Ninja Green

Last night Jude tested for his Ninja Green belt, and if I must say he did Awesome!!! Way to go Jude!

Ready for his test. Notice that sharp uniform - it's even been ironed!

Push up position. Jude got a 10 out of 10 on his fitness portion!

Little guy was working hard, sit ups are not so easy when you are 4.

Horse stance.

Chambering for a block.

High block and a nice loud yell.

Side kick.

Punch (though he looked like he was doing palm strikes...we gotta toughen up those knuckles). 

Aunt Charity awarding Jude his new green belt (Charity and Instructor Abraham fought over who got to give him his belt).

Asher wanted to test too.

Poor Jude, not the happiest face as he wouldn't stand still and I threatened him and Aunt Charity saying they could not watch Big Hero 6 together on Saturday if they didn't behave and take a good picture.

Kitchen DIY Makeover

Sometime in February our dishwasher broke. When this happened we discovered a leak and more damage to the cabinets than we realized was there. We thought heck lets make an insure claim and see if we get anything. We got way more than we anticipated and thus began Chad's envisioning of a kitchen makeover. We can do it ourselves. The more I contemplated the work ahead the more misgivings I had. Lets just fix the cabinet and leave everything else, I said. But alas Chad had grand plans so we began. And as most DIY projects go we hit obstacle after obstacle and we barely finished (ok we aren't finished but close enough) before Chad's spring break ended. Some tears may have been shed (probably due to not sleeping and sheer exhaustion) and it is imperfect but I love it!

 Before.

Another angle of before.

Sink cabinet repair.

All three boys watching the sink cabinet repair.

It may not be the most pretty thing in the world but it is functional and much cheaper than a new cabinet.

The boys loved the demo.

Demo of the counters and back splash. Bye bye white laminate.

No counters. And a very tore up sheet rock where the back splash was. Our idea of paint was not going to happen.

So we bought panel board for the backsplash. Chad was at the store and asked what I thought of wood back splash. I freaked out for a few minutes envisioning the 70's but I said ok I trust you. And then he brought home beautiful panelling! Well done Chad.

Jude and Shiloh built monster trucks. With real hammers...

Decorating their monster trucks.

Job mostly completed. With our new appliances we got for an excellent price! 

Another view of our kitchen!

If you ever want to redo your kitchen - don't call us - pay someone :)

Planting Seeds!

We are going to have a vegetable garden this year! I am determined. For the past 5 years I have wanted to plant one. And every year "something" happens and I never do. But not this year (I mean Chad already spent 11 days in the hospital and our dishwasher broke and we got insurance money to fix the kitchen issues - not sure when we will do it, hopefully soon, but thats another story for another day) so I already have my "somethings" that have happened and probably there will be more but I really want a garden so the boys and I planted seeds!

Of course when I think of planting seeds I think of Jesus' teachings on what the kingdom of God is like (See Mark 4 and other places :). I'm excited to use this opportunity of planting vegetables and watching them grow to teach the boys about God - so it is a complete win - yummy veggies and a better understanding of God! And in Jude's words, "we planted REAL food, God's food." Hmmm may we remember to plant seeds of God's word in our hearts and share them with those around us - for God's seeds are REAL and God's REAL Food will fill us up!

Preparing egg cartons for our seeds. Such concentration as Jude pokes holes to allow water to escape.

Jude and Shiloh filling their egg cartons with soil.

Burying seeds in the holes. I intended to put 1-2 seeds in each space. However, Jude felt 3 was the perfect number (and Theologically speaking We do serve a Triune God - 3 in 1 - The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit) and he put 3 in each space. Meanwhile Shiloh felt the more the merrier and was dumping 5-10 seeds in each space (useless for me to try and pick all the seeds out) - he must have taken to heart the part in the parable about "scattering seeds" everywhere. So It will be fun to see what grows!

Failure to think through my project logically, keeping in mind the messiness of the boys resulted in soil all over my house, thankfully Granny's cleaning lady was coming in two days and I just swept.

My little seedlings.

Deactivation...

Sooooo....


I'm going to deactivate my Facebook and Instagram accounts. It has come to my attention that I may be slightly addicted to said social media accounts. I've known for a while that this is an area that I struggle with but I can come up with numerous reason that sound good as to why I should remain active in social media BUT enough is enough and for me I have come to the personal conviction for myself that I "know the right thing to do and failing to to it, for me it is sin (See James 4:17)."

Last night I came across this article on desiringgod.org and it was the last straw in my debate on whether to keep my accounts or not.

I have chosen Facebook and Instagram over God. Often. I am bored. Get on Facebook. I need connection with someone or something. Get on Instagram. I mess up. Get on Facebook. I need distraction. Get on Instagram.

My desires run deep but I've allowed my desires to lead me into temptation. James 1:14-15 says, "each one is tempted when by his own evil desire he is dragged away and enticed. Then when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown gives birth to death." And 1 Peter 4:3, "You have already wasted enough time living like those outsiders in the society around you: losing yourselves in sex, in addictions and desires, in drinking and lawless idolatry, in giving your time and allegiance to things that are not godly."

Instead of turning to God, I have sought to satisfy my desires with social media. I am robbing myself and leading myself into death. I have deep longing for something more and I have a God who can fill to overflowing that desire but I continually chose something other than him - which is SIN. No more. I want to desire God and be full of him.

In the Old Testament the people of God sought idols and high places instead of God and in order to destroy that hold on them they had to tear down those places. I need to tear down the places that hold me captive - social media. 


Like the song "Give Us Clean Hands" based of Psalm 24:

We bow our Hearts
We bend our knees
Oh Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things
Oh Lord we cast down our idols

So give us clean hands
Give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Give us clean hands
Give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another


And God let us be
A generation that seeks
That seeks your face
Oh God of Jacob
And God let us be
A generation that seeks
That seeks your face
Oh God of Jacob

So Goodbye Facebook and Instagram. I cast you down. You will not be my idol. I will not lift my soul to you anymore. I will Seek the Face of My God, the Living God!

I will continue to blog. I love sharing stories with our friends and family who live far or who travel often. So if you want to stay connected in that way that would be awesome - but don't count on links from Facebook because there will not be any from me. I also have a phone and love to talk to people. And there is e-mail too. 

11 Months

Time is really going by fast. Asher is 11 months! wow! The little guy is wearing 18 month clothing. He weighs about 22 lbs. He just cut some top teeth bring his teeth count to 10. He loves to climb. He can walk very well and doesn't bother crawling at all anymore. Asher is a fun little guy. He has an adorable laugh and irritable smile. He loves to eat - it is the way to heart. We love him so much.

Tournament Time!

Jude competed in his first taekwondo tournament on Saturday. It was a really little thing at our school All-Star. But it was a big deal for Jude. He was so excited. He was going to break boards and get a trophy - "what's a trophy dad?" In the end he only got medals but he was pleased nonetheless. It was super cute because he got so nervous. And during his basic motion he had this blank scared look on his face. But he did awesome at board breaking - though he needed the expert help of Pops holding his first board. But watch him break his last board with a side kick - first try and impeccable (almost) form! I may be slightly proud...3rd in basic motion and 2nd in board breaking!