Training Children in Righteousness

While I was reading Don't Make Me Count to Three this morning (by Ginger Plowman), I came across some helpful advice that I haven't been considering when I discipline Luke.  We had a pretty long bed-time battle last night. . .

How do we do this with children? (talking about teaching them the put off/put on principle)First, work through what a biblical response would have been.  Second, have the child follow through with it. . . When we correct our children for wrong behavior but fail to train them in righteous behavior, we will exasperate them because we are not providing them with a way of escape. . . There will never be a situation where this does not apply.  As a rule, anytime you correct your child for wrong behavior, have him walk through right behavior.  This is how we train our children to walk in the righteousness of Christ.  This is what the Bible means when it says to "train them in righteousness."

Change is Happening

I've actually been messing around with my blog tonight, and if you didn't notice, I changed the name and have a brand-new template to go with it.  I got the free template here.  I realize that most people probably read blog via their Google Reader or whatever, so you might not even notice.  But, I thought some people might wonder what "My Beanstalk" is, so I wanted to give you a heads-up that it's ME, formerly Luke & Simon, which was formerly Profundities from Lukie's Mom.

"Beanstalk" is just a word that Luke made up that is now part of our real-life vocabulary around here.  Do you have words like that?  Words that only you and your family know the meaning to?  Like, the little shelf/cabinet we have that we call "the box." :)  Well, when Chris or I want to get on the computer and check our email, blogs, facebook, what have you, we say that we want to "check our beanstalk."  Get it?  My friend Lea (who really needs to blog more often, ahem!) told me I should name my blog "My Beanstalk," and I thought it was a great idea!

On a technical note, does anyone know how I can eliminate that huge space below my name?  I can't figure it out.

So, now I want to hear all of your "insider vocab."  What's your beanstalk?

I'm Here to Make you Feel Better

Well, not really, but that's what I felt like one morning last week.  I felt like if some of you friends of mine out there - who are moms of little children like I am - saw me and my offspring, you would feel much, much better about yourself. :)

I actually wasn't doing too poorly Thursday morning - compared to the previous mornings.  I was up and showered by 8:00 (Earlier in the week, Simon had me up so much and for so long during the night that Chris let me sleep in till 9 or later.  Keeping that kind of schedule makes one feel rather groggy all day long).  I also had made a new resolution to eliminate 95% of Luke's tv viewing, and he was doing really well - playing camp-out in the corner of the living room.  Simon was taking his morning nap, and I was getting all kinds of little things done around the house; things weren't looking great and all put together, but if you had given me 20 minutes, I could have busted a move and things would've looked spick and span.  But they didn't.  

I also hadn't gotten Luke dressed for the day yet, so he was in his favorite outfit - underwear and his jammie shirt.  Well, as I was walking through the living room, Luke pointed out to me that our neighbor Gimja was standing outside our patio wanting to talk to me.  Gimja is our friendliest neighbor.  She has two grown sons who live with her, and always loves to chat and sweet talk with Simon when we see her.  Turns out, she just wanted to have a neighborly chat, and I even invited her inside (warning her that things were a little disheveled).  She turned down my offer, promising to come in another time.  Luke came outside and putzed around while we talked.  I wondered what she was thinking to herself of my son in his undies since it was coming up to lunchtime.  She probably thinks I'm such a lazy mom! I thought.  Then, to my amusement (it probably should have been to my horror, but it wasn't), I looked down at Luke and realized there was a smushed blueberry, smeared and dried in his hair.  Nice.  I didn't say anything and hoped Gimja didn't notice.  I thought it was pretty funny and called Chris to share the chuckle.  

Sadly, my good humor ended when I realized that there was a nice size blueberry stain on the smack-dab middle of the quilt on my bed.  Ooh, now I was mad.  And it was entirely Chris' fault, since he had given Luke the snack involving blueberries the night before.  I called him right back and told him how his negligence had resulted in our bedspread getting big ugly stain on it. Quilts are not cheap! I groaned to him.  I think I even hung up on him.  Never mind that I too let Luke have snacks around the house, and that I myself have even given him frozen blueberries mixed with cereal and not required him to stay at the table.  :)  Well, thankfully, my new laundry friend, Lestoil, got that stain right out - no problem!  And even if it hadn't, I knew it wasn't really Chris' fault.  Poor guy. :)

So, here are some pictures showing you Luke at his finest. :)  You can see Luke's campsite in the background, along with some of the dirtiest windows to be seen! (They got a washing that day though and stayed smudge-free for about two seconds.)

