missing in action

Missing in action is truly what we are! I have just really been slacking when it comes to keeping this up! I apologize!  I will try better. 

Happy Birthday, Nadine!

On March 11th, Nadine turned 7 years old! I have pictures but my printer broke and that is how I uploaded pictures from my camera.  She did however lose her front tooth the other day. A friend at school pulled it out for her! That's what friends are for! 

We went to Science Central as a birthday trip in Indiana on Saturday! It really made us appreciate Imagination Station here in Toledo.  Nadine got to do the Moon Walk! She liked it! 

I haven't been on here much lately. I have just not had time at all really! There are so many pictures that I would love to share.  Jourdyn had a band concert the other day, but again I can't upload things from my camera. Rowan has started Taekwon-Do. We are going to try it out and see how he does.  Jourdyn got a new pet...a sugar glider! Nadine will soon be starting Irish Dancing! Rob's been working and I've been working a lot too. 

I apologize for not being here more. 

Happy Birthday Rowan!

Rowan turned 5 years old on Monday!!!!! We bought him his first scooter and of course knee pads, as well as elbow and wrist pads! He also got knex roller coaster kit. I can't believe he is already 5.

Jourdyn's Holocaust Project

Jourdyn had to read the book Night by Elie Wiesel and create a multi-media presentation about what she learned from the book and her impression of the Holocaust.  This is what she came up with. 

Louisville

Well, I am in Louisville, KY for a conference.  Traci and Renee and I have are down here for the M11 Conference.  Here's a picture:

Keeping Busy...

My class is kicking my rear-end! I've been non-stop now since it started! We have had so much snow and it's all my fault.  Just a few weeks ago, when it snowed and only about 5 inches came down, I commented on how I remember as a kid have feet of snow and it just being great! ANd also how that hasn't happened in forever! And guess what, we had a blizzard and we have like 2 feet of snow. Of course, with the blowing there are huge drifts and with the plowing there is mountains of snow everywhere you turn!

A New Look

In December, our family inherited this awesome baby grand piano from Rob's cousin Lillian, who passed away several years ago.  Lillian LOVED music.  She played the violin and piano.  She bought this piano in 1963 and as far as we can tell it sat virtually untouched in her dining room. We weren't really sure where we were going to put it but it worked out beautifully.  We removed a wall to open up a room for it.  Jourdyn is in love. Since the piano has come home there hasn't been one day that she hasn't been playing!

Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
   it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the LORD with the harp;
   make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song;
   play skillfully, and shout for joy. 

Psalm 33:1-3

Flawed, but available

"That God still chooses to use flawed human beings like me 

is both astonishing and encouraging. 

And if He can use me, He CAN use you." 

~ R. Stearns 

I hate making lists of my strengths and weaknesses because if I was really honest with myself, I'd have to admit that my weaknesses far outweigh my strengths and I am just a flawed, imperfect person.  But aren't we all? Don't we all feel that way? And if we do, why do we beat ourselves up for it?

There is one time that I have found that we like to admit our weakness immediately. That time is when it comes to serving or to the possibility of changing our world, or even just the life of one person.  It's in these moments that our weaknesses come right to the front.

Often we think we have to have it all together to be able to do, well, really anything, but especially change our world.  You know, only perfect people, people who are the strongest, the prettiest, the coolest, actually get to make a difference in our community.  That is SO wrong! God is willing to use each and everyone of us.  And the reality is, that a person with a willing heart is more available than any of the flawless with closed hearts.  God is just asking for us to be willing! To be willing to be open to the will of God in our lives. To be willing to follow him wherever he goes.

We are flawed, but we must be available! God's only concern with our weaknesses is that we turn them over to him.  That we give him lordship of our flaws, as well as the good things! And when it comes to changing the world our weaknesses, our flaws don't really matter. What matters is that we have a heart that is willing to love and serve!

“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. 

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, 

in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. 

For when I am weak, then I am strong."  

~ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Studying John...

My new class is starting this next week. I'm excited about it, yet terrified and just overwhelmed by it as well. I have had the prof before and he is VERY hard.  We are expected to put in a minimum of 24 hrs per week.  Which isn't so bad, I do this anyways, but it's just a lot of hard work and reading.  We will be diving into the books of John, 1,2 and 3 John.  And by diving I mean completely dissecting and digesting it. 

