Provision

I've been thinking a lot about provision the last few months.  Randy lost his job about 3 months ago.  There has been a loss of financial provision.  That loss brings about lots of fear, questions and insecurities.  However,  one thing the Lord has shown me is HIS provision.  This change in financial provision has allowed Randy to provide for us in other ways.

The last 5 years have been very difficult years in many ways.  They have also been very wonderful years filled with precious moments and memories.  If you know us you know we have 5 children.  Five years ago we were expecting our 5th child and had infant twins.  Our older 2 children were still very young(9 and 3) .  Unless you've had a lot of little kids at one time it is difficult to understand the demands, stress, exhaustion....that our family setup entailed.  It has been tough.  I feel like I'm just now really coming up for air.  These last 5 years have been a blur.  They demanded a lot from me.  I was able to give very little outside my home just in an effort to survive and focus on my primary ministry...my family.  I just had little left to give.

ANYWAY....I have been thinking lately, as I think about the Wilford's and empathize with their current situation, how much the Lord filled in the holes.  I didn't realize how much I did or how hard it was while I was living it because there was no time to think only time to function and get through the next day.  However on this side I see how faithful the Lord has been.  I also see how exhausted I have been! 

So what does this have to do with Randy and his job?

The Lord is giving me rest....... and I had no idea how exhausted I was!

I have been TIRED!  I am grateful for the rest!  Things are still busy.  I still have plenty to do.  I would certainly welcome this "break" to end with Randy finding a job......BUT I can see how even when things look bad and when life is not how I would choose the Lord can use the bad for good.  He can use the down times as blessings.  This loss also carries with it "his mercies in disguise".

The Lord is teaching, pruning, and growing us during this season....but he is also giving me rest.
Randy is providing for me and our children in ways he couldn't when he was at work all day.  While Randy and I are both VERY eager for his financial provision to return in the form of a career.....I am also very grateful for how he has wisely used this "time out".  He not only is faithful in seeking employment and taking opportunities to make money while he looks for a job but he has also picked up a tremendous amount of my work load. 
He does all the laundry.
He does the dishes regularly.
He keeps kids so I can take other kids to their activities without having to take all the kids.
He cooks several meals a week.
He has even taught a few classes for me when I had other responsibilities.

I am grateful God gave me Randy.  I am grateful I have a husband who provides however he is able in each season of life.  He has provided very well and very faithfully for us through the years financially.  Now when he is not able to do as much financially he has willingly and generously provided for us in more practical/physical ways.  He has always provided for us lavishly in love, time, leadership, faithfulness.....What a blessing he is to my life.  So grateful the Lord provided me and my sweet kiddos with such an amazing man!
So grateful the Lord has a plan.  So grateful his plan is not mine.  Wow-my life would look very different and it would not have nearly the joy or the purpose that it has if the script of my life was my own.  So glad his plans are not mine!
Happy Tuesday!
Kim

Fall Fun Day 2

Today was Day 2 of our Fall Break.  We have had a nice restful day at home.  One fun thing we did was make tie dye T-shirts.  Randy has been wanting to do this for some time so today was the day:

Everyone except THE BOY participated....he was playing Madden with his buddy.

All the kids were so careful

You could see each of their personalities in the colors and style they chose:

It was a cheap family fun project because everyone just got an undershirt from their drawer and we just had to buy the dye which is not at all expensive.

The hardest part is waiting for the color to soak in....

I can't wait to see how they all turn out!

We've watched movies, gone on scooter rides, chatted with friends, messed around on the computer with cool photo apps...

Randy's Creation.....my favorite!

It's been a nice family day at home.

Here is a tower that Pa and Jack built last night.....

Uh-OH

Hmmm.....I wonder who did that???

We are looking forward to capping off the Day at Nanny's house where we are going to celebrate cousin Joshua's 6th birthday and Aunt Amy's 35th Birthday!  What a beautiful, restful, fall day!

Fall Break begins and off to the Pumpkin Patch we go!

We loaded into the van and headed to Youngsville for a day of Pumpkin Fun!

Once we arrived it was lunchtime so we had a picnic out of the back of the van.

I am very impressed that I actually planned ahead and made lunch!

Randy Loves this picture and how he is looking longingly at his sandwich :)

This is an annual outing for our family and the kids and I always look forward to it.  We did not realize until this year Daddy has never been with us, cause he is always at work.  So he really enjoyed seeing the kids have fun and getting to share this experience with them.

The kids stopped at every cut out for a photo!

My little funny farm friends!

The Baby and Twinkie Girl were not sure they were ready for this.....

It was worth the long lines....

ALL SMILES

YIPPEE!

The Twinkies enjoyed racing each other through the maze 845 times!

We had duck races.

They played king of the mountain....on a big pile of hay!

While the big kids wrestled it out Twinkie Girl ran to the Top and announced

"I'm the Queen!"

