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.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
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! Tuesday, February 1, 2011
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.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Good Cop Bad Cop
Moms are kind of like cops. They police the area watching for signs of unintelligent behavior, they take note of the surroundings, they make their best attempt at cleaning up the boundries that they are in charge of.
And here is where this post takes a severe curve ball out into left field (but don't worry, I'll make the connection for you later). If you're a guy reading this, but I really doubt there are any guys that read my posts- even my other half- sorry, but this is a girl post. You can proceed if you like, but here is the TMI warning.
I'm a good mom. I'm going to give myself that today. I'm a good mom. HALF of the time. The other half of the time, I don't know who that crazy lady in my house, screwing up my kids is! Let me tell you, from Day 1 after Aunt Flo comes to visit, I'm calm, patient, my panties are never in a bunch, I can turn frustrating situations into funny ones, I'm loving, compassionate, rational, I hug and kiss and love on my kids, twirling them around and playing the, "Boo! I love you!" game. It's glorious! It's how being a mom was meant to be- truly!! And then, just as inevitable as the sun rising in the morning, the days tick on by and all of a sudden she shows up. That other mom. She comes in, ties my hands behind my back, duct tapes my mouth, blindfolds me and shoves me in the closet for several days. She is irritable, annoyed, impatient, snappy, irrational, and self-pitying. Oh seriously she's so annoying. But I feel like I can't fend her off. I can't guard my castle against her.
I was watching the show The Doctors the other day. They were talking about PMS and said how something like 60% of women are affected by it. Some women even suffer from severe depression symptoms during this time. Dr. Lisa was talking about certain ways to deal with these symptoms and noted that one of the best things to do for PMS is to be alone. Alone.... what a lovely word and if only it were that easy just at the time of the month when it was needed. But like that EVER happens.
So what to do? That's the question. As I'm a year post-partum now, my body is really getting back to "normal". I've got to get a handle on what my hormones are going to do and be the master of my own body. It's just difficult when I feel like the loony bin should be on my husband's speed dial.
Back to the cop thing. Ok... so the connection isn't quite what I thought it was going to be. There's the saying "Good cop, bad cop," and well.... I feel like "Good mom, bad mom." That's all.
And here is where this post takes a severe curve ball out into left field (but don't worry, I'll make the connection for you later). If you're a guy reading this, but I really doubt there are any guys that read my posts- even my other half- sorry, but this is a girl post. You can proceed if you like, but here is the TMI warning.
I'm a good mom. I'm going to give myself that today. I'm a good mom. HALF of the time. The other half of the time, I don't know who that crazy lady in my house, screwing up my kids is! Let me tell you, from Day 1 after Aunt Flo comes to visit, I'm calm, patient, my panties are never in a bunch, I can turn frustrating situations into funny ones, I'm loving, compassionate, rational, I hug and kiss and love on my kids, twirling them around and playing the, "Boo! I love you!" game. It's glorious! It's how being a mom was meant to be- truly!! And then, just as inevitable as the sun rising in the morning, the days tick on by and all of a sudden she shows up. That other mom. She comes in, ties my hands behind my back, duct tapes my mouth, blindfolds me and shoves me in the closet for several days. She is irritable, annoyed, impatient, snappy, irrational, and self-pitying. Oh seriously she's so annoying. But I feel like I can't fend her off. I can't guard my castle against her.
I was watching the show The Doctors the other day. They were talking about PMS and said how something like 60% of women are affected by it. Some women even suffer from severe depression symptoms during this time. Dr. Lisa was talking about certain ways to deal with these symptoms and noted that one of the best things to do for PMS is to be alone. Alone.... what a lovely word and if only it were that easy just at the time of the month when it was needed. But like that EVER happens.
So what to do? That's the question. As I'm a year post-partum now, my body is really getting back to "normal". I've got to get a handle on what my hormones are going to do and be the master of my own body. It's just difficult when I feel like the loony bin should be on my husband's speed dial.
