we love each other right?
Mar
18

we love each other right?

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Last week Branden and I were super blessed to be able to go to a leadership conference.  We went with the pastors and staff of our church as well as some (like Branden and me) who get to lead or oversee a ministry.  All in all, there were 27 of us, a pretty big group!  The conference was awesome, going through the book of Joshua in the Bible and teaching about what godly leadership looks like.  Here’s the group we took!

And it was good to get away, just the hubs and I without the boys.  We needed a breather (and so did our kiddos)  Ever have a season like that, where maybe a change of scenery is a good idea?  Yeah, us too.  Silas had been having a rough couple of weeks and it seemed like it was a daily struggle just to have things be normal around here (and that’s saying something, since “normal” includes ninja time 24/7!)  Things had been so difficult, I contemplated not going at all.  After praying about it though, it was the right decision to go and I’m glad!

The boys stayed with my parents for the week (aka Lolo and Lola).  The day we dropped them off, we met my mom and loaded her car with car seats and luggage and toys.  We buckled the boys in and started saying our goodbyes.  Ethan was fine, no tears, no sadness (I guess that’s a good thing?)  Silas on the other hand, had been crying all day thinking about us being apart for a week.  After buckling him into his seat, I leaned in to give him a hug and say goodbye.

“I miss you already, but you’re going to have a great time,” I was assuring us both.  ”We’ll call each other every day!”

I could see the tears welling up in his eyes again.

“We’ll send pictures and videos back and forth.  You’re gonna do tons of fun things with Lolo and Lola!”  I was trying to sound excited, but it was too much for him.  All of a sudden he burst into tears!

“WE LOVE EACH OTHER, RIGHT MOM?!”

“What?”  That definitely caught me off guard!

“IF WE LOVE EACH OTHER, WHY CAN’T WE BE TOGETHER?!”

Now the waterworks were in full effect.  He just kept crying, “WE LOVE EACH OTHER, RIGHT?”

Branden, seeing the need to intervene, gently pulled me away and started to shut the car door.  Once closed, I thought, “surely that’s the end of that.”  I was wrong.

Silas started to pound on the glass!  His muffled voice shouting, ”WE LOVE EACH OTHER!  WHY CAN’T WE BE TOGETHER?!”

My mom started to drive, Silas weeping his eyes out as he looked back through the window.  It was like a scene from a movie!  Branden and I got into the car.  ”Are you okay?” he asked.

“No!  I hate this!”  I just kept hearing him yell, “WE LOVE EACH OTHER RIGHT?  WHY CAN’T WE BE TOGETHER?!”

The rest of our night was pretty quiet.  The next day we started the 16 hour drive to the conference in Tucson.  We did talk to the boys every day, sent pictures and all that goodness.  I’m happy to report that they did great (of course) and they had a blast with my parents.  The drama factor died down as the week went on, which meant Branden and I could enjoy our time away and focus on the conference.  It was a great trip, but I am glad to be home with these ninjas!  Now, to get back into the swing of things, you know – school, chores, ministry, playing with Transformers :)

Topics: the home front Tagged With: ,
a little one on one time
Mar
07

a little one on one time

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There’s a lot of things I want to work on as a mom, but one that is definitely at the forefront is to be intentional.  What I mean is, it’s easy to be in the same room with my kids, even to have conversations with them, and still be completely tuned out.  I know because I’ve done it.  When things are busy or I the boys are talking about things I’m not particularly interested in (are we playing ninjas again?!) or when I’m tired (and when am I not tired?) I need to be more intentional.

So Branden and I decided to spend some one on one time with the boys.  The other night, he and I split up, each took one of the boys, and went on dates.  I got to hang out with Silas :)

So off we went, right after dinner –  first stop was a trip to Sonic.  Slushies are legit :)

Next was a trip to the pet store!  Not to buy a pet; it’s just as fun to look at them.  Plus, not poop to scoop :)  Anyone love cats?  I’m not a cat person.  I am a kitten person.  Somehow those are different.  It’s true.

Then there was tank after tank of all different kinds of fish – like this swarm of goldfish!

Okay, I don’t at all like creeping crawling things, but this bearded dragon was actually really cool!  Kinda cute :)

The night ended with a trip to the boys’ favorite place – Target!  They love to peruse those toy aisles!  We don’t usually buy anything, but Silas had been saving his money, so we went.  It was the first time he had saved and spent his own money on something he really wanted.  He was pretty proud of himself :)

So that was mine and Silas’ date night – nothing fancy, but it was time set aside just to talk, to hang out, to be together.  And it was really good!  Here’s to many more :)

Topics: the home front Tagged With:
easter story stones
Mar
05

easter story stones

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Have you seen those Resurrection Eggs that people do around Easter?  It’s a collection of 12 plastic eggs, each one with a little trinket inside to help explain part of the Easter story.  We’ve put together a set for the boys the last couple of years, but this year I wanted to do something different.  Thus was created, Easter story stones!

I went through the Easter story and divided it into segments.  For each part, I chose one or two symbols to help illustrate it and drew the symbols on rocks.  Every day (starting 12 days before Easter), I’ll have the boys pick out the symbols for that part of the story, we’ll read the Scripture together and talk about it.

For the rocks, I went down to our local garden center (though I’m sure you could find some at the craft store or pretty much anywhere that has a garden section) and picked out smooth, flat rocks used for gardening or planters.  I chose black because I wanted to use white ink for all the pictures, but the rocks come in other colors too.  For the ink, I bought paint markers at the craft store, but honestly, they weren’t the best for this project.  I’d like to get some Posca markers which would probably work better on non-porous surfaces.  For the images, I just used Google to search for images that matched each symbol.

I thought I’d share the 12 days leading up to Easter!  At the end of the post is a link to a pdf with all the days, the parts of the story, and the Scriptures that go along with them (in case you wanted to make a set of your own!)

Day 1 – Jesus washes the disciples’ feet  (John 13:1-17)

Day 2 – The Last Supper / Communion  (Matthew 26:26-29)

Day 3 – Jesus prays in the garden  (Mark 14:32-42)

Day 4 – Jesus is arrested / Servant’s ear cut off  (Matthew 26:47-56  &  Luke 22:47-53)

Day 5 – Peter denies Jesus 3 times  (Luke 22:31-34, 54-62)

Day 6 – Before the crucifixion  (John 18:12-14, 19-24, 28-40  & John 19:1-15)

Day 7 – The Cross  (Luke 23:26-49)

Day 8 – Jesus laid in the tomb (Mark 15:42-47)

Day 9 – Empty tomb (Luke 24:1-12)

For day 8 we’ll talk about Jesus being laid in the tomb and place the smaller rock over the “opening;” then we’ll remove it to illustrate the stone being rolled away for day 9.

Day 10 – Jesus appears to his disciples (even though the doors were locked where they were gathering, and then to Thomas, showing him his nail pierced hands)  John 20:19-31

Day 11 – Jesus ascends  (Acts 1:4-11)

Day 12 – Disciples receive the Holy Spirit  (Acts 2:1-41)

Here are all the rocks together.  I’m really happy with how they came out!  And I do feel better about rocks than tiny trinkets that could get lost or even swallowed!  I want to actually start twelve days before (and not including) Easter, and then take communion as a family on Easter Sunday.

If you’d like to make a set of your own, or just want to go through the parts of the Easter story each day leading up to Easter, here is a pdf for the different parts and Scripture that corresponds to them.

Easter Stones

Easter is such an important part of our history, especially as those who love and follow Jesus!  I’m excited about a fun way to help the boys remember and celebrate each part of it!

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