Obedience

...brings BLESSINGS! Aliyah learned this during our Summit weeks and learned it in real life tonight. The cat who has adopted us and hangs out on our porch hasn't been around all day today or last night either--anywhere. She would check to see if he was around anywhere and there weren't any signs of him--all day. That is out of character for him.

Tonight, I asked her to clean up her stuff. She kind of didn't really want to do it because it was hard work. I told her that I didn't think Tufsey would come back until she started obeying--not that I really knew anyway when he would come back. Aliyah spent the next several minutes cleaning her room--cheerfully. Keirah wanted to pray at bedtime so we prayed. Aliyah's prayer ended like this..."God, please keep Tufsey safe". They went to bed listening to their cd. I went upstairs to fold laundry.

I had to close the window since it was chillier and I looked out. I could see a bit of white in the next block. I made a little noise and the white thing moved. Then a car came down the street--oh great... Luckily, the car turned and there was Tufsey running toward the house. I went downstairs and got to the back door just in time to be greeted by meowing. He even pawed at the door. I went to Aliyah's room and asked her if she really thought that Obedience brought blessings?? She said, "yes". I asked her if she thought Jesus answered prayers. She said, "yes". I told her to come with me to the back door. She was thrilled to see him!! He is sleeping on the adirondack chair all curled up.

The following pictures are of Aliyah at Happy Heart City on the last night with her teachers... Miss Alyssa, Miss Anna, and Miss Leesha. It was hat night in case you are wondering =).

Easter

Do you love Jesus? He most definitely loves us. Last night we attended our church's Good Friday Service of Darkness. It is candlelit and as the service progresses, the candles are snuffed out until one remains. It is dark as we remember Christ's final hours on the cross.

The redemption is coming though as Sunday approaches and we remember His victory over death and the cross so we could have hope and eternal life. It is a time of reflection.

We leave the service in silence which is quite amazing for hundreds and hundreds of people. As we walked through the Narthex, there was a live scene in the courtyard of Jesus' disciples and their final hours before Jesus is put on the cross. It is a time of prayer and thankfulness.

I'm so thankful that HE loves us!

Tuffsy/Tuppsy

...and this is my 200th post! WOW!

So, this cat loves us. We come home and he is waiting for us. He comes running when he sees us. Aliyah must have secretly been praying for a cat or something. I must say he is cute. Aliyah calls him "Tufsy" and Keirah calls him "Tupsy". I'm still unsure of how it is spelled in Aliyah's head. He does live outside and he seems to go across the street somewhere at night.

I realized that I haven't taken very many pictures all winter--only a few actually. Furthermore, I haven't really posted any either. Now, with my new Webbie, I will have to be better about this--after I learn how to use it I guess.

So what's in store for the weekend?? Some housework, hopefully yardwork, rest, and fun. My sweetie has to work all weekend, although he is off tomorrow night. We are attending a special Good Friday service that our church has called the service of darkness. This is the first Easter that he has had to work =(. He plans to take his lunch while we eat lunch as a family so that will be nice. The girls will be hunting for eggs on Friday, Saturday, & Sunday so they will enjoy that. Josh's grandma lives in an assisted living facility and they hold an egg hunt. The people just love to see little kids. The girls will enjoy it for sure.

I'm antsy to have my garage sale--only a few weeks away--yay! There are so many things to sell.

Well, I'm off to get a headstart on some work around the house--just a little laundry I guess. Enjoy your Easter weekend!!

Blossoms

My Cherry Snow Fountain pictured at the top of the blog is beginning to bloom =). The picture is from last year. I get to take a new picture of it in full bloom this year with my new Webbie HD.

In other news, a sweet cat has been wandering/following us around our yard. If you know of Aliyah's love for stuffed animals, it doesn't stop there. She loves animals, bugs, snails etc...
This morning she raced to put on regular clothes in 30 seconds to go welcome this cat she calls "Tuffsey". He is white with calico patches--rather cute and pretty and I'm not a cat person. The cat will not be coming inside because for one...Josh is allergic to them. Aliyah has provided Tufsy with an old towel which he loves to curl up under and stay warm. We determined that he was starving hungry and did the unthinkable by giving him water and a little meat. He slurped up the water and seemed to enjoy the morsel. Wandering the yard ensued. She checks on him several times a day. Oh yes, she writes him notes and draws him pictures. Note from the first day: "Dear Tuffsey I love you releey, but please stay out untill morning is here
Love Aliyah" From there she proceeded to show it to him.
Today's note: Tuffsey the new cat is here Warning no buying cat. She posted it on our house and then we convinced her to move it to the back door--lol!! This is complete with a drawing of a cat and hearts.

