Happy Birthday to Imagine That!

Dear Imagine That,

Today is your birthday and for me a special day to remember what God has done in my life through you. At first we hoped to share a little about life with kids with disabilities, but I never imagined all God would do through you.

Through blogging this year I have gotten to share what is near and dear to my heart.
I have gotten to share about my children and husband. I have gotten to share about our lives and record special memories. I have had the opportunity to share some of the things God has been teaching me and what He has done in our lives.

Another blessing through blogging is being able to network. I have connected with other bloggers that love God and serve him each day and challenge me to do the same. God has used these blogs to open my eyes even wider to the needs of people around the world. He has quickened my heart to want to be part of reaching the poor and needy and the orphans and the widows. He has used blogging to rekindle a passion in my heart to fast and to pray for others.
Through you, Imagine That, God has also strengthened and rekindled relationships with friends and family. I feel God has used you to help me to be known and to know others deeper. I love how we can all follow each other and learn from one another and "spur one another on to love and good deeds".


"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through out all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

So, thank you, Imagine That, and I hope this coming year God continues to do more through you than I ever asked or imagined.

What's Eli Up To?

Eli is getting so active these days.

Eli is in a power wheelchair with a head array. When he moves his head from side to side he can make the wheelchair go in circles. He loves this and it is a great way for him to get more head control.

Eli in his Lycra swing. This swing is great for movement, sensory work and encouraging verbal responses.
We often stop bouncing him and try to get him to say "more".

Scooter time is fun for Eli, sometimes frustrating, but he can move his legs and make himself move. He is getting a better crawling pattern.

We went to a fall party @ our therapists house and Eli got painted.
Now he really is our little E-lion.

RipStik

"Are you a dipstick or do you RipStik?" by Jeromy Scheel

Well what else can one do when it is freezing outside. Why not ride some wheels around the house. We are going to name our house "The House of Wheels".

Kali perfecting her ride.

Ayla is really getting the hang of it.

Gavin is on his wheel too.

Even Gpa Mike has gotten into the fun.

No Cards for Christmas!

We didn't get around to cards this year but if we had it would have been something like this...

(photo by Aimee Vandenberg)

If you can't read it, it says,

Have yourself a Mary Christmas!
.....Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet....
Luke 10:38-42

I never made the card but got the idea from a book I heard about on one of my favorite radio stations, KMBI 107.9.

Can Martha Have a Mary Christmas? by Brenda Poinsett

It really just made me think, that is what I want. I want a Mary Christmas, I want to sit at Jesus' feet and be with Him.

Around the same time a friend posted on FB about their families advent book. She gave me the info and we ordered it @ www.adventbook.com

Most nights we open the doors in the book and read the Christmas Story, one exciting moment at a time. It has been wonderful to re-read each day over again as we work our way to day 25. To ponder each detail of the Christmas story is fun.
*To think of how willing Jesus' mother Mary was.
*To think of what it would be like to have angels come and speak to me.
*To think of how John the Baptist leaped in the womb when Mary entered the home.
*To think of becoming a mother at an old age like Elizabeth.

After we read we turn off the lights and sing carols in the candle light and light of the tree. It doesn't really sound pretty to any human ears, but I know Jesus is smiling.

The kids love it. They love the mystery of what is behind the unopened doors. They love time together and they love when we do a little extra and top off the night with cider or hot cocoa. Eli sings with us and gets so excited when he helps open a door. Gavin even asks to do advent. He is often difficult when we try to do family devotions. He doesn't want to participate and be quiet, but with this book and the songs he is fully engaged and loving every minute of it.

We love to do fun Christmas stuff, buying gifts for the kids and watching them hide in their room while they make gifts for us. We love decorating and eating cookies. And We loved being part of a beautiful Christmas Drama at church. These really are great things, but as it comes closer to the celebration of Jesus' birth, I really do just want to sit at his feet, just like Mary.

"Slow Obedience is Disobedience"

This saying has been going through my head so much over the last 6 months and I am reminded of it daily. I am reminded every time I need to put the dog in the kennel. I say, "Lucy, kennel" and she looks at me and begins to move as slowly as possible to the kennel. I again say, "Lucy, kennel" and she continues on in the slowest possible manner. She is in no hurry to obey and I know if I walked away she would turn around and go bark at something again. It isn't really obedience, it is more like discipline prevention.

So, last night I read one of my favorite blogs and I love this blog post I just want you all to read it if you haven't already. I could not say it in such great words.

God is working among His people, He is calling disciples, He is calling us. He is calling us to obey, to follow, to lay down what hinders us and run the race He has set before us. What race is He calling me to today?

