Good-bye Kindergarten, Hello first grade

Ryan and Terri (Caleb's best friend and they live across
the street from us) Awesome neighbors!
Caleb being Caleb
Caleb's other buds!
Hannah and one of her friends
Mrs. Vander Stel. I could not have asked for a better teacher for my two kids this past year. She is so sweet and they enjoyed her so much.

Hard to believe that my two youngest are going to be in First grade next September. Today was Hannah and Caleb's last day of school. I was able to go at 11:30 and have Lunch with them and then we went outside and played some games. We had so much fun!! They had a awesome teacher this year and she had her own blog for the class which I thought was wonderful!

Here is some video of our day. Hard to believe the will all be in school full time next year! That did make me a little teary today! :)

Caleb and Marshmellow Hockey

Blog award

My friend Cheri gave me this blog today!!! I am giving it right back to her!! Thank you so much! You mean the world to me!!

I am also giving this award out to some people that I call very, very good friends. God has blessed me so much with a very close group of friends and I appreciate you all more than you will EVER know!!!

Julie

Michelle - You do need a blog! :)

Diane

Tori

Tammy

Kimberly

Amy K. - You need a blog too!! :)

Tara L

Theresa B - Are you still blogging?!!

Beth - I need to get you blogging. By the way for those of you who do not know Beth and I have been friends for about 32 years now!! How cool is that!!!

What is your Vocabulary score!

Your Vocabulary Score: B+

You have a zealous love for the English language, and many find your vocabulary edifying. Don't fret that you didn't get every word right, your vocabulary can be easily ameliorated!

How's" Your Vocabulary?

Yeah! I got a B+!!

My Grandma is 97 today!!

Please join me in wishing my Grandma a Very happy 97th birthday today!!!!

She is a wonderful Godly woman who I love so dearly. It has been wonderul watching my children get to know her. She is so sweet and every other Sunday night my mom and Dad, My Aunt and Uncle, my counsins and my family get together and visit with her for a few hours. We started doing this when my Grandpa got really sick 20 years ago. After he died we just continued on and it has been such a blessing.


We also had a great time camping this past weekend. The weather was perfect. I will also try to get out take my after pictures of our deck reconstruction and try to look for my before pictures as well because as you know I forgot to take them. I also forgot to take my camera camping this weekend. I think I need to tie it to my wrists.

Gospel for Asia

This man has forever changed the way we think about mission and mission trips and what we are called to do on mission trips. I loved this quote from him.

Both in India and in my travels around Western countries, I constantly uncovered a preoccupation with so-called “ministry” activities operated by Christian workers, financed by church monies, but with little else to distinguish them as Christian. . . . Social concern is a natural fruit of the Gospel. But to put it first is to put the cart before the horse; and from experience, we have seen it fail in India for more than 200 years. Yet while I realized the intrinsic nature of the Gospel involved [in] caring for the poor, I knew the priority was giving them the Gospel. Meeting their needs was a means to share the love of Christ so they would be saved for eternity.
- K.P. Yohannan
http://www.gfa.org

Hannah and Caleb's field trip

Hannah and Caleb went to the Tuensink's pony farm last week for their class field trip. They had so much fun. I was not able to go on this one but their teacher has a blog where she took lots of pictures!!!

Robin Update

Okay Patty, here you go an update on our birds!! They are so much fun to watch. They are really growing up fast!!

God's creation at its finest!!

Nate and I were playing badmitten with the boys and this is how the sun looked today! It was so neat looking!!

Matt Redmond Mission's Flame

Our Pastor told us about this song this week and of course Youtube had a video of it!!

Great song!!!

Group 1 crew - Forgive me

I heard this on our local radio station station yesterday. WAY FM It is geared more for the college age and teen group but its pobably my favorite radio station due NO commercials and I love the music.

I heard this song twice. the first time I was not sure I liked it. It is rappier than I like. However the second time I heard it the words just hit me. My heart tells me we do not have a lot if time left in this world as we know it. My heart hurts for those that do not have Jesus yet and this song just made me teary eyed when I really listened too it. Give it a chance. Listen to it a few times. some of you may have heard it already. some of you will hate it! That is okay!! I like the chorus! :)

Feathered friends in the play area!

We had a robin move in behind the kids swing set and decided it was a great place to lay eggs.
The eggs have hatched and Nate took these pictures tonight!! What fun!!

What sweet children!!

I know I am probably biased but are they not just the cutest,
sweetest kids you have ever seen!!! :)
They are ages 11, 9, 9, 7 and 7!

