My 30th Birthday

Yup....30......

Supposedly this is a BIG number...everyone was quick to give me a hard time and call me old, but I kind of have a different view on it. I have never really had a birthday complex, with the exception of my 25th birthday of course--I was 1/4 of a century, I was preggo and didn't know it yet=extreme hormone imbalance, and I was sick. It was a rough day :(

But 30...I am actually somewhat excited to turn 30. So many big things are happening already this year:

• Graduating from nursing school in May
• 10 year anniversary in June
• 4th baby to be born in June

And that is just naming the obvious ones that I can anticipate! The end of the 20s I was comfortable and complacent...and I have now found myself entering a new season. I feel like I have a lot of decisions that will face me in the next year (i.e. job choices, how to spend my time, which side to feed my infant on, whose hair to come 1st, if I will truly become a morning person this year...just to name a few :)

I also feel like I am back in that place of being forced to trust God...yes I should always be in that place I understand that...but there is also so much that is unknown this year--should I get a job, what should I say no to, where will I direct my time, how is God calling me to be a change agent in His Kingdom, in my community.

I don't have the answers to these questions....yet :) but I do know that I am anticipating the ways in which God will work and I am resting in the comfort of each day in the sense that I know and I trust each morning that I will have what I need for each day and that it will be enough. So I walk confidently into 30...thinking about the future, but resting in the Lord's provision of "manna for today".Rob did surprise me on the morning of my birthday by inviting Rachel and Ang over, then volunteering to watch our three 1-year-olds while we went out for breakfast. It was SOOO great! I couldn't have been prouder of his notion and I was so grateful for GREAT conversation and yummy breakfast with good friends!The girls had dance later that night...they were looking so cute in their leotards~Addy was looking cute too--all natural!After dance, Gracie suggested we order chinese for my birthday--YUM! and they hid my gift and I had to search the house to look for it (I actually didn't b/c Karys got too excited and showed me where it was--just like her daddy!) I was so thankful for the Bringing up Girls book by Dobson--Gracie told me they looked at another book too, but "Mom, this one was so much cuter...and it even had these cute girlies on the cover!"Gotta love this face!!!Gracie and I...she is definitely my sensitive one. She has been quick to kiss me and longing for cuddles lately-I love the stage she is in!!!Crazy girl Karys and I....she makes me smile and laugh!Gracie attempting to take a family photo for us :) mass chaos--just how we like it! I am so grateful for this man...another birthday also indicates to me another year I have spent loving him. It is so crazy to think we have been dating for 14 and I just turned 30...won't be long and I will have spent more of my life with him than I have without....so BLESSED!

Christmas in the Good Ole OC

Last year we had the intentions of starting "our" Christmas on New Year's Day. We just do so much travelling over the holidays and we really wanted to establish a tradition for our own family as well. We we learned this year that as with all things needs to come flexibility. We ended up spending New Year's Eve with my family in Lennox b/c Megan's boyfriend, Taylor was coming to SD to visit and my parents were making LOBSTER for dinner!!! YUMMY! The next day we ran into some sketchy weather and it is just hard for us (or me and the girls) to get packed up and ready to leave. So on the drive home, Rob and I decided to wake up the next morning, make breakfast, do gifts and head to church. I am not a complete plan ahead person...surprise, surprise :) so Rob and I spent the evening after the girls went to bed wrapping gifts and making sure out counts were equal. I thought the tree looked GREAT by the time we went to bed but also struggled a little with the amount of presents under the tree, especially in light of all of the gifts we had already received on the 'Christmas Grand Tour'. All the same, I was excited for the girls to participate in a Christmas that was just the 5 of us ;)They woke up the next morning to the tree with the presents beneath and were eager to wake up Mommy and get started! Daddy was already awake of course ;) Addy doesn't look happy here...pretty sure it is b/c I made them take this picture before they could dig in.Gracie has just really been doing a GREAT job with reading and learning to read this year! She has such an interest and is eager to find books she can read on her own. Hopefully these are some of those she will be reading to the other girls in the future!The big girls really needed new socks this year!!! It was even one of the top 2 things on Gracie's list (a close 2nd to cozy PJ's--definitely our practical child) and they are pretty picky about how their socks fit, so socks for both of them was definitely in the cardsCapturing some of the memories on video--I just smile when I think about watching these videos years down the road when everyone is gathered again for Christmas. Addyson opening her strawberry shortcake doll...The girls shopped and picked out gifts for each other as well...this was my favorite part! It was so fun to look with them and just be so proud about knowing exactly what the other would like and want :) There was some redirecting as to what they would want and what sister would want...guess that is to be expected ;)Gracie with her new baby--Karys and Addy both got new ones for Christmas and Gracie didn't so Karys thought she needed one--almost viewed it as an injustice made right I think :) And Karys really loved the necklaces and headbands we had gotten for Leah so Gracie picked those for her.Look guys!!! Playdoh!We could hardly get Addyson out of the aisle at Alco that had these babies in it...the girls picked this baby for herKarys is such a girlie girl who loves to dress up and is always carrying a purse or a diaper bag, so she got an ornament of a frilly purseGracie got ballet shoes as an ornament to remember that this year she did dance :)Daddy got a framed picture of Mommy for his office ;)Addy quickly got to work caring for her baby...she loved her new wipe box and the little diaper that came with it!I could only find one pair of roller skates and it was actually a random find that had to have been a return or something...so the girls both got the gift to share (hopefully I will find more by Gracie's birthday and it is time to skate outside!)For now they just take turns skating up and down the hallway (the skates are cool b/c they are roller skates for now and then can be converted to roller blades as they get used to them)Gracie was feeling like hot stuff!This is my morning self...but I just love this picture. This was another moment where I was just able to sit next to Rob on the couch and appreciate so much of what we have. I am so grateful for my family and just all of the blessings that God has given us; as we enter the new year all the same, my heart was stirred to be and give more to my children. I had heard earlier that week that we cannot consume ourselves with raising our children to know God, but we can consume our selves with being parents who strive to know and serve God in every way possible and that through that our children will have no choice but to be confronted with the love of God face on. This was hard to wrap my head around/grasp...but I get it. So many times I find myself worrying about my girls hearts, the choices they will make the paths they will take when really they will grow to have free will and make those decisions. I can rest in what I can control--I can control me and my free will (most days :) and I can be intentional and a mom who makes a point to love God and to fully love my children out of that love as a result!

