Birthday Season

  It's been a couple of years since my last post... I dream of someday being consistent in something but for now, I take each moment as it comes!  Since my last post we have added another baby girl to our clan and shockingly she was also born during 'birthday season'.  Miss Violet Rae was born last year right after Christmas on Dec. 28, 2013.  She now begins our season of celebrations!  From December 28th -February 19th we will celebrate all 6 of the kiddos birthdays and my own.  I often fight getting overwhelmed but this year it has been fun really reliving each birth.  I can remember even the smallest of details about all of the them and they make me smile.  The girls have all had their birthdays and the boys will soon follow... Here is a snapshot of how big they are all getting:)

This is a picture of Violet's first moments snug as a bug.

This is one year later as she is learning how to play the piano from her eldest brother!

We have had home births with all of our children so this is 

Evelyn right after she was born...

Miss Evelyn was born on New Year's Eve 2011

This was from last year with Miriam

And this is our princess at age 3!

After 3 boys, I never thought that I would have a girl and since we didn't get an ultrasound, I was completely surprised when Miriam was born, our first daughter!

Miss Miriam -age 5

I am getting so excited thinking about all of their births that I just might have to write a separate post on each... I have never documented any of them.  Stay tune.

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." James 3:17   

Prayer:  Lord, may you fill me to over flowing with your wisdom!

Mom, did you know that God speaks to me?

Now, I have to confess that I often find myself only half listening to what my children say... not because I don't love them but that my mind is usually in more than one place at a time BUT when my five year old shared this with me while he was doing chores, he definitely got my attention.  He proceeded to share with me some of the truths that God has been sharing with him... helping him to recognize the difference between lies and truth.

During Holy week, I am reminded and challenged to listen to that soft inner voice, leading me into all truth, The Truth, my Saviour... the one who was perfect and yet took on the sins of this world... Through His death and resurrection, He has given me life eternal.

Thank you Lord, for speaking to me and to my children.  May our eyes stay focused on you and may we rest in you that you are the way, the truth and the life.

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An update: the three day juice cleanse went great, back to eating food and trying to daily choose living foods!

My love/hate relationship with food...

So, I guess I would be considered a foody...  I LOVE food in most forms.  I love to create different dishes in my mind and then let my fingers do the work.  I especially love 'beautiful' dishes... lots of color with an artsy flair.  I love the different flavors, the smells and the textures.  I really simply love food.

My only 'hate' that I sometimes have with food is how much I love food!  I can find my emotions dependent on if I have eaten, what I have eaten, what I want and can't have to eat etc.  Ever since I could remember, food has held too much power in my life.  I would often find myself looking to food to comfort me or give me energy.  I have been consumed with how I looked and how much weight I have to lose.  I can look to the scale to determine how my day will look.  So, in a sense, food can become my god.

Thankfully, I serve a God who graciously gives us beautiful food and beautiful bodies in all shapes and sizes. He loves beauty.  He is an Artist and Creator like no other.  When I run into problems is when I take my focus off of my True Provider and put it on the food which He has provided:)

Ever since Thanksgiving we have been feasting.  It has not been bad but recently has gotten out of balance.  I need to press the restart button and the healthiest way that I know how to do that is by simply drinking juice.  I am on day 2 and still cannot believe how much I think about food, of course I am surrounded by it ALL DAY LONG as I prepare food for my children and watch them enjoy it... but for now I am simply taking a break from eating.

Another motivation in doing this fast/cleanse is that I tend to have a pretty consistent pregnancy schedule and thus could get pregnant in the next few months.  Having said that, I also cleansed before my last pregnancy (not purposefully) and I believe it REALLY helped with my morning sickness.

And my last motivation to refocus through this time is that I don't want to just be alive, I want to live.  I want to be able to do everything that God has designed me to do and I want to do it well to my greatest potential.  For me, that includes keeping a healthy mind, body and spirit.

