Merry Christmas to All!

I first must apologize for not blogging for so loooonnnngggggg! Honestly this is what happened. My laptop computer died. So I have gone back to a desktop with a big monitor, keyboard, hard drive, and I am thankful, but it is slow. And I can't upload photos on it, and I have been thinking for the past 3 months that I will be getting a new computer really, really soon. But, here we are December 21st and no new computer in sight. So I will press on and blog from this computer.

The school year has been great, intense, and super fun. All three kids are thriving, growing, shining! I am so proud of them. We have put in tons of after school hours studying and reviewing, preparing for the I-Step and NWEA tests that they take throughout the school year. The school system bases so many things off of the results from these tests, so I figured we might as well prepare for them.

Jalen is showing huge interest in soccer. He had a great outdoor season, playing goalie alot and loving it. He is now playing indoor soccer and he enjoys all positions.

Cameron loved football season this year. He can't wait to play again next year. He also did a 2-week wrestling clinic, which he did great at.

All three kids are excited about pursuing soccer more, so that is the plan for the winter months. Indoor soccer!

Our family is in a season of transition right now. It is good, positive and right. Change and so many unknowns is not always easy, but God's peace is in our hearts and His love and grace is with us everyday.

This Christmas season I have so much to be thankful for. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for my three healthy children, my extended family, my home, my friends. I look around daily and feel so extremely blessed.

My baby turns 7 years old in a few days. As everyone says, yes they grow up sooooooo fast! I am so excited for her Birthday. She is a girl who loves life, loves people, she loves a party! Celebrating her life will be a true joy for all of us. She is amazing! I am so proud of her and so honored to be her mom.

Last but not least, Justin and I celebrate our 16 year Anniversary on December 23rd. I am so thankful to be married to Justin. He is patient, loving, faithful, funny and kind. He makes me want to be a better person, he encourages me daily, he sees the best in me. I am amazed at his unconditional love. 16 years of marriage plus 5 years of dating = 2/3 of my life. And I would do it all over again.

In closing, I often think of this song from back in the late 80's / early 90's. I think it is called "The Great Adventure" It goes something like this: "Saddle up your horses, we got a trail to blaze, through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace. Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown. This is a life like no other, whoa, this is the great adventure." by Steven Curtis Chapman

Flashback Photo

This photo was taken 2 1/2 years ago. One of my favorite shots.

Birthday Party for Cameron & Jalen

Last Friday, we had about fifteen boys, ages 9 - 11, over at our house. This year we decided to have one BIG party to celebrate Cameron turning 10 and Jalen turning 9.

It was really fun having them all here, boys at this age are still so silly, crazy, and loving. We all played "Minute to Win it" games in the basement, ate pizza, cake, ice cream. They had a blast with balloons and silly string. Also, nerf guns and swords were everywhere!

CMU Reunion Weekend Photos

Picture taking time on Saturday evening - oldest to youngest.

Jody and Hailey

Chris, Skydra and Olivia.

Scott holding Justus

Jody, Amanda, Tami, and Katie

Katie, Adam, Brooklyn, Kale and Banner

Jalen, Blaze and Koby

Seth, Stone, Tami, Jason, Madison, Olivia, Elijah (#18)

Kris, Amanda, Anderson (seated), Trevor, Caius, Ryan

First day of school: 4th gr. 1st gr. 3rd gr.

So far so good. One day down. They all had good things to say. I was so stressed I made myself sick, but they are all as happy as can be. I had no idea how hard school could be for us moms. I missed them like crazy. As soon as they got home we all sat down and went thru the 600 papers they brought home from school and I asked a million questions about their day. So glad they all LOVE to talk. Tonight I get to go to the school for the 1st grade parent meeting. Can't Wait.

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life

We have the next 3 days outfits chosen, folded and placed in order for all three kids. We have lunch supplies all ready, lunch boxes cleaned and ready to be filled with exactly what we have chosen for each one. New shoes are ready to be worn. Picture day outfits are ready. Schedules are planned.
All three of mine will head off to school tomorrow. Miah is all day this year. It will be a big day for her tomorrow.
Soccer practice starts tonight for Miah. She has never played before, so another first for her.

