Christmas 2010

This is Christmas Day at Red and Liz's house. We decided to do pictures first thing.
Christmas Morning at our house. It was so fun and so sweet. Justin and I were up by 5:45am, we filled the stockings, got a fire going, cuddled and talked. The kids woke up around 7:45am, and we continued to cuddle and talk around the fire. We read the bible together, prayed together and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. We opened stockings and gifts, such a joyful time. We ate breakfast, colored, and showered before heading to Red and Liz's for the day.
Christmas Eve, the fire was toasty!!! Loved it. We taught the kids how to play "spoons".


Cameron was working on his Christmas gift for Pops. He made a hanging wood sign that said "Merry Christmas". He used his saw, he sanded, widdled out the words and painted.
Jalen did some reading.
Miah loves to paint, so Christmas eve, this was our little girl on the kitchen floor.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were extremely relaxing, peaceful, and really great this year. I praise God for the gift of Jesus. He is our peace. I praise God for the gift of a wonderful, amazing, loving husband. I praise God for 3 healthy, smart, fun, joyful children. I am truly thankful. This 2 week Christmas break has been the best ever, we have all enjoyed being together, seeing family, sledding, games, movies, crafts, all sorts or stuff. And it ain't over yet!!!!

My baby is 6 years old today!

Miah Elizabeth, Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Happy 15 year Anniversary!

December 23 will always be way special for us. In 1994, Justin proposed to me in Frankenmuth, MI half way across the covered bridge. In 1995, we were married at 11:00am at Pigeon River Mennonite Church. We spent our honeymoon in Frankenmuth and Traverse City, MI.

15 years have gone by, and I can truly say, I am more in love with my Justin than ever before. As the song we used to like says, "I've finally found the love of a lifetime". Here on earth, Justin truly is my love of a lifetime. Yeah, I used to be a Firehouse fan (I can probably still sing most of the song even though I haven't heard it for about 15 years).

To celebrate, tonight, the five of us watched a movie together and ate popcorn and ice cream. Next week, Pops and Granma are watching the sweeties for a day so Justin and I can go on our official anniversary date (I CANT WAIT!!!!!)

1st day of Christmas Break

Okay, so over Christmas Break, Jalen is practicing tying his shoes for 20 minutes each day. Miah learned yesterday how to swallow pills whole, (so now I don't have to crush them up and mix them with yogurt.) Miah is practicing her #'s, letters, sight words, and reading her little books every day. Jalen wrote his assigned autobiography today, (whew). Miah cleaned her room today, all by herself (big job)!!! Over the past 2 days Justin and I scrubbed and waxed both bathtubs (we have had hard water for about 4 years, so the hard water film was thick).

It is also, a very Toy Story year around here. My mom got the kids the movie, Toy Story 1. Which they loved, and we already have Toy Story 2, so now maybe they'll get Toy Story 3 for Christmas, (wink, wink). Tonight they're watching #2.

I am reading an amazing book, called "Radical" by David Platt. So far, so good. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book to get you thinking.....

I am enjoying getting Christmas cards, letters and photo's in the mail! And today I put the budget together for 2011. All in a days work......................

Merry Christmas!

It is that wonderful time of the year. We have not sent out any Christmas cards the past few years, and this year we thought we would. I made a list of over 50 names, and then after a big sigh, I said NO WAY! So we narrowed the list to 25 names. Then I started searching through all our pictures from 2010, so find one really good picture of our whole family. No Luck. So then I decided not to send out any Christmas Cards. Then I thought of those few folks who don't have internet, who don't use Facebook, and who would really love a Christmas card in the mail. So we narrowed our list to 11 people. I printed 11 photos. We hand wrote 11 cards, our kids made most of the cards by hand. And I mailed them out!!!!

Today I spent most of my day at the school, helping with Christmas parties. I am exhausted! Yes, it was fun! But, I seriously need a nap!

