Merry Christmas

We are having so much fun just relaxing in our pj's, playing with the kiddos, sipping cocoa (with lots of marshmallows) listening to Christmas music (our current favorite is Behold the Lamb of God - the true tall tale of the coming of Christ by Andrew Peterson), and spending some much loved time with our families. Have a Merry Christmas!

bittersweet milestones

Gracie moved out of her old room and into her new room in the basement today. I'll have to post pictures when I get some time. The room is so big and spacious. I think we need another girl to fill it up better! We set up a beanbag chair in her closet with a bin of books as her little "reading nook" - she was tickled! She is so excited over her new space. I was the one who had a hard time when I tucked her in for the night - realizing she's two floors away now. I think I forget how much she has grown up - she is nearly four!

I wasn't anticipating moving Jackson out of our room just yet (as much as I'm ready in so many other ways I'm not!), but somehow we decided to do it all in the same day! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed now! Since Jackson is our last baby, it seems as though every milestone is a door that is closing in my life as a momma. Knowing my last little baby is no longer right next to me during the night is so bittersweet. Perhaps if we adopt as we hope to some day, we'll find ourselves back in some of these "baby days". As hard as some of these baby days (and nights) are - they are some of the sweetest!

Just Thinking...

Wow, it's way too late for me to be up and especially posting on this lil' blog of mine...The house is so nice and quiet which is quite a change from the last few nights of Jackson being up crying (all of us, except Jordan, are sick). Figured I'd post some new pictures of the kiddos before I headed up to bed. Then I had had these thoughts and couldn't go to bed without getting them out. I'm pretty tired here, but I think I can work this out from head to "paper".

We hung up our nativity calendar yesterday and on it hangs our first days symbol: the star which pointed the way to Jesus. I was just gazing at it, somewhat lost in thought, when it struck me how much it's my first responsibility as a parent to show the way, as the star once did, to Christ for my children. As I was sitting there lost in thought I was really evaulating my parenting as of late. To be honost, I've been caught up in details and schedules and "behavior charts" and less the reflection of Christ and unconditional love that I want to be. It's somewhat ironic, because where the nativity calendar now hangs, was Grace's behavior and responsiblility chart which I had taken down to make room for the nativity calendar. It really made me think what else I should be "taking down" so to speak in order to let the light of Christ shine through out this home and in my life. I don't think that schedules and charts are bad, because Grace really thrives on them, but I think that they have been too much of our focus here lately. I don't want my kiddos to think those things are most imporant to me, because SO much more than that I want my children to know, love and and in turn serve Christ. My focus has been off and I can see that now - I'm so glad God continues to break through to me to help me be a (hopefully) better parent.

Now that my head is (somewhat) clear, I think I'll head to bed!

Florida Trip Top Ten

1. Spending a whole week with the family. So nice to spend some time with everyone and to be able to relax and focus on the kids more than we are usually able to. So many wonderful memories to cherish!

2. Jackson's first visit to the ocean. He loved the beach and having the waves wash up on his toesies. You would have never known he had screamed the whole drive over (never wake a sleeping baby - and then make them sit in a car seat for 45 minutes - lesson learned)!

3. Flying...well not my personal favorite as I'm not a big fan of the whole being five miles off the ground, but definately a favorite for Grace. She thought the whole thing was completely awesome! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Jackson's first time flying! He did a great job on the plane, but the little stinker had a dirty diaper both times! Changing diapers on a plane takes a certain skill - Jordan and I are now certified!

4. Seeing the sharks at Sea World. Although she was a bit apprehensive at first, one of Grace's favorite parts of our trip was seeing the sharks. She used her allowence to get this shark stuffed animal. She has been sleeping with it every night...This is the same girl that is often Princess Frostine or Princess Aurora!

5. Playing in the pool at the condo. Despite how cold the pool was, the kiddos looked forward to their afternoon swim everyday - even Jackson! Grace really surprised me with how well she is getting at swimming!

