Add Your Own Caption Wednesday!

Skating

The ABC's of 2008

Here are some highlights from 2008, presented in ABC format. If you want to do your own, please post a link in the comments! Enjoy! Idea bloglifted from becca-jo ~thanks for the idea, friend!

A is for anniversary...Brian and I celebrated our 10th! It's amazing to

me that we have been together ten years but it has been worth the ride!

B is for blogging, I love to do it and I love to read the blogs of others' but am always struggling to find the time and the "fodder" for it! Hopefully 2009 will be good for more blogging!

C is for Caleb, our firstborn. He turned 8 in October and loves his second grade class at Delano Elementary school. He is so creative and loves to draw. He also is in Destination Imagination and loving it! We are proud of him!

D is for Daycare. I currently have one full time family (which I have had almost two years) and three families that come one day a week each. I am loving staying home with my kids and contributing to our income. It's a blessing and I love being a blessing to these families.

E is for Etsy. My pathetic storefront. I love shopping on etsy. I could get lost for hours looking at stuff. I tried my hand at selling...not so much...didn't want to make a ton of stuff and have it not sell. I am mostly selling stuff to friends anyway!

F is for Facebook. I have enjoyed connecting with old high school friends, middle school friends, friends from our churches in Menomonie and California and keeping up to date with family!

G is for Grace. As in our new church. We had a bagillion interviews...well, Brian did. But any other job in the world, I wouldn't be interviewing along with my husband! It was an arduous process but in the end we are truly blessed to have been chosen for such a wonderful job. We are excited for what God has in store for our family there.

H is for housekeeping. I hate cleaning the house and have decided that it's pointless anyway. Enough said.

I is for Internet, how would I live without the information highway? This past year we have used it to diagnose many a medical condition, find jobs, stay connected, find new meals for dinner, and find crafts! So basically, it's a sanity saver.

J is for Jones. Edward Jones. A job Brian thought he would like but turned out to loath...a job that showed Brian that God had really called him to a life of serving in the ministry of a church. Jones started the ball of change rolling in the right direction, which we had lost sight of.

K is for Kalie who turned 5 in July and started Kindergarten in the Fall. She is a love and is so kind. And she is helpful and considerate of others...we love her so much!

L is for lessons. The kids are now great swimmers thanks to Uncle Paul Liedl. All of his dedication to helping the kids learn to be comfortable in the water had them jumping into the deep end and swimming across to the other side in no time! Olympics, here they come!

M is for mowing! Brian worked this summer with my parents mowing lawns, landscaping and cleaning up while we were in transition to a new job. We consider it a blessing to have had the opportunity to work for them.

N is for new stove! Hooray! I have never felt so much gladness as the day I started my Christmas cookies and realized Christmas cookies don't need to be burnt nor are they meant to be burnt!

O is for the grass-less spot on my lawn because it housed our pool. Many hours of enjoyment in the sun when there were too many kids to fit in the car for the beach! (get it, the grass is gone in a circle shape-it's a stretch, I know). I enjoyed my time as the Life Guard!

P is for Paris! I was blessed with an amazing trip to Switzerland and France with two of my best friends in the world. It was a time of reflection, adventure and new experiences as we celebrated a mom's night out in style!

Q is for quiet of which I am finding a hard time locating. Occasionally, I am in my car alone and I prefer to not even turn on the radio. I just sit in the silence! It truly is golden and I'm starting to figure out why (it's hard to find and is worth so much).

R is for rally. We could not have made it through this difficult Spring/Summer transition without the prayers, encouragement, and listening ears of our dear friends and our Life Group. We are so fortunate to have such amazing people in our lives.

S is for sewing, of which I have done a lot this year. Bags, aprons, and pillows & pillowcase dresses, onesies for new babies and blankets too! I was channeling my inner "Rita" (my dad's mom who passed away in 2002) as I sat at her old Singer. There is a story behind it my family will never let me forget, but that's another post ;)

T is for Theater. We took the kids to see "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" at the Children's Theater. We had such an amazing time hanging out with our kids and hope to include trips to the theater more in 2009!

U is for Uncle Aaron. We spent Mother's Day at Aaron's and he gave us all rides through his yard on his motorcycle. He was also on "Diners, Drive-in and Dives" which was so fun to see! It's amazing that when I was little and my mom told me "Someday you're going to love your brother", it actually came true! He is truly an awesome brother and uncle to my children!