Bye-Bye Summer

I haven't posted in forever!  I'm too tired to give you a lengthy update, but we've had a good summer and traveled a lot!  Currently, Simon is giving me a run for my money with ridiculous behavior in the middle of the night.   Last night, I couldn't fall asleep myself, until Simon woke up some time after midnight.  I didn't manage to get him back into bed until 2 (after Tylenol and a bottle), and he woke up at 4!  I thought I was going to crack.  Chris helped out for an hour, but Simon was pretty uncontrollable.  I was starting to worry if he was hurting in some way, but then he would start babbling.  After another bottle (is he growing and teething?), I laid him in bed at 6, shut his door, and turned the fan on by my ear.  I wouldn't have heard him if he screamed my full name!   Dear Chris let me sleep until almost ten, when Luke came in and asked me to do something for him.  I have given up on sleeping well.  I haven't slept well at night (on a regular basis) since we moved here in July of 2007, thanks to being pregnant, Luke and his craziness, and now Simon.  I'm getting over it.  I used to think if a mom didn't get good sleep, she wasn't "training" her kids properly (other than the newborn months).  (Then Luke turned 3, and I had Simon.)  What a load of you-know-what.  How could I have been so arrogant?

So, here's what we did this summer:

• Late May: We went to MI for a week over Chris' birthday; Chris took actual vacation and did not study during the days!  (He worked every other time we were away from home.)
  
• June:  We were home for the entire month!  It was a nice month, including VBS at our church and lots of different happenings with friends and summer-time fun
• First 2 weeks of July: Luke turned 4 on July 2!  We spent time with almost my entire family up at my parents' house.  I got to meet Malachi for the first time, and see my sweet Katie, Paul, Preston & Anna for the first time in well over a year.   We desperately missed Daniel, Molly, Grace, Buddy, Elijah and Barnabas (who I still haven't met:()
• We were home for one week in the middle of July.  
• Last two weeks of July: The boys and I went to Michigan; Chris joined us the second week.  The weather was hot and sunny the entire time, and Luke and I went swimming once or twice every day.  We didn't want to come home because we were having such a good time, but once home, we were all happy to be here.  Other than Simon's middle-of-the-night shenanigans, we're doing really well.

ATTAYSHUN!!!!

That's Lukespeak for "attention." I just wanted to let ya'll know (I'm finishing up Paula Deen's memoirs, hence the Southernspeak) that I've figured out how to give you non-facebookers the link to my pictures. Here ya'll go! Thank you Katie B! (Hey, I'm a Katie B. too! It must be late that I got a kick out of that.)

I have only uploaded the one album and now am in MI hanging out with family and old friends. And the pictures are all on our computer with Chris. In Illinois. Maybe he'll be a dear and upload the rest for me. (?) :)

Pictures from our WI Trip

I just realized how easy it is to export pictures from iPhoto to facebook, so just click here to see them. I'll upload more tomorrow. I had to post this one here though. Simon and Amos are just two weeks apart (Amos is older), and they were so cute together!

High Hopes for Summer

We are SO excited to finally welcome summer! It was a long winter with several rounds of sickness, not to mention those murky and foggy early months with a new baby. We have emerged from the past 6 months all intact though and are looking forward to having a great summer! We already enjoyed a week together in Michigan with Chris' family. One of the best parts is that Chris took the week off himself and did no major studying! We enjoyed two dinner dates with friends (one without the kids!), a Tiger's game (thankfully, they won!), getting family pictures taken and a birthday party for Chris with his family. Last Tuesday, Chris, Simon and I headed home while Luke got to stay and have a big-boy stay with his Grandma and Papa. After having two kids - one of which is an almost-4 crazy boy, our precious little Simon practically felt like NO kids. :) He's such a doll and very compliant. Well, he could be a TEENSY bit more compliant and sleep straight through the night, but he usually gives me at least a 7-8 hour stretch. And sometimes he does go 10-11 hours. I guess I tend to compare him with Luke who was an amazing night-time sleeper since the age of 7 weeks. (Now he's a different story.) But Si is much more laid back than Luke every other hour of the day. Anyway, I digress.

