I got a call from school at 11 o'clock that Jordan is just not himself and not feeling the best. Could I come pick him up?! Oh my I hope this don't last long for him! He has been so well and normally when he got sick we were never able to take it lightly but with his antibody treatment in his system I'm hoping this is nothing more then that bug going around and he will soon be back to himself! He is now resting on the couch. Coughing more then I like...;(
We had a fun and busy "New Years" days! (seemed like a week-end) The party started here Monday evening with Mikes, Johns and Jr Roses here to help us kick off the old year!! We had some WILD/LOUD games of "Dutch Blitz" going until early morning hours!! I love how everyone seemed so relaxed and the kids enjoyed each other so much! My Little's went to bed around 11:00 PM but some stayed up until the party ended about 1:30 AM! Dave and I got to bed soon after two!
I made pretzel logs and soup and the ladies brought desserts, salad and snacks! We ate all night long and got some really good belly laughs going!! Love all of our friends!! Thanks everyone for coming! We had a blast hosting you! (as always!)
(3-4 fast miles) We had breakfast and prepared for another party here! Dave planned an "Acquire" tournament with Merv and they had nine players so we had nine guys and most of the wives were here to! The games started at 1:30 PM. I counted 23 kids here over supper time! Party over around 8:30 last night. Was loud at times but fun!
I told Dave last night the two things I was most thankful for the past two days were the finished basement and my dishwasher!! It was all good though and a real riot!! The kids did great and spent some time playing games and football outside. We ordered in pizza for supper and had leftover soup. We had warm cookies with ice cream for dessert. The ladies all brought snacks to share that were being eaten all afternoon. I made lattes for the guys as they were playing Acquire.
Matt Lapp won the tournament and got a gift card for "Bone Fish Grill" The entry fee for the tournament was fifty bucks a player. The pizza and gift card came out of that then the rest went to Dutches as a fundraiser for the Haft.
The basement got loud and crazy over supper as everyone gathered to eat but upstairs was like a whole other world where it was quiet and clean! I got up a few times just to catch a breath and regroup!:) Pizza from "Signatures" We ordered 7 of them!!
Today we have clean up done and other then lots of leftovers in the refrigerator (they need to go! not healthy leftovers!) you could never tell there was even parties here. Dave and the kids helped with the clean up last night to and it all went smoothly...:) We are blessed with a big roomy house and I love when we can fill it up with friends!
The space always makes it easier to have large crowds! The kids had the attic set up with chairs where they watched an animated movie late Monday night as the crazy adults played "Dutch Blitz"! I'm always glad for my older boys as they are great with entertaining and watching the smaller ones!
We have a DVD player mounted to the wall in the attic where we do workout DVDs. I got the attic in kid friendly shape Monday morning and the kids set up chairs...:) It works great if it needs to:) It got my attic organized again...:) One way to get that off the list... Prepare for a large party! Sometimes that motivation is all we need to get things done that were on the to do list long already!!
I want to make January "Organize Month" It seems with a big house and plenty of closet space I tend to push off going through things way more then I used to! The drawers need a good going over and the kids to small clothes are being put into lugs. I have lugs in each of there closets and they helped put in what they no longer wear.
Jenika cried like the entire time we were working on her drawers!! She loves comfortable and as I was putting away (way to small! And worn to the max!) old favorite clothes she was in tears about it! Even though she had nice comfortable new stuff to put in it's place!! I shop at second hand stores a lot and as Justin and I were out on Friday we stopped at "Little Boutique" I stocked up on shirts, pants and PJ's for the younger ones. I'm not a Goodwill person but I like the reuse it shops when I can find them. (Think I'll clean out her drawers when she's in school next time!)
I'm not a yard saler either but I like to have yard sales of my own so I don't need to store all the stuff we no longer have use for! I might yard sale a few times a summer for fun but it's still not my favorite thing to do. (I just buy to much we don't need just because it's cheap:/)
As I sat quietly doing my devotions this morning after the boys were in school and the Little's still asleep I was reflecting on the old year and looking at goals for the new one... I have many things I want to learn and work on as a wife and mother!! God has blessed us so much this past year and we are ever grateful for those "Blessings"... Just to name a few...
God has grown me spiritually! I have come to love, enjoy, look forward to quiet time with him!! (I think since the kids are older this is easier to accomplish and I love it!)
