Surprise

Last night, I drove up to Algona to take part in a surprise 40th birthday Party for Sherri and Jay. (sorry about the picture quality) Sherri and Jay were truly surprised. It was so fun seeing their expressions. It still cracks me up- when Jay was telling us that he thought going out to eat at the Chinese Restaurant was his idea.

Even Lexy knew about it and kept it quiet. She made them think they were taking her out for supper to celebrate her accomplishment of getting a "1" at the solo contest that day- (way to go Lexy)

I wish the boys could have been there to help celebrate. But, we had things going on Saturday and Sunday mornings- and 5 hours in the car and 3 hours in a restaurant most likely wouldn't bring out the best of my energetic children. It's been awhile since I had been in the car by myself other than going to work- I jammed out all the way up and back- I am surprised I have a voice today.

Big Boys Having Fun

I think this may be Eric's favorite time of year! He works so hard and with all the pressures of life it is so much fun to see him let loose and act like a kid again. The NCAA tournament is the cover for him to invite friends, take days off a work, have his parents watch the boys so he can have some much needed belly laughs and act as if there is not a care in the world. Friends since early elementary school. They may all be in there mid 30's and professionals, but if you were in my basement last night you may think you saw some over grown junior high boy playing.

I could tell my age, while watching this all play out- I had to cross my legs so I wouldn't pee my pants from laughing so hard. That didn't happen years ago!

What on earth you may ask! Well during the NCAA games we play games. One of them being poker. Well, who wants to take your friends money when instead you could torture them with a dare. Thank goodness for pause and DVR. We still didn't miss a second of basketball- just the commercials.

They would come up with the bet- making modifications for me of course- no one needs to see me shirtless! We would play some poker and the bottom two players had to do the dare. Everyone was such good sports taking the punishment of being the looser. My prayers last night were of gratitude, "Thank you for good cards"

Good, clean and innocent fun! It feels so good to laugh, be goofy and silly- we need to do it more often. I for one get too serious in life- this is just exactly what I needed!

NCAA Basketball Tournament Time

An hour from now tip off begins for 4 straight days of basketball. The brackets are filled out, the snacks are bought, the house is picked up, the friends are invited and now it is almost time to veg out on the couch and cheer on our favorite teams- waiting for upsets and Cinderella teams to emerge.

It’s an annual event at our house from the beginning of Eric’s and my relationship- brackets filled out and wagers are made. When Eric and I fill out our brackets- we flip for who gets the first pick and the other person has to pick the opposite- so we are always cheering for the opposite team- so every game is valuable. Our wagers have varied over the years- never monetary – it doesn’t make sense since it comes from the same account. Thing like making meals, back rubs, cleaning duties, getting up with the kids (when they didn’t sleep through the night) and free time. This year- if I win- Eric gets to watch Mama Mia with me and he hasn’t picked a movie that would torture me yet just in case he wins.

This year- Zach and Cale are joining our friendly competition during the NCAA tourn. I will be curious to see how their picks turn out. We directed them a little on the number 1 and 2 seeds- letting them in on the fact that most often they will win, but after the Number 1 and 2 seeds were picked- the rest was free game. We would tell the names of the two teams and they would pick. They based it on if they have ever heard of the state before or if they thought the name sounds funny. I think Cale would have picked “BUTTler” to be in the finals- just because he could say BUTTler without getting in trouble. Our family wager- picks the place we eat and all the games we play for the next family night.

Beans and Rice

Three straight days of eating only beans and rice for the Prairie Ridge Challenge is complete. Many different thoughts have gone through my head in the past three days. One was why on earth am I doing this (that went through my head a lot). But, I think since Eric and I were doing this together, we didn’t want to let the other down and we’re always up for a good competition. I am not sure my heart was always in the right place during the past few days- at times, I was more excited about the weight loss aspect, then I was about what I was hoping to experience.

What did I experience? A couple of things like a new found appreciation for the hungry and a HUGE reminder to myself on how God has truly blessed us. In the past, I have been a little hard hearted when it came to the hungry- mostly because it didn’t really affect me (selfish I know). Something someone wrote on the discussion pages of the beans and rice challenge really hit home to me. We always see the children of poverty, but I never thought about the parents- sending their kids to bed hungry every night, what a horrible feeling that must be. I take for granted lots of things and my hope is that I will remember this challenge and be more thankful for everything that God has given us.

One thing I did not gain was a new love for pinto beans. After 9 meals of them, (well actually 8, because I thought I might puke if I ate another bean and stuck with just rice) I am not sure if I will ever be able to eat another pinto bean in my life! Breakfast never tasted so good then it did this morning and it was cereal and a banana! Life is all about perspective :)

A Celebration of Hope: Beans and Rice Challenge

Our church gave us a challenge (read below) of eating beans and rice for 3 days and use our "grocery money" to donate to an ophanage in Honduras. Eric and I are giving it a try. I am a half a day into it- I miss my Diet Pepsi, I want some food that taste, but I am already humbled to realize how good I got it. I have never been without, I really don't know what hunger is. We realize we could donate our "grocery money" and still eat, but so far (I am only 2 meals into out of 9) I already have more empathy for the hungry. I am not confident I will make it, but it has made me think- I will let you know on Thursday how we did.