Christmas presents are wrapped and all under the tree. I love sitting at night, in the decorated living room, when the house is quiet and only the Christmas lights are on. It is such a warm, fuzzy feeling. I am looking forward to the next week. We don't have too much going on, except my brother is coming for the day Saturday, Kids Christmas singing at church on Sunday, Christmas party on Tuesday, Anniversary on Thursday, Miah's Birthday party the Tuesday after Christmas. Besides that, we will be chilling out. Seriously, I am not putting anything else on my calendar. I want to cuddle on the couch, drink hot cocoa, read a book, play scrabble, watch a movie, sleep in, and enjoy each moment, whether busy or not. Each day is a gift. Each year is a memory, I keep repeating year after year that our kids are at the perfect age. I guess as a parent you always feel that way. Like each season, each stage is unique, fun, and precious.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas! Enjoy each moment, hug your loved ones alittle tighter, and try to just relax, not alittle, but alot!

Top 10

Top 10 things on my to do list...
1. Sewing a ripped strap on Cameron's winter boots
2. Running 4 miles
3. Dishes
4. Christmas Cards/Pictures
5. Christmas Shopping
6. Grocery Shopping
7. Gluing Jalen's broken ornament back together
8. Juicing Carrots
9. Planning & invites for Miah's Birthday party
10. Printing vacation photos and putting a scrapbook together
11. 88 pieces of homework from Jalen's teacher for the 4 days of school he missed!!! (I may be exaggerating a tinnnny bit)
Okay, I said I would stop at 10..........................

Top 10 favorite things about our vacation...
1. The beach on the island of Freeport, Bahama's
2. The sunshine, I can never get enough of this.
3. Touring Nassau Island in the Bahama's, seeing the wealthy area and the poverty area, learning the history. (We saw where Oprah has a huge home on the beach in an area that we can't even drive to and just a few miles away there are homes no bigger than my garage with no water, no bathrooms. On the side of the road, there is a government supplied faucet for about 20 homes to share.)
4. Elegant night on the ship, taking pictures with the family
5. Dinner every evening (all 10 of us), we spent almost 2 hours each evening, enjoying great food, trying new things and talking about the days events.
6. My mom, Miah, Josey, and Addison all getting their hair braided Bahama style
7. Traveling through the airports with the kids. They were amazing. They loved all of it and never complained about all the waiting around and all the walking we had to do.
8. Night out with Justin and my mom. I think I laughed for an hour straight.
9. Hanging out with Miah and Addison one night in the room, such sweet little girls.
10. Watching Justin enjoy all the unique foods. Justin loves a wide variety of foods that we never have back in Indiana, or that we can't afford to have back in Indiana. So he thoroughly enjoyed trying new things, and ordering things he hasn't had in years. The smile on his face was truly priceless.

A few favorite moments in the Bahama's

The beach in Freeport, Bahama's was so beautiful, it was a highlight for sure. Justin, Cameron, Jalen, Josey and Aunt Tammy all took a "banana" boat ride in the ocean to go see dolphins.

My mom and Uncle Ty took this boat out to a dock to go parasailing. They loved it.
We took a tour in Nassau, Bahama's, we got to see most of the island, this was at the Aquarium on Paradise Island.
Sightseeing on Nassau.
Fancy night on the ship.
Top deck, water park.

No Internet for awhile.........

We have been out of the loop for about 10 days now. No internet at home. So my life is all turned upside down. Along with that, Miah has been sick, we've been out of town for a day, I am packing for our vacation, and my knee has been not so good lately, so I haven't been able to work-out as much as I like!

But, all in all, things are good. Be ready for when we return from the cruise I will have lots of photo's to post. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An Update to the World

1. We have a new van. Can you believe it??? I am so excited. The kids got out of the van today after school and said, "I love our new van!". That was so fun to hear. We have been saving to replace our other van, which was slowly dieing, we brought it back to life many times, but we wanted to replace it before I was stranded somewhere in the middle of January, freezing my ..... well you get the picture. So we sadly said good bye to our "michele & tj" van. We are very greatful for that van and wish it the best!
So, the new van? Okay, well it is not "new". It is a 2000 Chrysler Town & Country. It was owned by only one person, it's got about 100K miles on it, and it's pretty loaded, it's not perfect, but pretty darn close if you ask us!

