Piano recital

As you can tell from the pictures and the title, all three of my children had a piano recital. They were all three pretty nervous, but did so good you wouldn't have known. Sarah has played piano around 7 years, Zech has played for around 4 years, and Isabella 2 years. Sarah played "Silent Night", Zech played "Jingle Bells", and Isabella played "Baby Jesus Lay Your Head". We are so proud of all three of our children and their talents.

My 14th Wedding Anniversary

Today is my 14th Wedding anniversary! We've made it this far and I hope the next 14 years are just as good as the last 14 years. You see I have to say I'm blessed with a terrific husband. He goes to work and makes good money, comes home and even helps around the house. He does laundry, vacuuming, cooking, cleaning, and more. He spends time with me and always amazes me by telling me so many times how beautiful he thinks I am. He is an excellent pastor/preacher. He loves God with all his heart. I'm amazed at the skill he leads the church with and thankful God has truly filled him with wisdom beyond his years. He is also an excellent Daddy. Spending time with each child and making sure they know how proud he is of them. It is not of him or I to have the marraige we do, it is all in God's hands and we are so very thankful to Him for all that He has given us.

Teaching girls to cheer?

We were at our Upwards games yesterday (a whole 2 1/2 hours worth) and watching Isabella cheer. We were watching the basketball game too but mostly watching her cheer. Now before you think we are watching her and not Zech play basketball, he wasn't playing yet. Hence the 2 1/2 hours time spent in the gym. You see Isabella cheers at 12:00 and Zech plays at 1:00 and we have to be there early. Okay back to the cheerleading. Isabella's cheer coaches keep coaxing them to be a little louder and reminding them at the end of their cheer to show a little spirit. Zech looks at me in the process and ask why are the coaches telling the girls to scream louder. He said didn't God make girls that way, to scream! He said they already know how to do it and wasn't sure why her coaches were needing to prod this God given talent a little further! LOL! We laughed and laughed at this one!

Finding the Christmas STAR!

Zech and Isabella had the priveledge in being in our childrens church Christmas program Sunday morning. It was called finding the Christmas Star. The kids and helpers all did such a fantanstic job. Zech had a quick solo and Isabella if you can tell is playing the piano with a funny pink hat. Both did a great job. They even went to a smaller church that night and put on their performance. Do you know who the Christmas STAR is? Well it is Jesus!

Cousins from Africa!

This last weekend we have the priviledge of hosting Mike's cousin and family on stateside assignment from Mmbatho, South Africa. Jody and Dennis have been on assignment in South Africa for 4 years and are headed back on January 4th. They have 5 children, three boys and two girls. We enjoyed their stay here although very short and very sickly. You see they were supposed to come on Thursday and their plans were changed, then Friday and some of their kids were sick. On Saturday everyone woke up and everyone was fine. The drive here they did well on. Unfortunately once they got here both Jody and Dennis ended up getting sick. Mike and I were able to help take care of the kids while they took care of each other. It is no fun getting sick but it is even worse when it is not your house. They shared their wonderful sickness with our family but it was wonderfully nice to see them anyway. They are missed greatly here in the states but they are right where God wants them and we saw that in their hearts and minds when they were here. Please pray for the Janz family as they travel back and share the story of Jesus and His love for the South African people.

More Upwards Pics!

Upwards! Upwards! Here we go Upwards!

If you haven't an upwards sports program in your city, your missing out. WOW, what a wonderful event these are. They are christian oriented sports programs with scripture memory, devotions, and fun for all the parents and children. Zech and Isabella are in Upwards Basketball this year. Sarah is too old for these programs now. Zech is playing on the 5th and 6th grade boys team and Isabella is our little cheerleader. This last Saturday was their first game of the season. Zech scored 2 points in his first game! Awesome job by both!

Enrichment Showcase

Enrichment showcase is a time set aside for the children who have taken all the enrichment classes to showcase what they've done. Our last day was Nov 26 and our showcase was Dec 3. It was so neat to see group after group go up on stage and show us or tell us what they've learned. We've enjoyed being part of the Enrichment this year and it truly enriches what you teach them at home. My children have learned science, logic, sign language, art, cooking, us history, & so much more. Most importantly they've made a lot of friends. We are going back next semester!

Out of the mouth of babes!

Recently I had a one on one oppurtunity to spend an hour or so with my only and favorite son, Zech, who just turned 11! Now we were driving to Walmart to return a CD player that had broken (just a side note this has to be the 6th one broken in about a two year period) and to get a new one. On the way home though, he surprised me and said "Mom, why are people so sad?" I asked him what he meant. He said, "Well everywhere I go people have frowns on their faces the shoulders and head hung down and they look so sad." Well you could have knocked me over by then because of such a statement but then I asked him why he thought everyone was so sad and where he saw them so sad. He said, "I see them all over, even at church. I think maybe because they don't have Jesus in their hearts." I asked him what he could do about that and he responded with, "I can hold my head up high and smile to them and show them I have Jesus in my heart." So simple, yet so profound. Next time your in a particular mood, remember the children around us are watching us and looking for the "smile" that Jesus gives us. Remember also, because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone, because I know, know, know He hold the future, that life is worth the living just because He LIVES!

Happy Birthday to ZECH!

It is indeed Zechariah's Birthday! He turned 11 years old today! How awesome of a young man he is becoming. How very thankful we have him in our lives.

Hanging of the Green!

Have you ever heard anyone come out of "hanging of the green" service and say "that was the coolest worship experience I've had." Well you haven't been to our church. We had the most incredible worship experience. The pastor (my hubby) preached each of the symbols of Christmas such as the evergreens, the wreaths, the nativity, and the candles as each one was being decorated. We sang all the songs and new ones even that represent each one. The kids, the teens, and families were all a part of the festivities. What a wonderful way to start out December remembering why we put up our decorations and what each one symbolized. We had a salvation, a college girl join, and a rededication of an elderly mans life. But each one of us were challenged to make a commitment to find one person this month and tell face to face the "Reason for the Season". So I'll ask you, do you know? Do you know that baby Jesus that we put in the manger came specifically to die on a tree for your sins? That we deserve the punishment of death which is eternal seperation from God but that God gave us the perfect gift to receive. I pray that you will find out more about the Lord Jesus you see laying in mangers all over your town this Christmas season!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights!

James 1:17 tells us good gifts come from above. God must have inspired me to create good gifts this Christmas but I had no idea I'd be saying "Good grief", I've created a monster. You see even though we homeschool the children have all different kinds of teachers, coop teachers, piano teacher, PE teacher, Sunday school teacher, and more! What a better way to say "thank you" than to give them a gift of your appreciation. We set off yesterday to create those little "thank you" items and unfornately didn't get very far before we all were given out. Unfortunately I didn't think ahead and when I did I realized that they take 4 snowman coasters to make 1 present and therefore that times how many presents to give away takes 100 of these individual ones to make. The glueing part, althought messy, is no big deal, the sewing part, although a very easy stitch requires patience because you sew 100 of the coasters and 100 of the snow man heads. Now I'm still having fun and the product as you can is very cute (or at least I think so) but there is still so much ahead. I hope your inspired from Him above to say thanks to someone this time of year for all their hard work.