BORING?

Someone recently asked me if staying at home and being with my kids each day was boring. Hmmm...Let me think....NO WAY! I cant see how anyone could ever think that staying home, spending time raising kids would be boring. I am doing what God made me to do. I love being a Mom and I love knowing that I have the responsiblitiy to teach and train my kids to know, love, and follow Jesus!

On that note...today has been...hmmmm...rough! We have had Cooper here again today. 1 kid is tiring, 2 kids are hard, 3 kids are INSANE! I wonder what kind of mother the neighbors think I am when I have 3 kids all crying at once! It is pouring rain here today so we arent able to go and play outside...so Noah and Cooper are a bit stir crazy. It makes it quite hard to keep them occupied. Although, my parents did spend lots of money...and I spent 4 years getting a degree in elementary and early childhood education, so surely I can come up with something right????? I should have spent more time concentrating on "early childhood" instead of "elementary" I suppose. I guess I didnt have a family in mind when I was in college (who does?).

Yesterday was the show holiday, but Shane ended up working in the morning. Thankfully, he is coming home at lunch today to stay. I sure do miss him when he's at work.

Dave has been a bit under the weather today, he vomited up all of his milk this morning, and then he had a GROSS pooh. He must be coming down with something. Then, when I was changing him he peed all over the place! He is still happy though and smiling like crazy. While all this is going on, Noah and Cooper are going insane in the living room (which I have trapped them in with my $10 Walmart gates).

It will be nice to head off to the gym later on and then have a nice hot bath.

I have already found at least 2 people to do the Bible study! Yeah! I think I for sure have at least one more friend who will do it!

Gotta go. Cooper woke up crying and now Dave is crying too. Noah is still snoozing through it all. At least we have one good little sleeper here today!

Show Holiday

Rainy and Cold! I dont know if anyone will be going to the show this holiday! I've made some nice hot veggie soup and some good old southern cornbread! The perfect thing for the weather if you ask me!

Got a chance today to chat to my cousin, Mark, as well as my Mom and Dad. I sure do miss being home. Only 6 more months to go!

Please pray for us in regards to our future. Many things are heavy on our hearts right now.

I better run! I can hear a little 4 month old crying!

Feels Like a Friday

Feels like a Friday...

Tomorrow is show holiday! For those of you in the states...that means that everyone gets a day off of work because the fair is in town.

It's a good day today! Kids are sleeping. Laundry is done. Kitchen and bathroom are clean. Rock cakes are made. Anzac cookies are in the oven. We're having homemade pizza for tea and I'm really looking forward to having Shane home with us tomorrow!!!!

Oh Yeah...Here we are at the big pineapple and big prawn (shrimp) on our trip to visit Nan and Pop.

A visit from Cooper

Yesterday, we had a visitor for the entire day. Cousin Cooper came and stayed with us for the day. We were so happy to have him and it was nice that Noah could have a little playmate for the day. Cooper was a little unwell so instead of going to childcare, he stayed with us. It was interesting going from having 2 kids to 3...it sure did keep me on my toes! It was great. We are so thankful for the time we have to spend with our family.

I want to encourage everyone to try and spend some time reading God's Word each day. I have been doing it for awhile now and it is really starting to make a big difference. As a mom it is hard to find time to do anything. I've been getting up with Noah each morning, but now that he is sleeping in, I find that I am doing it during the boy's naptime.

I am also really praying about starting a Bible study here. At first, I found a study that I wanted to do myself. I asked around and there were a few people interested in doing it with me. Now, I have come across a new study that I think would be better to do with a few friends. Please pray that I can get a group together...or at least that I can get a few friends interested in doing it. Beth Moore is actually doing it as well through her blog (Click on Blogs I Read to check it out). She is doing discussion questions each week to go along with the study. I guess you could say that she is faciliting it through her blog. It is a study about the modern day idols in our lives. It would meet every other week...and only 5 times total. Please pray I can find some people to do it with.

4 months old

Where does the time go? Last Thursday, Dave turned 4 months old. I thought you would like to see some pictures of him. I more but I cant get them to download. He had his shots on Friday and went really well. Noah ended up having his chicken pox shot and he went good too.

Dave is now 8.24 kg (about 19 lbs.) and 67 cm long (over 2 ft). He is almost off the charts. He has cut his eating back to only 4 times a day, but is still doing really well. The doctor said I dont have to start solids yet, so I may wait another month or so. Noah was 5 months when he started and he could sit up in his booster seat. Dave should be able to do the same. We didnt have a high chair in Vietnam and we dont really want to buy one here. I am starting to get excited again about making baby food! The doctor said that Dave may have a blocked tear duct because his eye weaps a lot. All I have to do is rub his ducts and it should get better.