V is for Viking Training Camp. We went down to Mankato this year for training camp and the boys got to participate in football camp and Kalie got to participate in cheerleader camp! It was so fun! The kids had a blast and it was another one of those great family times!

W is for waiting. I think we did a lot of waiting this year. In the waiting we found that our God is a mighty and faithful God who really does provide for His children.

X is for x-rays and I'm pretty sure we didn't need any this year! Hooray!

Y is for yawning. In the midst of raising three kids, doing day care, not cleaning the house, church jobs and Master's Degrees, Brian and I are constantly yawning...life can be so tiring but so thrilling at the same time and yet we are thankful for the things that cause us to yawn.

Z is for Zachariah. My marvelous middle who turned 6 in March and started 1st grade this year. He continues to show us how to live life on the wild side, abandoning the "rules" along the way. He is great with the little kids and selfless in his giving! We are so thankful for a wonderful son!

So, there you have it...

Menu Plan Monday!

I usually don't do this online. I usually make my grocery list and put a side bar of all the breakfasts/lunches/dinners (hey, you have to be a little organized when you have 5+ kids a day, right?) then I transfer those meals to my weekly meal planner (I'm so organized when it comes to food, anything else...not so much!) that hangs on my refrigerator. Well, since the great cleaning of December 2008 (i.e. "quick, throw everything in a bag, company's comin'", method) I have done lost the menu planner that hangs oh-so-nicely on the fridge. So alas, I resort to blogging my meals this week.

Monday: Calzones, Caesar salad
Tuesday: Ginger Glazed Salmon, Asparagus
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:


Well, I could only think of two things...don't blame me. I hear lots of noise upstairs that may need to be dealt with! Oh no...someone just yelled "Fire in the hole"...this could be bad

Procrastinating...again

To some of you, this might come as a complete shock. To others who know me oh-too-well, not so much. Right now I could be doing one of about a hundred different things, such as making the aprons I need to make for Christmas gifts, making the p.j. bottoms I promised my three kids (also a Christmas gift), frosting the 6 dozen Christmas cookies the church needs for Friday's Live Nativity, wrapping Christmas presents, putting stamps on and mailing the Christmas cards I had printed, changing the diaper of a certain baby (who is sitting in the laundry room putting my underwear on her legs-such entertainment. Yes, they are clean. Which leads me to another thing I could be doing, LAUNDRY). But alas, I sit here typing about the things I could be doing instead of doing them.

There is just something about a long "to do" list that freezes me in my tracks, unable to perform said tasks. I have made several lists of things I need to do...but that was probably another effort to procrastinate. Blogging about procrastinating was not on that list either. I have listed them in order of priority (making aprons, frosting cookies and putting together the teacher gifts) all due before the weekend. Guess I should stop typing and change the baby...since she smells like a priority right now! Now that that's done...I wish I could just have a day to freeze time and accomplish all the things I need to get done and want to get done. Boy, I'm thinkin' Santa would be laughing his jolly head off about now!

Dear Santa,

I've been a relatively good girl this year...I've helped

friends, been kind to others, I've given money to those less fortunate.

I've really tried to do all I can. All I really want for Christmas is

a few minutes to do the things I don't ever have time for...

Love,

Rebekkah

All this to say...NONE OF THESE THINGS THAT I HAVE TO DO ARE IMPORTANT! NONE OF THESE THINGS WILL CHANGE SOMEONE'S LIFE!

My "to do" list should read: 1. Spend time with my children (they are growing so fast) 2. Spend time with my husband (he's all I will have when the kids leave home, and if we don't have a good relationship now, there won't be one then). 3. Spend time with the people I love the most (my parents, my brother and Heather, friends and family) 4. Give of myself to those in need.

Here's a little video that I thought was appropriate to share.

No more procrastinating. Let's not use our time worrying about things that don't matter...let's use it to bless others.

A Game

A challenge from Kim! I'm in...


The rules: use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. All places, names and things must be real - nothing made up. You can't use your own name for the boy/girl name question.

What's your name…Rebekkah
A four letter word…runt
A boy's name…Richard
A girl's name…Rachel
An occupation…retail sales
A color…red (that was kinda easy)
Something you wear…running shoes
A beverage…Rum
A food…risotto
Something found in a bathroom…razor
A place…Russia
A reason to be late…rush hour

Play along if you like. Leave a comment and let me know you're playing. It's fun (and more difficult than you might think)

Wednesday without Words