Green Eggs and Ham

Just had to share... N and A are sitting in the chair together and N is reading "Green Eggs and Ham" to A. There are so many wonderful things about this. N reading. The boys sitting and laughing together... I love being a mom.

My Strong Boys

Showing off their missles...er...I mean their muscles

You wanna knuckle sandwich?

In His image...

I've been thinking lately about being created in God's image. The idea that because He created we also create. We can't do it on the same scale, we can't speak things into being, but I believe there is a drive in all of us to create something, and not just anything, we want it to have value. I think Artist probably have the best sense of this. They are continually creating things that people have never seen before, original art. But you also see in the way people put together their lawns and flower beds, or the way someone might cook a fantastic meal.

For my birthday last year, my mother-in-law gave me some crochet hooks and a self teaching book. Ever since then, I've enjoyed exploring different ways to create with crochet.

I haven't ventured beyond blankets, but I've completed several projects. My first was a baby blanket. I just followed the pattern. Picked out similar yarn to what it suggested, bought the amount it said to buy and went from there. Then I moved onto something a little bigger. I made a lap blanket for my sister-in-law who is getting married next month. She got simple stripes, but I tried a slightly difficult stitch called the trinity stitch. I thought that was fitting for a wedding gift since all marriages should be a partnership between you your spose and God. A band of three strands is not easily broken... My final project was another wedding gift. Another lap blanket, thougth this one was slightly larger. It was a simple stitch, but I worked an H for their last name into the pattern. Intermixed with these projects, I've been working on a sampler for myself. I think it's almost finished. I keep meaning to take pictures of my projects so that I can share them and have a record of some of the things I've done for future reference, but I seem to keep giving them away before I remember to take a picture of them. However since the sampler is for me and I do not itend to give it away, I still have it and took a few pictures. So here's a taste of what I've been creating lately. What a satisfying feeling to look at something that you've made and be able to say, "This is good." Perhaps it gives a little insight to how God must have felt about his creation and his grief over the way sin spoiled it. Isn't it great to know that someday it will all be restored and we will be able to see all creation in the goodness God meant it to be.

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Easter (a belated blog)

We had a really nice, quiet, relaxing Easter this year. It was busy leading up to it, but once we got to the day we had a good time together as a family. Every year I play the piano for church at Easter because our pianist goes to visit family. It makes the week leading up to Easter a little hectic with practicing, trying to get the hymns and thinking "Why this Sunday every year?" I swear that Easter hymns are the hardest ones to play. On top of that, I had to cook an Easter dinner this year. I think it's probably the first time in the almost seven years I've been married. We usually go over to my parents for Sunday dinner and ofcoure this includes Easter, but this year, they decided to head off to the great state of Iowa to visit my little brother and his wife. This meant I had to cook for my family and my 95 year old Grandfather. All this adds up to stress the week before, you see, I've inherited worrying from my father. But it wasn't that much. No big deal. It's rewarding to be a fill in pianist because people notice you and complement you on your playing. They thank you for filling it. It makes me wonder if our regular pianist gets as much gratitude for the much bigger job she does every week without fail.
Dinner was good. I kept it simple with Ham, Broccoli (my boys favorite vegetable), and macaroni and cheese (homemade ofcourse)
After dinner, my dear husband took my grandfather home while I cleaned up the kitchen and then we all headed out to a local park to enjoy the sunshine of the day.
We ended the day with a visit with my mother-in-law and some family fun of coloring eggs.
All in all it was a wonderful time to spend with just Dan and the boys. A beautiful day to spend together with the family remembering that the reason we can have hope and joy in raising our boys is the fact that God loved us so much that He sent His ONLY son to die for us and conquered death so that we may live. He is risen! He is risen indeed!

blogging

I've been a little delinquent in my blogging lately. There are many reasons.
Growing up, I was always a Journal-er My mom got us started when we were home schooled. It was one of the things that had to be done if we wanted dinner, that and practicing our instrument. For me, it stuck. It became my outlet for my thoughts and emotions. Since I've been married, my journalling has become much less. Part of this is because I now have a person to confide in and my need to journal is no longer really there.
You would think that all that journalling growing up would translate into a great blogger, but the difference is that my journal was only read by me and I am all to aware of the fact that there are others reading this blog. That's the point isn't it? To share with others the goings on of my life? yet I continually struggle to know how to share without just "letting it all hang out".
So, for those of you who check this and read it, I'm sorry that I have not been diligent in posting. Perhaps one day I will discover the balance and finally figure out this blogging world.