Category: Children

Reflections on 2012

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Well, I wrote this last night but in my tired state of mind I didn’t hit publish. I fell asleep instead. Hmm… Maybe I should add not writing while tired to my New Year’s Goals. 

The end of another year quickly approaches. Right now I want to take a short moment and just look back at the past year. We have had so many blessings and I’ve learned so much from the things God has given us this year.

Our Newest Addition in 2012

I think one of our biggest blessings this year was the addition of Elisabeth Rose to our family in May. It almost seems that she has always been here. She just fits right into our family.

I’m so glad to have a husband and children that love our growing family. None of our children are at all upset at having another sibling. In fact they are surprised to hear when someone decides to not have any more children. They love every new baby that is added to our home. They also love each other and are each other’s best friends.

Kids and Mom at Church

Am I overwhelmed with this many children? If I am, I’m overwhelmed with love. My husband teases me that I never knew that I’d be this popular one day. I have no idea how I can love so much. Maybe it’s just practice. I have so many children to love that with each new child my love just grows even more. And as each one gets older my love for them grows with them.

I love how my 14 year old is growing into a man. Joshua is a hard worker. He loves his siblings and is so helpful. He has been showing great work ethic and has been keeping up with his education.

Our Family Picture in May

My 12 year old has grown into a beautiful young lady. Ruth, affectionately known as “Woofie” by her younger siblings, is such a good big sister. If I am busy with one child and another needs attention, she is right there with open arms ready to hold whichever little one needs holding.

Hannah is now 7 and is also growing up so fast. She was very happy the day I let her hold Elisabeth while standing.. Hannah is also our Drama queen. We are never short of laughter in our home. If there were ever a sign of life getting boring Hannah would be the first to liven the place up.

Then there is Jonathan. He turned 5 in November and just suddenly grew up right before my eyes. One moment I thought of him as a little boy and suddenly I realized he is now a big boy. He does things so grown up. He is also very inquisitive. You never know what he will ask about a given thing but you know that the question is going to be serious.

Next is Elijah. We call him Jonathan’s shadow. Which is pretty fitting since Elijah just learned about shadows this year. He loves to copy his big brother. Most everything Jonathan says is echoed by Elijah. Elijah can make some of the cutest faces too. He’ll look at us with those big brown eyes and then if you have a camera he hollers “Cheese!” while squinting.

Our newest blessing, Elisabeth came into our lives this year. I turned 35 while I was pregnant with Elisabeth. My doctor gave me the “High Risk” speech. But then she informed me that she had to give me that speech but if I preferred to be treated as a normal pregnancy that she would. I chose to have less tests done while I was pregnant with Elisabeth. I didn’t want to know if there was any problem. If there had been we would have continued to have her and love her none the less.

Elisabeth on my shoulder

I am so glad I had her too. I have had the easiest time taking care of Elisabeth. I haven’t had any serious postpartum depression. I’ve only had a few crying spells but nothing relating to the care of Elisabeth. If I hadn’t had her I would have never known how easy a baby could be to take care of. She has her fussy moments but overall she is incredibly sweet.

Our Family Picture in November

Oh! Happy New Year everyone. Ha! I was trying to beat the clock in writing this post but I didn’t make it. I’ve blogged into the New Year. I guess that’s fitting. 🙂

I really have learned so much this year. I look back over all my blessings. There is my God, my husband, my children, my family, my extended family, my old friends, and my new friends. I have really gone over and beyond my goals for 2012.

This past year besides having a new baby. I joined a writing course. I created a new blog with my own domain name. I started a Facebook page at https://facebook.com/rocksolidfamily. I joined twitter  and pinterest. I learned to use MailChimp and Disqus. I even wrote my first ebook.

I accomplished so much this past year without even planning to. How much more could I have accomplished if I had been more intentional about it?

I have very happy memories of this past year. There were some sad and frustrating moments. But overall it has been a very good year.

How was your year? Do you have happy or sad memories of this past year that you would like to share? 

May God bless you and your family in 2013!

 

 

 

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Our First Fight: "No, I won’t eat my children!"

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Most people don’t believe that my husband and I ever fight. We’re normally smiling ear to ear no matter where we go.

I don’t want to disappoint you but I need to set the record straight right here and now.

We’re not perfect! There I said it.

In my last post, 16 Happy Years I mentioned that things weren’t always easy during our 16 years of marriage. We have had our moments of what we called in the early years “interesting discussions”.

I’m going to share one of our first fights interesting discussions with you now.