I want to obey immediately. I want to follow at once.

Just in case the race God is calling you to is ministering to the orphan, ( I think that includes all of us) here is another great blog post to read.

Birthday Fun!

What a wonderful day it was, a day I got to do whatever I wanted. Yes that means I got to rearrange the house and not even feel guilty about it. He He

It all started with the girls and I starting to decorate for Christmas, then it turned into where are we going to put the Christmas tree. Soon we were rearranging the boys' room so we could move Gav's computer into there which opens up a nice corner in the living room for the tree. Then we had to move a book shelf and the couch, oh and that led to moving the little play kitchen, which led to moving the corner cabinet back to the real kitchen.

It was a huge mess most of the day and I am happy to say about half of it is dusted and put back together. Yep that leaves the other half still undone. There's always tomorrow!

I do love rearranging and making our home feel a bit more homey. It often feels more like a storage shed, so when I get time to play and reorganize I love it.

I did also enjoy a wonderful breakfast with Jeromy and the kids. I got some quiet time to myself this afternoon and I got some really special gifts.

Jeromy gave me my wedding ring that I hadn't been able to wear for a while because one of the prongs had broke. It is beautiful, it looks brand new. He also gave me a ponsetta and chocolates.

Kali made me a quilt. She did every bit of it and has been hiding it for a couple of weeks. She has been so anxious to give it to me she almost spilled the beans. Oh her excitement was adorable.

Ayla made me a pillow to go with the quilt. She had to get very creative to find stuffing and a ribbon for it. She told me all about it and it was so cute to see how she solved her little dilemmas.

Gavin and Eli gave me the gift of their presence. Both of the boys have been so good today and Gavin was soooo excited about his room being rearranged. He kept saying over and over I love my room. He giggled so hard and squealed when he saw it.

I also received many many really sweet notes via Facebook, phone calls and texts. It is so fun to hear from friends from all over the place. It is fun to be able to keep up even in a small way with people that are so special to me.

I truly am blessed and I thank you all for your friendship and love and support.
36 years old and it just keeps getting better.

School Time with Kali and Ayla

We are through the first quarter and here are some highlights.....



The New School Room

by Aimee VanDenBerg

Having a school room has been such a blessing. The girls love it! It has been nice not having everything in the house, though things seem to migrate back in on a regular basis. The girls do about 50% of their work in there, the rest is either in the house or on the go.


Science Center Ground Breaking

by Aimee VanDenBerg

This was a great opportunity for the girls and Gavin. They saw real robots bigger than they are and they even got to hear Governor Butch Otter speak. This is a picture with the governor.


Pumpkin PatchThe pumpkin patch is always a fun "field" trip. (pun intended)


Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center
This was mom's favorite. I had no idea! This is Dr. Bird's personal collection. I always thought it was a bird and aviation museum. You know about birds and flight etc. I was pleasantly surprised, it is his inventions and many other amazing and cool inventions. Dr. Bird invented some amazing medical equipment and it was cool to see it. There is a lot of cool planes as well for those of you interested in that kind of stuff. If you are near by and have an afternoon to spare, head on up, you will not be disappointed.


CHAIN- Our Christian based CO-OP

Science-History-Language Arts-Sewing-Dancing-Socializing-Pajama Day-Num chucks-Creativity

Oh, where does one begin to talk about co-op. I hate it and love it. It is a lot of work-I teach Idaho History, Ayla's class. I assist in a science class and sewing class. It is so much fun and the other families are great. I get overwhelmed every Wed. night and motivated every Thursday afternoon. Gavin has his own class and doesn't need momma. The girls love their friends and I love getting to have a Bible Study time during one of my breaks. The mamas and grandmamas are starting The Power of a Praying Parent.

IDEA-Idaho Distance Education Academy

Another love hate relationship. Becoming more love oriented. This is an Idaho public school program therefor we meet all Idaho State standards, do all testing and we have a contact teacher monitoring the girl's progress. It is all good, it just gets overwhelming and sometimes I just want to do it my own way. Our teacher is awesome and we have made it through our 1st portfolio conference. The girls take samples of their work and show their teacher what they have been learning. A long list of standards needs to be met by the next conference. We are over half way there. Yippee!!!


Overall this has been a great year. Ayla is working hard on reading fluency and making great progress on her speed and voice inflection. Kali is working hard on her spelling, but she gets those genes from her mama.( Sorry girlfriend, I got them from grandpa Mike. Keep at it you will get it. )

The girl's are so self motivated, sometimes they even come and wake me up and say, "mom, it is almost time for school." I do not know how I got such great kids, but I sure do love having them around all day. Praise God for the freedom to homeshcool.