Okay so this really doesn't have that much to do with bananas in pajamas... just bananas and pajamas separately.
BANANAS...
This past weekend we went to a friends house for a bonfire and got to experience Banana Boats for the first time ever. You think.. what in the world?!? But you would be so surprised how good it is. Here is the recipe.
PAJAMAS...
Over the weekend we had a flood in our basement. It was awful and the next day we spent pulling carpet and pitching it out the window. Needless to say that I'm not about to have the kids sleep in a newly "unfinished" basement with the dehumidifiers and fans, so we have a pajama party every night. We threw a mattress on the floor for the two older ones and the youngest sleeps with Grandma.
I tend to laugh because we want to move so that everyone has more space and we end up bunking together and trying to fill every nook and cranny of the upstairs with our downstairs junk.
God must have known that we needed to declutter! hahaha!
So with achy muscles from pulling carpet, moving boxes and hauling stuff to the dumpster that the condo association has graciously provided the neighborhood... I bid all good-night and bananas in pajamas!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Dreams
We have been talking as a family, where we would like to live. The consensus has been to move out to a farm. Trinity wants horses, Tristan wants chickens and Jeff just wants LAND!!!
Bonfires, wood burners and lots of places to explore.
Discussing this dream has made some decisions easier for the whole family. They know why we are getting the house ready for sale, and they are patient with living in the condo with Mom.
Oh yeah, Mom wants a garden and to be able to sit on the deck without anyone being able to see us...
I just want to be able to use a clothes line and sit in some shade and watch my happy family.
So we drive out in the country very often. Hoping we find the perfect farm house for dirt cheap. Preferable with a barn...
We drove by one that looked promising and when we drove past, Tristan asked me a question.
"Mom, when we move to the country can I get home-schooled?"
I asked him why...
His answer... "So I can spend more time with you".
That's a dream come true in a whole other way.
Thank You God!
Bonfires, wood burners and lots of places to explore.
Discussing this dream has made some decisions easier for the whole family. They know why we are getting the house ready for sale, and they are patient with living in the condo with Mom.
Oh yeah, Mom wants a garden and to be able to sit on the deck without anyone being able to see us...
I just want to be able to use a clothes line and sit in some shade and watch my happy family.
So we drive out in the country very often. Hoping we find the perfect farm house for dirt cheap. Preferable with a barn...
We drove by one that looked promising and when we drove past, Tristan asked me a question.
"Mom, when we move to the country can I get home-schooled?"
I asked him why...
His answer... "So I can spend more time with you".
That's a dream come true in a whole other way.
Thank You God!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Here's the post I promised you Carrie...
C is for Carrie, that’s her name. I don’t know if she is a Caroline or Carolyn… maybe I should ask her sometime.
A is for All Over. Before I met her, I seemed to see her everywhere. Hanging with high school kids, hanging around church …. When she started seeing Michael, I thought…” Finally… I get to meet her.” Now that I know her better, she is still all over. She even came up while my dad was in the hospital getting wheeled down to radiology. Nowadays she is gracing the people of Mexico with her antics and adventures!
R is for Reimersma. I thought this was Carrie’s last name. When I tried to find an address to send a “Congratulations on your Engagement” card (and make an awesome first impression) I couldn’t. Because of that, poor Kate and Kristen couldn’t get a card either… and by then, everyone got the chance to know me and realize I probably wasn’t a Hallmark kind of gal.
R is … really. I really, really hope that when she comes back to Michigan that we go ahead with our plan to go visit nursing homes and do pictures. I’m so excited about that!
I is for independence, one of the things I admire about her. She exudes independence when you look at her. Knowing Michael, I could never imagine who would be best suited to be a wife to him, until I met Carrie. Michael is a dedicated hunter, son, employee and all around sportman (and he very good at all it). Carrie accompanies him when it suits her and lets him go when it doesn’t. Not for the faint of heart (like me. I cling like a used dryer sheet!)
E is for the every other Wednesday that she will be missing at the Yellow Jacket until she moves back into town.
A is for All Over. Before I met her, I seemed to see her everywhere. Hanging with high school kids, hanging around church …. When she started seeing Michael, I thought…” Finally… I get to meet her.” Now that I know her better, she is still all over. She even came up while my dad was in the hospital getting wheeled down to radiology. Nowadays she is gracing the people of Mexico with her antics and adventures!
R is for Reimersma. I thought this was Carrie’s last name. When I tried to find an address to send a “Congratulations on your Engagement” card (and make an awesome first impression) I couldn’t. Because of that, poor Kate and Kristen couldn’t get a card either… and by then, everyone got the chance to know me and realize I probably wasn’t a Hallmark kind of gal.