During this time period, there are a lot of things that are going on that will also make this class tough for me.  So just keep me in your prayers!

The good news is that it should make for great posts on here! :) 

Rowan built this today..complete with rubber band to make the propeller work with a slight twist! He is a very smart boy.

Happy New Year

Well, I'm going to start this new year off with an apology! I haven't been a very good blogger! I just haven't had time! But I'm hoping that that changes.  I'm hoping this year to put much more of my journaling and writing on here.  We'll see what happens. 

New Year's Eve the kids and I went with Julie to Cedar Creek to see Sanctus Real Live! They were awesome as usual! Definitely one of my favorite bands and they are hometown boys so that's always a bonus! We sat with my friend, Andrea and her friends, and of course, we ran into plenty of people we knew!

After the show, we came home and watched the ball drop in NY.  Dick Clark is just way too old to be doing that stuff! And it really wasn't necessary to see him and his wife kiss...it was like watching to silicone cups get suctioned together! And I don't even want to talk about Kesha...and I thought Lady Gaga was a little freaky!

So the New Year has begun...we are anxious to see what God does over the coming year not only in our lives, but in the our world. I believe that He can change the world, but His plan is to change it through us! So my prayer is that we would awaken to that fact! And realize that we are to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a broken world! We have hope everlasting, but we also have hope for today! Today can be a better day because of Jesus and we have a role...shining our light and making a difference!

Christmas Time

This has been a weird Christmas for us.  One it's just my fam and Julie & Bro.  Two: Rob worked 12 hr shifts all weekend. So he was barely home.  We didn't go to his side of the family at all for the holiday.  Christmas Eve, Julie, Bro and Sara came over and we hung out together. We had kielbasa and pierogies, of course.  Uncle Jeff also came over to hang out for a bit.  

Christmas morning, Rob was home with us for a bit. Santa had ate three of the four cookies that were left for him and drank a whole bunch of  the hot chocolate that Nadine had left for him. 

 Yesterday, (12/29) Rob and the two little ones went out to play in the backyard. Nadine ended up buried in snow with Rowan on top of her!  They had fun!

Decorating Grandmas's

 On Saturday night, we went to Grandma McQueary's to put up her tree and decorate it.  Tomorrow will be 5years since Jack passed away.  It doesn't seem to get any easier for her.  She misses him dearly, as do we.  There isn't a day that we don't say that we wish Jack would have known Rowan. They would have loved each other so much! Rowan loves playing in his garage and is amazed at all the things that are still laying around.  Nadine doesn't remember him at all really.  She was far to young. 

Jourdyn just wrote a memoir for school about Grandpa McQueary. When she gets it back I'll post it. 

Sifting through the past...

Over the past few days I've the opportunity to sift through the past at Rob's cousins house.  Lillian passed away about 10 years (it doesn't seem that long ago, but it was.) I'm a sucker for nostalgia, so for the most part I look for heirlooms, letters, pieces of people's lives.  During the tornado cleanup this summer, we found letters from Rob's grandpa to his grandma and dad when he was in the service. We found pictures and mementos that are priceless and we treasure the fact that in that huge mess we were able to pick up those few precious pieces.  So as we went into Lillian's house over the past few days, not much was different.  I picked up Bibles that she had. That most people just tossed to the side. I picked up baptism certificates, grade cards that she had cared enough to save for over 70 years.

When I came home I was surprised to find in her Bible, letters to God tucked away. The letters were written in the 70's and tell so much of what was going on in her life at the time.  I found pieces of her history, like the fact that she was in 1944 training to be a pilot.  We knew this already, but she had a deep love for music and after all the things that we have found, I am left thinking that she just had a deep love for living life to the fullest! Experiencing everything and anything! Reaching for the stars!

She clipped newspapers and had I had the time, I could have found out what it was that she thought so intriguing in them.  But I did this in a small little wooden Bible from England.  A snippet she had clipped from a magazine or paper.

Things We Can't Afford

Regardless of the amount of wealth a self-respecting person possesses, there are things which he cannot afford. 