MyPersonality.info Badge

While I am waiting to have my new Dish installed I thought I would give you all one of our families favorite recipes! Yum! It is best if you make it up in the morning and then rerigerate until you bake at night. The noodles stay more firm.

2 (15oz) cans tomato sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
10-12 oz pkg. fine eggs noodles
8oz cream cheese, softened
2 c sour cream
12 green onions , optional
1 1/2lb. ground beef

in a large skillet, brown ground beef; drain. Stir in tomato sauce and seasonings. Heat boiling; reduce heat and simmer,uncovered, 15 minutes. Heat oven to 350. cook noodles as directed on package. combine cream cheese and sour cream. Stir in Green onions id desired. In 9X13 pan, layer cooked noodles, cream cheese mixture, meat sauce and cheese. Bake about 1 hour or until bubbly. Makes 10 servings.

Since 1995 we have had Direct Tv and while I love them we found we can save $20 extra dollars a month and have a DVR. So we switched. I think I have the crabbiest guy on the planet in my house at this moment. Ugh! I am also missing out on one of my favorite activities and that is getting together with 3 of my friends on Tuesday's. Sigh!

Also for all of you Dish network people out there will you do me a favor and email them and ask them to add the Sleuth channel to their line up! Nate and I are addicted to old Miami vice reruns and Dish network does not carry that channel yet! I have asked but there is power in numbers!! :)

God is with you!

I received this from a good friend today! I really like it!! :)

God is for you .Not "may be," not "has been,"not "was,"not "would be," But "God Is!!" He is for you .Today. At this hour. At this minute. As you read this sentence. No need to wait in line or come back tomorrow. He is with you. He could not be closer than he is at this second. His loyalty wont Increase if you are better nor lessen if you are worse. He is for you. God is for you. Had he a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If he drove a car , your name would be on the bumper, If there's a tree in heaven, he's carved your name in the bark. We know he has a tattoo, and we know what it say's "I have written you name on my hand,".....(Isa. 49:16

How normal are you?

You Are Fairly Normal

You scored 50% normal on this quiz Like most people you are normal in some ways... But you aren't a completely normal person. You're a little weird too! Why You Are Normal: You are still with your first love You rather be screwed over than screw someone else over You prefer your friends to your family You eat the frosting first You prefer the sun to the moon Why You Aren't Normal: If given the choice, you would choose to have more time over more money When you're in a car, you prefer to be the passenger You know a little about many subjects You would rather be tan than pale If you had to, you rather live without laughter and still have music

What's" Normal About You... And What's Not?

Book written by an birth mom/adoptive mom

A friend asked if I would post this on my blog!! If anyone is interested please click on the link below. All the proceeds go to Bethany Christian Services.

Hi Bethany Family, I’m posting this to several boards to let you know about a wonderful book written by one of our own Bethany moms. The book is called The Perfect Present and was written by Gayle Opp. Gayle is a birth mom and an adoptive mom (domestic, China). I love this picture book because it can be used as a springboard to talk with my daughter about her birth mom as well as her adoption into our family. Gayle used paper doll cut-outs to illustrate her book, and several of the dolls could represent various children from around the world (i.e. not just Caucasian) making this picture book suitable for domestically and/or internationally adopted children. What sets this adoption book apart from others is how Gayle points children to Jesus and how God gave us His only Son. She also includes her own story on the last page of the book (keep a Kleenex handy!). You can see some sample pages from Gayle’s book here: http://discussion.bethany.org/viewtopic.php?p=510053#510053 (scroll to the end of page 2). You can order Gayle’s book from Bethany here: http://www.bethany.org/A55798/bethanyWWW.nsf/0/4688203EA5BDB8C0852570DD006AF917?OpenDocument (Gayle is donating 100% of the book sales to her local Bethany office.) Thanks for taking a look and supporting a new author/illustrator and Bethany!

A Song for Saturday

I am not one that cries very easily. Some movies can make me cry. Quite a few songs can make me cry. Songs move me like nothing can. Songs about our salvation, God, and our Lord Jesus make me cry.

This is one of those Songs.

Lazy week

This week has been kind of lazy. Not much going on.

We were told that we had a earthquake this morning but I did not feel it myself. Or I slept through it. We had bikes knocked over and some of our wood fell off the pile but that was about it!

Monday night we had to go up to the middle school for Orientation to start getting Nik ready. I cannot believe my oldest is going into 6th grade. It just does not seem real to me.