2. Tonight we are having friends over! Yeah, we are so excited and happy to spend time with good friends, laugh, share life, enjoy the kids playing together! And I picked up Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner (no pork of course), so I'm just throwing together a salad, then we are all set!

3. Ah, Can't wait to go on a CRUISE. Oh yes, I said it!!! My mom is taking us on a Cruise to the Bahama's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We leave two weeks from today. We are counting down the days!

4. God is such a good God! Through the highs and lows, He never changes. I trust Him. I worship Him, we live to please Him.

If I had $1,000 that just fell out of the sky.....

Let's dream alittle. If I found $1,000 - in the yard, in my purse, in the mail box, in a basket of laundry, anywhere............ what would I do with it?

Well I have pondered this thought lately, and here's what I came up with.

OPTION #1
1. Justin and I would both go the the dentist. (The kids go twice a year, but we haven't gone in 5 plus years) ($300)

2. I would buy a food processor. ($60)

3. I would buy a quality blender, but not top of the line. ($140)

4. I would buy a water softener. ($400).

5. I would give $100 away to charity or a person in need.


OPTION #2

1. I would put all $1,000 into our savings for a new-to-us Vehicle to replace our van.

OPTION #3

1. I would give it all away to charity or a person in need.

OPTION #4

1. I would get new flooring in my kitchen.


How about you, what would you do? And just for fun, pick the option you like best out of my 4 options.

So much to say

Parent Teacher Conferences went great. So fun to get to know their teachers better, and see how much they love your kids. My kids love their teachers and to see that their teachers love them as well is such a great feeling. Academically all is well.
Jalen put together a speech and tried to get on student council. He won!! He was so precious. He prayed about it a lot and he told God that if he didn't get voted for that it would be okay and he told God that he won't complain or whine and he wouldn't say bad things about the person who wins. It was so precious.
I have never known a child who is as helpful as Cameron. I really never thought a child would be so helpful and have such initiative. He just sees what needs to be done and does it. Yesterday on the way home from school, we pulled into our sub-division and he saw two trash cans rolling around on the road (it was super windy). He says to me, "Mom, stop the van so I can get out and get those trash cans off the road." So he got out and put the trash cans up by a tree and he put the cans together so they would be heavier and not as likely to be blown around again (that's what he said).
Justin and I have been loving our IPOD NANO, we listen to podcasts pretty much everyday, and the past couple weeks we've been listening to Steven Furtick. He has a 4 part series out called Sun Stand Still. And he also just released a book with the same title. So I went and bought the book last week too. We are enjoying going through the book and messages together. I will share more about that soon.
As always there is so much to be thankful for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. Health for family
2. 3 amazing kids
3. Home
4. freedom
5. great school/teachers
6. love
How about you? I love your comments. :)

Creative Writing

Mountain Climbing
by Jalen Maust

Have you ever been to Virginia? I have. I like to see people climbing mountains. The people are as high as an eagle. I hear turkey vultures screeching. The turkey vulture is screeching as loud as a lion. I smell fresh air floating. I smell fresh air floating as fast as a cheetah. I touch boulders, some were tumbling at me. The boulders were as big as an elephant! I like to climb trees. Going to Virginia makes me as happy as a lark!


If You Give a Pig a Popsicle
by Jalen Maust

If you give a pig a Popsicle he will want to roll in the mud! Then he will want to do a cannon ball. He will want a bath to clean himself. So he'll ask you for your towel. Then he'll want to go to the beach. When he comes back he will want to refresh himself. He'll want a drink. After that he'll want to take a swim. And chances are if you give him hot chocolate he's going to ask you for a Popsicle.