Driving Christmas Day

Every year we are on the road on Christmas day...ppl are usually sleeping in the car, watching movies and just really resting b/c they are just tired from the 1st round of celebrations. And every year we take pictures on our drive from one place to the next--this year we were in Ankeny 1st and then to Lennox. We got the camera out and ready when Addy tried to climb out of her carseat and ended up sliding her arm right out of her shirt! We all started laughing at her and then in true Addy form she began to laugh and be silly and ham it up even more...definitely a JOYlight of our trip!HAHAHA! I just laugh again even just looking at this! Love her attempts to be a little escape artist! It was really unsuccessful....just as a follow up :)Karys and Rob were all tucked in the back of the van watching Karys' new movie 'Toy Story 3'. After a while I wondered why it hadn't ended yet. Rob was asleep and KJ was still watching...Rob later told me that once it was done, she just started it over again :)Didn't quite turn out...but I was the driver for the day
And Gracie was busy sleeping, coloring, entertaining Addy and being our in flight photographer! Good memories from what could be a very uneventful trip!

7 Ways to get your week off to a good start! (thanks Becky Higgins)

This blog really caught my eye today...It was titled 7 ways to get your week off to a good start. As I got closer, I realized the sub-title was so much more than that. Thanks BeckyHiggins for a great resource for my heart on a Monday!

7 ways to increase charity.

In light of the fact that we’re one week away from Valentines Day, love is on my mind.

But … not so much the Valentines kind of love. More of a charity kind of love.

You’ll notice what it says on my homepage: Cultivate a good life and record it. That’s going to mean different things to different people. For me it means, in part, that we try to love unconditionally and treat others with kindness. (It also means a hundred other things to me.) Are any of us perfectly loving and perfectly kind? Of course not. But that’s another part of cultivating a good life — to just do our best. Always.

Here are 7 suggestions of what we can strive to do to increase charity in our life. If even just one of these points might prompt you to do something this week, it was worth the quick stop here on my blog today.

1. Tell someone. You likely have someone on your mind that has had a positive affect on your life. Don’t keep that to yourself. Write an email or letter (the old-fashioned kind that actually goes through the mail system is even better!) and tell that person how they have been a blessing to you or your family. Be specific. You have no idea what that will do to brighten their life.

2. Kick gossip to the curb. We’re human. It happens. But we have complete control in stopping it. First of all, don’t be the one that gossips. It doesn’t look good on anyone. Being critical of others does not benefit anyone. Ever. If you’re in a situation when the gossiping begins, find a way to change the topic and focus on something more uplifting. What an admirable quality.

3. Recognize your blessings. Being proactive in actually talking about the tender mercies in your life or writing down the specific blessings you receive will naturally bring about more awareness of how rich your life is. Cultivate a good life … and record it. Your children will be blessed for reading your words at a later time. You will be blessed for reading your own words. Trust me on this one.

4. Cultivate the potential in others. Quick anecdote to illustrate: Several siblings in a family had a natural singing talent. Except for one of the brothers. As a young boy, they went through instructor after instructor but he just didn’t seem to have the gift. It didn’t seem like there was hope. His parents tried one last instructor and when this boy first sung for the instructor, he stopped the boy singing and said, “Where did you get this voice? That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard!” The boy’s confidence soared, he completely blossomed, and he became known for his singing talent with full vibrato at a young age. True story.