Back to the cop thing. Ok... so the connection isn't quite what I thought it was going to be. There's the saying "Good cop, bad cop," and well.... I feel like "Good mom, bad mom." That's all.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Merry Belated Christmas
We had a spectacular Christmas at the Kruger House!
We thoroughly enjoyed our tradition of going to church at our church on Christmas Eve and then sleeping in/waking up in our own beds Christmas morning so we could eat caramel and cinnamon rolls, read the Christmas story from the Bible, and open presents!
The kids loved the gifts they received this year and we loved watching them open them up! Isaiah got everything he wanted, "A baw" (ball). He was pretty smitten with each and every "baw" he got. Jonah's favorite gift was Wii Lego Indiana Jones and Phia's favorite was her Polly Pockets and Princess Barbies.
Monday, December 20, 2010
SOLD!!
This story starts roughly 6 months ago. Just having moved into our new home, putting our old home on the market and waiting what we thought was patiently for it to sell; we began a journey that brought us many thoughts, lessons, and emotions. I blogged a while back about some of the things that I've learned on this journey. I'm really not sure how to link that blog post to this blog post, but it was written in October and titled "Learning Much," if you care to read it. It seems that after that post there was another lesson I was to learn on this road.
Several weeks back, I was driving home from the grocery store by myself. I was having a little conversation with the Lord and was being quite verbal. My volume was loud. I was asking God the question I had asked many times before, "What am I supposed to do Lord?!" He answered me as He had many times before, "You're not supposed to do anything." In the past I've heard it like this, "You're not supposed to DO anything." This time I heard the same answer... different emphasis, "YOU'RE not supposed to do anything." Huh? "What do you mean Lord?" was my question. What he was about to tell me rocked my world, to say the least.
Let me scoot back a little. If you don't know me super well, let me introduce you to me. I'm a first born child. I take the lead, it's natural for me. I don't follow a lot of times. Examples: I never tried smoking when other kids were curious. I didn't drink in high school. I didn't do things with my boyfriend (ahem... ya know...) that the rest of society did. I didn't wait, like the majority of my dearest friends, to have kids. The list goes on. I'm also somewhat (and by somewhat I mean REALLY) boisterous about a few (and by a few I mean MOST) things. These characteristics carry over into most areas of my life, including my marriage. My default role is decision maker, motivator, leader, take-charger, etc.
Come on back to me, in the car, God speaking to me. He says, “Shhhhh. You need to be quiet. You need to let your husband lead. Jeremiah bought the house before you were married and he has to sell this house. It’s for him to sell. So shhhhh.” The rest of our conversation sort of went like this, “Um, Lord, do you know me? This isn’t going to be easy.” “Of course I know you and you’re right, which you are most of the time {ok, the “being right” part may have been added by me}, it is going to be close to one of the most difficult things you’ll ever do.” “So, what am I supposed to do?” “Like I said, be quiet. Tell him I told you to back off and that you’re going to follow his lead. Pray for him, encourage him and love him.” “Ok, if you say so. But I feel the need to remind you again, this isn’t going to be easy for me.” He just shakes his head at me.
Over the next few days, God, like I said, rocked my world. Jeremiah was a little stunned with his and my new roles. I had been taking the lead in ALL of the house-selling issues. Now it was him. Many, many times I wanted to ask, “Did you call…” “Did you check on…” “Did you…” “Can you…” “Will you…” and God said to me, “Shhhhh… Be still. Still your tongue. Still your lips.” When I would sit there and be still, a couple times it almost brought me to tears thinking of all the things I thought we needed to hash over and discuss. Then in typical God fashion, Jeremiah would bring up or say something about what I was only thinking about, just in time for me to not completely fall apart and lose it. It was awesomely incredible.