School Bus
by Jalen Maust

Beep Beep!
Beep Beep!
I ride the bus from school. I have an assigned seat. I sit by Remy, my best friend. I sit by my friends too. I see flowers and homes. I feel great from school.

9 years ago today....

Nine years ago today, our lives changed forever. Our first child, our sweet, beautiful Cameron was born at right about..... NOW. (10:30 am). It was a rainy Monday morning, he weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz.
Today we celebrate his life, his past, present and future. Cameron loves parties and loves people, he's very sentimental, and he remembers everything.

Last night about 9pm, he came up from his room from reading, and he found me on the couch and he dove into me and hugged me good for about 30 seconds. I look forward to this bear-like, emotion filled hug each evening. It is not the hug I try to get from him, or the ones right at bed-time when we're tucking him in. It's this famous, out of the blue, no-words said hug. It often brings tears to my eyes, (but I try not to let him see those). It's his way of showing and saying "I love you", "thank-you mom". It's the kind of hug that neither of us wants to pull away from. It's the hug I will remember always.

My prayer for Cameron today and daily:
Lord,
I pray that out of your glorious riches, you may strengthen Cameron with power through your Spirit in his inner being, so that Christ may dwell in his heart through faith. And I pray that Cameron will be rooted and established in love. I pray that he will have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and that he would know this love that surpasses knowledge- that Cameron will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God! AMEN.

Family Picture Day

We spent Sunday doing family pictures. I have a lot to say about this, but I will keep it simple and say that it was a "once in a lifetime experience". I am glad we did it, but don't ever want to do it again.
Here is some of my favorites. Out of 130 pictures, I like about 50 of them, but I only LOVE about 3 of them. But between smiles, hair, sun-light, shadows, no smiles, etc, etc. I'd say we did pretty good.

(Note: Jalen likes his long hair, he wants to keep growing it. Cameron had long hair until 2 days ago, and then decided he wanted it cut, but then thought it was too short. Miah wanted her hair cut short like mommy's, but we compromised and took about 3 inches off.)

Lovin' the Fall, Workin' Hard, Excited about the Future

Hi everyone,
It has been too long, I have been adjusting to a new stage in life. It has been an adjustment for me, with all three kids in school for the first time. It took me a month to get into a routine and figure out how and when to get everything done.

School is going great. Our school is big on homework, but we are used to it now, and I am amazed at what the kids have learned in just 7 weeks of school. I am so proud of them, they work/study so hard and at this point they all really enjoy school. I am looking forward to conferences in a few weeks!

For the past month now, I am volunteering at Five Star every morning from 8 - 10:15am, then I pick Miah up from school at 10:20 and head home. I love it! There is so much work to get done, and I am glad I have a few hours a week to help.

Other things I've been up to:
1. Planning Birthday Parties
2. Painting the house
3. Stacking Fire wood/sticks for winter
4. Teaching Miah to read
5. Cutting up vegys for Salsa
6. Teaching Spinning & Strength Training Classes
7. Writing a Grant
8. Budgeting & Planning

We have a lot of great things coming up. I think of the future and smile. I am truly thankful and content. I know probably every mom feels this way, but I think I have the best kids in the world. They bless me daily with their words, hugs and kind actions. I see them growing up before my eyes and I am so proud of the people they are becoming.

We are having family photos taken this coming weekend, so I will share those photos with you all next week.

Prayer we have been teaching our kids and praying ourselves as well. "Lord, give me the wisdom to know what's right, and the courage to do what's right, even when it's hard."

BEST WEEKEND EVER!!!!!!!!