6. A papa to snuggle with! Such a sweet sweet sight! Jackson fell asleep on Grandpa twice - at Epcot and Animal Kingdom.

7. Hanging out with the boys. Jackson loved hanging out with Caleb and Luke at the condo and was so excited to see them every morning. Oh the fun he is yet to have with them!




8. Animal Kingdom. We went to the Animal Kingdom last - you could say it was Grace's "saving park". She was most looking forward to this part of Disney. It did not let us down. The highlight was definately the safari ride, specifically seeing the elephants.

9. The fireworks and laser show at Epcot. This picture is of the kiddos snuggling before the show started. Soon after Jackson fell asleep and stayed sleeping through the whole show! Grace was very brave and loved the fireworks (although I did cover her ears for the really loud ones)! She said she liked the music the best.

10. Rides at Magic Kingdom. Grace's favorites were the Dumbo ride, Alladin's Magic Carpet Ride and the Tea Cup Ride. The parade at the end of the day was also a highlight for all of us.

Back Home

....from our Disney Trip. It was so nice to get away and spend a week focused on our kiddos and creating memories with them. All of us had so much fun - Disney has changed SO much since I was there fifteen years ago (as has my perspective of seeing it). The kids were such troopers, but inevitably had a couple of "shining moments". Grace's favorite was the Animal Kingdom - she was quite happy to see an elephant (her current favorite animal) on the safari ride. Jackson was in his glory being outside for the majority of the week - taking everything in from his stroller or mamma's lap! I need to get pictures off my camera and then I'm sure I'll be posting them really soon. I'm just glad I'm caught up with all that laundry - phew! It sure does feel good to be back home though. I always love seeing new places and going on vacation, but it always feels so good to return home.

Happy Birthday Travis

We love you and miss you....until we see you again!!!!!!!

Finally Fall

It was funny as I did laundry yesterday...I don't think I've ever had shorts and sweaters in the same load of laundry before. It was close to ninety on Monday and in the fourties yesterday morning! I'm loving the cool temps though - I've been looking forward to pulling out the comfy fall clothes! Not to mention how beautiful it always looks back at our house in the fall (I'll have to post some pictures of the color later). Things have been pretty busy here lately - nothing in particular, just a lot of little things (Making a bedroom for Grace, MOPS, Jordan's new job, youth group, keeping up with the kiddos...you get the drift). Anyways, it seems like I blinked and it's the middle of October! In three weeks we'll be going to Disney World :) We've been planning this trip for over a year so I've had it in my head that it's so far away for so long...It's so hard to believe it's here already! I can't wait to see how much fun the kiddos are going to have (we're going with my parents, my brother, his wife and their two boys). So here, in picture form, is what we've been up to lately...lots has been going on as you'll see.

This is Jackson's first quad ride :) You should have seen us (or maybe not)....we all managed to ride this one because we couldn't get the other one started. I'm positive we exceeded the weight limit! We've since had many more quad rides...Have I mentioned how much Jackson LOVES to be outside?

In September we went to the apple orchard. Yum-O! Grace had about five apples while we were there (not exagerating). She is such a silly one!

Jackson's First Apple...Don't worry we didn't really let him eat it!

And can you believe these blue eyes!!!! They're pretty hard to resist!

This is Grace riding Rocky (her Auntie Katie is boarding it at their house).

Can you tell how much she LOVES horses - her face says it all!

Grace and her kitten Durango.

Our cat had kittens this summer and this is the only one that stuck around...so glad it did or she would have been broken hearted! She cracks me up the way she carries him everywhere not caring if he's scratching her or not - such a little mother she is!

Without a doubt we are blessed!