Here’s where it gets cool. One night my brother Richie was at our house and we were chatting a little about the house. I was briefly (and I really do mean briefly!) sharing my woes about not selling. I did not want to say too much because, well you know, I was in this “having to be quiet” thing. Richie said to me, “Have you prayed about this?” “Um, yeah.” “What have you prayed?” “Um, what haven’t I prayed?!” And I went into my repertoire of prayers about selling the house. Get this, Richie says, “Ok,” and literally walks out of the room. Just leaves. Um ok. A while later he comes back in and I sort of wait for him to pick up, but he doesn’t. So I say, “Ok, so you just left…” He says, “God told me to tell you to march around your house.” Ummmm, this was big to me and since I was doing the whole quiet, non-leader thing, I deferred to Jeremiah, “You need to tell this to Jeremiah.” So Richie turns to him and continues on. Basically it was as such, God told Richie to tell us to go and march around our house 5 times. Jeremiah asks Richie why and Richie said he didn’t know, but that God told him to tell us.
Jeremiah shared with Richie that several times he had felt the pull to go over there and walk around the house, but he always dismissed it for one reason or another. Finally God was being LOUD LOUD LOUD, speaking so Jeremiah could audibly hear.
So the next day, a beautiful, gorgeous, sunny, Sunday afternoon when of course the neighbors were out in their yards, we prayed and marched around our house. Of course God wasn’t going to let this be easy, with no one watching us, not having to be self-conscious or anything. Nope, we had to walk around over and over and over and over and over. So we did. We were obedient. It was hard, but we did it.
A few days went by and Richie called Jeremiah. They talked about Joshua marching around Jericho, but it being 7 times. He told Jeremiah that he was supposed to go over and finish the job. He needed to walk around 2 more times. So Jeremiah listened, went to the old house and walked around 2 more times at 10:00 at night. The next day, the guy that ended up buying our house looked at it for the first time. And today, we signed the papers and closed on the sale of our old home. {giddiness overflowing!!!}
I continued and continue to be quiet, letting my husband lead. It really, really gave a new meaning to the prayer my mother-in-law frequently prays for me to “be still.” I had to learn to not only let my body be still and calm, but my mouth. God said to me, “Am I enough? Am I enough for you to listen to? If you can’t talk, am I enough?” I had to learn to say, “Yes Lord, you are. I’ll be quiet and listen to you.” He’s also said to me, “This isn’t only for the selling of the house. This is for life. You need to watch your words and listen most of all.”
I’m trying to focus on this new role in life. It’s not only not easy for me, it’s not easy for Jeremiah. He was raised by an incredibly strong, single mother, leader. He defaults into follower just as much as I default into leader. These characteristics are who we are, yes, but in our roles as husband and wife we are learning that there needs to be a shift. Me leading, and him following is just not what God wants for us and he’s making that strikingly clear. Jeremiah is an incredible, strong, yet quiet leader. He doesn’t always lead how I would expect, but he does in his own way.
This life, for everyone, is about learning. Learning to listen to God. Learning to be obedient. Learning it’s not “all about me.” Learning it’s about loving God and loving others. Learning that as much as we think we can control things, we have no idea what control actually is because we don’t have any control in the grand scheme of things.
It has been a long road (but I realize it could have been MUCH longer!) and I’m grateful for it.
Sold.
Several weeks back, I was driving home from the grocery store by myself. I was having a little conversation with the Lord and was being quite verbal. My volume was loud. I was asking God the question I had asked many times before, "What am I supposed to do Lord?!" He answered me as He had many times before, "You're not supposed to do anything." In the past I've heard it like this, "You're not supposed to DO anything." This time I heard the same answer... different emphasis, "YOU'RE not supposed to do anything." Huh? "What do you mean Lord?" was my question. What he was about to tell me rocked my world, to say the least.
Let me scoot back a little. If you don't know me super well, let me introduce you to me. I'm a first born child. I take the lead, it's natural for me. I don't follow a lot of times. Examples: I never tried smoking when other kids were curious. I didn't drink in high school. I didn't do things with my boyfriend (ahem... ya know...) that the rest of society did. I didn't wait, like the majority of my dearest friends, to have kids. The list goes on. I'm also somewhat (and by somewhat I mean REALLY) boisterous about a few (and by a few I mean MOST) things. These characteristics carry over into most areas of my life, including my marriage. My default role is decision maker, motivator, leader, take-charger, etc.