Jordan's health!! We are so grateful to have found something that works for him!
The Businesses Dave is in charge of have done good the past year. He works hard, Loves what he does. Puts his heart into it! Takes "Leadership"seriously! Though stressful at times he has grown tremendously this past year and he is looking forward to lots more learning in the next year! He is up before the sun every week-day morning and at times I'm sure he feels like complaining but he never does that I hear!
Our Christian schools have been a huge blessing and as the children get older I have learned to appreciate this more and more!! Justin has grown in so many ways this past year and having a great school has had an impact on much of his growth! I think it shows more (how important) as they get older and enter into adolescence years! The people which surround our children is huge and we are very thankful for the freedom of a private school setting!
Healthier lifestyle is a blessing to...Even though I still have much to learn on this it has become a fun journey for our family. I tell the kids "four bites before you say you don't like it" and they have become more open to trying new foods (and even surprising themselves by liking many of them!)
I have cut out many processed food and still want to get better at this!! My kids bodies seem to scream for and love sugar!! I wish there was a better alternative to this "bad for you food" but I have yet to find one that suits my kids to trade up on! Maybe this next year??:) I have found not having it here helps but they always seem to find something unhealthy somewhere and go for it!
Exercise is a blessing in our family to!! I'm so thankful for healthy bodies and energy to be able to exercise! It seems to sweep the cobwebs from our brains and I believe it's a huge part of keeping our bodies healthy. God wants us to take care of the "vessels" he has blessed us with and I'm trying to remind myself of this more often!
We feel blessed to have found a love for "Running"! Dave and I often go out the drive together but then go our separate ways to do our run. He has learnt that I do not enjoy running with him but he still likes knowing I'm on the roads to...:) We keep each other motivated! When I don't feel like it he says..."We need it!" When he don't feel like it all I have to say is... "I'm going anyway" And he comes to!...:) The gym is another story and I don't really consider that place a blessing...! yet...:/ I don't like to feel sore/stiff and it seems the gym makes me groan when getting out of bed in the morning! We pretty much live stiff once we start the gym membership back up...:}Oh well it is good for us in the long run and the boys enjoy the pool and racket ball at the gym. They often get a sweat going then play a half hour racket ball then do a few laps in the pool yet. I love to see them exercise and love it!...:)The Little's love gym school (as they call it) to!
A "Half Marathon" coming up in our area in April. We are talking about going back to training for this one...? I need motivated and I need to up my speed to keep up with the guys on the Saturday morning training runs...:/ (I doubt that will happen because they are getting faster!) We want to do one "Full" in our life sometime? Not sure it will be this year? We want to wait until the children are older because it will take many hours of training! They do well and are used to us going out to run but not for hours at a time very often!
We are blessed with a great family on both sides of the family! My sisters are awesome and I consider them my closest friends! Dave has a great relationship with his family and is blessed to work very close to (rub shoulders with everyday kind) his dad and brothers! I love how they call on each other for advice and just share everyday things.
Friends and Church family.... A huge blessing!! Same as school we are ever grateful for freedom to worship in a church with a bunch of wonderful people!! Some of our closest friends are from church and we often just randomly get together and enjoy each others fellowship! "Truth" is heard over our pulpit and the salvation message is heard there many times through out the year! We can never be reminded to many times how important our walk with Jesus is!! Our pastors take there role seriously and church is a place we have come to love! Other churches are great to and ours is definitely not the only one who speaks "Truth" but we have come to love and appreciate our "Church Family" very much!
These "Blessings" are a huge part of our lives and we try not to take them for granted but it's the true relationship with Jesus that will be what matters in the end of all time so my aim for this next year is to walk still closer to my creator and walk in the path he leads! To be more quiet and still so I can feel his presence and hear his voice.
We all fall short and the narrow path is hard but I want to hear "Well done!" When time for me is no more. The song on my heart this morning is an old hymn..."It is well with my soul"
Here is our Christmas picture for this year... Done by... Martha Rose
I'll share some more favorites in a later post... I'm off to be "Dr. Mom"
wow all the parties at your house sounds like fun. So bummed we had to miss out on the Aquire party. Oh well maybe some other time. Love your Christmas pic. You have a lovely family. Happy New Year to you!
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