The best weekend ever? Okay so I might be exagerating, but maybe not. It is hard to put into words what a great weekend Justin and I had. We headed "away" on Friday morning, and the first thing that happened, Justin surprising me with a brand new IPOD NANO. (Now for those who don't know, we have been wanting an IPOD for about 2 years, and we have really seriously been wanting one for about 6 months. We have looked into the different kinds, dreamed about having one, etc.) Soooooooooo, this was a BIG surprise for me.
The trip just kept going up from there. We had a very peaceful, quiet, restful weekend. We went for a 15 mile bike ride one day, hiked on another day. We went shopping and out to eat on Saturday night. But, the main thing we did was pray, talk, and write. It was so nice to have hours and hours to just be together. We talked about books, plans, goals, schedules, and the future. We set goals, long term and short term. We made decisions. We laughed a lot. We dreamed together, we celebrated together, we grew. We both came back refreshed, inspired, and on mission.
I couldn't wait to get up Monday morning and start living! (So that's why I call it the BEST WEEKEND EVER)

James 1:17

¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Thoughts on a sad week

Monday morning I found out that a family I know is praying for their little twins that are 26 weeks along, and the mom is having complications. The little ones are named Cade and Briella, and I find myself praying for them all throughout the day, asking for them to stay in the womb just a few more weeks.
Monday morning I found out that a wonderful woman I know, who has been struggling with cancer for about 9 months, was close to losing the fight. She is a mom of 8 children, ages 5 - 20.
Monday morning I found out that a little 5 year old girl I knew of, who I had prayed for numerous times over the past two months, had died from cancer.

Today I found out that the mom of 8 died.

I find myself with lots of questions about life? about cancer? I have a lot of thoughts. I am thankful that I know the author of life. I am confident of my eternal future. But, I look at my little 5 year old daughter, and it breaks my heart to think of the family that has lost their little girl. I am realizing that all those around me know someone with cancer. We are all connected to a family, friend or co-worker who is struggling with cancer in one way or another.

In some cases it's not cancer, but there are neighbors, teachers, loved ones who are hurting and sad. I want to help. I want to love well, listen well, give well.

Life is fragile, our days are numbered. Let's hold our little ones close. Let's take the time to comfort those who are hurting. Let's never take for granted the many blessings we have.

Today Matters

Your choices are the only thing you truly control. You cannot control your circumstances, nor can you control others. By focusing on your choices, and then making them with integrity, you control your commitment. And that is what often separates success from failure.

John Maxwell, Today Matters page 167

What's up?

Miah is learning the words "I" and "can". She has the first one down pretty good. She loves school, but this is all so new to her. She is really interested in all the rules at school. She told me today that if you have to go to the bathroom at school, you have to ask your teacher, and you can go pee at school but, they won't let you go poop, because it takes too long. Also, if the sign on the bathroom door is green with the letters "go" on it then you can go pee, but if the sign is red and says "stop", then you have to wait.

Jalen is learning what to do if other boys are making fun of you. The past two days Jalen has come home happy telling me what happened when another boy was saying mean stuff to him, and he said back to the boy, "You can say what you want, but it's not working with me, it's not the truth, and it doesn't bother me, I'm just gonna keep playing with my friends." "It's not working".

Cameron loves his teacher and is very loyal to her. She really "gets" him, and Cameron wants to work hard and impress her. His school work and effort is amazing to me, I am so proud of him.

We are getting into a good routine with the school year now in it's third week. My days are way busier than I had hoped. I am trying to stay on top of everything and balance home, school and office.

5 things I am thankful for today:

5. My van is working.
4. Whole family is healthy.
3. Kids have GREAT teachers and a phenomenal school.
2. My God is trustworthy and real.
1. I have the best husband in the world!!!!!!!


Looks like we will have a couple commuters....
The other day, in the van, just Miah and I, Miah asked me if you have to "go away" to college. So we talked about college, and how most kids live with their friends at college. She asked if you had to go to college, so we talked about all that. She then said, "Mom, I want to live with you and daddy when I go to college, I want to come home every night."

Later that same day, when it was just Jalen and I, he asked me about college. (Not as many questions as Miah) But, he concluded that he wants to live at home, he doesn't want to live with friends when he's in college.

