Florida

So, Rachel and I are in sunny Fl for a girls getaway!  Even though it's not hot outside it is sunny and there is no snow.  We leave tomorrow morning.  But we've had a great time relaxing, shopping and visiting with a few friends and family.  I'll post pictures when we get home.  There are certain things that I miss about Florida.  For instance, I miss the convenience of everything being 5 minutes away.  At home, everything is about 30 minutes away.  We do have most things within 5 minutes if we really needed it but not our favorite restaurants or grocery stores, mall etc....   But at home, I love how green everything is.  And I don't miss all the traffic or sirens!

The kids haven't had a snow day all year this year.  There were several days that they should have had one but it fell on state testing dates so they try not to cancel on those days.  I talked with Randy and he said the kids had a snow day yesterday and today.  Which actually works out great for Rachel.  So instead of her missing 4 days of school this week, she only missed 2!  And he said that it wasn't even bad outside.  I think the superintendent was making up for not having any this year! :)  Thanks Dave!

I saw on another blog where she showed some parts of the small town that she lived in and I liked that idea. So, here's a quick tour of the very small town that I live in.   The picture to the right is the 104 store.  It's a diner/gas station/convenient store.  I know!  Pretty cool huh?  lol  We have ridden our snowmobiles up here to have a quick dinner before.   And it's just that...a diner.  But hey, it's convenient.

The picture above is the community center.  It's located at the school.  The high school is on the right and the middle school is on the left.  I was going to take pics of the school but they are all in some type of construction right now and I couldn't get a good shot.   All 3 schools (elem., middle, and high school) are connected with the community center.  So, it's convenient for the kids to go to after school if they want to.  AJ works here too!  

This is Sheila's pizza.  Sheila died a few years ago and it was so sad.  The kids go here a lot before sports games etc.  

The library is below.  It's tiny.  But you can have books delivered from other libraries so that's nice.  And then the street view is the actual little downtown of red creek!  No stop lights in the town.  

This is the old school.  Now it's a pre-school.



















The big p.o. is above and then another street view going towards the school.  So, that's a little tour of our small town.  I was thinking about other places that I visit but they aren't in our actual town.  Someday I'll show you the hair salon I go to and the Mennonite market that I frequent.

randy

Well, we had a wonderful weekend. On Sunday it was our 23rd anniversary! It's hard to believe that we've been married for 23 years and been together for 29 years! Wow! I don't talk about Randy too often on here but today I have to brag on him a little! He's just so good to me! The other night we couldn't find the cat before we went to bed. I woke up around midnight and thought that maybe she had gotten out when we were bringing things into the house in the evening. Randy was up and when I told him that I wondered if the cat might be outside in this freezing cold weather he got up and went looking for her....in his underwear! And it was like 10 degrees outside. He came back upstairs freezing and guess who he saw upstairs? Yep the darn cat! But that's the kind of guy he is. He does these really nice things for me even when he doesn't want to. Oh and if he's out and sees that my gas is getting low, he stops to get me gas. My tank is always full. I hate pumping gas in the cold and snow! But he does these nice things for me all the time. He doesn't complain about it or make sure that I take notice of the things he does. He just does them. When the kids were little he always helped me with them. And now, he's at every game that they have and supports them in anyway he can. Boy, I'm one lucky gal ;)

anniversary weekend

I think it's going to be a good weekend! I was supposed to work today but ended up not having to. So, I headed out to do a little shopping. While out, I stopped at the grocery store to make this for dinner. AJ was out with friends tonight and Rachel had an away game. So, I knew it would just be me and Randy home for dinner tonight. We were out every night this week with basketball games for the kids so we just wanted to stay in tonight. So this is how the weekend started...

I received roses this afternoon! Then I made us an roasted artichoke and red pepper salad. An antipasto platter, a nice fire and a little wine :)

Before I finish the rest of the prayer from yesterday, I just had to add the video that we took last night of Rachel singing the anthem at the basketball game. We were so proud of her. She did such a good job. She was so nervous. But I was proud that she stepped out of her comfort zone and did it!

This is part 2 of the prayer for our kids. "pray" them over your children if you feel led.

