At Love's Bidding - Book Review

At Love's Bidding was the first book that I have read by Regina Jennings and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I was pleasantly surprised that it kept me thinking and I wanted to sit down and see what would happen next.  Not all books make me wonder.  I do have to say, though, that at times I was a bit confused by certain things that characters said or did because I didn't think it stuck with that character's personality.  In other words, I would have liked to have seen more character development to bring more cohesiveness to the story.  On the other hand, the story was fast moving and not boring.  I really enjoyed the story line. I will definitely look into more books written by Regina Jennings.

I received a complimentary copy of At Love's Bidding by Regina Jennings from Bethany House Publishers.

The Yellow Box

This box is sitting under our tree this Christmas.  If you know me, I like things to look the way I think they should look.  So, under our tree, I want things to be wrapped nicely in reds, greens and whites with pretty bows.  As you can probably guess, when this appeared, I wanted to move it to the back of the tree under other gifts.  I'm thankful that I didn't, though.  Chris told me he thought it was fun.  Since then, it has served as a reminder that the young heart that put it there with every good intention will not always be in our home.  I'm thankful that they are here, that they want to give good gifts and they put so much time, effort and tape into the project.  Plus, it puts a smile on my face to know that the package is literally wrapped in yellow tape.  It will be fun to see Chris try to get it open...

Ho, Ho, Ho....It's Santa

 That was the title of the second grade Christmas program last night.  Andrew and half of the second graders (the other half performed earlier in the week) had a lot of fun performing traditional and more modern versions of the songs about the jolly ol' man.  Andrew had a great time!  Again, I think his teacher is a special lady to be able to keep those kids on task each and every day.  Unfortunately, I wasn't the biggest fan that every.single.song was about Santa, but Andrew knows he is just for fun and I did appreciate that he learned a couple of the classic songs.  I liked it that we added another fun Christmas activity to our list.

Andrew is in the second row from the top somewhat in the middle...

Gingerbread House Construction

Our invitation to be attend a gingerbread house decorating party was greatly anticipated in our house.  We love spending time with these friends and to do something fun and Christmasy at the same time was truly fun.  I know the night may not have gone as exactly as planned due to some structural issues, but my kids loved it.  Despite the fact that the roof wouldn't hold the weight of a half a package of snack size Kit-Kat bars, they made the most of it.  There was momentary frustration, but they worked together to get their final product.  Each child decorate one side of the yard.  Hannah liked it that it ended up not having a room so she could make a bed with a little marshmallow gingerbread boy sleeping.  However, I'm sure the part they liked the most was the eating of the candy - Kit-Kat, M&M, Sweet-tarts, marshmallows, icing, chocolate chips, Lifesavers, gumdrops - oh my!!

 Getting started!

 We had to think ahead so one Momma had a great and wonderful forethought to bring a small craft that entertained them for a while.  Plus, they were super cute when done.

 Luke loved using the piping bag and I must say he was pretty good at it!

 Yes, wearing the evidence of swiping some icing

 Hmmm, so the two oldest kids there were the only ones wearing icing on their faces!

 Just a token picture from my dear friend that I was indeed there

 The kids' final product.  They loved it!  They really did!

The final product for the Mommas!  For some reason it looked worse in person than it does in this picture....

Garden Glow 2015

 Robey Family in a "snow globe"

Earlier this past week, we took an evening and headed to our local botanical garden for their Christmas light display.  It was probably the coldest evening we've had so far this season, but it definitely felt more like Christmas.  In the end, it was bad at all, but we were bundled up for the event. 

This year, I wanted to be more intentional with our Christmas events.  So may years, it seems like Christmas is sneaks up on us and we've not really enjoyed the season or any of the special events.  I'm not saying that we've jam packed our calendar because that is not the case.  Instead, we've picked two things that we've not done before and are going to make sure it happens.  Both of them are family events.  Our trip to see the lights was one of them. 

We had a great evening and the garden had done a beautiful job of decorating and they had it set up to run smoothly and to lessen the crowds.  Plus, we went on a Wednesday evening to avoid the crowds (oh yes, also, pay less....).  They had several different types of lights.  Plus, they have older buildings on the property decorated for  the event.  They also had fire pits scattered around to warm by if needed.  My favorite part of the evening was just walking and wondering the grounds.  The kids enjoyed a ring toss onto reindeer antlers as well as metal snowmen that you could decorate with magnetic accessories. 

We had a good time.  I don't know if we'll do it again because there may be some other Christmas event that we need to check out.

 This was one of Chris's favorites.  The center was coordinated to music with different colored lights that were fun to watch.

 These three pictures are my favorites from the night

 Metal snowmen to decorate...so fun!