What's with these guys??

So much fun!

The Baby had a cold and was a bit under the weather but she still had fun!

and was able to be toted around most of the day.

We had great weather and great fun!

Love the special time we had as a family!

All good things must come to an end....so we hoped back on the bus and headed home!

Now we are all decked out and ready for fall!

So we got home, had roomtime, ate dinner, and got the little ones ready for bed.  The boy had a friend over and they went with The Girl, Randy, and I to Starbucks to hear a friend from church give a benefit concert.  It was such a fun time.  Great music, great friends, great coffee!

My parents watched the little ones and had them all asleep in bed when we got home...THANK YOU!

What a GREAT day!

Fall Break Day 1=Lots of fun!

Fall Break!

Guess who doesn't have school tomorrow.......ME!  I am VERY excited.  I'm also excited we are done with our first nine weeks of school and we are at or ahead in everything!  Whoooo Hooo! 
We have  only taken off 3 days since we started school: my birthday and the two days after my grandfather died.  So we have been plugging along for some time and I am ready for a long weekend!

I am sick of Algebra!  I think The Boy is too!  Although I do have some good memories of Randy, The Boy, and I trying to figure out Least Common Multiples.  See picture above!  We were a sight! Whew....

The Boy and I laughed so hard.....Randy got the right answer....but boy oh boy was his method complex.

We enjoyed teasing him and he took our antics in good spirit.

The Boys Question...Why Do I Ever Need to Know This????

Hmmmm.....

I actually can't think of one possible reason anyone would need to know this....

So....

I told him he needed to know it so he could pass the test, have a good GPA, do well on the SAT, and get into a good college.

Good Times!

So Excited to Be on Fall Break

and away from Algebra for a few days!

How to make me cry!

I get a lot of questions about The Girl, reading, dyslexia.  So here is a post about my current passion/obsession:

The Girl...is doing AMAZINGLY well.  She has grown sooooo much these last months.  Here are several MAJOR accomplishments:
1.  She has had a word worm on the wall in her room since she was in kindergarten.  It has had words on it that are simple words a kindergartner may be learning.  She hated the worm.  So as far as I knew it was just sitting on her wall and I had actually forgotten about it for the most part since realizing she had a learning disability.....WELL.....last night she informed me she could read all the words and they were easy.  This is amazing because SHE initiated it.....SHE DOES NOT EVER INITIATE ANY TYPE OF READING/WRITING....unless it is me reading to her or me copying a dictation for her.  She not only read them.....she read them fluently.  I cried.  I am such a baby about this!
2.  Two weeks ago we were at my mom's house (mom was out of town....so we planned a party at her house-some things never change ;)) and as I was talking to my SIL Sophie went over and wrote on a notecard.  She can write.  She LOVES to copy.  She LOVES handwriting.  She LOVES cursive.  She LOVES telling me stories to write for her.  She HATES writing without a model on her own and she has NEVER done it before.  She quietly slipped a piece of paper into my hands with words she had written on her own.  Again it is stuff my kindergartners write.....and she can write bigger words.....but again this was self initiated.....and MAJOR...and again I got very teary.
3.  For the last couple months at bedtime she has been journaling.  One of her best friends gave her a fancy journal, that was silver glitter with a big pink glitter S on it for,  her birthday.  I have been taking her daily dictation at bedtime each night.  Then about a month ago she started wanting to write and for me to sit beside her and help her spell every. single. word.  So I did (I will pretty much do anything to encourage her reading/writing) Lately she has still wanted me beside her but she is starting to write and sound it out on her own.  I KNOW these skills are soooo late to emerge.....but I am THRILLED that they are finally emerging! 

People want to know her reading level.  The answer is I don't know.  She does not learn to read in the same way as a "normal" reader.  She uses a whole different part of her brain to learn to read.  "Normal" readers use the back of their brain to read in a very predictable way she uses the front of her brain.  So she has to be taught to read very explicitly and very systematically.  Which means....she does not yet know the long vowel rules.  She can read short vowel words.  She can read blends and digraphs....so in some ways she is at a kindergarten level and in some ways she is more advanced.  Sight words (words that do not follow phonics rules) are extremely difficult for her to read.  When she sees the word of.....she does not say /uv/ she says /o/ as in olive and /f/ as in flower.  She follows phonics to the t.  Unfortunately for her.....English does not!  So I may make a sight word worm for her....hmmmmm.

