Kalahari!!!

Another great year of Kalahari in the books. Keep an eye on the Kalahari Retreat website for updates and some AMAZING videos!

Here are a few photos of the weekend! (our camera is broken, so these were taken with the cell phone, sorry for the poor quality) We were challenged by D.C. Curry to give God our dreams along with all we have to offer and see what HE will do with it!

Had a great group of girls in my room for the weekend. Here are a few of them getting ready to enjoy the Worship set and the next message from D.C Curry...


Special Guest for the weekend John Reuben..... YES!!!


And Exodus Band encouraged our students before each session in a time of musical worship!


God is Good!

How Quickly We Forget

So yesterday, I got a call from a co-worker that she was going to be missing work. It seems that her 5 week old Grandson was in pretty serious condition having breathing problems. While she is a nurse, and knows they are doing all they can for him, I could hear the desperation in her voice. I could hear her concern and fear over what could happen and my heart went out for her. I began to pray for this little baby, and the fight ahead of him, and for his family as they patiently wait for his tiny little body to do what it needs to do.

As I was praying, however, I was reminded of how quickly we forget how precious life is. I know Nate and I have been through so many various experiences that you'd think we could never forget this, but we do. We forget that Doctors told me at a young age that it would be difficult to have children. We forget that when I was 17 weeks pregnant with Taylor, I had surgery that included "lifting her from my belly" as they removed a softball sized tumor. We forget that it took over a year and lots of medications for Drew to be in our lives, and somedays we even forget that there is a young woman in Korea that is missing a part of her heart, because we call him our son! These "MIRACLES" are right in front of us, yet we take them for granted.

We, or at least I, continue to mourn the loss of our four babies that are no longer with us, as if we are entitled to have had those children in our lives. We so quickly forget that all children are a Gift From God!! We all, who receive Christ, are God's children (John1:12), and our time on earth is temporary. Yet the life we do have is a gift, and a miracle! I've seen first hand how delicate that life is, how quickly it can be taken away and much of a miracle it is to have!

I pray that if you have young ones in your life, you look at them as the miracle that they are, even when it's past their bedtime and they're getting on your last nerve! Or when they've taken scissors and cut every piece of paper in the room into tiny little pieces of confetti, or when no matter what you do, homework that should take 25 minutes takes 2 hours! We must remind ourselves... "THESE ARE GOD'S BLESSINGS"!

What Students can do for Haiti

You can follow Wooster Grace and their efforts to help those in Haiti at http://woosterhaiti.blogspot.com/

Most recently I posted about why we should help the Children. Check in, and see where God may be leading you to help.

Praying for Haiti

Praying for Haiti, a time when words do not come, but God knows the needs.

Pray for

(click on the links for website and further details)

High school friends that are there on Mission trip

Hands and Feet orphanage

Gods Littlest Angels Orphanage

among so many others...

I just can't help but think that God is going to use this in amazing ways. Haiti is such a hurting country, with poverty we in the US could never imagine. Now they literally have NOTHING. I pray that THE CHURCH can have a presence that can not be ignored and that they can rebuild into a country that it's citizens can be proud of and that will flourish. Accounts say that over 100,000 likely dead, possibly lots more. How do you fathom that. And a country where there are already so many orphaned children due to poverty, now add to that the number of orphaned children due to truly being orphaned as their parents or care takers are now dead and my mind can't wrap around it.

Just don't know what to think or say, but cry out to God for His great work!

A Mom's Ramblings

Sometimes you just have to take a step back and really look at what is happening in your life. I get so caught up in the day to day, the laundry, the dishes, the bills, the running of the kids, that we miss it. We miss the fact that our baby girl, that just yesterday needed help tying her shoes, is now a young lady, tying the shoes of her baby brother. We miss the fact that our little guy that just yesterday, needed his chicken cut up for him, now eats a double helping to keep up with how quickly he is growing. We miss the fact that while it seems only yesterday we were flying to Chicago to bring our "baby" home, and now he's talking about Kindergarten. What happened?

I often look at my kids, and praise God for who they are becoming, and wonder how it has happened. How despite me, despite my shortcomings as a mother, they are turning into wonderful, God honoring children. I so often forget that I have six little eyes looking at me every moment of every day, and still, they see me as their princess!

I know we have a long road ahead of us. We have a pre-teen that is learning what it means to be a young woman. She is questioning what her role is in our family. Is she the leader, is she "mom" is she the friend? She is trying out all these roles right now and shaping the person that God is wanting her to be.

We have a young man that is growing bigger and stronger every day. He is watching his daddy and becoming more and more like him every day, which is a good thing! He leads our family in prayer at the dinner table, and is a very hard little worker!

And Toby! He has come such a long way and has a long way to go! He is talking up a storm, and tryng to figure out what his role is in this house as well! He's the baby, but he's growing up. We all love him to pieces, but he is starting to stand on his own! What a joy he is to us all!

