An Important One to Read... changes are coming.

I am in the final stages of moving my blog from Blogger over to the Wordpress platform.  That doesn't mean much to most of you.  BUT, if you are reading this blog post from Google Friend Connect, you will soon no longer receive my updates.

How sad would that be?

To make sure that you don't miss a beat once the change happens sometime this week, be sure to subscribe to the blog here.  You can choose to have it sent to your email or to another blog reading device once you click here. 

If you aren't sure if you read through Google Friend Connect or not, just go ahead and sign up this way - just in case.

I have some fun photos to share with you today, but I really want you to click this link to subscribe to my blog so that I won't lose your precious readership this week after I move to Wordpress.

Did you click it?  Are you subscribed?   Great! 

Now, onto the photos.  All of these are straight out of the camera (meaning no editing).  I don't have time to edit, and I have no idea how to.  Just bein' honest.  Sometimes I just get lucky with my camera.

 From working in the garden this past weekend.

No monumental thoughts about sin this time.  Just planting life.

Standing on a table trying to experiment with new camera angles.

Nature Walk in the Woods at the Grandparent's House.

 

Where we can usually be found.  Laying on the ground while our kids play.

Anyone else have kids that want you in the same room {at the same level} all the time?

 

Yogurt {the healthy icecream}

 

 Hiding in forts of blankets.

Hiding from dinosaurs, and dragons, and sisters.

No superhero to rescue us here.

 At Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI

Waiting for that icecream truck to come.

And summer to start.

 

Don't forget to go subscribe to these posts.  Just in case you will be cut off from seeing any more adorable photos of my kids and long winded narratives from me.  I think that would be tragic.

We will make the big switch this week sometime.  You may see some times of the blog being down, but this will be a good move.

While you're at it, subscribe to the Better Life Bag shop newsletter to be the first to know about new products, discounts, and shop info!  I have a few exciting changes coming up in the shop that you won't want to be left out on.

 

My Children's Summer Initiation

In our little 2 square mile town, there are at least 17 ice-cream trucks.  Most of them looking a little sketchy.  Most of them run by recent immigrants to America who are just trying to make a living.

So far, I have held back on letting my little ones in on the secret of the "creepy music".  I'm not sure I want them to have a salivating Pavlov's dog reaction to the tiny tinkering of "Pop Goes the Weasel".  And I definitely haven't wanted to deal with the incessant whining or begging for the sweet stuff each time one of the 17 trucks drives by.

But I knew that at some point, I would have to introduce them to the sure sign of summer.  And today was the day.

When we heard the music signaling a cold, tasty treat, I ran up to get our change jar.  And we scrounged up $4.

The truck finally pulled up and we asked for four vanilla ice-cream cones.

It was just as perfect as I imagined: four sweet, innocent kids sitting down on the steps of the neighborhood bar eating icecream.  ;)  Oh dear.  {Have I ever mentioned that our little town is also known for the coolest bars?  Yep.  Go Hamtramck.}

It was Clara's first time to hold her own ice-cream cone.

And she only de-coned it once.

Which we quickly picked up and put right back on top.  Ten second rule... don't judge.  {Hubby would like to point out that he scraped off the part that touched the ground... as if that makes it much better}.  In any case, we avoided a serious meltdown on the steps of the bar.  One those steps are probably used to seeing, though - so I'm sure they wouldn't have minded.

And in full Hamtramck style, these colorful women walked by and reminded me once again at how amazing it is to have the world living in our small little town.  And how wonderful it is when the world is out walking the streets together in the warmth of summer.

And our perfect "Welcome to Summer" event ended with another summer initiation:  the skinned knee.

Welcome Summer!

 

 
 

Linking here:

This is Going to be EPIC! {on taking a teenager to the movies}

It's exactly 6:30pm and the knock on the door comes.  I told her to come at 6:30 and I knew she wouldn't be a second late.  I open it to a beautiful teenage girl who is my date for the evening.  We say goodbye to my husband and kids sitting around the table eating pizza - with icecream short to follow.

As we walk down the front steps she says, I've been counting down the minutes until 6:30 all day.  My heart swells.  It's just a movie.  I've been to a million.  She's been to two.  In her entire 15 years - two movies.

I decide to take her out of Detroit and into the suburbs.  We pull into the movie theatre, and as I explain what "Valet" is, we find a spot up front to park.

Let's bounce.  She opens the door to my CRV and steps out.

I chuckle to myself.  I'm so old.  "Bounce" has it's own definition in my 29 year old body, now.  The desire for more "bounce" in my hair - less "bounce" in my body.  I definitely don't want to bounce.  But bounce we do.

If anyone asks, you're my mom.  Your mom?  Why do I have to be the old one?  How about your sister?

