living nativity

Chuck built a beautiful (but very simple) creche for our churches living nativity. I am always so proud of how he works at each of his sets that he has built. This one looked really big in our garage, but once he got it out on the location, it didn't look so huge.

We woke up on Saturday to a surprise snow and he bundled up to move his creche and manger to the church. With a few decorations the set looked quite authentic. About every 5 weeks, the church offers "Bethlehem Marketplace". They set up a biblical marketplace for the kids to experience some food, crafts and story in a historical setting.

The kids LOVED the animals. Tissy spend an hour walking the horse around and Tate finally warmed up to the goats. He was sure they were going to EAT him. And Tyce...well, let's just say he is in his element running around outside with friends and animals.

18 years of marriage

Forgot to post this sweet picture of my sweet husband and I. We put the kids to bed (well, the boys at least)...brought Grammy in to sit...scooted off into the sunset for a night of just the 2 of us. We have always tried to get at least a few dates out a year and our anniversary is one of them.

18 years...how time has flown. I am blessed beyond words. I am so glad you asked, I'd do it again in a heart beat.

crazy full weekend

Every weekend, we have the discussion..."what are we going to do?" What will our weekend be full of? Chores? Fun? Church? Family time? There are some weekends we don't do much more than laze around and relax (which we probably need to more of that). And then there are weekends when we have SOOOOO much that we cram into it. Like this weekend.

To be honest, I can't even remember what we ended up doing Friday night and Saturday morning. Oh right...I broke my toe on Thursday night so I spent most of it hobbling around and trying to stay off of it. Oh, and I brought a family (who just had a baby) a meal on Friday (but that is besides the point).

After running some errands Saturday morning Chuck decided to work on his plan for his work bench. He had not unpacked the garage tools and work items for lack of a better place to unload them onto. We had a great space in our last house with a big work bench and cool peg board (HERE). He has been itching to make another one. He made a pretty good sketch of one and spent about 50 bucks and he and my dad came up with this work bench. Only needs the peg board to finish it off.I am often impressed with how things turn out when Chuck is involved. There isn't much he can't do well. They cranked this whole thing out (including running to the store for supplies) in less than 4 hours. Talk about ACTION !!! While they were working on the work bench, my mom and I organized the school room and got ready for the next school year.

Then we were out visiting a church in a nearby town on Saturday evening and noticed the big K had all their trees and shrubs for sale. 70% OFF. We have been meaning to get some more trees to provide privacy and shade and all it took was some hint of a bargain to get us going on that project. We picked up 5 trees and got them all in the ground on Sunday afternoon. That makes 11 trees we have planted since we got here.

If you look closely, you can see 3 trees along the neighbor's fence. 2 red maple and one flowering pear and the one closest to the deck is a holly (I wanted one that would stay green year round). These were some of the best looking ones from the clearence rack. It isn't really the best season to plant the trees, but they really needed to get out of the pots and into the ground.


These tress will need a little tender loving care and I am hoping with lots of tree hugging, they will make it. We did have to replace one of the trees that we planted in the front yard (and we paid full price for that one). We got so much rain right after we put it in and the ground had too many air pockets. So our fifth tree went out front.

So far, everything we have planted here has grown well. I have NEVER had flowers take off and spread so easily. They are just beautiful. And to be honest, I am not doing anything special to take care of them. Just watering them when I think of it. I try to weed the bed every few weeks and the rest is up to God to make them beautiful.

So our weekend turned out to have more purpose than we thought. We got a LOT done and worked hard. Now Chuck is back to work so he can rest up from all the labor he put in to make our home so special.

Precious Moments

I love these tender moments. Chuck and Tissy enjoying an early morning together.
I know that I don't tell him enough...he is such a good daddy. These kids adore him. I caught them looking at a catalog together at breakfast one day. I hope the kids always have fond memories like this that they hold dear.

Learning to love one of Daddy's favorite toys

The other week when were out at yard sales and found this race track for matchbox style cars. Chuck snagged it for a buck and it has been a pretty good toy to use all of our cars with.


And when I say...ALL of our cars...I mean ALL of Chuck's cars. We have a huge collection that were Chuck's when he was a little boy.

The idea is you race them against each other and which ever one wins, goes into the win pile and the looser goes into the looser group. Then you keep racing the winners against each other and add to the loser group. Finally you are down to just a few cars to find out which one is the fastest car.Here the winners are lined up against the track and the rest are losers. The point is to find the fastest car. And the race always seems to come down to the same few cars. There is a green one that wins every time and is the champion.
Amazingly enough, we play this on the weekends for hours. You can imagine that Chuck loves it. And the girls love anything when Daddy plays along. Bonding time for sure. And all for a dollar at a yard sale. Well...the dollar and all the cars we already had.

