Bathing in His Beauty

We had a great weekend in Door County a few weekends ago.  Completely beautiful.  The autumn leaves are so breathtaking.  We barely have any trees in our yard. My little  stars love leaves on the ground,  Crispy , crunchy and they smell so good.  I know we're weird.

  Dave dropped us(me and the 4 bigs) off at the Eagle tower while Gabe and him got firewood.  We hiked up to the top and I felt so nauseated I had to get down.  That thing shifts and moves like crazy.  In the mean time I get down a level and the kiddos stay up there and enjoy the view looking out and taking pictures.  Looking down makes me want to just throw up.  I do not do heights very good at all. 

 After that we walked a mile on the road and acted like complete morons.  I let them scream, sing, throw leaves at each other while the cars were passing.  We even got all crazy and we all ran down a huge hill.  With our luck I was praying that no body got hurt the whole way down.  It was so much fun.  Don't take pictures while you're running.

  They were very tempted to run across the golf course.  I told them sometime when it's a little darker out we can go and break the rules.  Come on...nicely trimmed golf courses always look fun to run through and scream and dance on!!

weird kids

 (Can you feel the fun?)

Camping is the best gift for us.  We have so much fun.  My parents joined us during this trip.  They just stayed at a different campground.  We had a continuous fire throughout the day, the kiddos played for hours at the park with their swords, tag, king of the mountain and Lord of the Rings.  Making friends, drippy booger noses, hot cocoa in the coffee pot all day, Gabe screaming through the whole campground, naps, night walks, hikes on the trails and beautiful sunsets. 

   
visited the lighthouse

having fun in the hammock

Olivia making another concoction
apple pie and berry juice

skipping rocks at sunset

Interesting people that make weird comments to us
 Pumpkin Patch festival

papa got the kids hot dogs, pizza, kettle corn
they got to spend the night in Papa and nanee's camper too.  They love that.  We are getting ready for Grandma Mimi and Papa Julio's visit tomorrow.  We are super excited for Papa Julio to meet Gabe.  We also have to make a trek to Mayo Clinic during the week.  Please pray for another clear scan and good clear results.  Thank you so much for your prayers, love and support.  Thank you for walking this journey with us.  Thank you for your love extended. 
Love Wins

Candles, Messes and Kids

Papa Paul took us out to Culvers when he was here.   My kiddos love this place.  Can we say gift cards!  The kids ask for gift cards for Culvers for Christmas. It works out great.

Everyone loves taking baths with this kid. At one point he bathed with everyone in the house except Dave and I.  All in one day.  He is the cleanest kid in the house. We only put a little water in there but still.  He likes to just play with everyone and playing with water is even better.  

Uno before school always rocks.  Way better than Monopoly before school.  

This was our huge project we did as a family.  Great for home schooling. It was one of those "offers for help" that I gave for a wedding.   

 40 pounds of this

 

lots of burlap

 

lots of lace

lots of tins

tadah!!!

120 later...

This was a lot of work but it was a lot of fun. This brought back so many memories for me.  I use to make candles out of high school and it was so much fun.  These were made for a good friend's wedding.  We are so excited for them and their new life together. So young and cute!

this is what happens when I get up and get my food.... and the kids take the camera

Making cut out cookies was a disaster with this guy.  Lots of fun though.  Dave showered him off after this episode. 

These two are alike in so many ways....

Made my own chocolate almond butter..delicious in our peanut butter/protein smoothies.  

This little star loves to paint.  Just making messes is his middle name. The cheese is on stand bye while he paints.

 He chose a new spot for his time outs.  He likes to hide under a coat instead of face the corner. 

Thankful that the Lord has blessed us with such a great week.  Rainy gloomy weather but we are having so much fun home schooling and hanging out inside. Getting things ready for Grandma Mimi and Papa Julio to come.  The big kids are so excited for them to see Gabe.  They love him dearly. Have a great weekend!

Grace

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)

Here's what I've discovered: all my God-wired ability to get through chaos, all my attempts at organization and having 5 awesome kids didn't prepare me for Grace.

But God's strength did.

Every day I turn to God and rely on what 2 Corinthians 12:9 teaches me 



I don't have it in me to do this one more day, I need Your strength.
 Some days I totally feel like this.  Especially on little or no sleep with the littles.

I don't have the patience in me for this … I need Your patience.
Patience, patience, patience...mommas know this so well

I can't think straight right now ... I need Your clarity.
Screaming kids, naughty kids, timers, buzzers, deadlines...you name it

I'm not even sure I have love in me right now ... I need Your love.
Oooh that one hurts but it is so true. It's always so hard to love when you've got a bitter angry heart.

God's strength is enough. Sometimes we have to go through the hard to see that.