Suddenly every flaw in my adult self has exposed itself.  The banana smear on my sweatshirt.  The possible snot-slime line around my collar.  Oh. why didn't I change before I left?!  My scarlet letter is blinking red: "MOM".

Our smuggled in Arizona Green Tea cans make too much noise as we open them, but I sure wasn't going to fork out $4 for a soda.  The movie starts. I hear a whisper... This is going to be epic.  It won't be the last time I hear the words "epic" that night.

Her mom calls three times during the night to make sure she isn't getting raped.  Mom has obviously never been to the suburbs.

The movie is over and we drive home.  She raves about the plot, the bathroom sinks, and the garbage cans.  Did you see the garbage cans?  Even they were beautiful!

I drop her off and she begs to do it again.  I'd say it was an EPIC G.N.O.  {translation:  it was an awesome girl's night out!}

Finally... peace.

It started as soon as he woke up.  I rolled out of bed, hair a mess, into his room.

"Mommy, can I watch a movie?"  We stumble into the living room and turn on cartoons.

"NO!  Not that movie!!"  I change the channel until I realize that nothing is satisfying this little monster.

"I want to eeeeeaaaat."  But he doesn't know what he wants.  And everything I set in front of him is wrong.

"I want Mac & Cheese."  For breakfast?  I don't care.  I make it.  I set it before his Royal Highness and he says,

"Noooo... I don't waaannnt Mac & Cheese."

She's up now.  Eats her breakfast like a little champ.  {The floor, however, is still covered in her food - hours later}.

He's back at it:  "I want to go the Y and play with the toys and the kids."  Great!  I'd love to work out and have a small break from being a mom.  I start to get everyone dressed.  We walk toward the door.

"I don't want to go to the Y.  I want to stay at my hoouuuse and take a nap."  The longer I pull him toward the door, the harder he fights me and the louder he whines.

A nap?  That would be fine, too.  Little one would just scream the entire time I worked out anyway.  So shoes come off.

The nap lasted 10 minutes.  "Mommy???"  I walk in the room.   "I'm awake!"  Great.  Let's play outside.  {This pseudo-nap happened three times}.

"I want to play with the rice!"  I decide to bring down the beans.  Horror erupts when he finds out that beans have entered his playtime rather than the rice.  He eventually gets over it.  

I remember tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day.  I need to take my annual holiday picture for the blog.  I don't have a backdrop prepared for it and the kids are in no mood to smile.

I decide to make this and let them at in in the bathtub.  It was a success.

Then lunch came.

"I want pizza!!"  I hand him a leftover slice from yesterday.

"Noooooo!!  I don't waaaaant pizza."  Chicken nuggets?  Maybe he'll like to dip those.  He accepts until the plate gets in front of him.

"I don't wannnnt chicken nuggets.  I wanna go night-night."  Ok, let's go.  Halfway to his room.

"I wanna eeeeaaaaat chicken nuggets first!!"  Back in the chair.

I walk out of the room at the request to get his sippy cup.  And I catch a glance of myself in the mirror.  Baggy grey sweatpants wet around the bottom, dirty white tank top that does nothing for holding in my c-section gut.  Hair a mess and a face that hasn't seen makeup in days.

I start crying.  I've given up everything for these kids.  I've given up my freedom, my "me-time", my career, my body.

I can't do it anymore.  But I can't NOT do it.  Where do I go from here?

Somehow we make it through lunch.  And this time he really does go to sleep.  I tuck him in and he whispers, "I love YOU, Mommy."  Heart melts.

I carry her into her room and sway back and forth as her little head drops to my chest.  I smell her hair and think that everything must be right.

Naptime brings a breath of perspective, doesn't it?

give when they can't give back

Awhile ago I posted this about my neighbor across the street.  The old, lonely woman who has no family and no visitors.

Well, since that post, I have failed to keep visiting her.  Every now and then I'd see someone come to her door and take her somewhere.  So, I assumed she was being taken care of.

I was wrong.

Last week, I was enjoying this nice Fall weather we are having in January with my kids.  She came to her door and yelled my name.  (well, she calls me "Bunny"... not sure why).  Slightly annoyed, I carried my toddler and my infant across the street (when all Jonah wanted to do was ride his bike), up her steps and into a house where they could touch nothing.

When I got to the door, she was crying.  Tears.  I come in to find out that she missed her appointment to get her food stamps renewed.  She handed me a letter ONE MONTH old stating her appointment was in November.  She has had no food for over a month.

She goes on to explain that she can't read and has no telephone to call the office.  And suddenly, this interesting feeling starts to come over me - a compassionate "I'll take care of you" attitude coupled with a "this is going to interfere with my life" feeling. 

The next morning, I take her down to the welfare office.  I promise to drop her off and pick her up when everything was set.  But, as I help her walk into the building, I realize that this woman needs more than a ride to the office... She needs someone to stand up for her.