R is … really. I really, really hope that when she comes back to Michigan that we go ahead with our plan to go visit nursing homes and do pictures. I’m so excited about that!
I is for independence, one of the things I admire about her. She exudes independence when you look at her. Knowing Michael, I could never imagine who would be best suited to be a wife to him, until I met Carrie. Michael is a dedicated hunter, son, employee and all around sportman (and he very good at all it). Carrie accompanies him when it suits her and lets him go when it doesn’t. Not for the faint of heart (like me. I cling like a used dryer sheet!)
E is for the every other Wednesday that she will be missing at the Yellow Jacket until she moves back into town.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Borrowed devotional
June 4, 2009
The Enemy's Lies
Sharon Jaynes
Today's Truth
"The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10 NIV emphasis added).
Friend To Friend
"Now the serpent..." The great deceiver clothed himself as a serpent and slithered up to Eve with a game plan to destroy God's prized possession. He didn't come with a sword or a gun, or even a knife for his attack. He simply wielded lies. The serpent knew Adam and Eve would not buy into a radical flamboyant denial of God, so he slithered into the garden with a twist and a turn of the truth. He began by causing Eve to doubt... "Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?" (Genesis 3:1).
Satan knew exactly what God had said. He was simply trying to confuse Eve. Perhaps he was evaluating just how well she knew the truth. He found out.
"We may eat fruit from the tress in the garden," Eve replied, "but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die" (Genesis 3:3).
Bingo. She didn't know the truth that well after all. First, God never mentioned not touching the fruit. That seems like a pretty good idea, but it was not what God said.
Second, Satan denied God and lied about the consequences of her disobedience when he said, "You will not surely die." (3:4). He didn't even try to disguise the deception. He told a flat-out lie.
Finally, he told her she could be like God. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). In other words, "God doesn't know what He's talking about. He's holding out on you. You don't need Him. You can be your own god."
Eve rejected the truth and believed the lie. She believed that she could be like God...in control of her own life. "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her."
As she sunk her teeth into the forbidden fruit of deception and the lie slid down her delicate throat, the temptation settled in her soul and fermented into shame and condemnation. Her husband, who chose the woman over God, also felt the sickening rot of sin settle in his very soul. Suddenly, shame and fear entered the world, and Adam and Eve hid from God like wayward children.
All temptation is an attempt to get us to live our lives independent of God. Satan is not very creative, but he is very effective, and he has been lying to us ever since he lied to Eve. Why? Because it works.
Every one of his lies springs from the idea that happiness is just a decision away. Satan wants you to believe God is holding out on you. You can be like God. You can be your own god. Rather than being thankful for what we do have, he points out what we don't have. Think about it. Eve had at her disposal every tree in the garden except one. Every tree. That is a smorgasbord of goodness! Rather than being thankful, she bought the lie that the one thing she couldn't have was the one thing that would make her happy. I would be happy if... Is any of this sounding familiar to you? It should. Satan uses the same tactics with us that he used with Eve.
Eve believed the enemy's lie over God's truth. His plan worked, but what the serpent did not know was that God's amazing plan of forgiveness and grace was about to unfold. Satan did not win the battle for man's soul in the garden. Jesus Christ won the war on Calvary's Cross. When Jesus said, "It is finished," and then breathed his last, He made a way for all mankind to regain all that Adam and Eve had lost.
Let's Pray
Dear God, help me to recognize Satan's lies as soon as they come into my mind. I have tried being in control of my own life and seen the terrible results. I know that true peace and joy comes from obeying You in all areas of my life. Help me to see through the enemy's lies that tell me anything other than the truth of Your Word.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen
Now It's Your Turn
Have you been focusing on what you don't have rather than what you do have?
Where do you think that discontentment comes from?
Today, make a list of God's blessings in your life.
If you'd like to comment on today's devotion, visit Sharon's blog at http://sharonjaynes.com/blog/.
The Enemy's Lies
Sharon Jaynes
Today's Truth
"The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10 NIV emphasis added).
Friend To Friend
"Now the serpent..." The great deceiver clothed himself as a serpent and slithered up to Eve with a game plan to destroy God's prized possession. He didn't come with a sword or a gun, or even a knife for his attack. He simply wielded lies. The serpent knew Adam and Eve would not buy into a radical flamboyant denial of God, so he slithered into the garden with a twist and a turn of the truth. He began by causing Eve to doubt... "Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?" (Genesis 3:1).