I'm not sure what has me thinking through all this tonight! But I just needed to get these ramblings out! I want my kids to always know how special they are to me, and I continue to pray for guidance and patience as we go through these next stages!

For them, I pray they understand the promises of the Lord in Jeremiah 29:11 "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to PROSPER you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE.'"


God is Good!

New Years Eve

Shortly after Christmas, Nate got a text from a generous friend at church that had a few free Football Hall of Fame tickets that needed to be used by the end of the year. After a short discussion, we decided that would be a great way to spend New Years Eve, since Nate was off work. We kept it a secret from the kids. They've been asking to go for some time now. As we pulled up, they were thrilled!

And to top it off, as we walked in, someone walked up to us and offered us another ticket!! All five of us got in for the price of one! What a Blessing!

So from the moment we walked in, Nate and Drew were in a trans like state! They were soaking it all in. Nate and I hadn't been there since we went once in high school (you can guess how long ago that may have been)! Let's just say it has changed a lot!

As we began to walk around, Nate quickly took control of the camera! And this little fact will explain why I have nearly 100 photos from our day... and the following are the ONLY ones that include our children! We have photos of shoes, helmets, jersey's, photos of other photos, and lots of photos of people's HEADS :)! Not sure what Nate plans to do with all those photos, but he has them!


Drew enjoyed every moment of every Steelers display!

And he quickly understood why we suggested he wear his Steelers Sweatshirt!
There was a great SuperBowl display, including a Movie which highlighted the Steelers great season! I watched most of the movie through the eyes of my son! I just kept looking over at the enormous smile on his face, and it made the day perfect!! The movie was on one of those gigantic screens with the full sound effects. Every hit could be felt by those of us in the theater. After the movie, I asked Drew "Are you sure you still want to play football next year?" to which he QUICKLY answered... "YES!!!!!" Just not sure mommy is ready :)

Here is a fun photo of Taylor and Drew!

This is a poor photo, but it is the ONLY one we have of all three kids! Toby was good, but not on his BEST behavior! Luckily, Nate talked me into taking the stroller. I'm not sure what we would have done if we hadn't taken it! This photo was taken for Aunt Katy!

Following are time at the Hall of Fame, we did some car shopping! UGH! I hate car shopping but not sure the van is going to make it much longer, and we have an amazing trip coming up this summer. Just need to keep praying!

God is good!

White as Snow

Nate made this little video with his phone, and I don't know how to convert it to a better format, but it is a good reminder to us all!

God is Good!

Christmas 2009

What another Blessed Christmas come and gone! We had a wonderful time celebrating our Saviors birth with those we love!! Our Marathon of holiday gatherings lasted three days! We began on Christmas Eve! We had dinner at Nate's moms house and took a quick photo of the kids before we left for church. It's not often we have all 10 grandkids together! (and yes, I took about 10 and this is the best!)

The kids enjoyed opening their gifts from the cousins exchange! The Ballinger clan all got the Mills' kids names, which was kinda funny! Drew got some new Bakigan toys.
Toby got a nifty writing toy and some awesome shirts!!
And Taylor got some clothes from Justice, which she loved, and wore for the next two weeks!!
We also figured it was the year for making people open multiple boxes before getting to their real presents! Here is Papaw Rudy about half way to his Christmas Vacation ornament we got him. We didn't have a box for it, so we thought we'd have some fun! Everyone enjoyed the challenge he had in opening it, and he enjoyed the ornament!
Then come Christmas morning, there were lots of presents for the kids! Santa brought a Wii, which they have played non-stop since! And Toby got several other little gifts.
Drew got a full stocking, and knew his Big Present was waiting for him downstairs!
Taylor also got to open her Stocking gifts, and patiently waited to open her "big gift" that was under the tree!
To keep with the theme, Taylor had several layers of boxes to open. The reason being, if I only wrapped the gift, she'd have known...
it was a new iPod Nano! We had it engraved with her name and Prov 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with All your Heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." A verse she memorized when she was 3 and in Mrs. Evie's class at church.
Then it was time for Drew to head downstairs to check out his gift. He had a package waiting for him at the bottom of the steps and was thrilled to get a bag full of drum sticks. He thought that was it until we encouraged him to come in to the family room and he found...
His new Full Size Drumset!!! It has been a great time listening to him tap out some rythms! And I mean that! What a blessing to see his interest in Music!!
Then Saturday was off to the Tuckers! The kids had stockings waiting for them full of lots of goodies!
And Drew got to be the victim of the multiple wrapped boxes scheme!!
It seems grandma had him fooled that he got a box of Nutter Bars. He thought that was great! But as he continued to open, he found a nice little package that contained his first Swiss Army knife. He proceeded to try and open everyones gifts and did get a little cut on his finger before he realized how to use it!

