Some fun amid the moving events!

While packing boxes, we started to unintentionally build something REALLY fun for the kids. They would arrange the boxes into a fort and play and read all day. Caleb and Haleigh even set up a mini maze for Nathan to crawl through! Here are some cute pics of Caleb taking him through the maze they set up. He was pretty proud of himself!

Well, this is what pulled into our driveway this past week. A huge 18 wheeler that was going to load our stuff and haul it to the west coast. Basically, we pay for however much room we take up (so not much went!)It was really interesting to watch the process of loading the truck. The night before, Shawn and some friends had mapped out how much space we were using and tried to fit as much as possible in it, to give us an idea of what we would be able to take. It really helped, but thankfully, the movers were able to fit a little more than we expected.

They packed this thing TIGHT! Which was good for us, after all, we want to get as much for our money as possible! So after a couple hours, they were set, and off our stuff drove! Hopefully, we will see it all in Hawaii in about a month! 

      "Don't forget to take me, mom!"

Fried...

Shawn and I have spent the entire day packing the house. It has proven to be a very stressful process. Not only are we packing the house to move to Hawaii, but we have to pack other things to go to family in TN as well as things we need for the next few weeks while here in OH. My brain is FRIED!! One thing is for certain, I have way too many clothes! It's easy to justify the containers of children's clothing that is stored away for the next little one to wear. And after being pregnant 5 times in the last 10 years, I have a multiple wardrobes containing different sizes (pre-pregnancy, maternity, post-pregnancy, "maybe one-day's"...) you get the idea!  The Lord has been dealing with my heart when it comes to possessions, and my willingness to give them away with strings attached. I kept worrying about whether I had kept enough back for us to have what we need there. I couldn't help but hear the Holy Spirit speak to my heart a few verses the kids and I memorized at the beginning of the school year. 
     Matthew 6:24-26 
      “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
    ²⁵ “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"

     I trust that the Lord loves me enough to provide for our needs. And He desires for me to hold loosely to the material things He does provide. 

Just when I'm feeling desperate...

    People have told me that I look like I have it all together. Well, I'm pretty sure they would rethink that if they could only see what's going on in my head and heart. Since putting our "Yes" on the table to pack up our family, and move all 9 of us to Hawaii to begin a new church, I've been stretched, challenged, and at times, flat on my face before God. I've heard other church planters who've said that the journey for them, was the most challenging, but most amazing time of ministry. I believe them!
     Yesterday, I was face down in my bathroom, crying out to the Lord. Frustrated, weary and worried, I laid all of it out before Him. Sometimes I forget that He already knows what's in my heart better than I do. So many things had taken their toll on me in the past weeks, and honestly, I've been in survival mode. I hadn't taken much time to spend at the feet of Jesus.  I had neglected to cast all my cares upon Him and allow Him to lead me one step at a time. The Word of the Lord is true, I trust Him, yet I had allowed my circumstances and some disappointments  to undermine what I knew to be true.
    Thankfully, His mercies are new every morning, and His character is unchanging. My faithful God, who brought me up out of the pit, out of the miry clay, set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm, has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God (Ps. 40) He is at work all around me, without my knowledge, orchestrating things for our good. I know that there will be more ups and downs to come, but I just  can't wait to see what happens next....!

It's the small things....

Caleb's first lost tooth! The unknown is always scary, so I wasn't surprised when Caleb wouldn't let me go NEAR his tooth without promising I wouldn't pull it out. He was so worried it would hurt, that he wanted it super wiggly before I could pull it. He was excited to see the tooth fairy had remembered last second to slide some money in under his pillow RIGHT before he woke up :) 

   
    Another small thing we got to enjoy was the Auntie Anne's pretzel kit we got as a Christmas gift from our dear friends, Nick and Suzy. They were a little tricky to form since I had a few extra "little" hands wanting to help Mommy. All looks aside, they tasted great! We used mostly the cinnamon sugar mix, but I salted a few for myself to eat with mustard (my kids and hubby were grossed out by this).

Fa-La-La some more!!

We were blessed this year to celebrate Christmas multiple times with our families. This year, our Christmas morning was spent with Shawn's side of the family (Nana and Papa, Aunt Leiana and Aunt Margaret). The kids were spoiled like crazy....who am I kidding, Shawn and I were spoiled too! I didn't have to cook dinner, clean house or grocery shop for a solid week!

     We went to a Christmas Eve service at their church with the family, and the next morning woke up to the excited children waiting to TEAR INTO PRESENTS!!

Haleigh and her Polly Pocket traveling gift

Ava loved to explain all of her gifts to us...just in case we didn't know exactly what the toy was!

Caleb's theme this year was NINJAGO. He got so much fun stuff!

Nathan just wanted what everyone else had! He was so much fun this year and loved opening all of his presents and sampling (oops) some of the Christmas wrapping paper! 

I thought this was a cute pic of the two of them waiting patiently for their turn to unwrap. We started out unwrapping one at a time and after a few rounds of it, realized how long that was going to take. Then, we just decided to have a free for all and let them tear into it! Too much chaos to take pictures of that! 

One of my favorite treats... Girls lunch with Nana! All of the girls (except Aunt Margaret, who wasn't feeling well) went to meet Nana at a yummy restaurant after she taught a water exercise class. We sipped yummy drinks and the girls got to split a super chocolate-y dessert. What a treat!

Ok, I'm in this one!  

Christmas Day with the Bone's

Some fun pics of the family with my (Michelle's) side of the tree! 

I absolutely love this picture of Joshua with my Memom. She is one of my most favorite people. 

Mimi and the little princess!!

Me and my honey cuddling on the sofa! 

Mom and Dad loving all of the craziness!

I loved this pic of Haleigh smooching Nathan, and the fact that Haleigh's hoodie has cat ears!

My sista', Stephanie, and the sweet necklace she gave me!

Mom, Dad, and all the "grands" including little Claire who will be arriving this April!

My sis-in-law Amanda, and I posing with the pretty scarf she gave me!

The original 5 of us Bones!

Always something to play with at my mom's house!

Christmas Wrap-Up (hee hee)

I wish I could spend hours blogging about our Christmas celebrations this year! It would take that long to fill in all of the details that made this a truly wonderful time. I'll try to do this in phases, beginning with some fun family traditions! 

     Each year, we put the kids in their jammies and pile into the van to drive through the lights display at a local park. It's always fun to see what's new, and the kids love being able to unbuckle their seat belts in the van (it's the little things, I guess!)

A cute dino in lights!

A favorite of mine :)

      This year, I spent some time with a couple of my best friends making Christmas cookies! This was so much fun and I came away with DOZENS of yummy gifts for neighbors and friends. We laughed and baked and sampled (of course!) I love so much about these two special friends and am already teary-eyed thinking of being so far away from these gals soon.

These candy cane cookies looked cuter BEFORE they were baked, although
they were nice additions to my cookie gifts!

Love these ladies!!

We make it look easy, huh? 

      One of the kids favorite traditions is to sleep by the Christmas tree one special night. Usually, our tree is in our family room and the fireplace is on nice and cozy. But, our house is on the market right now, and the "look" of the house is important! So, they had to make do in the school room. No complaints here, though! The fun and excitement of sleeping by the tree made it difficult to get to sleep that night!