You gotta Celebrate!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!!! On Friday we held a party for Cameron. He picked about six friends and then we invited family, friends and neighbors, ordered pizza, made a cake and blew up balloons!!! Now I love parties, and I enjoy hosting them, and like to plan them, but every time, I am so so glad when they are over. For some reason all the details just consume my mind for the three days prior to the party and then the day of the party is a blur, and the day after is recovery day, and so it is really a four day process. But.................. The reason I will always throw a party for the ones I love, is because I believe in CELEBRATION. I heard a speaker say once, that we should celebrate every chance we get. And I loved the whole message and that thought stuck with me. Life has enough problems and struggles, why not celebrate every good thing we possibly can. So one thing I want to do in our home is celebrate every thing we can. All those little and big successes that happen we try to celebrate one way or another. Now Birthdays and Holidays are of course the BIGGEST. I want our kids to look back when they are 30 years old and have great memories from their childhood. I want them to always know how special they are and how much they are loved! So all in all, it is worth it! The stress, the expence, the time, the energy, the sugar..... it is all worth it! Celebrating the life of someone you love! It is definitely worth it. The smile on Cameron's face was truly priceless!

Rest

Rest is one thing I long for, but I am not very good at it. I'm not talking about sleep. I do that great! I mean resting, relaxing, just happily doing nothing. There is always something to do and usually not enough time to get everything done, and yet resting is so nice. I love to read, that is my big treat to myself. If I can work really hard and get a bunch of "stuff" done, then I can sit and read for awhile. Getting absorbed in a great book is undescribable. I also enjoy a good movie (those rare finds that leave you feeling inspired and happy about life). And sometimes a good TV show can make me laugh or cry and just sit down and relax for awhile. If I love the "idea" of resting/relaxing, and I see the need for it, and I see the value in it, then why is it just so hard to really do it.
At church we learn that God worked for 6 days and then on the seventh day He rested. So most people take that as okay you should work Mon- Sat and then "rest" on Sunday. I love that idea, and my family (the five of us) do that quite well. Sunday's is like family day, so for the most part we don't "work" (except making meals and cleaning up the kitchen)
I find that I need more than just rest on Sunday. (maybe because with three amazing, joyful and high energy kids... it ain't no book) So I try to have some down time each day. Just to chill out and re-group my thoughts, priorities, to-do list, meal plans, etc. I guess it is a way to stay organized and not go crazy. Raising three children and running a home requires a level of mult-tasking that is beyond me. I used to think I was a relatively organized person, with a decent memory and able to multi-task alright. But I prove myself wrong everyday. This job I call "being a mom and wife" is way beyond my capabilities. But by God's grace and with His help things keep going. I am reminded daily that I can't do it alone, and my prayer everyday is for God's wisdom on what choices to make, God's strength to get through the challenges, and God's love to flow through me. The Bible says that "Love covers over all wrongs". And that gives me peace. I may do a lot of things wrong, but I will continue to love no matter what.
I write all of this to you as I sit on the sofa, resting, (I pushed myself too hard yesterday at the gym, and my back is suffering today). So my husband went to a soccer game with the kids, and gave me instructions that I must REST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Blog is sensored

Justin is sitting right here beside me, so I am unable to really speak my mind, if you know what I mean. He gets a little freaked out about who might be reading this....... so I will just say.......... what a great day, $200 dollars later and I look pretty normal, at least temporarily. I get more work done on my tooth in a couple weeks. Kids had a wonderful day, made some new friends..... always cool.
Tomorrow I am planning a birthday party for my soon to be six year old. Any suggestions? The skys the limit my husband says, so let me know what you think. I was thinking 6-8 little boys, cake, and balloons. (I think I need a few more ideas.......) Please help!
Off to bed I go, getting up again at 4:55 am, if anyone wants to join me, let me know, I would love to have a "work-out buddy". Trust me you would love it!!!!

What's Up?

