abraham believed God...

Our lesson for our Bible time today was about Abraham and his faith in God. It all started with God telling Abraham to leave his comfortable home where he lived with his family and take his wife and go...just GO...no directions. He promised He would lead Abraham and show him, but he first had to get up and go without knowing where he was going. Yikes! An incredible amount of faith that had to take. I always try to imagine that being me of course and the difficulty that would be, and yet...we are given those same circumstance everyday really. Are we going to trust God even when all of the directions are not clear? And then ultimately, are we going to trust Him for some really big areas of our lives...really big ones when we just don't understand what He is doing?

I know several people going through some very difficult relationship issues right now who really thought and felt they were in the will of the Lord, only to have it crumble at their feet. The brokenness, pain, heartache is just awful and life can really stink sometimes. I remember walking through that myself at one time just really wondering what in the world God was doing. I was devastated and heartbroken and angry and frustrated. I didn't want my circumstances to change...I wanted them to stay exactly as they were. I remember telling God that...yep...I really did. I so, so remembering him speaking to me as I knelt back against a bed, sitting on the floor, bawling my eyes out. He said, "Kristen, you can keep (that situation) and I will bless it, but it is not My best." As crazy as it still sounds, I remembering wrestling with the thought of how bad it would really be if I didn't allow the Lord to change me. Human nature I am sure! 

It was not all at once and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I chose to "believe God" and I handed over another area of my life to Him. I had to believe and trust Him in a way I never had before...in a way I had never had to. 

Years later I can look back and see the hand of God on my life during a really crappy time. I am really glad I chose to "believe" Him and know that I could only see a part of the picture He was painting for my life. I am blessed beyond measure...truly...and I absolutely do not take one day of my life for granted. I am so, so, so grateful for my family and the change of circumstances He brought about. Turns out, He is better at it than I am. ;)

God took Abraham and had him look up at the stars and promised him that his descendants and family would be more numerous than those stars. The only problem was...he had no children...pretty big problem if your family is supposed to be really big. :) God and His sense of humor!! But...Abraham made the choice to believe God in some crazy circumstances and God did bless him with a son...baby Isaac. And his descendants were numerous and eventually led to the birth of Jesus. God knew what he was doing.

I tried to condense this and "feed" it to my children today. :) Addison colored a picture of Abraham looking up at the stars and we memorized Romans 4:3 "Abraham believed God."

 

 

Payton chose to eat one of the crayons used to color good, ole Abraham.

They may not have gotten all of the message, but they understand that Abraham had to do something really hard and that God knew all along what He was doing.

The choice is ultimately 'Are we going to believe God?' 

the forestry

Sunday...after church...we headed to Clark County Forestry for the afternoon. My mom wanted a "chilled out, family day" with all of us getting together. It was a good time. It was very relaxed and carefree. We grilled out, let the kids play, threw the football around (not all of us), and just sat around and chatted. We had planned on trying to do some hiking on some of the small trails, but that just didn't happen. We were pooped...sad I know. :)

 Just chatting and "shootin' the breeze."

 Cora eating leaves.

 The slide was a hit.

 Being pushed by Uncle Stephen.

 Whew!!

 Mom pushing Kaden...he was totally giggling and cracking up!

 
 Love it.

 Mom pushing Kylie.

 
 My little monkey.

 Allie

 Ash

 Nat

 
 Totally remember swinging like this as a kid.

 Football action.

 Keith...right after tossing it to Dylan! I stayed behind the camera. :)

 

fall festival for brookstone

We had a Fall Festival event for our clients at work this past weekend out at Joe Huber's. My boss hosts various events for his clients throughout the year as an appreciation for them and their business. This was just one of them that Chelsey and I have been planning for months. We had games, pumpkin picking, pumpkin painting, a bonfire, inflatable, food (of course) and we also set up a photo booth complete with props and things for people to use! Some people got really into it and some probably thought we were crazy...but we had fun! Before the festivities began, Chels and I had already gotten in the spirit of things...

 

 

 Fun times on the job!!

