More of Exploring Our New Home

Our local town has an amazing park. It runs along the shores of the lake and boasts things like an old Marry-Go-Round, a petting zoo, a train ride through the park, concession stands, and amazing play places. You can go every weekend and not feel bored. We went this last weekend to ride the train and try the petting zoo. I got some great pictures, but my favorite of the bunch is Mina and the pig. You will see what I mean....

My Joy Comes in the Morning

Psalm 30:5
Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Today was a hard day here for me. It was a cool, dreary day here and I am not sure if that affected my mood, but I had a heaviness in my heart that just seemed to progress as the day went on. I laughed and talked with my coworkers, but it was not how I felt. I really just wanted to come home, pull out Mason's memory box, crawl under my covers and have a good cry.

I am not going to lie, the amount of days that are pain filled is much less than they used to be. Does that mean that I miss Mason less? Absolutely not. I think as you grow in your grief you become able to focus more on the joy that comes in the morning. I am sure you all know that I do not mean the literal morning, but the joy that will come like the dawn on the great day when I am reunited with my son in the presence of my Savior.

So even though I weep today, I realize the weeping will last only for a (non-literal) night, for I know with all of my heart that my joy will come in the morning.

Courageous

There is a new movie coming out from the makers of "Fireproof" and "Facing the Giants". It is called "Courageous". It is supposed to be about men who aren't bad fathers, but are not actually being sourageous enough to stand up and lead their children down the path of righteousness. Tragedy strikes and the men are left to wrestle with their faith and answer God to a higher calling. I loved the other movies and thought all Christians should watch and be encouraged by them. I am however, extra excited for this movie.

I think all of us have a hard time acting courageous. We make excuses for why we don't make it to church, why we don't share God's word daily with our children, and why family time does not come first in our house. We seem to live in a world where families are seperated by TV, video games, work, hanging out with the guys, shopping with our best friends, ect. that we lose track of what is most important.

God has been doing a great work humbling me through my friends blog. I have blogged about it before, but she is in Uganda and has been given the chance to visit several children's homes there. The facts she writes about their daily life makes me feel so ashamed for the excess in mine.

Moving here to Wisconsin while hard in many ways, has been great in others. We are forced to spend more time as a family. Jake and I are committed to making this a priority. I think it is important to note that for the family/adoptive family we left back home, I am including you in the family time column, not the distraction column. Please pray for Jake and I as we try to find the giudance to corageously lead our family into the path God intended us to. There is really no more important task we have right now than to lead them.

Fathers Day

I would like to take a moment to say Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband. I could list all of the things that make him a great father, but I decided a photo montage would be so much more effective, and fun. So here I present the montage

"Why My Daddy's the Greatest!"

Update on Noah

The doctor said that the cyst is on Noah's lymph node, but right now it is nothing to worry about. That is great news and a big relief. Thank you for all of the prayers.

Prayer Request

We found a marble sized cyst on Noah's neck this weekend. We are kind of freaked out a little, please pray for peace, and that it turns out to be nothing. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks!

My Baby Sister is All Grown Up

This past week we made the long, and I do mean long, trip to Missouri to watch my baby sister graduate high school. We got to have time with family and enjoy some cool sights along the way. The highlight was when we went with Aunt Anna, Aunt Karen, and Uncle Josh to Montauk state park. We waled around, fed the fish in the hatchery, and had dinner in the lodge. Jamie and Linda had a lot of fun at the pond my parents have made on their land. They caught a bunch of tadpoles and frogs that sadly did not seem to survive the ride home. I cannot believe how much my sisters have grown up. Noah and Mina had a great time chasing my sister's poor little dog. Mina had such a good time that she has asked every day to go to "doggy's house". Here are some pictures, some of them I cannot take credit for because I am a terrible person who did not get much pictures.

Aunt Anna All Grown Up



The Arch in St. Louis





Montauk Hatchery

Mother's Day

This can be a hard day for mother's who have lost a child, no matter how long ago, how old the child was, or if they have any other children. Another website printed the Top 10 Things Grieving Mothers Want Most on Mother's Day. I thought it was very appropriate.

1. Recognize that they are a Mother: Offer a hug and a "Happy Mother's Day". Send a simple Mother's Day card to let them know you remember that they are a mother even though their child is not with them physically.

2. Acknowledge that they have had a loss: Express the message, "I know this might be a difficult day for you. I want you to know that I am thinking about you today." Removing the wall of silence gives a grieving mother permission to talk about her child.

3. Use their child's name in conversation: Saying the name of a child who has died is like music to a grieving mothers ears. One mother suggested, "Say his name and ask me my fondest memory of him from past Mother's Days".

4. Plant a living memorial: This is a wonderful day to plant a tree or flower bulbs in memory of the child. This is something that will live on as a beautiful reminder in the years to come.

5. Visit the Gravesite: Many mothers felt that it was "extremely thoughtful" when others visited their child's gravesite and left flowers or a small pebble near the headstone.

