motherhood reflections -- almost three

Hang with my while I reflect a bit...

I find myself looking at Greta several times a day and thinking...my baby is really growing up.  Greta Alice will be turing THREE in just over a month.  Where do the years go?  Why does time have a way of being such a thief?  Am I treasuring these younger years to the the fullest or am I distracted by my never ending to do list?  Am I loving my kids enough?  Am I teaching them enough about God's unending love and grace?  Am I modeling the right character traits for them to emulate?  Am I giving them too many treats and plenty of veggies?  Do I play with them enough?  Do I let them watch too much tv?  Am I too firm with my expectations and loving enough in my approach?  Are my words seasoned with grace and kindness?  

The list could go on and on.  The questions we ask ourselves as mothers on a daily basis are too many to count.  Motherhood is hard, yet its rewarding and beautiful.  Hudson and Greta (and Roy of course) are my dream come true.  I always wanted to be a mom and I am forever grateful for God's abundant blessings in my life with them.  Even though our journey of growing our family hasn't looked as we had planned, and I feel sad about my baby turning three, I don't want to miss out on the sweet moments of each day because I'm hoping for something more.  That is robbing God of his beautiful goodness.  Savor today.  Enjoy tomorrow.  Cling to God's goodness.  Live with the truth of the gospel on your forehead and worship Christ every step of the way because he is worthy of it all.         

loving others & others loving

As I was scrolling through all the random photos on my phone I was trying to think of some sort of theme that would bring them together and two words came to my mind...loving others and others loving.  I am thankful for the countless ways people love us and the gift it is to love others.  

1 John 4:7-12, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and send his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."  

Loving Others = Daddy, Hudson and Greta cheered on the ADM Cross Country team  

Others Loving = Greta Girl got this outfit as a gift from our former neighbor Peggy 

Loving Others = Hosting missionaries Israel and Sarah and making new friends from Portugal  

Loving Others = Making waffles for breakfast, an American treat for our guests 

Others Loving = Israel helped Hudson with his math, allowing me a few moments to make dinner 

Loving Others = extra snuggles, songs and kisses after getting fingers pinched in the door 

Loving Others = celebrating birthdays with one of our favorite gal pals, Evie 

Others Loving = candy necklaces are sweet, like friendship 

Loving Others = arriving early to help with decorating for the party 

Others Loving - these two are the best of friends (most of the time) 

Others Loving = Nana showing up at our house with two baskets full of clean and folded laundry (our washer and dryer is out of commission while a project is being completed in the laundry room)

Others Loving = making memories at the Blank Park Zoo with friends 

1st Grade

Hudson's first day of first grade was Wednesday, September 6th.  To be honest, after our mixed up busy moving summer I wasn't super excited to start school, yet anxious for a bit more routine and structure in our home.  As he kicks off first grade he will be doing...

Logic of English (literacy)

Singapore Math (

Explode the Code (phonics)

Handwriting Without Tears

The Story of the World, Ancient Times (history) 

First Language Lessons 

My Father's World Reader and Notebook (Bible) 

Animal Groups (science) 

I am so thankful for the opportunity to teach Hudson at home and spend our days together.  What a privilege and gift it is.  Here we come first grade...

The last hurrah...

The kids and I made a weekend road trip to my parents over Labor Day weekend.  It was our last hurrah before starting school.  My sister was in Sioux Center for her 20th high school class reunion, Roy stayed home to tile the mud/laundry room so the kids and I got out of his hair and labored (more work than play) at my parents house.  

The first item on the agenda was to paint the patio.  Mom took on a big painting project so recruited some help.  Thankfully, Hudson has learned how to paint and Bapa got a new ladder.  

Bapa and Hudson picked sweet corn and cleaned it all.  Mom and I cooked, cut and froze 35 quart bags of corn.  

Casey's Bakery donuts have become a tradition at every visit.  

Cousin Ainsley and Aunt Marilyn came to play and paint.  

Dinner prep with Aunt Ang looked like this...

Angela was the chef for dinner on Monday night, which was homemade pizzas on the grill.  They were delicious, as you can tell.  

the last days of summer...

These last days of summer are oh so precious.  We soaked in every moment we possibly could before transitioning into a fall routine of school, music lessons and Bible study.  This summer has been a different one for our family.  It started off with a move, then we lived with Nana and Papa for 7 weeks, followed by the 2nd part of our move, and finally unpacking and tackling plenty of house projects.  We didn't take in as many fun summer activities as we typically do, but we made memories none the less.  Our last days of summer went a bit like this... 

Greta girl loves her treats, especially anything with sprinkles.   

A piñata at a birthday party.  

Playdates at the park with friends.  

Soaking in as much time outside as we possible could.  

Eating lunch inside, with our sunglasses on...why not?  

Smiles with Aunt Ang before she left.  

Shopping for a sofa, which is taking us forever.  

Painting, doing errands and picking out house items is on repeat mode.  

Enjoying plenty of sweet treats, these freezies were prizes from the summer reading program.  

Eating our last ears of sweet corn for the season.  

Making new friends and playing with them at the park.  

Getting a back to school haircut for this handsome guy.  

Shopping for groceries, because we always need groceries.  

Kid's Workshop at Home Depot on the first Saturday of the month is a family highlight.

Cheering on the ADM Tiger XC team.  

They love this big whirlpool tub, its gotten lots of use since we moved in.  

Solar Eclipse

We arrived in Morrill, Kansas on Sunday night to spend time with cousins for the "Great Solar Eclipse."  Ben and Jenna's home was along the "path of totality" so it felt like too good of opportunity to pass up.  Lots of jumping took place on the trampoline for the little ones.  

The hostesses prepared a yummy breakfast for all the hungry eclipse viewers.  

 Making a mess is always more fun with a buddy.  

Ellsy Lucille...

Me and my favorite guy...

We are grateful we could spend time with family and experience the eclipse together.  

The clouds rolling through were not our welcomed friends because they made it difficult to view the eclipse.    

We may have told the kids ten times..."Only look at the sun with your eclipse glasses."

The eclipse viewing crew...

At 1:04 in the afternoon, when the full eclipse was happening, it got dark.  

The moon blocking the sun created an ever changing view of the sun.  Here is a picture of it close to the full eclipse.    

A view of the sun after the eclipse....

on the road again...

Sunday morning we (along with Aunt Ang) left Chicago.  We traveled 6 hours to Des Moines and drove right on past the exit to our house and continued on to Kansas (to see the Solar Eclipse on Monday).  It was not my idea of a wonderful idea to travel that far, but I was a trooper and went along for the memory making adventure. 

Greta Girl demanding more Goldfish crackers while watching a movie.  

We made a stop in route at the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois.