Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

Family Pictures

Posted by My Heart Song

 5/7/2021 

We recently had family pictures taken. It had been almost 2 years since our last pictures. That doesn't seem like a long time, unless you have little people who change A LOT in 2 years! :-) 


We had these done by a photographer friend from our church. Very talented! 





Individual shots of each of the kids. Since we homeschool, these are the equivalent of annual school pictures. My oldest daughter had senior pictures taken during a separate photo shoot, so no individual shot of her here.



Just me and my love.







A few different groupings. This location was just perfect - an indoor conservatory with all this lush green vegetation. Great for photos taken during cold months that give the appearance of warmth!



And a random cat that was wandering about during our photo shoot. :-) NOT our cat! 

Overall a great day with excellent photos! 
We are so thankful for this family God has given us - what a gift!

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50th Wedding Anniversary

Posted by My Heart Song

8/3/2020


My in-laws celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary over the weekend. Wow! 50 years is a long time! 


We had a small celebration, complete with balloons and cake and ice cream, along with hearing their memories of their wedding day and early years together. 


My younger daughter and I were dressed up, so we grabbed a picture together.

A good celebration! A good walk down memory lane to recount the faithfulness of God through the many seasons of married life.

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Sillies

Posted by My Heart Song

3/13/2020



My three little people can be so silly at times. 
Here's some photographic evidence. 


4 year old silly face


6 year old silly face


And all 3 just laughing together on the couch.
Stairsteps at age 6, 4, and 2. 
It is fun to watch their sibling relationships develop.

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Just a Day in the Life

Posted by My Heart Song

11/25/2019

Here are a few pictures of life here recently. 


My 11 year old son spent a week in Wisconsin this month, deer hunting with Grandpa K. He enjoyed the time away but we were glad to have him back home.


This little girl loves to look pretty (she differentiates between pretty and cute now. Cute is too childish so she doesn't want to be told that she's cute, but she just glows when she is told she looks pretty or beautiful). So we sometimes set her hair in curlers on Saturday nights so she'll have some curl on Sunday mornings.


The curl doesn't show up a lot, but it's there. 


She took her first selfie not long ago.


The kids were asking if we could make some pumpkin pies recently. So one morning I had the energy to tackle it, with my three little helpers stirring the flour for the crust and helping measure ingredients for the pie filling. Homemade pumpkin pie goes quick at my house!


This little boy found a marker and wrote all over himself, his crib, his wall and his dresser one afternoon. Here's got the magic eraser to help clean it all up.


The two little boys together. They basically wear the same clothes now. The one is a big 2 year old, wearing size 3. The other is 4 years old, but can wear size 3 or 4. In my mind, they are a bit like twins. 


Super cute. I just love kids in hats.


While we're remodeling our bathroom, the little kids have taken some baths in the kitchen sink. A fun adventure for them. 


My oldest daughter really loves Wednesday night youth group at our church. Here's her 11th grade girls group (and their fearless leaders) at a recent women's gathering. 

Days are so full of activity, noise, and chaos. Yet I know that the days are passing quickly. So a post like this forces me to slow down a little and see the little things I'm likely to forget and to realize how blessed I am to spend my days with these people! 

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Pure Joy

Posted by My Heart Song

11/1/2019


I took this picture a few weeks ago, of my three littlest kids enjoying a jumping pad. They loved this so much! 
I can't help but smile at the pure joy on my daughter's face. 
Such delight. 
Such elation. 

When was the last time I experienced such delight? 
Do I even allow life to move me any more? I sense that I don't, at least not very much. This is an area of growth for me, to be more aware of emotions and more secure in expressing emotions. 

So I make this picture my computer desktop background to remind me of that joy can be found in the journey of life. 

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Date Nights

Posted by My Heart Song

10/1/2019  

Date nights. 


We have made it a priority in the last year or so to have more regular date nights. It's hard to manage this with young children, but we see the need to get away regularly and reconnect as a couple if our marriage is going to thrive. 

So we go out at least once a month. Usually by ourselves, though in the last few months we've enjoyed some double dates with small group couples too. 

