Was Jack Adopted?

I recently had a conversation with Jonah that I was completely unprepared for. I wasn't ready to talk about this and thankfully... I didn't have to.

Jonah's best friend, since he was 18 months old, is Jack. Jonah and Jack play together beautifully and work together really well also. One time Jonah told me that when they each want to play something different at recess (since they ALWAYS play with each other at recess) they each get to pick one thing they like that the other wants to play and then they combine the two ideas and play that. For two first graders? Brilliant. See what I said they are BEST BUDS.

So the other day when Jonah asked me if Jack was adopted, I wasn't prepared for the conversation. It went something like this:

Jonah: Mom, was Jack adopted?

Me: No.

Jonah: I think he was.

Me: No, Jonah, he wasn't. Why do you think that?

Jonah: Because Jack has brown eyes.

Me: Yes, I know. So do Megan and Jonas. (Jack's older sister and younger brother)

Jonah: So then they were all adopted because they all have brown eyes.

Me: No, Jonah. They weren't. Jeremy (their dad) has brown eyes.

Jonah: I know, but Becky (their mom) doesn't. She has blue eyes and you can't have a kid with brown eyes if you have blue eyes.

Me: Yes, you can if one of the parents has brown eyes.

Jonah: Yeah, but it has to be the mom because the baby comes from the mom. What does the dad have to do with it? Why does it matter if the dad has brown eyes?

Me, in my head, thinking: Oh crap, I didn't know that this conversation was going that direction. Not prepared! Not prepared! Retreat! Retreat! Not going to talk about the facts-of-life yet with my seven year old!!!

I decided to meet him where he was at, at this point. He's very black & white, analytical, methodical, and really loves to learn things.

So I talked about genetics. I said, "Well when God puts a baby in a mommy's tummy He takes the genetics, which are the characteristics each person has, like eye color, skin color, height, face shape, stuff like that, from both the mommy and the daddy and blends them all together and combines them in the baby. That's why you look so much like daddy!"

That was a satisfactory answer to him- THANK GOD!

I'm still looking back at it and how caught-off-guard I was. I was just NOT seeing the curve in that road we were traveling down. But, thankfully, crisis averted!

Now, don't get me wrong- Youth Director by trade- I will be talking to my children about sex and all that jazz very openly and honestly, just as I did with my youth group kids. I was very open about it all with my younger siblings too. I was honest, but held my standards high. I will do the same for my children. WHEN. THE. TIME. IS. RIGHT. And that time was not last week. Whew.

Not Ok...

I have had lots of things swirling around in my head to blog about for a while now. None of them have come to fruition- obviously. But the past few days these words have been coming up a lot lately with Jeremiah and I... "We're not ok."

Let me back up. About a year ago, we really were NOT ok, not at all. Life had caught up with us and was trying to defeat us. We realized that for several years "change" was the name of the game in our lives. Now there was nothing on the horizon that was going to change and we had to figure out how to live normally with each other instead of in the mode of change. We had previously always been ready to engage in another adventure like having a child, stopping a job, starting a new job, moving homes, having another child, another job change, another child, etc.

We decided to talk with a counselor (gulp- did I just tell that to the blog world?) and it was a great decision. I was very reassured after our first visit with him when he said, "Most couples I deal with already have one OR two feet out the door. The fact that you two are not in that position and are wanting to work on your marriage before it gets close to that is a very positive sign."

One of the things that he told us was to have the attitude that "We're not ok," because the moment that you think you ARE ok and that things are good, you let yourself slide. With that mindset you stop working on your marriage and start focusing inward. It's like the alcoholic who thinks s/he is doing ok and will be just fine to have one drink. As we all know, this would not be ok. Marriage is the same. As soon as you think "We're fine," that's the moment you start to NOT be ok.

We've been applying what we've learned from our counselor for several months now. In all honesty, it was actually a few months after our last visit that things actually started to really turn around. I really had to take "letting go of control" to a whole new level and Jeremiah had to take "stepping it up" to a whole new level.

Jeremiah mentioned the other day that we weren't ok and it kind of took me off guard... This is usually MY point of view ;) But then he reminded of me what Dr. A had said and I was delightfully appreciative of his perspective. He is proving to take our counselors words to heart and apply them in our marriage and family.

I always hesitate to write or say stuff like this because I have that feeling that the other shoe will then drop shortly thereafter. This time I'm choosing to name and claim it baby! And all the while, I'll continue praying that no other shoes ever drop :) But if they do, we'll make it. Neither of us is leaving and we're in this for the long haul.

My Grama's Kitchen

Yesterday in CBS (Community Bible Study) it was a brunch morning. Every now and then a few people sign up to bring food and we enjoy a time of chatting and digging into a scrumptious breakfast before digging into our study. We usually have a "question" to discuss while eating and this morning was no different. Our topic to discuss was, "Your Grandmother's Kitchen."

I listened to many of the ladies in our group (who are... how shall we say it... slightly more aged than me. I'm the youngest one in the group. The majority are retired.) talk about their grandmother's old farmhouses with wood burning stoves that they used to bake amazing pies, casseroles and heat the house. They rolled out dough on their wooden counter tops ("Nothing like this fancy granite and formica" as one gal put it) while they donned their aprons, multitasking in baking, washing the floor, milking the cow, feeding the children and the men when they came in from the field, while they managed to quote Scripture to their grandchildren.

As I thought about how I would answer this question, I had to chuckle to myself. Those things were NOT NOT NOT my Grama (Yep, she was my "Grama" not "Grandma"). As I thought about it, I realized that I had an extreme fondness of my Grama's kitchen. It wasn't typical, but she wasn't your typical Grama either.