After I met Scott I got a job at the same grocery store he worked at. He told me later that he thought I was coming there because he was there. The truth was I needed a job and a friend of my mom’s just happened to work there. She set me up for an interview with the manager the very week after I met Scott.

I got the job! I scanned groceries while Scott bagged them. We were fast becoming good friends. We both worked late shifts. I would often wait around for about an hour after I got off to wait for him.

Scott took two months off for the summer to go to Honduras. I spent all my summer’s pay checks on phone calls. Then he came back. Asked me to marry him. All those details you can read in my last post here

Scott then returned to Seminary, and working the evening shift. He would often think about the things he studied in school.

One day in Seminary there was a deep theological discussion of how bad mankind’s sin can be.

That discussion stayed in Scott’s mind the rest of the day. He was ready in season and out of season to give an answer. (2 Timothy 4:2)

This is normally a good thing unless your bride-to-be is not a seminary trained theologian. Then you might just get fireworks.

I was waiting in the back room for Scott to clock out. We were about to leave with several other workers. We saw one of the other employees go into the bakery and steal a cookie. I was shocked!

I asked Scott about it. He said that wasn’t the first time that had happened. Then the lesson they discussed that day kicked in. Just as I was about to say it he said, “Don’t say that you wouldn’t do that.”

I looked at him in disbelief. “I would not steal a cookie!” I said emphatically. Did he think that I was so low that I would do such a thing?

He then told me about the verse in the Bible that talks about how times were so bad that even the most upright and delicate women ate their children. Was I suggesting that I was better than them?

My eyes were as big as saucers at that point as I insisted that I would NOT eat my children.
I’d give my children my own limbs if it came to that.

Poor guy thought I was declaring myself incapable of sin.

Once we got to my home we both decided to listen.

I told him about the teacher that I had in elementary that told us not to say we wouldn’t do something because we would. Her example was we should not say we wouldn’t smoke because we might smoke. Well, I didn’t hear the might. I spent several years afraid to say I wouldn’t do something.

Later I realized that it actually was good to be resolved against doing evil. And so I had a firm determination that I wouldn’t do something that I know is wrong.

Scott explained that in his class they discussed Deuteronomy 28:56-57
and talked about how bad mankind can be under dire situations. I can’t say that I wouldn’t steal a cookie if I was hungry enough.

I admitted that I knew I was capable of doing bad things. But I would never eat my children. To me that verse speaks of how spiritually messed up the people during that time were if their best mothers would stoop so low as to eat their children.

Scott was glad to hear that I didn’t think I was perfect. And I was glad to hear him say that I didn’t have to eat my children.



We laugh about it now. Scott even bought a huge pot as a gag gift to me after our firstborn son was born. We used the pot for tamales but the kids sure enjoyed playing in it too.

Have you and your spouse ever had an interesting discussion? How did you finally resolve it?

Next time you have an argument interesting discussion brewing…Listen.

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Working on Organization

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This week we have been working hard to get our house organized. We moved Elijah into the smaller bedroom with his brothers. We will be getting him a toddler bed soon and I wanted to get him used to the change of room before we change his bed.

In order to make it all work both the boys’ and girls’ rooms needed major work. There were clothes all over their floors. This hasn’t been a new problem. In fact I’ve had to go through their clothes fairly often. I decided we needed to go through them again and see if we could get a handle on the problem.

Elijah loves it when I try to organize clothes. Piles of clothes are mountains of fun to him.

We started off with sheets and blankets. I even had them take the sheets off their beds. I put those in piles. Twin size sheets and pillow cases in one pile, baby bed sheets in another pile, towels that somehow got into the mix in another pile and crochet blankets and quilts in yet another pile. I then got a basket and had them put their favorite set of sheets in it. I started that load to wash.

Then I had them pick out their favorite blankets. Once we put the first load in the dryer, we started a load of blankets washing. I had them pick out a second set of sheets each and the rest will be either given away or stored in another location. (If anyone needs sheets let me know soon.) 🙂 We had sheets and blankets washing all day.

After getting that major work done, I had the kids take a break to work on their lessons.

The next day we started gathering the clothes off their floors. I’m still working on getting that organized. I have to figure out what fits them and what doesn’t. I’m automatically throwing away clothes that have holes. I hope to get done with this task before Spring Break next week.

I want to share a couple of cute pictures from the past week or two. In the one above, Elijah had fallen asleep while playing in a small box. I took a quick picture before rescuing him from his cozy quarters and laying him in his bed.

