On the lighter side of love

What was my 13-year anniversary gift to Matt, you ask?

I let him sleep in while I took all three children (especially the two who had been up since 3:45 AM) to the pediatrician's office at 8 o'clock to get their ear infections diagnosed and treated.

He said it was the best gift ever!

Happy Anniversary, my love!

Today is my 13-year anniversary of marriage to a fantastic man. I remember wrestling during college with whether or not I even wanted to marry. I had settled on the single life when I became friends with Matt, another campus leader at IWU. As our friendship grew, so did my respect, admiration, and attraction! What a gift I've been given. Handsome. Wise. Kind. Funny. Godly. I am blessed among women.

I love you, Matthew. A day doesn't go by that I'm not aware of your sacrificial love, your hard work, your intentional decisions, and your protection. You're my hero.

New babies

Well, we've been so busy. Since I last blogged, the boys both turned 2 and 5. My mom (poor mom) and sister, Stef, brought the train out, but Mom ended up in the hospital to rule out a stroke (posterior bleed). The party did happen, and Mom was able to make the end of the celebration, which was a celebration in itself! A few weeks later, Matt's parent came out and took the kids trick or treating. One of the boys' gifts was a huge bag of costumes from Mrs. Clay... we put it to GREAT use (both on that day, and every day since)!


Izak's now using a digital wristwatch and a big boy bike - we may end up trying to get the training wheels off before snow. He's growing so quickly. Levi is fully into conversation and a little gear-head. He can't get enough of his cars. He has a special affinity for the little die cast "Cars" characters... truth told, I actually have quite an affinity for them as well. Our collection is almost complete! People were so kind that Libby genuinely believed that it was her birthday too, as she was flooded with gifts as well. She's also LOVING preschool. I'm sure of the genetic connection with my daughter as all day long she absent-mindedly sings and hums... and her favorite songs are "Jingle Bells" and "Frosty the Snowman"! My real friends know that I sing Christmas songs year-round. Why should she be any different? :) Such happy kids.

The other week I took my protestant kids to a local Catholic church to buy some of their honey. The church is located on a beautiful plot of land in the country, surrounded by hedges. It's cared for by the Handmaidens of the Precious Blood (quite the name!). We approached the tiny chapel that was formerly a house, looking for someone to unlock the little house that had the "Local Honey for Sale" sign in the window. Izak rang the door bell, but there was no answer. As we were pulling out, a nun came running from the back door in full habit, "I'm sorry! I was on the phone!". The bright white hat, burgundy robes with the necklace and the cord around the waist, all blowing in the fall breeze. My kids' eye widened, they'd never seen a nun before! "Sister, hello! We came for some honey!" We bounded out of the minivan as she loved all over the babies, "What beautiful children! Are they all yours?" Izak pulled me aside. "Why do you call her sister?" "That's her special name for the job that she does here. Everyone calls her 'sister.'" And then the kids began to chorus, "Sister, where's the honey?" "Sister, do you live here?" Sister, sister sister! We loaded back into the van and waved goodbye. As we drove around, Izak noticed all of the beautiful statues of Mary, Jesus, and other saints. There was a big, white statue of Jesus, arms spread wide with a big smile. Izak asked, "Mom, is that God?" "That's a statue of Jesus." Then, with fantastic five-year old enthusiasm he shouted, "Mom! We have GOT to get one of those!"