Sunday's game night...

Sunday night is our game night, something that Ryan and I have been doing for awhile now. When little guy came, it became a favorite part of the week...even with our crazy busy schedules during the week, Sundays are the one day that we get to do stuff together and play a game in the evening. 

Sometimes we play simple fun games like Uno or cards or Jenga.

Other nights we decide to play video games together, like the Wii or Little Big Planet on the PS3.

And nights like tonight, we play intense strategy games that last a few hours to finish...

we're playing a family favorite...Settlers of Catan with Cities and Knights.

And let me tell you, the little guy caught on fast...he's getting pretty good with strategy games.

I tell ya, we're training up a strategist.

For a 9 year old, he does pretty well...

and he cracks us up throughout the night.
pretty impressive how he's playing.

We have our good friend, Andrew over tonight playing with us, and so far, this game has lasted three hours...it's getting more intense as the night's going on...

Snow storms make me think of powdered sugar...

Thursday, we received a pleasant surprise of an early out at school, because weather conditions were on it's way to looking like this:

 Now, I am quite the homebody, i absolutely love being in my home, so you can bet i was overly excited to get to go home from work a few hours early. 

Lil guy worked on writing some letters to teachers, and I had my book follow me around the house as i moved from one thing to another.

After the letters, we danced around the house to loud music on pandora.

Then we baked some cookies. (which are now all gone;))

[now, this little boy is a camera hog and seemed to jump into every shot i took...here's his mouth.]

Friday we got to sleep in and enjoy some pajama dancing time, veggie tales, and for myself and Ryan, some leisure coffee drinking. 

It was wonderful.

After school, i brought out the vacuum and this little guy threw himself at me wanting to vacuum.

He did a good job, too!

After vacuuming the entire house, he asked if he could use the wand to vacuum the couch. 

and well, of course, i said, yes!;) 

I think this kid just loves using his hands and he's so attention to detail that he usually does an AMAZING job at anything he decides to do. 

Oh, and look what God created during the snow storm.

Beautiful, huh? 

This is what we woke up to Friday morning.

everything was so bright and beautiful.

There's a calming peace after a snow storm, when everything is glistening and fresh.

It was such a pleasant way to kick off the weekend.

little delights

 Lil guy had never had pajamas...he always slept in the clothes he was going to wear the next day. 

When he got to us, we slowly got him started on sweats and athletic shorts, and he started calling them pajamas. 

One night he was frantically going through his drawers and saying, "I have no more pajamas!!!" 

He looked at me real seriously and said,

 "I got used to wearing more comfortable things to bed." 

Well, lo, and behold, we went to JCPenney this weekend and I found a pack of boys pajama pants-two for $9.00! Guess who was hopping up and down with excitement when I told him we were getting pajamas? 

(No, no, stop, it wasn't my husband, Ryan).

 Lil guy was so excited about his pajamas and his face lit up with a, 

"Yay!!!!"

When we got home, he showered and came dancing out with his new pajama pants! He was so delighted and couldn't believe how comfortable and soft they were. He kept rubbing his legs and saying,

 "So Sooooooft!!!!"

So, yes, sheer delight from a 9 year old who never had pajamas. 

Sometimes, it's nice to be reminded of the little luxuries we may have taken for granted. 

Who would have ever thought that inexpensive, insignificant, pajama pants could be the absolutely highlight of a child's day? 

I sure didn't. 

Those pajama pant meant the world to this little boy.

He's my Valentine

Ryan took me out to see the movie, The Vow this weekend, and it's probably one of the sweetest movies I've seen. I cried through a lot of it, but tried to quiet down my sobs, because it appeared to me that no one else in that darn theater was crying except for me. 

The movie tugged at my emotions and I was a visible mess when I stepped out of the darkness of that theater. The setting of the movie was in the city of Chicago, the very place that Ryan and I met, dated, and fell in love in.

So many of the Chicago shots in that movie brought back those vivid memories of falling in love with Ryan in that beautiful city. So many similar memories of dates walking in the newly fallen snow with city lights around us, ducking into unique coffee shops to warm up, swimming in lake michigan...Yeah, the movie wasn't the only reason I was crying. Reminiscing through those sweet memories of our love story in Chicago was one of the best parts.