Other positive changes I'm noticing in my sweet girl....her personality seems to be emerging as she is becoming more confident.  She used to be EXTREMELY SHY in public but she is starting to peek out of her shell S-L-O-W-L-Y......at church she is always eyeing Shay and even asked Ann if Shay was in the office when went to have our pictures taken last week.  She is starting to talk to him a little and smile at him a lot.  She also has a new friend in Mrs. Pam.  She has taken to telling Mrs. Pam wild tales of her weekly adventures.....it is quite amusing and she is quite the little storyteller!  It is neat for me to see her talking to and engaging adults.  Another big thing is she has decided to do Odyssey of the Mind this year.  She watched her brother do it for 2 years and when she was invited to be on the younger team this year she said no....and then yes.  I was stunned.  At the first meeting Monday she even answered a question in front of the group and she reached her hand in to work on a problem even though there were a bunch of rambunctious boys running it!  I was floored.  I am enjoying seeing her come into her own.  She is still quiet and she is still cautious but she is slowly engaging and slowly asserting herself.  LOVE IT!  She even said she might want to say something in the children's musical this year.  Her talking on stage?????  We'll see...
She retains information read to her extremely well.  She is highly intelligent and does well in her other subjects. 

So that is the update.  Slow and steady.  But definitely moving forward.

Friday Fun Fashions

While browsing my photos I realized I live with a fashionista!  I hate for her fashion sense to go unnoticed so for Friday Fun I decided to blog about THE BABY and her excellent fashions:

This bright fall ensemble features a ribbed cotton shirt with bright pink cotton stretch pants.  THE BABY believes firmly in comfort and color, and lots of it!  She is also sporting an open toe white sandal.  Yes I told her it was past Labor Day, and it had absolutely no effect on her!  She also cares little about the fact that her toes are hanging over the end of the sandal by 2 inches.  We call this her Fall Fun Look.

This is her Back to School Look.

She chooses a more subdued palette because she takes her studies very seriously.

However fashion does not take a back seat!  When I asked if she wanted to match....she said she did.  Polka dots match polka dots!  Who can argue?  She is one smart cookie!  She thinks shoes are optional but accessories are not.  So she threw on a fun purple hair bow and a stylish brown scarf to complete the look!

Fashion can not stop when you leave the house.  So while most of the girls at dance are sporting simple yet elegant pink tu-tu's Miss Priss insists on color!  She has a purple leopard print leotard, a blue sparkle leotard, and her all time favorite BRIGHT FLOWER leotard with skirt.  In fact she likes it so much that she wears it EVERY WEEK!

This is her Bedtime Look. It features yet another key element in style....layering!  You will see her elegant pink ball gown has been layered with her cute mini mouse night shirt.

She likes to keep her hair out of her face while she sleeps so she threw on a cute purple head band which is both fashionable and functional!

I can hear you now...."What about a party look?"

Well....she has an answer for that too.

She recommends any princess costume. She says you just can't go wrong.  They are available in a varity of styles and sizes at most major toy retailers for $19.99.  Complete with jewels!  So price is not a factor in getting the latest party look!

One final tip....and this one is free!

Remember:

Your never fully dressed without a smile!

NEXT WEEKS ISSUE....

Fun Fashions for the Special Man in Your Life!

Happy Weekend!

Kim

4:45 This is why I Ponder Post.

So today is not a 2:00 AM freaking out blog post but rather a 4:45 this is why I ponder post.  I woke up again and I've had enough sleep but it is still a bit early and in the stillness of the moment I became overwhelmed with our life.  Randy doesn't have a job.  He doesn't have a good lead on a job.  So I think....maybe I will just send the kids to school and get a teaching job.  They will all be school aged next year.  The baby will be in kindergarten.  The twins will be in first grade.  The girl will be in fourth.  The boy will be in highschool.....it would be fun.  It would be exciting.  Then I start to freak out.  The baby, twinkie girl, and the boy would all do very well.  HOWEVER the number it would do on Twinkie boy and The Girl......oh my word.....would not be good.  As my mind wonders.....I begin again to FREAK OUT.  I am reminded again of my inadequacies.  I am overcome with the enormity of the task at hand.  Then quietly in my heart I hear a truth...."as long as it is today." What in the world?  Ahhhh......my pondering.  The Lord is faithful and this is the best part of pondering.  When fear creeps in and doubt comes and when the flesh tries to make sense and fix and solve problems too big to be solved alone....the Lord is so faithful.....this weeks pondering is about holding onto convictions and the deceitfulness of the heart.  It is about encouragement to keep going for "as long as it is called today."  I don't know if I can do it tomorrow, next year, forever.  I do know that the Lord has filled my cup today.  I do know that for the portion before me today he has given me the grace to handle.  I am so grateful to be pondering truth as I walk/crawl/muddle through this leg of the journey.  I am looking forward to a different segment of the path but I am so grateful to not be going this leg alone....that is the point of pondering.  When life gets hard/overwhelming, and it will.....the truth is stored up and it will come forth and it will be enough....because he is enough.....and it helps as you keep plodding along.  That is why I ponder.....it doesn't make life easier but it does make it more palatable....
Happy Tuesday!
Kim