Defender of the Minivan

The intention of this blog is to defend the poor minivans in the world. As I’m sure you know minivans tend to have a bad rep among moms. I would know this because I use to be one of the typical moms that would say “I will never drive a minivan, they are such mom cars or mom mobiles, I want an SUV!” Well, then the day came when we had 3 kids and wanted a bigger vehicle. For nine months we smashed all 3 kids in the backseat of our car, we actually had to take the arms off of Josiah’s car seat and Elisha’s booster just to make it fit. Somehow we even managed to go on a road trip to Arizona with all of us in our car.

Anyways, it was really cramped so we knew we had to start thinking about a getting bigger vehicle. So of course I start researching SUV’s and after lots of research I realized that they didn’t make SUV’s in our price range. Then one day it hit me! And I have to contribute it to the wise words of my second favorite Pastor (Vince being my first) Steve Wilburn! He said, “Needing a minivan is the stage of life you’re in, enjoy it!” Then I began to wonder why didn’t I want a minivan again? Oh yeah, because that’s what mom’s drive! Wait, I am a mom! A mom of 3! When did this happen? I’m 30 and a mom of 3. It’s not like I’m a teenager driving my mom’s minivan. I am now “the mom”. I’m grown up and yes I think I qualify for a minivan. Yes maybe I look like the typical 30 year old mom driving a minivan but in my defense that is what I am! I am enjoying every second of being a mom! I cook, clean, wash laundry, change dirty diapers, get spit up on, homeschool, wipe off cute dirty faces, make cookies and drive a minivan. It’s the stage of life I’m in and I LOVE it! I love driving my minivan and looking back at 3 precious happy kids in the backseats! I also know someday when I’m older, and my kids are grown, and my minivan driving days are over I will look back and miss these days! So if you need a bigger vehicle save your money and get a minivan, I promise you will enjoy it! And don’t worry if you drive an SUV we can still be friends!

Wells of Grace

Some of us pastor's wives at church were asked to write on the subject of Grace. So here is an old blog I decided to re-write:) Because it is still applies to me today! There are a million things that come to my mind on the subject of grace but this is what stands out to me the most right now.Wells of Grace

Being a mom with 3 small kids at home comes with lots of joy, laughter, smiles, love, cuteness, busyness, and energy. My days normally consist of making breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, diaper changes, and occasional temper tantrums either the kids or me. There are plenty of times my days feel overwhelming or monotonous. But as I sit here looking around our house at crackers ground into the carpet, toys covering the floor, and the smell still lingering of a diaper I just changed, I can’t help but smile and be thankful for His grace on this ministry He has given me here at home.

I love that with kids you can get a kiss whenever you tell them to kiss you. A hug when you ask for one. You can dance to kid movies, crawl around on the floor or play hide and seek. All things you wouldn't normally do. I love taking care of our boys and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

When those times come and I find myself losing perspective of what God has blessed me with I often stop and meditate on verses like 2 Corinthians 9:8 which says, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” I am confident that God will abundantly provide all I need. When I choose to rely on His Grace He faithfully pours it upon me. My daily tasks are then filled with joy, strength, contentment, love and delight. After I turn to God’s word I realize the very chores that threaten to drain me become wells for grace that God is pouring into.

The wonderful thing about these wells is God doesn’t just fill them but He overflows them. As a result the abundance of grace washes into the lives of my family and those the Lord sends my way. It blesses me to know that my need for grace will also turn into a means of grace for those that I love.

Our ministries can be hard at times with all that may be on our plates, but when we meditate on Him and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us, we will have the strength to glorify God in all we do big or small. Now if I just continue to walk in God’s grace while I'm scraping food off the wall, or refolding the laundry, He will use me as a channel of His undeserved favor to all that are thirsty for grace.

by Vince Bueno:)

Stole this from my hubby's facebook:)