We had a wonderful time, and it's back to work and school tomorrow! (of course we continue to pray for snow :) ) Praying you all had a wonderful Holiday as well!

God is Good!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you all did as well! I hope to add some pictures soon but until then, just wanted to say HI from the Wii Santa left under our tree!

God is Good!

Christmas Greeting

Merry Christmas To All!

Well, in light of the season, and our busy lives, I have tried very hard to simplify Christmas. Simplify gift giving, simplify baking and cooking, and simplify Christmas Card Sending! It is a tradition that I love, and has been very difficult for me not to run out and print and mail cards, but creating this one Christmas card took about 10 minutes, and those of you that are near and dear to us check in on us here, so I figured this was the best place to send all of your Christmas cards to! We love you All! Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox greeting

God is Good!

Lots of Posts

Well, we've been busy the past few weeks! So I took a few moments to update what has been going on with several new posts! Especially since we'll have several more to add with the upcoming Holidays!!

God is Good

First Snowman

Well, the kids were so excited to see snow actually covering the ground. It's been a pretty lame snow season so far! They wanted to go out and "play" in the snow and I told them they were crazy. There wasn't enough snow to do anything! But of course they had to prove me wrong! I guess the snow was great for packing as you can see!



And simply because I thought this photo was adorable and there really was no other post to put it in, I'll throw this photo of Toby in! We went shopping Saturday and found this great Buckeyes store at Richland Mall. Toby really wanted one of these!


God is Good

Toby on Stage

Toby had his first chance at singing with the Little Praisers the past week. He sang in the Contemporary service last week, and this week they sang in the Traditional service. I have video, but it is on the camcorder and it takes a little while to get it off, so I will add to this post later, but for now, here are a few photos!



God is Good!

Buddy The Elf

Taylor had the opportunity to perform with the Orrville Community Theatre Company again this winter. They did an adaptation of Elf the movie. They did a wonderful job. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, as that is such a big movie, but they did a very good job. Here are some photos and videos from the play.

Taylor had a very good time, and is looking forward to what comes next! She was also told about a very exciting Theatre Camp that we are going to look into for this summer! That girl loves being on stage!

God is Good!

Train Ride!

For Toby's last day of school, they took a field trip to the Lodi Outlet Mall to see Santa and ride the train! Toby was so very excited!!

Unfortunately, when we got to the "Santa Room", there was a note from the big guy, saying he couldn't make it! What a bummer! But he did leave treats and tell the kids they could sit in his chair! Here is Toby getting one of his favorite treats, a candy cane!

Then, unfortunately there was only one train working, so we had to wait quite a while for our turn on the train, but once they said the train was ready, there was no holding Toby back, as you can see!
And I think you can tell by the smile on his face, he enjoyed every moment of it!
The following night, Toby and Drew got to go with Grandma Derri and Aunt Katy on the Polar Express. I was not able to go because Taylor had her opening night performance of Buddy the Elf, so I don't have any photos, but Aunt Katy promised me she took a whole bunch, and when I get them, I will be sure to post!

God is Good!

Upward Fun!

We finished up another season of Upward! Drew had a wonderful time and I'd say they had a pretty good season! All their games were very close, and they won about half of them! Here are a few photos of Drew in action!


Drew with Coach Daddy!

For a few of the games, Drew had some of the CUTEST Cheerleaders! Here are Kiley on the left and Averie on the right! Drew's cousins cheered nice and loud for him!


This photo was from Drew's last game. He got to play in the "big gym" for his last game. He likes playing in there, the ball bounces better, he says!

More from the Christmas Program

When I posted the previous post about the Christmas Program, it was from the first performance. But both sets of Grandparents were at the second performance, so I thought I would share these great photos of the kids with some of their Grandparents.

Here they are with Papaw Rudy and Grandma Debbie.
And a photo of them with Paps and Grandma Derri.

What a special photo op!!

God is Good!

Christmas Program

Well, let the season begin!! This past weekend Taylor and Drew were part of our church's Christmas musical, "First Christmas". Drew was in the choir as was Taylor. Here's a sampling of their opening song.




And Taylor also had a solo. What is ironic about this song, is with having lost Kaleb, we often wonder what Christmas is like for him and our other children in Heaven. What a precious song, and to have Taylor sing it so beautifully... well yeah, tears flowing from this momma!!



Toby got to sing in big church on Sunday, but my video isn't real close. He is singing again next week so I will try and get a better video and get it loaded. Also this week, Taylor is singing for the school program! I will likely share that as well.

I've had a day beyond words of frustration, but sitting here and taking a few moments to look at these videos of my children again, makes it all melt away! There is nothing in life as important and precious as these gifts God has given us!

God is Good!