Read Philippians 3:1-11
Dear Lord, I know it all boils down to the gift of grace through Jesus Christ, so no matter where my dear children are on the path I have reason to rejoice. It isn't about being good enough. The reason we have for joy is because of what Christ did for us,not what we've done. If any mother had reason to be confident in the flesh, it would be me. I have done everything in my power to make sure my chidren walk with the Lord. I've been a full-time, stay-at-home, overprotective, strict, consistent mom who has tried to balance that out with lots of love, deep relationship, much grace and tons of fun. But all of my efforts are worthless if my children don't know Christ personally. i put no faith in my ability as a mother to raise them in the ways of the Lord, if they are to walk with You, God, it will solely be because You, by Your Spirit, draw their hearts to Yours. I understand that You may choose to do that by allowing them to fail, or suffer, or walk away frist. Whatever the future, I choose to have faith in my children, and more importantly, in You, God to bring about resurrection life by Your mighty power!

Read Philippians 3:12-16
Father, I know that I am not perfect as a mother, but I will keep pressing on, no matter how tough it gets at times, continuing to seek You, knowing that I will only become the mother You want me to be by staying close to You. I will not give up on my children - ever. I will not look at past failures, or even accomplishments. I will keep my focus on the goal, that my children will know, love and obey You with all their hearts, souls, minds and strength.

Read Philippians 3:14-4:1
Remind me that my children learn more by my example than by my many words and lectures. When I see my children straying, convict me to examine my own life first to make sure that I am modeling obedience, submission, respect, love for Your word, and worship before them. May my example draw them to You and away from the world. As they watch my joy and peace and relationship with You, I pray that they will see the world and any friends who would try to draw them away from Your grace, as the enemies of the cross that they are. Strengthen my children to make the tough choices to stand against the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life, reminding them that we really do have the choice to live eternally so our choices need to reflect that eternal perspective.

Read Philippians 4:2-5
Holy Spirit, would you please bring unity in our family where there is division. Teach my children how to communicate, resolve conflict, serve one another and work as a team - Your team. Help them to be happy, not grumblers and complainers. There is so much for which to rejoice!

Read Philippians 4:6-7
Oh Prince of Peace, teach my children to bring all of their concerns to Your throne. comfort them and help them not to be stressed and depressed and fearful, but to cast all of their cares upon You. Give them such confidence to know that You hear and answer their prayers that they go ahead and than You for the answer before they even see it or feel it. Quiet their overwhelming emotions and rest their racing minds with Your peace that doesn't even make sense when only looking at the circumstances around them.

Read Philippians 4:8-9
Please teach my children the critical truth thatit all starts with their thoughts. Every sin is first a thought and it is much easier to take a thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ than it is to rein in the flesh. Train them to replace the desires and thoughts and fears that creep into their minds with the Truth. Show them how to plant good, wholesome, lovely, honorable, pure, true, and excellent seeds of thought that will result in good fruit.

Read Philippians 4:10-13
Father, I have learned not to allow my emotions to be based on my children and the sometimes frustrating, often exhilarating task of raising them. My hope for them is in You. When they are doing well, I will praise You. When they are making wrong choices, I will trust You. You are Lord and You will give me the strength to parent through the toddler years, survive the teenage years and let go for the the remaining years.

Read Philippians 4:14-18
God, I ask that there will come a day when my children will thank me for being strict, for babying them when they were sick, for driving them all over kingdom-come, for giving up my career to raise them, and the many other sacrifices I have made out of my deep love for them. (And please don't let them go on Oprah someday and blame all of their problems on their mother!) Not that I need the praise and strokes, my payment has been the privilege of being their mother, but because I know that bitterness, unforgiveness and resentment will eat them alive. Mercy, grace and gratitude will se them free to serve their own children when they grow up.

Read Philippians 4:19-23
Lord, I know that You are all that my children need to make it in this world, and the next. I am doing my best to prepare them but ultimately, You are the only One who can give them everything they need - which is You and You alone. Now bless all the other moms who are reading this and encourage them with the truth that it is not all up to them. You love their children even more than they do and that , in the end (and the beginning) it is about Your grace not their perfection as a mom, or the imperfection of their children. Remind them to rejoice, and again I say, rejoice!