Daddy, look at me!
A couple evenings ago we had boy’s night. Mommy went to do one of the things she loves to do, serve at church, and we put a sign up in the window that said “No girls allowed!” We dished up our pizza and settled in flipping on a movie that, according to Elisha “WE HAD TO WATCH FOR BOYS NIGHT!” It was the completion of the Open Season trilogy (let’s just say I’m glad Red Box had it for $1). Elisha suggested another idea which is true to his form, “Daddy, let’s all sit on the green couch together.” He always wants to be together. Half way through the movie it was time for dessert so we dished up the rest of the left over chocolate cake and ice cream, threw in the last couple Oreos, sprinkled on the remaining chocolate chips and topped it all off with some chocolate syrup….improvise, adapt, and overcome! Bowl 1…Elisha. Bowl 2…Josiah. As I was crafting the daddy-bowl Josiah calls out to me wondering “Daddy, are you going to sit on the blanket with us?” (The boys aren’t allowed to eat on the couch so they have spread a blanket to prepare for the feeding frenzy.) And if I take my eyes of the screen, almost in unison the question arises “Daddy are you watching?” How could I say no?

Jedidiah is getting SO BIG! You dad’s know how fast they move from phase to phase. It is as if by the time you finish assembling the multitude of parts labeled “Ultra Swivel & Glide Rock Bounce and Raise Contraption” they have already raised themselves. But anyways…Jed’s new phase, which I have been thoroughly enjoying (check back with me in a couple weeks), involves me walking him to sleep, sometimes multiple times per night. In the midst of my prayers I approximate my paces, 160 laps…120…180. Here’s his cue, he lunges. It seems that non-verbal communication is the best way to convey your desires when you don’t know any words. So, if mommy’s holding him, he’s ready for bed and I walk in the room he turns, smiles, and luuuuunnnges for me. “Oh, hey mom”…turn…luuuunnnge… “Oh, hey mom, you’re still here?”…turn…luuuuunnnge. What he’s saying is “Daddy, let’s take a walk…a very long walk.” How could I say no?

It is with emotion that I emit these words hoping that my children never stop desiring my attention. And it is with great compassion that the Father sent forth the Word which dwelt among us and died for us striving for the same attention as myself but in a much holier pursuit. As a student of theology I know that God is omniscient and omnipresent, that He is everywhere seeing and understanding all things (Psalm 139:1-12). As a son of God I know that Jesus has opened the door for me to boldly show the Father my needs (Hebrews 4:16). Isaiah 66:2 informs me how I can gather the particular gaze of the One I love; “All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” So how do I attract the special attention of God? I must be of a humble and contrite spirit, I must tremble at His word. When on the inside I am poor and broken before Him, free from any pride or worth. When I am afraid enough to respond at the sound of His voice. When I am nothing and He is everything, THEN He will look to me.

If I turn toward my children I simply displace a small amount of air but when God turns toward his child it is as if all of creation is drawn toward us in one sovereign sweeping motion being held captive to do His will in the life of the one that has been able to effectively leverage a look from Him. Is it worth it to a grown man to humble himself declaring “Daddy, look at me”? How could I say no?

Kids are funny!

Josiah likes to fall asleep coloring. And when he is all finished coloring he sticks the crayon in his ear I guess, because this is how I always find him after he's sleeping.

Rainy Day

My kids REALLY wanted to go outside and play today:) I'm not sure if rainy days are harder for them or for me!

Happy birthday to Josiah!

Today is Josiah's 2nd birthday! I love my little guy so much. He is growing up so fast, and is such a blessing to our family. He tries so hard to do and be just like his big brother. He is my easy kid and has been that way since the day he was born. He has such a sweet and sensitive spirit. He goes along with whatever we are doing and does everything Elisha tells him to do without any complaint. Right now he loves to run, jump, jump off things, ride his bike, go to church, color on anything but paper, play outside, watch the "Cars" movie, and drink milk. That's most of his favorite things! Happy Birthday Josiah!

My boys

Since I'm slacking on my blog I thought i'd put up some pictures from Halloween. Elisha was Super Why. It's a kids super hero cartoon who is a super reader! Just in case you haven't seen it. And Josiah was a tiger for the 2nd year in a row:)

Pumpkin Patch

I think everyone I know is posting pictures of a trip to the pumpkin patch so I thought I'd join along.

Here is the pumpkin Elisha picked out.

I took a ton of pictures of Josiah because he was being so funny. He would get down in each animals face and have a little conversation with them. We were cracking up!