STOLEN SCOOTER ALERT

Someone stole Chuck's blue Yamaha Zuma scooter out of our garage last night (got into his truck and used the garage door opener to get in). It is something in between a big moped and a small motorcycle. -- Street legal with license plate.

The police think it was likely taken by kids. If anyone in our local area see it being ridden or at a garage sale, PLEASE call the police! It's the only one like it that we've seen in this area. -- Praying friends, please pray with us that we get it back.

Thanks for asking...

I would say yes again. I love you Chuck!!

new compost bin

Wanted to share our how to's on making the compost bin last week. This was at the top of the LONG list of things that needed to be done around here. Again...if you don't compost, it is much easier than you think. It doesn't smell. It really isn't gross. It is a great way to cut down on how much trash you throw away. And...you can make your own beautiful dirt. So, let me encourage you once again to consider composting. HERE is my old compost pile and the post about it. HERE is a post of a thriving compost pile and a good list of what goes in it. HERE is a post of our beautiful dirt.

Since we are in a new home and our neighborhood has some "rules" about things looking nice, we wanted our compost bin to look pretty good. The supplies were pretty cheap (less than $20) and it only took about an hour to make. Chuck hasn't built a wood work shop, so this was made on the driveway.

First we picked a spot that was going to get lots of sun. I also wanted it close to the door for easy access. You can see on the right of the picture the brown pile of dirt and scraps. That is where we were just throwing our compost until we had a bin. To get our pile started, we asked our neighbors for their dirt...yep...you heard that right. Our neighbors were planting some trees a few weeks back and I could tell they were going to throw their dirt out, so...we offered to take it off their hands.Then Chuck took some time planning what he was going to build. I had googled some ideas and showed him what I was thinking. I like to have at least 2 bins side by side. You can use one and let the other one sit and decompose.
Chuck used fence board to make the bin. They are really inexpensive and about the right size. 3 boards to make each side.Easy enough to put the 2 x 4 in the corners. Ours is on a slight hill so one end is taller than the other. The bin is roughly 6 feet long and 3 feet deep.



Here you can see that there is a small divider in the middle to keep the 2 sides separate.
We placed the bin (right on the ground - no bottom or lining) a little to the left of the temporary pile. Chuck was sweet enough to move the dirt for me.
Every area we have lived has such different soil. We have had very rocky soil, sandy soil and now the soil seems to have some clay in it. At first this dirt was almost impossible to get the shovel in (really hard and compacted). After adding the scraps from the kitchen, it has softened up a bit.
One of my requests was to have our pile near the hose. I like to add some water to our compost to keep it moist.I wanted to start with a before picture to compare once our compost starts working. As I have stated before, you need a combination of brown and green compost. Yard clippings, shredded paper, kitchen scarps, dryer lint, coffee grounds, tea bags, bunny litter, leaves...the list goes on and on. We tend to keep a bowl on the counter when meals are being prepared and then I pitch it into the compost bin each day (or after the meal if it is full). At least now I don't have to feel guilty for tossing a banana peel in the trash, I have a place to put it.


A big thanks to Chuck for the wonderful new compost bin. Nothing says I love you like building me a bin to hold my trash. =) What a good guy.

SCOOTIN'

Sunday was the perfect day for a scoot. We all took a turn on Chuck's scooter. I hadn't been on it in years and felt a bit rusty, but it was easy enough to remember how to do it (though I think I made Chuck a bit nervous).


We all felt a little restricted having to wear helmets. Our current state has a helmet law. I don't go much faster than 12 miles an hour, but you got to follow the rules. There is something super fun about riding around the neighborhood on a scooter. You feel a bit like a novelty. Everyone waves to you and smiles. As Chuck says..."everyone loves scooter guy."

Chuck won another Emmy!!!!!!

Just talked to Chuck and he found out that he won another Emmy! Last year he won 2 (he was a first time winner) and the whole thing was such a special night (HERE). Even though we weren't able to go to the banquet this year (maybe next year our life won't be so crazy), I am still just as proud of him.

Congrats Chuck! I am so proud of you and all your hard work. Congratulations to the whole team and all the winners. What a great bunch of guys you have been able to work with.

