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Thursday, September 28, 2017

the talk

When you hit the twelve year old mark in the Funkhouser house you get to go on a cool getaway with mom or dad. You see at that age we get to tell you what it means to be a man or a woman. Yes its the talk many parents fear. Dave and I were introduced to a great christian program called passport to purity friends (thank you!). it is a CD series you list to together and involves a journal and really cool exercises to do with your kids as you teach them about how their body will change and about yes it teaches them where babies come from. more importantly it does it in a Godly way.
this year it was Jonah's turn so he and Dave left on a Friday night and spent two nights camping at a state park in door county. Jonah is a big time football fan so Dave took him to a local high school game then the next day they went shooting at a local range and to a local street festival. they also spent time hiking together and talking. just the two of them. two years ago he did the same thing with Odin and they both still talk about how much fun they had with dad. I'm next with Olivia but Dave has three more boys to do. i was intimidated about doing it but after hearing how great the program is and how much fun the boys had with Dave I am ready to have the talk with Olivia too. if you want your child to learn about this in a good christian way then check out passport to purity. it is not just a one time thing. the program involves continuing involvement in your kid's journey to stay involved in conversations about peer pressure and sex as they grow and enter the dating ages. when the boys found out where really babies come from they both just about threw up saying "that's disgusting" which Dave just smiled and said "good i am glad you feel that way at your age but someday you won't feel that way so we'll talk again"
its all about having direct God driven conversations with your kids about their life and directing them down the right path. Dave said we can't hold their hands but at least we can show them the way and walk with them.  

AT THE GAME





AT THE RANGE



DOWNTOWN FESTIVAL


A HIKE AND TOWER CLIMB


Have a wonderful Thursday.....we're hanging with Grandma Mimi for awhile!

Thursday, September 21, 2017

i now have .....drum roll please


yup...found while we were away on our anniversary trip.
first one ever in my 41 years of life

the kids know the verse so well 

Proverbs 16:31


Gray hair is a crown of splendor;
it is attained in the way of righteousness.

I am excited to be at the starting line of my forties
I am ok with wrinkles, cellulite, gray hair and the whole aging process.

the sweetness of my 30's has been hard won with mr handsome and I swimming upstream against the strong currents of life in general.
between the mercy of Jesus and the patient endurance of my husband is still a beautiful one of triumph.

the more years we bravely stand in Christ, the mightier and more beautiful we become.

there are deceptions and experiences that are more difficult to silence and delete from our souls.

we beat them into submission, one day at a time, one scripture at a time, one moment of trusting God at a time.

fight the fire of insecurity and fear with a double edged sword.

they'll be battles today, tomm. and many more to come before God carries us home.

We are still becoming who he has made us to be.

I chose to walk with joy, the narrow winding road of lessons learned later in life.

even if this day or week isn't what it's all cracked up to be, tragedy strikes, or happy days pass quietly by and we are to busy to celebrate, I know a truth that rises above all else:

His love for his people has no beginning and no end.

Love never gets old, it doesn't wrinkle or fade or fail us. 

 Not ever. 

 Even when my body winds down to its last precious moment of life, my soul will go on with him.  

Love is forever.

May the winding road of your own journey lead you into God's glorious presence.

All from a gray hair!


Monday, September 18, 2017

15

1.Fun with our good friends Alice and Sig.  Thank you for bringing the fun, fellowship and all the blessings.  What a fun day we all had and a great time was had by all.












2.Found this sweet grandpa taking a nap when I was walking through a clearance section.


3.Happy 15th Anniversary Mr. awesomeness.
 Thanks for taking me away and going camping for a few days.  Thank you to everyone who watched our little stars and for all the wonderful blessings you threw our way.  We couldn't have done this without you.




4.Pure Joy


5. 3 of the kiddos supported Hurricane Harvey victims in many ways . 
 Love their hearts to help.


6. Our first watermelon from the garden.  
Turned out great.  Chopped it up and added it to our smoothies.


7.  Play dough creations






8. More of this great little star...




9. These 2 were in the mood for fall yumminess.  They made apple crisp 2 days in a row.  Regular and gluten free.  They were ohh so yummy warm with vanilla ice cream on.
.