He was not sure if he wanted to be in band or Choir but he has chosen choir. I would never tell him which way to go but he loves to sing so that is what he has chosen! I for one am very excited! He has such a great voice. I wish you could all hear him really sing. He does it more when he is a lone and his voice is just beautiful. I am praying this will give him more confidence.

Heather and Katie have two weeks of swimming lesson up at Hudsonville High school. They are loving it and having a blast. This is a part of their school day and totally free to us! Praise God for that. They will take it again when they are in 4th grade.

Caleb and Hannah are doing well. Caleb's reading is coming along nicely and he loves to spell out words every were he goes.
Hannah is doing pretty good in school. We are excited as she will have ESL (english as a second language) classes next year. That should help her a ton!

That is about all!!

What kind of dog are you?

Here is my answer!


You are a Golden Retriever!
Laid-back, sociable and well-groomed, you've got your own hip little pack of groupies who just love to be around you. You have a brain inside that adorable little head of yours, though you use it mostly to organize your hectic social calendar. You never poop out at parties, and since you're popular with ladies and men, as well as children and adults, you dish out your wit, charm and luck to whomever is close enough to bask in it. The top dog likes you and wants to be your best friend, despite the fact that he doesn't really know what the heck you do. No one does, in fact, but everyone loves you all the same. A true foodie, you’ve got your keen ears fine-tuned to make sure you don't miss out on the opening of a trendy new place to nosh. But your youthful days of being able to wolf down food 24-7 are wagging behind you, meaning you've got to watch what you eat so you don’t pull a Brando and outgrow your coats.

Take the quiz again ››
Give it another shot and see if you get different results.

Take all of me!

I just LOVE this song and the words always speak to me and make me a little teary eyed! Enjoy!



Take all of me by Hillsong United

You broke the night like the sun

And healed my heart with Your great love

Any trouble I couldn't bear

You lifted me upon Your shoulders

Love that's stronger

Love that covers sin

And takes the weight of the world

I love You

All of my hope is in You

Jesus Christ take my life

Take all of me

You stand on mountain tops with me

With You i walk through the valleys

You gave Your only Son for me

Your grace is all I rely on

I love You so, and I give up my heart to say

I need You so, my everything

I am an Exclamation Point!!

I found this on Kim's blog! This should really get the comments rolling on this post for those that really know me! LOL (except, I really can keep secrets!!)

You Are An Exclamation Point

You are a bundle of... well, something. You're often a bundle of joy, passion, or drama. You're loud, brash, and outgoing. If you think it, you say it. Definitely not the quiet type, you really don't keep a lot to yourself. You're lively and inspiring. People love to be around your energy. (But they do secretly worry that you'll spill their secrets without even realizing it.) You excel in: Public speaking You get along best with: the Dash

http://www.blogthings.com/whatpunctuationmarkareyouquiz/">What Punctuation Mark Are You?

How does my blog read?

I found this on Mari's blog!

Mine is easy reading!

Movie Reviews

Ransom

This monkey is being held for Ransom. If the owner of this monkey
Does not want to see it in Haiti July 19-27 she will need to be really, really
kind to me everytime she sees me or emails me or comments me!!! :)
If she forgets even 1 time then Monkey is going to Haiti as our team mascott.
Or you just never know what else monkey may be doing!
The next few months are going to be bliss!!! Right Tori?

Sing to the King!!

I love this song! We have been singing it at church for awhile and it always gives me goosebumps!!






Here are the words:

Sing to the King Who is coming to reign

Glory to Jesus, the Lamb that was slain

Life and salvation His empire shall bring

And joy to the nations when Jesus is King

Come, let us sing a song

A song declaring that we belong to Jesus

He is all we need

Lift up a heart of praise

Sing now with voices raised to Jesus

Sing to the King

For His returning we watch and we pray

We will be ready the dawn of that day

We'll join in singing with all the redeemed

'Cause Satan is vanquished and my Jesus is King

Beautiful spring day!!

I have not had a ton to write lately but his week is spring break and the weather today is so beautiful! Thank you, Lord for this wonderful gift!! All the kids are outside, neighbors are outside again and windows are open!!! Enjoy the day!!!

Its all about HIM!!

My friend Amy sent me this today!!! It is powerful!!!

Prayers answered!!

While I still cannot reveal on my blog what is happening I want to thank you all for the prayers said on our behalf!!!

God has answered those prayers and we are so relieved to have this behind us!!!

