Holder Family 2011

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Laundry

My littlest man has become quite the helper, especially when it comes to laundry.  We have this 'secret' laundry shoot in the kids' bathroom.  He gathers all the laundry baskets and throws the laundry down to me.  Then he comes downstairs, helps me put the laundry in the washer, he oftentimes will find me as I'm putting it in the dryer and help out and then I fold it (though he does like to help with small towels and wash clothes).  When it comes time to put it away though, he can put ALL his laundry away...even hanging up his shirts.  This is pretty huge!  It's amazing, having kids that can ALL put their laundry away really lightens the burden of doing laundry (if you can't tell, my LEAST favorite part BY FAR is putting it all away).  

Way to go little man, keep up the good work!!

the 'secret' cupboard

getting the job done

"Hey mom, I didn't know you were there!" :)

A Changing Heart...

Dear Seth,

As look back over the past couple months, I have gradually seen a real heart change.  I can't tell you how much that means to me!  Sure, we have celebrated some behavior changes over the last year or so, but a 'heart change' that means so much more to me than behavior modification...it means a lot to Jesus too.  When we have had to talk to you or discipline you about poor choices you have made, we have also prayed with you and asked you to pray as well that God would help you love others and treat them with kindness.  We have also been praying that you would have a heart that desires to obey us, because your obedience to us is also obedience to Jesus.

A couple weeks ago we were driving in the grocery store parking lot and you saw a woman walking in front of my van.  You said, "Watch out for her mom" and I told you that I was and you didn't have to worry and you responded with, "I wanted to make sure because I care about her mom".  That made my heart happy!

When we have friends over or go to visit friends, I'm actually excited for you.  I admit I still get nervous sometimes,(hopefully someday that automatic response will go away)but in reality, you have grown in the area of friendship as well.  It's still hard at times, but I see you choosing to give a toy to a friend that wanted it, or loving a friend that got hurt and I'm thankful.  You're still 4 and sometimes it's harder for you than others, but I've seen growth and it makes me so proud.

I watch you with baby Elle (the baby we are watching for a couple months until her daycare is available) and I see how gentle you are and how you love to talk to her and sing to her and make her smile...it's precious.  The way you have become best friends with your sister and playing every day after school, I love it, you are making memories and building a great relationship.  Lately, you have also really enjoyed complementing people.  Yesterday you randomly said, "mom, your necklace is very pretty", or you'll say:

• "mom, I think you're really pretty, you're the best mom, I really love you" (pouring out love) 
• "Josiah, you're the best big brother" 
• "Alayna, I love you"
• "dad, you're the BEST dad"  

Honestly, my heart smiles every time I hear you talk like that.

Now before you think that you're perfect...you aren't...you're still sinful and struggle at times (you always will), but seeing the way you are growing and the way God is changing your heart is precious and I never want to forget it.  I love you so much my sweet, sweet youngest and I'm so thankful the Lord chose to bless us with you.  Watching you grow and seeing your heart change has been a true blessing!

Love,

mom

Storytime

Seth looks forward to story time each week and today they talked about alligators and one of the books was about an alligator on a girls head...Seth wore his alligator hat through the whole story.  :)

More Steps...

Last night we had our last official meeting/interview to become licensed for Foster Care.  Now she just needs to put all her notes together and submit them for approval and then we will officially be licensed.  Craziness!  I have mixed emotions, but overall...I feel relief.  It's something I've desired to do and felt called to do for years and for a variety of reasons it didn't happen.  I'm not sure what it will look like and I'm sure at times it will stretch me farther than I've ever stretched before, but we have to at least try.

I'm currently helping a friend and watching her adorable baby girl during the day until the end of May when her daycare will be available.  Even once we are licensed we will be put 'on hold' until I fulfill my commitment.  We may have an extra child for a weekend as 'respite care' for other foster parents that are unable to watch their foster child for a weekend, but overall nothing will happen until June.  I'm kind of bummed about that, but at the same time it might be good to hold off until the end of the school year anyway (that's what I keep telling myself anyway).

Some things I've learned from doing daycare that may (or may not) apply when we do Foster Care:

- my love isn't limited to my own children

- my children are willing to accept another child into their life

- it creates challenges and changes our 'normal' routine

- my freedom with a 4 year old during the day is TOTALLY different from my freedom with an infant and a 4 year old...I joke that it's like riding a bike though, I've done it before and it comes back to you pretty quickly

OK, there are a ton of other things that I've thought of recently but because I didn't write them down at the time I can't remember them now!

Design on a Dime

There's a show with this title and they have less than $2000 to re-do a room.  Well, $2000 to re-do a room would be a lot of money if you ask me.  I've wanted to re-do our bedroom for a while and as I've found good deals I've slowly been accomplishing this goal.  Maybe someday I'll show you the finished product (I really like it, but 1. it's not totally done yet and 2. I don't think it will win any awards or anything, so don't hold your breath waiting!!).  

Anyway, we have a HUGE empty wall in our bedroom and trying to find an inexpensive solution to fill the space has not been easy.  I had a Save Coin deal for printing pictures and I found clearance frames, but even still it would have seemed VERY plain and blank.  I was going to buy wood trim and I thought about using fabric for one idea...in the end that was still more than I wanted to spend.  I ended up using Frog Tape (pretty cool stuff!) and a $3 container of paint (a new size at the hardware store) and created this...

It may not be the coolest thing you've ever seen (or maybe it is...feel free to lie to me!) :), but it was around $25 for everything and that my friends was in my budget!  A walk down memory lane for Dan and I every time we walk up.  I love it! 

Family Time - Ears

Last night was Family Time and I am reminded each week how much the kids enjoy this time.  I am so thankful for the blog we have been following for Family Time because it takes a small amount of time to prepare and plan in comparison to a couple years ago when we were 'reinventing the wheel' each week.

We start each week praying and then reciting previous verses we've learned.  They LOVE that there are actions. 

This week we talked about ears and our verse was: 

The Ear: James 1:19-20

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen,

slow to speak and slow to become angry,

for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

As you can tell from the verse, though we talked about our ears, we focused a lot on anger as well.  It was quality time spent together!  Here's the link to the lesson we used -- Ears!