Jude and I made a special project for Papa- and Jude tried a little body art as well! Andrew works so hard and I try to make sure he always knows that he is loved and appreciated, in big and little ways.

Another painting…

Andrew had the day off after a long week and weekend, so we headed to
Coeur d ‘Alene for some lunch and to one of our new favorite parks.

Views of the lake front beach, walking area, and park. Below is the park with a huge play area that was designed by kids!

Jude was making ‘vroom vroom’ noises while pretending to drive the motorcycle, and gave me darling cheesy smiles before he slid down… he’s getting to be such a big boy!

Last night we had breakfast for dinner with our youth to break our fasting from the 30 hour famine. It was a yummy meal indeed! The kids seemed to really have an eye opening experience to the needs in the world and the poverty and hunger that is so prevalent in many countries. Andrew showed a movie on Friday night called Invisible Children. Has anyone seen it yet? It’s a documentary made by 3 young guys following the exploitation of children in Uganda as child soldiers- children that are literally ripped from their families to carry a gun and forced to fight in a brutal army of rebels that have wreaked havoc in their country. Powerful movie. Horrible injustice against those children. When watching videos like Invisible Children (or Hotel Rwanda) I tend to get overwhelmed, feeling like I am powerless to help solve such a huge problem so far away, but more and more I’m realizing the truth to the statement ‘knowledge is power’- and have the conviction that the more knowledge we have of injustices and needs around the world, we really do have a responsibility to respond in some way. And the truth is, anything helps. For people who have nothing, $5 can go a long ways. There are many families around the world who live on $1 a day or less. Most of us can’t even fathom that in America and yet, for that very reason, we must not sit back and let someone else solve world hunger when we can give money, raise our voice to the government and cause awareness for these kinds of issues. Having a garage sale? Donate some of the money to a worth while cause and have your kids sell cookies for kids in Uganda. Skip your daily latte for a month and help a family in a developing nation get medical care. For about a dollar a day you can sponsor a child who will then have a chance to get an education and other things they normally wouldn’t. I’ll keep posting various ways to educate ourselves and get involved in these kinds of issues, and feel free to leave your own websites, ideas, etc. in the comments.

If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one. Mother Teresa

The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. Mother Teresa

29,000. That is the number of children who die every day from malnutrition and other preventable illnesses. 153 million children under 5 (mostly in developing nations) are malnourished. In the US, 13 million children live in households that experience hunger, or are at risk for being malnourished. These stats are from the 30 hour famine website. Tomorrow night our youth group will begin a 30 hour famine- a fast that raises money for these malnourished and at risk children (the youth have been raising funds for about a month, and as this is a national event in churches across the country, the government will match the money we raise to donate to the cause), as well as learn about the reality of hunger and poverty world wide, and how we can do something- locally and globally. There is so much need in this world- and so many ways to help. Check out World Vision’s website for ways to donate money in crisis areas or to sponsor a child. Another website with good info and ways to do something- World Hunger Notes. Bono is a well known advocate for the poor world wide, and I love this quote from his remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast in February of 2006…

“God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war… God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. “If you remove the yolk from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places”
It’s not a coincidence that in the Scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It’s not an accident. That’s a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. [You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.] ‘As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.’ (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor.”

Jude & I got back yesterday from our Seattle trip. We had lots of fun and saw a lot of the family at a BBQ at my brother’s (Jason) house on Saturday. He’ll be going overseas soon and any prayers for him and his wife Lea and their kids would be much appreciated. I’m very proud of my big bro! (He’s happier than he looks in this picture!:)

Jude & cousin Alana having a tea party…

We had lots of snow at my parent’s house over the weekend…

We saw my friend Erika and her daughter Audrey who just turned a year old!
Audrey is one of Jude’s favorite girls…

We had lots of fun with my parents, Jude loved singing with my mom- I need to get it on video but he sings the chorus to ‘Old Macdonald Had a Farm’ after she sings the first part- so cute!
Andrew got to take the afternoon off yesterday so we went to a new coffee shop that is a 10 minute walk from our new home, looked at paint at Home Depot, and then to dinner where Jude enjoyed some melon…