In my mind, I have already succeeded with this cleanse.  I have gone almost 48 hours.  I desire to do longer but I refuse to let the amount of time determine the success.  And to all those out there that have done a cleanse before, you know that the most important time is actually breaking the cleanse and going back to eating well.  Here's to another part of my journey!

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.  1 Cor.6:19-20

Sometimes Life is Like Shoveling a Driveway

The puking has pretty much subsided after 7 full days.  There are still other bodily fluids but no puking yet today!  One thing I haven't had time for is exercising... then I realized that without knowing it I started running again... running to whomever was yelling for me, knowing that I had seconds before they puked!  Who knew?!

So, this morning, after sending one to school and sitting the others in front of another video, hoping for them to sit still and heal, I decided to conquer the driveway.  There were only a few inches of snow but I knew it was wet snow which equals VERY HEAVY!  I stepped outside and immediately began feeling overwhelmed.  However, I proceeded.  I needed the exercise and an outlet, I was starting to feel some anger and frustration from the last week.

I decided to start at my least favorite part and work back, focusing on good movement so not to injure any muscles and yet be most productive.  Little by little I began seeing the driveway.  When I got down to the part by the street, I got overwhelmed again... it was extra heavy from the plow and then I had the thought, this is just like life.  As times get tough we do not have the option to just give up but rather to persevere.  To do one day at a time and sometimes simply take moment by moment just like I was doing shovel load by shovel load.  And before I knew it, I had a clean driveway, I was sweating, I felt the anger and frustration subside and I knew my husband would be able to come home after a very long days work and not have to worry about shoveling.


May you focus today on perseverance... day by day, moment by moment.

Sickness raises the bar for a Mama

So, you know this flu bug that has been going around that everyone hopes and prays somehow misses them?  Well, it has officially come into our home and has not left yet.  I have never in my life seen so much puking... hours upon hours of puking and dry heaving... a little water and then more puking.  My youngest was hit right at bedtime and puked off and on until 5:30 in the morning.  Another one went pretty consistently for a whole day.  It just hurts so much to see your children in pain and not be able to do much about it.

We have been able to laugh at it, occasionally,  as puke is going down the front and back of me and I am just standing there not knowing what to do next.  Or when I go through so many clothes that I start evaluating exactly how much puke is on me and whether that is enough to change clothes or whether I just press on until the next time.

Although I have some good stories, and the sickness has not passed yet, I would be lying to say that it's been easy... I am tired, actually exhausted.  The laundry has picked up.  The demands which I felt were already pressing have only increased.  The love that I give out daily has had to be given more frequently and the need for physical touch has sky rocketed but most importantly, I just hate feeling helpless.  Always questioning what I could do differently to help my children or how I could swing changing places with them so that they don't have to go through this pain... and yet at the end of the day, coming up short.

I am thankful that I can/have to draw on God's strength during this time.  I have come to the end of myself and had to hand the reigns over.  I wish I could do that easier in my day to day life and not wait for these tough circumstances.  I guess I continue to learn and continue to journey.

May God's truth ring in our hearts and in our minds that with Christ ALL things are possible!

I Know You by Name

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when i was made in the secret place.

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one one of them came to be."

                                                                                                   -Psalm 139

We are coming to a close to our 'birthday season'.  From New Year's Eve until Feb. 19, we celebrate SIX birthdays.  Yes, that is correct!  It can be a lot to make every one special but WELL worth it. 

Tomorrow we celebrate my oldest son's 9th birthday.  Nine years ago today, I was in a much different place filled with great excitement and yet some fear.  My husband and I often take the road less traveled... not to be different but simply to be... us.  We were getting ready to have our first homebirth.  My first birth was by far the toughest birth.  Joshua was posterior and very large.  I was in pretty serious labor for over a day and my contractions in active labor never paused because my body was trying to flip him.  I pushed for three hours and out came this plump, perfect boy weighing in at 9 pounds 15 ounces.  The excitement was just beginning as my body tried to recover from all that I went through but we made it!  Not only did we make it but we proceeded to have 4 more homebirths which were much less eventful!

Every child is such a gift... So uniquely made... So filled with love, joy, trust and excitement.  I am truly blessed.