Always HOPE

Today marks the beginning of Advent in our home.  If you're not familiar with the concept of Advent it is the arrival of a notable person.  In my case, it is the arrival of Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate this Christmas.  There are several ways to celebrate from having a little calendar that give a tiny surprise each day as you countdown to Christmas to a short Bible lesson each evening to remember different aspects of Jesus's arrival here on earth.  There is quite the variety out there.  This year we are going with something simple, but new for us.  We're going to look at some of the different names for Jesus and place those names on our tree (thanks, Jill, for the idea!)  Last year we did something completely different and next year we might try something else, but this is what we begin tonight.

We also celebrate Advent as a church - each of the 4-5 Sundays preceding Christmas.  Ours this year focused on hope last Sunday.  I've really been struck by this word over the last year to year and a half.  Much of our world lives without hope.  It's hard for me to even begin to imagine what that looks like and how I would live my life day to day without the hope Jesus gives me.  As I've read various passages in the Bible, I'm always struck by the fact that there is always hope.  There are some horrible situations where the people during the Old Testament and early Christians found themselves in, yet there was always a way out.  It may not have always been obvious, but God always provided a way for them to follow Him no matter how terrible things looked.  That is true for us.  Our world has not had much if any good news in the last few months.  It makes me terribly sad.  Thankfully, there is hope.  Hope in the baby Jesus that came to Earth for you and me.  Hope in Jesus's death on the cross.  Hope in the fact that I will get to spend eternity with Him in heaven because He is my Savior.  Jesus is our only Hope in this world and for eternity. 

I had thought of writing this post for a couple of days.  Today, I heard this song by Go Fish called It's About the Cross.  I thought it tied in so well with what I was trying to say here.  Jesus is our only hope because of His perfection and His sacrifice for us on the cross. 

On This Foundation - A Book Review

On This Foundation is the third book in Lynn Austin's Restoration Chronicles series.  It looks at the factual events that took place when the Israelites returned to Jerusalem after their exile.  Many of the characters are fictional, but in this case Nehemiah did return to Jerusalem to rebuild its wall.  I really like the way that she does these stories because it really makes you think about what the culture was at the time and some of the obstacles that they most likely encountered.  She usually does a great job with character development as well.

However, it was a struggle for me to make it through this third book.  I didn't feel like she intermingled the story lines as well as in past books.  And some of the character development left me confused.  There were also several chapters sprinkled throughout that had more thoughts regarding the politics of the time that weren't as interesting (to me).  It isn't a bad book and I did finish it, but it just didn't grab my attention as the prior two books did.  Nor, does it leave me wanting more of the story as some of her other books do.  However, it does tell the next chapter in rebuilding Jerusalem and continues to tell that story well.

I received a complimentary copy of On This Foundation by Lynn Austin from Bethany House Publishers.

Final Field Trip of the Year

You can spy Hannah at the very bottom of the picture in the black/red flowered dress

I went on my final field trip of the year yesterday (Yes, that's two field trips in two days...I'm tired and my list of the things that need attention is long!)  This one was for Hannah's third grade field trip to the symphony.  Honestly, we had horrible seats.  We were on the second row clear to the right so we had an incredible view of the cellos and not much else.  The logistics also needed a bit of tweaking. However, despite all that, it was a great experience for them and I'm so glad we did it.  I didn't get to go to the symphony until I was in college.  I thought this was a real treat for them and myself.

The program was especially geared toward elementary aged children and therefore, a much shorter program.  The symphony partnered with the local zoo and they put on a program together.  There was narrative between songs about the animals and how music can set the mood for characters and settings.  It was actually quite good.  The exposure they had to music was great, but I also thought it was a good experience for them to dress up to go to a special event.  When we met the bus at the venue (we didn't ride the bus this time...thankfully), I mentioned to the teacher how nice they all looked.  She seemed impressed as well.

I'm thankful to have experienced all these field trips with my kids and share it with their friends, but I'm also thankful that I have an entire year before we have another round of field trips!

Field Trip #2 Complete

Yesterday was Luke's turn for a field trip.  Despite the dreary rain and the long bus ride, we had a great time on his field trip.  They'd been studying the branches of government.  We went to an area children's museum that ran a simulation of the different branches.  We started with the legislative branch where there were 6 potential bills that may or may not become laws.  They stepped them through the entire process from committee hearings until it is signed in as law or vetoed by the President.  We then moved to the judicial branch.  Here they ran the kids through a very simplified court case.  Each child had a part in this one.  Luke served on the jury.  Once they'd decided on the verdict, we headed briefly into a small replica of the Oval Office to represent the executive branch.  It was quite educational and served as a good review for this Momma.  After lunch, the kids had about an hour to check out the rest of the museum.  We were all over the place from a VanderGraf generator to replica of Rams locker room to playing detective.  It was a fun day!  Now, for the last and final trip today.....