JELLY TELLY

I have to promote this new idea. JELLY TELLY is christian based online TV channel designed as alternative to Nick and the cartoon network. No more worries about what questionable things the networks are gently exposing your kids to. From what I can tell, you pay a monthly fee ($2.99 - um, cheaper than a video) and your kids can enjoy. I think you can even register for a free month to try it. This is from Phil Vischer, the maker of Veggie Tales, you can click HERE to see a short video of Phil's vision for this new project. And, as a interesting note, Monday is KIDMO day on JELLY TELLY (if you don't remember...Chuck works at KIDMO now). Check it out. HERE

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

It has been such a blessing of a week. Having Chuck home for a whole week has been such a treat. We just love having him home. He has always worked long hours and often traveled for his job. So to have him home for a whole week is so unusual. Maybe even a first.

As he prepares to drive back to work (about an 11 hour drive) the girls are getting teary and sad. Well, we all are. But I want to put a positive spin on it. And give tribute to this wonderful Daddy that he is.

Notice Chuck is on the invitation pillow (HERE).

Chuck is, as I type, telling the girls ridiculous stories. He comes up with these off the top of his head. He takes the time to snuggle up with them one at a time and capture that special moment as they are getting ready to fall asleep. I love listening to him tell these stories. Often Tally is laughing so loud and cracking up. Tissy, on the other hand, will say "that's funny Dada". Tonight is another saga of his made up Stacy J stories (just imagine Junie B. Jones). He is so creative.

We just finished playing Pictionary as a family. Now that the girls are older, they are really good players. They always want to be on Daddy's team (he is a fantastic "drawer"). It is so fun to watch Chuck draw. His details are fantastic.

Chuck is truly a very gifted person. Just about everything he does is amazing. Creative, thoughtful, personal, sensitive. He is such a hard worker and has always worked so hard for our family. Today, Chuck found out that he has been nominated for an Emmy again this year. (Last year he won 2 HERE). I am so proud of him and so grateful that he followed God's leading and desired to use those talents for His kingdom. So as he heads back I know that more than anything, he longs to be home with us. There are many men that wouldn't want to come home, and I am so thankful that this is where he wishes to be.

I forgot -

- how much I laugh when Chuck is around. I think it is good for my soul. Truly...he is funny. Somehow I just don't laugh out loud when he is gone, it's just not the same.

What a GREAT surprise!!!

Chuck showed up this afternoon as a HUGE surprise. He said he got special permission to work from home for a week so he can be here with us. He got up at 4:00 am and drove home. What a wonderful treat. Can I just say, how much I love this guy!!!

OK, here is my special "local" request. I thought it would be such a treat to go out on a date and see Fireproof this week (maybe even grab a quick bite). Any local takers on my sweet little ones for a few hours???

Just so you know...

Chuck loves his new job. I have been meaning to update you on our transitioning situation. I know that many of you have been praying with us as our family transitions to a new state and tries to sell our home and we appreciate you joining with us in prayer. So far we have done well by our selves (with Chuck gone) and we are learning a new level of trusting in God for ALL of our needs. It has been a blessing to see God bring new encouragement every day.


Chuck's new job involves working with a team that makes children's Bible based curriculum for churches (check it out here). The girls have enjoyed watching these DVDs and love the characters. Their favorite one is Professor Sock. He gets them laughing out loud. He is on the DVDs geared toward younger children (take the few seconds to click and watch the video), but they still find enjoyment in it.














All this to say that when the girls got an email from Professor Sock they were thrilled. It made their day. It even included some pictures of Daddy with this little celebrity.

One of the neatest things to see is to watch Chuck just thrive in a positive environment. They are so thankful to have him there and eager to have him provide leadership. It is so clear that this is the place for him right now. We have stepped out in faith to follow where we have been lead and now we are just waiting on the Lord to move the rest of us there. Last year when we were selling our home and waiting on a contract, I just felt like it was God preparing us for another time of waiting. Here is another opportunity to demonstrate our trust.

Just as a note...I can not load any new pictures and I am totally missing my posts with all my pictures. Don't give up, I will be back to my normal blogging self as soon as I can.

sixteen years ago today

I said "I do" to my dear Chuck. Looking back I almost wonder what were we thinking? We thought we were knew everything about each other yet, there was so much to learn. I thought we were so mature, yet we were so young. I thought life would be easy, yet it has had it's challenges. I thought we would get pregnant easily, yet it took years. I thought we would make roots and plant our family somewhere, yet we have moved many times. I thought this house was our forever house, yet it is now for sale. I thought we would be together tonight to celebrate our marriage, yet we are in different states.