Come on back to me, in the car, God speaking to me. He says, “Shhhhh. You need to be quiet. You need to let your husband lead. Jeremiah bought the house before you were married and he has to sell this house. It’s for him to sell. So shhhhh.” The rest of our conversation sort of went like this, “Um, Lord, do you know me? This isn’t going to be easy.” “Of course I know you and you’re right, which you are most of the time {ok, the “being right” part may have been added by me}, it is going to be close to one of the most difficult things you’ll ever do.” “So, what am I supposed to do?” “Like I said, be quiet. Tell him I told you to back off and that you’re going to follow his lead. Pray for him, encourage him and love him.” “Ok, if you say so. But I feel the need to remind you again, this isn’t going to be easy for me.” He just shakes his head at me.
Over the next few days, God, like I said, rocked my world. Jeremiah was a little stunned with his and my new roles. I had been taking the lead in ALL of the house-selling issues. Now it was him. Many, many times I wanted to ask, “Did you call…” “Did you check on…” “Did you…” “Can you…” “Will you…” and God said to me, “Shhhhh… Be still. Still your tongue. Still your lips.” When I would sit there and be still, a couple times it almost brought me to tears thinking of all the things I thought we needed to hash over and discuss. Then in typical God fashion, Jeremiah would bring up or say something about what I was only thinking about, just in time for me to not completely fall apart and lose it. It was awesomely incredible.
Here’s where it gets cool. One night my brother Richie was at our house and we were chatting a little about the house. I was briefly (and I really do mean briefly!) sharing my woes about not selling. I did not want to say too much because, well you know, I was in this “having to be quiet” thing. Richie said to me, “Have you prayed about this?” “Um, yeah.” “What have you prayed?” “Um, what haven’t I prayed?!” And I went into my repertoire of prayers about selling the house. Get this, Richie says, “Ok,” and literally walks out of the room. Just leaves. Um ok. A while later he comes back in and I sort of wait for him to pick up, but he doesn’t. So I say, “Ok, so you just left…” He says, “God told me to tell you to march around your house.” Ummmm, this was big to me and since I was doing the whole quiet, non-leader thing, I deferred to Jeremiah, “You need to tell this to Jeremiah.” So Richie turns to him and continues on. Basically it was as such, God told Richie to tell us to go and march around our house 5 times. Jeremiah asks Richie why and Richie said he didn’t know, but that God told him to tell us.
Jeremiah shared with Richie that several times he had felt the pull to go over there and walk around the house, but he always dismissed it for one reason or another. Finally God was being LOUD LOUD LOUD, speaking so Jeremiah could audibly hear.
So the next day, a beautiful, gorgeous, sunny, Sunday afternoon when of course the neighbors were out in their yards, we prayed and marched around our house. Of course God wasn’t going to let this be easy, with no one watching us, not having to be self-conscious or anything. Nope, we had to walk around over and over and over and over and over. So we did. We were obedient. It was hard, but we did it.
A few days went by and Richie called Jeremiah. They talked about Joshua marching around Jericho, but it being 7 times. He told Jeremiah that he was supposed to go over and finish the job. He needed to walk around 2 more times. So Jeremiah listened, went to the old house and walked around 2 more times at 10:00 at night. The next day, the guy that ended up buying our house looked at it for the first time. And today, we signed the papers and closed on the sale of our old home. {giddiness overflowing!!!}
I continued and continue to be quiet, letting my husband lead. It really, really gave a new meaning to the prayer my mother-in-law frequently prays for me to “be still.” I had to learn to not only let my body be still and calm, but my mouth. God said to me, “Am I enough? Am I enough for you to listen to? If you can’t talk, am I enough?” I had to learn to say, “Yes Lord, you are. I’ll be quiet and listen to you.” He’s also said to me, “This isn’t only for the selling of the house. This is for life. You need to watch your words and listen most of all.”
