Proverbs 16:3

This week I have been reading to the girls the story of Joseph. What an amazing testimony he had! While reading this to the girls we talked about how sometimes things happen to us that we don't like, but that God has a plan that is even bigger than we can imagine.
Josh and I both desire financial peace and to truly be able to enjoy life as God intended. At times, it is easy to look down the "road" and know that we will achieve our goal as "If we live like no one else, THEN LATER WE CAN LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE!" At other times, that road seems to drop over the horizon and never end. Though my experiences are very different, I feel that I can learn a lot from Joseph. I know that God has a plan for our life. He has and will continue to provide for our needs with our poverty level income. He has blessed us in many ways. But there are times when I feel like I am an innocent prisoner. I want to cry out to God, "We have worked so hard, and now this??" But then I am reminded of Joseph or better yet, his attitude. He knew that God had a plan for everything...and he believed it. I want to believe it to.
"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." Proverbs 16:3

On the move!

Well, it is official - Makenna is crawling! On Sunday she took her first few "steps", but hasn't ventured far since. Today, she made it to the kitchen. I now need to make sure that the bottom 18 inches of my home is "Makenna proof"! Even after three, I love each of these little milestones. For awhile, I thought she was never going to sit...she was 8 months old! But in a two week span, she learned to sit and crawl! Both Katelyn and Brenden didn't officially crawl until they were 10 months old. Katelyn was just content to sit...she wasn't even a very fluent roller. Brenden loved to army crawl or roll everywhere. It is still strange for me to see such a small infant crawling...size-wise, not age-wise.

One last goodbye

Did you go outside today? It was fabulous! Summer came back for one last goodbye! My family spent the day outside working in our yard. We decided to take advantage of the warmer weather and "winterize" our yard. We usually do it in November or early spring, therefore, making it colder and wetter. Today was perfect! I know that some of my plants had a little more in them for this season, but I was ready! It was strange to be outside in a short sleeve shirt in the middle of October...and to see the leaves changing colors! It felt good to be done...and now I can focus on preparing for winter and the holidays!

Makenna playing on the patio!


"Dad, you work over there and we will work over here!"


Going on a hike??

"Dad, are you okay under there?"

Glad to be done with that!

Winco bins

Yes, I love to shop the Winco bins. Cheap stuff in bulk! Well, a few weeks ago we ran out of baking powder, so I kept my container and added bp to my Winco bin shopping list.
Over these past few weeks I have been trying to add wheat germ to my cooking (I read that it can help prevent breast cancer...ladies). I read that you can substitute it for part of your flour. So anyways, on Saturday my husband made pancakes for us...and well, let's just say that they were not that great. We figured he must have read the recipe wrong or something. So anyways, this last Saturday I made pancakes...and well, Katelyn said, "These taste worse than Daddy's!" I was baffled! I could not understand how wheat germ could make such a difference.
Well, later that day I made bread in my bread machine. It tasted fine, but was pretty dense.
After much thought and discussion, we came to the conclusion that maybe it was our Winco bin baking powder. So, tonight I went to the store and bought a new container of bp. I brought it home and my husband did a taste test. They tasted totally different! At first we thought that maybe we had ended up with baking soda instead, but even that had a different taste. The bin bp tasted very bitter with the same aftertaste as the pancakes. Evidently our Winco bin item was not good...or something different!
I still love the Winco bins, but I guess I will be more aware next time!

She can read!

After teaching for 6 years, it still made me excited to see my students learn to read! But- teaching my daughter how to read tops it all!

Childhood part 4

During my 3rd grade year, my family moved to Cd'A. My dad then worked full time as a pastor of Lincoln Way Church of God. Our neighborhood school was full and so I had to go to a different school across town. I loved my new teacher...I even remember her name - Mrs. Medved.
When I was in fourth grade, my world changed. My parents got a divorce. I remember that they fought a lot, and they were separated off and on, but I never ever imagined that they would divorce. I even remember talking to a friend prior and we both were certain our parents would never do such a thing...and they both later did. I really don't know what to say about this time of my life. Honestly, the hardest part for me was when they went to court to fight for custody. It hurt me so bad that they both wanted us so bad and that only one of them could win. I can't imagine what they were feeling during this time. I know that this was a choice that they made, but I prayed a lot for them that the hurt would go away, especially for my dad, since my mom won custody. I am so thankful that even through divorce I still have an amazing relationship with my dad. He never let those miles come between us.
Okay, back to lighter things...
In 4th grade, I switched schools to our neighborhood school. On the first day of school, my teacher (another favorite) asked a girl named Heather Polla to show me around. Little did our teacher know that she had just matched up best friends. Heather and I spent all of our time together that first week...she was the kindest, sweetest friend you could ask for. About a week after school started, I was out riding my bike and I saw someone riding their bike down the street. As I got closer, I was very pleased to see Heather. We were neighbors! It was truly a God thing! We now could hang out together at school and home...and we did! We went to and from school together. We played together after school. And then, we spent the night over at each others' houses every other weekend (the other weekends I was with my dad!).
I have many wonderful memories with Heather...
To be continued...

