A Quiet House

With life group unexpectedly cancelled tonight, the kids at church, and Derek at work--I am left in a quiet house for a bit. And it's not even midnight! (Usually I stay up late since that is the only time I can be alone.) Where do I even go with my thoughts when it's this quiet??!!

Our Christmas break was anything but quiet. And just when I thought the kids would go back to school and I would get a break from all the extra dishes and chores and activities around here--the polar vortex happened and school started a day late! We all rolled with the changes and I was really proud of everyone's attitude. With Derek on his long working weekend, we had to keep the house quiet for 3 days while he slept. Not an easy task when everyone's been together for a 2 week holiday break. God must have poured an extra measure of grace into our days together, and overall we had a good time.

The new year is moving right along. When I think about this being Braylen's last semester of middle school, I am reminded again how short our time with our kids at home really is. Next month we're attending a parent meeting to learn all about registering our son for high school. How did this happen? Really, how did I get here? All those years Derek spent working at the high school, and I never really thought about our kids actually going there. It was always far off in the land called "someday." Now that day is just about here and Derek is not at the high school anymore. I trust that this is all part of God's plan for our family, but it sure would bring comfort to this mother's heart if my husband were still at that school.

Speaking of Derek's job...we are down to just one more month of night shift! Woo-hoo! I'm pretty sure Derek is even more relieved for this than we are. I've been keeping a mental list of things that have happened these past few months, and I really should take the time to write them down. I would title it, "You Know You're Married to a Police Officer When..."

Before I pick the kids up from church, I have just a few pictures from our days stuck inside during the brutally cold weather. When our house was not quiet, but quiet enough for Derek to sleep in. :)

Aaron wrote me a message one night and talk about melting a mommy's heart!

Aaron LOVES eggs.

All on his own, he made this race track and called it the AK 500.

They used the cars Aaron's made with his new car maker.

Ginger is wearing one of her new pretty collar sleeves made by Grammy.
This one is red with white snowflakes on it.

Aaron earned a 2nd place medal in his class for reading points. He also received
Gatorade from his teacher. The picture he painted is part Ginger, part wolf!

Happy 2014!!! :)

It's a Wrap

2013.

I remember telling myself in January that I needed to be more organized this year. Hmm.

Looking at my filing system (a laundry basket overflowing with papers from the past few years) and my kitchen cabinets (crammed with odd assortments of just about everything,) I can see that "getting organized" did not make it to the top of my priorities after all. And yet--our bills are paid, we always manage to find something to eat, and our sons have grown.

What did I do this year that matters for eternity? Clean out some cabinets? File some papers? Did I print my pictures or dust the hard to reach places in my house? Nope! Maybe some day I will get to those things. I really hope I can. But tonight I am choosing to look at 2013 as the year I supported my husband through lots of changes at work. It's the year I loved watching one son rise to the top at his middle school while bringing his 6th grade brother along with him. It's a year to celebrate Aaron's health, and his little-boy sweetness with snuggles at night and big squeezes for hugs. It's a year I stepped outside of my own little world and asked God what He would have me do for Him.

I have loved this year. Thank you, Lord, for an incredible 2013. It is filled with much love, rich friendships, highs, lows, tests, and trials. I think the song Never Once, by Matt Redman, describes what I'm trying to say.

"Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did You leave us on our own. You are faithful, God You are faithful."

To wrap it up, I have more Christmas pictures to post. :) Surprise! Tee hee! I noticed I didn't post as often in my blog this year. It's not because of pinterest. I don't like pinterest. It must be because I'm so busy being a mom to 3 growing boys...and maybe I'm on facebook too much? ;) Happy New Year!

Making gingerbread cookies with Aaron

Braylen and Kaleb made almond bark pretzels.

Kaleb called them "barky pretzels."

Aaron was a toy soldier in his school program. :)

The 3rd grade Christmas gift is...

...a handprint rug! Now we have 3!

Waiting for Grammy & Grampy to arrive

A favorite gift this year for Aaron

Eagles vs. Bears :)

Another favorite gift--his own pottery wheel.

Christmas Eve

His last present to open...do you think he likes it?!

We played lots of board games this week--especially Clue. Although the game pictured here is Sorry.

Aaron's air swimmer that he wanted SO badly! It's huge!

My biggest blessings of all, my family.

Merry Christmas - He is With Us

Merry Christmas dear family and friends!

"He is With Us."

Emmanuel, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Our God is with us. Through deep sadness and hurt. Through great joy and celebration. Through every day moments and big moments.

Through it all, Jesus is with us.

Merry Christmas with love from Derek & Sarah

Kaleb and Braylen received a hunting rifle from the 4 of us.

Ginger, a.k.a. Rudolph, rejected her carrot!

Derek and his starlight mints!

Grammy's Christmas morning cinnamon rolls

Braylen bought this gift for Derek and they both loved it.

One of my mom's creations this year. I asked for headbands!

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Okay, so I came up for the title of this post by typing the song currently playing on my Pandora. But it fits, since this time of the year IS pretty great!

This past weekend we welcomed Christmas into our home. We put up our tree and decorations. I made a double batch of sugar cookies. I even unpacked and set up my Christmas village. Last year I didn't set it up, since we traveled to Illinois for Christmas. When I opened this box the other day, look at the note I found inside. It says, "Packing this up on March 13th, 2012. When I get it out again, I pray Aaron will be seizure free and thriving. I believe in God!" :)

Believing God

Wow, am I glad I set my village up this year! What an awesome blessing! I had forgotten all about this note I wrote. Discoveries like this one really do make this the most wonderful time of the year. Aaron is indeed thriving. His last seizure that I saw was on May 13th, 2012...exactly 2 months after I wrote this note. Praise the Lord!!!

In other news, Braylen and Kaleb performed in their band concerts last week. It was strange to see Kaleb in concert and not have him sitting in the bleachers with us. Good thing Aaron had his cousin to sit with. :) Kaleb's 6th grade band is the biggest band the school has seen in recent years with 65 students in it. They sounded great, and our Kaleb was easy to spot in the trumpet section with his blond hair!

He's still easy to find, don't you think?!

Braylen is having a great year as top dog in middle school. The 8th graders in jazz band wore santa hats for this concert. Braylen played the trap set, tympani, and tom toms. It's fun having a percussionist and a brass player this year. :) Braylen's last song of this concert was called "Celtic Carol," and it was my favorite one of the night.

My handsome musicians!

Around the house we've been staying warm in this deep freeze that's hit the nation. Winter has come early this year, but that's fine by me. The other day I found a tick on our dog and it makes me wonder if it's been there awhile? The great thing about winter is all those creepy crawly insects go away for the season. :) And we're not mowing any lawns!

Painting his new bunk bed shelves Daddy built for him. They are working out great!

Finally, here are a few pictures from Christmas arriving in our home. We've been having fun hiding our elf in unusual places around the house. I REALLY like where we put our tree this year. Why did it take us 10 years in this house to find the perfect spot? Aaron took Derek and I to a family fun event at school where he built a gingerbread house. It was a messy, fun time for the 3 of us. :) Yep--we sure are having fun during this most wonderful time of the year!

Derek can't pick Braylen up for this job anymore!

Aaron's pretty proud of his house, complete with a sugar cube snowman out front!

F-f-f-freezing F-f-f-freddy!

;)