Chirps from the Tree ~ April

Outside the Nest...

It is sunny & HOT, hitting the 90’s this week in the Sunshine State. Just taking it all in knowing that we are about to be in the “rebuilding a nest” mode in less than a week! I’m excited but I know that summers can be stinkin’ hot in North Texas! We are making sure our blow up pools will be in a bin for Grammy & Papa’s house.

I am thankful for...

God’s perfect provision in the following: securing a renter paying what we asked for our Florida home, a Labor & Delivery job for me, parents to help in this wild transition & precious friends in Orlando that are making our last weeks special.

I am thinking about...

Packing & moving, saying farewell to friends here, being welcomed back into life in Big D, settling into a new routine, a new job & finding a place to live once we are there. Wow, I think my brain is going a hundred miles a minute yet I am feeling really peaceful about all the moving parts of life right now.

In the schoolroom...

Hahahaha, what school room? I packed it! On the flipside, I am excited to set one up once we are in our new house.  I am also looking forward to making my final decision on some reading/phonics &  math curriculum for next year.

From the kitchen...

We have loved Big Bob’s cooking since they moved in on Resurrection Sunday. Well, I enjoyed it for a couple days before heading to Dallas & I’m pretty sure Rob loved it while I was away. I think in our last few days of our time in Orlando we will be enjoying the kitchens’ of other since ours will be packed!  Let us know if you want to host a family of six plus Gaga ; )

Mommy by day, nurse by night...

I finished up my last shift at work this past week.  I walked into a patient who had lost a baby. The person in charge apologized not realizing it was my last night but with my experience of knowing my assignments frequently feel like I am in the right place at the right time, I kept her, delivered her, helped the family through the process of saying goodbye to a precious baby & left sad & thankful to have walked a painful road with a patient for the hours I was able to attend to her. We had some difficult conversations, shed tears (me included) & I was reminded of the brokenness we live in due to a fallen world.  What good news though to be reminded only days before on Resurrection Sunday that Jesus has conquered death & though we are sad & suffer, we have hope in Christ. When I feel that deep sadness with my patients & often don’t even know where to start in a conversation, I ask if I can pray for them. In nearly nine years, I have never had someone refuse. In a loss of that gratitude, I have little to offer in healing other than to encourage them to turn to the God who can reconcile the brokenness. That is why I love to pray for them & with them, it is sometimes easier to talk to God than talk directly to someone & I feel like in many cases it introduces a person to the truth of who God is through the words I pray.  If you find yourself in a situation where you know someone needs Jesus, just offer to pray! Bereavement care has been a soft spot for me all these years even though I have never lost a baby. I’m not sure why God has led me in that direction but I truly enjoy interacting with these families. At Parkland where I worked in Dallas right out of school, I had the opportunity to teach new nurses about the patient care process of this population, plan a yearly memorial service for the families that had experienced loss & care for countless patients.  In Orlando, I have been pregnant or on maternity leave most of my nursing career in the past 5 years (chuckle) & have not had the opportunity to care for many of these families since we usually avoid placing pregnant nurses with these patients.  I have missed it. This week, while in Dallas, I interviewed for a Labor & Delivery night shift position at a hospital I was very interested in. It seemed like a perfect fit & I was offered a position that should begin in mid May.  The managers I visited with were phenomenal women & made me excited to jump into a new place, make new friends & continue on caring for patients.  They were glad to see the “bereavement” portion of my resume & are hopeful I can join in on equipping the staff to provide exceptional care for these families.

I am creating...

Packing plans….just kidding. There is not much creating going on right now : )

I am working on...

Packing. Ha! Seriously, what else is a girl to do when moving day is a week away!

Clicking around...

I’m hooked on looking at things to prepare for Kindergarten with Classical Conversations curriculum plus finding just the right Math & Reading curriculum to supplement with. 

I am reading...

