S Club Mama

As I've grown older, I've come to realize that my identity is not found in what I do. Not found in whether I work or stay home (or both). Not found in whether my house is clean or messy. Not found in how I dress up or dress down. Not found in my hair style, my marriage, my motherhood. Not found in my weight or size or shape. Not found in my devoutness to spiritual disciplines even. No. My identity is found purely in Christ. It is He who has covered me with his sacrificial blood who determines my identity and worth. He says I am beautifully and wonderfully made. He says I am worth sacrificing for. He says that He has a plan for me, a purpose. He says I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. He says I am loved and worth loving. My identity is Christ. Identity is very important to a person. It shows us who we are and points us in the direction of where we go and who we are to become. On August 1, a television series will help point people in the direction of thei...

That day is on his birthday, which is today. So I like to leave him a little love letter. Here it goes:  I am so blessed to be called your wife. You cook, clean, take care of bills and cars, play with the boys (take them camping and fishing and for walks and bike rides), love me even when I'm not lovable, you lead us toward the Lord, you make each day special. I love you. I don't care what your facial hair looks like or how awfully you match (or don't) any more than you care my body size or about my stretch marks. I love you for who you are, not what you look like. Although, I like your outside, too (those eyes have been my favorite focal point for almost 10 years now).  You are the quintessential family man: you love your sons - playing Legos, assistant coaching t-ball, passing on your love of Husker football. You love your nieces and nephew, even showing them your awesome tricks on the trampoline. And you love me, taking the time on your day off to com...

I'm not a fan of being busy but it seems to slip into my life unbeknownst to me. Thankfully, this July hasn't been nearly as busy as past ones. However, we still have birthdays to celebrate (Moose - 1, Squirt - 10, Big A - 24) so there's always some hustle in our bustle this time of the year. Here are some pictures of our birthday celebrations for the kiddos. First up: Moose's birthday. I've been buying the boys a balloon from Dollar General for a few years. They kind of end up with the same kinds of balloons because the selection is...small. But they don't care! Squirt was disappointed I didn't put streamers over their doorway to break open this year. Oops. On the days of the birth, I made them pancakes. I even made a 7 and 5 on their respective days. Instead of a picnic playdate this year, we invited one friend to lunch. Moose chose his friend E to have lunch. Then they played in the sprinkler, watched a tv show, painted faces, played Don...

Summer is winding down (although we still have a whole month including a vacation!), so I thought I should share some of our highlights into June. Big A finally shaved in May (he'd been growing this beast - I mean, beard - since October). He did not shave it for me, although I'd told him I was growing tired of it. I never minded it, I just missed his face. Isn't it a lovely face? We grew Duck Dynasty fever in a trip to Wal-mart with my parents. I think I should grow a beard. Yes? No? This kid makes a cute Scooby-Doo and if I can bribe his big brother, these will be our family costumes this Halloween. However, Moose insists he's going to be Spiderman again (not sure if Spiderman will fit though...). Moose lost 4 teeth. The bottom two and the top two. Some of the words he says are just precious without teeth. And he can now whistle. Squirt passed level 1 and 2 in swimming lessons. He did great! Moose learned to swim across th...