So, we had four nights here at home before Luke came home with his Grandma and Maw Maw on Saturday (yesterday). The first day home - Wednesday - was sort of a loss because I had a little 24 hour stomach bug. I was able to just lay low and keep a slow pace since my energizer bunny was in Michigan going to petting farms, carnivals and swimming pools with his Grandma. Thursday I had a bit of a hangover from my sickness, but managed to get my Lea fix :) and wash some windows. But on Friday I was a MACHINE of productivity! I did so many little organizing projects that were dying to be done, one of which was beginning to organize Luke's toys in clear plastic totes instead of various baskets or containers that they came in. This streamlines the size of everything and provides more room while looking neat and contained. YIPPEE!!! I took a "before" picture and will take an "after" shot in a few weeks when I finish buying all of the totes that I need. (I gotta take it slow on this budget!)

My main objective while Luke was gone was to get all bills paid, paperwork filed, donations donated (I cheated b/c they're still in my trunk), extra "stuff" stored and finally full cupboards and a full fridge. Up until now I have felt pretty disorganized and "behind" since Simon was born. I am so tired of living in a reactive manner, and I want to be more proactive! Six months sounds terribly long to have just gotten over the hump, and it's not that we've been in survival mode until now, but we just hadn't gotten into a good groove, and I didn't feel like myself.

So, here are my summer times hopes, wishes and goals.

1. Go to bed EARLIER (by 10pm). This will help me achieve no. 2.
2. Wake up by 7 (if Si lets me sleep that late) and get showered and dressed right away. (I have a horrible habit of sporting my pjs for an hour two. Sometimes that's fun, but mostly it just makes me feel gross.)
3. Read my Bible and spend time in prayer as soon as I can. I will not set an amount of time or length of passage, because some mornings I might start knowing I'll only have 10 minutes, but that's ok. It's better than nothing at all.
4. Spend time reading the Bible with Luke before he watches any tv that day.
5. Focus on responding and reacting calmly and prayerfully with my sweet Lukie. This has become one of my biggest struggles and frustrations.
   
6. I am in dire need of regular exercise, and I recently bought a new sit-n-stand stroller (which I love!). Going on 3 walks a week doesn't seen unreasonable.

So, here's to a GREAT summer!

On Chris' 28th Birthday

After months of an awkward friendship - the type where one's emotions are bound to become vulnerable and the friendship will either become a lifetime of "I do's" or will dissolve completely, they finally stepped forward with mutual affection. It didn't take long for them to know they would walk their life's journey's together. He had all kinds of ideas and aspirations, and faith and commitment that would take him - and her if she chose to follow - far from where they stood then. She was nervous and uncertain of her willingness to go the distance that he had in mind. She was a home-body, a mama's girl. She got homesick the night before leaving home. Her mom challenged her, "But, aren't you willing to go?" So, she went. How could she not? He was her very best friend. He was kind, calm, smart. He could make her laugh so easily. And he challenged her love and devotion for Christ without saying words. It was just the way he was. Marriage was a small adjustment for them, because they were young and had barely lived as adults on their own. They enjoyed many new experiences together and made a good bit of mistakes together too. "Live and learn," they would say. Though in the beginning their opposing strengths and weaknesses attracted them, time proved to them that they were more similar than different - sometimes strengthening them, other times revealing magnified weakness. The mechanics and natural progression of life sometimes had a way of clouding the things she valued most in him. All of the sudden, he didn't seem so calm; she forgot how smart he was; and she found herself rolling her eyes more than laughing. Sometimes she even resented his commitment to go the distance, though she would never put it in those words; she was tired of making what she thought were sacrifices and thought she deserved better. How thankful she would be when she emerged from her self-consumed fog. She was thankful it didn't take crisis or fear to open her eyes once again to the character she prized so much in her husband. There was more nit and grit in their every day life than tulips and Hawaiin music, but at the end of the day - some so long they felt like a week - they would chat like friends, converse honestly and seriously like long-time partners and laugh simultaneously at the same thing. When she turned out the light, she knew she could never chose any other path but to go along with him - even to the farthest distance. Then she would smile and mock herself for thinking, even for a second, that she had been the one with the choice all along. And she gave thanks and honor to God for his providence and blessing on her.

