful they were obedient to God.



Couples who are struggling need to hear the testimonies of those of us who have endured and who God has healed. They need to have hope in what they feel is a hopeless situation. Nothing is hopeless with God.

What did today look like?

It started out pretty well. I woke up feeling better than I had in couple days and decided to keep my bible study appt. with my friend. She had to drop her son off in my neighborhood so she picked me up. This was a good thing as driving was still out of the question for me.

We are studying the book of James. I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I have been reading it in different versions over the past week. The first few times I read through the book God had me on His potters wheel pounding and molding me pretty hard. Then after doing much work on me the third day of reading He sat me in His lap and let me see all the blessings and promises He gives in this book. All in all it has been a good study but really has me pondering a lot of different things. I have seen many things in a new light reading the book over and over again. Tomorrow I meet with my accountability partner and we will discuss all God has given us. I look forward to it.

When I got home, I was exhausted. So I went back to bed, did some work on my computer and continued reading one of the books on my reading list.

I continued to feel lousy and was beginning to think I was going to have to go back to the doctor tomorrow. I knew I had company coming over that I could not cancel and was trying to figure out dinner. I finally fell asleep. This was a very good thing. Hubby decided we could just order pizza and this gave me time to get ready and I realized I was starting to feel so much better.

We had our company over and had a really enjoyable evening (more on that in my next post).

They have since gone home, the kids are in bed and the house is quiet. I will finish up here and read a little bit more, spend some time in thanksgiving to God for such a wonderful day and for His mercies in healing me.

All in all, a good day.

My First Book Reviews

The Gates of Zion by Brock and Bodie Thoene


This is the first book in the Zion Chronicles Series. I recently completed the Zion Covenant Series by the same authors. It was about pre-WW2 events surrounding Jewish families. This series continues the story in pre-statehood Israel. It is about the fight for Israel to become an independent nation. The previous series, and a little in this series, gives insight into Jewish beliefs and the different way those beliefs were followed and lived. This book includes a storyline including the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is a FICTION book but does have some historical accuracy in it. I truly have enjoyed the previous series and am finding I am ready for the next book in this series also.


Tilly by Frank Peretti

This book was recommended to me by a friend who lost a baby shortly after birth almost 22 years ago. She said it was a real tear jerker. I enjoyed this book and read through it in an afternoon. I didn't find it a tearjerker, but I understand how my df did. I think it can be healing but do not want to say any more for fear of giving away the storyline. it is not what you think.

Today didn't go as planned....

I woke up this morning feeling terrible, sore throat, achiness, no voice. Since I have been fighting something for the last four days and was getting worse I decided to go to the doctor. This turned out to be a good idea.

Got the family ready and off to worship.

Went to local "Doc in a box" and was told it would be a 2-2 1/2 hour wait. Gave them my cell number and went home.

Filled out forms for my boys to go to camp.

Tried to rest a bit.

Back to doc for appt. Sinus infection, pharyngitis, ear infection, infection under my tongue. Ouch!

Off to pick up antibiotics and kids. (oldest dd and dh in meeting for camp)

Home finally! Crashed.

Woke up and kids missed Mom. Felt well enough to sit up a little and tried to find something on TV all could watch and that I could fall asleep on without worrying. Found a "Hanna Montana" marathon! I laughed and found the rest of my family, including dh, laughing on and off throughout the shows.

Fell asleep. Woke up feeling terrible. Showered to clear head. Back to bed.

Slept again. Woke up. Showered to clear head. Finally felt well enough to sit up and so decided to play with blog. Posted a picture!!!! Yeah!

Now it is time to lie down and go back to bed. Surely I will feel better in the morning.

Summer Reading Challenge 2007

I have decided to take DeEtta's Summer Reading Challenge. I really do hope I will have the time to read these books and more but having a goal is a good thing. So, it's official, here's my link.

Family Living
The Ministry of Motherhood-Sally Clarkson
Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining and Bad attitudes in you and your kids-Scott Turansky
Heartfelt Discipline-Clay Clarkson
His Needs Her Needs-Willard F. Harley Jr. (Don't know if I can count this one as I have read it before but need to read it again for ministry training)

Personal Study
The book of Revelations-John
God As He Longs For You to See Him- Chip Ingram
What the Bible Says About Healthy Living-Rex Russell

Just for me reading
The Gates of Zion-Bodie Thoene
The Yada Yada Prayer Group gets Real
Tilly-Frank Peretti
Prelude to Glory-The Times that Try Mens Souls-Ron Carter
The Note-Angela Hunt