The Practical:
PROJECT 7.  I love this one because they some things I might already buy for stocking stuffers or holiday travel…and you can find these products at a lot of Walmart stores.  SUPER!  Buy gum, mint, bottled water and help support the mission of Project 7:
For every purchase of a Project 7 product, some good is done in seven areas of need – Feed the Hungry, Heal the Sick, Hope for Peace, House the Homeless, Quench the Thirsty, Teach them Well and Save the Earth. Non-profit organizations supporting any of these seven areas of need can submit applications to Project 7.

The splurge (for a cause):
The scarves are pricier, but absolutely beautiful.  I love that this is a local (for me) cause and that it was started by a Community group that I have volunteered with.
The Worn for Peace mission is to provide refugee women living in the United States a supplemental source of income, empowering them to rise above poverty. Each circle scarf is hand-knit by women who have survived the afflictions of their war-torn and poverty-stricken homelands.

So, get out there and do some Cyber Monday shopping for those that seem to “have everything” and while you are at it, make a huge difference this Christmas.

ABL

Now for a new favorite picture.
A certain picture of the trio with Santa was my favorite, but it has been replaced.  The Santa picture was my favorite because of the way it captured so well the little personalities of my three favorite children.

This new picture is beloved for the SAME reason.
A picture truly is worth a thousand words.

Our Knight in shining armour, Princess Aurora, and the very scary Dragon (who would remind us that he was only PRETENDING to be scary.)
Compliant KJ, cooperating to get the job done.  Ready to go get candy and being old enough to know how to play “the game.”
Crazy Cbug, caught somewhere between making a mean dragon face and just being READY to get in the van and GO.  Not interested at all in faking anything just to appease his mother.
And then there’s Lou.  Always expressive, always in love with the camera, always caught between her two crazy brothers.

Yep, that is our crew. And I love every detail of this picture because I love every ounce of these three stinkers.
ABL

**Updated: apparently I have pregnancy brain (I love being able to blame things on  my unborn child)…This actually  makes the FOURTH year that Cindi and Cass have taken pictures of our crew in the pumpkin patch- meaning that no one else has ever taken pictures of Lou OR Cbug in the patch.  Just thought that was noteworthy.

I’m sure many of you share my insistence on taking pumpkin patch pictures each year…its a wonderful tradition. 

 MY favorite part is the official “photographers”. 

For three years the amazing Cindi/Cassidy duo (HOW DOES CINDI ALWAYS AVOID HAVING HER PICTURE TAKEN) has shown great patience, shared lots of laughs, chased my rascals, and helped pose the posse all over the pumpkin patch

No one else could quite understand (and capture the fact) that this IS Cbug.

And no one else could understand the essential nature of nurturing KJ while treating him like the BIG 5-year-old that he is.

 So, I hope it is a tradition that continues for many years of fall. 

Amidst this craziness, though, I did think that maybe next year it would be easier to just throw a bunch of pumpkins out into our front yard and take pictures there with our crew of FOUR adorable punkins! 

My kids, the boys especially, are at an age where you simply can’t turn to the next age WITHOUT having a party. They don’t necessarily think you need a lot of guests, presents, or a big to-do, but you NEED to have a party. With a theme.

A regular conversation at our house is “whose birthday is next?” and we have to run down the list of family birthdays. When the boys realized that mine was next and coming soon (ie MONTHS ago), they started planning my party. Like last year, I decided to totally let them have free reign. For quite a while it was to be a Spiderman theme, but just a couple of weeks ago, my logical 5-year-old declared “Guys, Mom would probably like something girly. Maybe it should be Barbie instead.”  And from then on, Barbie it was.

If you’ve known me for long you realize the irony of this selection.  The humor in the fact that Spiderman might actually HAVE been a more accurate theme choice.  I’m very certain, in my entire life of birthday parties, I NEVER chose Barbie.  I barely even owned any of the dolls. AND I’m 100% sure I’ve never had a high-heeled anything atop my cake.  But, I love the fact that my sweet children decided that since Barbie is pink and I am a girl, I would LOVE this Barbie party.  And they were right.  I loved going all-out-pink and celebrating with some of my favorite little people.

For a little MORE pink, you need some pink balloons and streamers, in varying shades of pink.  By this point I was starting to channel my inner Shelby “my colours are blush and bashful, one is a much deeper shade than the other”.  I just dished out tape and let the kids stick streamers around the kitchen to their little hearts’ content.  This was a much better alternative in my mind to Cbug’s suggestion that we “paint the ceiling pink”. Um. No.

And there ya have it.  A Barbie party fit for a queen…or maybe just fit for an indulgent Momma who thinks it is awesome that her children wanted to make her day special. 

I posted “Rewind” posts yesterday and today, but backdated them to put them in proper chronological order.

