He’s patiently waited nearly a whole month since Analise started school.  He’d ask hopefully each morning as Analise got ready to head off, “Am I going to school today?”  This long weekend has been even longer with the anticipation of today.  This morning, he and Analise were awake at 6:10, and Analise was as excited for his first day as he was.  She insisted on helping him pack his backpack, and they both wanted to help me pack lunchboxes.

Josiah will be in Miss Debbie’s class, and Analise was in this class 2 years ago.  She is full of tidbits of information about things he’ll be doing this year.  It’s so cute to see her being such a sweet big sister!

Brian walked to school with Josiah in the backpack.  The kids have always loved this adventure with Daddy.  Josiah’s made it quite a workout for Brian, so the end of my kids’ backpack trips might be on the horizon… *sigh*  That will be a sentimental day for this mom!

This year he’s going Tuesday through Friday, from 9:30-1:30.  I’m going to miss my little buddy!  I’m already looking forward to our Mondays together.  I know the 4 hours with him in school will go quickly and my “to-do” list is endless.   We’ll see how quickly I figure out how to manage my time!

Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith,so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

It was a great message, but for much of it, I felt like it wasn’t relevant to me.  I’m not employed*. I’m lucky enough to stay at home with my kids.  I don’t have an employer. So I listened, but didn’t really notice much application.

Until I thought about my “job”. I do have a job… to love, encourage, inspire and grow my children.  I get to do it full-time and not juggle another job. And when I thought about my job, I realized… God has called me to this position, this “full-time job”. He is my employer.  And WHAM… the whole message was suddenly very much directed at me.

I’m not going to do it justice in my summary, I’m sure.  But Pastor Chris spoke of attitudes at work, gossip, “stealing” including time, obedience but especially obedience with the right attitude. And when I thought of my “job” as a full-time mom and these things, I realized that often I haven’t lived out these verses in serving God as my master (employer). I haven’t always had a good attitude, I’ve wasted my time in countless ways, I’ve grumbled about many of the “hours” I work.

What a calling… what a privilege!  God’s allowing me to serve him full-time in the “job” a mother’s heart is created to do. I have amazing children who I get to help “grow in stature and favor with God and with man” (Luke 2:52).  There are a million things vying for my attention, but I need to keep my Employer and the job He’s called me to at the forefront of my mind.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  -Colossians 3:23

*Funny thing is, I am actually employed with another job, one that I worked at Friday and Saturday! I’m working as an admin for a company that staffs health assessments for the military.  I was gone Thursday night to Saturday afternoon for 2 events.  Yes, I should have been applying the message better to this job and my mom-job

With Analise’s first day of school on Wednesday, Mom had seen this link for a cute teacher gift.  We stocked up on supplies, and crafted several of them, including Analise to help design her teacher’s (not shown).

Then we used a cute “Princess” sticker (from UpperCase Living) on top of a scrapbook covered canvas.  Analise was excited to help out on this too…

Our last, and most in-depth project, were canvases with Family Rules.  These deserve their own post, so click on over…

A few notes…

• The original from the link is very large, and I wish I could have done mine that big.  But it’s a good thing I couldn’t figure out how to do the lettering wider than 12×12 paper, because I really didn’t have a good place to display anything larger than the 11×14 canvases I made!
• We tried to choose not-quite-matching papers, but they couldn’t be too dark or have patterns that were too strong. And heavier paper works better with ModgePodge, but its not imperative.  We did my canvases with all scrapbook papers we had on hand.
• We cut 12×12 paper down to 8.5×11, typed our rules into a (landscape format) Word document, using fabulous fonts from this link (be careful… very easy to install and addicting once you start!).  We cut each rule into a strip, laid them out in order, and used Modge Podge to put them on the canvas.
• A couple Modge Podge tips we learned (after Mom’s first canvas bubbled/wrinkled badly) – Heavier papers are better, but the absolute key is to paint a layer on both the paper and the canvas.  This way they will bond together, with no bubbles.  Smooth with a credit card, for 30 seconds or so.  Let the Modge Podge dry, then seal the edges with another couple coats.
• I found a fun tip for “antiquing” the edges.  We had painted the sides and 1″ border of the canvases.  After we had Modge Podged as many times as we wanted and it was dry, I used sandpaper to blend the paper into the painted canvas.  It turned out well, looking like the edges were torn, but with black or grey paint, it would have looked much better.
• I embellished with a couple flowers, just to give them some dimension.
• Again, if you’re going to do this, click through the examples of the original project.  Such great ideas, and endless rules!
• My rules list:

Have fun, be kind, ask first, no fussing, no whining.

Treat others better than yourself.

Do your best with a joyful heart.