You may be wondering, as I am, what is Jenny going to do with all three kids out of the house for 6 hours a day? That is a good question. I have no answer for you. The first few days will be filled with; exercise, cleaning, volunteering at Five Star, teaching at Peakfast, and on my knees praying for those 3 little angels. And once 2:20pm rolls around, I will be helping with homework, listening to the adventurous stories of what happens at Horizon Elementary, making dinner, driving kids to football, soccer, and listening to little ones read each evening.

After the first few days, I may be getting bored. So I am looking into getting a job. Why not? I would like to be useful, helpful, if I get too bored I will just start shopping too much or reading all day long.... so a job would be good for me. So if any of you have a suggestion on a career field for me, let me know.

The End of Summer

We went to the zoo for the 4th time this year. The kids never seem to get bored with it. Cameron begged to ride the train. The others remember how slow and boring it is, so no one else wanted to. We didn't. They love the zoo, I love them, we had fun.

Miah has a stuffed animal with her no matter where we go, she loves dogs of all kinds, and since we don't have a real dog, she takes care of hundreds of stuffed dogs, they all have names and she rotates between which ones she plays with, sleeps with, etc. The one below is "Chewy". Chewy came with us to the Rocket Football Jamboree on Saturday, and since the football players were getting their pictures taken, Miah thought we should do Chewy's photo also. Isn't he cute?

The past few weeks have been full of football, football and football. We are also starting soccer next week and school next week. Also, Miah did tutoring all summer for reading, so we have been diligently reading and doing flashcards also. The weather is slowly changing to Fall, which makes me so so happy!!!!

A little Secret

I have no idea how many people read my blog, or who you readers are. So I have decided to let you in on some inside information.

Justin and I have caught "Beiber Fever". Yes, you read that right. Our kids don't really know who Justin Beiber is, but us grown-ups watched the movie, and now we are hooked. He is such a sweet little kid (I know now he's 17 yrs. old) but to me he seems like a little boy who sings fun/catchy songs. Justin actually is the one who got me hooked, so now we are walking around singing "Love me, love me, say that you love me...." and "One Time, let me tell you one time"

Granger Rocket Football

Tonight was the first practice. Cameron was so nervous. All day he kept asking "how long until practice?". He is a small 4th grader, playing on a 4th - 6th grade team. So this will be a big learning year. (He looks so darn cute in his uniform!)

South Bend Urban Adventure

We did it!!! Our first Adventure Race together. We signed up for the Elite Division (COED) and so we knew it would be tough. The meeting was at 7:30am, then we had 30 minutes to strategize and then the race started at 8:30am. The cut-off time was 1:00pm. We made it back at 12:30pm. So we raced hard for 4 hours. We hit all the check points!!!! and we found the Mystery Check-point. It was fun. The challenges were quite easy but the biking and running from place to place became quite exhausting.
In the end, we thought we had a chance at 2nd/3rd place, but then found out that the checkpoint at Potowatomi Zoo was for a different division and we were suppose to do a checkpoint at Potowatomi kids kingdom. So a stupid mistakes for us rookies, and the rules state that if you don't get every check-point you can't be considered to win, so even though we got 25 check-points one of them was the wrong one.
This event was really "fast paced". We never stopped to go pee or to drink/eat. We were always moving, drink as you ride. The biking is all broken up, so we biked about 27 miles but you are stopping at check-points all the time, and when you do bike you are sprinting a lot.
I wish I had more photos to show, but of course no time for that! (plus we got wet a lot, so it would be hard to have a camera with you.)

Summer: In a Nut Shell

Justin and I at the beach. I love him so!!!
The heart break of the summer, we said good-bye to our beloved Haddie. My mom's chocolate lab was loved by all, she's been around for Cameron, Jalen and Miah's whole life. Saying good-bye was not easy.
Here are a few pictures from the 3-day weekend we spent in Caseville.

My niece, Josey, stayed with us for a week in June. She attended Spring Hill summer camp with my boys. It was a great week having Josey here. She is a real sweet heart and really fun to have around. She's welcome here anytime!!!

