Saturday, July 21, 2012

Thankful

You know the saying “It’s the little things”?  Well, it’s true.  Very true.  I have been thinking so much lately about this – and yesterday I was in the middle of it.  And it was awesome!

Matt heard that the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) cars were going to be racing in the area, so he called & asked what I thought about going.  I do like watching those races (really, they are FUN!), but I just didn’t think that Eli would want to sit through the whole thing.  So Matt called Jed, who said he’d be interested in going – and they took Brett & Trevor along and had a “guys night out”. :)

This meant that Eli & I got to have some 1 on 1 time after I got home from work (and picked him up from Grandma L). Since it’s been about 100 degrees most of the week, we tried to think of some things to do inside. First we made some supper (mom gave me some awe-some sweet corn when I stopped by – THANKS mom!), and then we switched the laundry.  Eli decided it would be a good idea to walk to the train tracks – so we headed outside. 

We walked east & it was so fun just to talk to him and listen to all of his stories. He’s so dang cute when he talks because most of the time he’s so expressive.  It’s also the time of year when the planes are out spraying the fields – so he got to see 6 airplanes while we were out there.  He thought that was the coolest.  When you’re 4 years old – sprayer planes are just as cool as any other kind!

He got a little tired before we actually made it to the tracks, so we turned around & started to head home.  Most of the way back, we talked about what it means to be thankful – and how we should remember to thank God every day.  For whatever reason, he just seemed like he “got it” in a way that he hadn’t before.  Maybe I made that up in my head, but I think he caught on.  Anyway – we ended up sitting on the sidewalk in front of the house for about half an hour after we got home, and we made “Eli & Mommy’s Thank You List”.  I adore that little boy so much more than I could say (and I feel the same way about his brothers)!  But I wanted to capture our lists here so someday he can look back and see what he was thankful for when he was 4. ;)  Eli started, and we took turns telling each other (and God) what was on our list. (*Note: I couldn’t figure out how to get the lists side by side, so it seems like this post is a mile long!)

Eli’s List

  1. sky
  2. shooting stars
  3. pretty clouds
  4. Heaven
  5. lightning
  6. toys
  7. Reese’s Pieces
  8. rainbows (in his words, “that I saw at Grandma Langstraat’s house next week”) ;)
  9. snow angels
  10. camper
  11. sprinkler
  12. bird baths
  13. tomorrow
  14. tree house
  15. if we can buy a snowboard
  16. birds
  17. cheese pizza
  18. ABC books
  19. Christmas tree
  20. Mickey
  21. purple flowers
  22. ice cream
  23. Grandma
  24. baby kittens
  25. cousins
  26. coke

Mommy’s List

  1. family
  2. rain
  3. Jesus
  4. friends
  5. food
  6. sunshine
  7. rainbows
  8. seasons
  9. home
  10. grass
  11. today
  12. Bible
  13. our country
  14. saving us / forgiveness
  15. farmers
  16. jobs
  17. Christmas
  18. beds
  19. church
  20. senses
  21. fireflies
  22. moon
  23. eagles
  24. neighbors
  25. safety
  26. blessings

So those are just a few of the things we came up with.  He also thought that while we talked to God about these things, we could also have Him say “hi” to Grandpa L. (*tears*)

Then we went inside and had root beer floats & watched The Veggie Tales “It’s a Meaningful Life” movie.  And then we snuggled up and fell asleep on the couch.  The night was precious and I would not have traded that time for anything in the world. 

(oh, and all of the other boys had a great time at the races too!)

Thank you, God for blessing me in so many ways – and for making these “little moments” a very BIG deal.  Please forgive me when I take things (and people) for granted & help me to always know that these little boys are watching and learning from my words and actions.  Please help me to live each day for you.  I love you.  Amen.

Monday, July 9, 2012

This & That

I can’t imagine how writers do it.  I sit down to write 1 post, and can barely figure out where to begin.  Oh well, I guess that’s why I’m not a writer, huh? ;) 

We had a great weekend … we got to see some very dear friends that we hadn’t seen in 2 years. (much, MUCH too long!)  Chris, Pam & the kids had a wedding nearby on Friday, so since they were in the area, we got to see them on Saturday.  They stopped by the house for a while, and then we went and had lunch. Brett decided to stay home because he’s been feeling a little under the weather, so that was a bummer!

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I just love how God puts people in your life when you need them.  The time spent with these guys (although it was short) was exactly what I needed!  Thank you God, for wonderful friends, and for great timing!

Brett was still not feeling well by evening, so Matt & Trevor went to the Figure 8 races – and I stayed home with Brett & Eli.  It turned out to be a spaghetti & movie night (well, toast for Brett), and that was a great thing too!  Eli spent some time in the little-ish pool in our backyard, and he loved every minute.  Hard to imagine since until now, he has always been perfectly content on the OUTSIDE of any water – and never really liked being IN it.  (most likely got that from his mom!)

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On Sunday, we had an awesome church service in the morning.  Pastor Joel filled in for Pastor Mark, and he just had a great message!  Some parts of it were so sad because the topic was ‘death’ – but every time he turned it around so that he spoke about how we are alive in Jesus.  So many in our church family have experienced the death of a loved one in recent weeks/months – so he wanted to give them some comfort.  Funny thing is, even though my dad has been gone for almost 5 years (incredibly hard to believe!) – this sermon touched me deeply as well.  Sometimes it’s just so unexpected when that wave of grief will still hit – and I’ll be honest, it happens a lot.  But God is always faithful, and I am comforted by something I read, or a song I hear, or whatever else He chooses to use.  Anyway, it was just a great service.  I wish I could be that good at teaching life lessons to my boys.  I always feel like I am tripping all over my words, and they’ll never get anything good from it.  I know that’s exaggerating, but I just really, really want for Matt and me to be good parents who teach our kids the right stuff.

Okay, moving on. :)  In the afternoon, we took the kids to Sioux City where we surprised them with tickets to the Bandits football game.  They were SO excited!  We have been wanting to go for a couple of years (since we had never seen an indoor league game), but just never made it work. We rarely get to do stuff like this, so it was such a fun treat!  It was a play-off game, so that was cool!  Brett & Trevor loved every minute of it – but Eli ended up falling asleep.  Guess he wasn’t as thrilled as I thought! ;)

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The Bandits ended up winning the game 61-28 (against the Mid-MO Outlaws), so at least we were cheering for the winning team!

It was just a great weekend to hang out as a family (and friends!).  Here’s to a lot more wonderful memories!!  SO blessed.