And this next picture, I took after karate class last week. Hannah is wearing her new green belt and Elijah is trying out a black belt that belongs to one of the students in our adult class. Elijah liked the belt so much that he almost wouldn’t part with it. 🙂 Maybe one day, he’ll earn one of his own that will fit him a little better.

Now to get back to work organizing. Maybe next week, I’ll be able to post pictures of nice, neat rooms.

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"One day when you get little…"

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This afternoon as we were eating lunch we had a family discussion around the table about fixing cars and how Daddy was teaching Joshua to fix brakes.

Hannah asked, “Daddy, will you teach me to fix cars?”

Scott assured her that when she gets a little bigger he’ll teach her. Then Jonathan had the same question. And Scott told him that he’ll teach him too.

Then we got to discussing how that when Jonathan is 13, Joshua will be 23.

We started imagining Jonathan calling Joshua up one day,”Hey, Joshua! Can you help me figure out this transmission?”

Joshua might reply,”Sure! I’ll stop by right after work.”

Then Scott turned it around and said, “I can even see Joshua calling Jonathan one day, and asking him for advice on building a tractor.”

The kids found that was a bit of a jump for their imaginations. They were trying to imagine 4 year old Jonathan growing up and giving Joshua advice.

Joshua looked at Jonathan across the table and asked him,”So Jonathan, how would you fix a tractor?”

Jonathan just looked very seriously up at Joshua and with the most grown up air replied, “One day, when you get little, I’ll show you how to fix tractors.”

We all had a good laugh, even though Jonathan was quite serious.
I explained to the children that they all had their strengths and weaknesses, and that one day when they are older, that even the younger may have things they can teach their older siblings.

There is an interesting lesson that we can learn from Jonathan. Maybe Joshua would need to become figuratively little in order to learn from a brother that is 10 years his junior. It would require him to be humble enough to admit that he doesn’t know something that his little brother knows.

Maybe that is part of what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 18:4. “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

We need to be willing to admit that we don’t know it all and turn to God for help.

Heavenly Father, help us all be little again.

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Horse Crazy…

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I walked out the back door the other day and had to take this picture. Ruth’s feet are touching the ground on that horse. I call this horse crazy. It’s been a little over a week since she’s ridden a real horse, so I guess she is taking a ride on the toy horse. Jonathan is her riding partner here. His feet are touching the ground too.


This is more like it. Jonathan is the size I remember Joshua being when he got this horse for his second Birthday 8 years ago. Ruth wasn’t quite born yet. It’s amazing how fast they’ve grown. Joshua and Ruth used to be Hannah and Jonathan’s size. Where does the time go?

Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children:
(Ephesians 5:1)

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How does your garden grow?

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The children have started themselves a garden. They each have their own little section, which they help dig, plant, water, and weed. They have in their gardens, marigolds, corn, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, and sunflower seeds. This has been a great learning experience for them, and I include it as extracurricular in their homeschooling. Of course I don’t call it schooling with them, they just see it as outside fun, but they are definitely learning whether they realize it or not.

In this first picture, Joshua is holding a worm he found. He has really good eyes for those types of things, I would have never seen it but as he was shoveling the dirt, he stopped. I asked him what was wrong and he said “I found an earthworm!” He had to watch for a few seconds before continuing to dig.

Ruth saw these blossoms on our lemon tree. She also found a bug and wouldn’t go close to the blossom until Joshua removed it. I decided removing insects from plant leaves was a good job for Joshua. Although I think Hannah might like helping him at times.

Hannah and Ruth have a flower garden. The center attraction being “Hannah’s” Roses. Ruth has other items she’s planted so we let Hannah claim the roses. Each morning since we’ve planted them, Hannah has come into the kitchen announcing that another of her roses is big now. We clipped a couple to put in a vase inside. Plants that grow fast are great for younger children.

And last but not least, Jonathan loves to help with digging. He saw everyone else getting to use the shovels. Scott let him have a turn with the smaller sharp shooter shovel. He loves to be like his brother and sisters.

Scott even has his section of the yard for gardening. His garden is a little more practical. He has a box of strawberries, different herbs and spices, some tomatoes, potatoes, squash, and bell pepper. He also has two fig bushes, two blueberry bushes, two pear trees, and a lemon tree. I’m sure there are some others that I’m missing.