Answered Prayer

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

Growth is good, even when it hurts a little; especially if it draws us closer to God. I'm so glad that God continues to show himself to me and gives me opportunities to grow in my faith. I may have mentioned to some of you that Jordan lost his job earlier in September (his last day was actually today). God has given me such a peace that he was going to take care of us and that he would provide. Even when I found out that COBRA was going to be $1200 a month, I knew he would show us a way or we'd get by without insurance. Well I'm very happy to say that he has found a job. He will work on contract for the next three months with the intent that they will hire him at the first of the year. They are even going to pay our COBRA. It really has been such an answer to prayer. Thank you to everyone who was praying for us.

Relief.

I need to let out a big sigh of relief. For a couple of reasons. First, VBS is officially over. We wrapped up with a special service this morning. It was an awesome week, but I think maybe just maybe I got myself in a bit over my head this year. Especially with a new baby and all.

So here I sat this afternoon. Nothing needed to be cut out. I didn't need to practice motions for songs. I was just able to catch up on some much needed snuggling with my kiddos. And since we've been blessed with a couple nice, cool rainy days, we were able to go puddle jumping with Gracie. By the time we got up to Jordan's parent's house Grace was covered in wet mud from the waist down. Her rain boots were sloshing and squishing with every step she took. There was so much water in her boots! As girly as she can be at times, she sure does love dirt and mud!

The second sigh of relief is because I just put Jackson down to bed in his crib and he put himself to sleep! He moved from his bassinet to his crib a few days ago and this is the first time I didn't have to rock him to get him to sleep! Don't get me wrong, tomorrow is another day and sometimes we take two steps back...But I'm going to relish in this moment while it lasts! Even though this is our second child and I worry much less than I did the first go-around, I still find myself second guessing the things I'm doing at times.

I'm going to leave you with the song I sing to Jackson at night. It's a beautiful prayer and my favorite Fernando song.

Jesus, King of angels, heaven's light,
Shine Your face upon this house tonight.
Let no evil come into my dreams;
Light of heaven, keep me in Your peace.

Remind me how You made dark spirits flee,
And spoke Your power to the raging sea.
And spoke Your mercy to a sinful man;
Remind me, Jesus, this is what I am.

The universe is vast beyond the stars,
But You are mindful when the sparrow falls,
And mindful of the anxious thoughts
That find me, surround me, and bind me . . . .

With all my heart I love You, Sovereign Lord.
Tomorrow, let me love You even more.
And rise to speak the goodness of Your name
Until I close my eyes and sleep again.

The universe is vast beyond the stars,
But You are mindful when the sparrow falls,
And mindful of the anxious thoughts
That find me, surround me, and bind me . . . .

Jesus, King of angels, heaven's light,
Hold my hand and keep me through this night

Long post...lots of pictures

Pulled out the Bumbo chair for Jax today. He looks so cute just hanging out :) He seems to really like it. He sure loves to be upright and likes to be able to look around at everything going on around him. Can't believe he's going to be three months old in a week!

So I know it's a little late to post about our 4th, but it's been a busy week and I haven't been able to post before now. We had such a great holiday. We had our good friends, Andrew, Erin and baby Emma over for lunch. Grace decided to play pirates, as you can see in the picture below. We got this dress up stuff in the dollar clearance at Target and Grace just loves it. Funny how kids just love pirate stuff these days. She kept saying she was a scurvy pirate which was making Andrew crack up.

So we were supposed to play Dutch Blitz but the guys chickened out and determined we should watch The Patriot instead. Good call since it was the 4th. At night we went to the fireworks. Jackson slept through the whole ordeal. Grace was hilarious. She sat on Papa Krause's lap with his hands over her ears and her hands over his hands (so sad I didn't have my camera along)! He said she kept going back in forth in her opinion of the fireworks. One moment she was saying how much she loved them and the next saying she didn't like them because they were too loud.

She was pretty tuckered out after such a busy day.

Friday I was putting some thing away and when I walked back into the living room I came upon this very sweet moment. So glad I managed to get a picture before Grace noticed I was watching them.

Grace loves her baby brother so much and just wants to do everything with him. I managed to get a few more of them while they were watching their Baby Einstein movie.