Supermom

No, not me...but really, I think we all are in God's eyes!

Growing up my favorite shows were the "family shows," like Full House, Cosby Show, Who's the Boss, and Growing Pains. I enjoyed watching them, but was never crazy about particular actors and actresses (though I did think MaryKate and Ashley Olsen were cute). I was not a teen with crushes on the "hot" guys you would find on magazines. To be honest, I am pretty ignorant when it comes to Hollywood. I don't know much about anyone or anything...until I met supermom (well, I didn't meet her, just saw her on TV).
Most of you know that my favorite show has become Jon and Kate plus 8. I have truly enjoyed watching them raise their adorable kids...and honestly, live my dream out on TV - to have lots of kids and multiples. Though I do not necessarily agree with the way that every situation is handled, I realize that that would be true of anyone. We are all different, but most of us don't have cameras showing us in our ups and downs. I am sure we could all surprise each other.
I have begun to see Kate as a role model: Christian mom, loves her kids, devoted, healthy, etc. But then I realized that I was becoming like the "world". I was beginning to see her like a young teen looks at models and young actresses. I was beginning to envy her life, even though I all see of it is on TV. I was envying how good she looks for having 8 kids...and never exercises. I was starting to beat myself up and feel sorry for myself and how "tough" my life was compared to hers.
And then it hit me...or rather flashed before me...I was staring up at our digital photo frame, and a picture came up of my kids, and then one came up of my best friend. And then I realized that I have been blessed beyond comparison. I would never want to change what I have right now...because it is what God has given me, and I am who God desires me to be. It baffled me that I was yearning for something that really I already have. My life is not perfect or easy, but is any one's?? I have a wonderful husband, fabulous kids, fantastic friends, and a loving family...what more could anyone ask for!
I am sure that Kate Gosselin is a wonderful person and honestly, I would love to meet her - but not superficially, I would want to be her friend. But - I also have to realize that she is on TV, and TV does a pretty good job of making people look glamorous! I am sure that they could even make me look "appealing!"
So to say, I still love the show, but I have realized that I can't compare my life with theirs...besides, she probably doesn't have time for blogging...and I love blogging!

