The Soloist

My 18 year old brother Wesley recently completed his first solo flight. Here is a quick slideshow of his accomplishment:

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Ryan's 3rd Birthday

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Be Still

Matt and I are facing a pretty big decision right now. To buy, or not to buy? To buy, or not to buy? That question has been going through our minds since we first set eyes on the house we have affectionately dubbed "The Craphole." Sounds enticing, huh? Actually, it would be a great investment. We just need to decide if we really want to put a lot of work into this house, then move into it and sell ours.

The biggest question is, what does God want us to do? I've prayed and prayed and I do hear a voice in my head, but it sounds a lot like mine, not God's. I've joked that God needs to be louder, then it hit me so clearly: God doesn't need to be louder, I need to be quieter. I've spent so much time talking to others, talking to myself, and talking to God, that I haven't actually been listening to God. So, I'm going to go do that now.

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God."

Aaron's First Birthday

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Madison's 5th Birthday

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Peace of Earth Lodge

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Snow Much Fun!

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Blog Unwomaned

I've decided to take a break from blogging. I know what you're thinking, "Why does she need a break, she rarely posts." While it's quite true that I don't post often, I think about posting often; therefore, I'm taking a break. I'm not sure how long it will last, so if you'd like an email when I begin posting again, please send me an email at linder_84@hotmail.com and I'll add you to the mailing list.

Happy Summer!

Oh to be 2 Again

I write often about the difficulties and excitement my 2 year old causes around our house. Two is such a hard age to parent, but today I'd like to offer a slightly different perspective on 2. I took Ryan to Wal-Mart today and let him pick out big boy undies. He is so proud of those little things! Since he's not even close to knowing when he has to go, I left his jeans off when he tried on his first pair to lighten my laundry load.

While I was upstairs with the baby, I quickly became aware of how quiet it had gotten downstairs. If you've ever known a two year old, you know that's a bad sign. I couldn't find him inside, so I checked outside. There was my precious little boy swinging in the sun without a care in the world. He had on an orange fleece, one sock, and stark-white Lightning McQueen underwear.

After the swinging got old, he decided sliding looked like fun. To fully grasp this next image in your head, you have to understand something about my husband; bigger is always better and faster is better than slower. Matt noticed the slide was a little sticky one day, so he used Windex on it. That didn't quite do the trick, so he Pledged it. Our kids look like greased pigs flying down a hillside. Now invision Ryan in his new little underwear, remember he has just one sock on, flying down our plastic slide. He actually goes into the air at the end of the slide because he's cruising so fast. When his trip comes to an end, he kind of skids across the grass. At the end of every trip down the slide, he giggles the most care-free giggle that only a young child can really do.

When was the last time you played like a 2 year old? I'm certainly not suggesting that we all go outside in our underwear, but have you taken some time to relax lately? My idea of relaxing is usually doing something that I want to do instead something I have to do. My challenge to you for today is to find some time to be carefree. If you take your kids to the park, don't sit on a bench and watch, get on a swing. Swaying gently doesn't count; pump your legs and really get going. Play a game of tag with your kids. They'll love it and I know you'll feel better too.

As parents or grown-ups we think we need to be teaching the kids around us. In truth, we probably need to sit back and be the students once in awhile. One thing I need to learn from my kids is how to laugh out loud and play like I have nothing better to do...because I don't!

I Knew It!

If you're a mom, I'm sure you've had this happen to you. In the busyness of your day, you see something in your house and you think to yourself, "I really should move that, somebody might step on it." Or, "Oh! That cup is right on the edge of the table." So you move it to the middle of the table. I usually do these things without even really being conscious of it; it's just part of my "job." Then there are other times where I walk through my house, see something with "potential mess" written all over it, and do nothing about it. Tonight was that night. Madison picked some lilacs and had them sitting in a plastic cup on her bookshelf headboard. I have to admit, I saw them, knew they would probably spill, but decided to take my chances. Big mistake.

She was getting ready for bed and was arranging all of her many animal friends. A small dalmation fell off her top bunk, so she picked it up and chucked it back onto her bed. She has a whole big bed and is slinging it backwards over her shoulder and do you want to guess where it landed? If you said "right into the side of the cup," you would be right. The water ran down the headboard onto her big pile of books, onto her bedding, and right down the side of the bed like a waterfall until it splatered onto the floor. No big deal, right? The puddle was under her bed in the far corner. I'm sure I was quite a sight sliding under the bottom bunk with only my toes as evidence that I was under there.

