THESE BUSY DAYS ARE MY SWEET BREAD:)

Here is my sweet friend Tracy, who was so amazingly gracious to help me get the Dinner Divas rolling.  The kids and I spent a day and headed to her house a couple of hours away.  My kids had a ball with her kids.  I could kick myself for not snapping some pictures... next time, when we get together I will do that forsure.  This was a picture from when we met for the first time at a homeschool convention back in 2010... before that we were just blog friends... :)

I remember when I was expecting Louis I was teaching second grade.. The parents of my students made me a book with messages about anything that they wanted me to know about motherhood...(I still treasure that book) I distinctly remember one gal writing for me to remember that I was eating my sweet bread as a mommy.  These are the sweet sweet times that will pass all too quickly.  And they are.... where has the time gone. 

I tell you, I treasure these days so much.  I think as moms it is so easy to complain and sometimes about crazy things.  Losing Samuel has given me such a different perspective.  Honestly, it is a little bit of a prick to my heart when I hear  new moms complaining of the sleep deprivation that they are experiencing...  When you lose a child, you dream of being sleep deprived because a baby has their days and nights mixed up... not being sleep deprived because you have sleep issues and are too comsumed with grief that you aren't sleeping.  I totally get that sometimes the exhaustion that is present with a newborn is hard... but I guess the alternative, not having that baby, is harder....

So when in the last week we have accidentally broken the toilet seat, I've seen the bean bag hurling towards the cup of sugar on the counter (and knocking over and scattering the contents of said cup of sugar all over the kitchen) watched the boys lose their basket ball game in double overtime, all amidst homeschooling the littler kids, the constant chatter of little miss hope, and the sweet late night feedings of Mr. Levi... I am so grateful for this sweet bread... all of these moments I treasure, truly... a lot of times when something crazy happens, I just have to laugh at it... It is such a blessing to have kids to experience the crazy things with...

Yesterday while I was running, the Lord was laying all kinds of things on my heart!  I am amazed at how He works... My head was swirling...   Hopefully I an articulate some of it soon...

UGANDA BOUND...

As I write this, Greg and Louis are down at the health department getting their yellow fever and typhoid shots for their trip to Uganda in February.

We are all so excited for them to have this amazing opportunity.  Any of you who read sweet Linny's blog www.aplacecalledsimplicity.com have read about the opportunities that they have had to minister to the orphans and street kids over there.  Well, Louis and Greg will be heading over with Linny's husband DW.  My sweet friend Abbi went last January and said that he has an amazing heart and totally restored her hope in Pastors.  While financially this is quite a stretch for us, we know deep down that this is what God is calling the men in this house to do.  And it couldn't be more perfect timing for each of them.  We know God will provide...  he always has, above and beyond our needs:)

While they are there they will be working in at least 3 different orphanages, one with at least 1000 kids... BREAK MY HEART!  They will also be feeding the street children... again... BREAK MY HEART!   Can you believe there are kids upon kids, little kids, even as young as 2-3 fending for themselves... homeless and with out food?  They will also be helping to put on a Pastor's/leaders conference.  They are anticipating 700-1000 leaders from 5 different African countries.  They will be teaching on the Life of David and integrity and character.  Their prayer before they go is .... Break my heart for what breaks your heart God!!!

My amazing hubby has such a heart for missions... One of the first words out of his mouth was... What if I don't want to come back???  I said, "We will deal with that bridge when we come to it if that is the case."  I am thrilled that they have this amazing chance to minister to the people of Uganda.  Of course, I would ask for you to pray with us for safe travel, their protection through out the trip, and for the Lord to work mightily in their hearts and He uses them mightily over there. 

Dinner Divas:)

Hey Friends, I am finally getting around to posting about my new little home business adventure...
I am so excited about this and I think it is right up my alley.  I have always loved to bulk cook, and make once a month meals.  It has been so nice on those days when I am finding I either don't have time, or don't really have the energy to cook something healthy, I will have something I can just pull out of the freezer, throw in the crock pot and have it do the cooking for me...   I will repost what I put on facebook since it pretty much describes everything about it....

February Dinner Divas Class

No time to think about "What's for Dinner"? Let me worry about your weekly meals while you worry about taking care of your family!

Fill a Ziploc bag with the chosen ingredients. Place your meat (provided by you) in the bag and freeze.  Dump the bag contents into your crock pot in the morning and dinner is served! Drastically reduce your drive thru time and enjoy tasty, healthy meals with your family at the dinner table.

Choose 10 Full meals+ $40/ Half meals$20
Full meals feeds 6-10/ Half meals feed 3-5

There will be a $5 charge for us to make your bags for you. Meals will need to be picked up within 3 days unless you have made other arrangements with me.