Sometimes we have an "agenda" or some specific topic to discuss. Maybe details with our small group or some particular parenting concern. Other times we'll simply pose a question to one another and talk about it. Like "How do you picture our marriage looking in 3 years and what steps can we take now to get there?" or "What are the top three things you love about me?"  I find that we need a focus for the conversation or we'll just chit chat or delve into work/kid stuff that doesn't end up feeling like a meaningful conversation by the end of the night. For me, that meaningful conversation is the most important part of date night. 

So if you are married, let me encourage you to make time to date your spouse. Don't wake up in 20 years saying, "Who are you? I don't even know you any more."  And if you are not married, consider how you can help strengthen other marriages, by offering to babysit perhaps or to pay for a couple to attend a marriage conference. 

Strong marriages make strong families which make strong communities which make a strong nation. It starts with simple things, like connecting over a date night. 

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Getting to the Heart

Posted by My Heart Song

8/15/2019 

A quick, but deep, thought about motives and the heart. 


When I see this picture, I see each individual child and their uniqueness. The one who struggles with fear, the one obsessed with outward beauty, the one who hates hypocrisy with a passion, etc. But I am only human and my parenting is imperfect, especially at figuring out what is happening in their hearts, at the root of choices they make. 

We were recently discussing Hebrews 4:12 about the Word of God being able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Oh, how thankful I am that God is able and His Word is able to discern motives and thoughts! It's not my job. It doesn't rest on me! I don't have to be perfect at it. Because God is! What a gift His Word is, if only we'd treasure it and allow it to transform us!

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Birthday Traditions

Posted by My Heart Song

7/5/2019

We celebrated our littlest boy turning 2 last weekend. He is the first in our family to celebrate a birthday in 2019. The rest of us all have birthdays between now and Christmas. 


We are making an intentional shift in our birthday traditions this year. Here's the reason why. Bear with me as it will seem that I'm shifting gears here, from birthdays to Christmas traditions.

 We have seen a disturbing pattern in our family over the last few years related to Christmas. What is generally considered to be a season of giving has turned inward, with the focus on getting/receiving. Our kids, like so many others who live in abundance and privilege, make lists of what they want and have high hopes of what they will receive. In essence, Christmas was all about them and what they would get, thus turning it into a functional 2nd birthday that happens each year. More gifts for them. 

 Now we know that we are somewhat to blame for this confusion. We have not historically made a really big deal about birthdays, but Christmas is a big deal. We have spent more money on our kids at Christmas than at birthdays. We have perpetuated the emphasis on gifts for everyone at Christmastime. We have bought into the consumer-driven culture and let the focus drift from the real meaning of Christmas. 

BUT GOD used some friends recently to present a way to shift our focus, as this couple simply described their birthday traditions. They make a REALLY BIG deal out of birthdays. They go all out. They buy big gifts. They decorate, a lot... with streamers and balloons. They include elements of praising God for the uniqueness of the birthday boy or girl. 

And by making birthdays a really big deal, they can then make Jesus' birthday a really big deal too... and the focus stays on Jesus!

 If a birthday is a time to celebrate the birthday celebrant... with decorations, with special desserts, with gifts for that person, with special poems/speeches/pictures we created with that birthday person in mind... then all of this can easily carry over to Christmas as Jesus' birthday and keep the focus on Him, where it belongs! 

 So this shift in how we celebrate birthdays all year long will affect how we celebrate Christmas this year. There will not be gifts for our individual children from us. There will be a focus of what we can give to Jesus for His birthday, which will lead to some great discussions of what Jesus really wants for His birthday (things like our hearts, our love and obedience, our sacrificing for others and thinking of others instead of ourselves, etc). All of the decorations, the special foods, the time and energy that goes in to preparing for Christmas as Jesus' birthday will all reinforce the idea that birthdays are super special time to celebrate the birthday person. 

So we have the rest of our family birthdays to celebrate yet this year, all between now and Christmas. I'm excited about this! I'm excited because it is encouraging to hear family members recognize one another's contributions to the rest of the family and to voice them (or draw them). I'm excited to help cultivate a sense of generosity in the kids as they think about buying a gift for their sibling's birthday. I love their excitement over helping decorate or helping pick out the perfect balloon for their sibling. I love walking down memory lane together, sharing memorable moments with one another as we flip through pictures of the last year. 

 Traditions.
I think I've undervalued traditions. 
I am looking ahead with great intentionality. 

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Marriage Resources

Posted by My Heart Song

6/24/2019


I'm not a marriage expert, that's for sure. But I have been married over 19 years now and have learned a thing or two on this journey.

