Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

How I Will Blog and Be Away From Home At the Same Time

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During the next two and a half weeks, I will be making a quick trip for the 4th of July, then I’ll be out at our church camp with my family. There is wireless internet at the camp, so we’ll be packing up the laptop to keep up with work as we can.

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However, internet can be a little tricky there. Plus, I plan to spend time with campers and other staff while I’m there instead of working on my computer for several hours each day like I try to do at home.

Here’s what you can expect here during the next two and a half weeks:

  • New posts now and then.  I’ll try to check in here when I can, because two weeks is a long time to be gone and I’ll just miss you all too much if I stay away that whole time.
  • Gratituesday as normal – hopefully. At the very least, I hope to get online to share how God is working in my life and to praise Him with you on Gratituesday. If my schedule at camp just doesn’t allow this, or if the internet doesn’t cooperate, we’ll all just be grateful on our own. :)
  • Older posts re-posted each day.  To date, I have written 3,650 posts for this website. I bet there are a few you’ve missed here and there, eh? I’ve picked out some that I think will benefit you to read (or re-read), and scheduled them to pop up throughout the next two weeks. It’ll be a fun blast from the past!

How can you pray for me?

Oh hey, thanks for asking. :)  This summer has been great so far, and also very, very full. I’m a little tired already as I head into these weeks away from home. I’d love prayer for energy. But mostly, I need prayer to be fully surrendered to letting God work. I want the people I’m with to see Jesus shining through me, not myself shining through me. I struggle with this. But God is biggest, and He has already won the victory over this battle in my life. How very gracious of Him to continue working this out in me.

I’ll be praying for you too.

You are all an important part of my life, and I appreciate you. I want you to know that I pray for you, and will continue to pray while I am away. Thank you for being a blessing in my life!

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Gratituesday: World Cup 2014

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With the exception of the fact that watching soccer games was a perfect Father’s Day gift for Matt, clearly, this week is not a good time for our family to enjoy the World Cup. After all, we’re leaving on a long trip tomorrow. As it turns out, we’ll miss several games while we’re on the road, plus we have a million things to do before we leave. We have to finish packaging up container after container of vanilla to ship out…

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The older boys were at Soul Quest last week, which means there are several loads of laundry to finish up so we can pack. Indeed, we have a huge, long to-do list. World Cup soccer games???

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Yeah. We’re making time.  It’s ridiculous really, how much our family loves soccer. :)  We don’t have cable, so we’re having to go elsewhere to catch games. (The college apartment lobby has been working quite well for us.)  It’s been a fun break in between all the work. When possible, I’ve been throwing together quick meals like fruit and tuna salad to take with us and eat while we watch.

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Ah, family and futbol. It’s too much fun. Laundry, packing, cleaning, vanilla packaging, mowing, gardening, and all the rest? Eh, we’ll get it done. ;)

What would you like to share about this Gratituesday? What are you thankful for?

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Gratituesday: Another Soccer Season Ends

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March, April, and May are the spring months we eat, drink, breathe, and sleep soccer. Matt coaches (2 teams this season); Justus, Elias, and Malachi play on teams – both city league and traveling teams; Asa, Justus, and Elias referee loads of games. Most of our games are right here in town, but a few are an hour or two away.

We love this time of year, but it is full and busy! Game schedules and referee commitment lists cover one entire side of our refrigerator. I don’t even try to keep up – I just look at the fridge each morning to see what the plan is for the day. Then I check the weather.  Which will I need: tank top or winter coat? Ah….spring.

I’m grateful to share that we have once again survived another soccer season. It’s been great (except for the freezing cold and windy games, the games Matt had to coach while on crutches, and the amount of phone calls we’ve had to make because of re-schedules due to bad weather). Indeed, there’s always a lot of crazy going on for us this time of year. But we love our boys and we all love soccer. So bring it on! (Sunshiny game days are preferred though…what can I say?)

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Here’s Elias’ traveling team after their final game this weekend. Great kids!

This year, I’m particularly grateful for the relationships I’ve formed with other parents on the side-lines. We’ve traveled, sweated, frozen, screamed, cheered, and encouraged our sons together for weeks. We’ve shared stories, popcorn, recipes, and life experiences. Through bloody noses, twisted knees, disappointing losses, and exciting victories – it’s been a great season to build relationships with parents of these players.