Here are the links:
Summer Spectacular

As I have journeyed through the book of Nehemiah, one theme that really stuck out to me is about breathing. It is interesting that this is one that sticks out to me, because it is not really something that is a transparent theme. There are obvious themes about following the will of God, about gaining encouragement from the ways He has blessed you in the past, about how to be a good leader, about community and how to build it, even parenting advice. But God is so good to use his word to meet you where you are, and to let it come alive through the lens of your experiences. And because breathing itself was a struggle for me in the last 6 months, like never before, I know God just knew I needed these nuggets about breathing.
Even now, but especially while there were six small children in my care, there were times during my day when I felt my heart start racing, I would literally have to remind myself to take deep breaths. Like literal, life sustaining breaths. Sometimes it came in a panic about what was coming next for our family or about not knowing how to “help” others. Many times my breath would just be threatened by the pure busy-ness of running from one child or activity to the next. I would get so busy just “doing” that I would forget to do what should be most intrinsic…breathe.

It sounds crazy that something I do not even remember learning to do- taking breaths- could suddenly be challenged. But maybe in the chaos of your life, you’ve faced such moments, too. If so, I would love to share this with you. Not because it is Earth shattering or because it comes from any depth of theological experience. Simply because it was given as a very sweet gift to me when I needed it most, and I’d love to share a piece of it with someone else. It’s the only way I know to repay all He continues to bless me with…pour it out.

1) In Nehemiah Chapter 2, Nehemiah is faced with both an opportunity of a lifetime and also one of the most difficult positions he has ever been in. As cupbearer to the King, he is in a unique position to enjoy the King’s attention frequently. When Nehemiah finds out about the great need of his people, he knows it is his calling to go back and lead them. Only one problem, he needs the favor of the King. As he stands before the King, it is actually the King who notices his demeanor has changed and asks Nehemiah “What is it you want?” In that instant Nehemiah says “I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king…” (2:5). I love this because the punctuation of the sentence leads me to read it as only a short pause between the prayer to God and the answer to the king. Nehemiah didn’t run off to his room to pray before answering the King, it is like his prayer is simply the inhale before the exhale of his words. Standing right there, in the midst of his personal “chaos” he just breathes prayer. It couldn’t have been long, it couldn’t have been one in which he was too deliberate about his words, it had to just be like a quick flood of the Spirit. A deep breath- a breath full of life sustaining Spirit.

2) In the prayer of the Israelites in Chapter 9…the whole prayer is amazing, but a favorite part for me is at the beginning…its an often heard theme throughout scripture, but it just struck me differently as I’ve been re-learning to breathe. “You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you” (chpt 9:6b) Again- because of the way the sentence reads, I really see it as an inhale/exhale sentence.

Lord, as I breathe in the life you provide- the literal oxygen you gave us, using the lungs you created, passing energy through the blood that flows intricately through me…you give me life. And as I result, in the exhale, I’ll worship you.

The very way I breathe changes when I recognize and praise where the breath comes from.
So many times over the last months, I’ve found myself washing dishes, putting clothes in the washing machine, disciplining children, thinking about our family craziness…and just start breathing prayer. I don’t stop doing what I’m doing or speaking what I’m speaking, I don’t have time to. My INHALE (both literally and figuratively) has to come from the Lord and the exhale is the action of service, the praise of the Lord, the simple daily tasks. I breathe deeper and fuller knowing that the life comes from him and as a result the exhale is full of peace, and is calming. Granted…sometimes it takes a WHOLE LOT of forced breaths before the air becomes more natural to take in. Sometimes the inhales have to happen in a quiet room by myself. Sometimes I wish I had a rewind to redo the “toxic” breathing I let myself slip into. But slowly, I am learning…
Inhale prayer.Exhale action.Inhale life.Exhale praise.Inhale.Exhale.

Its like an exercise, something I have to remind myself to do.
The recognition of “inhale then exhale” makes me pause before exhaling (or acting). It helps me remember to think before I act or speak and also to remember that I can only do one thing at a time, take care of one child at a time, tackle one difficult task at a time. Only one direction/action per exhale. One breath at a time.

If you spent much time with me when my nieces and nephews were with us, you may have physically noticed this in me. I literally found myself having to take forced deep breaths to do simple things like focus or communicate with others. You may have literally been able to see and hear my chest heave huge inhales, my eyes may have squinted a bit as I tried to let the fullness of life in. It was intentional, yet difficult. It should have been natural, yet it was challenged. I believe the stress of life can have very physical implications for our bodies. BUT I also believe that the Lord can take those very same physical strains and out of them bring a deeper reliance and understanding of the fullness of life He provides. I know he communicated deeply with me as I struggled to breathe. And in so doing, taught me to breathe in a way I’ve never experienced.  For each of those deep, visible breaths, there was a prayer, a praise, a basking in the knowledge that HE controlled our craziness.

And so in the craziness I enjoyed the deep breaths.  Full. Deep. Intentional.  Full of His Spirit.
ABL

So, I started working on a series of posts about “tips and tricks” that help us around our house.  The first one was about our assembly lines.  While some of our survival tactics are not quite as necessary with “only” three kids under our roof, we are actually seeing the benefit of keeping a few of them around.  One that we are still benefiting from is nightly “circle time”.  Granted, the circle is not quite a large now, the necessity of everyone staying “on their spots” is a little less preschool-esque, and the sounds are not nearly as LOUD.  However, the principal of gathering together nightly, intentionally ending our day with our children really is a blessing.  It helps them settle down before bed, helps RRL and I set time aside from cleaning up the kitchen, packing back-packs, etc and is a treasured time together.