First Borns

I remember hanging out with David & Jenecia and Jonny & Christine when we were all newly married. We would talk about how hopefully one day our kids would all play together when we managed to get together, and the boys would all wrestle. So, since David & Neesh have been in the area these last few months (and we are loving living two miles from Jonny & Christine), we've all gotten together a few times. I think our boys were even kind of wrestling once! (Though I'm not exactly sure.) Several weeks ago, we all met up at Gurney Mills, and I took this picture. I wish it weren't blurry, but it's still cute.

The first born sons of Chris Bruno (aka Bruno Sherf), Jonny Cummings and David (Dan) Griffiths: Luke Bruno, Isaac Cummings and Solomon Griffiths

Happy Mother's Day - Beware: Motherload of Pictures!!!

My First Mothers Day: Luke was about 10 months old.

My Fourth Mother's Day: May 11, 2008
Luke is 3 years/10months and Simon is 5 months old


Simon loves his brother. Luke can always make him smile.

Luke's shenanigans crack Si up too.
Luke bought me a card that had pictures for him to color. He is well on the way to writing his name. (See the top of the card.) He can write each letter, but doesn't quite understand that they have to be in order. :)


Simon is really starting to love playing in the Exersaucer. He was chillin' out this morning while we all got ready.


This morning we had a baby dedication at our church and Simon was dedicated! It was so special. Here he is with our pastor. (Sorry this shot is grainy. A friend took some other pictures with her better camera, so maybe you'll see those soon.)


My great friend Lea and her sweet daughter Cecily. Isn't she a dollbaby? (Our families ate lunch at Qdoba together. It was so fun! It wasn't crowded at all and we stayed for 2 hours!)


Me with my baby at Qdoba.

Family picture!

Luke and Claira's first date. Chaperoned, of course. (We parentals were at the next table.)


My boys tonight before bedtime.

I posted all three shots because I wanted you to see how incredible easy it is to get a smile out of Simon. He is one of the happiest babies ever!


And the third smile was the biggest!

Beautiful blue eyes - and though you can't really see them here, he has amazing eyelashes! (Sometimes he still scratches himself crazy with his fingernails though. See his scratchy forehead?)

A rare photo shoot with the brothers. Luke's usually too busy to sit and hold his brother. Si soaks up any attention Luke will give him.

So cuddly!

Simon always has kisses for mama. :)

Where in the World am I?

Sometimes I don't even know myself, I tell ya. Life has been just too crazy for us lately. Our days in Michigan are limited - something that makes me sad, but by now I just want to get the move over with, settle into our new place, and finally take a breather!

Jack or Jill?

I thought that moving this early in the pregnancy wouldn't be too complicated, seeing as I moved to Louisville when I was 8 months pregnant with Luke. But it turns out that I'm moving right around the 20 week mark, and getting dr. appointments and ultrasounds in has been a little hairy, especially since Baby No. 2 is a stinker! A few weeks ago, I had an appt. at Oakwood Main for a ultrasound - you know, the extensive one to check all sorts of things, least of which is the gender of the baby - but that was obviously high on our list! We were all very excited to know if we were going to have a little Jack or Jill (not our real baby names, by the way), and Chris and Luke came with to have a look-see at our little baby. Wouldn't you know it, the baby pulled a quick one and folded up in half, all squished up in a ball. His (I'm not to going to say "it") ankles were crossed - get this - in front of his face! When Luke was a baby, he always had his ankles crossed (and everyone worried that it would damage his legs - silly relatives!). The ultrasound technician tried for a long time to get the baby to move around, and I even got up and went to the bathroom (where I did jumping jacks & stretches in the stall); but all to no avail - whether we have a Jack or Jill on our hands remains a mystery. Sigh. We still have more chances to check though. Not only did the baby prevent us from seeing a certain area, but he also prevented the technician from checking everything she needed to. So on Friday morning I have another ultrasound scheduled. Cross your fingers!

