Ru update

Ru went to the doctors yesterday for a check up and some shots. She did really well !! She is in the 97th percentile on her height and 90 percentile on her weight. Well-balanced.

Poop, Friends and God

Well this weekend has been a doozy !! Alan's work hosted a big conference called Frost bike so he was gone Thursday through Sunday late afternoon. Usually that is fine but Isiah got diarrhea and so goes the weekend. In the middle of poop everywhere, the wash basin where the water drains out from my washer decided to clog leaving water all over the basement floor and poopy clothes and bed sheets to sit unwashed smelling up the entire house. It was horrible. And because we did not leave the house, Ru was restless and pretty naughty.

BUT, I have never felt more loved in the midst of this disasterous weekend. So many friends left encouraging emails, facebook messages and one friend, Leah, even called numerous times to make sure we were okay. And then, Ashley and Nick Absalom did about the sweetest thing ever. To avoid my kids eating totinos pizza for the second time that day, they brought over dinner and stayed to eat with me!! But it doesn't end there !! It had snowed a couple of inches and we obvioulsy had not plowed our sidewalks, so Nick got on all the winter gear and snow plowed them for us. Then Ashley took all my clean laundry and folded for me AND did the dishes. Not to mention they had to be in a house that smelled like poop and was messy. It was such a blessing.

What I was convicted about though was that through that whole mess I never once asked God to help me make it through or to lighten my load. I did what my flesh always tries to do- muster it up by my own strength. Yet again I failed and always will. What is so sweet and humbling about this situation is that God showed me mercy and helped me despite my sinfullness.

To all my dear friends, thank you so much for your help and encouragement and for letting God work through you to bless and teach me this weekend. I am so grateful and humbled.

New to Knitting

TA DA!!! My new hat !! 100 % HAND MADE !!! It kinda looks silly on so I just stuck with this picture. I must admit I really like to knit. I think I am going to move on to a scarf that matches. I made a hat like this for Ru but it was really bad. This one turned out way better!!

About Rachel

1.High heels or boots? Boots ! Hello it is winter. Who wears heels in winter. I don't wear heels anyways. I have two kids !!

2. What time did you get up this morning?5:45 for a dentist appointment. I couldn't sleep and the appointment was at 7. They said if you miss an appointment then you can NEVER make an appointment with them again. Weird

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?Slumdog Millionaire

4. What is your favorite TV show?The Biggest Loser

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?A bannana and half a bagel
6. What is your middle name?Renee
7. What food do you dislike? HMM....chicken livers !!

8. What is your favorite song at the moment? No sweeter name than the name of Jesus

9. Favorite sandwich? So tough but probably the Muffaletta at Jason's deli.

10. What characteristic do you despise? Rudeness

11. Clothing? Khaki corduroys and a sweater

12. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation? INDIA


13. Are you an organized person? Not at all. Have you seen my the inside of my kitchen cabinets!!

14. Where would you like to retire to? Only Jesus knows

15. What was your most recent memorable birthday? A month ago. Some sweet girl friends met me for breakfast and then my amazing hubby took me out on the town while our friends watched our kids OVERNIGHT!!!

16. What are you going to do when you finish this? Get Isaiah up from his nap.

17. Furthest place you are sending this? I don't know

18. Person you expect to send it back first? I don't know

19.When is your birthday? January 17th

20. Morning person or a night person? Night

21. What is your shoe size? 8 1/2

22. Pets? NO, I have kids and that is enough

23. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I don't have any cavities !! WOO HOO !!

24. What did you want to be when you were little? a doctor

25. What is your favorite flower? White Roses
26. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?March 7th. I am going to Texas WOO HOO!!