As we continue through Lent and venture into our 'normal' lives, may we know, feel and believe the truth that God loves us more than we could ever dream or imagine and He is honored to call us His children...  

He knows each one of us by name and He promises never to leave us or forsake us...

Pressing the Pause Button

Have you ever wished you could just press the pause button on life?  I think of this often.  As of yet, I have not figured out a way to do it BUT I have thought of some of the things I would do if I COULD...

I would sleep for at least an entire day and not leave my bed for at least two!

I would deep clean my entire house without any interruptions... no worries about meal prep or cleanup, changing diapers, nursing, wiping little behinds, getting everyone ready, schooling, meal planning etc.  I would simply clean until I could clean no longer because EVERYTHING would be put where it belongs, dust would actually be gone, spider webs would come down, windowsills wiped, laundry would be cleaned and put away, bathtubs would be scoured and the toilet, momentarily, would not have any urine on OR around it.

Lastly, I would soak in the tub, a hot tub with candles lit and soft music playing and then head off back to bed with a journal, a Bible and a good movie and not get out for another day!

After that, I would gladly press the play button again and greet my children, my husband, my friends and my community with a refreshed Spirit and a serving heart!

Since I do not expect to figure out how to make this happen... I choose to rest in the moment and embrace all the peace which God offers me in the midst of what most would consider chaos... but to me is life.

May the peace of God which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Living My Dreams at 35...

Today is my 35th birthday!  It is kind of crazy to think that I am 35.  I am not someone who gets all bent out of shape about age... actually I really enjoy getting older... maybe even wiser?!

When I was little, ever since I can remember, all I wanted to do was be a wife, a mother and a teacher.  Now at 35, I am doing all three!  I am a wife to an amazingly godly man who lives his life constantly asking 'what would jesus do?'.  I have five beautiful children aging from almost 9 to 1. And I have the privilege of homeschooling my children.  I can honestly say that I lack for nothing.

Looking into this new year (I just love new beginnings), I am praying that God would truly lead us and guide us.  I want to live a life that speaks Jesus without using any words!  I want my children and myself to learn more about the needs around us, to love in a way that has no boundaries and to serve others with the reality that when we serve someone, we are really serving Jesus.  We have much to learn but more importantly, we have much to give thanks for... this is my list of 35 things that I am thankful for... (of course it is only the beginning...)

1.  Knowing Jesus as my personal Lord, Saviour and best friend.
2.  Meeting the man of my dreams.
3.  My 5 children
4.  My immediate and extended family
5.  My church family
6.  My neighbors
7.  Hill- my sister in so many ways
8.  A beautiful house that brings rest to my soul
9.  My bed which provides much needed rest
10. A bathroom with a shower and hot water- most of the time:)
11. The feeling when I hold a soft bunny up against me.
12. Surprises
13. Music
14. A one year old and all that goes with her!
15. Beautiful food
16. Fresh juice which brings life
17. Warm boots, coats and mittens
18. Sledding
19. God's mercies which are new every morning
20. freshly painted toes
21. a clean kitchen
22. tweezers (I am Italian!)
23. thrift stores
24. the smell of fresh pesto
25. solitude
26. the night time (and day time) 'I love you' s from my children
27. reading
28. the color deep red
29. fleece socks
30. teaching my children to read
31. homemade flowers from my sons
32. good movies
33. dark chocolate
34. sweating after a good workout
35. the ability to give and receive love

And this is my prayer for you:  that you may know the abundant and unconditional love of our Lord Jesus both now and forevermore.  Blessings

When the going gets tough...

Lord we know that you are here...

"The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want"

Sometimes when the going gets tough, we just get tired...

Physically

Spiritually

Mentally.

We need Jesus more than ever...

More than we ever dreamed possible.

Sometimes when the going gets tough we need others more...

People come together for good and bad.

Relationships can be broken and later healed... sometimes much later.

When the going gets tough, our love is challenged...

Challenged to love unconditionally.