When you walked into Grama's kitchen there was a table straight ahead of you, it was pushed all the way up against two walls, leaving only two sides to sit at. But no matter, it was only her living in the house. At the table you could find her Caboodle loaded to the brim, but very organized, with makeup. There was a round mirrior with a tube light around it that could be flipped over for a magnifying mirror on the other side. There was a curling iron or two, some hot rollers maybe and any other beautifying items that a woman might need. Her bathroom was small, so she was practical. Don't use the kitchen table for eating much since you live alone? Make it into your vanity!

To the right was her refrigerator, which I don't remember much about except that she had a Tupperware container for pickles that was always fully stocked just for me. She also must have eaten a lot of things with cheese on them because she always had little jars of spreadable cheese. We were always the recipients of said little jars after the cheese was gone, they were perfect juice cups for kids! Next to the fridge there was an oven. I don't know if she ever actually used the oven... it was the "cabinet" for her Ruffles chips.

Across the room (like 2 feet) was her great big sink, that was like a double wide with no separator. We took baths in there for years and years! Next to the sink was a counter with two large cabinets overhead. I don't recall her ever using the counter to prepare food. What was it used for? Why to wrap presents for other people of course! I used to sit atop the counter and I always got to put the tape on the presents being wrapped. I always wanted to put the tape parallel with the edge of the wrapping, but Grama insisted that I do it perpendicular and she used such long pieces. I never understood this and still don't. But then again, I have an obsession with tape. My mom would never let me use her tape, probably because I would use it all for my "projects." I would often sneak into our kitchen and pull off a LOOOOOOONG strip of tape, run to my room and stick it on the back wall of my closet, so that if I asked for tape and she said no, then I could just go to my stash. Weird. Anywho, I digress. Back to Grama's.

In the cabinets above the counter top, what else would you find in there, but oodles and oodles (those are the words she would have used) of checkbook boxes, old margarine containers, and Byerly's to-go containers filled with what else? Jewelry!! Lots and LOTS of costume jewelry. I think she single handedly kept Joyce, her Avon lady in business. She had jewelry for EVERY occasion. I kid you not, she even had a ring that said "VOTE" which I believe my mom now has and definitely wears on Election day. She had more earrings, necklaces, broaches, & rings in every color, genre, style and size than you could ever imagine.

Two other things I remember being in that cabinet were nailpolish remover in those little jars that had the sponge right in them, so all you had to do was stick your finger in and move it around, up and down and the nail polish came off. And also she must have worn a lot of panty hose because she kept all the cardstock type paper that panty hose were wrapped around, as paper for us to write notes on or color on. Jeremiah's Grandma was a teacher and thus always had tons of construction paper (which I actually inherited) for them... nope not my Grama! Panty hose paper!

It's fun, thinking back on these times, my atypical experiences with my Grama in her kitchen. Experiences of which the ladies of Bible study laughed and laughed at! It was so fun to recall my Grama and the "quirks" she had. It wasn't your normal Grandmother's kitchen, but it was my Grama's kitchen. We spent hours in there, trying on jewelry, fixing our nails, and wrapping presents. My Grama was most definitely a gifts girl. She had gifts for all of her children and grandchildren for years on out, up in her attic. She loved to buy for other people. When she got older and had less and less money and more and more grandchildren, she used to give us each a two dollar bill for Christmas. She always lamented how she wanted to give us more, but I didn't care. I still have all of those two dollar bills.

Good memories of time together, no matter what they are, are important. Creating those times together, laughing, talking, visiting and just being are crucial.

I'm grateful for the Grandparents my children have. They are so very blessed. As I write this, Jonah is at Grandparents day with Grandma Judy. Tomorrow Aphia gets to go to Grandpa Rob and Grandma Bonnie's to spend time with them and her best cousin Addi. My dad gifts the younger children with his time every Tuesday while I go to work. My mom came out to our house just before their 2 week long vacation to hang out with the kids for a couple hours because she wasn't going to see them for 2 weeks (I wouldn't mind not seeing them for 2 weeks sometimes!!!!).

Thank you Grama, for the love you gave, for the time you devoted, for the laughs we had until we cried, for putting up with my brattiness when it was shining through, for being the first one to open up your arms and hold me the day my best friend's dad died, for sharing our Christmas mornings with us in your red Christmas robe, for letting me play dress up with all your dresses, jewelry, shoes, purses, hats, gloves, scarves, and fur wraps, for the pickles, for always being the first to arrive at our birthday parties. I love you and miss you terribly. I wish my kids knew you. Aphia and her girly ways are (I know!!!) making you one proud Great Grama up in heaven. I love you.

If you woke up today...

(For some reason this post would not post last week when I wanted to post it. So the "today I'm grateful for" things are from last week- not today)

I recently saw a quote on Pinterest (if you don't know what Pinterest is- OMG- it is my new BFF. Sorry old BFF's nobody ain't got nothin' on Pinterest!!) that said something like:
"What if today you woke up with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday?"

I liked that so very much! What a fantastic reminder of being thankful for what we have. However, I was also a little horrified that I get so lazy in being thankful a lot of the time. I asked Jeremiah the question and he kind of gave me a shrug. I said, "Oh what? You'd be ok with no car, no job to drive to, no home, no clothing?" to which he strongly replied, "No, I'd be just fine. At dinner last night I said, 'Thank you Lord for everything you give us,' and if I woke up without something I'd be ok with that because God has given us everything we need."

Doh. I guess I have a thing or two to learn from the boy. I'm grateful for his growing leadership in our family. It's a nice nest to live in.

I'm making sure to be grateful and thank the Lord for A.) Everything that he give us. B.) Specific things that I am truly grateful for throughout the day.