5. Study. If you are religious and consider scripture to be a valuable and truthful resource (I certainly do), carve time out of your day to read scriptures on the topic of love, charity, service, etc.

6. Don’t judge. This is especially applicable to those who you do not yet know very well. When we catch ourselves beginning to make assumptions about someone, chances are we do not truly understand what’s really going on. Mother Teresa spoke this profound truth: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

7. Stop. If you’re the type that seems to be in go-go-go mode all the time (whether you thrive on that lifestyle or you’re just forced into that kind of schedule right now) … how will you ever be able to truly show charity to those who mean the most to you if you’re always so busy? Stop once in a while. Get on the floor with your kids. Look your husband in the eyes as he talks about his day. Listen to your child’s ramblings about whatever they want to talk about. Be engaged. Nurturing any relationship means carving out time to just BE with that person.

I sooo don’t want any of this to sound preachy. I just have these things on my mind and a blog is for sharing, after all. These are just a few gentle reminders of simple things we can all do, that can in turn make life happier — for you, for me, for those around us, and especially for those we care about the most.

Christmas Eve in Ankeny

After spending the night at Chad and Shay's and really getting the chance to catch up with them before we went to bed--that is in b/t taking turns going upstairs making sure Karys and Nathan were staying in bed and working on getting to sleep! (we heard them moving up there and figure they didn't get to bed til after 10!)--we woke the next day to a freshly fallen snow that was continuing to come down! We loaded up the mini vans and formed our caravan with the Pella VL's and took off for Ankeny. Chad commented that it really felt like we were going, "Over the hills and though the woods to Grandma's house we go!"

We got things underway with the kiddos checking out the goodies inside their stockings...Jammies for all and some fun plans were revealed for a future family VACATION next Thanksgiving....so EXCITING!We then headed downstairs to take time for the kiddos to open their gifts...this was interesting just b/c Gracie was running a fever and we were trying to control the pattern that the kiddos opened their gifts in. Everything went really well with a few breaks of course ;) our kiddos are beyond blessed and it is fun to watch the faces of the family members when they open the gifts from them.
Before we got started, Grandpa and Grandma grabbed a picture with the older kiddosThen all of the kiddos piled on Nathan's new sled that Seth redid for him for a picture all together! Addy's first gift she opened was a new baby...of course she wanted it out of the box right away!She was SOOO excited and carried it around before she would even look at another gift to openSee...I told you it was exciting to watch the face of family members ;)Karys LOVED the fairy wings that she got from Heather and Seth...she also loved the guitar that we gave to Aaron Paul ;)And sticking with the theme of "swooping"...Karys soon had Addyson's baby off to her area of the room and was playing with it...on no, this is not good ;)Gracie showing off her new Toy Story 3 Leapster gameThis was ADORABLE--Addyson wrapped up her baby in wrapping paper as if it were a blanket and carried her around and rocked her! So precious!I don't know who was more excited to open this, uncle Rob or Nathan...Rob had text Chad in advanced to get approval for buying Nathan a Marshmallow shooter; I didn't think it was a good idea but to my pleasure/surprise Chad was for it! Nathan really wanted a gun for Christmas--this would be a GREAT compromise ;)The Comfort's with Nathan and his fast as lightening sled!After the kiddos opened their gifts we headed up for a wonderful dinner of turkey/ham and all the fixings ;) This was one end of the table...And this was the other--couldn't fit every one in one shot!Addy loving her food--typical Addyson too, always a finger in the mouth while eating. Nathan gives a smile as he takes a break from his breadGracie, full cheeks and eating like a Rock-Star!and a Fairly princess who also ate very well ;)After dinner it was back downstairs for the adults turn to open gifts...Grandma got us going :)Brent and Doreen--Doreen opened a willow tree nativity and Brent a KleenKanteen Heather with her new Cricut cartridge and Seth with the WinterOutdoor Games for the Wii.Chad and Shay pose for a couple picAnd Rob and I as well ;)After all of the presents were finished, we looked out and it was gently snowing again, so we sent the big kids out to play in the snow!Weird to let them go out on their own, but with strict instructions to stay away from the street, they had a blast climbing through the drifts and up and down the small mounds of snow in the yard.My first attempt to get them to pose for a picture for me :)
Finally a good one--so nice to see the cousins get to do things like this together despite the miles! We had a GREAT day with the Stroud/VL/Comfort/VanWyk families!!! After last year our goal was to slow things down and really focus on spending time together...this is so hard in the season that our family is in, but I really thought it was successful in so many areas. I had good conversations, was able to sit and just be with ppl and then enjoyed the chaos all in one day!