I’m trying to focus on this new role in life. It’s not only not easy for me, it’s not easy for Jeremiah. He was raised by an incredibly strong, single mother, leader. He defaults into follower just as much as I default into leader. These characteristics are who we are, yes, but in our roles as husband and wife we are learning that there needs to be a shift. Me leading, and him following is just not what God wants for us and he’s making that strikingly clear. Jeremiah is an incredible, strong, yet quiet leader. He doesn’t always lead how I would expect, but he does in his own way.
This life, for everyone, is about learning. Learning to listen to God. Learning to be obedient. Learning it’s not “all about me.” Learning it’s about loving God and loving others. Learning that as much as we think we can control things, we have no idea what control actually is because we don’t have any control in the grand scheme of things.
It has been a long road (but I realize it could have been MUCH longer!) and I’m grateful for it.
Sold.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
click
A long time ago, a blog friend wrote a post about certain times in her life when she wishes she could capture the moment with a camera, but knowing that the moment could never actually be captured. She prayed that God would be gracious and if she'd stop in those moments He would specially store them somewhere in her brain for her to think back on later.
Jeremiah has often talked about a similar idea of an eye camera that would instantly record as you wished. Wouldn't that be great?!
There have been a few of those moments lately in my life that I'd love to stop and capture, but know that the moment is fleeting and can only hope that the Lord has stored them up for me as a scrapbook to look through with Him when we sit together in glory!
Sitting today at the computer, doing the bills, I turned to see all the giggling as Aphia and Isaiah were chasing each other and playing peekaboo around the island in the kitchen.
CLICK.
Watching my baby (who... dare I say... is and will always be the baby) walk all over, knowing that he is not a baby anymore.
CLICK.
Peeking in the boys room to see Daddy and Jones having a discussion about being a Christian, being baptized and other things that are on a little 6 year old mind as the night winds down. And specifically how incredibly his daddy talked through those big things so that he could perfectly undertand them.
CLICK.
Watching Uncle Richie be so enthusiastic about taking Jonah out in the huge snowfort that he built.
CLICK.
Sitting with my babe, watching Sesame Street. With him actually sitting, snuggling, and relaxing for a good 15 minutes.
CLICK.
Seeing Jonah's joy-filled face when I brought his boots to him, that he had forgotten in the car, right before recess time and hearing his best buddy Jack say to him, "Your wish came true!!"
CLICK.
Watching Aphia excell, with bravery and courage, at her pre-school screening and score well above and beyond where she "needs to be."
CLICK.
Seeing the older two in the Christmas program on Sunday at church, singing praises of worship!
CLICK.
Jeremiah has often talked about a similar idea of an eye camera that would instantly record as you wished. Wouldn't that be great?!
There have been a few of those moments lately in my life that I'd love to stop and capture, but know that the moment is fleeting and can only hope that the Lord has stored them up for me as a scrapbook to look through with Him when we sit together in glory!
Sitting today at the computer, doing the bills, I turned to see all the giggling as Aphia and Isaiah were chasing each other and playing peekaboo around the island in the kitchen.
CLICK.
Watching my baby (who... dare I say... is and will always be the baby) walk all over, knowing that he is not a baby anymore.
CLICK.
Peeking in the boys room to see Daddy and Jones having a discussion about being a Christian, being baptized and other things that are on a little 6 year old mind as the night winds down. And specifically how incredibly his daddy talked through those big things so that he could perfectly undertand them.
CLICK.
Watching Uncle Richie be so enthusiastic about taking Jonah out in the huge snowfort that he built.
CLICK.
Sitting with my babe, watching Sesame Street. With him actually sitting, snuggling, and relaxing for a good 15 minutes.
CLICK.
Seeing Jonah's joy-filled face when I brought his boots to him, that he had forgotten in the car, right before recess time and hearing his best buddy Jack say to him, "Your wish came true!!"
CLICK.
Watching Aphia excell, with bravery and courage, at her pre-school screening and score well above and beyond where she "needs to be."
CLICK.
Seeing the older two in the Christmas program on Sunday at church, singing praises of worship!
CLICK.
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