I'm grateful for:
-My parents who met us for a picnic lunch at Lake Rebecca and the fried chicken, apples and donuts they brought to eat.
-That the boy came home between work and Bible study tonight instead of going to church like he ususally does on Thursdays (he's been working on the church's lawn mower before Bible study each week, but now he's done).
-That I have a bit of time and energy to be doing some major painting around my house.
-For this glorious weather. Even if it is hot for October, I'm not going to complain after last winter!
-And everything that comes from above

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

Sometimes life is messy. Sometimes little boys are messy. I was glad to be with this messy boy on a camping weekend in Southern MN last weekend.

He enjoyed it too.

(Not So) Famous Amos

Famous Amos. He made some good chocolate chip cookies if I do say so myself.
But then there is the not-so Famous Amos. The one that God called to speak to His people. Amos. A little book in the Bible, but known to possibly be one of the earliest recorded books of the Old Testament.
So what do we know about Amos? Not-so-much? Yeah, me too. This year in CBS (Community Bible Study) the two books we are studying are Amos and Isaiah. I was super stoked to study Isaiah and I figured Amos would be fine too.
Once I started the study of Amos my opinion changed (unfortunately, not for the better). I read Amos 1 & 2 and was all, "Ummm, blah blah blah, let's get on to Isaiah." I started answering the questions and couldn't get my brain to wrap around the significance of it all. I thought, "C'mon, there must be something here because it IS in the Bible. What am I missing?" So that's what I prayed and guess what! God proved to be faithful once again! Shocking, I know ;)

As I dug in more several things hit me.

1. Israel is God's. You've heard the statement "Don't Mess With Texas" right? Well those little words pale in comparison to how our attitude towards Israel should be. Don't mess folks, don't mess. God chose them. CHOSE. He made a covenant with Abraham long ago and said that He would keep it and He does and He will. I knew this before, but the reiteration of this hit me harder this time. Right now, little Israel is sitting right smack dab in the middle of a whole bunch of haters and it ain't gonna be pretty if they keep on hatin'. Me? I'm gonna stick with Israel.

2. The way that the people surrounding Israel were acting was appalling. They were so corrupt and wrong, just wrong. But then I think about our society today and how awful it is here too. People were being sold into slavery. People now are sold into slavery (we just don't like to talk about it much). People (literally) "ripped open the pregnant women... in order to extend his borders." People now take babies from their mommy's tummies- and what's worse- mommy's do this by choice now. People were killing others. People now are killing others. People turned their backs on God and worshipped silly things like golden calves. People now turn their backs on God and worship silly things like cars, homes, sporting events, tv shows, education, hobbies, etc. Hmm. Interesting how we aren't so different now than those we shake our heads at from back then.

3. Fire. This is what hit me the most. The Lord says that he's going to send fire to all these different people groups and their cities. The initial thought of this is yep, that's the God of the Old Testament- cold, distant, punishing, old man with long white beard sitting on a big throne- not caring. But that can't be further from the truth. Deuteronomy 4:24 says, "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire..." So when He is going to send fire He's not sitting from afar throwing out punishments on the people. He knows how they've behaved badly and He is interjecting Himself to make them new again. We also know that matter cannot be created or deleted- basic physics here kids. So when God sends fire to these places- it's not to get rid of them, it's to change them. Just as forest fires are necessary for regeneration of forests, it's the same basic principle.
I think of myself as a parent (well that was profound, since well, I am! Duh self!). When one of my kids disobeys, I can scream and yell and send them to their room. Or I can go to them and talk boldly about how I'm disappointed in what they did and how I expect them to behave better in the future and their punishment will be X, Y, or Z. This is what God is doing. He's not sending them to their room and out of his presence, He's immersing Himself into their domain and showing them that they are acting out of disobedience and they will be punished.
I think that as adults we get desensitized to punishment. We think it's only for kids (and some adults don't even think that kids should be punished). Side note: I'm going to be bold here and say that as a general statement kids who do not get disciplined for disobedience don't turn out to be responsible, integrity filled adults. I digress. We think that adults shouldn't be punished. Well guess what- adults still behave badly and choose poorly sometimes. And why shouldn't we be punished for these things to get it through our thick heads that our behavior needs to shape up!? We act greedily, selfishly, proud, rude, and disrespectful towards God and towards others. What makes us think that we should be exempt from being disciplined? We shouldn't.
God used fire- Himself- to discipline and change the behavior of those who had turned their backs on him.
The beauty in this- God cares so much for His children. He LOVES them! He's HUGE and so detail oriented at the same time. He rules from His throne and intertwines Himself in our lives. HE LOVES US.

4. Past generations. A relative of Israel, Edom, was one of the groups that was going to be punished for their raging, unchecked anger and their stifled compassion that manifested itself in killing others. If you look back, Edom was descended from Esau. Esau had never truly forgiven Jacob (his brother) for stealing his father's blessing from him. Look how this unforgiveness was then handed down through generations and caused so much more sin to abound. For all of us parents out there and people who wish to be parents in the future, please, please examine your hearts for unresolved sin and get rid of it! If you don't, it will only serve to destroy your children and your descendants. You won't "take it with you to the grave." It will be passed on to them. Ick. I don't want my parents to do that to me and I don't want to do that to my children!

Whew. I was so blessed this morning by our CBS group. We had fantastic discussion, much learning and I had the overwhelming knowledge of the Lord being in our midst. How grateful I am for CBS!

Wisdom and Knowledge

I don't know if there has been anything that has ever made me feel more insecure, lacking, self-non-confident, unsure, and just plain dumb as being a mom. I'd heard it said all the time before kids, "You just don't understand until you have kids of your own." I was truly very arrogant before having kids (and even a little while into having them too) thinking that I'd have all the answers and I understood the overwhelming responsibility of having children. Wrong I was, oh how very wrong I was.