Today I’m catching up on laundry and baking bread. It’s tea weather today- rainy and cozy. I’m glad to be back home with the Mr.- I miss him so much when we’re apart. Aren’t reunion kisses the best though?!:)

I read yet another study this morning revealing that harmful chemicals are leaching out of the plastic commonly used in many baby bottles, baby formula can lining, and sippy cups (etc. etc.). To read the article click HERE. For safe alternatives in sippy cups- check out this blog. The plastic basics: avoid plastics labeled #3, 6, & 7 which have been found to leach out toxic chemicals (this goes for bottles, cups, toys, etc.). No harmful chemicals have (yet) been found in plastics labeled 1, 2, 4, or 5. Usually the # is found on the bottom of the product.

In other news… Jude and I will be traveling to Seattle today to see my brother before he goes overseas for the remainder of the year. Hopefully Andrew (who can’t come with us due to his weekend commitments at church) will be ok here all by himself. He may have to play a few rounds of golf to cope.

One thought on my mind this morning before I go that I’ll expand more on later- valuing our children. They are of infinite value and if we don’t show them that value they will look for it in other ways, usually ways that don’t fulfill and lead to heartache in the end. So… hug your child today and tell them how amazing and priceless they are to you! They won’t know it unless you show it!! And if you haven’t had this as a child, then show your parents how valued they are- it just might change their life!
Till next week…

Here’s a cute shirt that had a tiny tear in it from an incident with the scissors:
(really, I don’t let my toddler play with scissors, but he has amazing
climbing skills…)
Arrow pointing to tear:

So I cut a little bone shape out of felt and stitched it on over the tear like this:

And the doggy has a bone! That was easy.
Now to more thoroughly toddler proof the house!:)

This weekend it hit 70 degrees! Woohoo! I am so excited for Spring and Summer. It’s rainy today but at least we got a couple nice days. We explored 3 new parks this weekend- one in Liberty Lake that has some great trails to hike around, and lots of birds and wildlife to see. We spotted a frog, and another couple we talked to on the trail had spotted a moose. Apparently there are moose around these parts- I’ll be on the lookout for one!:) Here’s the little froggy we saw:

One of our favorite places to hang out around here is Coeur d’Alene, Idaho- about 15 minutes from us, a beautiful area around a big lake. There is a park with a wood play area for kids and lots of beach area with mountains all around the lake. Didn’t get any pictures of that park but here’s another one of Jude from the first park we went to:

The sun is shining, the snow is supposedly gone till next winter…
and we had a lovely week. We had a play date with a friend named Berlin…

We made yummy peanut butter & honey cookies (recipe to come soon)
that looked quite at home on my new plates from the thrift store…

Jude & his shadow on a walk in the sunshine…

Some branches waiting to bloom that we picked on the way home…

Today is grocery shopping day and out for Mexican food for dinner to celebrate our new home! Tomorrow I’m singing with some friends at a ladies brunch in the morning, then Andrew and Jude and I will have dinner with some friends tomorrow night. Something that we’ve talked about this week a bit is choosing not to be busy in a stressful way. It’s hard, especially with the fast paced super busy American lifestyle, to choose not to be too busy, but instead to focus on a few things a day to accomplish and do well, and make time for family and play and the things outside of work and other commitments that make us feel connected to each other and grounded in who we are. Our work does not define us, rather, who we are and how we live defines us. The last couple of years I’ve had to work on saying ‘no’, especially to endless requests at church for opportunities to serve and lead, and I’ve seen the value in keeping our schedule simple so that when I do serve in an area I can do it well, and still have the time to focus on my family first. Not easy to say no, but definately one of the best defenses against being overly busy and stressed.
Life is short… let your schedule reflect your priorities.

Our offer was just accepted on what will soon (providing the inspection goes well) be our first home!