The past month has been eventful.

In the past 7 days we have frozen warts on tiny fingers. We have become "do it yourselfers" at exterminating bees, ants and ground hogs. We have burned enough wood, branches, twigs that you would think we lived on 6 acres in the woods.

We have been to the beach like 250 times this summer. To be honest, I hope to never go to a public beach ever again. I am so dreaming of a "lake house" all our own. I love water, the sand, the sun, but I really don't consider a public beach a relaxing place to be. My family loves the beach and we always try to find the beaches with the least amount of people, but on hot summer weekends it is really impossible.

Both of the boys have learned to "do laundry". I taught them the whole system: Sort, Stain Spray, Choose what size load, etc. They are at the age that they love it. At first I decided to only teach one of them, I thought I would only teach Jalen (he's the middle child, and often the oldest does all the stuff 1st). Jalen listened so well and picked it up in one day. He did 4 loads that day and each morning he asks if he can do laundry today? He likes it so much that Cameron kept asking me to teach him, cause he wanted to do the laundry. So I decided to teach him too.

My kids are extremely helpful. They do all sorts of chores, and it is a real blessing to me. We have also done school work all summer. Miah likes it. Cameron loves it. Jalen strongly dislikes it. They are all different. All smart, but they are motivated in different ways and they have different learning styles.

Today we picked blueberries. I am freezing tons for the winter months. Yesterday I made fermented cabbage and red beets.

Justin and I took 4th place out of 30 teams in the COED Elite division for the Urban Adventure Race we were in. We would love to do more races if they were free and we actually had time to train for them.

Triathalon - Justin and Scott

The boys waiting for the race to start.
6:30am - Arrive in Hopkins, MI. Race starts at 8am.
7:55am - all suited up.
Scott and his family, during transition time.
Justin and Cameron after the race. Justin finished in 2 hrs. 42 min. Scott in 3 hrs. 14 min. They both did amazing, this was their 1st Olympic Tri. We all had a fun time.

Life

Uncle Billy and Cameron hanging out.
Uncle Justin and little girl Addison. She is precious!
Summer fun in the backyard with cousins Josey and Addison.
My and her friend, Kate, at the awards day at school
Miah's new haircut, she begged for it. I was hesitant but, it actually looks really really cute. This picture is taken right after so her hair is still wet.

I ran my first 1/2 Marathon today. It was great, fun, hard, really hard, painful, exciting, rewarding and did I say really hard?
The first 5 miles felt great. Even mile 6 and 7 were okay. From there on it was a lot of work. I finished in 2:20 min. approximately. My goal was 2:10 - 2:15 min. I walked some of it, not proud of that, but I am very proud that I did it and I finished.
My brother finished in 1 hr. 40 minutes. His goal was 1:30 min. Here's photos of us before the race, we don't have photo's after, but if you can picture me half dead and exhausted then that would be about right.

Kindergarten Graduation

Miah with her teacher, Mrs. Curry.

Miah wanted to take a picture of me holding her certificate instead of me taking a picture of her holding it.

Miah at home after graduation!

Beautiful, precious Miah.

Miah with her good friend, Emma.

Very Awesome Day

Without planning it at all, I ended up having a very awesome day.

First, I got a hair cut (which I only do about 2 x's a year, and I always love how she makes my hair smell and feel). Then, I went and bought my annual flowers. Lovely. I made, cooked, cut-up all the food for today and the weekend so that it's all ready for the busy weekend ahead of us. I made juice and then sat in the sun drinking my carrot juice and enjoying my beautiful pink flowers. I planted flowers with my little angel Miah. Soon the family and I are going over to hang out and have dinner with a group of friends we love and treasure. I am feeling very blessed.
While I was watering the flowers today, a 8 year old neighbor boy was talking with me and it was just the two of us, so I told him that tomorrow is my birthday and he thought that was cool, so I said, how old do you think I am? He said, oh I don't know, ahhhhhh, 34. I said, wow, you are exactly right!

I'll let you in on a little secret...

Only for my blog readers.... I thought I would tell you what we're doing this weekend. There are some pretty big things happening this weekend.