From our church website:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat…” Matthew 25: 35.
We live in a land of plenty. Despite economic events of the past year, most of us still have a place to live, a car to drive, and food to eat. And that’s just the beginning. We’ve got computers and cell phones, back yards and barbecues, closets near capacity, and store after store ready to sell us more.That changes our perspective.Surrounded by abundance, housing becomes a matter of status, not shelter. Clothes are deemed unusable because of style, not wear. Water flows freely in long hot showers or summer slip-n-slides. Food becomes entertainment, consumed as a backdrop to social gatherings.But there are many places in our world where morsels of food and sips of water are a matter of life or death. Every day, hunger claims the lives of 16,000 children. That’s one child every five seconds.Ministerios de Fe Vida Nueva which means Ministries of Faith and New Life in Azacualpa, Honduras, battles this reality everyday. In addition to the 20+ kids that live in the home, they provide a noon meal, Monday through Friday for 50 additional children from the nearby poverty-stricken city of Azacualpa. For many of these kids this is the only meal they receive in a day. The children’s home runs this feeding program on $400 a month – that’s $8 per child.You can help bring a glimpse of hope and the tangible gift of food to these children!What can we do?The Rice and Beans Project is a chance to get a new perspective on poverty, a chance to experience hunger in a way we don’t normally encounter in our daily lives. This goal is for the experience to be simple, tangible, and bring us into a better understanding of the complex issue of global poverty.For three days in February, we will trade in our plentiful meals for a diet of rice, beans and water – approximately 700 calories per day – and donate our grocery money to fund the Ministries of Faith and New Life feeding program. We could fund this life-giving project for a full year!As part of this experience, we will also receive some short devotions to encourage us at each mealtime. Through these devotions and the encouragement of one another, it is also our hope that as a church we can grow deeper in our awareness of the 1.2 billion people in our world who are truly hungry. God cares deeply for His people who are in need! In Deuteronomy 10:18, the word of God says, “He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.”

Tae Kwon Do

A few weeks ago Zach and I were at the YMCA. I had promised Zach that after my exercise class I would play basketball with him, but in the gym they were practicing taekwondo instead. Zach wanted to stay and watch. After watching for quite awhile, he began to ask me if he could join. Eric had taken him to watch in the past- just to see if it would be something he would be interested in, but that class was loud and very strict- didn't seem like it would be the right fit. I sat and watched the first class at the ymca and was very impressed with the leaders- very kind, helpful and really wanting everyone to succeed. I was also very happy when the instructor tells Zach and the other kids- they don't do their Tae Kwon Do moves on anyone unless they are in danger.

He loves it! I love seeing the smile on his face and how quickly he is catching on. I am sure it won't be long and Cale will want to join him, Cale has been making up his own "kwon do" moves.

These pictures may make you cringe if you are not used to kids jumping on the furniture. I do try and remind the boys that this is most likely not allowed at most people's house. However, at our house, with two boys with bouncy beans in their bottoms, I would be yelling all the time- the living room is their play land for the 9 months of winter we seem to be having.

Sleep Over

Well, we all survived Zach inviting a friend over for their first sleep over. I have to say it went well and learned a few things along the way. When I think back to my school years some of my fondest memories with friends were having slumber parties. In fact, I still have in my mind that I would like to have some grown up girlfriends over and we stay up all night talking and eating, but never quite get around to organizing it. Anyway, the things I learned this weekend

1. If you just leave them along they work things out. I admit it I am a meddler- I never want feelings to get hurt and with boys angry feelings usually lead to some sort of physical retaliation- so I don't want anyone to get physically hurt either. But, I did more sitting back this time and guess what- they would work most things out on their own- mostly no tears and no blood.

2. They recover quickly. It was getting later last night and happy attitudes were fading fast. They were bickering about something and this was the moment I was waiting for- they're too young, I knew this would happen, they wouldn't be able to get along, I hope this doesn't ruin there friendship forever, I hope his parent don't mind if I call now to come pick him up . . .. But within about a total of 5 minutes- they are laughing and giggling again like nothing ever happened.

3. Use your gut to end things on a good note. They both got some sleep, woke up in good moods, talking about spending the rest of the day together. Zach invited his buddy to church- all went well. We should have ended it then, but they begged to stay a little longer. Well, that little longer ended up in a wrestling match and tears. Which I telling myself don't dwell on the 2 or 3 negative instances and remember they had mostly 18 hours of fun.