27. What was the last thing you ate? rice krispy treat

28. Do you wish on stars? Heck no. I live in the city. When am I going to see stars !!!

29. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red

30. How is the weather right now? 40's YAY !!

31. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mom

32. Favorite soft drink? Diet Dr. Pepper and IF I am in Texas I go to Sonic and get a Diet Dr.Pepper with Vanilla.

33. Favorite restaurant? W.A. Frost ion St.Paul, MN. Square One in Bryan,TX

34. Hair color?Black

35. What was your favorite toy as a child? I have no clue.


36. Summer or winter? Fall !! But if I had to choose them SUMMER.

37. Chocolate or vanilla? Are you kidding me. Chocolate of course. Who would answer vanilla ??

38. Coffee or tea? Coffee- French Press to be exact

39. Do you want your friends to do this also? Of course

40. When was the last time you cried?Monday

41. What is under your bed? Toys, Ru's underwear and Ru's books.

42. What did you do last night? Watched some t.v. and stressed about my dentist appointment

43. Salty or sweet? Sweet, no contest

44. How many keys on your key ring? 10

45. How many years at your current job? 3 years

46. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

47. Positive or negative? Negative. What can I say, the glass is half empty

48. How many people will you send this to? whoever reads the blog

49. How many will respond? I don't know

50. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? Of course

Dentist

i don't have any pictures up yet but Ru had her first dentist appointment today!! She did a great job. She had a little trouble with the flouride being put in her mouth but overall it went well!!

I too had an appointment and did awesome as well :)

Teaching my kids the big lessons in life

Preschool Fun

One day at the end of preschool, the kiddos went sledding. Ru was so sad when we had to leave.

All of the kiddos at SHINE .

A fun indoor activity !!


Ru has had so much fun at preschool !! I don't think she is going to like having the summer off. She is my social butterfly !!!

Date Night Continued

So Mary and I decided after one regular round to bowl the Fun Crazy way. First you bowl with your right hand. Then you bowl with your left hand, then granny style and then a turn around backwards granny style (pictured here) and then last but not least

Sit down on your but and roll the ball down the alley has hard as you can. (Nicely demonstrated.) May I add that Mary's score only suffered a few points by this new and improved bowling technique.

The guys on the other hand were a little bit more competitive. Though they both did give the fun crazy bowling a try, it was all business.

And this was the funniest sight all night. See those ice cream containers hanging from the roof. That's right folks, they not only serve as decorations but also come in handy when your roof has some leaks in it. These "decorations" were all over the place.

All in all, it was a great night out. The kids didn't kill the babysitter and were all nicely tucked away in bed when we got home! YAY !!

Double Date WHOOO HOOO !!!

So this past Friday, Alan and I went out on a double date with some friends of ours Tom and Mary. We left our kids with a babysitter and headed off for a night of FUN!!

Where does one go for dinner when you have no kids?? Well, we decided on Indian food because really who gets to eat Indian food with kids. (Ok, except for Leah Miller and her very cool kids who eat red peppers, sushi and carrots like it is ice cream !!! Do they like Indian food ?? I bet they do.)

After dinner we thought about going to a winter carnival but decided it was WAY TO COLD and opted to go bowling instead

Had to get a shot of our cute bowling shoes!!

What do you think?

Me and my brother Mike

Isaiah and Ru

Ok is it just me or does Isaiah look like me??

Ikea and the Incarnation

Ru and I were talking tonight before she went to sleep and somehow we started talking about where Jesus was. I told Ru that curious as it may sound, Jesus was everywhere. Ru first told me that I was wrong, that he wasn't everywhere. So I told her that yes, he was everywhere but in an effort to make things a bit simpler I added that there were two places he most liked to be - in heaven on his throne and with people who had humble hearts (Isaiah 57:15). But she wasn't ready to let a small thing like omnipresence go lightly. So we talked about how Jesus was right here with us and that yes, he could hear what we were saying. She then told me that she didn't want Jesus here and that she didn't want him to come into her room or into her brother's room because she was scared. So we talked about how she didn't need to be scared of Jesus, that he could protect us, that he was a safe place. I told her that I didn't completely understand it either but that Jesus did hear and see everything and that we could trust him and talk to him and learn to hear his voice. She then insisted that no, Jesus couldn't come here because he was too big for our house.