I look forward to doing this all over again in the fall. I look forward to the break in the meantime. I’m pretty sure our family will celebrate the end of this season with a pick-up game of soccer. Or basketball. We just can’t help it. :)

By the way, I’m happy to share that Matt’s foot is much, much better. His injury is healing very nicely and I’m pretty sure it won’t be long until he can join back in our family soccer games. :)

So what are you thankful for? It’s Gratituesday….please share what God is doing in your life!

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Gratituesday: Brother Teaching Brother

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You know how your two year old can “help” you by bringing you diapers for the baby, putting away a few toys, and stirring a plastic spoon around in some soapy water as a way to “wash dishes?” Some of those little fella jobs are really just “here let me keep you busy so that I can keep you from painting the cat with plaster of Paris” right? But it also teaches responsibility and a servant heart. So moms of toddlers and preschoolers:  Keep teaching your kids to work and serve and help!!!

As tough as it is to let your little ones help you, especially knowing that you could do it forty times faster by yourself, I’m here to tell you that it is so very worth your extra effort! Even when our oldest was 7, I could tell a huge difference in his ability to really help ease my work load. Now that I’ve got kids 9, 12, 14, and 16? Well, I haven’t scrubbed a toilet in years. We put these kids to work, and it’s a huge benefit to our household.

My favorite thing from today is this:  Not only were my kids working hard, they were teaching each other. Asa (16) has been our expert guacamole whipper-upper for several years. I asked him to make some to go with our lunch today. Then I asked him to pull Elias (12) in with him and teach him how to make it. It was awesome. They did the work from start to finish, and now, thanks to Asa, Elias also knows how to make this great dip.

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We devoured this Spicy Avocado Dip with our burritos today. So good!

This afternoon, the boys pulled out our Risk game. I loved hearing Asa and Justus (14) teach our younger boys to play. Even Malachi (9) was figuring it out.

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Teaching your kids new skills is great. Letting older kids teach younger kids? Even better.  I’m thankful for hearing my olders teach my youngers today. The conversation was sweet, the arguments were few, and we all got to eat awesome guac. Happy day. :)

Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for!  Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Gratituesday: Spring Formal, Spring Fever, Spring is Here!

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This time of year is super full and super fun. The older the boys get, the busier our days are – especially in the spring (and also in the fall, winter and summer, so really, don’t listen to a thing I’m saying about this time of year being busier).

Speaking of the boys getting older, Asa (16.5 – a junior in high school) went to Spring Formal last weekend. We are so thankful the homeschoolers in this area put together such a wonderful event for our youth. Asa headed off for the evening with some of the greatest kids on this planet. What a blessing it is to have such good friends! Several of them came by afterward to hang out, eat pizza, and watch a movie. After all, why end the evening at midnight when you can stay up until 4 in the morning? We loved it!

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Asa is back left, just in case you weren’t sure.  :)

There is a lot of excitement at our house this week because we’re hoping to officially wrap up our school year by Wednesday. We still have some books to read, and we’ll tackle some special projects we haven’t had time for, but THIS is the reason we begin our school year the first week of August. Just about the time we all have spring fever, we complete our math and English assignments! It’s been a great year, and the boys are excited to have almost all their subjects completed. Now they are doubling and tripling up on assignments in order to be completely finished in a few days. Can’t wait!

So what have you been up to? When will your school year be finished? Are you planting a garden this spring? We haven’t even started yet, although we do have asparagus and spinach coming up on its own. Awesomeness. :)

Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for!  Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!

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Gratituesday: “Mom, Do You Know How Long I’ve Been Waiting For This?”

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You know how much I love butter? That is how much Malachi, our nine year old, loves Legos. The kid plays with them for hours every day, won a $10,000 scholarship because of his Lego dreams, and has ideas for making Legos a part of his career/business once he’s a grown-up.

You can imagine, then, how much Malachi has been wanting to visit LEGOLAND. We’ve not been able to make it all the way to California to visit the Legoland, but we did provide Malachi with a fun trip over the weekend to the Legoland Discover Center in Kansas City. We were headed that way anyway for our church youth leadership (LTC), so we left a day early to make this happen for Malachi.