Well, I must say we had a GREAT weekend!!! Did I say Great, I mean REALLY GREAT!! We went to visit some friends in Grand Rapids. Such great friends and just lots of laughs! God blesses us all with friends through out our life-times, and these friends are true gifts from God. And the kids had a great time too! I really can't say anything bad about the whole weekend, it was one of the HIGHLIGHTS of my year so far!
Monday morning............ back to the routine of life. My day starts at 4:55am, and it feels like it never ends, but Monday night was a special night, Justin took the kids swimming, while I did so shopping. Yes he took all three to the pool!!!!! They all had a blast, especially Miah, since last year she was too little to go, so she would stay home with mommy.
Tuesday started out as a great day, I volunteered at Justin's office in the morning, took Miah home, and then things turned south a little for me. I was enjoying my lunch when I quickly noticed something weird in my mouth, and so I spit everything out to examine what was going on. My top front tooth had shattered/broke and so I became a hill billy instantly. Now this is nothing new to me, This tooth actually broke about 7-8 years ago, and the Dentist was able to just "cement" it back together. And then about 3 years ago, it fell off again....... and a different dentist was able to "glue" it back together! Well this whole time a big part of the tooth is dead and not attached to anthing but glue, so it became quite frail and brittle. So TODAY was my lucky day, for it to give way and collapse. So off to the Dentist tomorrow for some over due work that has needed to be done for the past 7 years, but we put it off as long as we could. If I had a camera, I would love to post a picture of my mouth! It looks hilarious!

Life

Time just flys by. I think the older you get the quicker time moves. My baby boy Cameron is turning 6 years old soon. It does seem like just days ago that he was a baby with dark curly hair. Cameron asked me today, "If the earth is round, then how are the roads flat? Does the sun really have those pokey things sticking out of it? Is the moon a circle or a thick C? How do you walk on the moon? " etc. Such GREAT questions I thought, as I tried to answer them the best I could. Then he said something, very remarkable. We were on our way to school, and I was driving (of course) and Cameron said the neatest thing. So I said to myself "don't forget that", and I made sure to say it again in my mind. Well, two hours later, I was working hard in the school office, and I remembered the morning conversation, and I could not remember what Cameron said. I was so bummed, I sat there for 5 minutes just trying so hard to remember what he said that was so cool. And sadly, I still don't remember it!! I know it is just a little thing, but it really bothers me. My precious little Cameron was having this great moment thinking about the sun, moon, and earth, and he said something really awesome and I CANT REMEMBER IT!! It makes me think, is my life too busy.... my mind has too much to process that I can't remember the most important stuff.
Well, I'll keep you updated, if I remember........

"Peakfast"

That's where I work. Most people don't know that I am a fitness instructor at "Peakfast". I started there in May of this year. I love it!!! My schedule changes all the time, but I teach anywhere from 1 to 6 classes a week.
I teach Spinning (Cycling), Circuit Training (Cardio & Strength), and Peak Pump (Strength Training). It is such a fun little job for me. I have always had a passion for exercise and athletics, and I really enjoy being an instructor. CRAZY. I really never thought I would find a job that was a good fit for me. (I get paid to WORK-OUT, how COOL is that?????)
So now I am facing the challenge of getting my certification. I like studing and I like the material, it's just hard to use all my "free" time to study for this (as if I have nothing else to do). So it has been a slow process. My goal is to take the exam by the end of this year!!

Miah Elizabeth Maust

Oh, our little princess. Miah is a very girlie girl. She loves to wear dresses, play with baby dolls, and change her clothes five times a day. She loves PINK!!!! She loves having her nails painted, getting her picture taken, singing songs, dancing, and putting on lotion. She loves to be held and to be "cozy" on my lap. She has two favorite blankets, (both are pink). She loves puppies and dogs. Miah will be three years old on December 26th. She started pre-school for toddlers this year, and she loves school very much. Miah adores her two big brothers. She loves to do whatever they do and she especially loves giving them hugs and kisses at bedtime. It is so neat to see the relationship between Miah and the boys, (I know they will be looking out for her in the years to come).
Miah is very expressive and very silly. She is a very confident little girl who loves to make new friends, especially with girls.
Miah is our third and final child, so she will always be my baby! God truly blessed us with her! She makes me smile everyday, just the sound of her voice and the way she says her words brings joy to my heart.
Miah's favorite things to do: dress up like a princess, go swimming, ride bike, play with babies, or go to Belle's house.
Miah's favorite foods: cherry tomatoes, cheese, cucumbers, peaches, blueberries and peanut butter.
Miah's favorite clothes: dresses or bathing suit
Favorite Story about Miah...................................
A few months ago, Miah and I were cuddling together and talking. I began to ask Miah some questions like, "Who does mommy love? She said, "Miah" Who does daddy love? She said "Miah". Who's my favorite girl? She said "Miah". Who's my little sweetheart? She said "Miah" Who loves to read books? She said "Miah". Who loves tomatoes? She said "Miah" Who loves to share? She said "Not Me!!" (I tried not to laugh, but it was too funny) So I went through all the questions again, thinking this time when I got to the question "who loves to share?" she would say Miah, only this time she paused and said in a questioning tone "Jalen????"

