Family

FAMILY....you love them and hate them all together.  These days I am learning what I want and what I don't want to repeat in my own family. What is good and what is really bad.  Marriage and parenting is hard.  I get that.  I see that more each day.  And I also see that what God calls us to in each of those areas is sooooo different than what the world is screaming to us each day about what a wife and mom is.  God, help me each day to have ears to hear what you think of me and what you want me to be in my roles as a daughter of You, a wife, and a mom.  Let me fight life patterns that have been passed down from so many generations that are WRONG.  And let me learn and imitate all the lovely beautiful things that have been passed on to me too.  And thanks for Your GRACE that you have showered on me to get to me to where I am today.

Landis Theatre...new & improved!

Dance dress rehearsal tonight....  It was really cool to see the newly renovated Landis Theatre.  I have old pics of it from my mommom from when she was young and attended the theatre.  It looks really nice inside and out....very impressive.  And it even smells new...and you know how I am about smells :)

Pastorate Fun

This weekend we had our last pastorate for this cycle.  We start back up in September.  And we have some fun things planned this summer too.  We had a great turn out to our pool party.  Lots of fun connecting with all of our friends!  For more info, see our pastorate website.

We've got tomatoes!

Yes, we have seen the fruit of our labor for the second time from our garden.  We now have tomatoes!  Yeah!  They are our small grape tomatoes....and only Gena really likes them but that's ok.  The kids love to pick them when they turn red :)  Lots of good teaching lessons out of gardening...never thought about it until I had kids to teach.  God thanks for being the creator of all things including our little fruits and vegetables!

"Graduation & Shower" Weekend

So we made a super quick up to good old Massachusetts for some pretty special events.  We were able to be there as Dave's youngest sister graduated from highschool.  And then his other sis had her bridal shower.  And....we were also able to visit with Grandma Gedeon some too.  All in two days :)  Needless to say, we were all extremely exhausted by the end of the trip.....blessed to be able to go up there and celebrate everything with the family too...mad lots of good memories.  So, good seeing you Massachusetts....see you in a month!

Rolling Away

Jonathan started rolling over at two months old.  I have yet to capture it on video but I finally by accident caught it on camera.  He is so sticken strong...I can't believe it.  I can't wait to figure out more about what is personality will be like.  We are so thankful for this little guy in our lives!

Memorial Day

We went down the shore for memorial day weekend.  We tried to be creative with our weekend activities for the kids so we did a fun craft store activity, did the beach, the boardwalk, nice walk....and we even managed to squeeze in a date night to AC (thanks Tanya :)  We had a ton of fun and laughs with our little ones as well as family and friends.  Jonathan did not like the ocean air so much so his naps were pretty minimal.  Thankfully, when we came home, he took lots of naps allowing mommy to unpack.  Having four children is quite a handful on any sort of vacation.  You spend so much time adjusting them to a new routine and new rules according to the different places you go.  It takes lots of energy and patience.  I loved the weekend but can not say that I came home rested :)  Will we do it again.....Absolutely!  We want our kids to cherish and value these "family times" that we share together.  I know I do.

Farmer Dave

Each year we add one or two more things to our little "garden."  We agreed to not take on too much gardening in the beginning ....knowing that we may kill everything :)  And we also don't want to get overwhelmed.  So, we started out with simple herbs and the next year we added strawberries and tomatoes.  This year we added cucumbers and peppers.  So, we shall see how it goes.  The grape tomatoes are almost ready (big ones have a ways to go).  We already got strawberries and herbs to eat.  I must admit that "Farmer Dave" is the one who does most of the initial labor :)  ....but I do all of the upkeep and the cooking with the finished product :)  It is lots of fun for the kids too!

Broken Computer

Yes, I have not posted anything in a little while.  My laptop broke so I did not have access to all of my normal pics & settings, etc.  But we purchased a new desktop....yeah!  We have needed one for a while now.  We also wanted a central pc that the kids can use for games & stuff.  I am still in the process of setting it all up with everything, but it it up and running enough for me to make some posts on my blog.

Also, during my little time off from blogging, Dave and I decided for me to step down from my job at our church.  It was an incredibly hard decision with lots of tears and prayer.  But in the end, we knew it was what God was calling us to do at this time in our family.  After about three weeks, I finally feel really good about the decision with tons of peace.  I miss so much of what I did, but I know I would never be able to fulfill my primary calling of being a mommy to four WELL.  I probably could juggle it, but I didn't want to neglect my job at home or my job at work.  And I knew I would not be able to accomplish either of them to my liking.  So, I am an official stay at home mom now.  I will have to let you know how I like it more in a couple months from now :)