An unknown poet has enumerated a goodly number of such things in the following poem:

"We can't afford to win the gain

     That means another's loss;

We can't afford to miss the crown

     By stumbling at the cross.

We can't afford the heedless jest

     that robs us of a friend;

We can't afford the laugh that finds

     In bitter tears an end.

We can't afford the feast today

     That brings tomorrow's fast;

We can't afford the farce that comes

     To tragedy at last.

We can't afford to play with fire,

     Or tempt a serpent's bit;

We can't afford to think that sin

     Brings any true delight.

We can't afford with serious heed

     To treat the cynic's sneer;

We can't afford to wise men's words

     To turn a careless ear.

We can't afford to feed the flame

     And make it fiercer burn.

We can't afford for hate to give

     Like hatred in return;

We can't afford to lose the soul

     For this world's fleeting breath;

We can't afford to barter life

     In mad exchange for death.

But blind to good are we apart

     From Thee, all-seeing Lord;

Oh, grant us light that we may know

     The things we can't afford."

We certainly can't afford to be without Jesus Christ as our Savior, Lord, Advocate, Friend, High Priest, and coming Bridegroom.

Rowans new fad

Dad these are the things that Rowan is into right now.  They are all individual pieces and he builds cool things like this! :)

Lights Before Christmas

This past Friday we went to the Lights Before Christmas with my friend, Bonnie and her son Orion.  Rowan was absolutely excited about the train exhibit. He spent a good 20 minutes just staring and then we had to move on.  Jourdyn ran into some of her friends and hopefully she will become a ZooTeen next summer.  It was cold, so we had hot cocoa and coffee! It seems the lights weren't as fancy this year.  

A lot going on...

We've had bunches going on. Here are some of the highlights!

Dinner at UCT w/Rob's family

Rowan's Thanksgiving Feast

Katie, Trevor & Uncle Mike far left, Jamie, Matt & Brady 2nd from right - the boys were dedicated!

I went to the TAM Gala on the 13th with a group of friends. I was the guest of Lifeline Ministries. 

Back on the 11th we went to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Jourdyn went with us. She loved it!

A Full House

Saturday we had a full house. Curt brought Tatum came over to play for the day. We all had lunch together. Grilled Cheese and tomato soup! Later that evening we had more guests over and Julie and I went to Lifeline Community Dinner in the Old West End.  Here are some pictures.

Nadine, Tatum, Izzie, Rowan

My silly boy!



This is Steve's fireplace! Above it says:
FAITH is the strength by which the shattered world
shall emerge into the light.  





Toledo Museum of Art & Voting

Tuesday we got up and took the younger kids over to vote with us! We like to involve them in the process to instill in them the necessity to participate in our government!

Rowan says "when you see a flag, you're supposed to grab it up and wave it!" 
It just so happened that the kids had no school that day and Rob was off work.  So we decided to head to the Toledo Museum of Art to see the MUMMIES! However, the MUMMIES would have cost us $50 to see them. So we just explored the rest of the museum.  The price they are charging for the exhibit is astronomical and ridiculous! The museum is generally free so I didn't take my purse or anything. But Rob and I decided that we are going to join the Museum instead because it's only a few dollars more and then all the special exhibits are included.  (Jourdyn had her friend Becca with us!)

Later that afternoon, Rowan had his very first dentist appointment. He did so well.  Nadine was going to go first, and he said "No, I go first!" He climbed up in the chair and was great the whole time. And then he said, "Where's my toothbrush?" He's been watching the girls go for years and has never been able to get his own new toothbrush at the dentist, so he knew it was coming.  He then unwrapped it and proceeded to stick it in a decorative fountain that they have in the office. Who knows how long its been since they changed the water! Yuck!!!!

Trick Or Treat

I apologize for the delay on Trick or Treating pictures! We've had a busy week so far! So here are some pictures from the kids on Halloween.  We went to Grandma's, our usual Halloween tradition. Rob worked so it was just me and the kids this year! We had fun though.  People were amazed by the Mad Hatter and the the younger kids loved the leaf piles!

 Here's one last picture of the Mad Hatter! I love this picture!!! Next year I think we are going to theme the whole family for our costumes! And make them all ourselves!