We arrived and found a spot in the parking garage with one very excited little boy. I wish you could have seen his joy. As we made our way up the stairs out of the parking garage, there in front of Malachi was the Legoland building. He paused, took a deep breath, and said, “Mom, do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?” Oh yes, Son. I know. :)

For the next four hours, Malachi and Daddy took it all in. They rode the ride, looked at all the exhibits, watched the 4-D movie, visited Lego Academy to learn more about building – basically experienced the most Lego fun ever, according to the nine year old. Tired as he was that night, he couldn’t wind down to go to sleep until after midnight.

In an effort to save money and have more age appropriate fun, the older boys and I went to Union Station and walked the shopping mall during that time. Once we all met back up, it was so much fun to see pictures and hear Matt and Malachi telling all about their day. Here are a few highlights:

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It is amazing all that can be built out of Legos!

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Oh yes, Star Wars.

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Malachi was hesitant to climb on top of the giraffe, but Matt assured him it was okay and threw him up there for some exploration.

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This next one might be my personal favorite. My son, the owl, with the owl he just built in the Lego Academy:

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Praise God for fun opportunities and the joy that comes with them. What a fun memory for Malachi and Matt to share!

Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for!  Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Gratituesday: Special Choir

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Every year since our oldest was a 3rd grader, we’ve headed to Kansas City each spring for a big event called Leadership Training for Christ (LTC) that our church participates in with other churches in the area. Our kids work super hard ahead of time preparing for Bible bowl, skits, puppet shows, choirs, sculptures, paintings, stories, poetries, speeches…and the list goes on. It is a lot of work for parents and kids alike, but the fun we have at LTC is so worth it!

This year, our family and some friends of ours decided to team up and put together a special choir. Why? Well, let me give you a little background:

Matt and Tim played soccer at York College together for four years. At the time, Tonya and I sat in the stands together during every game – so proud of our boyfriends. :)  Those boyfriends became our fiancés, then in 1994, those fiancés became our husbands. Yep, we got married the same summer.

The years went by, and babies were born. They had a girl, we had a boy. They had a girl, we had a boy. We had a boy, they had a girl. And then, last but not least, we had a boy…and they had a girl. Yep, every time one couple had a baby, somehow the other couple had a baby. We began to wonder if we were drinking too much of the same water. However, they seemed to have all the girl-flavored water, while we had all the boy-flavored water.

We’ve loved raising our kids together, going to the same church together, and of course, playing soccer together. This year, we realized that this would be the first and last year that all eight of our kids would be in LTC together. Our youngest kids are finally eligible, as 3rd graders, and their oldest is a senior. This is it.  That’s why we signed our kids up for a small choir together.

For several weeks our families have gotten together to practice the songs. Tonight was our final practice. This weekend is the real deal.

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Here’s a picture I snapped on my phone tonight while the kids were practicing.
I have got to remember to turn the volume down on my phone as the “snap” was completely distracting. Sheesh.

I’m so grateful for friendship and the joy these kids bring to us. Can’t wait for the fun this weekend!

Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for!  Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Gratituesday: Connecting With Gladis By Studying Maps

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Once again, today proved that ministry and school can collide, and that no matter what we’re doing, we can learn something meaningful.

After breakfast this morning, the three younger boys and I mixed a geography/history lesson with our outreach to Gladis, the girl we sponsor through One Child Matters. We did a little research on Honduras, where Gladis is from. We printed out and colored maps and flags to send to her. We talked about the distance between our home and Gladis’ (roughly 1900 miles). And we marveled at how big God is to connect us to her in this awesome way.

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I should make something clear:  My three younger boys are 9, 12, and 14. They don’t sit and color pictures anymore…ever. But when I told them we were making these pages for Gladis, they ran for the colored pencils – even discussing how colored pencils would be better than markers for this assignment because it would look so much nicer and Gladis could see the maps better. Anytime I mention doing anything for Gladis, their response is always joyful and eager.