So Dave is a healthy thriving little guy! He is the happiest baby I know. We are so blessed to have him!

Our weekend

What a weekend! It seems to have gone by so fast. I had a good day Saturday going out to lunch with a friend and then to a meeting about becoming more effective about sharing your faith. It was really good! Then we all rugged up in our scarves and beanies to go and watch Uncle Pete place soccer on Saturday night!

Sunday was spent trying to rest from having our 2 year old awake crying from 3-5am! We still havent figured out what he was so upset about, but it sure didnt make us much use for Sunday. We were so tired. We went to the beach for lunch and a play. It was really nice and a good distraction from just feeling so tired. We spent the afternoon working on our paperwork for Dave's US citizenship and we still arent done!!!!

This morning Noah and Dave BOTH slept in till 7am! Thank goodness! I had a good Bible study with the young mum's group that I go to on Monday morning. We are studying the book of Joshua. It is really a great study and I am getting so much out of it.

We have a busy night tonight. Shane goes to the doctor after work. Then I am going to the gym. While I'm at the gym, Pete and Carla are bring Cooper over and going to the movies. We are treating them to a night out to go and see the End of the Spear! An awesome movie!!!! We really feel they should go and see it. It is about the 5 missionaries that were killed in Ecuador. If you havent seen it, you must! We laughed. We cried. It is worth seeing. Later on after all 3 kids are asleep, a friend is coming over for awhile. Life just never seems to slow down.

Oh yeah...Here are some photos of us yesterday at the beach! We are having such nice cool weather. It is good to be home for this type of weather!

Whats Happening..

Things have been so crazy for us since returning home from our trip to see Nan and Pop. You have probably noticed that I have not been posting very much lately. Well, that is because (1) I have been really really busy and (2) because Noah, our sweet darling little 2 year old, managed to remove the space bar, the N key, and the M key from our computer. Didnt he do this before? Yes...and he was disciplined for it. Dont worry, he was in big trouble for doing it again. Without these important keys, it makes typing really hard. At the moment, I am down in the shed typing on the desk top computer.

Here's what has been happening in our life this past week...

Shane-His foot is doing much better. After chasing up his x-rays at the base hospital, he found out that no bones are broken. He has just torn ligaments really really bad. He still seems to think that he is going to play soccer when it is better!!!! He is in the middle of making some important decisions regarding his job. Please be in prayer for this.

Noah-"Mom! Mom! Look! Look! A Plane!" That was what he said to me this morning. He sure is talking a lot. He can be a little shy around people he doesnt know but that only lasts about 5 minutes. Temper Tantrums are quite often...typical of a 2 year old. We are getting through it with lots of prayer and discipline.

Dave-he is 4 months old today! He goes to the doctor tomorrow morning for his 4 month shots. I cant believe how fast he is growing up. About a week ago he rolled over for the first time, but hasnt done it again since. He is a good eater and a good sleeper. He is just absolutely wonderful! We are really blessed. He is starting to play with toys now. He really loves Noah too. We are in the process of getting Dave's US citizenship. Lots and lots of paperwork. We are going to Brisbane the week of the 23rd of June to get everything sorted out!

Me-I've made it a habit this week to get up with Noah at 6am. I have been reading my Bible and having a cup of tea to warm me up. I am starting to do my Bible study from 6-6:30 and then Noah and I dress in warm clothes and go for a 30 minute walk. It feels so good and we get to spend some quality time together. I'm still going to the gym, but I will see how the walking goes. It is hard to go to the gym at the moment because Dave is feeding at the same time as my class. Because Shane is crippled, I ended up taking Noah swimming on Wednesday. It was great fun and nice to spend time together just the two of us. I've cooked lots this week. We are having Aunty Marilyn and Uncle Greg over for tea tonight, and last night we had Pete, Carla, and Cooper over. It sure is nice having them live close.


Our house-Still for sale, but not sold yet. Please pray! We have another open house this weekend.


Vietnam-So many people are asking me if we are returning. We do not know yet and we will not know for some time. We are in the process of sorting through everything with our home church, company in Australia, and our leaders on the field. Things need to be slow and thorough, but dont worry. We will keep you updated.


Shane and Marlana-Date nights are few and far between when you have two kids, but guess what? We are going out tonight! Yeah! We are going to see a movie for a chaplin fundraiser in town. It is about the missionary, Jim Elliot. It should be real good. I'm looking forward to having Shane all to myself for once! Our favorite Bundaberg Aunt is coming to look after the boys!


Well...I think I will leave it at that for now. I've attached a picture of us all at the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, NSW. This was taken on our trip to see Nan and Pop. I took pictures of Dave today since he is 4 months, but I will have to post them later. We are having problems uploading photos because Shane has downloaded lots of stuff onto the ipod this month.