Happy Birthday to Michael!!!!

Happy Birthday to Michael!!!!
You did it!  We are praying for you right now as you are taking your final Hebrew Bible exam- on your birthday!  Praying that God would recall all that you have diligently studied!
Here are a few things we admire about you:
*  You are such a diligent, disciplined worker- this whole year you have set your own pace and studied so hard!
*  You love your kids and take time for them even in the midst of stress!
*  You have always been good about putting people over tasks- even studies like comprehensive exams!
*You persevere and keep going even when it gets tough!
*  You rely on God and He is your treasure in your day to day life!
*As we watched Captain America this weekend- you have what it takes-  you are a man that is not afraid to do the hard things for God's glory!  And I know you will teach Jeremiah what it means to be bold and courageous, to be a man for the cause of Christ!
* You love the church and the people of God and I love how you teach Jeremiah about the blessing of worshipping in the church with the people of God!
* You are so happy and just always have such a positive perspective!

Your Family Loves You!  We are definitely glad to celebrate with you tonight even though you will be tired!  To the park with some LaRosas pizza- here we come!  We are glad to have you back!
Love, Erin & Jeremiah & Lydia too :)
  

Lydia says- Daddy- I love that you play with me and make me laugh and tickle me!  You are so fun!  When you come in the door- I love to scoot on my  bottom and yell, "DADDA!"

Jeremiah says- Daddy- I love wrestling with you!  When you come home from your test tonight- can we play "T-REX" and can I eat you tonight!  :)  I love to wrestle and read with you- those are my favorite things to do!  

The end is near...

 Found these little monkeys jumping on the bed...  glad we didn't have to call the doctor. :)
The end is near!  Tomorrow Michael takes his last exam- we are praising the Lord and still praying for him! He is beyond tired and still feeling stressed!  We are all feeling a little worn- stress has been high, the kids have felt our weakness and instead of telling us to lie on the couch and bring us cold lemonade- they have seized the opportunity to make it crazy around here!  We have been struggling with Jeremiah big time- I sense he can tell we are stressed and that Daddy has not been around too much!  But God's grace abounds!  In times like these, we are reminded that we are weak- we need God's grace!  I have been reading the book Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full by Gloria Furman and she reminds me that one of our family traditions should be that we rely on God's grace as a family!  I need God's grace for this moment, this day and so do they.  May I be quick to acknowledge my need for God's grace and be quick to repent when I blow it and think only of "Me."  Praise God that the end of this "season" is near.  We know there will be more- we know we need some recovery after this season but the end is near. :)  Pray for Michael tomorrow as he takes the biggest exam yet- his Hebrew Bible exam that could be 10 hours long- and it is birthday- poor guy!

Mother's Day Pics...

Crazy Kid Pics... And They Are Crazy...

Test Number 2 is done!  Michael thinks by God's grace he did well!  We are so thankful- one more week to go!  We can't wait for him to be done!  Some crazy kid pics lately.

Our Easter Traditions 2014

 Easter 2014 Traditions...

Here is a recap of our Easter activities…

We made a Palm Sunday picture with Jeremiah’s palm prints and cut out and pasted a donkey.  We found palm branches and waved and shouted Hosanna and acted out the story and sang a Steve Green- Hosanna song…

Easter- We painted on plates with washable paint and pasted crosses and wrote Christ is Risen!  We cut potatoes in half and I carved crosses on them and used paint to stamp them on paper.  We did a Resurrection Garden and leading up to Easter each day hid and egg and Jeremiah found it before nap time and we read a story about Jesus and looked at what was in the Resurrection Egg.  Easter week, we read a Bible story corresponding with each day of the week for Holy Week.  On Friday, we put Jesus on the cross on our garden and put him in the tomb and rolled the stone.  Sometimes at lunch we would light a candle and then blow it out as it was getting closer to Jesus’ death.  On Easter- we made and ate a Lamb Cake which was a Red Velvet cake and asked Jeremiah why is the cake- red?  He kept asking- why is the cake red?  Because it represents Jesus blood for our sin.  We also made Easter baskets and hid them for Jeremiah and Lydia.  When we woke up- Jeremiah ran to the tomb of our garden and it was empty- Jesus is Risen!  We also hid our Resurrection eggs outside on Easter and hunted for them and reviewed what was inside each egg.  We also did the tradition dying of Easter eggs when my parents were here- which was very messy- it was a good activity to do outside!

Persevering by God's Grace...

 This week we are again persevering by God's grace as Michael does his 2nd round of exams!  The intensity has not let up!  Michael is doing a great job persevering but he is tired and we are all tired.  Tomorrow- he will take the 2nd exam- Ugaritic!  Go honey go!  These exams are not for the weary or faint in heart and I can see my man working so hard for this goal and the Lord is giving him much grace and us much grace along the way.

All that to say- I have had my shares of struggles each week- this week Mother's Day was tough- tough because I was "on duty" for most of the day and tough because of course I knew he was busy but I expected some thanks- some appreciation from Jeremiah- what was I to think expecting a 3 year old to say- Happy Mother's Day! :)  It was a good reminder to me that as a mom we serve and should serve over and over expecting nothing in return and if we do get a thanks- that should be an added blessing!  Now- I get plenty of thanks from my hubby but sometimes don't you just want your kids to rise up and call you "blessed"-  I had a friend at church ask me that and I thought- well they definitely call me- but I don't think they call me blessed- yet but Lord willing, some day by God's grace! :)

We did make it to Winton Woods on Mother's Day to feed the ducks- so it was a good day.

Planting...

Tis the season for planting...  And thanks to Becky V. for a beautiful hanging basket for my birthday and a butterfly from my boys.  And my parents for giving me some money to get some flowers!  Love doing ground crew for our little apartment!

The Zoo...

 We have been enjoying the blooms and blossoms at the zoo this Spring- it has been a huge blessing!  :)  We even had a baby giraffe be born just a week ago.  :)  We enjoyed going to the zoo on Mommy's birthday with some special friends the Samads and they definitely made our trip extra special!

Birthday Blessings...

Last Wednesday was my birthday and this year with Michael being so busy I tried to keep expectations low which actually was good for me!  I felt truly blessed and spoiled last week even in the craziness of Michael's exams as I had 3 different offers for people to watch my kids for me to have a break- all in one week!  And I went to the zoo with my kids and a friend and her kids on my birthday and she packed for me an amazing lunch with cupcakes and all- thanks Amy!  And Michael took me out to dinner on my birthday and then gave me an envelope of letters from friends with encouraging cards- just what I needed during a busy season- where my husband has been really busy!  I got to go on a walk with my dear college friend- Sarah B. and went to look for flowers with a sweet mentor friend- Becky V.  It was a special week!  Jeremiah got me for my birthday this little butterfly that I can put in the garden- he was excited about it all week- little did we know that this butterfly is special- it lights up in the dark!  It was a special birthday and I was in tears reading the notes and cards from so many of my dear friends- it really is amazing to see God at work in bringing such special people into my life!

 Michael's parents did a cookout for me one night last week and got me one of my favorite cakes- the cookie cake, the other one being the Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake!  Grandpa & Grandma brought the boys from Florida snakes- Jeremiah loves his- he named him "PIPE"- don't know where he got that name from- but it is a favorite!

Thankful for Prayers...

Thank you to all of you for your prayers for Michael's first exam today!  He came back around 1:30 pm and was encouraged saying that by God's grace he got a text that he knew and thinks he did really well!  We praise the Lord for this answer to prayer!  We are resting tonight and then he will be at it again tomorrow!!