When the going gets tough, we sometimes question what is love...

What does true love look like?

How can we love in the midst of challenging circumstances?

When the going gets tough we are drawn more than ever to prayer...

"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done."

1 Amendment...

So, I realized that I forgot to mention about a special date night that my husband and I have almost weekly...  Pizza night (definitely not plant based!)!  Having 5 kiddos we don't get to go out too often so we decided to embrace 'at home' date nights and we REALLY enjoy them.  Last night we put the kids to bed after having a super fun time at the roller rink and then sat down in our WARM home and ate the pizza and salad... opened up some yummy wine and WOW... the end of a very long week!

Otherwise, I have really been kickin' the no animal products and feeling better already.  For exercise yesterday I shoveled the driveway a couple of time and went roller skating for a couple of hours:)   Little by little I hope to reintroduce these healthy habits of plant based eating, daily exercise and daily scripture reading...

***Thankful list
1. solitude time at Panera with a yummy lunch, a Bible and a journal

2. a warm house

3. my husband home from a long week

4. SATURDAY

5. family night out

6. late night date night


***Quotes

Nick "Mom, I think God's been holding all the snow in his hands and just decided to let it all drop."

60 days

***I am new to this blogging thing but I am just going to jump in.  Share my stories.  Share my life.


Well, something about our family is that we tend to be extreme visionaries!  This kind of follows us in every area of life.  We have both had seasons of eating well, being active and being in the Word.  However, we have also had seasons where those kind of took the backseat... this is the season I feel like I am coming out of now.  This has been a busy last few months with Thanksgiving, Christmas and then all 5 of my children's birthdays!  I am ready to slow down, find that routine that got lost and restore my health- physically, spiritually and mentally.  Starting tomorrow and for the next 60 days (ending Easter morning) my goals are:

1.  Begin reading through the Bible again

2.  Only have plant based food in the house to eat and cook

3.  Exercise for 30 min. 5x/ week  (This used to be my warm up!)

4.  Include a 7-10 day juice cleanse

5.  Find our routine while teaching a healthy work ethic to my children

Now, I am known better for coming up with ideas than I am about sticking to them... only time will tell but I will share about my experience as I go.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin which so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Four Years Later...

 Here we are... four years later, 2 more kiddos and lots more love!

Well, it has almost been four years exactly and I am ready to be back!  Since I last posted we have had two more children... two girls matter of fact!  It would be hard to catch up so I will just start for today... Today, I give thanks.  I am thankful for a wonderful husband who loves me with the love of Christ and for my five children who love me in the same way!  May I shower that same love over everyone that I come in contact with...  Lord, let your light shine.


And these three remain: faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love.

Last Birthday Celebration til August...Happy Birthday, Joshua...

Joshua had his first kid's party.  Who would have thought that all I needed to do was hand out their new books!



The boys also enjoyed playing with the police cars that we put on top of the cupcakes!

Joshua was really excited to celebrate his birthday.  He has been such a great sport celebrating with the other boys on their birthdays.  Happy Birthday, Joshua.  We are really proud of you!  Just seems like yesterday that you were still in my belly!

We sang early to him and celebrated with our 'healthy' cinn. rolls!

Happy birthday to me..

Well, I turned 31 on Sat, the 14th of February.  Chris always works himself up trying to get the perfect gift. (Bless his heart)  The night before my birthday, he came home and said that he wanted to get me a bedframe.  (We have been sleeping on the floor on our king size mattress since this summer.)  We got online and found the perfect frame for a mere $1,400!!!!  It was a little out of our price range.  The next morning, after sleeping in!!!, Chris asked what I thought of this one (in the picture).  It was BETTER than the one we had seen the night before.  It was on craigslist in Chicago, handcrafted for $450.  We got it for $4oo and drove to Chicago the next day to pick it up!  The quilt was our Christmas present from my mom and goes perfectly with the frame.  I couldn't have asked for a better present!  Chris had prayed the night before my birthday that God would help him make my day special, needless to say, He provided!