As far as my garden grows, I consider my family my garden. Everything I do with and for my children is helping them to grow and mature into well nourished little plants. The more they learn and grow the better fruit they will bare. I love my little garden.
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
(2 Peter 3:18)

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A Flat Tire…

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I walked out the door to see Scott pulling the jack out from the shed we have behind the house. We were about to go into town but we had a flat tire. I had the camera planning to take some pictures of the kids at the park but we had to go to a tire place. So instead of taking pictures of the kids at the park, I took a picture of Jonathan “helping” change a flat tire.

There are people in this world that would get upset, if this had happened to them. But we see these things that happen to us as opportunities from God. Maybe the people at the tire place needed to meet Scott. Maybe one of the kids could have been hurt at the park. We may never know what all the purposes are, but God knows and he is taking care of us.


They didn’t find the leak in the tire, even after airing it up and testing it with water and soap. Scott thinks that when the air was added to it, it may have closed the leak up for a while. So we may have another flat tire in a few days. Maybe the people at the tire place need another visit.

Life isn’t a card game that things just happen to us by chance. God has a reason for everything. He is so good to take care of us. Knowing this makes life worth living. We know we are here for a purpose. Even a flat tire can’t stop us from fulfilling His purposes.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28)

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Dog Ears

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This morning Hannah showed me her doll and told me that it was a boy doll. I told her that I thought it was a girl doll because of her dog ears. Hannah said that it was a boy with dog ears. Which I told her that boys don’t wear dog ears. She then informed me that dogs are boys. I, of course corrected her by telling her that some dogs were girls, too. At that moment I didn’t catch the logic she was actually trying to impart to me.

She told me, “Well, Ms. Lauwa has a horse and it’s a boy, and it has dog ears. Well, actually it has horsey ears, but it looks like doggy ears.”

Then I understood her meaning. Since boy dogs have dog ears, why can’t boy people have dog ears too? I’m not sure how that argument would hold up in a Logic and Argumentation class in Seminary but it works for her. It’s hard to argue with a 3 year old.

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Fun on a Ranch

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Scott and the kids had a good day over at the neighbors’ ranch. They all got to ride Jinglebob. Scott even rode the horse. They all had fun and came home all excited about it. Scott brought me some of the pictures they took. I thought this posed picture of the kids and Scott was cute. They not only rode horses but they helped plant potatoes and cleaned out a horse trailer while they were there. They really had fun.

Jonathan was taking a nap, so I decided to stay home with him and get some work done while he slept.

Below I have a video of Ruth riding JingleBob. She is really getting good at riding. I’m already looking forward to our next visit over there.

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Mother – Daughter Tea

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Today, Ruth and I went to a Mother-Daughter tea. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the skit and the presentation brought by a Mother and her 19 year old daughter. It was so inspiring. The whole theme was that our daughters need to trust God and wait what God has in store for them.

This is a message that I want so badly to get out to the young girls out there. Just like the mother said to us mothers, these girls need to learn to trust God and make the right decisions while they are very young, so that when they reach the age where they must make their own decisions then they will be able to make the right ones.

Another lesson in the skit that I found very good, was that when our daughters do get to be older and teenagers that we need to give them the chance to make their own decisions. We should be there to help them and guide them as best we can but they will have to decide for themselves whether they will follow God or not when they are older. They cannot just go to heaven on our faith in God but they need to trust Him and make the right decisions to follow Him for themselves.

Ruth also got something good from the skit. She said that the girl in the skit made the right decision not to go to the party that the other girls were going to. When I asked her why, she said that there might be bad people at the party and they might do bad things there. If Scott and I keep working with our children, with God’s help I know they will grow up to make the right decisions.

I was so inspired by the whole event, I came home all excited and jabbery. I practically talked Scott’s ear off. At least I didn’t overload him with the details on what everyone was wearing or what all the different tea sets looked like. All I know is that I feel more than ever that I need to get serious about my writing.

I want so badly to have an influence on children, not just my children but all children. I want to help them while they are young and before they make life-changing decisions. The decisions these kids make in their youth can affect their lives for the good or the bad. They need to be reached before they take the wrong path. It’s so much harder to take the right path after going down the wrong one. If these children can be directed down the right path before they get off it, they can live a life led by God and walk forever in His care. They will be ready for the good things that God has in store for them.

I’m not very good at speaking, however, I love to write. I believe the way the Lord would have me reach out to young people and to help them is through the words I write on paper. David said in Psalm 45:1 “…My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” For me, my pen is the tongue of a ready speaker. Take my pen, Lord, I’ll write for You.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
(Proverbs 22:6)

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