Sunday, February 27, 2011

One Hundred Day Part-A!

one hundred noodle necklace

100 noodle beads

100 heart stamps

lots of different ways to make 100 cents...

Lijah found a 100 Armenian dram in with our American change!  :)

They worked to build a big 100 lego block tower!

100 puzzle, change, stamps, necklaces
We also did 100 minutes of school, 100 jumping jacks, 100 bites of ice cream at Dairy Queen with Grandma and Papa, 100 seconds of exercise, 100 minutes of free time, 100 hugs and kisses...  

We finished the sentence:  "If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times..."  and I was pleasantly surprised to have the second one they thought of was:  "I love you!"  We also had things like "sit in your chair" "get in and buckle up" "be kind to each other"...  you get the idea!

All together we figured out we've done 440 days of homeschooling so far!  70 left for this year!  Whoo!!  Sandwiched between swimming in the morning and church in the evening, we had ourselves a Part-A!

Thirty Five


I Am!  :)


Ms Thirty Five...  with a new haircut!  :)

Friday, February 25, 2011

Mr. Crawford

Kevin found a job!  It's kind of unexpected and seemingly perfect at the same time.  The Christian school in Williston needs a Bible teacher, in the month of February, right when we are wondering what job would show up for us!  It seems like it could really be a God thing?!  One thing Kev loves the most is studying, and studying the Bible!  And right in front of us is an open door of a job to study the Bible and teach and inspire others!  Before we went overseas, Kev was working with the youth group in Grand Forks.  He loves those kids.  So this looks really hopeful!  Kevin is putting on his Mr. Crawford hat and gearing up to teach 7th through 12th graders!  Whoo!

We're super pumped and a little confused, still!  Super job, but in the end, he'll need to find another job in order to make ends meet.  In order to get all our bills paid, it looks like he'll need something more on top of the teaching job.  Kind of a bummer.  But we've seen God working in us, and for us, and through us this month...  so we're still excited to see what's next!  What big thing is still yet to come?!  Stay tuned!

outside the door to Kev's classroom

Never been so broke and so blessed...

Kev and I have never had lots of money.  One or both of us have been in college every year up until the time we went overseas.  Overseas we didn't have the budget we expected since we were transferred from one country to another in the middle of our itinerating.  And we hardly got any help itinerating since we were Missionary Associates and not full-timers.  And we didn't get the help we'd been told we'd get paying off the bills from all our itinerating...  Bah.  We ate eggs almost every day in Armenia to save money and didn't buy any souvenirs until the last month or two when someone sent us money for the purpose of buying souvenirs!!  All that to say...  we've always been broke, but never as broke as these past couple years!

We planned, along with our leaders, to come home when we did so that we'd receive our last 3 months of paychecks here.  The AG gives that to missionaries coming back from the field so that there's time to adjust and find a new job, etc...  Well, again, things didn't shake out as planned and we didn't get the last two months of paychecks that we'd planned to get, and we were also told that we wouldn't be reimbursed for all of our trip back home to the states.  Whew.  Broke.  Talk about stressful!

Again, all that to say that we're broker than broke... and we thought we knew broke before!!  :)

Lord, what's up?  This is not what we planned!!  Kev has his Master's Degree, I have a degree, we've been faithful to You.  We've always tithed.  Kevin is Mr Generous.  He gives above and beyond for tips, etc., with the hope to be a light for the Lord.  We believe we followed the Lord on the journey overseas and we saw Him grow and stretch us in more ways than we had planned.  So now, we're ready to stop stretching a little.  But He doesn't seem to be ready to stop stretching yet!?  Heh.

So this month, when we found out we wouldn't get our paycheck again, we were kinda worried.  To the point of, "How will we feed our kids and pay our bills?"  We are completely blessed to be living in my Grandma's house.  Our hometown is experiencing a big boom and housing is super expensive.  So...  blessed!  But we still need food, even if we have a warm house!  Heh.  Kev still hasn't found a job...

Lord?  What now?

groceries!! 
Well, we prayed and He heard.   Within the next couple weeks, we received almost the whole amount of our missed paycheck for this month!  A handful of friends and fellow believers sent us and gave us money and groceries, and paid for gas for the van...  Unbelievable!  We are overwhelmed by their kindness and by His grace and faithfulness to us!

I taught the story of Daniel to the preschool class this Wednesday.  It was on Daniel in the lion's den and how God hears our prayers.  The study I'm reading now talked about how Daniel wouldn't have seen the angel holding the lion's mouth shut, unless he was thrown into the den.  In the tough places, that's where God has the chance to show up BIG!

We're so thankful we serve a big God and have a big family in Him!  Crazy blessed this month.  Still, crazy broke, but overwhelmingly blessed at the same time.  We trust Him and believe that He is our Provider.  He is in control.  And He is able.

Elijah's SIX years old!

me and my birthday boy
My baby boy turned six years old this January!  Crazy!  Our little bitty baby boy...  growing up so big!  Benjamin had three little siblings by the time he was six  (just before he turned six!) and he was our big boy!  Lijah's the baby of the family (so far) and I think it surprises me even more to realize just how big he's getting to be!

Elijah is a little love bug.  He loves to kiss and snuggle and hug...  at night he'll tell me that in the morning, I shouldn't worry, he'll come and snuggle me a long time!  Heh.  He talks, talks, talks...  all the time!  He's always asking, "Can I tell you something?" before he actually tells us!  I try to be sure to say, "You can tell me anything, baby!" in hopes that he'll always remember that!

Mr. Kindergarten!  Lijah is enjoying reading, and cutting, and counting!  However, he does not enjoy writing!  Boo.  :)

McDonalds
He is big into his Star Wars Legos game on the Wii.  We have had to cut back some because little boys need a break from light sabers once in a while!!

I think Elijah has had the hardest time coming back to the US.  I forget that it's all new to him.  We went to Dairy Queen the other day and he said, "I like THIS place!  We should come here again!"  Heh...  Yup.  He's talking more about, "When we go back to Armenia..."  and things like that lately, too.  But overall, he's doing well and enjoying being back in the states.

For the birthday boy's party, we went to the McDonalds here in Williston with Grandma and Papa.   The kids had a great time.  Then we came home to have presents and cake and Wii time!  He figured it was a pretty good birthday.  He got a Superman doll and a Jessie doll, too, from Toy Story!  Howdy Partner!!

We love our Superman!  So glad we were blessed 6 years ago with another little, beautiful boy!

I love my Dad!
A week or so later, my Dad celebrated his birthday!  We missed his 70th birthday last year so we were glad to get to hang out with him and enjoy ice cream cake this year.  So thankful to be here celebrating Dad.  When I asked him if he didn't like getting old he said, "Well, if you wanna live, you're gonna get old."  Yup.  I love my simple, wise Dad!!  I'm thankful that he's getting old...  I guess!!