It things had turned out different we would still praise God but we would have known that certain doors are shut and while itwould have hurt at this point doors are still open!! Its not always easy to speak the truth but God has blessed it!!!

God is moving!

I do not know about you all but I feel God moving big time. It is an excitement that I cannot explain... Its like a young child on Christmas morning waiting to open their present!!


After we arrived home from Haiti in August I awoke in the middle of the night with a very large voice in my head. All it said was "be prepared" nothing more. It was a little strange but I remember it so vividly like it was yesterday. I know I wrote it about it on my blog before and I know I have talked to people about this and my thoughts always goes back to this wondering what God meant by it.

Friday I was with Diane to do our weekly Manna meals shopping and on the way home she had to stop at the Scouts store for her son. I had never been there before, in reality never knew it even existed. When we went inside there was a really nice fire place with a large wood mantle. There were two very large words carved into this mantle. It stopped me dead in my tracks and my eyes were very wide. The two words were:

Are you ready?

Be Prepared

I couldn't even believe my eyes!!! How cool is that!!! Again God showed himself to me in ways I would never imagine. It stopped me dead in my tracks for sure.


This week some things have happened where we have had to confront someone with the "Truth". What is so crazy is that God has given us such a huge peace about this and we know we are following His leading. God may be opening some doors or He may be shutting these same doors. Which ever way God leads it will be to His glory!!!

Another close friend told us that God gave this message to her this morning. This all has to do with the same things going on and it just gave me tears.

Isaiah 61
The Year of the LORD's Favor

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, [a]

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes, the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of their shame
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.

8 "For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and iniquity.
In my faithfulness I will reward them
and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed."

10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.

While I cannot at this time say what is exactly going on please pray with us that the truth is revealed and that eyes are opened!!

What kind of flower are you?

I saw this on my friend Dawn's website this morning.


table width="145">

I am a
Sunflower


What Flower
Are You?




Not sure if this is correct or not?!! LOL

Typing test

I saw this on my friend Mari's blog this evening!

I love typing so this was fun!!

71 words

Resurrection day!

Hope you all had a wonderful resurrection day. We had a nice day at my In-laws and at my grandma's house last night.

Every 1st Sunday and every 3rd Saturday we have homegroup!! I just love our homegroup. We have some great families in our group. Two of them blog. Diane and Tammy.

We have been really getting into the biblical meaning of the different holiday's. The first one that we have been studing and researching is the Origin of Easter and how it came to be. We then dive into the bible and see what the early church did and what does the bible say.

It is a little scary. I urge each and everyone of you as a True believers in Christ to do a little research yourselves and see what you find.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful today and always for my Saviour dying on the cross for ME!! I am also thankful that Christ is coming again............ Enjoy!

Incredible kids day!!

I heard that today was Incredible kids day!!!

Here are my Incredible kids!!
Nikolas










Caleb














Heather













Hannah (I couldn't find any newer pictures on the computer for some reason)

Katie

I still marvel at the way God put our family together!!!! I love you guys!!!

My niece's wedding reception!!

My niece, Sarah, was married this past New Year's eve in Hawaii.
A week ago Saturday was the wedding reception (I know I am so late but no time to blog just read!!)
It was a very nice time!!

This is Nate's mom and dad!! They are such nice people!
I am so blessed to have wonderful inlaws. We had to all
wear these shell necklaces! Nate was not happy!!! His picture
Did not show up well!!

Sunrise!!

This was today's sunrise!! It was just beautiful!!!! The picture
Does not begin to do it justice.

Anonymous gift!!

Yesterday Nate and I had a nice surprise waiting in our mailbox at church!!!

We received one of those wonderful Day spring Faith forward cards and the song was

Chris Tomlin's "How great is our God"

Inside of the card was a 50$ gift certificate from Circuit city! My jaw dropped! I was speechless for a few minutes. (That says a lot for those of you who know me) It brought tears to me eyes. The card was not signed but you can bet I tried to decipher the writing on the envelope! We do not know who this is from but if you read my blog or you know the person who does please tell them thank you from us!!

We thank you so much!!!! It was such a nice surprise and blessing from God!!! I think Anonymous gifts are the most fun thing in the world but I would love to thank that person!! LOL

Thank you, thank you!!!!

Free to fly award!

Thanks Diane for the award!!