Even as I only had one child it hadn't really hit me. I was fine focusing my energy on him. Teaching him scripture, teaching him manners, saying prayers with him, teaching him how to build towers and recognize letters/colors/shapes, even memorize state capitols (What?! For what?!) I was good, I'll admit it, I was gooooood. Had I only had one child I would have won for Best Parent (until he got to be a teenager and all that would probably come to a screeching halt, lest my arrogance get ahold of me again!).





Then there were three. THREE children. I had no idea the ways in which I would be pulled. I had no idea that it wouldn't just happen that the 4 of us wouldn't be able to just sit down and all do our little projects together with no squabbling, screaming, whining, needing help, tantrums, messes, etc.





Oh boy, nothing, nothing, nothing has humbled me like being a mom. Nothing.





A couple months ago our Pastor said how he reads through the book of Proverbs every month, because there are 31 chapters. Hmm. Novel idea. I didn't think about it again until during our Small Group someone brought that up. I thought to myself, "Hmmm, I'll have to start that next month of the 1st. Er, wait, I guess I could just jump in on today's date- doi." So I did. I've been reading through Proverbs for two months. Have I read everyday? Unfortunately no. Have a given it a good shot? I'd say a decent one? A good shot would be at least reading quickly through the chapter for the day. A fabulous shot would be actually thinking about the chapter. I run the spectrum of some days I read, think about it, pray about it and comprehend it. Some days I just read it and maybe ponder it later in the day. Other days, I read nothing.





Some of the ones I have hit talk endlessly about Wisdom and Knowledge. These ones have hit me hard being a mom and a wife. I want to have wisdom and knowledge in the situations I handle with my family. This is something that I've started to fervently pray for and ask for. I've been stopping myself before reacting, asking for wisdom and knowledge before I proceed. The situation is always less dramatic when I take a lil breather.





Taking a step back is hard for me. When it comes to fight or flight, I'm a fighter. I generally jump in immediately, ready for battle. Sidenote: this tends to be a little problem on occasion with Jeremiah and I as he is definitely Mr. Flight. I'm ready to tackle the problems and issues with him and he'd rather forget that they exist. I almost always take this personally, thinking that he does not want to fight for me. I just have to remember how he is and how to gently, quietly and peacefully find a middle ground of not jumping at the problem, but not ignoring it.





Anywho, like I said stepping back does NOT come naturally to me. But Proverbs has been a gentle reminder of needing to do just that. Wisdom is thinking through a situation. Knowledge is what I have to tap into during the thought process.

In today's chapter, Proverbs 9, it says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Oh how beautiful this is! It is SO much bigger and broader than me. I love how BIG God is! And how intricately small he can be too. What an amazing picture.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowlege him and he will make your paths straight." This was the first Bible verse I ever learned. I was in 6th grade. It was during VBS. It was put into a song and at the time I had no idea that it was a Bible verse. This has been the first verse that I have taught my children- well the older two at least.

I can use my wisdom and knowledge until my ears bleed and I will still inevitably fail. But if I truly trust in the Lord with all my heart my paths will be straight. I know that I will fail. I know that I will never even be close to perfect. I know I will mess up. I can only pray that my children will have grace and mercy for me as their mom. I can only pray that they will be refined by my mistakes. I can only pray that they will love the Lord more fervently than me and that their paths will be straighter than mine. I can pray. And that's what I'll continue to do.

First Day(s) of School

To get to this...

We had to start with this...

Because, I mean really, who doesn't love a good routine chart?! Everyone in my house does, I know that. And if they don't, they'll come around, just you watch.

Big Man at school this year. First Grade Baby!
When I asked him what he did on the first day he said, "I can't tell you. Too much to remember."

And Little Miss, all set and ready to go for her first day of Pre-School. She told me, "Mom, I'm not excited for school. I'm REEEEEEEEEALLY excited for school!" When I picked her up and asked what she did she said, "Mom, do you want me to tell you everything I did?" to which I replied with, "Of course!" to which she did just that :)

New black/gray camo backpack. I didn't think that I'd get him a new backpack each year, but decided otherwise when I realized that since he wears a uniform, his backpack is his only form of individuality that he gets. So I obliged when he asked for a new one. Plus this one has a lunch bag that clips right on to the outside of the backpack- he loves that!

I Appreciate...

It's good for me to stop and appreciate things sometimes. Well, it's good for all of us to stop and do that sometimes... all the time really. So here's what I am appreciating today:

-the oldest two sitting on the couch behind me watching "Air Bud"

-the "back rub" that middle is giving me with her feet

-speaking of feet- the new pedicure I got last night with b-day $ from my MIL

-that as much as I try to tell him otherwise and he knows how to say it right, Isaiah insists on calling it a footbutt instead of football

-the staff that I get to meet with on Tuesday mornings at church

-my dad who came to watch the kiddos this morning so I could go to said staff meeting

-chocolate covered almonds and eating them with said dad

-oldest's impromptu sleepover last night with his BFF

-that the boy thought of a great solution to our "where do we put our hamper in our bedroom?" question

-skyping with my sis in Lousiana

-people who volunteer

-the MN State Fair and the fact that I get to go on Friday with my mom and aunt

-the impending start of school and the excitement that it ensues

-the fact that middle's pre-school teacher is our backyard neighbor and her daughter is one of our favorite babysitters

-the book of Proverbs

-that the kids had an incredible weekend at the cabin with Grandpa, Grandma & cousins

-each day that we receive with family and friends

-the thought of painting more of my family room

-that the boy got to the heart of why he was "opposed" to me getting an iphone or ipad and has gotten over it

-praise music

-the amazingly adorable skirt that middle got from Grandma and will wear on the first day of school

-friends

-that I have a husband who emptied out the pool after the filter had done the opposite of what it was supposed to and turned our pool into a swamp- ew. ew. ew.

-my mom who cuts my boys hair

-new school supplies

-positive people

-the fact that my dad has the hardest time committing to something if it's more than like 4 days in advance, but if you call him at the last minute he'll drop everything he's doing if you need help.

