100 Days Complete!

A couple of years ago when Luke was in kindergarten, I thought this was the funniest little thing to celebrate - the 100th day of school.  They even have storybooks about it!  I was amazed because I'm pretty sure we didn't do this when I was in school.  Anyway, we are now on our third celebration of the 100th day of school.  It is a bit bittersweet because my baby is over half way done with kindergarten!

To celebrate, I'm not entirely sure of everything they did that day, but Andrew was to bring in a project made with 100 items.  For Luke, we had done 100 Legos (of course!) shaped like a pencil.  Hannah used 100 Cheerios.  So, now we were to Andrew....  Someone last year reminded me that many of the good ideas had been seen on Pinterest.  So, off Andrew and I went to seek out a good idea since I wasn't going to allow him to do Cheerios again.  This is what we came up with.  Andrew really did much of the work himself.  He followed the pattern that he'd seen on Pinterest to make the one.  Then, he put down each penny when I put down hot glue.  When it was all said and done, I did have to put the tape over the top of it or he would have left a trail of pennies down the hall during their parade.  I think he enjoyed it and was quite proud to show it off!

Just as a side note....sigh...little boy jeans.  I think I've given up trying to send him to school without holes in his jeans.  In the past, spring has come sooner than later in this part of the country so maybe he can start wearing shorts about the time all of his jeans end up with holes in them. 

Continuing to Learn to Trust

We are currently finding ourselves in the same place we find ourselves every 3 years or so....waiting - waiting to hear word of our next assignment.  It's a very interesting place to be.  If I had to label it with one word it would be TRUST.  I always feel like it is an exercise in trusting God for what He has for our family.  It's so hard for me, who likes to control situations, who likes to plan, and who likes to have somewhat of an idea of what is going to take place. 

I must admit, though, that it is a pretty neat place to be even though my insides are shaking at times.  When Chris was at officer training and I was in Indiana for those 3 months he was gone.  I remember taking a walk with a friend.  She asked me if we knew where we were going.  The answer was no.  Because we didn't know our next station, there was still no way for us to find housing.  As it turned out, we didn't have a house until we actually moved.  At the time, I remember having a peace and believing beyond a shadow of a doubt that God would take care of us, but at the same time, I had a little thought in my head thinking we were absolutely crazy.  Since then, we have moved four times - two of those with one month old babies, 1 of those we had to spend 5 months in training somewhere else, another one we had to spend 1 month in schooling somewhere else and Chris picked out our very first house essentially by himself (I did have some say as I looked at pictures).  However, each and every time God has provided just exactly what we needed for that move and that time in our lives. 

As we wait and then afterwards as we get closer to the move, I have been challenged to truly trust God.  I was blown away by the story of Abraham again yesterday as I read it (Genesis 12).  God called him to move from Ur to Canaan.  I'm always amazed that he went without question.  He didn't know anything.  He didn't know what the land was like, the people, available housing, contact peopl
e, schools, churches or even what the weather was like.  He didn't know anything and he had no way of finding out, yet he trusted and obeyed God completely and wholeheartedly.  Today, even if we haven't been there, I can look it up online.  I can see maps.  I can get reviews of schools. I can check out churches - even listening to sermons online.  I can get an hourly weather forecast.  All of that gives me an idea of what lies ahead.  Yes, I still need to trust,  but Abraham trusted on a completely different level.  I am convicted to trust to that level.

Once again, I'm challenged to trust my unknown future to a known God (Corrie ten Boom) - so very thankful for that!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

 This picture is about 7 years ago when we moved from Enid, Oklahama.  Yes, that's Hannah, not even one month old, sleeping in the middle of the chaos!

The Year of the Quilt

 Luke loves it!

I've kind of not been posting much mostly because I've been filling my time with other things.  It's always good for me to take time from the computer.  Amazingly, my days are usually quite more productive!  One of the projects that I have spent much of my time on last year were quilts.  About a year ago, I finished off the quilt I made for our room.  Then, Hannah's quilt was nearly in shreds so I found one that I loved and tackled hers.  Not to be left out, I also did one for each of the boys and just finished up theirs a couple of weeks ago.  Finally, I did a quilted throw for my in-laws for Christmas.  Each of the quilts except for the one on our bed has strips of Chris's flight suit in it.  I would have included it in ours if I would have thought of it, but I saw the idea after the fact and I don't think up things like that on my own.  Anyway, that will most likely be the end of my quilt making for now.  I definitely have other projects calling my name....like the scrapbooks that need to be updated from the last year, the house that needs to have a deep cleaning, etc....

 Finished product.  I wasn't sure about their quilts until I put them on their beds.  I really liked how they warmed up the room.

 The quilted throw I did for my in-laws

disclaimer:  when I said I quilted them, I did the top, back and binding.  Thankfully, their is a lady in town that can machine quilt all the layers together!

7 Years Old - Oh My!

Today is a very special day!  7 years ago we welcomed our sweet and precious Hannah Elizabeth into the world and our lives.  From that day forward our lives were once again changed for the better.  She has a caring heart.  Loves to have everything just right.  And is a little girl through and through.  In her spare time, you can hear her reading, teaching her stuffed animals, creating or most likely, playing with her beloved (most of the time) brothers.  We love having her in our lives and sharing in our journey.  We love you sweet, baby girl!

We had a lot of fun with this cake!