We will be assembling meals on MONDAY February 13th from 4:00pm to 7:00

Come and go! (This will take you 30-45 minutes to fill your bags)

Here is our February Menu:

Margarita Chicken (6-8 chicken breasts / 3-4 chicken breasts)
Cilantro Citrus Chicken (6-8 chicken breasts /3-4 chicken breasts)
Italian Chicken (6-8 chicken breasts/ 3-4 chicken breasts)
Burgundy Beef Tips (6-8 chicken breasts /4-5 chicken breasts
Seasoned Sirloin Steaks (6-8 petite sirloin steaks/ 3-4 petite sirloin steaks)
Easy Sunday Chicken (6-8 chicken breasts/ 3-4 chicken breasts)
Garlic Basil Drumsticks (12-16 drumsticks/6-8 drumsticks)
Taco Roast (2 lb roast of your choice/ 1 lb roast)
BBQ Pork Chops (6-8 pork chops/3-4 pork chops)
Awesome Southwest Chicken (6-8 chicken breasts/ 3-4 chicken breasts)

RSVP is a must so that I will have enough ingredients for you. If your family doesn't like one of the chosen entrees, you can make 2 of another, you just have to let me know that ahead of time. You can also substitute chicken for pork in the meals listed above. Send me an email at dinnerdivastulsa@yahoo.com to let me know if you are making full or half meals.


Prepayment is greatly appreciated:)
Sara Hintz
 

A FEW MORE PICTURES...

 My sis and her hubby... chops, as we like to call him:)  Oh, he made us laugh... I guess you can grow chops like that when you are RVing it across the US:)

 We were sort of wondering what our neighbors were starting to think with the RV parked in our

 cul du sac.   I guess in my mind, as long as it wasn't staying... it was ok... The kids had a ball playing in there... my kids kept wanting to sleep in there, but I think my sister's family was kind of thankful to have real beds for a week:)

 Saying goodbye...

My nephew told my sister when they got in the RV... "This was the moment he had been dreading all week..."  There are times like this that it kind of stinks living so far apart... We were blessed with such a nice visit together.  They are the perfect guests... they don't mind the messes that lots of kids end up making and the noise that goes with it:)

 Little Miss Hope after saying goodbye...

 They have always thought it was funny how Greg  raves about beef and cheese... He will take it over sweets any day... So one night they made dinner... a whole lot of beef and cheese for G... He DID NOT eat it all... we had lots of left overs... we did get a real kick out of it though and it was delicious... and honestly, a part of my heart thought it was so nice that they would go to that trouble to do that for Greg...

Here is their littlest...  I had to post this one, because he has the cutest blue eyes and the sweetest, funniest eye brow over his right eye!  My nick name for him is Hansel...  He just looks like one to me...

So now we get back to the grind... we took the whole time off while they were here and it was a delight.  The kids worked really hard today, I was proud of them, it is always hard to get back into the swing of things, even for the mama:) 

I am heading a couple of hours away tomorrow to visit with a blog friend of mine who has a really cool home business project that I have been wanting her to teach me... I am really excited about it!  They home school and have 8 kids... it should be fun... Then back for the boys ball game... Maybe I will finally catch some pictures of them playing... I can't wait to share what Louis and G will be doing in February... God has worked out an incredible opportunity for them...



WE ARE STILL HERE... JUST BUSY HAVING FUN...

 Our family and my sister's crew at the Blue Bell factory tour...

 Izzie and Jo... they make me smile...

Sara Beth, Izzie, Anna and Jojo

I have to be honest, my heart is a little sad...

We just said good bye to my sister Beth, Theron and their 4 kiddos.  They stayed with us for 6 days and it was an absolute delight.  I really don't remember the last time we had that much time together to just hang out and let the kids play to their hearts content.  It was such a treat... They are really easy to have around...

They are in the middle of an RV trip across the country... And we are so grateful that they included OK in their travels... but for now I miss them...  I will post a few more pics from our time together... Lots of posts running around in my head... so much has happened... exciting news... but I have been too busy enjoying my sister in the last few days... Praying you are all well!

We are on board, Lord!

(Christmas Eve 2011)

 Levi is now right around the same age little Miss Hope was the day we found out about her and hours later loaded up the kids, bought a car seat, and headed out for the two hour drive to meet her and pick her up...

 Here she is the day after she met our crew.  I am not sure if I ever posted any pictures of her from those early days.  I know I didn't post them at the time because I couldn't, but now I can't remember if after things all settled down and we knew she would really be ours if then I posted some???  Anyways, she had some cheeks on her:) 

I will never forget how she took to Greg immediately, and wanted nothing to do with me...

I will never forget the kids, later that first night crying and asking, " Will she ever like mommy??"  (I think they had watched my heart grieve for Samuel for over and year and just really wanted this new little girl to WANT to be by me:) 

I will never forget the kids arguing over who could stand by me as we walked through Walmart with her the next day... They were so happy to have her here with us...