Jalen Isaac Maust

Jalen is a joyful little guy. Jalen just turned five years old on September 5. He is in pre-school and kindergarten. He loves books, wild-life, fishing, play-dough, bubbles, swimming and cuddleing with mommy. He is very affectionate and expresses his love verbally a lot. He is so much like his daddy. He loves making friends, but has a special place in his heart for his cousin Koby.
Short story.................
One day this summer I was trying to teach Jalen about manners and how some things like, farting, picking your nose, itching your butt, etc. aren't good to do around people, (instead go into the bathroom and take care of yourself) Anyways, he didn't understand why, so I kept trying to give reason's why, and I finally said "Well people don't really like to be around people who do that stuff, and so they might not want to be your friend if you do those things around them." And Jalen very confidently answered, "Samantha will be my friend no matter what, she likes me just the way that I am." (Samantha was Jalen's friend from school who is a little girl.) I found the whole thing quite humorous, cause I remember a time, (long ago) when Justin's farts never bothered me......huh, I guess we will have to keep our eyes on these two little ones.

Cameron Isaac Maust

Cameron is my oldest child. He will be six years old on October 15th. Cameron started kindergarten last week, and is loving school already. He has a great memory and is very curious about everything. He loves to know how everything works, and once he knows, he wants to do it, all by himself. He is very independent. One of my favorite qualities about Cameron is his thoughtful and helpful spirit. He LOVES to help others and to give gifts to people. Many Sunday mornings he has made breakfast for the whole family all by himself. He gets everything out, sets the table, makes toast, and then calls everyone to the table.
Cameron has many gifts. He connects well with people and when he makes a friend, it is a true friend. He's an artist at heart! He loves building things, painting, coloring, designing. He amazes me with his creativity.
Okay Just one story...........
Cameron was talking to his Grandpa Red a few weeks ago, and he was asking about relatives and grandpa's and grandma's. Cameron has recently lost his Grandpa Dur, and was talking about Grandpa Dur being in heaven and how now he only has one Grandpa. Cameron then made the comment to Grandpa Red, "One down one to go."

Family Day at the Dunes

What a great day! Arrived at Warren Dunes, a state park on Lake Michigan, and decided to hike for the blue clay river right away. We walked thru the sand dunes, up the hills, down the hills and finally arrived at the special little creek with blue clay. So we did what everyone else who goes there does, we covered our bodies with mud. We then hiked back out through the creek this time, over trees, rocks and walking in water the whole way. I felt like I was on a TV show or in Hawaii. It was beautiful and very fun! The kids loved it. Especially Cameron. This was his day. He must have said "I love this" about 20 times and he didn't stop smiling all day. Even at the beach he enjoyed the cold water, he made a huge castle in the sand, he went for a long walk with daddy and Miah. He just did not want to leave, and he asked me many times, "Can we come back here all the time?" When we got home, he helped me make dinner, and at the dinner table he thanked me two times for such a great dinner and a great day.
I treasure days like today. Getting away from home, just the five of us, enjoying God's creation! I have to agree with Cameron, when can we go back?

Jalen would disagree though. The whole mud thing was only fun for about 10 minutes for him. He was ready to get the dried mud off as soon as possible, but.... he would not go in Lake Michigan. Too cold for him. So for the next two hours he sat in the sand, covered with hard blue clay. Everyone else played, snacked, swam, ran around, but not Jalen. He said it itched really bad and he wanted to come home and get a bath. Justin and I found a way to get him cleaned, dry and somewhat happy before getting in the van to come home. But as Jalen and I walked hand and hand from the beach to the van, he asked me, "Can we please never come back to this place ever again?"

Amazing how two people can experience the same circumstances and it effects each one very differently.

My first blog ever

I have been wanting to do this for way too long. My life is filled with three amazing little blessings, who say and do the neatest stuff, and I can never remember it all to tell people, so I am excited to have a place to share all those special moments. Also, God is daily teaching me things, did I say daily? I mean hourly, God is teaching me things and sometimes it is great, and I'm thinking, "Thanks God, wow that's awesome!" but most of the time, it is more like, "Wow God, I can't believe I am 30 years old and I am just know learning this. How depressing! Change is hard. Habits are hard to break."
I have realized that I am not a quick learner in this game of life. Like yesterday I washed one of my favorite shirts (my very favorite shirt) and then I put it in the dryer (which for years I have been hanging my nice clothes to dry instead of the dryer) but, sure enough I pulled out a shirt that is now 2 sizes to small for me! When will I learn to never wash my clothes when I am watching my three kids, cooking dinner, and making playdough figures at the same time.
So yes I am now a blogger. I will add pictures when I can!