Open Basement

16416 Chancellors Ridge Way

Westfield, IN 46074

October 24th & 25th

Saturday and Sunday

2:00-5:00 PM

Welcome to the Walk to Cure Diabetes!

Saturday was a fabulous day with great weather, support from friends and some good exercise. Our team joined up together and drove down to Military Park in Indianapolis. After registering and looking around a bit we gathered at the stage for some warm-up exercises, t-shirt competition and the national anthem. Then we were off for our 2 mile walk. Teams of many different colored shirts joined together to leave the starting balloon line...all with the same purpose of seeing a beloved friend or family member have a cure. The kids were excited...some raced ahead, others walked quietly looking around with great interest. Lynnea walked in the middle of several girls chatting about whatever little girls chat about. Her face was at peace enjoying the day. The two miles passed quickly as I talked with friends and counted and recounted children. We made our circle hike back to the park. Some of our team left as others enjoyed the face painting, food and jumpy house. It was so much fun to see this activity come together. As we talked about our weekend Sunday night, Jason asked the kids what some of their favorite things were. Lynnea quickly blurted out, "The Walk!!!" That's all we needed.

Heavenly Father, How I praise you for moments like these when our children can witness what it means to join together as the Body of Christ and love and support one another. I continue to believe that oneday you will heal Lynnea from this terrible disease. I KNOW that your plan for her life far exceeds my own desires and dreams. Give us grace in the daily challenges to have great hope and faith for the day when all of this will have clear purpose and we will see your divine leading. We will wait and trust...and above all, we live to glorify You! Amen.

Labor Day Rewind

We decided to go to Jamestown, OH for Labor Day to visit Jason's sister, Jill, and her family. Greg and Jill had remodeled a home and we had yet to see it. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of their beautiful home, but I have some highlights from our weekend. Jamestown is near Cedarville which is the "home" of Labor Day. Jason's other sister Jewel lives in Cedarville.

They have lots of great activities. Jill and I got a chance to join a 4 mile race during the weekend. The race was rather small, but made it great for us. Jill and I both are sporting our "medals for 2nd and 3rd place in our age group here...That afternoon our families visited a park. The kids enjoyed running and playing. Here is our nephew, Will, loving the swings.

Greg, Jill and Lauren

The kids loved it when Jill and Jewel got creative with Jason and created J & J's Ice Cream Parlor. Jill and Jewel served ice cream through a "go between" from the dining room to the kitchen. We still talk about visiting J & J's!.

It was such a blessing to enjoy a good time with family. We can't wait for another time together!

Too Sweet

On October 10th, our family will join friends and family to walk in our first ever JDRF walk benefitting Type 1 Diabetes. We decided to come alongside Lynnea and show our support for her by creating a team called "Too Sweet". She is so brave everyday controlling her diabetes through finger pokes, changing her insulin pump site and enduring the highs and lows. I truly look forward to celebrating God's faithfulness in her life.Lynnea's Papa Joe nicknamed her "Too Sweet" in September 2004 when Lynnea was diagnosed. The name has always stuck.

Another School Year...and so much to share!

We are well into another year of school. The schedules are full of so many good things. Lynnea will be in the community theatre this fall for the first time with a small role.Benjamin is having his first try and football. His first game was last week and he tried out his quarterback position.Jason is getting his fun watching Benjamin study his new aquired "play book". Joseph adds another year of soccer to his belt, mostly enjoying the snacks and friends. Noah and Samuel added pre-school to the schedule this fall. We are praying this will help in their speech delay. They have no idea of our intentions for language development. They care only about when it is their show-n-tell day. Isaac finds his schedule full of riding in the car everywhere and entertaining the crowd with his smiles and silly ideas.

In the midst of a full schedule, God is showing Himself so faithful to our family. We are growing in our understanding of Him as our Heavenly Father in new ways everyday. This is so apparent in beginning our self employment journey once again. In future posts, I will share more of Jason's new journey. What a blessing to walk everyday with great hope for the promise of our future!

Finally!!! I'm Back...

My sister reprimanded me for my lack of attention to our blog. You can tell what summer does to this mom when all the kids are home again. Since I don't have any pictures to share of my recent visit with my sister, I will share some pictures she took during one of our manicure/pedicure/facial sessions...
Samuel asks Noah, "Am I doing this right?"
Noah would like to see his eyes show a little more colorJoseph plays with the neon pink blusher--ooh baby!yes, Samuel, I have trouble with the eyes too.
Shhh...don't tell Daddy!

For Hire

Recently, Noah and Samuel had an opportunity to do some modeling for a clothing line. They posed quite well in the window. I am not sure whether they were the sale or the clothing. Who knows, maybe they will be the money makers in the family! Aren't they so cute???

Because I Can

I am taking this post to brag on my husband again. One of Jason's main goals during this time of unemployment was to regain his focus on priorities. He would put them in this order: 1) God, 2)Family, 3)Ministry & Serving Others, 4)Career. One of our neighbors has stuggled with some health concerns with his heart. When I told Jason that he was struggling to mow his yard, Jason was all over it. I love these pictures. He jumped on it that very day (Yes, it is raining).

Trains & Automobiles

Four years ago, we began our train collection. Benjamin was never really interested in it. Joseph began to take a greater interest. Noah is our HUGE lover of anything on wheels. So, last Christmas we added some more track and cars. However, the kids didn't really play with it because the track always fell apart. After visiting the library, I learned the trick. This week, I finally glued the track down to the table. It is non-stop pre-school fun at our house. The kids love it.

And of course, you can always make a snack out of it too!

To My Mom

This past year has been the most enjoyable time in my life enjoying my mom. If you have ever met my mom, she immediately remembered your name, made you feel comfortable and took a sincere interest in your life and who you are as a person. It took me a long time to truly begin to appreciate those qualities in my mom.