Here are a few marriage resources that I would recommend to anyone wanting to grow in their marriage relationship, whether newlywed or old married folk like me. 

  • The book Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas


  • The book Marriage After God by Aaron and Jennifer Smith. 

  • FamilyLife.com marriage articles 

  • DesiringGod.org marriage articles


  • The podcast Marriage After God with Aaron and Jennifer Smith.


  • The podcast Faithful Life with Matt and Lisa Jacobson


I love that we can continue to learn and grow in our marriage relationship. We learn more about one another while also learning more about marriage, its purpose, God's design for marriage, etc. In the last year, I've enjoyed many of these resources and they've broadened my understanding of marriage and given me a greater vision and purpose for my marriage. They've also given my husband and I great date-night discussion fodder which has helped us grow closer together and be on the same page. All good things!

I encourage you to invest in your marriage by reading and listening to what others have to say about the importance of marriage. Discuss it together. Grow together. 
A healthy marriage means a healthier family. 
A healthier family means a healthier society. 
Nobody can argue with the great need for healthy marriages and healthy families this day and age. 
Well, the good news is that there are resources available! 
Take advantage of them today!

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Park Fun

Posted by My Heart Song

5/8/2019


I surprised my kids with a fun morning at the park this week. I was a fun mom, for a change.


I have to remind myself that I'm in a new season of life. My youngest is almost 2 and not a baby anymore. I am not pregnant or nursing, as I have been for the last 5 years of life. So this summer, there is newfound freedom and adventure awaits! 


So we went to the park and enjoyed being outside together. A couple other families joined us, so each of the kids had some friends to play with too. This is a newly remodeled park with lots of fun options for all ages. 


I'm realizing that I have not been good at finding joy in the little things or just truly enjoying being around my family. I'm working on this. Today was part of the solution - spending time playing and just having fun together.

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A Day in the Life

Posted by My Heart Song

3/21/2019

Finding time to blog is increasingly difficult. My littler kids demand attention and my older kids demand computer use! :-) Both of these demands leave me without opportunity or much brain activity left for blogging... but I continue to do what I can!

Here is a day in the life of our family, in photos.


My 3-year-old ALWAYS hides himself in the clean clothes waiting to be folded (which always land on our couch). Such a cutie!


One other thing this 3-year-old boy is always into is "colorful blocks." At least once a day he requests to play colorful blocks at the kitchen table. He loves to build and pretend. He might make a farm scene with multiple silos or a forest with lots of trees or a city with tall towers. This keeps him busy for at least 30 minutes at a time. 


A few weeks ago my husband and son tore apart our dishwasher, to fix the issue of standing water in the bottom. They ran it through a cycle afterwards, using dishsoap instead of dishwasher detergent. Bubble explosion!

Truly I am thankful for handymen in our family who can fix anything, for free and have a fun time doing it! This dishwasher gets a lot of use these days. We run it once a day and it is jam-packed full of dishes from our family of 7 eating almost every meal at home. We run out of plates and silverware daily now. 


Each spring we have a pair of ducks that hang out in our yard for a few hours or a few days. I assume it's the same pair year after year. Fun to see them appear this week, indicating that spring is coming... though the weather still feels quite wintry!


My 15-year-old continues to love being a part of our church youth group. Her 10th-grade-girls small group had a sleepover last week, so here's her group hanging out together.


My 11-year-old boy has gotten into "geocaching" recently (after learning about it from a book - three cheers for reading!). So when he and my husband have a "dude day out" they like to look for a geocache location and do some searching. This was at a nearby park recently. Very scenic.


My 5-year-old loves to play games, which usually has to wait until her little brothers are in bed at night. She has a window of about 30 minutes before her bedtime, so we sometimes pull out a game to play. Candyland is a favorite! 


Our bird Skittles loves to fly around the house and interact with each family member. On shoulders, on top of heads, on the kitchen table inspecting our food, on the ceiling fan blades... he gets around!


Mom and Dad are up at 5:15 each morning to chat, read the Bible together and pray together before the little boys wake up at 6:00 sharp. 5-year-old sister is up shortly thereafter and the morning is off and running! Here are the three littlest ones with Dad before he leaves for work at 7:15 am.

Busy but full and meaningful life! 

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