Growing Grateful Kids- I have had this one for a long time, skimmed it on occasion but am about halfway through & really enjoying it.  As I have two little girls that chit chat with me all day every day & are beginning to notice more about the world around them, I am constantly faced with opportunities to help shape their view of God, others & their response to both. So far this book is providing some practical application to help develop a spirit of thankfulness, humbleness & not giving into worry but trusting God instead for myself & my children.

Amelia Bedelia to Charlotte which is hilarious because she kinda doesn’t get why taking things literally makes for a funny storyline. The one we have read most often is about baseball which is something Charlotte previously knew nothing about so, it really makes no sense as to why mommy giggles after each silly thing Amelia Bedelia does such as “stealing” the bases & running “home.”

I am praying for...

A new found friend I met on my flight to Dallas on Wednesday. I was planning to spend 3.5 hours in silence but was blessed to visit with this lovely woman instead. She is struggling through some difficult life circumstances & wanting to trust God more fully. It was really enjoyable for me to get to have a 3.5 hour long adult conversation without any interruptions….can’t really remember the last time that happened ; ) Next flight to Dallas with be me & my mom + the Fab Four….pretty sure there will be little conversation with others!

Steve & Jenny who have been officially appointed to go as full time missionaries to Poland. They are now in the process of completing required training. Support raising will be the next big thing underway. We are excited for them & praying that God will prepare their hearts to leave the states, engage in another culture & share the Gospel as they are feeling led to do.

I am hearing...

A new favorite CD called Rain for Roots:The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like This. We have had the original CD called Rain for Roots: Big Stories for Little Ones & know every word to every song so it was so fun to add some new tunes to our day, especially ones that point our hearts & minds to Jesus.

Something that has made me laugh...

·     A few weeks ago we came in from getting really dirty playing outside. I asked the girls to wash their hands before coming to the kitchen for lunch.  Charlotte did what I asked & she was quickly at my side getting cups out of the cabinet. I could hear running water coming from the kids bathroom & gave Eloise another minute before I hollered to her saying “Come on Eloise! It’s time for lunch!” to which she replied “I doin’ my best!” She says this anytime you ask her to do anything & she is doing it wrong or slowly or if she is outright disobedient  she almost growls & says “I DOIN’ MY BEST!” It’s hard not to laugh. Anyway, back to the running water & unsupervised two year old. I decided to make my way over to the bathroom & when I peeked in there was a naked little girlie pie sitting on the counter with her feet in the sink. She was proud to tell me that she washed her entire body with hand soap. Oh Eloise, whatever will we do with you spunky little thing?!

·          

Around the house...

We’ve got two busy boys that pull up on everything & are now capable of climbing onto the craft table without assistance….lovely. We have boxes being packed which apparently look like mountains that should be scaled by a certain almost three year old. Thankfully Rob is in the habit of packing a box then immediately moving it to the garage for safe keeping.  The house (and the kiddos) have been kept up by Robby, Bob & Jeannine while I have been in Dallas. It feels wonderful to not have any concern that children & home will be in great shape upon my return : )

One of my favorite things...

Being with the six of us, nothing extraordinary, just daily life.  I could hardly wait to go on my three day trip to Dallas for my interview. It would have been shorter had cheaper flights been available but it turned into three FULL days away.  I did absolutely love caring for only myself on the plane, catching up with a few friends, drinking my cup of coffee in bed while reading in the morning until I felt like getting up &  hopping in & out of the car without buckling/unbuckling four car seats BUT I miss my family! I am actually surprised at how homesick I feel.  I was really excited to sleep alone but in all honesty, I would trade my nights away for being stormed in the middle of the night by two sweet girls that say they like my bed because it’s “cozy” as they snuggle up & fall back to sleep. Talk about spooning….we are like a whole drawerful of spoons every night. Sidenote- we are planning to institute some new night time sleep rules once we get to Dallas : ) For now we will keep right on spooning.  I saw the Fab Four on Skype this morning & hated it haha! I just want to kiss those chubby cheeks & hug Charlotte as she told me the longest story possible. I have missed my husband as I have gone about the day without seeing him. After all, I am used to eating every meal with him plus chatting during the quick breaks when he needs to escape his office. Robby & I have SUCH a great time together tag teaming the kids & delight in our collapsed on the couch phase every evening.  All that to say, it has been a nice visit but I am ready to be home. I am typing this in mid flight back to Orlando….almost there!