2nd Year in the Three Rivers Tri-athalon

In the water, (he's in the middle with his arms stretched out.) Bright and early in the morning!
Minutes before the race......
Completed the 500 yard swim in about 10 minutes, now he's off to bike 12 miles.
After the race, (about 1 hr and 20 minutes), lots to talk about. Justin's here with good friend, Mike Rzeszutko.
Quick photo with his three biggest fans!

The race was fun, awesome and such a bummer at the same time. A few miles into the 12 mile bike, Justin's pedal on his bike broke. He had to stop and he couldn't get the pedal back on, so he pedaled the last 8 miles with one leg. Crazy, right! I am impressed by his determination and my heart breaks at the same time, cause the biking is his favorite part of the tri-athalon and it's his strongest element. I think his time would have been 10 - 15 minutes faster if he had 2 pedals. He finished strong with a great 5 K run in about 22 minutes.
Way to go Justin!!!! You're #1 in my book!

For all those wondering.....

I get asked often, "What do you pack for your child's lunch?" so this year as I was planning and thinking, I decided to take a few pictures and take time to blog about it.
(Let me give a disclaimer, I, in no way think this is the perfect thing to feed a child for any particular meal, this is simply my choices based on each individual child's likes/dislikes and nutritional needs. I figure why send a banana with a child for lunch if they are just going to throw it away, and why send a sandwich with a child who will bring it back home everyday with 1/2 a bite taken out of it.)

I tried to balance: 1. What they like. 2. What is healthy 3. Protein & Vegy for sure. (So basically what is fun enough for them to eat in front of friends and what is healthy enough for mom to feel good about.)

Breakfast & Vitamins

My kids each have a bowl of vitamins to take first thing. It is different for each of them, b12, b6, folic acid, vitamin C, immune boosting pills, probiotic drink, magnesium drink, and green pills (Chlorella and Spirulina).

Each of the kids then has a "shake" for breakfast. They each like it a little different, but all the shakes contain 1 raw egg, 12 grams of egg white protein, and 1 tbls. of Flax Oil. So each shake has between 20-28 grams of protein. To make the shakes yummy we add, goats milk, almond milk, raw honey, bananas, peanut butter, yogurt, etc. Each child is different.

After they drink their shake they can have a bowl of cereal if they want. I chose this cereal because of it's fiber, protein and low sugar content, as well as it's whole grain ingredients, and the kids love it! It is not organic (wish it were), but it fits in the category of kid friendly and mom's okay with it, and when I go to the store I don't have to wonder what cereal I am going to buy, I buy one kind and the decision is done! Also, we switched to raw organic goats milk a couple months ago, and we are happy with that decision. I also buy almond milk.

Lunches
Packing lunches is what we do. I let the kids have "hot lunch" for 2 weeks last year, just to see what it was like and because they wanted to try it. After the novelty wore off for them, we agreed that I would pack their lunches. It costs about the same or more for me to pack, but I like having control of what they eat, and I am able to buy much higher quality items for them, and if they don't eat everything at lunch they are to bring it home and they can eat it after school. After much trial and error on what works to pack,(somethings get cold, or get hot, or are too messy, and somethings that they will eat at home- they won't eat at the school lunch table with their friends watching!) So here's somethings we are putting in their lunches currently.

Cameron's lunch today. (Apple, Yogurt, Superfood green juice, protein bar)

Jalen's lunch today. (Peanut Butter sandwich, carrots, cucumbers, granola bar, cheese stick, water.)

Snacks for after school

This is the plan for now. Crackers, tuna, cheese, banana slices, apple slices. And dinner will be served between 5pm - 6pm.

So that's the plan for the Maust home for now. I have it all written down of course, my three kido's are very different and it helps to have written down how they like stuff, and writing it down helps me to calculate out how much protein, fat, vegys, fruit, etc they are getting each day.

First Day of School