So, I sit with her for two hours before we were told that the woman we need to see hasn't even arrived yet.

We leave.

And another week goes by of me calling DAILY to talk to someone at the office.  Another week with no food for my neighbor.  We brought a meager batch of groceries over to help curb her appetite until we could figure out this situation.

She finally has her benefits back and my husband and I have a new tradition of bringing coffee over to her every morning.  Those 15 minutes may be all the people interaction she gets all day.

I like helping my neighbors.  It's why we moved here - and it's nice to see some progress being made in the "loving people arena".

Which brings me to a new thought. 

I've recently been convicted that the money we (as a Better Life Bag community) give to Kiva.org isn't enough.  The money that I donate from 10% of your bag purchases eventually gets returned to me (since the process is a micro-loan).  And I think God would rather me give the money to people and things that can't repay me.

So, I'm going to start being obedient to that leading.  I'm going to start giving the money from your Better Life Bag orders to people and things that can't give back.  Are you ok with that?

I have a few ideas up my sleeve of needs in our little neighborhood, but for now, I think I'll start with my neighbor.

I told Neil that she could be our "family project."  He responded, "No.  She IS our family."

BLB of the day:

The Rachel

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***linking up to Click.Pray.Love***

when a homeless man sleeps in your garage

I've been wanting to write this post for awhile.  Have started it multiple times and never finished.  We'll see how today goes.

A few months ago we had a homeless man sleeping in our garage.  Yes, you read that right.  A homeless man took up camp in our garage.

We invited him to stay.  Crazy?  Probably.  But we really felt like we had to be Jesus to this guy.  He stayed for 10 days before we took him to a rehab home, after he stole our bikes and $10.  I don't hate him for that.  My heart hurts for him and the addictions that he has.  I only wish we could've done more for him.

I did fear for my family's safety while he was resting his head on an air mattress in place of our CRV.  I made sure Neil double and triple checked the locks on the doors before going to bed.

And now, sometimes the thought of him coming back to our doorstep scares me a little.

But, thankfully, I'd handed over the safety of my family to God a long time ago.

Ever since our guest, my heart has been softer toward the people I see on the off-ramps of our highways.  Even more now that it's cold outside.

Today, an amazing opportunity dropped in our laps.  We were on our way to Bible Study (of all places) when we saw him: "Randy".  It's his normal corner on the off-ramp to Ford Road.  We drove by him and I noticed Jonah looking at him.  My mouth started to speak before my head could think twice.

"That man doesn't have anywhere to sleep, JoJo.  And no food to eat.  Should we pray for him?"

"uh huh"

Neil goes one step further - "Let's give him something to eat!"

"We don't have anything to give him," I exclaimed, but my Jesus-like husband pulled out his wallet and turned the car around.

JoJo watched the entire time as his Daddy became the hands and feet of Jesus.

Neil got back in the car and asked Jonah if he wanted to pray for Randy.

"God - thank you for Randy.  Peese help him," he said in his choppy toddler voice.

Tears welled up in my husband's eyes and we both realized the huge responsibility we have to teach our son {to model to our son} the heights and the depths that Jesus went to in order to love people.

We were a few minutes late to Bible Study, but I think Jesus was ok with that.

{comments are disabled on this post.  I don't want any praise.  If you feel the need to write a comment, you can email me.  But I'd prefer you just praise Jesus instead.  He deserves it.  Or go be Jesus' hands and feet to the next person you see on the corner.  It's not really our money anyway.)

a tractor named able

Today I bring you my blog in video form.  Enjoy.

{click on the bursting arrows in the bottom right corner of the screen to watch it full size}

I'm so thankful God took care of that little abandoned house next door.  I have great plans to turn the abandoned lot into a small park for the neighborhood kids.  Now maybe they can stop playing on the street.

 Thank you for all of your sweet comments and concerns regarding the previous two posts.

(seen here and here)

The night after the fire, my girlfriends and I brainstormed Bible verses that had to do with

PEACE

and

FEAR.

We came up with quite a list.

I decided to turn it into a little Subway Art.

This way, the verses are visible and easily accessible when times get scary.

I thought you might like them, too.

Here are a few different printable options for you to choose from.

I printed mine on cardstock.

Choose your favorite, click the picture to be taken to the file, download, print, and have PEACE!

Ha - if only we could just "download" peace.
Wouldn't that be nice?


One of my FAVORITE verses from the list above is Isaiah 26:3
"He will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast - because he trusts in Him."

It seems so obvious that God would give me peace when my mind is focused on Him.
It's when I start to look at the situation and circumstances around me that fear starts to creep in.

Hopefully these verses will help all of us to steady our minds on Him - 
the ONE WHO GIVES PEACE!