Plans for the rest of the week...

Saying goodbye to all of the people who have made life in Florida delightful, packing up those final boxes & heading to the Lone Star State.

Life via Instagram...

Sweet treats & sunny afternoons

As the days are heating up in central Florida, there is not much better than an afternoon popsicle! Owen & Ansons' lips had never touched one before & I'm pretty sure they liked it....a lot!  I was quickly reminded why the bathtub is our favorite place to eat these yummy, messy sugar on a stick delights ; ) 

Here are some happy faces enjoying a sweet, cool treat....

Anson

Owen

Every now & then it got a little too chilly....BRAIN FREEZE!!!

Charlotte helped him out when his popsicle fell apart...

This is when I really thought about the bathtub...

I guess if I would have given everyone a popsicle during our Resurrection Sunday photo shoot we could have had a picture with eight eyes looking at the camera!

We are making the most of our last afternoons in the Sunshine State! I hear they have popsicles in the great state of Texas too ; )

Park with the cousins!

I really think the Fab Four have turned a corner....or maybe it's them & me who have done so.  We are feeling better than ever about getting out & about with four kids.  Rob & I have each taken the bunch (alone) to Target & the wholesale club in one trip totaling a few hours away during the lunchtime hours & all have survived without much screaming! Shopping isn't quite as fun though as our recent trips to the park down the street.  O&A are finally to the point where they are happy boys if I get them out of their stroller & let them crawl all over. My four is happy together but have even more fun when their favorite cousins join them!

The Valentine cousins at the park.....

Livi woke up for a minute to see what all the ruckus was about.

Super Grammy came too & taught the yittle guys how to play the drums!

I love Owen's smile while hitching a ride on sissy. I also love his fish face : )

These cousins are special to each other & will be missed dearly when we move away. I'm sure we have years to come of crazy loud family gatherings that will be greatly enjoyed by all!

Celebrating Resurrection Sunday

Warning....feeling overly wordy this morning as I sit alone on a bed in Dallas at my friend Halie's house....with no kids in sight. That coupled with the emotional basket case I am right now might make for an extremely long post ; ) 

We LOVE celebrating Resurrection Sunday & each year has become more special as the girls are asking questions & are understanding the reason we are celebrating.  Leading up to Resurrection Sunday this year, we made our way through our Resurrection Eggs. This was our second go round with them & my favorite by far. I struggle with consistency so some days we did two eggs & we did skip a couple.....it has been a wild few weeks at the Nest ; ) I put together our set & rewrote the material to go along with The Jesus Storybook Bible in 2012 since that is what we read to the girlies most of the time. Instead of picking items that only go along with the week leading up to the crucifixion, I went with stories about Jesus that by the end of the week sync up with what actually happened on the last few days.  

The girls love familiarity & could tell me some of the stories after having read them so many times.  One day we read about Jesus calming the storm & from that point forward the girls spent more than a couple mornings acting it out in a laundry basket....on their own volition....it made my heart happy.  I did get involved to make the "waves" a bit more rough & eventually became the narrator until it was time for Jesus to stand up & say "hush" to the wind & the waves. Charlotte's favorite line followed "hush" & said "What are you afraid of? Do you not know who I am?"  I am learning more & more about how "playing" through these stories really help them sink into little minds & hearts. 

We did have to laugh some evenings when we would sit down to read & open our egg & Charlotte would declare that what was found inside was extremely boring compared to other nights. Such as a heart shaped piece of felt to talk about how "God was going to pour into Jesus’ heart all the sadness and brokenness in people’s hearts."- Jesus Storybook Bible.  That was not nearly as much fun as play doh or sweedish fish to attempt breaking into pieces to feed the five thousand. 