Dave met with his cancer team in Green Bay yesterday and everything is fine. They scoped him again and his mouth and throat look great. They are all quite impressed by how well he is doing. The doctors gave him more advice on how to continue healing and recovering but so far they are very happy with how well he is doing. Dave has gained more weight back but it is healthy weight and he is eating great too. 2 smoothies each day packed full of goodies. He walks a lot and hopes to start more exercise routines as he continues to heal and feel stronger. The doctors words were of great relief to Dave. He has had a rough few weeks so this news came at the right time. We leave for a 2 day trip to Mayo soon for more research work and a more detailed check up.

Grace is a powerful concept.  It speaks Loud and Clear to a world that says "they deserve." 

May you live in God's grace today.
May you sense His moving in your spirit today.  

Thank you for all your prayers for Dave and for our craziness the last few weeks.  We appreciate everyone of you who reached out.  We love you dearly and couldn't do this alone.

the last few weeks from hell

Wow...where to begin? What a crazy few weeks we've had. Full blown spiritual attack. Poor Dave has been hit with flaming arrows one after another. So much has been going on I really don't know where to start and I don't want to sound like I am whining or asking for anything. We just need some prayers. 

At home our water heater started leaking. We had to replace it and that was just the beginning of the costly mishaps around the house which cost us a small fortune. Everything hit us at once from unexpected dental bills, medical bills, double ear infections on Olivia, to car repairs and everything in between.

Gabe also has  been having a ton of accidents so I gave up and went back to diapers.  I was so excited to not have to buy diapers anymore.  He just totally stopped telling me when he had to go potty.  I know...patience.  He's not even two right!

On top of all that; Dave has been really busy at work and trying to maintain a positive attitude in a bad environment. He loves his job but the past few weeks he has been getting beat up pretty bad on a lot of things and it is wearing on him. 

Last week he heard that a friend we met on the cancer journey is in bad shape and their cancer has returned. Their outlook doesn't sound good at all. It hit Dave pretty hard and rattled him. He has good moments and bad. Up and down like a roller coaster. He isn't sleeping well at all and goes to bed late and gets up early. Too much on his mind and even when he prays for peace it seems like everyday he gets hit with another arrow. At times he drifts off day dreaming about me and the kids and making sure we would be OK if something happened to him. He hasn't been like that for a long time. Not since we first heard he had cancer. Now that his friend got the horrible news it brought all those emotions back to Dave. He is doing OK but pray for him to have some peace. We really need it in this house.

Dave was supposed to go to the doctor on Monday for a scope of his throat and follow up appointment with his cancer team in Green Bay. It was an important appointment and would have relieved some of Dave's concerns but sure enough, right in the middle of the day he gets a really tough call at work and is not able to leave. I know it was very important for him to stay but it really bothered me that he couldn't go to the appointment. I know that God needed him at work, but I also know it caused him another 7 day delay before we get some news and hopefully some relief for his concerns.

Please pray for a hedge of protection over our family.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and love.  We love you all dearly.

little babes in undies....

Yup...you heard right. Gabe is potty trained and he's  not even 2.  Never had this before.  He is doing great.  A few times a day he pees somewhere else.  Those little butt cheeks on babes are so cute and squishy.  He has attempted it a few months ago but it was a one time deal.  Here and there kind of thing.  I think he was just sick of wearing the diaper and he started telling us when he was going to the bathroom.  We(meaning all of the children come running into the potty and help and cheer him on)are so excited about this.  In this house you have a lot of support. Way to go Gabe!

This little man still loves the sand.  Cold, wet, weedy and muddy. 

 

beautiful

We just happen to come home from a walk the other night and turned on the TV.  Up popped Americas Test Kitchen.  Never seen it or heard of it.  The kids wanted to watch it because we love cooking shows as long as there not making all this fancy stuff.  We ended up watching it and they had on how to make the perfect fried eggs.  It's 8 o clock and  everyone wanted eggs.  Just between the 3 boys they almost ate a dozen eggs.  Eggs are part of our daily  food intake.  We love us some good farm eggs.


Once every week or so we try to make homemade pizzas.  The kids love making their own pizzas.  I love the thick crust, really cheesy and greasy good stuff.  We tried making this new crust and it rocked.   So crispy and good.  

We have been playing monopoly like crazy people.  We play a little in the morning and some all day and maybe a little more in the evening.  I totally see no point in this game.  Sorry all you monopoly lovers.  It is not my cup of tea.  

Marigolds from our garden. Simply beautiful.

This guy hangs all day on the stairs.  It seems like this his is favorite place.

We had a rough week going on here.  More on that later.  Asking for some prayers for Dave. 
Please pray for David's appointment in Green Bay next week Monday.   He will meet the Green Bay team for a scope and go over some new things they learned at a conference with him. Praying for a clear scope.  We will update you after.  Thank you so much for your generous hearts and continual prayers for our family.  We love you dearly and couldn't get through this without all of you.