Otherwise, this pregnancy - like Luke's - has been very kind to me. I had virtually no "morning sickness" in the first trimester, and though in the 2nd I don't have as much energy as I would like (which I blame on Luke and the move), I am thankful to not have had any major complaints. Last week I did have several days of minorly irritating heart palpatations. Has anyone ever had that with a pregnancy?

Luke News

In the last month, Luke has undergone a transition - from his crib to a twin bed, aka, "the big boy bed." He's had it in his room since we moved to MI, but we never had a need to make the move. The transition went quite smoothly, and though - like before - there are nights when bedtime is a battle, he doesn't get out too much and generally does great! The next big transition - that of using a toilet rather than a diaper - is far, far away, I fear. But, I really haven't stressed out about this too much. Luke shows absolutely NO signs of being ready, appears not to have the necessary muscle control, and really doens't care at all! I have met many mothers, especially of little boys, who encourage me that it may not happen even until age 4, but it always does happen! It would be a nice gift to have Luke out of diapers before we have another one in them, but we shall see about that.

Luke is getting very excited about moving to our new house, "where Daddy will go to school and I will ride the train and play with Isaac," so Luke says. He's excited about having a new room and being close to his friend Isaac, but I know he will miss seeing Grandma & Papa so much and living right with Maw Maw. I have an inkling that they'll be visitng us every so often though! Luke has been a pretty good helper during the packing process, sometimes packing a box all on his own (which usually consists of 3 random and unrelated objects). When he wants to close the box up and tape it up, I pretend to lose the tape. :)

Our Pay-tay-shun (Vacation)

We are having a wonderful break in our schedule right now and are spending three nights at a great hotel in St. Ignace. Tomorrow, and possibly the day after, we're heading over to Mackinac Island, where I am extremely excited at the prospect of watching fudge being made. I LOVE that! I will most certainly than buy some, as well as trying out several samples. :) Luke has been so funny about our vacation, but he seems to have it confused with moving to our new house. On our way up here today, he kept saying, "Where did the paytation go? Where's the paytation?" We kept trying to explain that we are ON our vacation, and that we were going to a hotel. But then he asked where the boxes were and kept saying that we're on our way to our new house. I thought we had things straightened out, but after we had gotten into our hotel room, he said, "Here's our new house!" It's been pretty funny, and of course the way he says "paytation" cracks me up every time. I've corrected him a couple of times but love to hear him say it his way.

Sadly, I did not bring along the cord to connect my camera to our computer, so you will have to wait (and you better pray) for pictures.

Moving Plans

Chris & I are heading to IL next Monday to close on the condo. Luke will be enjoying a couple of last days with Grandma & Papa, thus freeing Chris & I up to clean and paint. On Wednesday, Chris will return to MI to pack the truck and get Luke. Hopefully, on Thursday our stuff will be moved and we'll be reunited as a family in our new house! My mom will be down during the week to help with cleaning & painting, and Chris' parents will help us over the weekend. We thank God for our family!

Well, gotta run - Nick at Nite to watch, you know!

Love to you and yours - Katie

Janelle's Brood

Some of you may know my sister Janelle but do not have access to her blog. Below is an update that she posted today. If you want to have access yourself, email me at kbruno01@yahoo.com, and I'll forward your request.

Please be in prayer for the kids as well as Jason and Janelle. Ask your friends and family to pray too!

Today we got a phone call from the child protection worker. The plan is for the kids to leave for Milwaukee on March 24. (That is painfully soon.)

Thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement to us. Here are some specific things to pray for:

- Tomorrow, the adoption resource worker is coming to our house to explain to the kids that they will be moving. (Pray that God will help them understand, and that He will comfort them.)

- Pray for Jason and I, that God will help us to comfort the kids and encourage them to "embrace" their new home. (Even though we don't want to - pray for our attitudes.)

