First Days of School

Well, here are my girls and their first days of school. Emma started 1st grade yesterday, and Olivia started K-3 today. Olivia will just be going for two mornings while I teach general music during those times. Both girls loved school and are excited about being there. I am happy for them and sad at the same time as I have no more baby at home. On to new chapters and other exciting things. . . .

Last Days of Summer Break

Well, the girls and I had a very fun time together on Saturday. We went blueberry picking and brought home 13 lbs.! It was Olivia's first time, and she picked some but had more fun eating them than putting them in her bucket. :-) Emma was a big helper. She didn't want to leave until my 2 gallon bucket was full. We actually picked close to 10 Qts. It was a perfect day and something I could finally do with them. I am glad we had the time together before school started. We ended our "blueberry day" by making a pie. We had lots of fun, and it was sure worth it! Talk about a fresh pie--from the field, to the oven, to the table.

Gym Shoes Blessing

While at Meijer the other day, I decided to stop in the shoe dept. I saw they were having a sale and wanted to check on a plain/cheaper pair of gym shoes for Emma. She has to have a pair that will stay at school and can go only on the gym floor. We found some that I thought would be great, but they did not have her size. I thought, "Oh well, let's check somewhere else. I am not paying $20 to $30 for a pair of shoes she will wear only 2 times a week." As we were leaving the area, my eye caught a clearance sign. There wasn't much on it, mostly sandals. Lo and behold, I see a pair of plain white tennis shoes for girls that were Reeboks. They were the only pair on the shelves, and you guessed it, they were Emma's size. Get this--only 5 bucks! I am including a pic of the tag (couldn't get a very clear shot) to prove it. Check out the original price. God is good and always provides what we need! The coolest thing was Emma calling Kris on our way home and telling him that she just had to share what God had done. Praise the Lord!

Special Friends

Emma's best friend in SC is Suzanna. They are only 3 weeks apart in age, and did a lot together until we moved to MI. They still get so excited to see each other. Suzanna's mom saw our van at my parent's house and knew we had arrived, so they stopped in for a quick visit. I snapped this shot of the reunited friends.

One day Sarah and I took the kids to Suzanna's neighborhood pool. Olivia went in the big pool just a little bit. She had fun doing other things, as you can see in some of the other pics. Jonas just hung out in his car seat sleeping away.

Little Ones and Technology

You know you are living in the 21st century when your 3 yr. old is doing an art page on Nick Jr. before dinner, Daddy walks up to her, and she says, "Are you gonna log me off?"

Always Fun Visting Grammy and Papa

The girls really miss their grandparents! It was fun to go back to S.C. and stay with them. They got special gift bags when we got there. My parents converted a closet under their staircase into a little play area for the girls a few years ago. They were excited to be back there! I think they feel as though they are little princesses when they are there. :-) They even get to stay in their own very nice room. I'm including a couple of pics. My mom has done a great job with the rooms. This was the first time for our girls to sleep in the same bed. After a couple of nights of Daddy showing his seriousness about them being in there to sleep, we didn't have problems. :-) Well, here are the royal subjects and their accomodations. Ha ha

More Pictures of Jonas and Family

Jonas With an Interesting Question on His Shirt

Mom and Dad With Their Grandkids

Back to the Blog!

Well, it has been a while, but I am back to posting. I was unable to go to Gary Campbell's funeral due to continued recovering, but Kris said that it was amazing--God-focused, great testimony, very moving, etc. We were encouraged once again to think of our own lives and what kind of testimony we will leave behind. By God's grace, may He be lifted up and seen!

I was very excited that my doctor gave me permission to go on our trip to S.C. It was great! I will be working on posting lots of new pictures. We had a great time loving on baby Jonas, spending time with family, seeing our dear friends, and just relaxing as a family. I unfortunately spent part of Tues. at an Urgent Care because of some stitches not wanting to hold. :-/ Thank the Lord that wasn't serious, and I can still wait to see my surgeon on the 29th for my post-op. I was a bit sad though. We had a day planned with my parents and Sarah and Joe to go to Charlotte for the day (Cheesecake Factory, IMAX, a little shopping. . . .). Obviously I was already doing too much, so the Lord kept me from making things worse by doing more than maybe I should have. We did get to go to our friends', the Bells, house that night and have a wonderful time with friends, nearly 20 of them (kids included). I also had a couple of lunches before we left with girls that were in our youth group when Kris was at Grace. It was neat to see what God is doing in their lives.

I have to praise my wonderful husband for making my birthday so special. He picked up the girls and me for lunch (surprise!) and took us to a wings place we love here in town. It was awesome! He wouldn't tell me what we were doing later, but I knew I needed to be ready. He came home from work with beautiful flowers, and then we packed up the girls, took them to some friends to be watched, and then went to Outback Steakhouse on a date! Since surgery, we haven't had time like that, so it was very special. Both of us had incredible meals too. :-) We did some shopping afterward at stores in Saginaw that we don't have here, and then I got a great card from him that included a certain dollar amount for me to go shopping for clothes/jewelry I might want. 8-) He said he will watch the girls whenever I want to go. He's wonderful!!! Thanks, sweetheart--I love you!