-that "one way" and "runway" sound the same coming from middle's mouth

-that "motor" and "murder" also sound the same coming from her mouth

-plans for Colorado this winter

-vacuumed family room floor

-the project room

-the mercies that God gives us new every morning

-the confidence we can have in Him

Day at the Splash Pad

Today we went to a splash pad in St. Cloud. It was SO fun for the kids, free and a B.E.A.UUUUtiful day!

Ahhh... Summer...

Summer has actually started for the Kruger Kids! We'd been running hither and yon for a couple weeks, pretty busy with a lot of stuff.

But in the past few days/weeks things have slowed down allowing us all to enjoy the summer.

Here's a snipit of some July pictures. I have a bunch from June too, but I have yet to sort through all of those and they will be to come.


Over 4th of July weekend we were fortunate enough to have made camping reservations at a COUNTY park (as opposed to a shut down STATE park!) and so we had a roudy weekend with 3 other families- 11 kids, 8 adults in all!

We've gotten to enjoy a good amount of time outside eating popsicles, playing in the pool, riding bikes and other fun stuff too!




Goofy Faces!

BIG!!

Mr. Baseball

Loves playing in the pool THIS summer... Last summer- not so much.

He's actually standing up, I just keep this baby floaty around him for my peace of mind!

Jonah and his buddy R.C. with their sparklers on 4th of July weekend

Aphia with her sparkler!

Just looking cute in her swimsuit and tu-tu!

Chillin' in the sun!

Business Trip

Tomorrow I'm headed out on a business trip. Ok, if you know me, then you know my job would really never require a business trip, but for the sake of this blog post, that's what I'm going to call it :)

I'll be gone for a good 36 hours on a camp out! Me and a few other leaders are basically taking the 3-5 graders from church who completed an AWANA book during the school year on a week-long session at camp condensed into 2 days! It should be a blast. There will be boating, swimming, biking, games, food, camp fires, devotions, praising Jesus and the like!

Again, if you know me, you know that this is RIGHT up my alley. VBS was two weeks ago and it energized me so much and now my "business trip" is less than 24 hours away and I'm SO excited!

My kids will be lovingly cared for by my dad on Wednesday, and will all be split up on Thursday to three different friend's houses.

I best be wrapping this up. I have some more things to prepare for my business trip... Like, I have to solidify the rules of the game "Mighty Mighty Scoop Noodle Challenge 2000 Duct Tape Ultimate Frisbee Style", I haven't played it since I was a youth director and need to brush up.

Toodles!

it was only two months

It was January of 1999. I was sitting in the Orlando airport waiting for the family who I was to be nannying for while on their Disney vacation, to arrive (a few hours after I had arrived). I had already decided that taking the city bus around Orlando was not necessarily what I should be doing as a tourist that day. After a few young gentlemen yelled some very unkind words at me while walking by myself in a part of the city that wasn't so nice, I made my way back to the airport to sit and wait for a few hours in safety. While in the airport I picked up a book at a little shop there, entitled, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye." I bought it immediately. Now why I would buy this book is a little beyond me as I look back because I really hadn't dated all that much prior to this. Like pretty much only a tiny bit. But nonetheless I was boy crazy at this point in my life and decided I needed to get a handle on it and start really putting God first.

I read the entire book while I was nannying at Disney after the kids would go to bed and on my plane ride home the next week. The idea was definitely for me. Putting God first in your life, and persons of the opposite sex on the back burner. This way, God could continue to be number one until I was actually ready to open my eyes the way He wanted me to in hopes that I could see clearly who He wanted me to be with for the rest of my life. The idea was to not date, but be friends with guys first, prior to getting involved in a relationship in hopes of finding a potential spouse without having to go through the rigmaroles, ups, downs, and loopdeloops of emotions that many relationships can take a person through.

So by the end of January 1999, I was resigned to no dating for an indefinite time. I was excited to see what God was going to do in my life over the next long while (which, at the time, is what I was expecting and looking forward to). I knew that God had big plans for Him and I to be together without boys being on my mind.

That supposed "long while" wasn't so long after all.

Fast forward about two months. The day was April 10, 1999. I met the boy (my affectionate name for Jeremiah) while hanging out with my bff, Mandy.

Fast forward 2 1/2 years. The day was November 2, 2002. I married the boy in front of our family and closest friends.

Fast forward 2 more years. The day was November 14, 2004. I made the boy a dad as Jonah James Kruger came into the world at a whopping 5 lbs 4 oz!

Fast forward 6 1/2 years. The day is June 19, 2011. The day is Father's Day. The boy is Daddy to our three beautiful lovies. The boy is amazing as he fathers our children. The boy is devoted to raising his children to love Jesus and to love others. The boy looks into the eyes of his offspring and tells them he loves them. The boy grabs a hold of his children and draws them close when their knees are scraped, toes are stubbed, fingers are cut, heads are bonked, feelings are hurt, or hearts are broken. The boy raises his sons to be respectful and loving towards girls, so that they will love and cherish the future wives they will have. The boy raises his daughter in security so that she will be secure in her relationship with the future husband that she will have. The boy loves his children's mommy and holds her close so that they can see their love and know that all is well in their family. The boy... is a father. A father who makes it easy to picture God as Father.

On this Father's Day, I celebrate the boy whom God chose to be the father of my children.

God knows what He is doing. He knows that I don't like to wait long for most things. I told Jesus that He'd be my number one guy while I waited for Him to show me who would be my guy. He only made me wait 2 months.

Happy Father's Day Jeremiah John. You are an incredible Dad.

Here We Goooooooo!