On Friday evening before leaving for work, we read through the story of the crucifixion & opened our egg to find pieces of paper.  We asked the girls how they felt after reading that Jesus had died.  Charlotte said "I feel sad" so we spelled "sad" & she wrote it down in her precious little handwriting. We asked Eloise thinking she would do what she often does & parrot her sis but she surprised us with her sweet little grin & said "I feel good, I thankful for God." Tears in my eyes, what a delight it is to see God beginning to work in her heart. What happened next made me laugh so hard. I asked Eloise for her paper to put back in the egg so we could bury it in the front garden but she refused to hand it over & began scribbling the entire story we just read like a crazy illustrator. Mind you, she was bouncing all over the kitchen while we read, was one disruptive act away from being escorted to her room & we were positive she didn't hear more than one sentence BUT she "drew" each part of the story & told us along the way. "It's the dark clouds, the cross, Jesus, the BIG stone & the mean soldiers with a sword, they have mean eyes!" Wow, someone is capable of much more than we give her credit for ; ) Following that drawing, we buried our egg in the front garden & I went off to work contemplating the extreme sacrifice of Jesus....that is a good thing to have fresh on your mind. 

Saturday was our "waiting" day where we didn't get to open an egg but instead had to wait just like those who loved Jesus were waiting. We enjoyed swimming, a lovely dinner with our small group & in the meantime found out that renters had been secured for our Orlando home! Another reason to celebrate! We decided late that evening that Robby & Charlotte would go to the Sunrise Service at our church while the rest of us met them there for the pancake breakfast. We woke Charlotte up with her chlorine smelling hair, slipped her Easter dress on & sent her on her way with peanut butter cracker breakfast in hand. Yes, we took all our children to worship that morning even though they had not been bathed in three days...priorities people ; ) 

Those two were out the door by 6 & I sat down to read my bible in silence which is a trigger for the rest of the kids to wake up. Funny how that happens! Eloise tip toed out of her room & said "Mommy, Char is sleeping in her bed, let's go see her." I said "No sweetie, she went to church with Daddy." She said "No mommy, she is in her bed, come look!" I followed her in copying her adorable tip toe style. She climbed up the ladder & lifted the covers & shouted "Oh no!" with a terrified look on her face, "She's gone!" Now there is an object lesson to help a two year old understand what those who came to Jesus' tomb on Sunday morning must have felt! I was chuckling as we walked out & I told her about how Jesus was alive again. Long story short, I rounded up the rest of the brood, loaded the car & we rushed over to Celebration to catch the baptism of some great friends.

We made it just in time! I parked the boys in the stroller by our friend Ileana & went over to center aisle with my camera to capture those special moments for the Ziel family. I was feeling excited & smiling ear to ear until I saw this man & his son...

This is Bill & Luke Berghoefer. The Berghoefers were one of the first families we met when we visited Orlando nearly seven years ago when we were considering moving here. We shared a meal at their home & felt an immediate connection with fellow brothers & sisters in Christ. They were encouraging as we shared a bit of our struggle of infertility, they helped us think through what a big move to Orlando might be like & we left with full hearts.  They moved to Maryland just a couple weeks before Charlotte was born & we have missed them ever since. Our lives overlapped for such a short time but in the circumstances of that year, God extended much grace, encouragement & laughter through this family. I immediately started crying while watching this video along with the rest of our "family" & considering all that God has done in these peoples hearts, that He is alive & that He is going before us to Dallas where He will continue to work in us & through us. 