I went from sleeping on the floor to almost needing a stool to get in bed, now 3 feet off the floor!  I am truly blessed...

Happy Birthdays... Again

Well we celebrated again this weekend with Chris' side of the family.  It was great to see everyone.  My kids are sure going to have a boring rest of the year!

One guess as to what Joshua's favorite gift was?  
He and Nick have been  sword fighting since this weekend!  Even Opa joined in on  the fun!  We have two more birthdays and then we have a break!  Chris is our only summer birthday...

Children...

During this time of the year, I am always reminded of my pregnancies and births.  I am so thankful for three wonderful, beautiful, healthy births and babies.  The births just seem to get better with each one!  I am also reminded in the midst of all of this craziness what a blessing and a gift children are to us.  The other night we had a friend over from church.  He was sharing with us everything he does and asking questions about Chris' work etc.  As he was leaving, he looked at me and said, "I've been meaning to ask you what you do.  Do you just stay at home most of the time?"  He wasn't trying to be mean, he was simply curious. (he is still single)  I just smiled and explained to him that this (our home and family) is what I do.  Ever since I can remember I just wanted to be a mom and a wife.  I am so thankful for being reminded of it.  I am also thankful that I had NO IDEA how involved that calling is!

We have so much to learn from little children...  Jesus leads by example, "let the little children come unto me..."

Birthday fun with Honey and P-pa

My parents came to visit for the two January birthdays.  Not only did everyone enjoy the celebrations but we even got a night out... dinner on the water, coffee and a movie!  Thanks mom and dad!!!





Benj turned 1 on the 29th.  He wasn't sure what to do with his 'cupcake'.  He didn't like getting his hands dirty (obviously different genes than his brothers) so eventually he just bent over and took a bite out of it.  He liked it, realized he could turn it over on the less sticky side and then he could enjoy it!

Nick turned 3 on the 25th and his birthday just seemed to go on forever, we celebrated the night before with friends, the night of with our small group and then again with Honey and P-pa.  He was so proud to be 3!  I've been prepping him that 3 year olds eat their crust and the skin on the apple, so far so good!  He wanted a dirt (worm) cake for his birthday so my mom and I came up with a semi- healthy version of it and put it in a dumptruck for him.  Quite honestly it wasn't very good.  Nick didn't seem to mind but Joshua's comment was something like, "I thought all cake was supposed to be good!"

Nick's favorite present that night was his new sleeping bag, which he has slept in every night since!

Homemade Pizza

 I have really not been satisfied with the pizzas around here, not to mention we are trying to cutback on ordering out... so this is what came about.  I was trying to copy the spinach calabrese from Aurelio's.  You will have to come and visit to let me know how it compares!  

Winter Fun

This is us staying enjoying are indoor options during the LONG winter.  My girlfriend and I like to go to the musuem together.  Between the two of us, we have 6 kids and our youngest boys are only one day apart!

The library has been another great place to visit.  The kids love to pick out books and videos.  They also have a great selection of puzzles for the kids.  I do have to keep an eye on Benjamin because he thinks that it is great fun to pull the books from the shelves... as many as he can get his little hands on!

quick update

I haven't forgotten about the blog, I just temporarily misplaced my camera.  It has been located but I still need to catch up on using it!  We have been very busy lately with just trying to get healthy.  Since Christmas we have all struggled with some kind of something- cold, flu, cough, etc.  We are on the mend and thankful that our God is our healer.  

Birthdays are approaching soon!  Between now and Feb. 19th Nick will turn 3, Benj will turn 1, I will turn 31 (not quite so exciting), and Joshua will turn 5.  Happy Birthday to us all!

Highlights: Benj is getting his 7th tooth and can stand up on his own... sometimes.  Nick is growing fast and cracking us up with what he comes up with.  Joshua read his first books, Sam, Mat and Dot.  (The Bob book series is great, Mat sat. etc.)  He is pretty proud of himself.  Reading truly is a gift.

Hope to have pictures up soon.  For now I draw on the strength and love of our Creator who is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Blessings to you.