Satan knew exactly what God had said. He was simply trying to confuse Eve. Perhaps he was evaluating just how well she knew the truth. He found out.
"We may eat fruit from the tress in the garden," Eve replied, "but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die" (Genesis 3:3).
Bingo. She didn't know the truth that well after all. First, God never mentioned not touching the fruit. That seems like a pretty good idea, but it was not what God said.
Second, Satan denied God and lied about the consequences of her disobedience when he said, "You will not surely die." (3:4). He didn't even try to disguise the deception. He told a flat-out lie.
Finally, he told her she could be like God. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). In other words, "God doesn't know what He's talking about. He's holding out on you. You don't need Him. You can be your own god."
Eve rejected the truth and believed the lie. She believed that she could be like God...in control of her own life. "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her."
As she sunk her teeth into the forbidden fruit of deception and the lie slid down her delicate throat, the temptation settled in her soul and fermented into shame and condemnation. Her husband, who chose the woman over God, also felt the sickening rot of sin settle in his very soul. Suddenly, shame and fear entered the world, and Adam and Eve hid from God like wayward children.
All temptation is an attempt to get us to live our lives independent of God. Satan is not very creative, but he is very effective, and he has been lying to us ever since he lied to Eve. Why? Because it works.
Every one of his lies springs from the idea that happiness is just a decision away. Satan wants you to believe God is holding out on you. You can be like God. You can be your own god. Rather than being thankful for what we do have, he points out what we don't have. Think about it. Eve had at her disposal every tree in the garden except one. Every tree. That is a smorgasbord of goodness! Rather than being thankful, she bought the lie that the one thing she couldn't have was the one thing that would make her happy. I would be happy if... Is any of this sounding familiar to you? It should. Satan uses the same tactics with us that he used with Eve.
Eve believed the enemy's lie over God's truth. His plan worked, but what the serpent did not know was that God's amazing plan of forgiveness and grace was about to unfold. Satan did not win the battle for man's soul in the garden. Jesus Christ won the war on Calvary's Cross. When Jesus said, "It is finished," and then breathed his last, He made a way for all mankind to regain all that Adam and Eve had lost.
Let's Pray
Dear God, help me to recognize Satan's lies as soon as they come into my mind. I have tried being in control of my own life and seen the terrible results. I know that true peace and joy comes from obeying You in all areas of my life. Help me to see through the enemy's lies that tell me anything other than the truth of Your Word.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen
Now It's Your Turn
Have you been focusing on what you don't have rather than what you do have?
Where do you think that discontentment comes from?
Today, make a list of God's blessings in your life.
If you'd like to comment on today's devotion, visit Sharon's blog at http://sharonjaynes.com/blog/.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
One of those Mondays...
Yesterday was the first day of my Summer Work schedule.
Ever since my company had layoffs (about 3 months now), I have been working more than my 20 hours a week that I was hired in at. I'm up to 32 hours a week, which accomodated my getting kids to school and being home when they got dropped off.
Well with school out and my mom home, I found that I need my day off to work in doctor appointments for my mom, and to give my mom a break from having the kids all week.
So I got my Mondays off.
Yesterday was phone calls to make appointments for the following Mondays, an eye appointment for two of the kids and a trip to Allendale for a horse riding lesson for Trinity.
By the time I ate dinner, I fell fast asleep on the couch only to wake up and stumble into bed around 7pm and fall back asleep. I was mobile until about 9pm and then I STILL had a good night sleep for the rest of the night.
It is amazing to think how much your body can still do even though you are physically and mentally tired. It just waits around for an opportunity to shut down and recharge.
Makes me wonder if we just ignore all the signs, just like we do when we are on our own agenda.
Ever since my company had layoffs (about 3 months now), I have been working more than my 20 hours a week that I was hired in at. I'm up to 32 hours a week, which accomodated my getting kids to school and being home when they got dropped off.
Well with school out and my mom home, I found that I need my day off to work in doctor appointments for my mom, and to give my mom a break from having the kids all week.
So I got my Mondays off.
Yesterday was phone calls to make appointments for the following Mondays, an eye appointment for two of the kids and a trip to Allendale for a horse riding lesson for Trinity.
By the time I ate dinner, I fell fast asleep on the couch only to wake up and stumble into bed around 7pm and fall back asleep. I was mobile until about 9pm and then I STILL had a good night sleep for the rest of the night.
It is amazing to think how much your body can still do even though you are physically and mentally tired. It just waits around for an opportunity to shut down and recharge.
Makes me wonder if we just ignore all the signs, just like we do when we are on our own agenda.
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