Maybe I should ask them to fold and put away their clothes in the hallway/do the dishes/pick up sticks in the yard…for Gladis. Think it would fly? ;)

The end results of our creations are simple. We thought maybe Gladis would have fun coloring the rest of the maps, so we left a lot for her to fill in. But we wanted to show her where in the U.S. we are located (Husker red, of course). Do you see the blue shaded areas on the world map below? That’s to show her that she is there, in Central America, and we are here in Nebraska, USA. We’ll be writing a note at the top of that map, letting her know that we are praying for her, that God is taking care of all of us, and that we are sending our love from our home to hers.

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I always wish I could see her face when she receives our packages. I’m told that pictures and maps like this are a treasure to these sponsored kids as they typically don’t have many items like this in their homes. How wonderful that such a simple school lesson for our family will be such a wonderful blessing to Gladis and her family.

Want to print out similar pages to do something like this for your sponsored child? Here are the links for where I found ours:

World Map Coloring Page

US Map Coloring Page

Honduras Flag Printables

United States Flag Coloring Page

Check out this cool Distance Calculator to discover about how far away your sponsored child is from where you live.

If you’re not yet sponsoring a child, please join us! I’m celebrating this ministry for Gratituesday today, because of the blessing it is to my family. I want you to experience this too. Bless a child – be blessed. What a rich gift.

Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for!  Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Gratituesday: Winter Jam 2014

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Winter Jam, a huge concert which features several popular Christian artists, was coming to Nebraska. We were able to go to Winter Jam last year, so this year, we didn’t really even look into it. What were we thinking?

Thankfully, our friend Gage had big ideas. He’d never been to a concert, and decided he would do what he could to make it to see some of his favorite Christian bands. Gage has special needs and isn’t able to get around by himself. But he knew our family would surely enjoy the concert. Maybe we could head there together?

Great plan! It was a night filled with praise and excitement. I don’t think Gage stopped smiling the entire six hours we were there. Who am I kidding? I don’t think any of us stopped smiling the entire six hours. What an amazing night!

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Here’s Gage and three of our boys in line waiting for the doors to open.

It was a packed house – thousands of Christians gathered together for this concert!

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One of the highlights for all of us was jamming with the Newsboys…

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We’re so thankful our boys have such fun and talented artists to listen to which fill their minds with a Godly message. We are already making plans for Winter Jam 2015. :)

Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for!  Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!

 

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Gratituesday: The Girls In My Life

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“So Laura, don’t you ever wish you had little girls?”

People ask me that question quite often as they observe my boy-filled life. My answer is always “no.” God knew what He was doing when He gave me all sons and no daughters. Plus we snatched up little Gladis, who gets to be our daughter/sister/friend/delight in Honduras.

I didn’t have any sisters when I was growing up either – just one brother. You know what I have now? All kinds of sisters! My brother’s wife, Matt’s sister, Matt’s brothers wife, plus all the Christian sisters God has put in my life. So, do you know what I might have someday? Four daughters, if God sees fit that all of our boys get married.

Guess what else I have? Several nieces. Precious, sweet girls who give me excuses to buy pink, giggle, and talk about fingernail polish. Girls who tell me, “Hey, cute jeans” and “I like your sweater.”

I do sometimes wonder what my daughter might have looked like had I actually had one. I usually look no farther than my brother’s girls. If I had a daughter, I’m pretty sure she would look a lot like this:

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This niece of mine looks so much like I did when I was little. 

I got to see two of my Kansas nieces briefly this weekend. My oldest niece, who is 12, and also a lot like I was when I was her age, spent some time in the kitchen with me, helping me and chatting as we worked on lunch.

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Yep, except for the braces, I bet I could find some
12 year old pictures of me that would look a lot like this.

While we worked, she asked me, “Do you ever wish you had girls, Aunt Laura?” It was a moment I had not planned, but it was the perfect opportunity to stop my work and look right into her eyes. “Not even a little bit, Kailey,” I told her, “because God gave me nieces like you instead.”

You should have seen her smile. She’s old enough and mature enough to hear my heart. I’ve said it to others, but there was something pretty special about sharing it directly with her.

I’m so thankful for all the girls God put in my life to love on. Bring on the shopping trips, hair styling, and shared smiles as we watch the boys race through the room at lightening speed.

Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for!  Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!