Ahhhh, sweet summer... Here at last!
I always thought that it was only the kids who ever got excited that summer break was finally here, while all the moms dreaded the day with the look of agony in their eyes. However, as a mom, I think I was just as excited for Jonah to be done with school for the year and the days of summer to begin. I'm excited and pumped to have him home for three months!

And then there was this morning and I was about ready to ship him to summer camp for the entire summer. He was picking on his sister, whispering antagonizing, mean things to her, not listening to me, being extra roudy, the list could go on. I have a LOT of work to do between now and Monday when VBS starts and this was NOT helping the process. My to-do list was not going to be very happy with me today if this continued.

So I sat us all down to have morning devotions with a kid devotional I got for the summer. And wouldn't you know it, the devo. was all about throwing out the "plans." It was called, "Take a Break with Me" and how Jesus wants our soul to rest, let him take charge and let him be in the details. Hmmm, it was like he saw what was going on in our house this morning and just what I needed to hear. Funny how that works out when we actually sit and listen and are intentionally with the Lord. We had a little chat about inviting God into our day and how as a family we are a team. Teams work together and just as they do, our family needs to work together- loving, respecting, and listening to one another.

So we look forward to summer once again as the day has gone remarkably well since our morning rumble tumble. We spent some time at church so I could work. We came home and had lunch together. We played outside on our swingset, in the pool, on our bikes (while I mowed the lawn), inside playing Barbies and Uno and now enjoying an afternoon popsicle. THIS is how summer is supposed to be. THIS is how the Lord wants me to utilize the days he has given me with my children.

Both of the kids want to earn money this summer for different things (Jonah- a DSi and Aphia- a Barbie house) and so I've made a loooooong list of extra chores (outside of their regular ones) that they can do to earn money. They can choose to do them and make money or not do them and not make money. They are excited at the idea of being able to work and make money. We'll see if that lasts.

I feel like this summer will be so different from last summer when Isaiah was a babe and I was so very tied down with him. This year, he's just one of the fam! So watch out summer because here we goooooooo!

Randoms & Memorial Day Weekend

Life has been busy with many things on the agenda.
*Vacation Bible School is coming up and thus my job has been extra demanding. However, I love it! It's my favorite week of the year and I love the preparation for it!
*I had a garage sale with 3 other friends and it would seem that we have a prime location for garage sales, as we all seemed to do rather well and are even opening back up one day this week to try to sell off the rest!
*Jeremiah has had softball, "Men's Night," and other random side jobs (fixing/maintenance on small engine things for people) keeping him busy.
*Jonah started t-ball a couple weeks ago and seems to be enjoying it a little more than last year. But we'll see if that continues when they start to do coach pitch and the games get super long (and boring!!!!).
*We are wrapping up the school year and I'm finding it hard to believe that next year I'll have one child in first grade and one in pre-school.

**We had a great Memorial Day Weekend!
Jeremiah's mom came on Friday and Saturday to do projects with us!!! Friday night the two of them put on the storm door that I had wanted for Mother's Day. I LOVE being able to have my front door open and a breeze going through the screen! Then on Saturday we were able to move the swingset from the neighbors yard to ours (Grandpa Rob and Grandma Bonnie bought it for the kids for Christmas). We were so thankful to be able to get a really nice one that was already assembled and only needed to be moved from the people who live behind us!
Saturday night we celebrated with my brother Michael and sister-in-law Susie who recently graduated from St. Thomas University with their Master's Degrees! They had a big 'ol grand party and it was lots of fun!
Sunday we took it easy after church and I napped for 3 hours!
Monday we headed to Shoreview to spend the day with Grandma Judy, Uncle Josh, Auntie Stephanie, Hannah, Emily, Auntie Becca, Ryan and Addi. On Monday night I was EXHAUSTED from a busy, but very fun weekend!

Here are a few pictures from our time at the park on Monday.

This was the best picture we could get of the 5 of us. I guess that's how life is with three small kids... or should I say 4? Jonah and Aphia are looking at the camera, but the biggest and littlest kids aren't :)

Here are the cousins on the slide, oldest at the bottom, youngest at the top!

Hannah, Emily, Jonah, Aphia, Addison, Isaiah

Cousins on the bridge!

Better in Buffalo

I grew up in the suburbs. I like the suburbs. I like that we could be in Minneapolis within about 10 minutes. I like all the "burbs" had to offer.

But...

Now I like it better in Buffalo. Before JJ and I got married, he was looking at buying a house, in the suburbs. I was good with that! Then... He started looking at homes in Buffalo. Um, where? You want me to live way out where?!

Well he bought a house and I moved out here after we got married. For a long while it was not home. I only lived here. I actually really didn't do much else here, not even grocery shop or fill my gas tank or go to church. But then I started working out here, started meeting more people, had a baby and met more people, got a different job, joined MOPS, had more kids, started going to a new church, going to ECFE all the while meeting more and more amazing people.

Today as I was driving Jonah to school and then the littles to my friend Jessica's and then back to work, I saw several friends that were also out and about going hither and yon. I loved waving and blowing kisses to my amigas! I LOVED the fact that I could drive around town and see people that I love, going about their daily business and we can connect through a smile.

I'm a people person and I love seeing and being with people I love. For some, this wouldn't be the right fit. Some people like the anonimity of where they live. Not me. I love to see and be around others. I love Buffalo, it's just better here.

I'll Toot My Kid's Horn

Since he doesn't really know how to do it himself, I'll toot Isaiah's horn for him today.

We went in to the clinic for his 18 month well check. The kid did amazing. Seriously incredible. Rediculously phenomenal.

He's in the 97th %ile for height and about 80th %ile for weight. Always consistent on the growth curve my boy is!