- Pray for our kids, that Christ would persevere in their lives. (Tonight, I prayed over each of our children and asked God to protect them from the painful scars of sin. I asked Him to keep them from having sex until marriage, that He would keep them from drugs and alcohol, and that they would trust Christ and live a Godly life.)

- Pray that God will continue to give us faith to trust HIM and that I won't become bitter and discouraged.

- Will you keep praying with us that God would miraculously intervene and keep the children in our home. I have been encouraged to "walk by faith, not by sight" lately. I know God can do ANYTHING in spite of circumstances.


Isaiah 26: 3-4
3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Some Updates

It's taken me forever to get this post up. I started it on Saturday and am finally finishing it.

Saturday, March 3

Right now, I'm enjoying the beautiful sunshine of Louisville, Kentucky on a bright Saturday morning. My head is resting comfortably against a beautiful high-back sofa, and my feet are propped up on an over-stuffed ottoman. And birds are singing outside. Chris, Luke and I are enjoying the weekend with our friends Julie and Brian in their new house (complete with new sofa and ottoman). Chris feels good about the tests he took yesterday, as well as the interview he had with the New Testament faculty at Southern.

But the real topic of this post is Wednesday. What a day. I had quite the "to do" list, full of errands to get ready for the trip to Louisville.

I could elaborate and give you a detailed play-by-play of that wonderful day. I actually started to do that, but it was getting WAY too long, and it was only to 10:00 in the morning! So here's a quick recap, in time-line fashion.

9:00am - Luke and I leave to go to the State Farm office; meanwhile, Chris' grandma heads to the Secretary of State's office to get a number. (Thanks, Grandma!)
10:00am - I drop Luke off at Beth's house to play with Claire (Much thanks to Beth for giving me a few hours of "free" time!)
10:30am - I arrive at the Sec. of State's office WITHOUT the title to the car. Shoot!
11:00am - I get back home and decide to just get some laundry and packing done. By that point, I didn't have enough time to make it to the Sec. of State's office and back to Beth's in time.
12:15 pm - I pick Luke up and bring him back home to hang out with Maw Maw (Chris' grandma).
1:00 pm - I head back to the Sec. of State office. Much to my delight and surprise, that pink return slip moves me to the front of the line. No number needed! No sitting for hours upon hours! The day doesn't seem all that bad now. Soon, I have a new Michigan license plate and my registration.
2:00 - After picking Luke and Grandma up, we head to Jerry's house (Chris' brother) to swap cars (LONG, boring story).
3:00 - I drop Luke and Maw Maw off at home and head out to give the car some TLC -- oil change, car wash, a full tank of gas, a good vacuuming out, and a good wiping down of the interior. I finished it off with a new air freshener, and that baby was ready for the road! I managed to go to four different places to get all of that done -- should've done some multi-tasking there. But, I kind of embarrassed myself at the car wash place and didn't feel like staying to vacuum. I don't know if I've EVER taken a car through an automatic car wash. Like a dork, I had a hard time getting the car in the track. I was cracking up at myself; the guy directing me must have thought I was such an airhead! I guess I was being sort of an airhead, because when they waved me out after the car was dried off, I turned around and noticed that the back window was rolled down about two inches! A fitting ending to that day. :) Ah well, I had to give Luke's carseat a good washing anyways.

We've had a nice weekend in Louisville. It's so fun to be with old friends. Luke and Caitlyn are having a ball. This morning we met John and Shannon Collop for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Unfortunately, Luke had the biggest blow-out ever. I did not have an extra change of clothes, and Cracker Barrel didn't have any pants for sale. The kid managed to get poop on his sock too, so I ended up carrying him back to the table in nothing but a shirt, a diaper, one sock and his shoes. After we ate, Chris just wrapped his legs up in his sweatshirt and ran him out to the car. We were in Kentucky. Luke fit right in. :) ha ha

Below are some pretty pitiful pictures of our cute kids. Luke and Caitlyn had a blast together, but I didn't manage to get my camera out of the bag too much. These are the best I have. :)




Monday, March 5

Below is an email that Chris sent out this morning. I just thought I'd post it to fill ya'll (I'm reverting back to Southern talk already) in.