Here's What I'm Thankful For

Princess Madison-Age 4

Prince Ryan-Age 2 (Victim of Hat-Loving Sister)

Precious Baby Aaron-Age 6 months

These three amazing kids are the reason I celebrate Mother's Day. No gifts necessary...I get to be called Mommy by these miracles.

And the Winner Is...

Thanks to the 3 people that entered the contest (only 2 within the contest time frame). I loved both of your responses and couldn't decide between the two, so you both win! How exciting, huh? I hope everyone has a happy Mother's Day! Matt and the kids got me a new digital camera, so I will be posting a lot more pictures! My last camera lived a good life and served us well, but it was just shot!

I found this quote and wanted to share it with you:

"For a mother is the only person on earth Who can divide her love among ten children And each child still have all her love."

I won't be testing that quote to see if it is actally true, but I know it's true for three kids.
Happy Mother's Day!

Panic Mode

Well, tomorrow's the big day...FINALS! Matt took the kids to Grandma's house tonight so I could get some good quality, uninterrupted studying time. I'd like to say I'm ready, but I'm not! If I only had one test, I would be fine, but I have 2. Yikes! I've been tempted to slack off on the studying and just take whatever grade I can manage to get, but Matt knows me too well. He reminded me that I will regret that once the stress of studying wears off and he's right. (Are you reading this Matt? I said YOU ARE RIGHT!) It's not often that I admit that. In case you're keeping track, I've got just one semester left before the big G-Day. When my kids ask me some day why it took 3 extra semesters to get my bachelor's degree, I will explain that there is one for each of them. If the thought of me hunched over a scan-tron sheet happens to pop into your mind on Thursday, please send up a little prayer. I'd appreciate it!

Back to the dining room table for more management and operations management fun. Don't forget to leave a comment on the contest post (Come One, Come All). I would love to reward you, my few faithful followers for reading my ramblings.

50/50?

The sermon series for the past few weeks at my church has been entitled, "Pure Sex." It has been quite an interesting series. Don't worry, I won't re-hash all the topics here, I just want to discuss an interesting point our pastor brought up. It has really changed the way I think. He said, "Marriage is not 50/50, it's 100/100. Even if your spouse withdraws, you are not relieved of your duty to give 100%. If your spouse is only giving 50%, you can't give 70% just to be a little bit better than him/her."

Is that the way you live now? It sure isn't that way at my house! My husband is pretty good about not letting my mood affect him, but I need some work in that area. This change of habit has not come easy and I've only been working on it for a day and a half! I've had to be intentional about the little things. My tongue is starting to hurt because I've been biting it a little more often than letting it run.

Challenge for today: find an area of your marriage where you can give a little more. Maybe you could give a real kiss to your spouse before you leave or when you get home. Not just a peck on the lips, but an actual kiss that says "I love you." Maybe you can drop what you're doing when your spouse gets home to show that you are happy to see him/her. Be creative...I think it will be worth it.

Don't forget to enter the contest posted yesterday!

Come One, Come All

As promised, here's the re-posting of the contest guidelines:

1. If you're a mom, tell me why you love it,
2. If you're not a mom, tell me what you love about your mom.

Easy enough. Get me your entries by Thursday, May 8 at 5 pm CST and I'll a winner (or randomly if I can't decide). If you refer a friend, you get an extra entry. Make sure your referral mentions your name in their comment so I know who to give credit to.

I think that's it...get to posting!

Just a Couple of Things

If you've visited my blog lately, you might notice that a post is missing. Last week I posted the details of a Mother's Day Contest. Due to a little scandal on my blog, that post has been deleted. I will be reposting that today and setting a new deadline. If you are the one and only person who had already entered the original contest, please repost your entry. Thanks!

Another thing...
I won a Mother's Day Contest! Let me clarify that...I was A winner in a Mother's Day Contest. My entry should be posted sometime this week on the Hearts at Home website. This website is a great resource for Moms, whether you stay home with your kids or not. They also have books available on a variety of topics that you might enjoy. Check it out if you have time. Also, I love the winning entry that's posted on there today.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I hope you have a great day and please enter the contest so we can all see the reasons we have to be thankful for our greatest God-given jobs as Moms!