1. It's my Birthday! Yeah - Happy Birthday to me. I have always loved May 21st, it brings a smile to my face just seeing the date in writing.
2. I am running a 5K with my mom! Yeah!
3. Justin is putting tile in our Kitchen. Yes, you read that right. You are the first to know. We have been getting ready for this for years now, and we finally started taking small steps a couple weeks ago, and here we are. The tile is bought, the cement board is here, the old floor is ripped out and the process is started. I don't know whether to scream, cry or take a nap. This is a lot of work, but also really, really fun. We have dreamed about replacing the kitchen floor from the day we moved into this house almost 7 years ago. It is time. I will take photos and try to post them soon.

May and my ramblings.....

Well, I have so much to write about... but it's hard to put into words all that is going on in my life, my heart, my family and my home. As most people do in the Spring time, we are working on the house a lot. I love it in so many ways, and yet it is consuming some days as well. It is only for a season though. May is always a busy month at school. With three children in elementary school, everyday is filled with some special end of the year activity. Today Miah's class went to Barnes and Noble for a reward field trip *only for those who read so many books. The boys go tomorrow. Miah has a gymnastics field trip tomorrow. I volunteered 3 Wednesdays in a row for Math Pentathlon in the boys classrooms (Never doin' that again). Field Day is next week, Family Picnic day is next week, Talent Show is next week, Awards Celebration is next week, etc. You get the picture of what is going on on my calender.
Justin had a big week last week. Five Star had a radio-a-thon fundraiser on Thursday and Friday. It was really fun to listen in and amazing to hear what parents had to say about Five Star and what Five Star coaches had to share. The support of the community was Big and the the whole event was a success!!!
This Sunday I run in my first 5K of the season. I hope it goes well. I haven't been training as much as I would like, due to lack of T.I.M.E. Not a good excuse I know, but it is what it is.
Today I am filled with lots of gratitude for my Justin and our 3 little ones. They bless me daily with their love and hugs. I am so proud of each of them in so many ways. Cameron and Miah were STUDENT OF THE MONTH this month at school. (Jalen was already this school year). All three of them won the "Go for the Gold" reading program at school! They are all making good choices after school, it is really fun seeing them growing up and gaining independence.
Soccer has been disappointing this season, due to the weather! We have had so many cancellations due to rain, wet fields, etc. This weekend is our last games and our whole family is sooooooo glad!!
Tonight I teach Spinning at Peakfast. I teach every Wednesday night and every other Saturday morning. My mom is coming to visit this weekend! We are all looking forward to seeing her, and she is running the 5K race with me, our first race together. How fun!!!!
Okay, I am off to clean toilets, make supper, teach spinning, and maybe do some painting tonight.

My Miah

Today after school, Miah had her lunch and then I got out her little kindergarten level books to read before play time. She read the first 3 really quick and then started whining, complaining about the next 2 that I had picked out. I gave her one warning that if she whined again I would give her a time out.
So she started reading the book and I was looking at some mail. A few minutes later I wondered what she was doing, found her in her bedroom. I said, "Miah, what are you doing?" She said, "I'm in time-out." I said, "Huh, What?" She said, "I gave myself a time-out for whining."

It was the boys 1st soccer game of the year. Due to being out of town to visit relatives, we got home at 1:30am last night, and Justin had to be up to Manowe early this morning, so it was just me and the kido's today. So We all got up plenty early, got cleats, shin guards, uniforms, water bottles, etc all ready. I also packed a special bag of snacks for Miah just to be prepared. I went outside to check the weather, seemed fine. We all jumped in the van, I made sure the umbrellas were in the van (just in case) and off we went to be to the field 30 minutes early! I thought "we are doing great, awesome morning, this is going to be so fun!!!!"