We had our family night on Friday and our story was on Noah's ark. Jordan managed to find this huge refrigerator box to be our ark. Grace loved decorating it. We hid stuffed animals all around the house in pairs and she had to find them. Such fun!

Saturday we went to the farmer's market and Grace ate so many blueberries and cherries I thought she'd be sick. I didn't get a picture, but man was she covered in cherry juice from head to toe!
Sunday we had Andrew & Erin over again and we managed to convince the guys to play Dutch Blitz and Canasta. I took the cake with Canasta which was such a self esteem boost for me :) Not really, but it was a lot of fun.

So now that I've pracitcally written a novella recaping our last week and bored you all silly, I think I'm going to head to bed. Good night & God Bless!

He's Always Been Faithful

Been a hard week for the Krause family and some of my friends...this song by Sara Groves came to mind. The song is very beautiful and says what I feel so perfectly.

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

Morning by morning I wake up to find
The power and comfort of God’s hand in mine
Season by season I watch Him, amazed
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me.

I can’t remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain
I can’t remember one single regret
In serving God only, and trusting His hand
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me.

This is my anthem, this is my song
The theme of the stories I’ve heard for so long
God has been faithful, He will be again
His loving compassion, it knows no end
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful, He’s always been faithful
He’s always been faithful to me.

What a promise! God knows exactly what we need and His hand will provide for those needs. We can't see the big picture, but God knows exactly what His plan in our life is. I love the phrases, "Season by season, I watch him amazed. In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways" and "I can't remember a trial or a pain, He did not recycle to bring me gain". I know first hand the validity of these promises. God has "recycled" so many of my trials into such gains (reminds me of another favorite Sara Groves song "Less Like Scars").

Hoping you are all as blessed by the message of this song as I was.

Smiles, 20 Questions and Waterballons

I finally got pictures of Jackson smiling. I was leaving the camera on the counter so that if he smiled I could run and get it, but I was always too late. The last few days he has been smiling more at a time, so I was able to get pictures : ) There are more pictures of his cute smile here. He is starting to coo and giggle now too. It is so neat to see all these changes in him. It is bittersweet though - knowing how fast he is growing and with this being our last time with a newborn. Anyone relate?


Anyone who knows Grace the slightest bit knows she is such a curious little girl and is always asking oodles of questions. Well, lately she has been asking me what every word she hears/sees means. They are words she has been using for a while, but for some reason is questioning what they mean (or maybe she is just trying to drive me nuts or see if I'm paying attention to her)??Everything from "free" to "push". Thursday she asked me, "What does it's not fair mean Mom"? That one took some thinking on my part to explain. What a funny, sweet girl she is!


Filled a couple hundred of these for the youth party the other day. My index finger is still recovering : ) We had a great time though - was definately worth it. We played Capture the Tiki which is a twist on capture the flag which involves water balloons and tiki torches. Not being the expert on tiki torches, I didn't realize that you have to buy a certain type of oil to use with the torches to make them light up. Unfortunately I didn't learn this before we were ready to play the game. So the game wasn't quite as fun as it could have been, but it was probably a lot safer (teenage boys and fire - what was I thinking, honostly)!. Jord brought the quads out at the end of the night and now I think Pastor has the itch to get one/some :) He and Dana had a lot of fun on them. You can check out more pictures of the party here.

normal day

I was looking through one of my old notebooks from when Grace was a baby and came across the following quote:



"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so." Mary Jean Iron



Sometimes I need to be reminded to slow down and appreciate all that God has blessed me with. To enjoy every moment I have with my family and friends. To see them for what they are and not take them for granted. So glad I happened upon this reminder.



God Bless!













Grace and Jackson snuggling on the couch. So stinkin sweet!

here goes nothing...

Okay fellow bloggers - I did it....I'm writing my first blog entry. Jenny - if you're out there in blogger world - THANK YOU for motivating me to finally do this :) Not sure how much time I'll have to keep up with this or even what I'll write about - but who knows, it should be fun :)