10. Thank you for the beautiful flowers.


11. Jonah made this homemade breakfast bake...which is so easy and tasty. 

12. Board games are big fun in this house.  With so many different ages, you have to be open to just having a tornado come through the game(Abraham) or the game just getting thrown around and destroyed(Abraham).  
It all works!






13. Books, books, books...we love books.  This one has been around since Odin.  
Thank you Auntie Sarah.




14. We'll just call these Olivia's creations.
She is always coming up with something.
Love her free spirited creative heart!


 





15. Can you tell it's football season in this house.  Games are so much fun to watch.  We have a lot of trash talkers in the house. 
They have a dream...these kiddos.  Some day...they will be able to make the trek to all their stadiums.  First to see the Broncos, then to see the 49ers, then onto to see the Dolphins, Titans, Steelers and back home for the Green Bay Packers.  
They can only dream right!


Jonah made this from a shelf at st. Vinnie's.  setting up his room Steeler style.



Off to a busy week with a few volleyball games, soccer tournament, babysitting 3 kiddos, get togethers with a few friends, youth group and some friend play dates.  
Go love on someone! 






Thursday, September 14, 2017

Do you know  how powerful
 mercy and faithfulness of god really is?
I believe we can effect our children for generations to come
our lives will either be stepping stones or stumbling blocks
I want our children to get to heaven because of me not in spite of me
I want my children to become overcomers.
We have the power to lay up the mercies of god.
Parents leave an inheritance to their children
not money....
They will never be successful in the world
The world will never fulfill you or them

It's in the church...
Jesus

you won't find it in a bottle
you won't find it in what you wear 
 you won't find it in how your body looks
you won't find it in a joint
you won't find it in drugs
you were created in a bed of sin
you were created for Christ
your body is his temple
You may get tempted and stray but the prodigal always knows the way back home
You can try to be a sinner but we always find out
The grace of god saves you.

Luke 1: 50
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 

We (worldly) are into talent and god is into character.
If  I give them faith
If I give them a prayer life
Turn to Jesus

 He is faithful


It goes beyond anything money can buy.
God can restore anything.
You'll never be a happy sinner.

Grace..... the goodness of god
The prayers of god were getting you by.

Our god is faithful

He doesn't walk away from you in any storm.

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

first week of school in already


We started last week and it was a tad crazy but settled down after the first day.  We have a few changes going on this year.  We have a young high schooler (woo hoo) that is diving into all sorts of fun stuff already.  Besides the normal subjects (and Spanish..Dave too)you take as a freshman, last week he was studying the table of nations, archaeology, Egyptian chronology and the book of exodus.

 I'm that mom who's making them do cursive too.  Everyone again!  It's a lost art and oh so beautiful.



Jonah dove into 7th grade and is loving it so far.  Each year the kiddos curriculum gets longer. Jonah is studying about people in history like George Washington and Daniel Boone.  Science is about gravity right now.  
Mind you these pictures are taken at 5:30 in the morning.




Jonah's John Hancock

 
 



Olivia jumped right into the Roman Empire, gravity and astronomy.  She is loving it.  



Jeremiah was blessed as a new student at Trinity Lutheran this year.  So far so good. He loves singing and he loves that he's learning about the Bible there too, just like he would at home.   He is loving it.  As you know I was struggling, struggling struggling with this little man.  This was a huge blessing for us and for him to be able to do this.   

It was a new adjustment for this momma though.  Apparently I wasn't quite ready for it yet.  The kiddos realized how much they missed him also. Amazing how you take one little star away and it changes the dynamics of everything.  I cried a lot this week. geez I was very emotional...



Gabriel was also blessed with a chance to go to Trinity for preschool 3 days a week.  He loves it.  He would love to go to school every day...He seems to be doing great just kind of crabby because we took the nap away in the afternoon. He's learning all about Creation this first month of school and meeting some new friends too.




Olivia loves to create with water



Odin sent an old football card to James Lofton and a nice letter .  He wrote a nice little message back and autographed the card.  These cards are loving writing to people.  As long as they get a reply!



Abraham loves playing hide and seek under the covers.






remember the beauty in your normal today. In the kids that drive you crazy(small and big) and the house where you live and the ability to breathe and that there is laundry to do, food to eat and all of the rest of it.  

Life isn't always rainbows and unicorns and sprinkles and glitter.  

But we have life.  

the imperfect normal is stunningly beautiful






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