We get to the field, and things are looking muddy. I find a place to park, in the muddy parking lot, but I think, well the fields are grass and they look fine. We open the van doors and all four of us all think and say to ourselves, "it's cold, it's windy, is it raining??? do we really have to get out of the van????"
The boys say out loud, "Ah Mom, my cleats are going to get dirty..." We grab the water bottles and I grab my lawn chair and 2 umbrellas and head to the fields. I open "my" umbrella to find that it is broken, and at that moment Cameron says, "Oh yeah Mom, Miah broke your umbrella." I say to myself,"Okay I can handle this..." One minute later, I realize Cameron doesn't have a sweatshirt or hat, or gloves, or anything other than a t-shirt and shorts. Thankfully, Jalen is wearing a sweatshirt and Miah has on a winter coat. But, within 5 minutes, I realize that we all need winter coats, gloves, hats, umbrellas and blankets would be great as well. so I run to the van hoping the kids or I have left things in the van (But, I know that I don't like things left in the van, and I am always cleaning it out and I am always telling the kids not to leave things in the van.....") So as I am running to the van to search for any clothing articles, I am kicking myself for trying to keep an organized van.
I do find 3 things that I put in the van at the beginning of winter just for EMERGENCIES, like a car accident in the middle of winter, which is sort of what my morning felt like. I found a pair of big ugly gloves, an old scarf, and an old ear muff wrap.
Holding my broken umbrella, which the wind is just whipping around like crazy, I run back to the field and try to give Cameron the ear muff wrap and my sweatshirt that I am wearing, but as he is shivering and rubbing his hands up and down his arms, he refuses, saying he is not cold at all. Jalen and Miah are sharing the small "spiderman" umbrella and they are sharing the one lawn chair that I brought, they are cuddled together but still cold. So for the first 45 minutes, I stand in the rain with a broken umbrella watching my freezing nine year old play soccer.
Thankfully, Miah wanted to go sit in the van. So I took her their and got her settled in the warm van, but then I knew I had to go back out. Jalen's game was now about to start.
I got Jalen to his field, he agreed to wear the ear muff wrap thing, and he didn't seem to mind the pouring rain or 90 mile-an-hour winds! Cameron's team was at half time, I again offered Cameron my sweatshirt, but he smiled and said no.
I now had been there for over an hour and I was starting to doubt if I could do this. I sat shivering in my chair between the two fields watching both games. Cameron was out for along time and he got so cold, he kept saying I can't feel my legs, my hands are turning blue. The coach put him in, but after a couple minutes he asked to come out, he said he couldn't feel his hands, so at this point, I just took off my sweatshirt and wrapped it around him and he didn't refuse at all. He kept it the rest of the time.

So now I am sitting in the rain, so glad Cameron is wrapped in a cozy thick sweatshirt, but at the same time, I am now in a very thin shirt. I decided I should check on Miah in the van. I got to the van, started it up, cranked the heat, prayed for strength, knowing that I had to go back out to the field. I thought about trying to wear Miah's winter coat, but seeing as she is 6 years old and I am 33, I knew the size difference just wouldn't work.

As I start walking to the fields, Cameron's game is ending, he is running for the van, he hands me my sweatshirt and says that he will be with Miah in the warm van. Awesome. So now it is just me, the spiderman umbrella and Jalen's game. Looking around I saw all the other parents with these HUGE, strong, expensive umbrella's, and here I am with this tiny little thing. But, it was all I had and I made it work for the last 45 minutes. Jalen had 2 goals, he had fun, and even said he got hot.
I have vowed to never be unprepared for an outdoor sporting event ever again. Even if it is sunny and 80 degrees, I will have huge umbrellas, gloves, coats, blankets, etc. I know that the soccer season can only go uphill from here on out.

Foods I eat today... that I NEVER ate 10 years ago

Prunes (dried plums)
Sauerkraut
Sweet Potatoes
Avocado
Coconut Oil
Sprouted Bread
Brown Eggs
Raw Milk
Kefir
Kombucha
Garlic
Sunflower seed butter
Raw almonds
Hummus
Blue tortilla chips
Kale
Homemade Vegetable juice
Red beets
Squash
Grass-fed organic beef
Flax seed oil
Raw honey
Oat Flour
Buckwheat Flour
Rice Flour
Cilantro

