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| After several years of saving and looking for the "right one," we finally found this silver jewel. Love this sweet ride! |
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| There is no such thing as a serious selfie with Gabriel. |
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| Enjoying the only big snow we had this winter |
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| Pulling back into the garage after a cooler ride around the block. Gabe wore his mask and carried his sword the whole way around the block. |
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| Straight A's and Perfect Attendance (Gabe with a Spiderman glove on, bat in hand, and Ironman mask on his face...this kid is always imagining something super-hero related) |
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| St Patrick's Day...no denying these boys have some Irish blood in them (Gabe said he was the Incredible Hulk in this picture) |
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| Chase trying out the skates he got for Christmas. The skates were glowing with the black-lights on in the skating rink. |
How is your 2017 going so far? If you're like me,
winter is your least favorite time of year with colder weather and shorter days. Fortunately, spring is just a couple days away. Furthermore, my goal this year is to find joy in all seasons and I don't just mean
the four seasons winter, spring, fall, and summer. I'm talking about finding
peace even during those trying moments in life. My prayer for all of you reading
this is that you'll share that same goal with me when trials and tribulations
come your way (and perhaps they already have this year).
Our family had a glorious Christmas filled with
celebrations from all sides of the family. The boys were pleased with all that
Santa brought them. Tim and I kicked off the New Year by falling asleep on the
couch watching TV....such the party animals, aren't we? We woke up abruptly to
the sound of neighbors letting off fireworks at midnight. Don't get too excited;
we went right back to sleep without a problem. Although not exciting, I feel
like I started off the New Year well by organizing a few cabinets in the house
and purging some of the boys' toys that they outgrew. After having over a week
off from work I felt ready to go back to work knowing that the house was in
better order.
The first couple months of work this year brought on
many challenges and long hours. Tim is still mostly working 10-12-hour
workdays and some weekends. I worked a few extra hours myself and had some
challenging job assignments. It didn't take long after coming back from Christmas for me to yearn for another vacation. However, I'm thankful for an abundance of work and
keep trying to turn any of those anxious feelings that try to creep up into joy.
Winter wouldn't be winter without snow! We had almost
a foot of snow the second week of January. The kids went sledding in the ditch
in our backyard and made plenty of snow angels. Even Tim made a snow angel and
attempted to go for a ride on our motor cooler (it didn't do so well without
traction, but it was a fun attempt). Although the snow was pretty to watch
falling, by Day #3 of freezing temperatures the Snow Grinch in me was ready to
see it melt. Since then, we've had many ups and downs with the temperatures
rising all the way to the 80's and then back down to freezing. The groundhog
didn't see his shadow in Hampton Roads, so I guess he's to blame for the shorter, milder winter we had (not that I'm complaining). Everyday is a surprise with the weather around here!
Speaking of surprises, we haven't had any surprise
birthday parties for this year. Last year around this time we had the big
surprise party for my grandmother as she turned 90 years old and I'm thankful
she made it to 91 this year! So far this year, the family birthday celebrations
have been much more subdued. However, we did take Grammie Pam Breeden out to a Japanese
restaurant for her birthday. Gabriel did not like the part when the chef lit the
fire on the grill. He hid behind the chair, but he finally warmed up to the chef
towards the end.
Gabriel continues to do well in school and his speech is continuously improving. While he
loves pan pizza from Pizza Hut and Digiorno's without the "wock-o-woni" (pepperoni), his appetite for
learning has also increased. He's starting to get more curious about God and
Jesus, which melts my heart. He's having a hard time understanding why we can't
see God and angels. I love the many questions he's asking as it gets him closer
to understanding the concept of salvation. He has expressed that he loves God
and Jesus. As he grows, I'm looking forward to explaining 1 Peter 1:8.
Meanwhile, big brother Chase has been reading Bible stories on his own before
bedtime on some nights, which also melts my heart.
I'm so in awe that he's choosing to read Bible stories over the many
other books he has to read! Chase also made straight A's again on his last
report card. God is so good and I love seeing him work through my
children--perhaps one of the greatest rewards on this earth!
A few funny blurbs to wind down this post:
-Gabe calls Kool-Aid "Oh Yeah Juice" (as in how the
Kool Aid mascot says "Oh Yeah!")
-Tim test drove a Tahoe and got airborne as we hit a
hill going a tad too fast. Praise God, we did end up buying a 2015 Tahoe in
March, but it wasn't that one!
-Chase commented on a Cialis commercial, "Why on
earth do those people have bath tubs outside?" Truthfully, even I thought it was a great
question.
-After a routine cleaning with the dentist in Feb,
the dentist lectured Gabe on how he needs to stop sucking his thumb. Since then,
he has totally stopped sucking his thumb but there was a time or two in between
that I caught him sucking his thumb with a blanket over his head thinking I
wouldn't see him.
-Chase practiced with the wrong soccer team for the
first practice session this season. He is now with the 8/9 year-old's since he
will turn 8 in April. It wasn't a total oversight on our part because there are
two teams called Orange Crush, one in the 6/7 bracket and one in the 8/9
bracket. We practiced with the 6/7 year-old's thinking we were with the right
team Orange Crush the entire hour. It wasn't until I texted the right coach
after practice that we figured out we were with the wrong team.
Keep finding humor in the simple things in life and
remember to seek joy in all circumstances (which can be a constant battle for most of us).
Now that we've sprung forward, we'll have a lot of fun things to talk about in
the next blog posting: another soccer season beginning (Tim is coaching the Pirates again), the boys turning another
year older, birthday and Easter celebrations, longer and warmer days, etc.
However, none of these fun things would be possible without all of the blessings
God has given us. As we enter the Easter season, I pray we can all reflect on
the ultimate sacrifice that was made for us on the cross so that we can
experience grace and mercy. If you haven't read the book "The Shack" yet, I
highly recommend it as it's a creative yet earth shattering perspective on the
Trinity and the love God wants us to share with Him and each other. The movie
"The Shack" just came out in theaters but I wanted to finish the book first.
It's an incredible read and I only have a few more pages to go!
Perhaps this winter wasn't a good one for you. Just
as spring brings us warmer weather and new growth, God can renew us too. So
spring forward rather than dwell on the past!
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!"
Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV
Wishing you new, exciting spring
adventures!