Pizza Party

Last night I had 5 kids here! I watched my 3 cousins. We ate pizza, made cookies and played the original Mario brothers. That is the only video game I understand and yes I still have the OLD system and it works great! Plus I can beat the game and save the princess. Not to brag or anything but I'm way better then my 13 year old cousin. Now if we were playing xbox that would be another story. I don't think I can even hold the controller the right way for xbox.


Here is our dinner. Greasy peperoni pizza.

Ben & Elisha Josiah and my cousin Tiffany
Then for dessert Tiff and I made chocolate chip cookies. While we were waiting for the cookies to get done we made up this dessert which I thought are better then chocolate chip cookies. It is a graham cracker with peanut butter and chocolate chips on it. I think we ended up eating so many of these that we didn't end up wanting the chocolate chip cookies.
And Elisha is now able to run around again. The doctor said yesterday that his leg is almost all the way better but that he can walk on it now. YEAH!

13 down 1 to go

Tomorrow is our 2 week doctor appointment. It has been officially 2 weeks tomorrow since Elisha has had to stay on the couch. My how time goes slow! It's been a long two weeks for both of us. We had a follow up appointment with the doctor last Friday and he said his leg and hip still wasn't back to normal and confirmed that he had to stay on the couch for the 2nd week. So, we are going to the doctor tomorrow and he should give us the okay for him to run around again. I hope so:)

The next 2 weeks.......

Thursday morning I spent the morning at the doctor's with Elisha. It never fails that every time Vince is gone on a trip I have to make a trip to urgent care with one of the kids. Well this time Elisha had been limping on Wednesday night then by Thursday morning he said it hurt when he walked and didn't want to walk anymore. So, instead of going to bible study like I had planned we just headed to the doctor. After x-rays and blood tests the doctor said he is fine he just has this thing called toxic synovitis. It sounds bad but its really nothing. It's really common in boys his age. It is a form of arthritis that is not permanent. It will go away in a few days. Anyways, the doctor said he has to stay on the couch for 2 weeks! Not walk around at all, even after he is feeling better. And if he gets up and walks around to much he could have further problems in the future (I know random)? So anyways, to make a long story short, I now have the challenge of keeping my active my 3 year old on the couch for 2 weeks. Yesterday was day 1 and we watched almost every movie we have, played candy land several times, and read lots of stories. It was kinda turning into a loooong day of being inside. Then last night my friend Hilary came over for dinner and rescued us for the evening. She brought Elisha a new game and a puzzle, which occupied him for the rest of the evening. And hung out with me which was nice to have adult conversation (Thanks Hil!). Anyway, look for lots of boring blogs the next couple weeks as I'll be home with not much to do:)

Josiah has been nice enough to keep Elisha company on the couch.

Perfect end to a day

They do have their own beds but Elisha always crawls in bed with Josiah:) So precious!

Swim lessons

Elisha started swim lessons this week. He seems to enjoy it except when they make him go under water. It is so fun for me to watch him learn to swim because this was my sport growing up. I did swim lessons all growing up then continued on to join swim teams and swim competitions. So I'm going to force my son to be just like me. No just kidding. I just want him to learn to swim for the safety of it.

Notice Elisha is wearing his shirt. It was the doctor's orders for the rest of the summer so his poor skin can heal.

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to.

Josiah is no longer in his crib because he kept trying to get out. So we had to move him to a regular bed. I was not looking forward to this transition because I didn't think he would stay in his bed. But so far it has been super easy. He loves his new bed and sleeps great in it. I think it's so funny how small he is in it.
Next photo:) I celebrated my 27th birthday last month. My mom made me a cake and had all our family over for dinner. Then the next night Vince took me out on a nice date while my mom watched the kids.
The next picture is us at the plaza last week I scored on Starbucks cards for my b-day so I bought the boys hot chocolate. This picture was taken seconds before Elisha did some sort of ninja move and made the hot chocolate splatter ALL OVER ME and stain my new shirt and shorts:(
Here's Josiah leaving the plaza after getting soaked in the water.

My big baby

This picture of Josiah was taken a couple months ago. Something about this picture makes me laugh every time I see it. A couple days ago I was having a stressful day with the kids and Vince emailed this picture to me to brighten up my day. It definitely worked.