I will never forget wondering what on earth she was thinking coming to our home at almost 10 mos. old...  I just wanted her to feel loved and not afraid...  (I think she felt a little smothered in love:)

I will never forget about 10 mos. later, riding in the car and staring at her in the rear view mirror... her calling out my name, "Mama, Mama!!!"  and having the distinct knowledge that she knew NO DIFFERENT  than that I was her mom, Greg was her dad, and we were her family... and she was perfectly content in that alone.

  We look at her and see and know her whole story, about her conception, her sweet birth mom giving her up for adoption,  her first 9 1/2 mos of life, her coming to us, the months of waiting and uncertainty, and the rest of the story since then...

It is such a sweet blessing to be able to look back and see and feel the Lord's faithfulness... Adopting Hope has been such a sweet gift and wild ride for us.  And I am so thankful for the Lord adopting us and calling us as His own... We are fully His... just like Hope is fully ours! 

Wow, what a reminder that amidst life's uncertainties (aren't there always uncertainties in life, or am I the only one?? :)... The Lord sees the full picture, He sees all the details... the ups and downs... the twists and turns... He loves us and all that has and will come our way has been sifted through His hands...

Oh that we can just sit like Hope in the car seat of our life and let the Lord drive us and lead us.  Oh, that we can just sit back and trust Him fully and enjoy the ride.  Oh, that we can just sit, know, and say, " There is my Heavenly Father, He is in the driver's seat and I KNOW that He has it under control and has the BEST plans in store for us!"  Oh, that we can just leave worry and concern on the side of the road and jump on board fully for where the Lord leads us... 

This is my prayer today! We are on board Lord... You lead... we follow:)

This was our first Christmas with Hope... Anna was over the moon!  

NEVER DULL AROUND HERE...

This would be what Hope's high chair ended up looking like after a meal during Christmas Break... Thank God that she didn't get hurt... Yes, it did collapse while she was in it eating.  Par for the course for Hope, she just giggled... She is one tough little mama:)  It was beyond repair.  Looks like we are in the market for some type of high chair or toddler type chair...

Hope and sweet baby gourd, as the older boys like to call him.   I am not sure how the kids come up with the nick names that they do.  Hope is totally at the stage where she gives us the cheesy grin:) 

 Man, when I look at this picture, I am in awe of how God brought both of these 2 little ones into our family.  He is so good to bring us to the point where we can look outside of ourselves and our comfortable box of how we expect our life to go.  I am so thankful that the Lord had worked on our hearts and was opening them to adoption years ago. 

These 2 are becoming better buddies every day.  Levi, just laughs at Hope's antics and she is pretty smitten with him:)

This spoke to my heart...

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If I am to be honest...  I am a better mom to littles than bigs...

Maybe not better, but it certainly comes more naturally to me...

Tonight we held a family meeting and discussed all the things we want to do in the coming year... some very basic like ...

Have a family game night (Jo's idea)

When we are all home and the weather is nice to play a family sport outside.  (Caleb's idea)

Lift weights (Lou and Greg's idea)

Go to bed earlier (My idea:)

Be kinder to each other (Anna's idea)

But then we tried to get more creative...

Have one new family over for dinner every month...

Random acts of kindness each month...

Be better about writing cards or letters to loved ones...

Eat out of the pantry and freezer this whole month ... (only buy fresh fruits/veggies and dairy:)

Wow, the new year has me wanting to start afresh in many ways.  My personal list will hopefully help to focus me and keep me more accountable to the things I want to change or improve on. 

 Honestly, when I look at our 3+ years here... A lot of it is a total blur... After losing Samuel so much of our first year I was just trying to manage my grief and accomplish the basic tasks of schooling and caring for our kids.   I look back and my oldest had just turned 11.  Fourteen is a whole new ball game.  We laugh and call him our man child... He is part child; still free spirited, sensitive, fun loving and funny!  But then there are so many ways that he is completely a young man.  And I have to admit there are many times I am scratching my head as to how to best handle new parenting situations. 

I love being a parent... Besides my Savior and my Greg... my children are my highest priority and I love being a mom.   But I would be lying if I said that there were not times that I was frustrated with my kids or my parenting. 

This post totally spoke to my heart today.  In 2012 I want to serve God better.  I want to do a better job as a wife and mother...  Will I fail?  For- sure!  We all will since no one is without fault.  But this post was the perfect starting point for me in this new year. 

I have never really struggled with raising my voice and yelling... but this year I want to actually speak gently.   I want my kids to listen to what I say, and not be tempted to tune me out just because of my tone.  I don't want to lecture my kids out of anger... Shoot I don't like being lectured to:)  

Courtney  writes in this blog post...  "When we as moms go on a long rant about something the child has done wrong – we may feel better because we got our feelings out – but our child has not been brought any closer to wisdom and understanding."

I don't want to just get my feelings out... I want my words to point my children to their Savior.  I want my words to draw them closer to my heart and the heart of God. 

Please read the rest of the blog post... I think you will find it totally worthwhile...:)  Here's to the fresh start of 2012:)

http://womenlivingwell.org/2012/01/introducing-the-gentleness-challenge/