Typically we follow a similar routine:
A few “crazy songs” like “Stand up and Shout it”
(which could otherwise be called “jump around and yell a lot if you love Jesus”…which we do!)
A couple of fun stories
A few “calm” songs
A bible story
Some verses
and prayers.

Obviously, some nights we have more time than others.  But I especially love the nights when we get to spend 30+ minutes on this time.

Here are all 5 of the kids saying some of the verses they have learned during circle time.  We learned each of these all together, but this night I just asked them each to say their favorites.  Of course, they especially liked that they got to stand on the fireplace hearth (cough, I mean stage) to be recorded.

KJ and Cbug (chose the same verse to recite)

AB

Translation:  The prudent see danger and take refuge.  But the simple keep going and suffer for it. -Proverbs 27:12

CB

Translation: I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone Oh Lord, make me dwell is safety.  -Psalm 4:8

Lou

Translation:  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  All your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  -Psalm 139:14

So, there’s another snippet of our everyday life.  CIRCLE TIME!
What are your nightly routines?  Or other “tips and tricks” that help your home run smoothly and intentionally?

ABL

As we transition back to life as a Team-of-Five, one of the biggest questions I am wrestling with is “what now?”  Maybe its a bit like re-entry after being out of the country for a long time.  Or maybe its like a spiritual high after a mission-trip.  You wonder how life could ever simply go back to normal.  You are coming home, but home will never look the same.  And really you don’t even WANT it to look the same.  To just continue on would be a waste of the experience.  But in the same breath, you do have to re-establish some normalcy.

For months we have spent many of our waking hours (and some not-so-awake) trying to do what is best for 6 kids.  Especially for our nephews and niece, a huge part of our hearts and our energy was devoted to talking about and praying through what was in their best interest.  In a way, that won’t change, we will always care about them and their family.  We do hope we get to continue to be involved with this story.  And we will always be interested in their well-being, but because of the change in the physical circumstances that will look drastically different going forward.

I mentioned before that I learned from Sandra Stanley (via Hatch) the Nehemiah application of doing a good work and not being distracted.  It seems that Nehemiah was fully devoted to rebuilding the wall, and reestablishing Jerusalem.  He told those that challenged him that he would not be distracted. But just one chapter earlier, in chapter 5, he DID “come down”.  And he came down before the “good work” was done.  There was some family business to take care of, an economic crisis of sorts, and it was tearing the people apart.  It had to be addressed, and Nehemiah did stop what he was doing.  But I don’t think he really did.  Yes, he stepped down from the physical labor of the wall.  Yes, he called the leaders together to “meet” about the problem (so also asked them to step down from the wall). But really this WAS about the wall, it was about rebuilding Jerusalem.  While the enemy threatened to distract (in chapt 6), this God given interruption was to build the forces stronger, to remove what threatened to tear apart the community of workers and actually put a stop to the wall building completely.  I’m guessing Nehemiah never took his eyes off of his primary purpose.  The only think that could make him change his course of action was believing in his heart that this brief interruption would actually enhance the success of that “good work”.

I wonder if it was hard for Nehemiah to resume work on the wall. I wonder if he wanted to grab onto his role as Governor, economic counselor, and claim that as his only purpose. I wonder if it was hard to simply go back to “normal”. Especially since even the normal would come with challenges and distractions. But the gates hadn’t been placed, the project was not completed. In order to make the best of what they community of workers had learned through the chapter 5 “interruption”, they had to continue on in the way they had originally been called- to rebuild Jerusalem.

To be honest, its hard to just simply go back to work.  But I have to believe that our primary purpose hasn’t changed.  And that the only reason that God would have asked us to change our course of action was because He believed this would enhance the success of our “good work”- raising our little family.  We so firmly believe that this was not a distraction, but a God-given-interruption, that we can’t WAIT to see what it means in our “wall building”.  Our own little Jerusalem is still being developed, and a time that could have been used to stop our work will really only make it stronger. 

So, I’m still not sure what that means is next for us.  Just know that as you start to see this little piece of the web go back to its roots…normal family life…we are back up on the wall.  The same.  But different.

ABL

I’ve decided to try to do a series of posts about “tips and tricks” that are helping us around here.  The idea is partly to share what we are learning but even more hoping that some of you will chime in with other ideas.  We’d love to hear what helps your house run smoother and happier.  Anything that saves time, helps kids be involved, creates everyday learning experiences, etc…really anything that adds value and efficiency to your family life.

This post could alternatively be called “making lemonade”
because the pictures for today’s “trick” started with this whopper of a lemon

So, when I discovered the mess I took a forced “time-out” for myself before responding.  Took some pictures, posted them to facebook (you know, just in case any other moms could relate), and took deep breaths.  THEN, I went back to enforce clean-up.  To make clean-up a little more fun and engaging, I utilized a “trick” that has become a favorite around here.

Enjoy!
ABL