6. Light a Candle: Let the mother know you will light a candle in memory of their child on Mother's Day.

7. Share a Memory or Pictures of the Child: Give the precious gift of a memory. One mother wrote that the "greatest gift you can give is a heart felt letter about my child and your most lovely moments with them".

8. Send a Gift of Remembrance: Many mothers suggested appropriate gifts of remembrance that would bring them comfort. These items included: an angel statue, a piece of jewelry, a memory box, a memorial candle, a picture frame, a library book donation, an ornament, memorial poetry, anything personalized with the child's name or a date, books on grief, a garden stone or a toy donation in the child's name.

9. Don't try to minimize their loss: Avoid using any cliches that attempt to explain the death of a child. ( "God needed another angel.") Secondly, don't try to find anything positive about the loss ( "You still have two healthy children" or "She's in a better place").

10. Encourage Self-Care: Self-care is an important aspect of the "healing the mind and spirit effort" according to several mothers. Encourage a grieving mother to take care of herself. Give her a gift certificate to a day spa or any place where she can be pampered and take her mind off of her grief for an hour or two.

http://www.funeral-poems.com/grieving-mothers.htm

Spring Break

It was kind of a lousy weather week here during spring break. There was cold, rain, snow, and sleet. I felt very sorry for the kiddos who spent the whole week cooped indoors bored. I had a three day weekend at work for the holiday so we decided to take the kiddos into Milwaukee for an overnight visit. We stayed at a hotel that had a little waterpark in it and then the next day we went to a hands on science center. The kids had a great time and it was nice to get out as a family. The Discovery Zone was positively huge and located right on Lake Michigan which is the biggest body of water my family has ever seen. It made for a very fun day and some really neat pictures.

Look who finally has hair!

30 Years and Counting

Jake and I both had our birthdays this month. I turned the dreaded 30 and Jake turned 31. We had a good time celebrating a night out with friends. My coworkers decorated by cubicle with lots of 30 confetti and streamers and even a little princess crown and tiara. It was not the same as if we were celebrating at home, but it was very nice to feel so loved and welcomed here. This place is starting to feel more and more like home.

My Cubicle



My Princess Crown

Jake's Toy Store

We have been trying to explore our new territory. About thirty minutes away ther is the biggest Cabellas that I have ever seen. As you can imagine, Jake was eager to check it out. So one Saturday we loaded the kids into the van and headed out to check it out. The kids had a total blast especially my 31 year old kid. The nice things about Cabellas is that they have plenty of stuff to look at even for those of us who are not really into that stuff. It was still a nice, cheap adventure.

Hockey Night

A few weeks ago, the local hockey team hosted a free night for my work. We decided to take the kiddos and see how it went. It went ok, although all of the loud noises scared Noah pretty bad. Mina just sat in her stoller and ate her hot dog without a care in the world. Jamie loved every minute of it. He is so athletic and loves all things sports. Linda liked pretending to be a cheerleader. Jake and Jamie both got almost gleeful everytime somebody would get slammed into the glass. It made for some good pictures to share with you guys.

Linda enjoying her hotdog, she is so pretty.



Noah seeking safety from Daddy



Whoa...



Still not too sure about this..




The other three kids thought it was great fun.

Binkys and Potty Training

We are moved into the house and getting settled. Along with getting settled came two woes. One, it is time to take away the pacifiers, and two, the dreaded potty training. Both are going aw well as can be expected. The babies have been only using the pacifiers at bedtime, but now we are trying to wean from that. There is an interest in potty training, but it is more miss than hit. We have not moved them into underwear yet because we want to give them a little more time to adjust to the new house, but we do take them everytime they say they need to. We have one to two successes each day from them, more from Noah than Mina, but it is a good start. They just turned two in December so I think we are right on track.

Jamie and Linda are much happier in their own rooms. They have already made friends in the neighborhood. The house to the left of us has three boys, and the one on the right has two boys. We actually hit 50 degrees on Saturday so they spent the whole day outside playing. I thought maybe Spring was on the way, but I guess not since it is sleeting and snowing today with highs in the twenties and thirties this week. That is it for now, Noah just announced he needed to go to the potty. More next time.

Poor birds

Jake has been living it up in the great North. He has made friends with men from my work and recently got to experiance the joys of pheasant hunting. Now I just have to learn how to cook pheasant, or at least try it. Here are some pics of Jake on his recent quest.

Our New Home

After months of living in a temporary apartment, we are finally counting down the days until we move into our new home. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful to my company for providing the apartment, but four children in an apartment is just for the birds.

We are so excited about our new home. We cannot believe we found one in our price range that is this nice. It is four bedroom and one full bath and one partial bath. It has a beautiful fireplace and sits on three lots with lots of trees. The neatest part, we could literally throw a football and hit the lake. Yes it sits right on a back street with a view of the lake across the street. It also has lake access. Too bad we don't have a boat, but I know a great place to get a boat motor if I ever do LOL. Here are some pictures of the new place.