Prayer Requested

Last night we received the news that Gary Campbell had a heart attack and passed away in the early evening. The news was shocking to us, and the response was emotional. Gary has been at Calvary for many years, and just in the last couple of years (almost) that we have been here, he was an amazing blessing to us. This man served the Lord and people all the time. He was always helping around the school/church fixing things, driving the bus for field trips, etc. He greeted us every Sunday morning in the hallway as we headed to our SS class. He was always smiling and joking with us. I don't know exactly how old he was, but probably in his 50s. He seemed to be around my dad's age, and his daughter, Barb, who is our preschool secretary, and I are close in age. Kris and I had many thoughts of what it was like in those first hours and days after losing his own Mom and then Dad. It helps us to pray for the Campbell family in specific ways and empathize with them. We pray God will use us to encourage and be there for them if we can, especially Barb and her kids, as this is where we relate most of all. Please pray for them and for the funeral arrangements being made today. We thank God for Gary's testimony and influence in our lives.

Another New Baby

For those of you who don't know her, Jenny Muth is like a sister to me here in Midland. I could go on and on right now about how God has used her in my life. She and her husband Michael reached out to make us feel at home and welcome in Midland before we had ever even met face to face--neat stories I don't have space for. :-) They have servants' hearts like you wouldn't believe and, without question, have a deep love for God and desire to serve Him. Kris and I are so thankful for their friendship! I just wanted to celebrate the birth of her first baby here with this post. How exciting it has been to have Jonas, my own nephew born and see him last month (seeing him in a week too! :-) ) Now my "sister" here is celebrating her first baby, and I am privileged to celebrate with her as well.

Summer Fun!

Well, for you family members and friends in the south, we are feeling the same type of heat you have been having. We actually were even warmer than places like AZ, FL, and SC yesterday. Our heat index in Mid-Michigan was 110 degrees! Kris went to play an 8:45 PM softball game last night. It was 90 degrees at that time of day with a heat index of 100 still. Unbelievable! Today and tomorrow are predicted to be the same. The girls are loving the pool. I unfortunately can't go in still because of my type of surgery. We had a girl from church come over this morning with a couple of other kids she babysits, and they all had a blast. Olivia doesn't usually last long in the pool for some reason. Today the issue was that she didn't want to be splashed by the older kids. As you will see below, she found her way to have fun them. :-)

Emma having fun with the Ouderkirks

Emma ready to jump in

Olivia ready to attack

Olivia spraying the kids in the pool

Olivia looking pretty proud of herself

Our House With An Unwanted New Look

Okay, I don't know what it is about this. In all the years of Kris' being a youth pastor, we never once got our house rolled. We haven't even lived here for 2 yrs., and we've had it done two times! Last year after graduation night, our house, the principal's house, and someone else's got it. We laughed until we found out that 80 rolls of toilet paper had been stolen from the school/church. That's just ridiculous! Hopefully that is not what happened this time. We never found out who did that. We woke up this morning though to quite an awful site. The front yard is one thing, but we keep our gate in the back locked 'cause of the pool, and whoever got us this time, climbed our gate and got the backyard. Kris and the girls spent the morning cleaning up the at least 86 rolls of toilet paper used last night (just what he needs as he has enough to deal with while I am down) and is a bit worried about the pool and the filter (thankfully turned off) now. I am reminding myself of all we say about God's sovereignty, because I have not been a happy camper this morning because of how this adds to Kris' pressures! Of course, my wonderful husband says, if that's why I am upset, than I should just relax, because he's not (not too badly anyway). :-)

Introducing Butterscotch

Well, I figured if I gave Daisy, Sarah's dog, a spot on our blog, then I certainly should give honor to our own pet. :-) We became pet owners for the first time last year (well, we did have fish in S.C.). After Emma's regularly asking for some sort of pet, and much discussion on our part, we decided a guinea pig would be good. She had been around the classroom guinea pig at school and really liked it. I did not seem to have any allergy problems when I was playing with it, so we agreed on getting one of our own. Butterscotch is coming up on 1 yr. old and is a fun little guy to have around.

Butterscotch likes to run around in our foyer area. We keep our bedroom doors closed. It's not fun trying to get him out from under the bed or dresser.

The girls loving on Butterscotch

Butterscotch LOVES his hay. He eats pellets and yogurt drops during the day and chews on bark bites. His most favorite thing in all the world is getting carrots in the morning. He squeaks for them as soon as we are awake.

Butterscotch plays in and with his chew tunnel.

That's all folks!