Husband – hug your wife daily. Wife – Always be on his side.

Sing silly, dance crazy, hug often, snuggle much, say “I love you”

Always tell the truth.

Look for opportunities to serve.

Love the Lord with all your heart.

There is no such thing as mine in this home. It’s all God.

Forgiveness is mandatory.

Obey your parents.

Use manners… “Yes, please”… “No, thank you”

Encourage your siblings. Share in their joy.

Too much TV is bad… too much reading is good.

Keep your promises.

Say your prayers.  Thank God for this family.

I’m so pleased with how these turned out!  If you send me your family rules, maybe I’d even make one for you

I got a huge basket of peaches for just $14 while we were driving through South Carolina last weekend.  They had been fresh-picked Sunday morning! Love, love, love fresh peaches, but of course, these have all ripened within a day or two, so I’ve had to get busy using them! Here’s what I’ve been doing:

• Freezing them, with great directions here.  I hope to freeze some in 1 cup bags for muffins,
• A peach pie, from Betty Crocker (be warned, sound on this page)
• The most delicious, moist peach muffins from this recipe (And the comments say that any muffin recipe can be made into waffles!  How awesome is that?  Believe me… I’ve got a lot of great muffin recipes that would be fun to try as waffles, especially these peach ones!)
• Homemade Peach Ice Cream (to be made today, I hope)
• Peach Frozen Yogurt (awesome recipe I fell in love with last year)
• Maybe this Breakfast Peach Couscous recipe…

A few other ideas from my Google Bookmarks file…

• Peach & Maple Sour Cream Pie
• Peach Oatmeal Muffins
• These Single Serve Pies look so awesome, and I’d love to try them with peaches.

She was so excited! Not an ounce of fear that I noticed. She had met Mrs. Baker on Monday, and she was thrilled to find some of her favorite friends would be with her.  And she has her own desk, instead of sharing a table. Such exciting milestones!

And to take a trip down memory lane… last year’s kindergarten picture:

We just got back from a 4,000 mile road trip that passed through 11 states, included 8 bike races, and included 90+ hours in the car. The trip culminated with us driving through “Billboard Alley” in north Alabama at exactly midnight when the date rolled over to June 28, 2010 – our 7 year wedding anniversary. You’ve got to go back 8 years and 3 months to Easter of 2002 when I proposed to Kristine to see where it all began… That trip was so big I’ve got to use two maps! The first shows an overview, and the second shows the details of the road trip portion – a mere 2,787 miles.

1. I took vacation over spring break while in grad school at UC Davis in the spring of 2002.
2. Kristine took vacation from her missionary work in Nicaragua with Mercy Ships.
3. We both flew to and met at the Dallas Fort Worth airport, and picked up a rental car to begin…
4. …our 2,787 mile road trip to introduce Kristine to my family and get engaged.
5. We returned to Dallas and then flew to Chicago for me to spend Easter with Kristine’s family.

1. Meeting in the DFW airport in Dallas, TX and renting a car together.
2. Going to a movie with Mercy Ships friends in Tyler, TX.
3. Spending the night with friends from Mercy Ships
4. Driving on I-20 to Birmingham, entering Louisiana
5. Driving on I-20 to Birmingham, entering Mississippi
6. Driving on I-20 to Birmingham, entering Alabama
7. Kristine meeting my parents for the first time, going to church together before driving to Clemson, SC
8. Exploring Birmingham, rocks on top of Shades Mountain
9. Driving on I-20, entering Georgia
10. Stopping for lunch in Buckhead north of Atlanta, GA at the Cheesecake Factory
11. Driving on I-85, entering South Carolina
12. Clemson, SC – quick botanical gardens visit, proposing to Kristine beside Lake Hartwell, going to church together afterwards
13. Driving on I-85, entering North Carolina, spending the night with my college friends Darol and Donna
14. Driving on US-29, entering Virginia, and passing through Lynchburg, VA where I cooped for a couple semesters
15. Lake Monticello near Charlottesville, VA where Kristine got to meet my grandmother
16. Driving back to Birmingham on I-81, entering Tennessee, stopping near Johnson City to phone Nicaragua to relay engagement
17. Spending another night with my family in Birmingham
18. Spending another night in Texas with friends from Mercy Ships
19. Returning the rental car at DFW before flying to Chicago
20. Flying from Dallas to Chicago
21. Easter service at the chapel at Valpairaso University
22. Easter egg hunt with Kristine’s family in La Porte, IN to finish our engagement trip spanning 12 states and two countries

And here are photos that correspond to each of the numbered items. Hover over each photo in the gallery to read a caption about the picture. Read the photos from left to right, top to bottom. There may be more than one photo for each numbered item in the list above.