My Childhood part 3

When I was 4 or 5 my parents sold our house and we moved into the trailer that had been used for the daycare my mom owned. I remember that the trailer was divided in half by the bathroom. One half was the "living area" (living room, kitchen, and daycare area). The other side was the bedroom that my family shared. My brothers slept on a bunk bed, I slept on the floor, and my parents slept on a mattress (like a hide-a-bed type). I did not mind this arrangement, because then I wasn't alone at night and wasn't scared.
When I was in 1st grade, my dad sold KTNR and bought a radio station in Spokane, Washington (KRSS). He and my older brother moved up there to get things going, while my mom, Chris, and I moved to California to live with my grandparents for a few months. My grandparents are probably my favorite people in the world and I was so excited to live with them. My cousins also lived nearby and so it was fun to get to go to the same school as them. My main memory from these few months was buying juice at school. My oldest cousin was in the 5th grade and she "sold" the juice with a classmate, who happened to be a boy. She was an extremely shy person and so every time I would come up and say Hi, she would "die" of embarrassment and then be mad at me. I never wanted to make her mad, but as a first grader and new student, it made me proud to know someone...especially a 5th grader. We laugh about it now, but I really think she was not laughing at the time! After a few months, we joined my dad and Rich in Spokane where I finished 1st grade.
I met a girl from school that lived down the street from us. I had very, very long hair and my friend had very, very short hair with a very long "tail". Does anyone remember tails? One day I walked home from school and my mom told me that she was taking me to get my hair cut...with my friend and her mom. For some odd and unknown reason, my mom thought that I wanted to get my hair cut just like my friends'. I was shocked and appalled...yet being a fairly quiet person, I did not want to argue and risk hurting my friend's feelings or her mom's...for some reason I remember her being very excited about it. So, we chopped all my hair off...and yes, I got a tail. I was mortified...and still am...which is why I will not be putting that picture in this blog. I do not think the tail stayed around for long, but it took FOREVER to grow my hair back.
Another thing I remember about this friend is that she had twin baby sisters. It worked out great because then we each had one to play with. We each had our favorite. One of them was darker skin toned with dark hair - like my friend, and the other was very pale and blonde haired (actually more bald) like me.
When I was in 2nd grade, my dad became the pastor of a church in Coeur d' Alene. We commuted to church for about a year or so.
The summer between my 2nd and 3rd grade years, I broke my arm playing on the monkey bars at the school. It didn't set right and I ended up having surgery to set it right. The only thing I remember about it was that I got to sleep with my parents because we had to get up real early.
At our house in Spokane, we had a basement that we called the dungeon. My older brother's room was down there and I even had a room down there for a short time...it was more like a closet, but it was fun (except at night...there were spiders down there!)
I remember one autumn, my mom paid my younger brother $.10 for every pinecone he picked up. I don't think she did the math before hand or thought about how many pinecones there were in our yard...but she ended up paying him a lot of money. I think he was only 4 or 5 at the time. I was bummed that I had school and didn't get to get in on that deal!
When I was in the 3rd grade we moved to Coeur d'Alene.
To be continued...

My Childhood part 2

I forgot to mention in part 1 about my siblings...nice sister huh! Anyways, I have 2 wonderful brothers (3 now, but I will get to that later). Rich is 5 years older than me and Chris is about 2 years younger. Here are some photos that I was able to get from my dad.


About age 2


My dad (remind anyone of Kenny Loggins?) and mom. My mom is holding me and Rich is in front of my dad. The other two are my cousins. Chris was not born yet (obviously).


They had dress-up shoes back then, too! Me and my cousins...I am in the middle!



My brothers and I...or is it me and my brothers??


1st grade

My childhood part 1

On March 28th I was born in Texas to two wonderful parents. I grew up (well, until I was 6) in a very small town in southern Texas. My all time favorite place to eat still exists there - Ken Kreme...they had the best Tostadas (or Chalupas as we call them in Texas) in the world. A few years ago I was even able to take my husband there! Anyways, our town was majority Hispanic and minority White. I was one of two whites in my kindergarten class...I was blonde and she was a red head...we stood out like a sore thumb! At that time, spanking was allowed in schools (hard to believe) and I remember always fearing to leave the classroom and having to witness someone getting "paddled" in the hallway. I also feared that I would one day make a mistake and get my share of paddling...but luckily that never happened. Luckily, I felt very comfortable with my teacher, as she was also my Sunday School teacher at church and my mom's hairdresser. I always felt pretty special since I had been to my teacher's house!
My mom had an in-home daycare. Even as a young child, sleeping in was a joy. I remember waking up and coming out and our home being filled with other kids. I always felt that I had missed out since many of those kids had been there for hours, but for some reason I could not wake myself any earlier (I am sure I probably got up at about 8 am, but it seems late since some of the kids arrived at 6am.)
My dad owned a radio station with call letters KTNR...the TNR stood for Tiner (my maiden name). When I was little I even spoke for a few commercials with my dad. I don't remember it, but I have a tape of it.
When I was about 4 or 5, we lived on a cul-da-sac with a field and forest next to it (this is from my 4 or 5 year old memory). One of our neighbors once told me that wolves lived in the forest and that I should watch out for them or they might come out and attack me. I still very vividly remember always watching that forest. When we were outside, I would sit up on top of the swing set and constantly watch. I also remember that I would sit there and devise a plan for what I would do if I saw wolves...the plan that I remember was that somehow I would get a toy tunnel and yell for everyone to crawl through it to the back door of my house. I was always worried for all the kids and my mom.
To be continued...

Another exciting day...

Trust me...it got messier!


So, maybe hidden talents run in the family!


The kids were "going on a picnic," but it looked and sounded more like a parade!


Eating cut-up cooked carrots...yummy!