I'm so blessed by my sweet family. Josh posted 31 reasons he loves me today on FB, got up and cleaned the house early this morning, and got me a cool Webbie for my b-day. The funniest thing is that I guessed the gift--I couldn't even tell you how... I haven't asked for one or indicated I wanted one or been looking at them. I have seen them like twice. Anyway, it is a camcorder and a camera that you can use to easily upload to the web or whatever...
Aliyah brought me a card that she picked out a few months ago with three dogs on it that she had written in--so cute. She also took my "breakfast order" and proceeded to write it down on a pad of paper...Vitamins were spelled "vidumins" by her =). How I love them...I'm the richest girl there is...blessed so much!!

Just Wondering...

...if there is a "magical" fast clock that sets as soon as you get out of work on Friday for the weekend??? Especially if you have many things on your to-do list...
Where does the time go??

Camp

If you ever had the privilege of experiencing camp in your childhood, you most likely would attest that it was an experience you will not forget. There's just something about getting away from it all to focus on learning a sport, or to get closer to God or whatever the camp you went to specialized in.

Personally, I've been to Volleyball camp--it was great. We got some instruction from an Olympic volleyball player! I've been to church type camp at a few places in Wisconsin, and I was a counsellor at an elementary aged camp in Indiana. I said all of that to say this...
in my experience at camp, I came away with so much and I never wanted the camp experience to end. Ok, I wanted the camp food to end, but not the rest of it. There weren't computers, cell phones, tv's, technology, or a lot of things to distract.

These past days have been what I would consider to be like camp in a sense during adulthood. No, we aren't learning to play volleyball, or be the best at outdoor games, or canoe a boat, or swim. Instead, we come together every night and are challenged. Challenged in so many things...how to be a great mate, obedience, discipline, forgiveness, finances, prayer to name a few. At first it sounded like a difficult task to get off work each day, gather the children, and go to the meetings. Actually, this isn't something that is very typical today I would bet. Today was the 14th Summit meeting. We have 4 more. As they have gone on, I have thought how much I will hate to see this team leave our church. It has been refreshing. Just like I hated to leave camp... The awesome thing is this isn't something that has to end just because we will finish having the meetings. I want to carry these things with me the rest of my life just like the memories and the things I learned at camp. I feel blessed to get this experience again as an adult. To get away from distractions for a hours each evening and meet with God, and allow my children to do the same--refreshing. Yes, I've missed my share of TV shows, but I've not really missed them. Yes, I've had to overlook laundry a couple of times, but it will always be there waiting =). My body is tired, just as it was during the times at camp, but I will rest it soon--thankful for having my spirit and mind refreshed from all of this!

April...

...showers bring May flowers and I love flowers in my garden!! Not much posting lately for me lately, the schedule has been rather full. Josh asked if I wanted to go up to the burbs for my birthday. As of today, I don't really just because we've been gone and busy so much when both of us are home that there are things I want to get done here & honestly, I'm tired!!

We had an ill child on Monday after we got off work. Keirah was crying when Josh brought her home. She fell asleep in my arms so I thought she was tired. After the rest of us finished dinner, I went to check on her (on the couch). She started crying again and then OH NO...there it came-- six times. Keirah hasn't ever been sick with the flu before so this was new for her and she just felt nasty. Needless to say, we got several extra loads of laundry to do out of that! She didn't throw up any other time after the six times--thank goodness.

Tuesday was a rain day mostly. We needed a rain day so we couldn't/didn't want to go outside. The laundry needed caught up, a trip to the grocery store etc... We did do a bit of work outside in the later afternoon when the sun came out.

All of us have been really enjoying the meetings at church. The girls ask every night if it's time to go yet. One thing that has been awesome is that the children's program for Aliyah's age runs topics at a child's level kind of parallel to some of the topics for the adults. They have focused in on obedience. No one whether young or old can ever learn too much on obedience if you ask me. It's as great a thing for me to learn as it is for my children. The difference has been tremendous in our home!!

No April Fool's here...it's spring and it's April and we are glad because winter is GGGOOONNNEEE!!!