Anywho. We got in to the room and I stripped him down and of course he just giggled at being nakie (except for his diaper)! He layed perfectly still as nurse Mandy weighed him, measured his length and his head circumference. Nurse Mandy continued to check him out a bit and then said that there was a student in today and asked if it was ok if he came in also. This frequently happens and I'm ALL too happy to help people learn. So the P.A. student came in and checked out Big Man. Isaiah's ears were so incredibly filled with wax that he couldn't really see in. So then Dr. Nelson came in and checked him out, he continuing to smile and "chat" with them all. Dr. Nelson asked Mandy to do an ear wash on the right ear since after picking out a LOT of wax, she still couldn't see much. So Mandy proceeded to do the ear wash. I had to hold him sideways over the sink while she shot warm water into his ear with this little do-hickey contrapation. He, again, didn't even bat an eye. Just sat there in my arms, didn't even twitch his head. After seeing the really gross products in the sink of the ear wash and seeing how great he did, we did the other ear too. Nurse Mandy finished up by saying to the P.A. student, "That was the easiest ear wash I've EVER done, and it was on an EIGHTEEN MONTH OLD!" She then proceeded to give him 4 shots, to which he got a BIG pouty lip and said, "Owie Manny (Mandy)! Owie!" And then I picked him up and said it was time to go, to which he replied, "Shoes! Shoes! Ouside, Ouside!"

And we traipsed out of the doctors office all smiles! And then we played "ouside" since it was so nice out this morning!

Happy 18 month Birthday Mr. IJK! You are loved!

The Lodge

(My apologies that this is one big huge long paragraph. Blogger is being dumb and won't let me make new paragraphs) Whatever. ONWARD WITH THE POST! ...After MUCH anticipation we were finally able to use our gift certificate (that my mom, dad & brother Richie gave us for Christmas) to go up north to The Lodge- hotel and indoor waterpark! It was one of the most fantastic weekends I have had with the kids on any type of vacation! Isaiah got to stay at Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Rob's house while Jeremiah, myself, Jonah & Aphia jonted off to the north woods. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Isaiah-baya-boo, but man was it nice to go do something like this without the constraints of a one year old! We actually got to do stuff we wanted instead of chasing him around. We also got to spend our weekend with some of our best friends- the Pack family (Taylor, Jessica, Julia & Jillian). Jonah is just a titch older than Julia and Aphia is just a titch older than Jillian. They had so much fun together playing and playing and playing! Some of my favorite things were: *Going down the waterslide with each of the children (separately). *Hearing how quiet the kids were in the next room and seeing their priceless faces when I came in to check on them. They had taken a whole bag of jellybeans, divied it up into 4 cups and were ferociously mowing on them. I didn't really care, they had been eating candy all day long, what was another bag of jellybeans?! *Following Aphia around, just letting her set her pace and what she wanted to do in the waterpark. She's quite a little fish. Her favorite thing to do was swim in the plain-old-swimming pool part of the entire place. *Watching the children play "Tangled" on the huge king/queen log bunk bed that looked like Repunzel's castle/tower thingy. Jillian would wrap a long blanket around her head and drop it over the side, while Jonah would climb up her hair aka the bunk bed ladder. SO CUTE! *Letting the kids stay up several hours past regular bedtime because we were ON VACATION!! *Spending great, quality time with great friends! *Relaxing, vegging out, and playing. This really is the summary of the weekend. I cannot emphasize how awesome it was to actually do a vacation with the family. I usually feel exhausted after "vacations" with the kids. This time was quite different and I'm so refreshed and rejuvenated!

Here are some pictures from our adventure. I didn't take too many, I was busy having fun myself instead of being the photographer!

Jones and Daddy coming down from the tube slide

Aphia and Jillian on the little green slide together.

My sing-song girl, singin' a made up song about the pool while in the pool!

Jones loves his goggles so he can swim underwater! He's also somewhat of a fish.

My little fishies sitting on the side of the hot tub.

Mixed Messages

Apparently our third born is getting mixed messages

Me too kids... Me too.

Oi vey. Really? Snow? I mean C'MON!!!!

Jeremiah's cell phone gave off that horrid noise this morning at 5:30. Yep, it rang to say, "Come in to work and plow." Now really, I don't ever mind this, it doesn't matter to me. As long as we have cereal bars or pancakes in the house so that I don't have to do crunchy cereal which drives me nuts first thing in the morning, I'm game. But when it's March 23rd and the mountains and mountains of snow were almost completely non-existent, the fact that Jeremiah had to go plow did nothing to blow my skirt up.

So I pulled myself from bed and got Jonah up and ready for school. At 8:15 when the bus should have been at our driveway and there were no kids, I thought, "Hmmm, maybe we have a late start." Checked out Kare11.com to find that there was NO SCHOOL! I was a little shocked to find this, since there really wasn't that much snow. I mean, we've definitely had more! But I suppose the rain yesterday, turning to ice and snowing on top of that did the trick. And a bit of me wonders if since we haven't had one yet this year if they were a little more liberal with their doling out of the snow day at hand. Whatevs. Works for me!

So Jones (which I was informed today is what he always prefers to be called now instead of Jonah) ran up to change out of his uniform and into his Twin's jersey. I looked at his Twin's jersey and almost started to cry. Twin's means baseball. Baseball means Target field. Target field means warm, non-snowy weather. Something I'm almost convinced that God has forgotten about.

Although he was delighted to see the amount of snow covering everything this morning, Jonah did make mention of also wishing for spring and summer. All I could say as I (irrationally) felt like I couldn't promise anything in regards to weather anymore, "Me too Jones... Me too."

It really helps when my mom and dad are down in Missouri, "Chillin with an ice cream cone" (as shown by the picture my darling mother just texted me). And it really helps that my sister is leaving this weekend for Louisiana for a week. But hey! I get to head UP NORTH next week! Oh goody. No... I'm actually very excited to head up north, because my in-laws are coming to watch the kids for 2 days/1 night while Jeremiah and I have our first get-away by ourselves since our honeymoon! The time alone together will be so very, very appreciated, cherished and treasured!