Well, I hope you have taken something away from that. I know that parts of it speak louder to me than others. Again, I got this from an e-letter from Lisa Welchel back in 2005. Glad that I saved it.....

prayer for children

I have been reading over something that I printed out way back in 2005.  And lately, I've thought that maybe you all would enjoy it too.  It's actually an e-letter from lisa welchel.  Remember her from Facts of Life!?  I used to love that show.  Anyway, she talked about how she had been reading the book of Philippians and she saw it from a different perspective.  Paul was writing to his "children" and she said that she had that same passion for her kids.  So she "prayed" Philippians for her kids.  I started doing the same thing and thought that you might want to also.  So here is part of it:

Read Philippians 1:1-11
    Thank You, Father that I don't really have to worry because You are faithful and it is up to You, not me, to complete the good work You, not me, have begun in my children's hearts.  Overflow their hearts with Your love and a hunger for knowledge and wisdom and discernment.  May they love what You love and hate what You hate.  Keep them from evil and fill them with Your Holy Spirit that bears good fruit for Your glory.


Read Philippians 1:12-18
     When they inevitably suffer tough times, whether by their own choices or simply the times in which we live, use those opportunities to draw them closer to You and be a testimony of Your sovereignty.  No matter what happens in their lives, use it for Your glory and to further the good news of Jesus Christ.


Read Philippians 1:19-30
     Give my children an eternal perspective so the choices they make will be in light of their real home in Heaven with You.  When they are stressed and pressed because of the challenges of growing up today, enable them to see beyond the magnified mountains of today called peers, grades, acceptance, confusion, success, and all the other very real pressures they face.  Remind them that You have not promised to remove them from suffering but to walk beside them through it.  And to reward them for finishing the race.


Read Philippians 2:1-11
     Lord, please help  my kids to get along with each other!  If they can't serve each other from a heart of humility and love, then show them how it is really serving You when they do.  Enable them to look out for one another's interests and not just think of themselves which results in a tug-of-war for power.  Remind them that You laid down your rights as God for us, even though we didn't deserve it.  show them how to follow You by laying down their rights even if their sibling is completely wrong and doesn't deserve grace.


Read Philippians 2:12-13
     Dear God, give them the desire to obey You whether I'm around or not.  It is about their hearts; make their salvation their own, not just their parent's faith.  Help them to make everything from life decisions to thought choices knowing that You are watching.  It isn't about pleasing mom,dad, friends, or themselves, but You alone ultimately.


Red Philippians 2:14-18
     May they serve You with such a heart of gratitude that the world around them is drawn to You through their sweet attitudes.  Lord, I have tried so hard to impress Your Word upon their heats from the time they were small, please take hold of their hearts so that my labor will not be in vain.  I can't make them believe and choose You but I so desperately want them to know the abundant and eternal life that comes from You.  Implant Your Word and Your will and Your way in their hearts by Your power.


Read Philippians 2:19-30
     Father, would you send godly mentors, role models, influences, heroes, teachers, friends, and authority figures into their lives.  I understand that as my children get older, I will not be the only influence in their lives; they will become increasingly influenced by others.  Protect them from those who would lead them astray.  Send men and women, girls and boys, with character and like-mindedness to encourage, support and strengthen their walk with You.


Tomorrow I will finish the rest of the chapters.  I printed this out and keep it in my bible.  As parents we forget sometimes that our children will make mistakes.  That's part of growing up.  It's a good reminder to me that God has control!

don't feel like cleaning....

I have been putting off cleaning this house all week.  It's picked up but today I need to really clean.  You know, the kind where you mop floors and stuff?  And I just don't feel like it.  I would rather be making this:

Isn't it cool?!  If you want to see how to make this go here:

http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/

But today I need to clean. :(  

Thank goodness I have a mudroom cause if we didn't I can't imagine how much worse the floors would look!  At this time of year there's so much dirt and dust.  And my hands!  They are so dry.  I am forever putting lotion on them.  Oh well, enough of this....back to cleaning.

only in a small town...