More tears & a smile when I saw these two...I mean four ; ) 

Baptism is a favorite thing to observe for Robby & me. Even if we don't know the people I always cry. This time though was even more exciting because our precious friends, Don & Cathy & their daughters Anna & Clara were all going to be baptized.  I have mentioned them often throughout my blogging days as God has seen fit to use them time & time again to influence our parenting, our personal devotion to the Lord & like the Berghoefers, we have shared ample amount of laughter & joy through our friendship.  Watch the video on the link above to hear about why this family chose to be baptized. Here is Cathy, one of the most beautiful mamas I know.

and the whole family....it is crazy to think that when we met them Anna & Clara were the same ages as Charlotte & Eloise are right now & Alex was a big bump on Cathy's mid section!

Our friend Christa, who knows how sentimental I am stole my camera & snapped a few of our family as we sang together.  Worshiping together as a family has been extremely emotional for me since we made the decision to move back to Texas. I keep picturing coming there with empty arms pleading with the Lord to give us children & now leaving with not enough arms to wrangle our crazy bunch at any given moment.

The pancake breakfast was delish, as expected & provided for some time to catch up with friends old & new.  Anson was cracking us up with his adorable little grin...

Charlotte got to do what she enjoys most about Sunday's right now which is to chase Jackson & Alex. Cathy & I were watching & I asked her "what do you think about our kids behaving this way when all the other kids are sitting eating their breakfast?" She replied "I think they are okay as long as they aren't tackling" as Jackson & Alex hit the ground mid sentence...hahaha! Charlotte had her fair share of fun with these two. I am not sure what to do with a girl who can tackle another kid, not to mention a boy to the ground  & laugh about it.  We did put an end to the tackling fairly quickly but the chasing & laughing continued.

Another one of the Ziels back in their Sunday best...

This bunch LOVES to play together...

We took this one just in case...

We enjoyed the second service, more baptisms, singing & wrangling Charlotte, Eloise, Karis, Isaac & Olivia while Jenny blessed us with her beautiful cello playing. Thankfully we had Grammy & Papa with us so there were lots of helping hands. I thoroughly enjoyed a good snuggle with each child especially Isaac.  He is all boy & happened to be quite sweet with me for a good ten minutes. It made me excited for O&A to keep growing. After the service, we made it home, had a quick bite to eat & all settled down for a long spring nap....three hours to be exact. 

When we woke, we got our "fancy" clothes back on & attempted to take a picture of our four. HILARIOUS that we think we could even get one where everyone looks & smiles ; ) 

So, like the true Texans we are, we wrangled them.

Grammy & Papa had a harder time with the wranglin' but you know, they are from Michigan ; ) 

The rest of the Valentine's showed up to join in on the photo fun & were quite compliant!

Livi-Lou, goodness gracious...could she be any more adorable??

We all held our breath & applauded after we got a picture of these happy grandparents with their seven...

The two yittle guys were a delight to celebrate with as we thought about how teeny tiny they were one year ago as we spent Resurrection Sunday in the NICU. My what a difference a year makes!

Owen & Anson

We enjoyed our tradition of non traditional foods for holidays & had Churrasco Steak topped with Chimichurri sauce, black beans & rice. YUM! It was amazing!  Meals are always loud with our bunch but the noise is a constant reminder of God's goodness. 

They all gave me a hard time for forcing everyone to squeeze onto the front porch but I love this picture & will frame it once we are settled into our new nest...

What a special Resurrection Sunday it was to reflect on what God has done for us through his son. It is a truly a gift to help these seven children understand & embrace the love of God as we continue to do the same. This celebration could not have been more perfectly timed to coincide with our final weeks in Orlando. To see three services full of people worshiping, being obedient in baptism & hearing the word of God proclaimed brings great joy to our hearts as we consider the years spent here serving at CCC. All the glory to God for making much of himself in this place & for letting us play our teeny tiny part.

Valentine babies at one year old

Short & simple post just to document a "photo repeat" if you will.  I love traditions so having the "same" picture of each baby at one makes me smile. 

                 Charlotte Grace

                  Eloise Hope

Owen Marshall

Anson Ellis

It is hard to believe we have celebrated four first birthdays in the past four years! Praise the Lord for growing these sweet children just as he has planned.