Just Curious

On Friday I woke to an email saying that there had been a massive earthquake in Japan and we needed to pray fervently for a friend who was vacationing in Hawaii, where the tsunami was supposed to hit. We were informed later, by said vacationing friend, that she was just fine and was not even affected by the waves.

I flipped on the tv to see the devistation and calamity that the biggest earthquake in recorded history had caused. Holy toledo! To watch as the waves hit the island of Japan and wash away so much was chilling.

I thought of this earthquake and how big it was. In church this morning our Pastor said that it moved the country 8 feet. EIGHT FEET! I saw pictures of roads being slip in two and the shaking that just kept on shaking and shaking, causing buildings to fall and destruction in so many places.

I'm reminded of the verses in Revelation that say, "The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake." (Revelation 16:17-18)

I think about the earthquake that is to come that Revelation speaks of. It will be so catastrophic that it will destroy everything. EVERYTHING. That is a sobering though eh? However, this event, as you can see, is when the angel declares, "It is done!" I won't be here then. So I'm just curious, will you? I pray you won't be here to experience this. If you know Jesus as Savior, you won't be here either. If you're not sure if you'll be here... you will. So I'm just curious, a life of hope in Jesus or to experience the most devistating earthquake there will ever be? So I'm just curious, what will you choose today?

Musings from the Sofa

We have been a sick household for a few weeks. It just keeps on cycling between us. The kids have run the gamot of ear infections, fevers, sore throats, runny/stuffy noses, more fevers and headaches. Jeremiah and I have had our share too, boo.
For the past 5 days we have really, really laid low. Friday we sat and watched tv. The. Whole. Day. I gained a few thoughts and insights while on furlough from actual life.

*Jeremiah and I watched the movie Inception. If you've seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about here. I proceeded to have a dream that night and in my dream I kept trying to go back to how I got to where I was in my dream to see if I was really dreaming, even though I knew I really was. It was like I was testing the theory of the movie in my dream.
*Isaiah found out that he can do the following things when mom is couch-bound and sick as a dog: Take frames off the wall, tromp through the dog's water dish, empty the tupperware cupboard, pound on the piano, unravel all the toilet paper, take out all the tissues from the boxes stashed around the house, play in the toilet, crawl into the dog's kennel, and undress himself.
*Isaiah was busy when he wasn't sick, but these were minor things, he was actually a very good boy. He spent A LOT of time with me reading his NFL and John Deere books. He is a boy, through and through. He was quite the snuggler while sick too (isn't every mom's secret favorite time when kids are sick because they want to snuggle???).
*Kids who are sick don't get bored watching 8+ hours of PBS, they just keep watching and watching.
*I'm SO glad we got our new couches a couple weeks ago. SO. SO. GLAD.
*I haven't been really sick, besides a cold, in a long, long time. I forgot how my brain also ceases functioning during this time. It took all I had to be able to send out reminder emails for nursery duty for Sunday. Sheesh.
*Sick kids ask to go to bed at 6:30 and that is cute to me.
*Grandma's/Mom's who come and bring us dinner and do some laundry are amazing.
*Having an oven/stove that don't work, while being sick, is not fun. I'm going on 2 weeks here of no stove/oven and I've had enough sandwiches to last a lifetime.
*Being sick during the only warm streak stinks to high heaven. It just added insult to injury that we couldn't even get out for a walk.
*Little boys (whether 6 or 1) like to play "Pretty Pretty Princess," just not as much as 4 year old little girls.
*God is good, allowing life to basically cease normality during the past 5 days.
*God is good, restoring health on this snowy day. One more forced day of hunkering down, I'll take it.

Perfect Princess Party

Today we had what Aphia called the, "Perfect Princess Party!"

There was PINK PINK PINK everywhere we turned. Pink tablecloth, plates, cups, napkins, streamers, balloons, a pink castle cake, pink jello, pink lemonade, pink applesauce (and we also had white pb&j finger sandwiches with no crust & chunked white cheese) and plenty of pink dresses to be had.

With 7 little princesses and 1 strong knight, it was a fantastic day for my little Princess. She adored the day and loved spending time with her friends.

Above are the 8 little ones in attendance at the party

Here's Phia opening some of her gifts! She wanted to sit on her princess chair that Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Rob bought her for Christmas.

Here's the castle cake. It's the first actual "creative" cake I've ever attempted.

Having lunch! A party of 7 little girls and 1 boy is amazingly quiet. I've only done two other birthday parties for a child of mine and it was Jonah with lots of little boys... Boys are not quiet, nor do they like to sit still for long. The Princess Party was a walk in the park. It helped that all the children that we had over are super great kids who are a joy to celebrate with!

I like them

I just love these 3. They are what get me through (well, them and the incredible friends and family that I have).

Christmas morning in her new robe!

Jonah on his birthday with his "new" Lego set! (Jeremiah's mom had saved all of Jeremiah's Lego sets- Jonah had/has no idea that we have them all, packed away for such occasions. Shhh, don't tell him our little secret.)

You should see the other kid! Naw, just IJK after a little bout with pink eye before Christmas.

I kind of hit a wall last Monday. My "Christmas" season was finally over, having celebrated the much anticipated and wonderful Christmas celebration at our house with Jeremiah's mom, brother, sister-in-law, our nieces, and his sister. Along with little to no sun these days, the winter gets long 'round these here parts.

My mom asked the other day, "How are the kids?" I said, "They're great! I spent much of the week before last preparing for the family to come visit and I'm not going to do anything again until they come next year! So since I've just been sitting around with the kiddos, they're great!"

So as I said, it's these three munchkins that get me through... Or force me to get through, either way, I'm grateful for them.