Where else can you go to your dentist appointment and be called in to sing happy birthday to one of the staff?  Only in a small town!  That's exactly what I was thinking this morning as I stood in the staff lounge singing happy birthday to the dentist's wife.  Randy and I had an appointment this morning for a cleaning and we are in the waiting room when they called us back.  We're thinking that they are ready to clean our teeth but nope....they wanted us to join them in wearing party hats and singing! lol  It was actually really nice and I thought about how this would never happen in a big city.  And I wouldn't have it any other way...  So happy birthday Marty!!!!

My Son

On a lot of blogs that I read, people write about their cute little kids and the funny things that they do.  And I could have done that years ago too.  I have lots of pictures with Rachel covered with chocolate. Or AJ in the tub.  Well, having teens changes things.  Yes, they do funny things but if I wrote them on here it might embarrass them and I have to think about their feelings at this point.  So, I don't often get to write about them like I would like to.  However, last night something happened to AJ.  He came home from practice and actually did homework!  I should have taken a picture of him but that would have embarrassed him.  Anyway, the reason this is a miracle is because he hasn't done homework at home in about a year!  I know!  Well, the way that their schedule is set up, they don't have the same classes everyday.  Instead they have them every other day.  So, when he has homework, he does it at school during study halls.  Which really makes sense.  And he's always gotten really good grades so we figure it's working for him.  
Okay, then, he goes up to his room and cleans it!  Can you believe it?!  Us either!  And the reason that this is shocking is because that was one thing we decided not to nag him about.  It's his room and I got tired of yelling at him to clean it up.  I figure if he wants to live in it like that then good for him.  If we have company, I just shut the door to his room.  So much easier on me and him.  But every once in awhile, he will get sick of it being messy and clean it.  Now I'm not talking about there being food or anything really gross in it.  He just has a bad habit of throwing his dirty clothes on the floor instead of in his hamper.  I don't understand it but that's how he chooses to live.  So, I went up to put clean sheets on his bed and his room was clean!  Then, he started washing all his dirty clothes.  That's another thing that I don't worry about anymore.  I don't let him wear dirty clothes but he has to deal with his own laundry.  Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and asked him what was going on.  Did he do something really bad?  Did he want something?  Nope!  His answer was this...."Mom, it's the first day of a new semester."  Oh!  What was I thinking!?  Of course.... :)       So even though he doesn't do all those things all the time, I will take it when he does and enjoy every minute of it.  

Not Me Monday!

It’s Not Me Monday again!

It wasn’t me who bought some new really cute workout pants that were too long.

 (aren't they so cute!)  Anyway...

So, I had to go to the Mennonite Market to look for some kind of glue or something to iron a hem!  If you didn’t know this, Mennonites make their clothing and I usually just take something into them and have them sew it for me since I’m sewing impaired.  (I was actually too embarrassed to ask the elderly lady if she had anything to glue a hem with!)  But I have been known to hotglue a hem before.  And my daughter thinks that hotglue is the answer to all our sewing needs.    So anyway, I had to buy an actual needle, thread and pins and sew my own hem.  Which doesn’t look the greatest but oh well!  It wasn’t me who in 7th grade had a substitute teacher in sewing class and she had to ask “who’s Danette?”  When I answered that was me, she told me that she had a note saying that I wasn’t allowed to sew that day!  That’s how bad I am at sewing.  It just never agreed with me.  Lucky for me I live in a Mennonite community where they do know how to sew!

And it wasn’t me who went to a friend of mines jewelry party and the sales rep, Julie was talking about her short haircut and how easy it was.  We got to talking about how a lot of men like long hair.  Another shopper, Susie, told her to grow it out and then just put it up in a pony tail and wear a baseball cap...that way it would be long but still be easy.  Well, it wasn’t me who had to but right in and say that Julie has a really cute haircut and why would she want to grow it out just to put it up in a ponytail.  Well, wouldn’t you know that if I had been paying attention, I would have noticed that Susie was wearing her hair in a ponytail with a baseball cap!  Nope, I didn’t just say that to that girl!  That would be rude!  I don't know, I guess I never got the point of women who grew out their hair only to wear it up with a cap on all, or at least most, of the time.  

And it wasn’t Randy and I who went to Cold Stone Creamery last night while the kids were at youth group only to hurry home and throw the evidence away so they wouldn’t see!  Nope, we always think about our kids first!