Some of these pics are so old, back when we first met and from some of our first couple of dates. 

I love how magical it was falling in love with Ryan. 

I love how Chicago will always hold that special place in our hearts because our story began there. 

I always think back to when our love story started, because it brought me where we are today.

My parents and other wiser older couples always told me, "You think you love him now? You will love him even more than you do today."

They are very much right.

I can't imagine how much more I will love him in 10, 20, 30 years from now. 

Our love story hasn't ended.

In fact, it's really just begun. 

To the love of my life,

my husband, 

my best friend,

my permanent and life long Valentine,

I love you.

Snow day

Well, we're having the very first snow day of the school year today.

I'm so thankful!

We were all ready to head to school and then it was cancelled. 

So far today, we've done some of lil guy's assigned reading,

watched the snow fall,

fed the squirrels some bread and peanut butter, 

played some wii basketball, 

and now i'm snuggled on the couch with a book, blanket, and coffee, while my husband is reading and lil guy is playing.

Such a lovely way to spend a monday.

After moving from the basement apartment into our house (above ground), i'm still just tickled pink looking outside the window and seeing the bright reflection of the snow through the windows.

It's so cozy in here.

Thankful for these fun surprises God stores for us.

Happy snow day Monday!!!

a third pair of shoes

Becoming foster parents had always been part of our family plan.
But during the time that we trained and prayed about fostering, I never expected it to be like this...


I think God stirred my heart early on in life, and i didn't even realize it at the time. Growing up, my sister and I were always intrigued by the lives of orphans and needy children, and our frequent game of playing pretend usually involved the characters from the movie, Annie and the book series The Boxcar children. Hansel and Gretel was and still is my favorite fairy tale and many of the books that I loved to read over and over again involved stories of kids in need. (Prince and the Pauper, the Bakers Dozen, American Girl books (Samantha), Boxcar Children,  etc...)


As time passed on, God continued to expose me to the needs of kids all over the world, allowing me to take part of the spiritual enrichment and evangelism of kids in the slums of the Philippines to the orphanages and villages of Ukraine, to the at-risk children of the projects in Chicago, and now to the involvement of kids I work with in our small town of Iowa.


This time last year, God placed it on our hearts to open our home to kids who needed a safe place to live.
We're foster parents-part of America's "orphanage."
We get the privilege to love the unloved and tell them each how loved and special they are because of their Creator.
We get the privilege to feed and clothe the kids that may not have ever had that blessing.
However, as wonderful as it may sound, it's really really difficult.


You imagine before becoming foster parents that it's a beautiful way to serve others.
It's a way to touch the life of a child. 
and loving and caring for the child will be enough for them to succeed and pull through.


But all of a sudden, you become aware of a world that's full of hurt and pain.
The fears and nightmares of any child becomes reality once they are pulled away from their family and all they have ever known.
The doubts about themselves occur each moment they have alone.
The cries at night for the very people that wound up placing them in foster care.


And as foster parents, 
we find ourselves constantly on our knees before the Lord.
Asking for wisdom and guidance, because so many things are out of our control.
So often, we just don't know how to comfort and all we can do is hold the child as they sob in your arms.
So many questions that we are unable to answer.
So many fears and doubts that haunt these kids as they lay in bed at night, wondering, "Why???"


It's so difficult...to watch these young kids deal with huge emotions and hurting more than their little hearts can handle. 
They are so burdened.
They feel so alone.
They think everything is all their fault.
Abandoned.


We're praying, lil one. We're praying. 
Really truly emphasizing daily that you are not alone...


"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you not forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6

all the faces of Katie...

It's her 23rd birthday!!!

Here's a shout out to my seester!!!

here's to all her funny faces,

outrageous moments,

fun filled times,

and crazy laughter.

Here's to her creativity,

love for vintage,

and her love for the 1970's!!!! 

 Here's to her adventures in Chicago,

tree climbing predicaments,

and playground bumps and bruises!

Here's to our beautiful sister,

Katie.

Here's to her gorgeous smile,

heart felt laugh,

love for others,

and big warm hugs.

Dear girl, 

we love you so much,

miss you tremendously,

and hope you're 23rd birthday is super fantastic and filled with all the goodies and yum yums that you love!

(Hope you got lots of hugs today!!! Wish we could give you some big ones!!!)