I have been thinking about this lately. Over the past 6 years our eating habits have changed a lot at our house. It started really small with things like buying Natural Peanut Butter instead of the kind with sugar in it. And each month things changed a little more. The time it takes to research, plan ahead and actually find good quality food is CRAZY. I remember going into 3 different stores looking for Tahini when I was trying to make hummus for the first time. I didn't even know where to look. When I realized how much better sweet potatoes were for you than white potatoes I would buy them more often, but still bought white potatoes too. And I didn't really eat the sweet potatoes (only Justin and Cameron liked them at first). But, now I won't even buy white potatoes! We are blessed to have a local, organic, Amish farmer to buy all of our dairy, meat, and eggs from. And in the summer months we get our fruit and vegges from him too.
A few years ago I didn't like sauerkraut or squash (Yuck!) Now I eat sauerkraut daily and I love spaghetti squash!!!
Four years ago, I had no idea what hummus was. People would talk about it, and I was completely clueless. Now I make my own, and we love it!

Almost all of the foods listed above were foreign to me at one time. Things like prunes, kefir, and raw milk, I was sure I wouldn't like them. I had never tried them in my life, but I was somehow convinced that they would be gross! But, believe me, they are not gross at all. They are really, really good!

So for all of you on a journey to better health, better eating habits, don't give up!! When we add up all the small steps we take, it makes a BIG difference. And years down the road you and your body will thank you for taking the time.

Seeing through eyes of LOVE

http://www.lightsource.com/ministry/joel-osteen-ministries/?gclid=CMOOiYjVkKICFQ0hDQodXQgb-A/

This is a really great message that I listened to today, I thought I would share the link with you all. If you have 20 minutes while your doing dishes, or folding laundry, take a moment and listen. You'll be glad you did.

(Just highlight and copy the link and then paste it into your web browser and click on it.)

What have I been making lately??????

Kefir is a fermented milk drink. The word kefir is said to have originated from the Turkish word "Keif" which means "good feeling". Kefir dates back many centuries to the shepherds of the Caucasus Mountains who carried milk stored in leather pouches where it would ferment into fizzy sour yoghurt.

Elie Metchnikoff, a Nobel-prize winning biologist at the Pasteur Institute, first suggested that lactobacilli might counteract the putrefactive effects of gastrointestinal metabolism in 1908. He attributed the long and healthy life of the people of the Caucasus Mountains to their consumption of soured milk. In modern times there's a great deal of interest and research into probiotics and the health giving properties of fermented milks like kefir.

The Kefir Culture

There are two types of kefir: water kefir - small transparent grains that ferment sweetened water; and milk kefir - white or cream coloured grains that look rather like cauliflower florets that ferment milk.

Kefir is a living culture, a complex symbiosis of more than 30 microflora that form grains or cauliflower-like structures (sometimes called plants) in the milk. As the culture ferments the milk these structures grow, creating new grains in the process. Real kefir from live culture is an endlessly self-propagating process.

Microorganisms present in the grains include lactic acid bacteria, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lb delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Lb helveticus, Lb casei subsp. pseudoplantarum and Lb brevis, a variety of yeasts, such as Kluyveromyces, Torulopsis, and Saccharomyces, acetic acid bacteria among others. They give kefir excellent keeping qualities by keeping putrifying bacteria that might otherwise colonise the milk at bay. They've been shown to inhibit both salmonella and E. Coli in laboratory tests.

Kefir and Health

Kefir has many reputed health benefits. It has antibiotic and antifungal properties. It's been used in the treatment of a variety of conditions, including metabolic disorders, atherosclerosis, and allergies, tuberculosis, cancer, poor digestion, candidiasis, osteoporosis, hypertension, HIV and heart disease. You might find it odd that that a drink containing yeasts would be good for treating candidiasis but it has been helpful to many people, both by restoring a better balance to the gut flora and because some elements of the microflora will kill off Candida Albicans. Not all yeasts are harmful.

In addition to beneficial bacteria and yeast, kefir contains many vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes. Particularly calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, B2 and B12, vitamin K, vitamin A and vitamin D. Tryptophan, one of the essential amino acids abundant in kefir, is well known for its relaxing effect on the nervous system. Because kefir also has an abundance of calcium and magnesium, also important minerals for a healthy nervous system, kefir in the diet can have a particularly calming effect on the nerves.