This One's For You...You Know Who You Are

Well, despite the fact that I posted nearly every day last week (which if you visit my blog frequently you know is pretty good for me), I've been accused once again of blog-neglect. I apologize to you all, but I just haven't had much to say. Let's see if I can crank out a quick Andrew-pleasing post. Whoops! Did I just say Andrew?
I heard a song today that was new to me...I don't watch American Idol, so I'm sure I'm a little behind the times. It's called "Hollywood's Not America" by Ferras. Besides that fact that it's just a pretty song, I love the lyrics. My favorite lines are "You can make a million dollars/But you might lose yourself." Isn't that the whole world? There's really no limit to how much money you can make, but does it really matter if you don't recognize yourself or your life when you're done? I can spend my life working, but when I wake up, my kids might be 30 and I don't even know them. I know money is important, but not THAT important. Love what you do today, but don't trade your life for it.

"So long girl..."
Lindsay

P.S. Don't forget to comment on what you think the prize (within reason) should be for the upcoming contest

What a Strange Dream!

I awoke at approximately 4:40 this morning feeling like I was sleeping in a waterbed and someone was jumping on it. It was the strangest feeling! I wasn't really sure if I was having a dream, or what (I've been known to have some crazy ones). As soon as the bouncing stopped, the phone rang. It was my husband to confirm that I had just witnessed my first (and probably only) earthquake. According to CNN, it registered around a 5.4 on the Richter scale and started in Southern Illinois. I thought it was a pretty cool feeling, but a little scary at the same time. I almost wish it had lasted a little longer, because it would have been neat to be standing or walking. Another cool thing would have been to look outside at my mini van bouncing around! Can you imagine?! The thought of it just makes me chuckle.

What's Your Guilty Food Pleasure?

If you read yesterday's post, you might remember that I will soon post the details of a Steward Family of 5 contest. As I try to plan the prizes for the contest, I need some help from you. As the title suggests, I want to know your favorite thing that you might not normally treat yourself to. It can be gift certificates to a restaurant (something small, like Starbucks) or something easily mailable like a Snickers. In case you're wondering, mine would probably be Dairy Queen. We don't have many franchise restaurants here, and DQ is only open certain months of the year which means you have several months to crave it without a way to satisfy that craving.

Another small hint about the contest...the winner will be chosen at random from all entries, but you can receive bonus entries by referring people to my blog. They have to be visitors who post a comment stating who referred them and I will give you the dates that they will count. Well, that's enough for one day. Stay tuned!

Proofreading and Presentations

Just 2 1/2 weeks, finals, then the end of the semester! I can't even explain to you how excited I am, but I'll try. I am in the middle of proofreading a 25 page paper that was written by my group. I think a 5th grader could have done a better job, so I'm basically having to re-craft the entire thing. Tough work. After over an hour of working on it, I am on page 9. Ugg. We are analyzing the Walgreens drive-thru pharmacy. Sounds thrilling, doesn't it? It's not. I never want to see another Walgreens again. Unfortunately for me, they seem to be the store that's on every major corner. We drove through a fairly small town a couple of weeks ago and my eyes found 3 Walgreens stores. I'm not sure why they need so many. The paper is due in 6 days and the presentation is due in 8. I've never had a group project this big and I will be glad when it's done. I'm used to having control over my own grade and work. I hate that other people are influence my grade. That's just a scary thought for me, which is why I'm the crazy one who volunteered to proofread the paper.

Another reason I'll be excited when school is over for the semester: I am finishing ANOTHER group project. Luckily for me, there is a girl in the group who is as uncomfortable as me (maybe more so) with other people influencing her grade. She also has a 4.0 GPA, so has been doing the entire project just for something to do. Secretly I think she's as paranoid as me that after working so hard to have a spotless academic record, it could all be ruined by this stupid project. At the moment that paper is 8 pages. I also volunteered to proofread that one. If you're keeping track, that means I am proofreading 33 pages of yuck that I care nothing about, except for its impact on my grade.

Well, it's off to bed for me. Hopefully you'll forgive me for not proofreading this!

Lindsay

P.S. Stay tuned because when I'm done with school I will be celebrating with all of you by having a small competition/give-away. It will be fun, I promise!