And then somehow I thought about Ikea kids furniture:

I asked Ru to think about the kid's table and chairs that she had upstairs from Ikea. I said, "Aren't those kid size and too big for Daddy?" She agreed. Then I said, "Yeah, they are for kids and Daddy doesn't really fit but he's not too big to sit with you at the table and play". She agreed and seemed instantly comforted at this thought. Then we prayed together that she wouldn't be afraid of Jesus' presence but that she would desire, know, and enjoy it.

I've blogged about this before but I'm still amazed at how much God helps me teach my kids and by how much he teaches me at the same time. It's awesome to associate an image of me sitting down at the Ikea table coloring or playing play-doh with Ru with Jesus' posture towards us. Whether you have kids or not, pay attention to these things because they teach us the kindgom of God.

Now right after this we cuddled a bit more and Ru looked at me and said, "God made me daddy." To which I replied, "Yes, he did". And then Ru said, "Just you and God made me, but not Mommy" to which I replied, "Uh, mommy and daddy made you and God made you too, but I think that's enough for one night".

And then I told her to go to sleep.

Clean up, clean up, everybody does their share...

Snow fun

Isaiah snow sledding. He didn't like it very much

Ru liked it !!

Alan and Ru in front of one of the snow men they made

I can't take credit for the snow men. In fact, Alan almost wouldn't let me in the picture since I was in the warm cozy house. Someone had to take care of Isaiah though !!

Opening Gifts

A book from Gram !!

Isaiah LOVED this ball.

A very special doll that Ru inherited from Aunt Natalie.

Ru opening a snowball maker while Isaiah tries to steal the doll !!!

Ru and Alan

My Woman

My Girl

Gingerbread houses

This is the first year we have made gingerbread houses and it was a lot of work but a lot of fun too. We invited friends over because what is the fun of eating icing, gum drops, sprinkles and cookies without moms and kiddos to share it with !!

Here is Ru ready to go !!

The houses before

The houses AFTER. The one above is Ru's

More finished gingerbread houses. The kids (and moms) did a great job.

Our trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving

Well, now that Ru has turned three and things have settled down a teeny tiny bit, here are some pictures from our trip to Ohio. We had a fun time and stayed pretty busy. We had Thanksgiving at the Youth center in Eaton and all of Grandpa's brothers and sisters and their families came. He has 6 still living. ( A whopping total of nine kids total !!). Ru got to participate in the Thanksgiving church service and sang with the other kiddos and even got up and said a little saying. (With some help of course!!) I was so suprised she actually did it. Ru loved getting to play with Brittany, Katie and Regan too. She loved it and still asks where they are .



Mom threw a birthday party for Isaiah, Ru and Brittany. Here are all the kids digging into the stickers with Grandma watching!!

Mike playing with the kiddos

Mom cleaning Isaiah up after his yummy cupcake. Look at his chubby cheeks !!

HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY-A DAY LATE !!

I know I know. I should be shot. But I figure I get sympathy points since we had a HUGE party for her the day before and were so tired and worn out that I forgot to post yesterday !! Good thing she will never know!! I am so glad she is three. I think three will be a good year for her. We love her lots!! From her love of carbs (like her daddy), to her wanting to sleep with me at nights when Alan is gone, to her amazing people person personality, to her love of music and dancing, to her great nap taking (fingers crossed this holds another year !!). WE love her for many many more reasons as well. She is our first born. The one I prayed for, for almost a whole year and then once concieved another 9 months that she would be healthy and grow up to be a Godly woman in her own unique way. She brings many firsts into our lives and takes us on a wonderful ride of "should we let her or should we not let her " . I can't wait to see what the next year brings !! (Raise your Sippy Cup full of Milk with me . . . ) Happy 3rd Birthday Jerusha Carmichael Burdette !!!!