It reads like this:
I have wanted to be able to make an award that I could share with some of those blogs that consistently make me laugh, make me think,and inspire me to grow and to reach.The types of blogs that do this for me have a few things in common.Like a butterfly becomes beautiful,by living a quiet life, hidden for a season,while beauty develops on the inside.That same butterfly has to go through a season of struggle before it is Free to Fly!Once it IS Free to Fly,that butterfly NOW has a beauty we all are blessed to see.Everywhere the butterfly goes,it spreads pollen and makes it possible for flowers to bloom and fruit to be developed.You could say it leaves a trail of life in its wake!What a beautiful thought!Butterflies don't go around trying to be beautiful.They don't say "hey, look at me".They just ARE, they just DO, they just LIVE.All that time spent hidden in a cocoon,was not wasted.The time and effort spent struggling to get out of the cocoon made the butterfly strong and ABLE to fly!I have been blessed to find many women through blogging,who have allowed the struggles of a hidden life,serving in ways that are often unseen and seemingly inconsequential(judging from their lack of entourage, paparazzi, and assistants!That IS what our culture uses as the standard for recognizing importance, right?)to make them strong, make them able to find the humor,able to see the big picture and to find the purpose in the everyday matters of investing in the lives around us.Their ability to focus on the things that REALLY matter,and to allow the struggles of life to strengthen them,leaves everyone they come in contact with a deposit of "pollen".A little dose of the grace that is unique to them,which adds wisdom, humor, truth and just a little whiff of the fragrance of Christ that is unique to them!They are some wives or mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and nieces.They fulfill all sorts of roles in and outside the home.In their church and outside their church.The world is a more beautiful and abundant place because of the daily choices they make.There are two scriptures for this - they work together:"He has made everything beautiful in its time.He also has planted eternity in men's hearts and minds[a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy],yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."Ecclesiastes 3:11&John 10:10"The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.I came that they may have and enjoy life,and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."
Now I need to pass it on to 5 wonderful people who inspire me:

Actually it will again be more than 5 so I am sending this award to all the women in my first post!!!

You make my day!

Cheri game me this wonderful award! Thank you!!

"The rules for the “You Make My Day” award are to re-present it to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blog land. Let them know through email or by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times, and if you do, consider yourself really, really loved. So to pass it on and keep the love going."I'm passing this on to:

Cheri

Julie

Diane

Kim

Jennifer

Karla

Kimberly

Cherdecor

Ginger

Tara

Tammy

Mary

Melissa

Tori

Kathy F

Yes I know that is more than 10! However these women reallly make my day!!

Stress Part 2

I feel much better today! I think this weekend just wore me out. Part of it was I had a sick husband on top of things. We also spent the day yesterday watching Haiti videos that we received on Sunday from on of the team members. See the Carribean really did wonders for me! LOL

Seriously. Nikolas has a mood ring and I put it on and it was completly black. After watching the Haiti videos it went to completey green. Which means calm. It was quite comical. Hard to imagine that a country torn up such as Haiti can make me feel so calm.

Thank you for all the wonderful verses!! I love them and it it is so good to be reminded that God is indeed in control ALL the time!! I love that because there are times I do not want to be in control and I can jus rest on His wings!!

I also had a very good friend, Tammy, remind of something in a book we are all reading or have read.

It is called the Heavenly man. It is a wonderful, powerful testimony of a man who they call Brother Yun. He was a leader in he house churches in China and has been persecuted many, many times for his faith. I reommend this book to everyone.

Anyways this is what Tammy reminded me of and will give me lots to think and pray about.

We were talking about the Heavenly Man book where Brother Yun is told that he needs to put Christ first, then his family, and THEN his ministry. I think that's a tough one for a lot of us. Ministries (or "programs") kind of take priority sometimes.

Thanks for that reminder, Tammy! I know I cannot do it all. I know I need to ask for help!

By the way, Tammy, what are you doing next Monday! LOL its time time set up the next kingdom cove rotation!!! :)

May you all have a blessed day!!

Stress!

I cannot seem to figure out why I feel so much stress lately. I do NOT have seasonal depression. I am very happy to stay in my warm little house. I would love to see how warm weather but I just think that life has just been too busy with too much on our plate. We had a talk about this at home group last night.

I think back to this past weekend and how much I crammed in. It was all wonderful stuff. It was all stuff that was glorifying to the Lord. However how much is too much. I had not one minute to spare this entire weekend.

What are some ways that you are all able to really truly de stress. One of my favorite ways is to take many hot showers!! :) They have to be HOT!! Anyways if you could all share with me some of your favorite bible verses that help you to de stress I would be grateful!! I know I have a few good friends out there that can use this as well.