"Sunburn" part 2

So apparently this sunburn was a little more serious then I thought. The picture below, in my previous entry, is a picture of one of Elisha's burn blisters. Within the hour of taking that picture his back started getting blisters all over and they were breaking open. So after I took him to urgent care that night they said he had a really bad burn 1st and 2nd degree and that could possibly turn to 3rd degree if the open wounds get infected. Elisha has his upper back all bandaged up around his shoulders with medicine all over it. I have to re-bandage him each night and return to my doctor in a week to make sure it healed correctly. I don't have any updated pictures of his back to post because taking pictures of how his shoulders looked with all the blisters would just make me feel worse if I had to look at the pictures. So anyways, lesson to my self.........SUNSCREEN. Oh and for the record I didn't put ANY sunscreen on Josiah the day they went swimming and Josiah just got a nice golden tan. That gives you an idea of how white Elisha is.

As a side note, the funny thing is just a week ago I was at the store in the lotion aisle when a dad came down the aisle with his 2 little kids who were sunburned to the crisp. I looked at him thinking only a dad would forget to put sunscreen on his kids. As he stood there I asked him if he was looking for the aloe vera. He said "yes" and I refrained from making a joke on how they make this thing called sunscreen that works great. Luckily I kept my mouth shut. Soooooo fast forward a week later I’m at urgent with my sunburned 3 year old, wondering what people must think of me. So I guess we all make mistakes in parenting at one time or another.

Sunburn

What kind of mom forgets to put sunscreen on their kid. Ahhh yeah that would be me. My very pale white son Elisha has a sunburn on his back that is now 2 days old. When I took off his shirt right now it had a sunburn blister that broke open. I have no idea how to treat it. I have never had one of these nor have I ever seen one. I just put neosporin and a band aid on it, any other suggestions???

Vince left yesterday for Israel, so I'll update you on what we've been doing. All my energy is being zapped away by my kids. Since Vince has been gone we've been painting, throwing water balloons, and have made 2 trips to the park. Then today we went and visited my aunt and went to my cousin's softball game. So, we've been running around keeping busy. The time we have spent at home the boys had no problem entertaining themselves. Today Josiah dumped my brand new bottle of laundry detergent all over the laundry room floor. I was more upset at the cost of laundry detergent being wasted then the mess itself. Then I felt a little better after I used the spilled laundry detergent to mop all my floors. So at least it didn't go completely to waste. And if that wasn't enough Josiah then decided to get the bottle of Cinnamon out of the cupboard and walk around the house sprinkling Cinnamon on everything. My house now has a laundry detergent and Cinnamon aroma. Then to top it off he got my lipstick out of my purse and drew on the couch with it. Luckily I got all the stains off the couch with a lot of hard work. You may be wondering if I even watch my kids despite all they get into. Believe me I am questioning that myself. But with each mess they make it usually takes them less then a minute to do it. So it happens when I’m in another room folding laundry or cleaning up. And once I realize that they are being real quiet I know something is up and by the time I get to them the damage is already done. Below is a picture of Elisha's art design that he did on his legs with a pen. He did this while he was supposed to be taking a nap in his bed. Anyways, I have had quite the adventurous 2 days. So to put myself out of my sadness of Vince being gone, and still having more then a week to go, I am treating myself to a doughnut right now. And it's worth every calorie.

Every day of my life!

Vince always makes fun of me for saying the phrase "Every day of my life." But there are just some things that happen every single day. This being one of them. Every day I put the kids books all neatly back up on the bookcase and each day when i'm not paying attention they pull all the books off. They know not to do this. So they wait until I'm on the phone then they do what there not suppose to do. See, I have a phone with a cord so when I am talking to someone I am confined to this one area, and they know that. So when I hear all the books crashing on the ground its my cue to get off the phone. I have made them put all the books back on the bookcase but that doesn't help, because they don't do a very good job. Well, they do as good as a 1 and 3 year old could do ( I wish I had a picture to insert here of what the bookcase looks like when they put the books back). I guess now I have to take extreme measures....and figure something out:)

My kids then and now

Elisha as a baby

Elisha now (still has the same baby face)Josiah as a baby Josiah now He has lost some of his baby fat:)