The last couple months have been full of twists and
turns for us; however, it seems like God is giving us
some direction.
Just to bring you all up to speed, we found out just
after the new year that my supervisor in Aberdeen is
leaving for Cambridge. This left us unsure of what to
do. After applying to Cambridge, Wheaton, Southern,
and Trinity, we were waiting on God's will.
Two weeks ago, I had an interview at Wheaton. It
seemed to go well, but we knew that it would be
difficult for me to get in there (they only accept 2
NT students). We found out this weekend that they
passed on me; I am on a waiting list, but it is
unlikely I will get in.
This weekend, we went down for a quick trip to
Southern to interview there. I had applied for the PhD
under Tom Schreiner. The whole process went pretty
well, and I think my chances of getting in at Southern
are pretty good. After my interview, however,
Schreiner emailed me to say that although he would be
glad to have me, Mark Seifrid is very interested in
supervising me. Sunday morning, Brian Vickers, another
NT prof at Southern encouraged me to really consider
studying other Seifrid (he did this independent of
Schreiner).
So that is where it stands. Katie and I are leaning
towards Southern and the possibility of studying with
Seifrid.
We are trusting in our sovereign Lord and confident he
will lead us to the right place. Thank you for your
continued prayer.

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Yes, yes, I know that this post is a week late. Last Friday was, in fact, Groundhog Day and also my birthday. Luke and I had a pretty profitable morning, getting some things done around the house. For my birthday, my awesome mother-in-law, Kim, took us out to lunch. Since it was my day, I got to pick the place; so we met at Olga's. I've been loving their snackers and Swiss cheese lately. Chris met us there too.

Now, rewind to the night before. I had something going on at church that Chris wasn't involved in, so Luke spent the evening with Daddy. The two had some "errands to run" (a.k.a. buying me a birthday present). So, Friday morning when I went into Lukie's room to get him, I said to him Did you and Daddy go to the store last night? Yeah! What did you buy for Mommy? A game! Where's Mommy's game? Where's Mommy's present? Oops. I so did not intend on pulling the cat out the bag. Luke was too willing; I didn't realize he would remember. We're talking about a pretty smart 2 year old though. I laughed so hard; I was so caught off guard that he actually answered my question. Of course, I was not sure that he did, in fact, get me a game for my birthday. I decided to wait until after I opened the present to tell Chris about my conversation with Luke.

Chris brought the presents with him to Olga's because Luke was going home with Grandma to spend the afternoon and night. And sure enough, when I opened Luke's present, I was delighted to find that he had bought me Othello - a game that I enjoyed playing over New Year's. Luke also got me a beautiful card - quite elegant and grown up, and probably not a card that I would even pick out for my mom. Chris said that Luke picked that one out at the store and would not be swayed from his decision. Chris showed him several childish or funny cards to get me; but Luke told him they were silly and he would get me this one. This kid's a character, I tell ya.

Though I wasn't exactly surprised by Lukie's gift, Chris really surprised me with reservations at the Dearborn Inn for the night! (He also gave me the 3rd season of Everybody Loves Raymond.) Chris took the afternoon off and we enjoyed a movie, dinner and the elegance of the Dearborn Inn.

Saturday evening, Chris' mom had some of the fam over for pizza and birthday cake (the cake was amazing, by the way!). I felt very spoiled this year on my birthday. Chris' family always make me feel so loved, and my mom, grandma and aunt sent me packages filled with some nice "active wear;" also,with the money I got for my birthday, I was able to buy some new bedding.

My Baby Brother

Matthew and my parents are heading down to Milwaukee this afternoon, and my mom and dad will see their little boy off to boot camp in Fort Jackson, SC. Matthew joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard in December and is looking forward to the education and training opportunities the Guard has to offer him. Once again, it's a bummer to live far away because I wasn't able to see him before he leaves. He'll be in basic training for 10 weeks, then in AIT for another 10 where he'll be trained in light wheeled mechanics. I know that this will be a huge strengthening opportunity for Matthew in several ways. I am praying that Matthew will find this time to be faith-building and that his love for and reliance on Jesus would grow.