My mom and I can be as different as night and day. I like to wake up early and get my day started off with gusto, however, by 9:30 I am mostly worthless. My mom sets her alarm only so she can push the snooze. She even gives herself 30 minutes in the morning to sit in a chair and "wake up". But, when night time comes, she is a party in a package. I enjoy scheduling and organization. Mom thinks structure and schedule is boring and lacks creativity. I tend to have strengths in the task side of things, while mom is definitely on the side of people. My house might be neat as a pin, Mom would go out for coffee first with a girlfriend. I am strong-willed and enjoy leadership, Mom has a servants' heart and finds it really hard to say "no". For many years, I struggled to allow Mom to be Mom. I watched my girlfriends' mothers around me and favored those who acted like me and did life like me. I asked the question, "why can't mom be this way?". I held expectations on her that suffocated her and I think kept her from wanting to spend time with me.

About a year ago, I was going through my attic and found my baby book. Like my mother, many lines were empty (probably because the phone rang and that person distracted mom to help meet a need). I found this picture in that book...

I saw this beautiful woman holding tight to her baby. It was MY mother holding ME! Immediately, I realized that my mom and I were so much more alike than I realized. She loved her precious baby the same way I hold my babies. She spent nights just watching me wondering what I would become, dreaming of the times we would have together and just praying for me. God began to do a work in my heart. I began to pray that God would free me from bitterness of unmet expectations. I prayed that God would help me to love Mom for who she was. God began to reveal to me all of the ways that Mom was playing a huge role in my life. She is my biggest prayer warrior, she supports me in being a mom of 6 children (she did 5 herself), she loves the details of all of my days and will laugh with me, but most of all she forgives me for all of my shortcomings (there must be so many). I began to realize that many of my friends' mothers who might look like they had it together, didn't take phone calls from their daughters at 2 AM, favored their career over riding in the car 45 minutes to watch a volleyball game and never had the conversations Mom and I had. I could tell my mom anything and ask anything.

So, why do I tell you all of this? I prayed before I wrote this blog tonight that God would truly bless my mom from reading this. Mom, you are truly the best mom this 32 year old girl could ever ask for or need. Also, I know many of you struggle with your moms like I did. I know, I have talked to you. I want God to do a work in your heart too. God didn't give you your mom on a whim. He placed you in her arms for a specific purpose. I am praying that God would reconcile you together and change that relationship.

Thanks Mom for a great year. Thanks for loving me and my family. Thanks for all the sacrifice you make for us day after day. Thank you for loving God with all of your heart and passing your faith to your children and grandchildren. Thank you for the never giving up, never leaving, never stopping love that I experience from you everyday. I love you.

Waiting with Expectancy

From my recent delay in posting, I am sure that you can tell I have lost my computer to a husband trying to provide a living. Here is just something simple that I wanted to share today. If you have ever visited a dollar store with a kid, you have had these little sponge growing tablets before. You put them in water and then they disolve into an animal, car or something. The kids love them.

Lynnea got some of these this weekend. I laughed as my kids surrounded the table watching the glass to see what it would become. Even Isaac was laying prostate across the table so no one would take away his view of the glass. When I looked over these pictures, I was comforted to know that my Heavenly Father watches that close over us, His children. He knows what we will already become. I am so thankful that no one can get in His way of watching me. I need to know that in these days of uncertainty.

By the way, the finished product was a rooster.

Upside Down & Inside Out

During our winter months, Jason changed roles in his company from supervisor to sales. If you watched our family during this time, you knew it was very difficult. It required him to work weekends and some evenings. We recognized that during this economy, we were very thankful for a job and continued to trust the Lord for grace for each new day. Some days were harder than others. Now, I know there are many others that have this schedule and do great. However, with 6 children, our family struggled to spend time together.

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We prayed for a change in career paths, but never sensed the Lord's direction to change at the time. On April 1st (no joke), we were on the floor praying that God would give us a sign. We wanted it clear that Jason should stay where he was at or move us elsewhere. The next morning, his boss told him that his job no longer existed. It was a strange excitement to know that the Lord has answered our prayers, yet somewhat scary to know what this new adventure looked like.

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After two weeks, we don't have a definite career plan in front of us. However, I am testifying to God's great faithfulness. He is providing our daily needs, giving us hope in new job prospects and allowing our family to serve Him in new ways. I am overwhelmed in my spirit right now to think of all the ways we are seeing answered prayer. I KNOW that we are in God's care and I love being right where we are. I am so thankful that God has chosen us to be in relationship with Him. I don't know how I would do life without Him...I guess I just wouldn't truly live life. Thank you Father!

He's Not Heavy, He's My Brother

I have really enjoyed watching the "boys be boys" lately. They run hard, play hard and sometimes sadly enough fight hard too. I really love each of my boys and am so thankful God gave them to us. Here is a look into some of our days...

Samuel & Noah try out their NEW (used) bikes!Isaac tries to phone home.
Benjamin brings home his friend, Dalton, who fits right in with defending the peace (or lack thereof).
We have never seen these 2 aliens again.

Sickies

Our week has been full of getting sick-uugh! After our little Spring Fling, temperatures starting going up, coughs were heard and we ran out of tissues. Poor Benjamin finally made it back to school Thursday. I change up our whole diet when illness comes into the house. Usually, you can hear it said, "somebody must be sick". I try to get all of the junk out. We eat mostly veggies, fruit, some protein, grains, NO sugars, and drink lots and lots of water. It's a good kick start back into some really good healthy eating. Overall, our kids are pretty good sports. So, hopefully, I can get some more done on our blog next week. So much going on ...

Poor Baby!