Keith and the kids came too. The bummer of the night was that I was pretty preoccupied with stuff I had to do, that I didn't get any pictures of them playing around. :( But...they had a good time and I at least got some pics of their pumpkins after they painted them. :)

 We managed to get some hilarious family shots...I just love 'em.

 

 Silly faces.

 

Chelsey and I with our boss...we DO NOT dress like this at the office. ;)

And...the famous painted pumpkins.

 Addison's multicolored one.

Kaden's...with just spots of color...and his name with help from Chels.

a little park time

The crazy fluctuation in temperatures have made for some days spent solely inside. When we have gotten a warm day, we have tried to make the most of it and get OUT! :) We headed to the park one night and had an easy picnic dinner as well. The kids never tire of playing on playground equipment. 

 

 

 

 Dinner time. :)

 

 

 Kaden was driving his sister around.

 Swinging...

 ...and more swinging.

 Picture of the night!! Love it.

 

 Loving life!

 

Nice little break and time out for us all. We know that fall is here and our times outside are limited...making the most of it now. :)

full speed ahead

The last couple months have been a roller coaster of events and happenings...some of which have taken over a lot of my time and energy. But...one very important event that happened was Addison starting Kindergarten!!! I was not sure if I was actually going to start her since she shouldn't actually start till next year. I didn't want to push it, but she was so hungry and eager to learn that I actually felt that I would be holding her back if I didn't start her. She already knew all of letters and sounds and was asking to read and 'add.' I don't really even know where she heard that, but she sure doesn't skip a beat and wants to learn or know as much as she can. I am 'teaching' her, but I kind of feel guilty even saying that because she is so easy. She has a lot of first born tendencies, wants to please us, and is very self motivated. At this point, things just come to her very easily. I only pray this continues! :) We will have to see about this with 'Kaden boy.'  We may be doing school with him hanging upside down on the couch!! But whatever works, we will do! I have never really been the 'you have to sit at your desk and not move' person anyway. I remember teaching and letting kids lay on the floor if they wanted or stand up and do their work. I just know I want to be creative and keep it exciting...doing school outside, using markers some days instead of pencils are just a couple ways to MIX IT UP! Some of my brothers and sisters have even done 'pool school' some days. Mom will let them get in the pool and lay of rafts while she reads aloud to them...rare, but it happens. :) I love the flexibility that I have.

I have snapped a few pictures of Addison at work! She just loves it! 

  

 

 

She is reading very well...Praise the Lord! We had a little rough spot with her blending the sounds together, but once she got it, she got it. She identifies beginning and ending sounds...and sometimes middle at this point. She loves writing and writes a lot of 'I see,' 'I like,' 'I love' sentences. She is never lacking for what to write! I usually have to work with her on condensing her ideas into smaller words she can spell and write down...hilarious some times. 

She loves math and I do too. We started a program this year called Math U See. I actually did it myself for a little bit in middles school when it first came out. It has come a long way and so far I am very pleased with it. My favorite part is the manipulatives it uses. I would have bought the 'blocks' whether I used the program or not. It allows them to SEE what they are doing with numbers and develop strong number sense and place value very young...hence the name...Math U See. I just love it. 

We are currently doing a unit on apples...very low key and fun. Just reading about them, how they are grown, what they are used for, the kinds of apples, etc. I have many more ideas of units I want to do with her and am excited to just make it fun.

We just read about the voyage on the Mayflower and the Pilgrims for history. I plan to go more in depth with the Pilgrims and lead into the First Thanksgiving as we are making our way towards Thanksgiving. I really want Addison to have a strong love and respect for her country and the freedoms she has...I just want her to know our roots and how it began so I can lead her into some more in depth topics in the next couple years.

We do various topics for our Bible time everyday. I want to cover the Fruits of the Spirit with her, focus heavily on character...which I have some great resources for...and just go over some basic Bible stories and songs with her. And...take every advantage of the 'teachable moments' I have everyday when she or any of them are being unkind, have lousy attitudes, need redirected, etc. I get to reinforce things that we have been learning. Education is very, very important to me, but I want my kids to have strong character and a strong love for and relationship with the Lord as well. Then...the sky is the limit!

We are doing well around here and are very flexible when we have to be. We are going full speed ahead! I can't believe my baby is in school!