Needless to say, we have our ideas and our plans, yet God has His. In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9 I would rather go with God's way, it is His will that I desire. He knows what is best.

And even though it hasn't all ended up quiet like I thought it would, I am glad for how it has all happened. I continue to choose joy as my response to all of the bumps in my path. And I MUST say, I am so grateful for God's grace in our marriage. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I am just so glad that Chuck asked me to be his bride. I know for sure that I love him more tonight than I did sixteen years ago. I am so glad that our love has grown. (miss you sweetie)

If I could get my computer to work right, I would...

I would scan a cute picture that Tally drew of us going to get Daddy (he is coming home for almost 2 days).

I would upload some new pictures of the girls hair cuts.

I would share a few posts that I have in my head that would be SO much better with photos.

I would leave comments on every ones blogs (I can't close any windows that open up).

So in the mean time, I am still here and need my man (AKA hero of our home) to get here and help me solve all those computer issues. Not to mention, help me in the garden, edge the yard, get the pine needles off the roof, check the pool water, get new mulch for the flower beds and put new pine straw down in the garden. That's a pretty big list for a day and a half. All this to say, I am THRILLED he is coming home for a quick visit. We miss him and obviously NEED him too.

"Do you think Daddy wants to go?"

This is what my little one asked me tonight. "Do you think Daddy wants to go?" At that moment I think my heart broke just a tiny bit. My answer was "No, he doesn't want to...but he needs to go."

It has been a bitter sweet week for us here in our home. We have really enjoyed having Chuck around the house more. We even took a day to do Disney (pictures to come later). We had a few last projects to finish up and the computer has also taken some of Chuck's time. But we all know that he leaves on Sunday. Job starts on Monday morning and he needs to be there to begin.

I had been thinking that I was going to have the more difficult end of this adjustment to our family. Being here with the children, taking care of our place...you know...holding down the fort. As I said before, we are staying here until we get our home sold (that is why I have been asking for prayer). But sipping coffee with Chuck on the front porch this week, I got a glimpse into his soul. He shared about how hard it really will be to go and start this new adventure with out us. He even shared that when he leaves, he will feel almost homeless. He will be camping out in different places that are available for him, but he won't really have a home. It will be harder than I had thought for him.

One of my inspirations is a blogging friend whose husband is in Iraq. She is always by herself. Always alone. I often think and pray for all those families that are dealing with more difficult circumstances. We are not the only ones to be dealing with hard times.

So...back to the question. I don't really think that he wants to go. But, sometimes we need to do hard things. This is the hard thing that we are doing. I know that God won't give us more that we can handle. I also know that He will give me the strength to get through these times.

The cat is out of the bag (so to speak)

Well, this is the post that I have been waiting to write. To fill you all in on the details that I didn't tell you last time.

As I mentioned, God has been working in our lives here and I now have some freedom to fill you in. If you have been following our blog for awhile, you will know that we have only recently located to our current home about 5 months ago. We were so thankful to find this home and have so enjoyed living here and fixing it up to make it our own. But... the for sale sign goes in the yard on Monday. We are moving on. (gasp)

I know, I know, grab your cup of coffee and sit down. Chuck's job here in our sunny state has been a great fit and we have enjoyed watching him flourish (awards and all). One of Chuck's deepest desires has been to take his 2 degrees (communication/TV and Bible -- his 2 loves) and blend them into a job. It seems that that God has brought that along.

Our prayer has been that God would open the right doors and close the wrong ones. We have seen God closing the door at his current job. It has been a hard and somewhat painful process. It has been hard to see Chuck struggle and watch his company go through the dip that they are in.

In the past few months we have been praying more fervently about this new opportunity. We both have such a peace about this new opportunity and he has decided to take this new job. It will move us out of the state and into a new one. The idea of selling our home sounds impossible in this market. We have fixed up this home and invested a lot of time, energy and money into our home. But I am reminded that these are all things that we hold loosely in our hand. These are the details that God is sovereign over. I know that I can completely trust Him in.

I will share more about the new job (gotta leave some details for later). But for now, I am asking my dear friends and family to join us in prayer. We are praying for a quick sale on our home. That is the seemingly impossible. But I know that it would be a great testimony to God's faithfulness. It will be VERY hard for our family to be apart for awhile, but we may have to do that.

So, my blog sisters... that is the cat that is now out of the bag.

Can you believe it is March?

Technically it is still winter for another week or so and look what these guys are doing this afternoon. Don't worry it is solar heated and the water temp is about 74 today. It always gets a little wild when Daddy gets in the water. Today was water baseball.