Taylor Homecoming

We decided with just days to go last week to attend Taylor University's homecoming.  Neither Chris or I had been in years primarily due to the fact that we lived miles away or Chris was not home.  Chris had some college friends coming in for it so we packed up the Trio and headed for what turned out to be a delightful weekend. We saw my parents and they watched the kids when they got bored with the weekend (thanks, Mom and Dad!), visited with friends and toured the campus.  It's always fun to catch up with friends.  However, the most surprising thing to me was the campus.  We've driven through campus a time or two over the years simply because that area is home to me.  However, this time we toured the actual buildings.  So much has changed in what seems to me such a short period of time!  The highlight of the tour was going through the new science building.  Chris was a computer science major so we made a stop there.  One of his professors ended up taking us on a personal tour of the entire department.  The equipment and what they can and do do there was really neat.  It's just too bad that Luke wasn't with us to check out their drone room!  

Pumpkin Patch Outing

At the end of last week, we finally found a few minutes to head to the pumpkin patch.  We were blessed with an extra day at home for Chris and the kids  and to make it even better, my parents were in town to join us.  The day didn't seem stellar in the weather department, but it was perfect fall weather to indulge us our annual trip.  I visited this orchard last year with Andrew's class on a field trip, but it was the first time our family went to it.  It was so much more fun than the commercialized orchard just down the road - quiet, way less busy and much more like you're on a real farm.  They had a kid play area, but they really enjoyed the cows, pigs, rabbits, chickens and turkeys.  We took a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch where they had all varieties.  So fun to pick out a pumpkin.  Some kids went for the traditional while others went for the unique.  So glad to share this memory with them.

 Ready for the wagon ride

 Mom was telling us that my Grandpa used to have a tractor very similar to this one.  Loved it that he had to "fix" (straighten) out the muffler before we even headed to the field.

 Andrew and Hannah were my traditionalists

 Luke had to make a choice, but we did end up with more than one of these

Really glad that Mom and Dad could share the afternoon with us

One Field Trip Down

Last week, the second grade headed to our local zoo (our very nice zoo I may add!)  I got the entire experience of a second grade field trip - bus ride in the back of the bus both directions, walk (ok, fast walk) through the zoo and lunch with these four.  We actually ended up having a great day.  The weather was perfect for such an outing.  The back of the bus ride wasn't nearly as bad as you might think since the boys spent a big chunk of the 45 minute bus ride playing "I Spy" and if you exclude the part where I went airborne when a bump was hit.  The walk through the zoo was fun and much easier since I had other chaperons helping me with these four, which included another Mom and a Mom and a Dad.  That's right - four adults for four kids!  Can't beat that ratio.  Lunch was also fine and it brought a surprising conversation that at least one of those boys would have rather been in school than the zoo (not my son!)  Thankfully, I delivered them all back to their teacher and took a much needed quiet break before returning to school to pick them up.  Kudos to their teachers for doing that every day.  I was tired!

The Lost Heiress - A Book Review

Roseanna M. White was a new author for me to read and she did not disappoint.  The Lost Heiress is filled with suspense, mystery, love, family and friends.  All the ingredients that make a really good book.  Coming in over 400 pages, this book is filled with details.  Initially, I thought that it detracted from the book.  However, it lent itself very well to this time period, made you feel like you're part of the story and definitely aided in character development.  If you are a Downton Abbey fan, this book is for you since it is set in a similar time era and has all the dynamics of the royals and their servants.  The only draw back to the book was that I found the characters confusing, especially at the beginning.  There are several characters and they go by different titles depending on who is addressing them.  The author does a pretty good job of setting aside a couple of pages to make it easier to sort out who is who in the book. Definitely a good read.  I'm hoping for another one set in the same period from this author!

I received a complimentary copy of The Lost Heiress by Roseanna M. White from Bethany House Publishers.

Birthday Weekend Wrap-Up

 Riding the Ferris wheel with Dad on top of the City Museum

Whew!  What a fun 10th birthday weekend Luke had, but I must admit that I'm thankful these come around only once in a lifetime...I'm tired!  We had a great time, though, and I wouldn't change it. 