The abundance of enzymes brings more health benefits, especially to lactose intolerant people, many of whom can tolerate kefir without difficulty, as long as the kefir is raw and not cooked (cooking destroys the enzymes).

Bonus

This week I added a BONUS to the kids chore charts. I add bonuses once in awhile for the kids to have a chance to earn some money or privileges. So the Bonus is this: Clean up the kitchen after dinner (table, dishes, counters, everything). This is a Bonus, so it is optional and only one kid can choose it each day, they have to tell me by 4pm if they want to do it. What do they get if they do it? 30 minutes of computer time.
So today right after school, Jalen tells me he wants to clean up the kitchen today after dinner. So now it is after dinner, he looked at the kitchen, table, counters, and he said, "Oh, this is way more than I thought." I said, "You can do it, I believe in you." It took him 5 minutes to get over the shock of how much work it is to clean up after dinner. He's now been working for 40 minutes and doing a great job, no complaining even. Computer time over here is priceless.

Success Happens when Preparation meets opportunity

"How often do we "sit in the wings" of life, wishing we were doing more, believing that we have more in us, waiting for our big moment? Yet if opportunity were to knock on our door, we might not even be ready. If you are really believing and expecting that big things will happen, you have to put action behind your faith and live your life ready to make the most of every opportunity. I've heard it said that success happens when preparation meets opportunity. That's why it is important to use and develop your gifts and talents so when opportunity presents itself, you will have the confidence to walk through those open doors."
"Don't put your life on hold until the big moment, start today. Every day lived well is one day closer to accomplishing your dreams. Start using what you have and doing what you know how to do, and God will open the door to new opportunity."

Hi friends, I just wanted to encourage my readers today! Live Well, Don't Wait any longer to make the changes that you know you need to make. Take a step today! Stretch yourself, do what God has been telling you to do, don't put it off any longer!

Surely Goodness and Love will follow me

Psalm 23

¹The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want.
²He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the quiet waters.
³He restores my soul;
He guides me in paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
⁶Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

So proud of my boys, they memorized this Psalm along with The Lord's Prayer. Our whole family has been singing/practicing Psalm 23 everywhere we go, morning, noon and night. I had it memorized from when I was younger, but now Justin and even Miah have most of it memorized because they've heard it so much. It has also led to some really great discussions on what it's all about. Way to go Cameron and Jalen!!!!!!!

What's been going on.................

Cameron did a project for the Science Fair. He worked really hard on his project and had fun doing it.
Justin took the boys skiing for the first time. They went to Swiss Valley on Sunday, they all loved it! The weather was great. They moved to the big hills quickly and both boys caught on right away, Cameron even did some jumps and was able stop by turning to the side. They came home smiling from ear to ear.
Jalen has a part in the school musical "101 Dalmatians". He is patch and has 3 lines, plus all the dancing, acting and barking. It is a really cute play and Jalen does such a good job, we are very proud of him and so happy that he got to be a part of this.
Besides all those things, Miah was sick for a couple days, but we attacked her lungs with Silver through the nebulizer and I crushed up raw garlic 3 times a day for her to eat, and she recovered really quickly.
Justin is abundantly busy this month, Five Star is going through an "Extreme Office Makeover" at the office building in Elkhart and Justin is heading it up, so that is a 7 day/night a week thing, very cool, exciting and exhausting at the same time.
I am loving life. I teach a few classes a week at Peakfast Fitness Center. I help out at the Five Star office about 10 hours a week, I volunteer at the school often (too often....) and I am the general manager at home, which I excell at and I think I am due for a raise (my floors have never been so clean).
I recently finished the book, "Love Your Life" by Victoria Osteen, and I must say, I truly do love my life, the up's, downs and all the in between.
We have a big trip coming up and I have a feeling it's going to be life changing. I can't really explain it, I just know God is up to something and it's so exciting and peaceful and I will tell you all about it when we return.
One last thing............ I signed up to run a 1/2 Marathon!!! I am really excited, I have wanted to get into more races for a few years now, so when my brother said he was coming to South Bend to run in the Sunburst, I said "I'm in".