Even though his birthday was Monday (9/28), we started his festivities the Friday before.  He first got to go on a special birthday outing (these don't happen every year - just milestone birthdays).  This time around, he got to go with Dad to the City Museum.  Oh my, did they ever have fun.  I have never been, but it sounds like an adult playground.  When we looked up restrictions...there were very few.  There is all sorts of old/antique type items around that you can check out (think bank vaults, airplanes, buses, etc).  Combine that with all sorts of tunnels, slides, ladders and you have an adult playground.  A few highlights were the ferris wheel on the roof, the 10-story spiral slide, small warped wall (for all you Ninja Warrior fans) and ball pit with larger balls than your run of the mill ones.  Chris and Luke were there over six hours and they don't think they saw everything - evidently there are no maps and they let you go wherever the path may lead.  Let's just say, when he got home, he was wiped out!

However, his day wasn't over, because he had a big surprise waiting for him.  His Grandpa and Grandma Robey had driven all the way from Virginia to surprise him for the weekend.  This has been on the calendar for months, but if Chris and I would have had to waited another day, we may have just blown the surprise.  I don't know how many times we nearly told the kids.  They came to surprise Luke, but they all ended up being surprised.   We had a good time sharing all the birthday fun with them.

Saturday, after winning his flag football game and helping Grandpa and Dad with a repair job on back porch, we celebrated with his requested "construction" cake and one gift.  That was so he could play with it the rest of the weekend.  Sunday, he had a special outing with Grandpa and Grandma to pick out a birthday gift. 

By Monday, his actual birthday, he may have been birthdayed out!  We finished off the celebrations with his flag football practice (because he loves that!!) along with his requested sausage and waffles for dinner along with ice cream for dessert and his final gift and cards. 

It was a lot, but it was a blessing to do it for this son that God has so deeply blessed us with!

Just a sample of one of the tunnels.  There was another that didn't have the solid floor.  We have a video of Luke climbing through that one telling Chris that "Dad, I'm not comfortable with this...."  To his credit, he did it all!

 Grandpa and Grandma are here!

 Working on getting the cement support for our porch repoured....  However, wherever there is construction, there Luke will be.

 "Construction" cake time!

Luke Christopher.... 10 years old!

Grand Finale to year #10

A Reminder of What Really Matters

So, I was reminded of what is really important as I raise my kids today.  Let's just say the start of this school year has not been stellar.  It's not been horrible by any stretch of the imagination, but just not smooth and going where I've wanted it to.  Fourth grade has thrown me and Luke quite the curve ball.  His grades aren't bad, but they are not as good as they've been in years past.  It's still a bit early to actually know why and it doesn't really matter to this post.  I feel like we've worked hard and aren't making the cut.  For this perfectionist Momma, that is tough.  I was showing him his grades this morning and hopefully I wasn't too hard on him - just reminding him that he's got to pay attention to details and that I still love him. 

The gut check came this afternoon when I received an e-mail from his teacher telling me that he was the character award winner for his class this month.  I can't tell you how blessed each time an honor like that is bestowed.  It reaches the inner core of me.  You see, this served as a huge reminder to me and something I often pray for my kids.  That they would be a young man/young woman of honor and integrity.  When it comes down to it, what is really important?  Is it the B they are receiving in 4th grade language arts or that they are a young man of God, young man of honor and young man of integrity. For me, it is definitely the later.  I continue to pray that they will follow in the steps of becoming a Godly man of integrity.   Today, I will be thankful for that and I'm thankful for the reminder of what truly is important.

Let the Games Begin

 Ready for Game Time!

Oh, the boys' beloved football season has finally arrived! It is a bit split between the boys.  One loves soccer the other loves flag football.  However, I would say that if football isn't the favorite, it's a pretty close second.  Not only do they enjoy playing (thankfully, practice began a month ago!!), they also enjoy watching it and that can get a bit out of hand....

Yesterday, kicked off their second year of playing Upwards flag football and Hannah's second year of cheering for them.  They were all up before 6:00...I think.  I wasn't awake!  They were dressed and ready to play a few hours before game time.  They all did a great job.  There is still room for learning to take place, but they are ready for practice next week and and new games as well. 

 Luke is playing for the Seahawks.  His favorite positions are quarterback and wide receiver.  However, it's just really important that you can run and run fast.  He's pretty good at all of that.

 Hannah cheers for the Joy squad (which just means the older girls).  I think she just enjoys being with the other girls.  She has a friend on the team so that makes it fun!

 Andrew is my true lover of all things football!  They play all positions, but his favorites are quarterback and wide receiver for the Saints.  Andrew loves football so much that when the ball isn't in play, you can usually see him hopping in place or his hands are twitching - just ready for some football action!

Funny little Andrew story:  A few weeks ago, Andrew told Chris that he wanted to play college or professional football.  Chris just listened to him and a few seconds later, Andrew said, "I don't like to get hurt, though."  To which Chris responded, "well, football may not be a good option."  He certainly loves football, but this Momma would be just fine if he didn't play after he ages out of flag football!